SHOOTERS AND CHASERS : A Good Deal

SHOOTERS AND CHASERS by Lenny Kleinfeld is one of the funniest books I have read.  I have never done this before but this is such a good deal I must mention it.  Amazon has SHOOTERS AND CHASERS for the Kindle at the give-away price of $3.99.  For those who do not have a Kindle, Amazon offers a free application for the PC that allows everyone to read books formatted for the e-reader.

SHOOTERS & CHASERS by Lenny Kleinfeld has everything one would want in a thriller. The shooters are (sort of) identified right at the beginning. The chasers, Chicago Homicide detectives Mark Bergman and John Dunegan enter the scene soon after. The shooters are sociopaths and the chasers are the kind of characters that I want to meet again.

The book opens in August, 2002 with Meelo Garcia prowling restlessly in a motel room. He can’t leave because Oscar told him he can’t.

In the second chapter, Naguib Darwahab, a Chicago cabbie originally from Cairo, picks up famed architect Wilson Willets. As Willets is walking toward his house, he is killed by a mugger. Darwahab risks his life by scratching the mugger down his left arm but the murderer runs off and there is nothing that can be done to help Willets.

From that point the books takes off, introducing a cast of characters that is large but who are so distinct that the reader has no problem keeping everyone straight. The plot moves from street crime to the very richest of the rich in Los Angeles and a contest sponsored by the Los Angeles Fine Arts Museum. Along the way there are other murders, a mysterious Englishman, assassins, a public defender who suggests that the murder has elements of the Kennedy assassination,  Oscar, and two police forces, Chicago and Los Angeles, that are not made to look crooked or inept. And…the book is funny. Kleinfeld writes wonderful dialogue even when the dialogue is interior. I don’t know how many times I had to stop reading and laugh.

This is a book that will appeal to just about anyone who likes mysteries and thrillers.   SHOOTER & CHASERS is a wonderful way to spend a day.

MURDER ON MYKONOS – Jeffery Siger

In a few weeks, Jeff Siger’s fourth book in the  Inspector Kaldis series, TARGET TINOS, will be published.  In the meantime, readers have the opportunity to meet the author and the characters.  MURDER ON MYKONOS IS THE  first

Andreas Kaldis knows why he has been appointed chief of police in Mykonos.  “…his departure from Athens – was exceptionally good news to certain powerful people.  His aggressive investigation into a series of murders over control of the Athenian drug trade had worried them.  Promoting him out of Athens – and out of the investigation – was a political masterstroke that even Andreas could appreciate.  It hurt no one and made everyone happy.  Everyone except Andreas.”  His new job is to keep the people of Mykonos happy so that they in turn can keep the tourists happy.  That is the business of Mykonos and now it is the business of Andreas Kaldis.  He has been promoted into oblivion.

Unfortunately for all concerned, a few weeks after his arrival, a worker in one of Mykonos’ many old churches moves a stone slab and finds a body, the body of a tall young woman, her head shaved and her body laid out in a manner that can only be described as ritualistic.  What makes it worse is that she is lying on top of other bones; the last body officially buried under the slab had been interred sixty years earlier.  These bones are far more recent.

Andreas is joined in the investigation by Tassos Stamatos, the chief homicide investigator for the islands.  Both men know immediately that there will be more bodies, that they are dealing with a serial killer.  Female tourists, killed over as many as twenty years, is a frightening prospect.  How could women be warned without panicking everyone on the island?  The situation becomes infinitely more complicated from the viewpoint of Andreas and Tassos when Annika Vanden Haag is reported missing.  Half Dutch and half Greek, she is the niece of Greece’s deputy minister of Public Order, the office in charge of all police.

Jeffrey Siger allows the reader to into the mind of the killer, to view his insanity.  To the killer, the women are tributes to the gods.  “He had first used prayer to survive his daily moments of childhood terror, later he developed other, more efficient means for coping with his past.  He still  practiced both as his tributes could attest to, had any remained alive….He knew just what to say to gain their trust and bring his foreign tributes down into his world among the foreign gods….”  Sacrifices to the gods had long been done on the islands and he models his tributes on the marble figurines of elongated, naked females, completely smooth, which were created and then destroyed, sacrificed in place of humans.  He knew the gods required so much more of him.  Stone replacements couldn’t garner their protection.  His gods needed real women.  Nothing less could protect and bless him.  He had to thank the gods and pay tribute to the saints of neglected churches and in so doing he would be invincible against his own demons.

Siger brings the story to a close in a manner that is satisfying to the reader, especially if the reader has been paying attention. Yet he does so in a manner that I don’t remember any other author using; it is clever and closes the circle of the story.  More importantly, Siger brilliantly uses religious insanity to create the methods and means of murder without being in anyway disrespectful of the customs of the Greek Orthodox Church.  Not an easy task but one he executes flawlessly.

DUBLIN DEAD – Gerard O’Donovan

From Amazon -

Book description of DUBLIN DEAD:

“Irish detective Mike Mulcahy returns in this suspenseful follow-up to the highly acclaimed international bestseller The Priest—and now he’s hot on the trail of an international drugs gang.One year later, DI Mike Mulcahy is exactly where he wants to be, coordinating international intelligence for Ireland’s National Drugs Unit. But with the economy in meltdown and his department facing tough cutbacks, his dream job is in jeopardy. Then Mulcahy spots a possible link between the murder of a Dublin gangster in Spain and a massive shipment of cocaine abandoned off the south coast of Ireland. Could this be the break he’s been praying for? Meanwhile, reporter Siobhan Fallon is still recovering from her ordeal at the hands of a sadistic killer. Work is her only refuge, and while she’s an emotional basket case, her nose for a story is as sharp as ever. When a suicide turns out to have a bizarre missing-person’s angle, she’s convinced there is something darker to it. But with a vital piece of evidence beyond her grasp, she has to turn to Mulcahy for help. Mulcahy and Fallon have no idea what deadly ground they’re setting out on together, or that their journey will lead them on a twisted trail of terror to the rocky shores and windswept hills of West Cork and a blood-drenched showdown with a remorseless killer.”

I took the easy way out in reviewing this book because it isn’t easy to describe.  It is the second book in the series featuring Detective Inspector Mike Mulcahy and reporter Siobhan Fallon.  The first book, THE PRIEST, is outstanding.  DUBLIN DEAD is as good but not as showy.  The first book grabs the reader at the first line.  The second takes much longer to hit its stride.  When it does, it becomes a worthy successor to the first.

Mulcahy is the director of an international drug’s unit.  The book begins with the death of a drug dealer in Spain.  In England, the body of  Cormac Horgan, a millionaire real estate agent, is pulled from a river.  His death is ruled a suicide, one of many among the movers and shakers in the financial world.  Siobhan goes to County Cork to attend Horgan’s funeral to see who of interest might be there.  She is approached by a woman who identifies herself as the mother of Gemma Kearney, Horgan’s girlfriend.  Siobhan has researched Horgan’s life intensively but has found no indication of a woman in his life.  Mrs. Kearney tells her that Gemma and Horgan met when studying to be accountants,  They were good friends and recently were spending a lot of time together.  But Mrs. Kearney hadn’t heard from Gemma in three weeks.  The police aren’t interested but Siobhan is.

A mountain  of drugs has come into Ireland and that feeds greed and greed leads to deaths.  members of the various gangs that supply the city are found dead in circumstances that led to the inevitable conclusion that there is a drugs war, that Ireland is a major part of an international conspiracy, and that innocence isn’t a protection.

Gerard O’Donovan has written a second well-plotted story set in an interesting city with likeable major and minor characters.  I look forward to the third in the series.

DAN WADDELL ON NIGEL BARNES AND 21ST CENTURY PUBLISHING

Dan Waddell posted the following informative piece on his blog, Murder Is Everywhere, on May 11.  Reading good mystery fiction is far more complicated than it was.  It used to be that an afternoon of browsing in a bookstore led to the creation of a long list of books from which to choose.  With the advent of Amazon, the browsing could take days and books were only a mouse click and a few days away.  Then publishers became more concerned with the bottom line than the satisfaction of the readers authors had to become their own best publicity directors.  It is that situation that led to blogs such as this.

Now Dan explains a complex situation that will inevitably lead to another group of readers being left behind.

Whither Nigel Barnes?

I posted this on the website blog recently, but I’m still getting a fair few emails asking about it, so I hope you’ll forgive me for posting it here. 

The most common question I’m asked these days, or at least the second behind ‘Rough night?’, is: ‘When’s the next Nigel Barnes book out?’ It’s a fair question. The second book in the series, Blood Atonement, was released in August 2009, almost three years ago, and in modern publishing that’s an age.

So to set the record straight, and keep those of you who are interested updated, I thought I’d let you know what’s going on. I haven’t ditched the series, and nor do I have writer’s block (I don’t really believe in writer’s block, or at least none that an impending deadline hasn’t cured, and since finishing Blood Atonement I’ve written two kids non-fiction books, and a historial thriller called Unsinkable under the pseudonym Dan James.) The simple fact is that Penguin, my former publisher, didn’t want any more Nigel Barnes books. That’s their prerogative, though I’d be lying if I said wasn’t disappointed, especially as the decision came on the heels of The Blood Detective’s nomination for the CWA John Creasey and the Macavity First Novel awards. But that’s the way it is now and anyone entering publishing has to be aware we are in febrile times, and the bottom line is what counts.

So I was left with a series but no publisher. I have a family and they need feeding, and I needed to keep writing. So Nigel Barnes was ‘parked.’ I soon missed him though. For my own amusement as much as anything I wrote a short story involving him and DCI Grant Foster. I may release it in electronic form, or I may turn it into a novel. But as Nigel and Grant were back in my head, and I had a series of plot ideas already sketched out,  I dove straight in and wrote another book, working title ‘One Soul Less.’ A draft is now finished and my agent has been casting her critical eye over it (gulp). I’m sure there’ll be a few tweaks to be made, but it’s my hope that I can release it some time this year. You might need a Kindle to read it though, though I’ll explore print-on-demand too. I might even see if a publisher wants to release a print copy. All options are still open.

In the meantime, Nigel has become a bit of a hit in France. The Blood Detective (aka Code 1879) has been nominated for a prestigious literary award over there, been released in mass paperback, and in late June I’m heading to the South of France for Soleil Noir as their guest, to discuss crime fiction and almost certainly drink too much wine. It’s a dirty job eh? I’m also working on a new historical thriller that might be a Dan Waddell book or a Dan James book, as well as keeping my hand in with some non-fiction.

So, regarding Nigel, the news is there is no concrete news. But soon there will be, and rumours of his demise are greatly exaggerated (though someone very close to him might cop it…)

As Dan mentions, increasingly more authors are being published in the electronic format.  Barnes an Noble has the Nook but, as with physical books, the world belongs to Amazon’s Kindle.  The least expensive Kindle, the model I have costs $79.00.  Most new and/or popular books cost approximmately $10.00.  To protect the device, a cover is necessaary; these come in a dizzing array of styles and prices.  Amazon does offer daily deals on books to registered Kindle owners.  Mine was a Christmas gift. I have about 40 books of the 1400 books it can contain(??).  I haven’t read anything on it yet.  I like the feel of books.  I also like to patronize my library.  What will happen to readers if most books are published as e-books and readers can’t afford the cost of the device?

I am not a Luddite but I am prone to attacks of “what if?”

ARTEMESIA – DIDN’T LET THEM MURDER HER SOUL or SHE SHOWED THEM

Esther and Ahasuerus

In Andrew Nugent’s SOUL MURDER,  the author shows that the killing of the spirit and the will are as ruthless as the murder of the body.

The picture on the left is a self-portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi  an artist during the Baroque period in Italy.

Artemisia was taught to paint by her father Orazio.  When she was 17, her father, a well-known artist himself, hired Agostino Tassi to tutor her.  Instead, her raped her.  Initially, the rape was not reported to the authorities because Tassi promised to restore her reputation by marrying her.  Her father agree to this  plan. (No one knows what Artemisia thought about it).  But when Tassi changed his mind about the marriage, Orazio reported him to the authorities.

The trial lasted seven months during which it was learned that Tassi had a plan to murder his wife,  marry his sister-in-law with whom he had been having an affair, and  steal some of Orazio’s paintings so he could sell them.  Artemisia had to undergo the usual humiliating exams and as well as torture.  Thumbscrews were used.  The prevailing theory was that if someone told the same story under torture that they told before being tortured, they must be telling the truth.  Tassi was found guilty and spent a year in jail.

Artemisia’s choice of subjects for her most famous paintings have led her to be considered a feminist by 20th century standards.  Judith Slaying Holofernes represents  the story of a Hebrew woman who saves her city from destruction by Holofernes, a general in the army of Nebuchadnezzar.  Judith seduces him, gets him drunk, and then cuts off his head.  In Esther And Ahasuerus, Esther is married to King Ahasuerus.  Her uncle hears of a plot to murder the king and tells Esther.  She saves the king but she worries about the control Haman, the king’s chief counselor has over him.  When she discovers that Haman has a plan to kill all the Jews in the kingdom, Esther tricks him into building a gallows for Mordecai, her uncle, who refuses to bow to any man.  Haman build the gallows and then Esther tells the king that Haman was behind the plot to kill him.  Haman gets the use of the gallows. In Jael And Sisera, Artemisia continues her theme.  Sisera was a general who was defeated in a battle against the Jews.  He fled and was offered hospitality by Jael, the wife of Heber.  They were Jewish and Jael gave him a refreshing drink that caused him to fall into a deep sleep.  Jael took a long nail and, with the use of a handy mallet, drove the nail into his temple and into the floor.

Atremisia Gentileschi’s subjects were women who took control of their lives by destroying the men who thought they were the ones in control.

It would probably not be a stretch to suggest that Artemisia had issues after her experience with Tassi.  But the experience did not murder Artemisia’s soul.  She directed her anger on to her canvas, achieved success and recognition as a painter at a time when women were not readily accepted.  She married, and raised a family.  She even remained on speaking terms with her father until his death.

Grace Brophy’s choice of the name Artemisia for one of the characters in THE LAST ENEMY suggests that she was familiar with the history of Artemisia Gentileschi.  Artemisia Casati’s book about the artist might have been a primer for women in any century.

The term “bohemian” as a description for artists and their life style came into use in the early 19th century.  What term would best describe Orazio Gentileschi and Agostino Tassi?

THE SHOP – J.Carson Black

THE SHOP by J. Carson Black reminds me of the books like CENTENNIAL that were made into mini-series that ran for a week on television. Once pulled in, it becomes must see TV. In the case of a book, the reader is captured until the last sentence.

“The young man twirled around, looking at the stars. Mesmerized by them. He could have been the leading man in his own musical – the wonderful story of his life. He could barely contain his joy. He had less than an hour to live.” When Landry enters the house with his team, it takes them no time to kill the six occupants. Landry is a bit taken back when he realizes one of the victims is Brienne Cross, up-and-coming singer/reality show star. His daughter has a poster of Brienne Cross on her bedroom door.

The next morning, Nick Holloway comes to on the floor of a garage. He remembers talking to a member of Brienne’s entourage and then nothing. He tells the police that he was spending time with Brienne and company as he prepared a series of articles for Vanity Fair. He has no idea  how he got under the car but he knows it saved his life. A few days later, he comes close to killing himself, a jogger, and the driver of the other car. But he was spared. Nick feels a sense of purpose. A man named Frank, who claims to be a distant cousin, has been calling Nick, asking him to look over a manuscript he has finished. Nick starts to think that this might make a good basis for his next book.

Thousands of miles away and six weeks after the scene in Colorado, the body of a man is found in a low cost motel. He has been shot but from the position of the body, it is difficult to tell if he was murdered or if it was a suicide. Jolie Burke, a detective with the Palm County Sheriff’s Department, is the lead investigator. The dead man, Jim Akers, is the chief of the Gardenia, Florida Police, her boss.  His body is found in the same room in which a hostage situation had gone wrong barely a month before.

Cyril Landry, assassin, is a former Navy Seal now working for The Shop. Men with his talents don’t ask questions when they accept a job. But when Landry returns to his California home, he finds himself spending a lot of time looking at the poster of Brienne Cross. In the seconds before she died, they looked into each others eyes and Landry found himself changed, not reformed, but changed.   For the first time, he wants to know why? She was the target, but why?

In Florida, Jolie has no doubt that the chief was murdered. Why? Inevitably, Jolie’s and Landry’s paths cross and they conclude that the deaths are connected. The connection leads to the office of the Attorney General of the United States.  Conspiracies abound.  Attorney General Franklin Haddox is part of a group that meets in secret on a private island.  Jolie and Landry suspect The Shop has its own motives, distinct from those that work to strengthen the country.

THE SHOP is pure escapist reading. Too many coincidences, too many shadowy people, too many secrets but too engrossing to put down. It is an ideal book for a quiet afternoon.  THE SHOP may be the first book in a planned series.

ON THE LINE – S. J. Rozan (review by Gloria Feit)

What, exactly is “on the line” in this newest novel from S. J. Rozan is nothing more nor less than the life of Lydia Chin.  For the uninitiated, Lydia, a young ABC [American-Born Chinese, and described as ‘Chinatown’s only PI, with a non-Chinese partner her mom doesn’t like’], is the sometime partner of Bill Smith, a chain-smoking middle-aged white guy.  And no one writes protagonists of a different gender and ethnicity better than this master-craftsman [excuse me, make that ‘craftsperson’].

As the novel opens, early one morning late in the Fall in NYC Bill receives a call made from Lydia’s phone.  The caller, who doesn’t identify himself and whose voice is electronically altered, says that he has Lydia, and for Bill to get her back he will have to play a ‘game’ whose rules are laid out:  Bill will have to follow a series of clues that will be doled out to him in an unspecified manner, but he has only twelve hours to find her.  Of course, the game rules keep changing, and Bill has no idea who the kidnapper is.  He seeks help from Linus Wong, Lydia’s young cousin and a talented hacker, and Linus’ assistant, a teenage Goth girl named Trella.  The ‘game’ becomes much more complicated when Bill discovers the dead body of a young Chinese woman he thinks at first might be Lydia, but turns out to be that of a hooker.  Immediately after this discovery the cops turn up, and Bill soon finds himself hunted by the cops as well as by the girl’s pimp and his two very scary associates.  The game soon threatens the lives of several more young girls, with Lydia the prize for whoever wins.

The tension never lets up, with Bill desperately trying to obtain and then figure out the clues left for him in varying places all around the city, as well as identifying the man who hates him this much, because it is soon apparent that this is very, very personal.  The novel is exquisitely plotted, all leading up to a breathtaking denouement.   More than highly recommended, this one is a Must Read.