MURDER-GO-ROUND: REVIEWS BY HARRIET KLAUSNER
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Harriet Klausner, was chosen the number
one reader in the entire USA by BOOK Magazine. What does that mean
to you? She reads constantly and knows what's out there and wants
to let you know, too. Read on for tips to great books from the wonder
reader Harriet Klausner. |
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June 2007
Stray
Rachel Vincent
Mira, Jun 2007, $6.99
ISBN 0778324214
Faythe Sanders is a graduate student attending the University of North Texas when a stray “cat” attacks her. Faythe knows the culprit is a rogue belonging to no pack as she fights back defeating her foe. One moment after her triumph, Marc Ramos comes out of the shadows to tell her that her father, the werewolf Pride Alpha demands she come home to the safety of their family compound as another feline werecat Sara has been abducted. Reluctantly she does.
Back at home, Faythe feels like a prisoner as her father and his second in command Marc make demands on her just like they did five years ago when she fled her home to escape them just prior to her wedding to Marc. However when another female werecat is kidnapped; the Sanders Pride concludes that strays are performing the dastardly deeds, but someone is organizing them although their ultimate purpose is unknown. While Faythe and Marc squabble like two tabby cats in love, she knows that she is no fraidy cat so she plans to cat fight the enemy to get out of family incarceration.
There are too many sidebars take away from a fine romantic fantasy yet they also firm up the werecat elements that lead to the audience believing in the Vincent mythos. Faythe is a chip of the alpha block as she fights strays, other rogues, and her love for Marc. He is her equal in many ways although his jealousy of her human boyfriend at college Andrew is overdone. Fans of werewolf sagas will enjoy this war between the cats.
Harriet Klausner
Gloss
Jennifer Oko
Mira, Jun 2007, $21.95
ISBN: 0778324427
New York based morning news TV producer Annabelle Kapner is proud of her recent human-interest story re the beauty industry job creation plan for Middle East female refugees. In fact the piece is so good she receives the rare combo kudos from the suits who manage the station, peers, viewers, and critics though she also receives threats for her exposé.
Her personal life is also going great as she likes and may even loves her nice boyfriend, Washington speechwriter Mark Thurber. However, when Annabelle becomes the news by landing her in jail, she reconsiders her opinion of her top story only to conclude she did the right thing the first time and with her foiled follow-up. As she becomes the media and people favorite, Annabelle knows how high up the DC power structure the glossing over a potential nasty scandal is.
Though using humor to lighten the tone, GLOSS is a deep cautionary tale warning readers to beware of the government industrial complex that prefers to ignore or delay regulatory protection of consumers (NPR just provided stunning comparison of OSHA under Bush 43 vs. previous administrations). The story line uses hyperbole to make a point with exaggeration of some characters and the overall plot, but that mechanism adds to the buyer beware. Fans of deep conspiratorial thrillers will want to read Jennifer Oko’s strong condemnation of the partnership between politics and big business leading to the outcome of ignoring health issues.
Harriet Klausner
Whitewash
Alex Kava
Mira, Jun 2007, $24.95
ISBN: 0778324400
In Florida, research scientist Sabrina Galloway feels excited about working for EcoEnergy as the firm converts waste material into oil and bids on a $140 million military contract. However her euphoria about helping the environment ends when her supervisor Dr. Dwight Lansik vanishes. Although concerned she continues her work until she uncovers a “shut down” reactor is processing something that has nothing to do with making fuel out of garbage and could convert Florida and beyond into a wasteland.
Frightened because she fears Dwight was murdered, Sabrina flees with octogenarian Miss Sadie in the latter’s car bought just after WW II. Seeking help while the police think she killed Dwight and the real culprit wants her silenced, she realizes that terrorists plan for a big bang for at an energy conference with the seeming “WHITEWASH” cooperation of a senator and EcoEnergy.
Leaving Maggie O’Dell, a much needed breather from serial killing profiling, Alex Kava provides a wonderful thriller that grips the audience once the heroine realizes she is a scientist in distress. The plausible story line is fast-paced and loaded with non-stop action, but what makes the cat and mouse chase fresh and entertaining is the support cast who bring humor to the overall serious tone. Ms. Kava is at her best with this one sitting Studebaker escape.
Harriet Klausner
Abandon
Carla Neggers
Mira, Jun 2007, $7.99
ISBN 0778324559
The knife slasher surprised rookie Deputy U.S. Marshal Mackenzie Stewart when he lunged at her. She is fortunate to have survived. However, she believes the intended target is her close friend, federal Judge Bernadette Peacham. She vows to keep Bernadette safe while catching the escaped “pale-eyes” killer.
Mackenzie is assigned to work with FBI Agent Andrew Rook, the last person she wants to be teamed up with. They had a hot three week fling until Rook checkmated her by abruptly dumping her. Still this is no time to stand on ceremony as Mackenzie knows the first object is keeping Bernadette safe though she berates herself for still wanting the rat who abandoned ship just when it looked like they might have something passionately perfect.
This exciting police procedural romantic suspense takes about a little more than a third of the novel before the story line accelerates into the cat and mouse war between the two Feds and Pale-Eyes, but once it does, readers will not ABANDON the tale until the book is finished. Mac is a terrific protagonist while Rook has some commitment issues, but is there once his beloved is under attack. She has doubts that he will remain there as he lacks staying power. Though starting slowly and not the author’s best work, fans will still enjoy Carla Neggers’ fine thriller.
Harriet Klausner
The Tunnels
Michelle Gagnon
Mira, Jun 2007, $6.99
ISBN 077832446X
Two coed students, both children of foreign wealth, are mutilated in what appears to be ritual murders in the tunnels beneath the New England University. The FBI sends Special Agent Kelly Stone, alumni of the school, to lead the investigation that has international ramifications; assisting her is Agent Roger Morrow. However, forcing his way onto the investigation is former agent Jake Riley, who heads security for wealthy and powerful Christou, the father of one of the victims.
Soon other corpses surface that leads to the obvious: a ritual serial killer is on the loose. When another victim is abducted, the two Feds and the private sleuth try everything to prevent another murder. None know that Kelly has been brought into the crosshairs of a diabolical psychopath.
The interrelationships between the three investigators including keeping a romance simmering on the back burner (attraction seems insignificant when dealing with mutilation and other mayhem) make for a fun police procedural. The story line is fast-paced as the actions especially of the realistic portrayed Kelly, Roger and Jake make the tale. Although the killer with his twin motive seems more out of ritual serial killer handbook 101, thriller fans will appreciate Michelle Gagnon’s fine cat and mouse story inside the TUNNELS.
Harriet Klausner
Whispering Rock
Robyn Carr
Mira, Jun 2007, $6.99
ISBN 0778324494
After being injured on the job, womanizer and twice divorced LAPD officer Mike Valenzuela recuperates in the Redwoods town Virgin River, where his Marine buddies Jack Sheridan (see VIRGIN RIVER) and Marine John "Preacher" Middleton (see SHELTER MOUNTAIN) own a bar and grill. His plan is simple, heal and return to work. However, everything changes with one phone call from Jack; his district attorney sister Brie was brutally raped by Jerome Powell, who she tried to recently prosecute for violent crimes, but lost.
Though frightened Brie physically heals but emotionally is off her game. However, she knows that and vows to see that Powell goes to prison as she refuses to take crap from this a-hole. Meanwhile Mike seems to always be there for her. As Mike becomes the Virgin River police, he and Brie fall in love in spite of their marital failures.
The third and final Virgin River tale is a wonderful compassionate romantic suspense with the focus being on Brie, recovering from the rape. As with the previous thrillers, the story line intelligently handles a traumatic social issue that becomes very personal when it happens to you. Robyn Carr provides a great final to one of the best insightful character driven sagas of the year as these real people struggle with harrowing personal problems caused by brutes intruding, in this case physically leading to mentally, into their lives.
Harriet Klausner
Majestic Descending
Mitchell Graham
Forge, June 2007, $24.95, 352 pp.
ISBN 0765318121
Atlanta lawyer Katherine Adams needs some down time so she and her best friend Beth Doliver are going on a cruise aboard the Majestic, a ship that is like a small city with all of the luxuries. Also on board is Dr. Ellis Stephens who is celebrating his scientific breakthrough of growing stem cells in a dish. The rewards from the research means that any organ can be grown form the stem cell. A research company sends a representative to see if Dr. Stephens intends to sell his work, which he is not.
Unknown to the passengers, three terrorists are on the ship and they are planting explosives in strategic locations so that when they detonate it, the Majestic will sink. When the alarm sounds, Katherine sees Ellis’ body with bullets in it. When they are rescued, the authorities want to question her but someone tries to kill her. Katherine figures the murder of the scientist and the sinking of the ship is linked but until she discovers how and who is behind the operation, her life remains in danger because she refuses to give up investigating. She is helped by ex-cop turned lawyer John Delaney who are instantly attracted to one another.
Over nine hundred deaths of men, women and children and the sinking of a billion dollar luxury liner paint a scenario of greed run amok. The readers feel they are in the middle of the catastrophe because the detailed action scenes bring the audience into the plot. The heroine is a strong and likable person who is persistent in her inquiries regarding the murder and the sinking of the ship. She doesn’t let fear paralyze her which is one of the reasons the audience adores her. Mitchell Graham has written a powerful, enthralling and believable (unfortunately) thriller that should land on the bestseller lists.
Harriet Klausner
When Day Breaks
Mary Jane Clark
Morrow, June 2007, $24.95, 336 pp.
ISBN 0061286079
Constance Young, the hostess of Key to America, is leaving for a better position at a rival network and almost everyone is glad to see her go. She has alienated everyone at work with her demands and petulant behavior and is worse to those in her personal life. Her sister resents her as the multimillionaire Constance refuses to help pay for the care of their mother rationalizing that mom lives in Faith’s house instead of a nursing home. Her lover millionaire Stuart Whitaker stole an artifact from the Cloisters museum for her and when he asks for it back she refuses to give it to him.
When she arrives at her Westchester home, Constance goes swimming not realizing someone rigged her pool to electrocute her when a toaster is thrown into the water. The killer perfected this technique by practicing on a dog gotten from the pound. An arrest is made when the artifact which she was wearing on the day of the murder is found in her assistant Boyd’s coat pocket; planted there by the clever killer. The man who gave the dog that was electrocuted to the killer is also murdered as is Constance’s housekeeper who saw the killer. Eliza Blake, the anchor of Key’s headline news, investigates the story and finds she is next on the murder’s row.
Even though the victim comes across as a person with many enemies who had reasons to want her dead, the author makes it clear that nobody has the right to be judge, jury and executioner. She gets that point across through the actions and verbal asides of her characters. Mary Jane Clark provides an excellent gripping mystery that leaves readers wondering throughout who killed the odious Constance as suspects are everywhere.
Harriet Klausner
Gates of Hades
Gregg Loomis
Leisure, June 2007, $7.99, 368 pp.
ISBN: 0843958944
When Jason Peters’ beloved wife died in the pentagon on 9/11, the Delta Force operative swore vengeance on all terrorists. He left the service to work for Narcom, an independent firm whose main client is the U.S. government. Narcom gives the government plausible deniability in a mission impossible scenario. His latest assignment is to kidnap arms dealer Aziz Saud Alazar and turn him over to the U.S. Navy who will rendition him to a country where torture is part of the interrogation process.
The target dies but Jason gets his computer and hands it over to the CIA. A month later he is called to Washington to meet his boss in person but before he leaves his caribean island, thugs come to kill him; he survives but his house is blown up. In Washington he learns that information taken from Aziz’s machine indicates he sold a new kind of weapon to Ecco, called the Breath of Earth run by environment fanatic and criminal Boris Eglov, who lost his family in the Chernobyl meltdown. With the help of volcanologist Dr. Maria Bergenghetti, Jason travels all over Italy to find out what the bio weapon is and what the terrorists plan to do with it and falling in love with his reluctant companion while dodging enemy agents and the Italian authorities.
Readers who love to ride a roller coaster work of suspense will thoroughly enjoy GATES OF HADES. Borrowing elements from an action adrenaline thriller, history and archeology, Gregg Loomis creates a work that is so exciting and filled with enough twists and turns to keep the reader off balance and totally immersed in the upbeat plot. Unlike most thriller writers, Mr. Loomis fully develops his characters so that readers feel connected to them and want to know what happens to them.
Harriet Klausner
To Love and Die in Dallas
Mary Elizabeth Coleman
Forge, Jun 2007, $24.95
ISBN: 0765309343
Lindsey and Annie met in ninth grade at Gaston JHS in Dallas and became best friends. Lindsey could have any boy in the high school, but when she started dating Tommy Lee she often brought Annie with them. On the down side, a White Rock Lake neighbor of Annie, David always was irritating her even more than her overly protective mother.
Decades later Annie calls David pleading with him to help her. David’s wife is unhappy that Annie has returned into his life because it reminds her that she will always be second fiddle. Annie needs David to recover an incriminating diary that another of their high school friends Butter took. The diary implies that Annie was involved in the shocking recent murder of Lindsey, wife of a US Senator. Unable to say no, he meets her at an old hangout, Frances’ restaurant the Cellar. David is hooked, but he does not know yet in what. Everything he learns points towards Annie as either a killer or a conspirator in Lindsey’s death while at the same time that Dallas County Homicide Detective Malone begins to unravel the bizarre knots and twists of the movers and shakers who know how TO LOVE AND DIE IN DALLAS.
This is an interesting police procedural with a fascinating climax that will shock the audience. The story line uses extracts from the diary to tell the teen years of mostly Annie and Lindsey through the perspective of the former. That provides insight into their personalities, but also slows down the prime plot of did Annie murder Lindsey although other suspects surface. Still this is a well crafted whodunit with a strong fully developed cast. Once the reader starts TO LOVE AND DIE IN DALLAS, it will prove difficult to stop as Mary Elizabeth Coleman hooks fans with the need to know if Annie killed her best friend and why.
Harriet Klausner
Darkhouse
Alex Barclay
Delacorte, Jun 2007, $23.00
ISBN: 0385338791
As part of official policy following the shooting of a weapon, NYPD police officer Joe Lucchesi goes on leave after he shot and killed kidnapper Donald Riggs, but not before the culprit murdered his victim and her mother. Needing to get away from the city, one year later he takes his wife and their son Shaun to Waterford, Ireland.
However, Shaun's girlfriend vanishes for no apparent reason. Joe assumes Riggs’ best friend Duke Rawlins is deeply involved as he believes Katie Lawson was abducted. He explains his theory to the local Garda, but they treat him as if he is a paranoid loose cannon rather than a peer. When they do nothing, Joe begins an investigation that angers the Garda who warn him that he cease and desist or he will be sent home.
This is an interesting relationship drama that includes deep discerning looks at families and at blood pacts that will stun and delight the audience. The story line focuses on how people act with one another as readers see first hand how the Lucchesi family get on with one another and why Rawlins reacts like he does with the death of his best friend Donnie. Fans of character driven cat and mouse thrillers that allow the suspense to simmer will want to read DARKHOUSE.
Harriet Klausner
Volk's Game
Brent Ghelfi
Holt, Jun 2007, $23.00
ISBN: 0805082549
Alekei "Volk" Volkovoy lost a leg during the Chechnya hostilities. Still in spite of his combat injuries, the Russian works two jobs with lethal efficiency. He is a formidable criminal not to mess with who makes large sums of money in all of the major illegal activities; he is also a covert military operative comfortable with assassination.
In St. Petersburg’s renowned Hermitage Museum, Volk’s two vocations merge when he learns of an unknown Da Vinci masterpiece hidden underneath the work of some minor leaguer, Pierre Mignard. He recruits the beautiful cold blooded killer Valya to help him steal the Leda and the Swan. Together they begin the quest to purloin the Da Vinci even as another team member makes the mistake of double crossing these two effective killers.
VOLK’S GAME is a delightful over the top antihero thriller that satirizes the James Bond tales using stereotypes to lampoon 007 and other super agents of a like ilk. The story line starts at hyperspeed and keeps accelerating until the final bloody confrontation. Volk is a fascinating lead character who is not admirable yet readers will enjoy his escapades especially when he goes on an avenging rampage. Not for everyone, fans who enjoy the antics of a kick butt macho rogue, perhaps thug might better describe him, will want to tour Russia’s underbelly with Volk as a guide to the seamier side of life.
Harriet Klausner
White Corridor
Christopher Fowler
Bantam, Jun 2007, $24.00
ISBN: 0553804502
Although Raymond Lnd is technically the head of the British Peculiar Crime Unit, Arthur Bryant and John May, creators of the PCU actually run it. After decades of always being open for business, Raymond partially closes the unit down for a few days while Bryant and May head to a spiritualist’s convention only to be trapped by a snowstorm in Dartmoor.
Also on the same snowbound road are Madeline Gilby and her son, who are running from Johann Bellocq traveling the same route; she met Johann in France and they made love, but afterward he confessed that he killed his mother. Madeline believes he has killed others too and stolen their identities. He also informed her that he murdered the man whose house they were in when they made love. Madeline meets the detectives who pledge to keep her and her son safe. At the same the two stranded sleuths try to assist the PCU by cell phone with a murder case. A pathologist in a locked autopsy room surrounded only by the dead was killed; only four PCU staffers had the key. If not resolved immediately, PCU could be in trouble as a VIP is coming on an inspection visit.
This is an entertaining, twisting and exciting police procedural that occurs during a terrible blizzard that has paralyzed much of England. The heroic detectives are past the age of retirement so they depend even more so on their mental acumen and experience rather than brawn as some of their younger peers might. The two cases are tied together by the stranded pair as they seek to keep a mother and child safe from a diabolical killer while also trying to solve from a distant remote site a wonderfully executed locked room case. As always rules are meant for others when Bryant and May are on the job.
Harriet Klausner
The Divine Appointment
Jerome Teel
Howard (Simon & Shuster), June 2007, 352 pp.
ISBN 1416543384
The most liberal Supreme Court justice has died and the president, a right wing pro-life politician, nominates Dunbar Shelton to replace her. He is considered right of the mainstream conservatives and the democrat senate won’t let his nomination out of committee. Politics makes for strange bedfellows when the president’s chief of staff agrees not to support republican’s candidates, thus causing a democratic majority in the next election, with the Senate majority leader.
Stella Hanover, leader of the National Federation for Abortion Rrights, a powerful and heavily funded lobby group, uses every dirty trick in the book and breaks some laws to increase the heat on the leader of the senate, Senator Proctor to withdraw his support of the candidate. In Tennessee, a young lawyer is killed in her apartment and Tag a skilled physician is arrested for her murder. He is represented by Eli Faulkner and Jill Baker who connect his case to the events happening in Washington. Jill flies to Washington to team up with Holland Fletcher who has part of the story; between the two of them they come up with answers that could get them killed.
Whether one agrees with the president’s stand on abortion or not, nobody could doubt the convictions of his feelings on the issue. He stands up to what he believes is morally right which makes the audience admire if not like him. The sad part of THE DIVINE APPOINTMENT IS that the audience will believe the events in this tale could happen. Jerome Teel writes a totally awesome and exciting political thriller that shows how low and dirty politics and its players can get.
Harriet Klausner
The Face of Death
Cody McFadyen
Bantam, Jun 2007, $24.00
ISBN: 0553804669
In Canoga Park, California, sixteen year old Sarah Kingsley has blood all over herself. Inside her home is a massacre with three dead naked people lying in a bed in the master room. The distraught teen sits amongst them holding a gun to her head and insisting she will only speak to FBI Special Agent Smoky Barrett, chief of the four person violent crimes unit in Los Angeles; Sarah read that Smoky lost everything she cherishes so would understand her. If her demand is not met, she will kill herself.
Sarah tells Smoky that "The Stranger", killed her adoptive family, as he has done with anyone she has gotten close to throughout her life. With the girl sounding sincere especially in her diary and after the Jack, Jr. Ripper case (see SHADOW MAN) Smoky believes Sarah is telling the truth as she thinks the Stranger exists and is trying to manipulate Sarah into something but the cop is not sure what. As she and her team investigate, she thinks of her late child and her newly adopted daughter as the impetus to stop the Stranger from further murders.
From the moment Smoky “negotiates” with Sarah to the final confrontation five days later, this exciting thriller grips the audience who at times wonder if the Stranger exists. The action-packed story line is fast-paced, but belongs to the key trio. Smoky contemplates a job offer at Quantico that will allow her she thinks to run from her demons while everyone ponders if she lost it as the evidence of a Stranger is based solely on Sarah’s belief. Sarah is a fascinating teen who has seen so much horror in her life, she knows nothing else. Finally, the Stranger takes on mythical proportions as readers see him through Sarah’s frightened eyes. Though the motives for the homicides are over the top, FBI crime thriller fans will enjoy Smoky and the killing bandit.
Harriet Klausner
Foul Play
Tori Carrington
Forge, June 2007, $23.95, 317 pp.
ISBN 0765317435
Sophie Metropolis is a private detective in her uncle’s agency who lives and works in Astoria, Queens. She is close to her family and is trying to figure out how to make her ex-fiancé Thomas stop from pressing charges against Grandfather Kosmos. He assaulted him after learning that the diamond he gave him for Sophie’s engagement ring was switched with a cubic zirconium. Sophie’s friend, the owner of a restaurant is under threat of being sued because a customer eating there found an ear in her soup.
The agency is getting a lot of missing pet cases and the manager thinks Sophie should investigate because the numbers are suspicious. The case that interests Sophie is the one involving Mets pitcher Reni Venezuela. His wife wants Sophie to follow him because he his had a dramatic change in his personality in the past two weeks. After following him quite a few times she is caught by his security detail and has to keep borrowing cases from friends if she wants to stay on the case. A reporter who is working on a story concerning Reni ends up beaten and taken to the hospital and Sophie is almost killed.
Readers who love Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels will thoroughly enjoy Sophie’s escapades as the heroine is an adorable and unique person who deals better with her professional life than she does with her personal one. She even rejects an Adonis looking Greek god who adores her because she is afraid of getting hurt. Tori Carrington captures the ambiance of a Queens’ neighborhood to perfection while the mystery is well plotted with a surprise twist that readers won’t see coming.
Harriet Klausner
Love Kills
Edna Buchanan
Simon & Schuster, June 2007, $25.00, 320 pp.
ISBN 0743294769
Miami reporter Britt Montero is on a Caribbean island with no thoughts of ever coming back when her best friend Lottie a photographer at the same paper shows up. Lottie convinces her to go back to work so she doesn’t have time to brood over the death of her fiancée. Before they leave they find a disposal camera on the beach with three photos left to be taken. When they get it developed, the pictures are of a couple enjoying their honeymoon
When the coast guard sends a release that a boat went down in the Caribbean, Britt recognizes the photo of the missing couple as the same ones in the pictures she found. The groom Marsh Holt is found alive but his wife is dead, trapped inside when the boat sunk during a sudden squall. Britt feels sorry for the man but her reporter gene goes on red alert when he disappears after the funeral. His wife was insured for a million dollars and further research shows Holt had married several times with each of his new wives dying in accidents on their honeymoon. Britt decides to pursue the case especially when she fears he is getting married again and finds herself in a race to stop the wedding before he takes his wife on a deadly honeymoon.
Edna Buchanan has written a chilling thriller about a serial killer who is under no suspicion from the authorities because he cleverly plans each move he makes. In a twist, Britt ends up in jail for “stalking” him. When readers first meet the antagonist they feel sorry for him for his loss, but when they learn the truth about him, like Brett, they hope this “black widower” is caught and punished. LOVE KILLS is an appropriate title for this dark and deadly story, a trademark of the author’s style.
Harriet Klausner
Spare Change
Robert B. Parker
Putnam, June 2007, $24.95, 304 pp.
ISBN 0399154256
Twenty years ago Boston police detective Phil Randall was head of the task force that was committed to apprehending The Spare Change Killer, who killed without regard to stereotype but always left three coins by the victim’s body. He kept on writing to Phil, trying to engage him in a dialog until abruptly killings stopped. Now, two decades later, somebody with the same MO is killing again.
Phil is hired by the Boston police force as a consultant and he brings along his daughter Sunny, a private detective who was as good a cop as he ever was. During the third homicide, the police seal off the scene and people within the perimeter are held for questioning. At police headquarters, one of the suspects seems to be getting off on being questioned. Sunny goes in and within minutes she tells the investigators they have the killer. Most of the officers believe her but they have no evidence or cause to search his premises. Sunny is determined to take him down and has ways of doing it that the police are unable to use because they are illegal.
Robert B. Parker has written another exciting police procedural with well defined well liked characters who are full of snappy dialogue especially when events are at their most serious. Sunny works the case as a way of avoiding personal issues such as her inability to live with or marry a man even one she loves who has just separated from his wife for her. Sunny is a more complex character than Spencer and just as likeable.
Harriet Klausner
Double Take
Catherine Coulter
Putnam, Jun 2007, $25.95
ISBN: 0399154248
It has been six months of being the “black widow” feeding frenzy for the media, but now Julia Ransom can whistle for the first time since her renowned husband the medium Dr. August Ransom was brutally murdered. In San Francisco she looks forward to dinner with her late spouse’s friend Wallace Tammerlaine but now leisurely walks on Pier 39 to the rail looking out at the Bay when a man punches her in the jaw and takes out a knife. Another person shouts FBI so the tosses her into the Bay. Special Agent Cheney Stone saves her life. He calls his pal SFPD Captain Frank Paulette to take charge of a professional hit attempt probably connected to August’s unsolved homicide.
At about the same time as the Julia assault across the country, though three years have passed, Maestro, Virginia, father of two boys Sheriff Dixon Noble has begun to move past his grief for his wife Christie who disappeared three years ago, thanks in part to meeting Ruth. However, he learns of Charlotte Pallack, who is a dead ringer of his spouse. He travels to San Francisco to see first hand this Charlotte though he has no hope she is his beloved Christie who he assumes is dead. Soon these seemingly divergent cases connect bringing agents Savich and Sherlock joining with Dix, and Cheney as they investigate the murky otherworld of psychics while an apparent serial killer is sending the mediums to join their spirit compatriots on the other side.
DOUBLE TAKE is a terrific S&S FBI thriller refreshed by the appearances of Cheney and Dix (who appeared in the previous tale POINT BLANK). The story line is fast-paced and ties up a major loose end from POINT BLANK (what happened to Christie?). The psychic connection adds a bit of fun and mysticism to the mysteries. Though the motives will prove too standard, fans will enjoy Catherine Coulter’s latest suspense thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Are You Scared Yet?
Hunter Morgan
Zebra, June 2007, $6.99, 480 pp.
ISBN 0821779451
In southern Delaware, the small town of Stephen Kill is usually a quiet place and very little crime occurs there. It is mostly from domestics or drunk and disorderly conducts. There was a serial killer who worked her trade in the town last year but she was found in large part due to detective Delilah Swift. She comes from the south and has a relationship with Chief Snowden Calloway although there are two problems working against it: his biracial background that he family would condemn and he is her superior which is against the rules.
When a young man disappears, his parents are frantic because he is a good person who would never do anything to worry them. His car with the cell phone and wallet on the seat is found; a few days later his body is found in the same pond where last year’s serial killer drowned. Several other women disappear. Their cars and bodies found in the same way. Snowden and Delilah know they have another serial killing on their hands. The culprit believes in providing a service to people by killing these sinners and hopes one day to obtain Delilah’s approval.
Hunter Morgan has written another exciting thriller that sends chills up and down the readers’ spines because almost anyone could be kidnapped and killed. The heroine is a multi-dimensional character who deals with several problems at once and like normal people, not all of them she handles successfully. Though the probability of two serial killers working Stephen Kill seems overwhelmingly unlikely, readers will believe in the validity of these murders. ARE YOU SCARED YET? is a must read for reader who love romantic suspense police procedurals with the accent on the investigation.
Harriet Klausner
In Pale Battalions
Robert Goddard
Delta, Jun 2007, $12.00
ISBN: 0385339208
Six months ago Leonora Galloway’s husband died in their Somerset cottage. Now adjusting to the single life of a septuagenarian widow, Leonora crosses the Channel to visit Paris with her single daughter Penelope, who is half her age. Her son Ronald is married with responsibilities so he remains in England.
The mother and daughter travel to Thiepval Memorial to the dead and missing of the Battle of the Somme. There Leonora seeks one name amidst the 73,412 men without a grave. Her father “Hallows, Captain the Hon. John …” allegedly died in this battle. However, to her shock, the commemoration of Leonora's father states he died on the 30th April, 1916, but she was born on 14th March 1917. Whereas Penelope assumes her grandmother had a wartime indiscretion, Leonora knows otherwise. She begins to explain to her daughter the deceitful murderous side of the aristocratic family that she kept secret from her spouse and two children all these years.
This is a reprint of a terrific Robert Goddard tale that is, as always, filled with surprising suspense laden twists with a final spin that will leave the audience breathless and stunned. The story line traverses several decades as Leonora explains her past to Penelope. Although at times sugary nostalgia slows down the overall exhilarating plot, fans of Mr. Goddard will appreciate his fine intriguing family thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Death By Pantyhose
Laura Levine
Kensington, June 2007, $22.00, 256 pp.
ISBN 0758207859
Freelance writer Jaine Austen is going through a dry spell and desperately needs a job. When stand up comic Dorcas in answer to Jaine’s ad in the newspaper calls her up to see if she would write material for her, the near bankrupt author reluctantly agrees. The comic’s trade signature is that she throws pantyhose into the audience at the end of her show.
At their first meeting Jaine sees Vic, a comic who is really funny, heckling Dorcas from his seat at the deli where they all meet. He doesn’t ease his harassment when Jaine goes to the Laff Palace to see Dorcas perform. Dorcas bombs but Vic is really funny thanks to his writer Hank. At the end of his act, Vic announces that he signed a network pilot deal with his new agent Reagan Dixon who he intends to marry. In that moment, there are three people who are furious with him including his agent who was with him from the very beginning, the woman he lives with, and the female he is having an affair with. Dorcas goes berserk and starts strangling him. She stops before she kills him but the next day Jaine sees in the news paper that Dorcas was arrested for killing Vic with a pair of her pantyhose and the police caught her standing over to body. Jaine doesn’t believe Dorcas is the killer so she investigates starting with the three suspects who had reason to hate the victim.
Laura Levine pens a humorous amateur sleuth mystery that is enjoyable and entertaining, the perfect beach read. The heroine endears herself to her audience with her conversations with her cat Prozac, her e-mails from her parents and her asides to the readers. Though her reasons for sleuthing seems like ripped nylons, this fast paced tale with colorful and eccentric characters, including the heroine and an abundance of suspects with viable motives come together to make DEATH BY PANTY HOSE a wonderful reading experience.
Harriet Klausner
Stalin's Ghost
Martin Cruz Smith
Simon & Schuster, Jun 2007, $26.95
ISBN 0743276728
Moscow Police Department Senior Investigator Arkady Renko is horrified by the path that the clues of his current investigation take him as he looks into an apparent murder for the “firm”. The evidence stacks up that the killers have employed two former Black Beret Chechnya War heroes turned police detectives, Nikolai Isakov and Marat Urman.
That murderer for hire case is bothersome because of the apparent killers being his peers. However, the second case is more bewildering as Renko investigates accounts by seemingly reputable witnesses who claim they have seen STALIN’S GHOST in the subways. Finally he also inquires into the sudden deaths of Black Berets who served with Isakov. As he works his three cases, Arkady sees the tie between them is Isakov, who is an untouchable as he runs for public office. Still Renko, in spite of threats warning him to back off or join the growing morgue population, seeks proof that will hang even the powerful Isakov.
This is an excellent Russian police procedural that will provide acclaim to Martin Cruz Smith as he excels with this deep look at the forces manipulating contemporary Moscow. The story line is classic sleuthing as Arkady methodically works one clue at a time on his three cases. His efforts serve as the focus keeping the investigations moving forward and coherent. Readers will enjoy his sixth outing as STALIN’S GHOST will be considered one of the sub-genre’s top tales of 2007.
Harriet Klausner
The Sleeping Doll
Jeffery Deaver
Simon & Schuster, Jun 2007, $26.95
ISBN 0743260945
California Bureau of Investigation Agent Kathryn Dance leads the investigation into capturing deadly psychopathic prison escapee Daniel "Son of Manson" Pell. Kathryn concentrates on recapturing this cold blooded killer, who with his "family" of runaways murdered the Croytons and two of their children. The only survivor of the massacre is nine-year-old Theresa “The Sleeping Doll”.
Pell may be insane, but he proves to be brilliant as he eludes his adversary leading her on a not so merry dance. The CBI Investigator knows she is closing in on her dangerous enemy, but seems always one step too late. Still as she uses her knowledge of kinesics (body language) to ascertain veracity of potential clues from those she interviews especially amidst the “family”. She continues her hunt for this madman who she fears is bringing in a new flock into his fold for his next murderous spree.
Having been a support player in the Lincoln Rhyme led THE COLD MOON; Dance proves she can be the star attraction as her approach using kinesis clues that will fascinate the audience. Pell is a good opponent as he and Dance tango in a cat and mouse caper. Fans will appreciate the heroine especially her refreshing and unique investigative methodology and the usual Jeffery Deaver twists and turns as he provides a new hero for his fans to cherish.
Harriet Klausner
Vineyard Stalker
Philip R. Craig
Scribner, Jun 2007, $24.00
ISBN 0743270452
Though he loves his wife and kids, retired Boston cop J.W. Jackson looks forward to some quiet time at home in West Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard. However his spouse’s friend realtor Carole Cohen begs J.W. to help her brother. Apparently, someone is harassing Roland “the Monk” Nunes, a Vietnam vet who owns choice property where he lives by himself. Carole believes this unknown adversary wants to frighten Roland into selling his land cheaply.
J.W. agrees to investigate. As he looks at the motive Carole provided to him, J.W. wonders if a cousin Sally Oliver or the neighbor Melissa Carson and her financier fiancé Alfred Cabot are behind the threats. However, his inquiry takes a nastier turn when murder raises the stakes.
The latest Martha's Vineyard Mystery is a fresh investigative tale that spins into a murder case. J.W. is at his best as the clues point towards suspects who know the reclusive Monk and include the person who “hired” him. The homicide spin is a terrific twist that affirms how good Philip R. Craig is as a writer. Fans of the series already know that; newcomers will be searching the dunes for previous Jackson thrillers.
Harriet Klausner
Burning Bridges
Laura Anne Gilman
Luna, June 2007, $4.95, 410 pp.
ISBN: 0373802749
The Cosa Nostradamus is the magical community consisting of three major groups; the council of mages, the lone jacks who are independent operators, and the fatae, the non-human species Wren is a Retriever, a thief who uses her talent magic to steal things that her clients want. Her lover Sergei is a null (no magical talent) who left the organization of the Silence, a group who protect humans from larger darker forces to become an entrepreneur.
Both are loners but in the present climate, Wren can no longer stay on the sidelines. For years the fae were attacked and the lone jacks did nothing and now a vigilante group founded by an unknown organization is killing lone jacks. The fatae and the lone jacks for the first time in history along with the council organize a truce to find out who the enemy is and neutralize them. When a target is killed, by nulls and those who have talent, the truce is broken and the council withdraws. However the fatrae and the lone jacks are united in their determination to strike out at the enemy while Wren and Sergei are lovers fearing every step they take will make matters worse. A confrontation is coming and when it happens it will change alliances.
Laura Anne Gilman writes some of the best supernatural fantasy on the market today. BURNING BRIDGES is a fantastic urban fantasy thriller with loads of action, protagonists that are likeable and understandable and a conspiracy that hides in the shadows using disposable minions to further its aims. Wren is a strong willed person while Sergei is a tortured soul who is tugged between two opposing groups who have claims on his loyalties. Readers will await the next installment in this series to see how the coming war bears out.
Harriet Klausner
The Harlequin
Laurell K. Hamilton
Berkley, June 2007, $25.95, 432 pp.
ISBN 0425217248
Vampire executioner Anita Blake never thought she would see the day that Malcolm, head of the vampire Church of Eternal Life, would come to see her for help. When he does, she thinks he wants to get her lover Jean-Claude, Master of St. Louis, to withdraw his order to have his congregation perform the blood oath. Instead he tells her that something powerful that he fears is watching him but that he can only dimly sense it though he won’t reveal any details to her.
When she tells Jean-Claude he mentally raises his shields so she can’t read his mind and tells her if she is lucky she will never have to know what Malcolm is talking about. That hope is shattered when someone gives Anita a white mask. When she tells Jean-Claude about the gift he is scared and tells her to meet him in his office at the club. While there someone mentally manipulates Anita, and some vampires and shifters that are in Jean-Claude’s office using amplified anger to start fights. Jean-Claude who has also received a white mask tells Anita that The Harlequin, the policing agent of the Vampire Council, are in town. They and their human servants and their animals to call are endowed with special powers from their creator. Jean-Claude thinks they are in town to observe Malcolm’s vampires but then they are attacked by these creatures that are breaking their own rules of only observe. An unforeseen betrayal leaves Anita, Jean-Claude and the werewolves vulnerable to attack but an unexpected ally joins the fray giving them the strength to battle their unbeatable foe.
Laurell K. Hamilton has written an exciting and action driven urban fantasy that has much less sex then her previous Blake novels. This means that the talented Ms. Hamilton has many more plotlines she fully develops that crisscross the main plot of the HARLEQUIN and add depth to the storyline. Anita is portrayed as a person more at peace with herself. She realizes there is nothing wrong with having several lovers and is overjoyed that she is gaining control of her powers. Though the Harlequin is a caricature of the evil vampire, readers will thoroughly enjoy this creative, spellbinding and provocative work.
Harriet Klausner
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