The Red Storm by Grant Bywaters Minotaur Books, $25.99, 227 pages, ISBN 978-1-250-07307-5 Writers, Agents, Book Publishers and Reviewers are always looking for something different, something a bit out of the ordinary; something that grabs their attention on page one and never lets go. In today’s hyper frenetic literary world, where thousands of books are published every day, originality is a hard commodity to find. In the mystery crime
The White Van by Patrick Hoffman Atlantic Monthly Press/Grove Atlantic, Inc., $24.00, 240 pages, ISBN 978-0-8021-2304-6 We’ve all been guilty, at some time or another, of staying at the party just a wee bit too long, or succumbing to the exhortations of one of our Good Time Charlie pals, to Awwwgoahead, one more won’t killya . . . and awakened the next day feeling like hammered doggie doo-doo. But
Mysterious Book Report No. 231 Last Words by John Dwaine McKenna There ought to be a special word for novels that have more than one theme, more than one story arc, and a tricky, psychologically-twisted plot interwoven with numerous backstories blended together into a complex and genre-defying literary stew that you just can’t put down once you begin reading. Something like Mindaffectus-Mystery or Terribullistawickedus-Thriller, which would easily identify smash-mouth,
Echowave by Joe Joyce Liberties Press, PB, $15.99, 323 pages, ISBN 978-1-910742-13-6 As an avid and long time student of twentieth-century American and world history, I thought myself pretty well versed in World War II lore . . . until this week’s MBR disabused me of the notion. That’s because it made me aware of the fact that everything I knew about the war was from the perspective of
The Killing Kind by Chris Holm Mulholland Books/ Hatchette, $26.00, 306 pages, ISBN 978-0-316-25953-8 Every now and then, in the process of doing the Mysterious Book Reports, I run across a work that’s so well written and the author’s concept is so original that I become an instant fan. This week’s novel is one of them. It’s been published to rave reviews by the likes of Stuart Neville, Megan
Mysterious Book Report No. 228 Run You Down by John Dwaine McKenna The word Haredi is literally translated from the Hebrew as “One who trembles in awe at the word of God.” The Haredim are “Members of any various Orthodox Jewish sects characterized by strict adherence to the traditional form of Jewish Law and the rejection of modern secular culture,” according to the Oxford Dictionary of English language. The
House of Echoes by Brendan Duffy Ballentine Books/ Random House, $26.00, 383 pages, ISBN 978-0-8041-7811-2 What do you do when your world gets turned upside down? For most of us the answer is easy, but hard: you start over. And that’s exactly what Ben Tierney, his wife Caroline, and their eight-year-old son Charlie decide to do after novelist Ben’s new book stalls out, Caroline loses her prestigious Wall Street
House of the Rising Sun by James Lee Burke Simon & Schuster, $27.99, 433 pages, ISBN 978-1-5011-0710-8 At public events—book signings or speaking engagements for example—a question I’m often asked is Who’s your favorite author? And the answer is always the same . . . Although I’m informed by many crime writers—Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard, James Elroy, Poe, Hemingway, Stephen King, Robert Parker, Ken Bruen, Nelson DeMille and Lawrence
The Animals by Christian Kiefer W.W. Norton & Company, $25.95, 309 pages, ISBN 978-0-87140-883-9 Have you ever experienced poverty? Not the sort where you bounced a check once, but chronic poverty—the type that is constant, relentless and crushing—the kind that destroys self respect, hope and confidence? It’s a condition capable of wrecking relationships and driving some persons to acts of desperation and outright stupidity . . . and it’s
The Devil’s Share by Wallace Stroby Minotaur Books, $25.99, 263 pages, ISBN 978-1-250-06575-9 I have a theory about book covers that goes like this: The size of the author’s name is in inverse proportion to their fame. In other words, popular best-selling writers like Michael Connolly and James Lee Burke will have their names emblazoned on the cover in much larger type than the title. My favorite example of