Two New Additions

I recently finished Promised Land by Robert B. Parker, the fourth Spenser novel, and also a book titled Field of Fire by James O. Born. This is the first novel I've read by Born.

In Field of Fire, Alex Duarte is an ATF agent and former member of the Army. After arresting and then losing Alberto Salez on a gunrunning charge, he vows to set things straight. But setting things straight winds Duarte square in the middle of a serial bombing/murder investigation.

I found the writing in this book a bit on the flat side. There was really no humor interspersed or great use of literary devices; it was just pretty "everyday." Books that "wow" me are always ones that somehow make magic with the language. This one didn't.

Alex Duarte struck me as the "too good to be true" type of character, sometimes I even had flashbacks of McGyver. I enjoy characters, especially protagonists, who are human and have flaws and shortcomings. He wasn't a bad character by any means, but he also wasn't a character who stayed with me after I finished reading the book, either.

The plot was decent and focused. A little on the predictable side, but for the most part the story was interesting.

On the other hand, Promised Land blew me away. Parker hasn't disappointed me yet. In the fourth installment of the Spenser series, Spenser is hired to find a man's wife. When he finds her and discovers she doesn't want her husband to know where she is, Spenser obliges. But the case doesn't stop there. The husband is in trouble with a loan shark and the wife has taken up with some shady fanatical women. Spenser has to try to save them both. Hawk is introduced in this novel.

I absolutely LOVE Robert Parker's Spenser. He's a complex character with many conflicting characteristics. But the conflictions work. It's hard not to be endeared to his wit and determination to "do right."

The introduction of Hawk adds a new layer of complexity to Spenser's character as well. Hawk mentions to Susan that he and Spenser are more alike than she notices, and I think that's very true. Right down to the single names. When Spenser tells the police captain about Hawk, the captain wants to know what Hawk's full name is. Spenser says, "I don't know; just Hawk."

At one point in the novel Spenser says to Hawk, "Hawk, all this time I've known you I never could figure out why sometimes you talk like an account exec from Merrill Lynch and sometimes you talk like Br'er Bear." Hawk's response is, "Ah is the product of a ghetto education. Sometimes my heritage keep popping up." Besides the wit in both characters it struck me as mirroring Spenser's ability to "play dumb" when the need arises.

I continue to be in awe of Parker's magic with language. One of the points where it stood out the most for me in this novel was when Spenser makes the observation, "I don't know if I was scared or not, but Shepard was so scared his face didn't fit." I could have NEVER come up with that description, but when I read it, I could vividly see what Parker was talking about. I just couldn't help but smile at that sentence.

I haven't quite figured out what Parker is doing with his punctuation yet. In a lot of the questions the characters ask, the sentence ends with a period, not a question mark. There were several instances where I had to go back and reread before I realized he was asking a question not making a statement. I keep thinking that there must be some reason he's doing this, but I just can't figure out what that reason would be.

I was a bit skeptical on the rationale for the women robbing the bank. Now, this may have more to do with when the book was published, but I at first thought it was a joke. However, no one in the novel seemed to find it as absurd as me, the reader. So, I wonder if it was a viable motive in 1976 when the book was published as opposed to today?

Regardless of these two minor points, I LOVED this book. Moving on to #5...

Congratulations!!!

A few tidbits to share today. First I want to send out Congratulations to two fabulous writers: Robert Crais and Gregg Hurwitz. Both received nominations from the International Thriller Writers' Best Book of 2008. RC received the nod for The Watchman and Gregg Hurwitz for Crime Writer. Both are FABULOUS books, and both are deserving of this nomination. Good luck to both!

Also in Robert Crais news, his new Elvis Cole novel coming out in July is titled Chasing Darkness. Definitely looking forward to that release. You'll be able to find me at the bookstore on July 8th! :)

Also just a reminder that Jonathan Kellerman's new release, Compulsion, is due out THIS Tuesday.

A Twelfth Century Coroner

The Mistress of the Art of Death, written by Ariana Franklin, is the story of a young prodigy from the University of Salarno in Italy who is asked by the King of Sicily to travel to England and find out who is brutally killing children. The English have accused the Jews of this atrocity, and Henry II, the king of England, is concerned because the Jews are a great source of revenue for him. However, this young prodigy happens to be a woman, Adelia. In Italy, this is not a problem, but in England, it is. She is forced to hide her true identity so as to avoid being charged with witchcraft. Adelia is traveling with an Italian investigator as well. His name is Simon and he brings further complications; he is a Jew himself. But, he is determined to find the monster committing these crimes, be he Jew or Gentile.

I enjoy books that deal with forensic anthropology, and this one is no exception. The fact that it takes place in the Twelfth Century adds to the allure. The plot is complex and there are quite a few characters. But the book is so engrossing that it isn't difficult to keep track of who is who and what is happening.

I enjoyed the growth that Franklin portrays in Adelia. This woman who has been hidden for years in her studies of death is now out in the real world dealing with living, breathing, feeling human beings. And this immersion in life changes her in ways she has difficulty understanding. Simon becomes someone she trusts and admires. She enjoys spending time with Prior Geoffrey, her first patient in England. She develops a special relationship with Ulf, the young grandson of their housekeeper. And she feels a romantic attraction for Sir Rowley Picot, a man who is very unlike herself. I had a little trouble with that relationship, though. She seemed to make a drastic change all of a sudden as opposed to a gradual realization. And that was my only criticism of the novel.

In an author's note at the end of the book, the author explains true events that were the basis for the novel. Those events coupled with the details of the time period make the novel almost a time travel. Being engrossed in the pages takes you away to a land and a time completely different from the modern world, but sharing many of the same human tendencies.

This was an outstanding novel.

Judgement Calls - Alafair Burke

Alafair Burke is the daughter of James Lee Burke, but you wouldn't know it by her writing style. She is distinctly different from the elder Burke - both exceptional writers in their own styles.

Judgement Calls is the first novel in A. Burke's Samantha Kincaid series. Kincaid is a deputy district attorney in Portland, Oregon, when an unwanted rape case falls into her lap. The police desperately want to pursue it, but when Tim O'Donnell, another deputy district attorney wants to merely plead the charges down to assault, the police turn to Samantha. When Kincaid begins to investigate the evidence, she finds the case to be much more than she expected.

While the book started out a little on the slow side - I was getting a little bogged down with all the acronyms and keeping them straight - it picked up quickly. I enjoyed the character of Samantha Kincaid and found myself able to identify with her, especially when she mentions that she is a woman of many contradictions.

I also enjoyed Burke's supporting characters throughout the book: the district attorney, Samantha's father, her high school sweetheart, Chuck, and her best friend Grace.

The acronyms were a bit heavy, but they provided a lot of the realism. Even though Kincaid is an attorney, very little of the of the novel takes place in any court rooms. Instead a lot of the politics of the legal system showed through, also adding to the realism.

All in all, I enjoyed Judgement Calls and am looking forward to the other books in this series.

Better World Books

I was turned on to this FABULOUS website. http://www.betterworld.com/ It's a site where you can buy books - new and used. They support literacy programs with profits from the book sales. And they also help support environmental efforts. For example, they rescue books that libraries are going to have to just throw out. They also employ CarbonFree shipping. Those things alone draw me to it, but then add on the fact that there is NO SHIPPING COSTS in the United States. How awesome is that? The first book I ordered from them cost me $3.50. It was a used book but in fabulous condition. Can't beat it!! Definitely worth checking out!!

Fairstein Releases KILLER HEAT Today!

Linda Fairstein's 10th Alex Cooper novel, Killer Heat, is available today in bookstores. Can't wait to check it out. I'm hearing great things already!!

Hurwitz's Book Within a Book

If this book doesn't make my Top 10 for 2008, it will be a hell of a good year for reading! Gregg Hurwitz takes the reader inside the mind of a man who is trying to prove both to the World and to himself that he didn't kill his ex-fiance in The Crime Writer. And oh yeah, by the way, he happens to be an author of crime fiction. So, to help himself solve the case he starts writing his next book, the story of his investigation.

This is my first Hurwitz novel. After doing a little research it appears that he veered from his normal style to write this book, but regardless of style, this man has talent! Because he was writing this book from the viewpoint of a writer writing the same book, he interspersed sections of manuscript in the book. Below you will see a photo of one of those pages:

I'm not sure how well you'll be able to make out the picture, but one of my favorite lines in the book is part of this section. Drew Danner's editor, Preston, makes a notation for him, "Jackie Collins phoned. She wants her sentence back." How witty! One thing that might have improved the novel would have been to have those edits in red (Danner talks about how Preston edits in red), but I'm sure the cost would have made the book unaffordable. I found myself wondering if these were really the types of things editors marked into manuscripts or if it was merely for the benefit of the novel.

I loved how Hurwitz brought out the flaws in his Los Angeles characters. The characters aren't all beautiful people who do all the right things. Danner falls for a woman who has very alarming scars on her face. He befriends - or be-brothers - a young hoodlum and adopts his dog, Xena, to save her from the Pound. The dog isn't the perfect watchdog despite it's mix breed of Doberman-Rottweiler, and she tears up Danner's house. Even Chic, Danner's best friend, made the ultimate error by dropping an infield fly ball in a professional baseball game.

I also enjoyed Hurwitz's sense of humor. His constant reference to his Toyota Hylander as the "Guiltmobile" is great! And the intercourse between himself and Junior is priceless. Like when Danner has Junior in the car while he is following the man he thinks is setting him up. Junior advises him on his proximity and asks him, "Don't you watch no T.J. Hooker?" Danner's response is "I was watching T.J. Hooker before you boosted your first car." And Junior just can't get over Danner's use of the word "boosted." He promptly corrects him and tells him it's "jacked." And refers to him as "Grampa." Their interaction is a constant role reversal. Danner is learning from Junior.

There is a scene where Danner goes to his editor's condo. The purpose behind that scene alluded me. I know Hurwitz had some point in including it, but I didn't get it.

I do hope Hurwitz uses Drew Danner as a spring board and that this isn't the last we've seen of him. This novel was a high intensity, page-turning, WOW outstanding book! I loved it.