Never Go Back by Lee Child - a review

Reacher’s at it again; out to save whatever soul falls across his path, only this time he is drawn in to his old Battalion command, the 110^th through the voice of a woman; a woman who is in his former position, commander of the unit, Major Susan Turner.

Seems Reacher has finally been turned by female wiles. He thought her voice sounded nice and he wanted to take her to dinner. Instead he gets taken. It appears he killed a man in a fight years ago and the army has finally charged him now he is back on their territory. Also he is wanted by a former girlfriend who wants child support. Could this be the end of the Reacher episodes after eighteen books? He is back in the army, charged under military court martial, and has a child to support with apparently a new girlfriend, who by the way has been removed from her post for taking a bribe.

Reacher was never one to sit and languish in a cell. And anyway he smells a rat. Someone with a voice as sweet as Susan Turner could never have taken a bribe, he’s sure of that. He breaks them out of jail and they begin a cross country chase to discover the truth on all the above allegations. As usual nothing is what was initially conceived to be but it is the way that Reacher discovers the truth and sticks it to the man at the same time that is classic Lee Child at his best.

Without giving the plot away let it suffice to say that Reacher lives to wander on in his normal post-conquest way and Child will be bringing him back to you as soon as the nineteenth volume is hot off the presses.

Candle The Moon by Candi Cornell - a review

With more twists than a corkscrew and a story more complex than fine wine “Candle the Moon” leads us through a suspense-laden murder mystery in Tucson through the eyes of private investigator, Maggie Moretti.

It all starts with the mysterious murder of Nicki, the daughter of Sophia, Moretti’s father’s goomatta, who was attempting to blackmail Maggie throwing suspicion of motive on several people, including Peter, the fiancé of Lisa, Maggie’s BFF. Only Maggie knows how close she comes to being killed, and where Nicki’s body is hidden, but can she keep that secret and distribute enough misinformation to make others think that Nicki just ran off with a wealthy man to explain her being missing?

Over the years, Maggie, in her role as P.I., has helped several wealthy women out of a tight spot as they prepared to battle against soon-to-be ex-husbands in divorce court, none more than wealthy heiress, Jane. When it turned out her lying, cheating scum of a husband was Maggie’s ex-husband Joe Stygian, she is happy to help put the screws to him. What Maggie doesn’t know is that Joe was cheating on Jane with Sophia, who in turn put out a hit on Maggie because of the ill-will between Maggie and Nicki. Joe, partner in bed and in crime, took that hit and sold it to his twin brother Dan, and so the story revolves again.

The reader is dragged through this hot delicious mess, hoping for a happy ending, but Cornell has left room for more than one twist in the end to make you shake your head in wonder, and sets up the next saga in Maggie’s twisted life wonderfully. Bring on the sequel.

Murder at the Leopard by R.M. Vassari & L. O. Lampe - a review

In Sicily, Amodeus and his wife Ysabella open a tavern in Palermo. The Leopard is built to be close to the local tanners, artisans, and craftsman; situated close to both the docks and the city council. Amodeus hopes the shrewd planning will work well for business.

Extra business is anticipated for the opening week, the beginning of Holy week when pilgrims will be traveling from out of town. One, a retired soldier from the Holy wars, has plans to pay a surprise visit to a former acquaintance, Simon, one of the rich traders who lives in the estates in the hills. Business had been very profitable for the cloth trader who, following the death of his wife, made the accumulation of wealth his priority. Now with the civil unrest, war is threatened. Simon recognizes an opportunity and passes on information to the opposition for a price. When two bodies are found, one a drunken patron from the tavern on the city streets, the other in the wine cellar of the Leopard, it looks like they are destined to be a public house of bad repute.

When Simon’s past, and current situation, rears up to meet with the murder of an old friend, and then his own nephew found stabbed in the tavern, followed by the false arrest of Amodeus, it is left to Ysabella and her friends to investigate. Everyone but the authorities are sure the wrong man has been falsely accused. However, not only is there a murder to solve, but the mystery of the four identical gold pieces held by Simon, the old soldier and two others, one who is a  murder victim the other the Archbishop who performs his memorial service. Some forty-year-old business is still to be resolved. What is the link with the current killing spree? As suspect after suspect are systematically eliminated, this historical suspense thriller expertly weaves a tale of revenge, treason, and murder into a very sustainable story.

The Killing Hour by Paul Cleave - a review

It just wasn’t Charlie Felman’s day. Waking from a dream, in cold sweats surrounded by ghosts, he is relieved to know the worst is over until he discovers a large bump on his forehead and blood all over his clothes; blood that does not belong to him.

Seemingly on the run from Cyrus, a man who authorities are unable to locate any record of, Charlie has a dickens of a job convincing the police, and his ex-wife Jo, that he is not losing his marbles and that the bodies that keep showing up in his wake are Cyrus’ victims not his.

Forcibly kidnapping Jo, and stuffing her in the trunk of the car probably is not the easiest way to show his innocence however it is the only way he knows to keep her safe.

Inspector Landry has nothing to lose. His body racked with cancer, he only has a short time left on this earth. He doesn’t believe Charlie’s innocence and drags him into the woods meaning to take care of him vigilante-style. Not until Cyrus shows up, also trying to dispatch Charlie, does Landry realize the error he made and the focus switches to helping each other escape from the claws of the madmen in order that Christchurch’s latest serial killer can be bought to justice.

This is a recent US release of Cleave’s first novel and although it does not involve his trusty and true detective Theo Tate it does involve the Christchurch police force and so again Cleave has managed to link together his collection of works into a malleable group of thrill-a-minute novels that are not to be missed.

The Assassins Club by Dixon Rice - a review

Tyler Goode was just bartending, minding his own business in the flatlands of Montana. He served beer, broke up the occasional brawl, and attended classes at the local community college. He was ruggedly handsome and popular with the local ladies, so when he was attacked after hours by a brute of a man who Tyler had thrown out of the bar the night before, Tyler was ill-prepared for what came next.

Acting in self-defense and in a fight for his life, Tyler got in a lucky blow. With the man lying dead at his feet, Tyler realized that it actually felt great to have ridden the earth of this scourge of wickedness and was surprised at the good feelings this adrenaline rush provided.

Reading in the news about several criminal types who for one reason or another have gotten away with their crimes, Tyler decides to help them see the light and regenerate the rush he gets from killing. The police become aware of these vigilante-style killings and Tyler is always one step ahead of them until one fateful night when they come knocking at his door; however, when they tell him they know he’s doing it, but have no proof and want in on the action, the assassins club is born.

Rice, simultaneously, has a secondary story woven into the plot and it becomes apparent that eventually the two will become at cross purposes with each other. A ‘Jesus–pretender’ has gathered a crowd of followers and is literally dragging a cross across country, leaving a trail of death and destruction behind him, Manson-style. Just what his link is to his final destination, and to Tyler, is the mystery to be solved.

Rice has a written a cleverly compelling story that pulls the reader in knowing that final encounter will lead to the ultimate clash of good v. evil.

 

The Never List by Koethi Zan - a review

As young girls, from middle school to the preliminary years in college, Sarah and Jennifer were inseparable. Afraid of everything from earthquakes to rapists, they made up a series of rules. They called it the Never List. Until they unfortunately violated a basic rule, “never get in a car with strangers,” their lives were pretty straightforward.

When they realized that something about the cab ride was out of the ordinary, it was too late. For the next three years they, and two other girls, where imprisoned in the basement of a house, brutally tortured, raped, beaten, and starved. The opening lines of this novel sound chillingly real: “There were four of us down there… and then, very suddenly and without warning, there were three.”

With the three girls released and their captor, a former college professor, sitting in a jail cell, their lives could go on, but for Sarah it could never end there. Jennifer’s body was never found and she can’t move on until she brings closure to her situation. With the reluctant help from the other two girls that survived with her, they build a trail, going back into the past to move into the future. Their journey becomes a cross-country chase involving religious cults and BDSM dungeons, all leading back provokingly to her past jailer, a man who is about to be set free on probation unless the secret location of the missing body can be unraveled.

As witnesses step forward, you wonder how the police could have missed these clues in their original investigation. The three girls once again find themselves trapped in their original torture chamber and all the pieces fall into place, leaving the reader twisting in the wind as the startling ending jumps out from the darkest place with a loud BOO!

A fast-paced, don’t-dare-put-the-book-down read that will leave you cringing as your darkest fears emerge from the shadows as Zhan takes you to the places you never wanted to go.

The Dark Before Dawn by Laurie Stevens - a review

“The Dark Before Dawn” by Laurie Stevens

Gabriel McRay is a good cop, but when you have anger issues sometimes that is not enough to keep you on the job. After several incidents had been made public in the local newspaper, McRay had to seek the assistance of a psychologist and even then his superiors where ready to suspend him, until the serial killer they were tracking suddenly linked the reasons for the murders to an alleged past history between McRay and himself.

Like it or not, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is suddenly dependent upon McRay looking into his past to figure out who is the killer. Unfortunately, the past is the last place McRay wants to go and it is only with the help of Dr. Berkowitz that he is able to dredge up recollections and visit the dark places he has blocked since his less than stellar childhood.

The killer is striking fast and furiously using the seven chakras, a bodies energy centers, as the clue to his mindless bloody disfigurements and the disposal of the bodies. Not for the faint of heart, this blood-curdling thriller kept me up at night. With so many potential suspects, including the protagonist himself, we are left grasping at straws to the final pages to discover the final clue that brings it all home for McRay as he is forced to confront the evil done to him as a child in order to discover the true murderer.

Stevens nicely weaves together a troubled mind of the protagonist, the tentative beginnings of a relationship between him and the medical examiner Dr. Ming Li, and the start to a new police procedural series.