The Second Life of Nick Mason - Steve Hamilton

Hi my book-loving friends. Sorry for another lull in the blog posts, so much summer wonderfulness is going on...and today's is just now the first day of summer. ;-) Hopefully soon I'll have some exciting news to share, but for now, I have a review to share. My review of Steve Hamilton's The Second Life of Nick Mason first appeared as a starred review in Shelf Awareness for Readers. I am posting it today with their permission. Hope you enjoy.

First line: "Nick Mason's freedom lasted less than a minute."

In a stark departure from his Alex McKnight novels, Steve Hamilton kicks off an impressive new series featuring Nick Mason, a former car thief from Chicago who tries to go straight for the sake of his family but winds up in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Now Mason is sitting in Terre Haute Penitentiary for 25 years to life. He learns the ropes of general population, doesn't make unnecessary waves, but also doesn't let anyone get the better of him. Then everything changes when Darius Cole summons Mason to the Secure Housing Unit.

Cole is the powerful head of a Chicago criminal enterprise in federal prison on a RICO conviction. Despite being locked up, his reach extends far beyond the walls of USP Terre Haute, and he's offering Mason a deal. Cole will arrange for Mason's conviction to be overturned, his slate wiped clean. In exchange, Mason works for Cole for the remaining 20 years of his original sentence.

The desire to return to his wife and daughter convinces Mason to trade his soul to the devil. But when the reality of his deal finally becomes clear, Mason discovers he may have put himself and his family in the worst danger possible.

The Second Life of Nick Mason is a new chapter in Hamilton's career, and it's intensely exciting. The concept is fresh, the action is heart pounding and Nick Mason is a solid protagonist. His halo is tarnished and his intentions are gold. Readers will connect with him and clamor for his return.

The Second Life of Nick Mason is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9780399574320) from Putnam and as an unabridged audiobook (ISBN: 9780451483546), narrated by the wonderful Ray Porter, from Penguin Audio. You can find a copy at your favorite independent bookstore or any of these online retailers:

  

   

King Maybe - Timothy Hallinan

My review of Tim Hallinan's King Maybe first appeared as a starred review in Shelf Awareness for Readers. I am posting it today with their permission. Hope you enjoy.

First line: "Bad luck, as my mentor and surrogate father, Herbie Mott, used to say, arrives on the wind."

In the fifth book of Timothy Hallinan's caper series, Junior Bender is having a run of bad luck. "If--as some ironic people used to say as they flashed air quotes--life was a box of chocolates, someone had sat on the box." First, the Los Angeles burglar finds himself trapped during a burglary by two goons determined to ensure he doesn't make it out of the house alive. Some fancy footwork and quick thinking help him evade the goons but not the hot water.

Hollywood has-been producer Jake Whelan harbors a beef with Junior. In order to set things straight, he demands Junior break into the office of King Maybe, the studio exec who makes or breaks people in Tinseltown. But when the seemingly easy job is turned on its head, King Maybe might just break Junior.

To top it all off, Junior's daughter has boy trouble and he's on the outs with his girlfriend, Ronnie. Part burglar, part cupid, Junior will have to up his game if he has any hope of making it through the week alive.

Timothy Hallinan is an incredibly gifted writer with a knack for blending vivid settings, exciting plots, dynamic characters and clever humor to create captivatingly complex stories. King Maybe exemplifies all of this. From his sensory-stimulating description of a low-rent hotel room to the insightful development of Junior and Ronnie's relationship, Hallinan's writing is so distinctive and refreshingly original, it would probably be fitting to crown him the caper king.

King Maybe is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9781616954321) from SoHo Crime and as an unabridged audiobook (ISBN: 9781504616669), narrated by the wonderful Peter Berkrot from Blackstone Audio.

  

   

Lies, Incorporated - Ari Rabin-Havt

I've been a bit remiss in getting my Shelf Awareness reviews posted lately, so I'm going to try to have a run of them here and catch up. Today's review is Lies, Incorporated: The World of Post-Truth Politics and it first appeared in Shelf Awareness for Readers. I am posting it today with their permission.  A very good read for this political season.

First line: "Richard Berman is a liar."

While researching The Fox Effect, The Agenda radio host, Ari Rabin-Havt continually questioned where lies and propaganda filtering through the controversial news network were originating. As he points out, "Lies do not simply appear and take hold. They must be developed, introduced, and nurtured into the public discourse." Rabin-Havt's research into various falsehoods indicated the existence of a profitable industry doing just that on behalf of those willing to pay for it. He called this business Lies, Incorporated. Bestowing the name on his book, Rabin-Havt examines the origins of some of the most significant deceptions muddying the current political waters.

Through meticulous examinations of issues such as climate change, immigration reform, gun control and others--issues where scientists and other researchers have publicly debunked the lies preventing progress, yet they continue to cling to the important conversations and debates--Rabin-Havt theorizes Lies, Incorporated is a result of "a political culture where ideological victory, not progress, is the ultimate goal. Where what is good for my country plays second fiddle to what is good for the bottom line of my clients." 

Well-researched and documented, Lies, Incorporated presents hot button topics with diplomacy and tact. It won't likely convince every reader to relinquish the stronghold on their ideologies--Rabin-Havt himself says, "it is far easier to ignore the truth than to confront the failure of your argument"--but it is convincing motivation to closely scrutinize the evidence on which one bases their beliefs and hold the political media accountable for reporting practices.

Lies, Incorporated is available in trade paperback (ISBN: 9780307279590) from Anchor Books and as an unabridged audiobook (ISBN: 9781515956334), narrated by Mike Chamberlain from Tantor Audio.

  

  

Midnight Sun - Jo Nesbø

My review of Jo Nesbø's Midnight Sun first appeared in Shelf Awareness for Readers. I am posting it today with their permission. Hope you enjoy.

First line: "How are we to start this story?"

Jo Nesbø's narrator in this standalone thriller is running from The Fisherman, a powerful drug lord with eyes everywhere. He knows it is only a matter of time until he is found, but figures Kåsund, a small village in the far north of Norway, is as good a place to hide as any.

Introducing himself as Ulf, up from Oslo to hunt grouse, the narrator meets Lea and her precocious son, Knut, when they discover him sleeping in the church. Lea loans Ulf her husband's rifle since he has nothing to hunt with and shows him a small cabin in the woods where he can stay. Time alone in the secluded shack affords Ulf the opportunity to reflect on the past he's trying to escape. But he also spends time with the newly widowed Lea and grows fond of young Knut. Those familiar with a Nesbø novel know serenity can only be short lived, and it isn't long before Kåsund's visiting hunter becomes the hunted.

Midnight Sun is short, swift and thoroughly captivating. The author of the Harry Hole series continues his trend of well-crafted, surprising plots populated by complex, haunted characters. Midnight Sun offers several superb plot twists as well as strong symbolism, like the 24-hour sunlight offering no darkness in which to hide, and well-placed humor. The relationship dynamics of Kåsund's colorful citizens adds to the suspense and illustrates Nesbø's skill for rich, dimensional characters, regardless of their role. Ulf is arguably one of Nesbø's finest; his return would certainly be welcome.

Midnight Sun is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9780385354202) from Knopf and as an unabridged audiobook (ISBN: 9780553545999), narrated by Kim Gordon from Random House Audio.

  

   

Where It Hurts - Reed Farrel Coleman

My review of Reed Farrel Coleman's Where It Hurts first appeared in Shelf Awareness for Readers. I am posting today with their permission. Hope you enjoy...

First line: "Some people swallow their grief."

Reed Farrel Coleman, author of the Moe Prager PI series and Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series, introduces Gus Murphy, a retired Suffolk County police officer who now drives an airport shuttle for the run-down Paragon Hotel of Bohemia. Murphy, haunted by the unexpected death of his son from a hidden heart defect two years earlier, also lives in the dilapidated old lodging facility.

Tommy Delcamino, a low-level thief Murphy arrested while still on the force, pays him a visit to request help. Tommy's son, TJ, was tortured to death and the police seem to be ignoring the murder, so Delcamino wants Murphy to look into it. Murphy explodes thinking the ex-con is trying to take advantage of Murphy's own personal tragedy. When Murphy goes looking for Delcamino, intending to apologize for his behavior, he encounters two armed men who escape while shooting Murphy in the leg, and finds the remains of the elder Delcamino.

Still reticent about investigating the murders, Murphy decides he needs answers why these men died. He had no answers, no one to blame for his son's death, and he thinks if he finds answers in this case they will help him heal; instead he opens a huge can of worms that just might kill him.

Sharp, clever dialogue, a dynamic cast of characters representing the cross-section of cultures in Long Island and an engaging plot keep Where It Hurts gripping and entertaining. Gus' authenticity, his flaws and his complexity make him a character readers will eagerly anticipate. An excellent beginning to a series with great potential.

Where It Hurts is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9780399173035) from Putnam and as an unabridged audiobook (ISBN: 9781504661140), narrated by Chris Andrew Ciulla from Blackstone Audio.

  

   

What Was Mine - Helen Klein Ross

My review of Helen Klein Ross' What Was Mine first appeared in Shelf Awareness for Readers. I am posting it today with their permission.

First line: "Kidnapped."

Told from an array of perspectives, Helen Klein Ross' intimate debut tale of a kidnapping makes determining right and wrong--justice and crime--a fuzzy shade of gray, nearly impossible to pinpoint and full of ambiguity.

The law has no doubt that Lucy Wakefield committed a felony when she carried Marilyn and Tom Featherstone's four-month-old daughter, Natalie, out of a New Jersey IKEA store and drove away with her. But twenty-one years later when the truth is finally exposed and Natalie--a.k.a. Mia Wakefield--is a college senior preparing for law school, the ramifications aren't so cut and dry. They are weighted down with the emotion of humanity, the intensity of memories and other forces that exist outside the vacuum of the U.S. justice system.

Ross explores those forces by telling the story from many people's points of view. Primarily the narration of Lucy, Marilyn and Natalie/Mia, the novel also offers insights from others including Lucy's sister, Marilyn's second husband and their children, and Mia's Chinese nanny. As one character's rage sweeps the reader up into its twisting storm, the next character chimes in and snatches the empathy for herself. This emotional tornado illustrates how powerful and far-reaching the eye of the storm can be. It also highlights the destruction that isn't so easily visible or assessable.

A powerful plot told with exactly the right approach, What Was Mine is capable of sparking plenty of discussion whether it is over a water cooler, in a book club or simply in the reader's mind.

What Was Mine is available in trade paperback (ISBN: 9780316309677) from Gallery Books and as an unabridged audiobook (ISBN: 9781442396371), narrated by Julia Whelan, Cassandra Campbell, Amanda Carlin, Rebekkah Ross and Jonathan Todd Ross from Simon & Schuster Audio.