Monthly Archives: May 2011

Review: Native Tongue by Carl Hiassen

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Native Tongue opens with one of those only-in-America scenes in which a holidaying family is driving along a Florida highway in Key Largo when a rat-like creature lands in their car. After screeching to a stop and leaping from the vehicle the family are trying to work out how to get the thing from under a car seat when a helpful Trooper arrives on-scene and shoots the thing. Three times. Comedic crime fiction book reviews are probably not the place to ponder the state of America’s gun-mad culture so I won’t go there but it would be dishonest of me not to admit I considered stopping the book at that point (and yes I do know it’s a comedy). I did listen on though and enjoyed the tale which followed in which we soon learned that the rat-like creature was an endangered species which had been stolen to order from The Amazing Kingdom of Thrills, a family entertainment park owned by Francis X Kingsbury. The theft starts off a chain of events which incorporates several more shootings, an explosion, the development of an unlikely friendship and a couple of human deaths caused by animals, including a sexually frustrated one, that’ll leave you chuckling at the animal kingdom getting its own back.

I have only read a couple of Carl Hiassen novels but even so I can discern the commonalities. They mostly take place in Florida, they are of the caper/satire variety and they tackle environmental themes. In those respects Native Tongue is no different to the others but there are surprises-a-plenty in the small details of this book. It is in the deft and delightful characterisations and the genuinely funny writing that this book’s enjoyment is to be found.

The characters include Joe Winder, a former journalist who has been forced by circumstances and much to his chagrin, to become a PR man for the seedy theme park. Early on Joe Winder starts to think something fishy about the story he’s being asked to write press releases about versus the things he knows to be true. His girlfriend, who writes erotic scenarios (and poetry) to be used on the phone sex line she works for, thinks Joe Winder should concentrate on just being a PR man and forget his journalistic training but Joe Winder can’t help but get involved. Another gem of a character is Molly McNamara, the environmental activist and grandma who is not afraid to break the law to achieve her aim of stopping more development in the area, though she shoots people who use curse words or take a prescription drug that isn’t theirs so she’s got an odd set of morals. My favourite character though might be Pedro Luz, the steroid over-dosing, crooked, ex-cop who is in charge of security at The Amazing Kingdom of Thrills. His descent into a version of madness is hysterical.

There’s some clever satire in the novel too, with my favourite example coming towards the end when Joe Winder no longer works for the theme park (no that really isn’t a spoiler) and he goes into a battle of press releases against the park’s own PR man. For anyone who has ever had to write, or read, the spin that is a modern press releases, or anyone who’s ever wanted to take some non-violent revenge on a former employer this sequence of events is brilliant (if entirely implausible).

I did think the book too long (repetitive in parts) and I found the use of all the characters’ full name every time they were mentioned utterly annoying. I suspect this is much more noticeable in audio than it would be in print and I could discern no reason for it other than to be annoying. However, these are relatively minor quibbles in what is otherwise a genuinely funny romp with several outstanding moments and a not-so-gentle environmental message to boot. The audio book is very-well narrated by George Wilson.

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My rating 3/5
Author website http://www.carlhiaasen.com/index.shtml
Narrator George Wilson
Publisher Recorded Books [this edition 2008, original edition 1991]
ISBN N/A (downloaded from audible.com)
Length 15 hours 47 minutes
Format audio (mp3)
Book Series standalone
Source I bought it

Putting the spin on books

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I have thought for some time that it must be fairly easy to get a job as a book blurb writer* because you don’t have to be very good at it. Most of the blurbs I read either give away so much of the plot it’d be pointless to read the book after having read the blurb, or they completely and utterly fail to describe the book at all. Anyone could do that right?

Of course I was wrong.

Blurb writers are f***ing brilliant at their jobs. The reason I thought differently was because I didn’t understand what their job was until recently. Their job is not to accurately summarise a book or tease you with early snippets similar to what you might expect if you read the book. Their job is to sell you the book. They don’t care a damn whether or not you read the book once you’ve bought it, or like the book once you’ve read it. All they care about is that you buy it and they’ll pile on as much spin as they have to get you to do it.

My epiphany on this issue came to me when I was reading the other reviews for Box 21 (a.ka.a. The Vault) at Good Reads. I had finished reading the book and written my own review and, as is my habit, I started to browse the other reviews of the book. Quite a lot of them concurred roughly with my own views (the book was ugly and sad but brilliant) but quite a few of them were scathing. On closer inspection most of the ones in this category were upset because their reading experience did not match the expectations set by the book’s blurb writers and sticker-putter-onners.

As is the case with virtually anything coming out of northern Europe these days Box 21 was sold in America being similar to Stieg Larsson’s millennium trilogy. Of course anyone who has actually read that trilogy and Box 21 will know that likening the two makes about as much sense as comparing a sofa to kitchen sink but the blurb writers know that lots of people liked the Larsson books and the odds are that those people would buy something similar. The blurb writers don’t care that their claim for similarity is not true as long as the claim gets  people to buy the book. And it worked. Plenty of people bought the book expecting something similar to the Larsson books they enjoyed and were disappointed (in the same way that you would be if you bought a sofa but the store delivered a kitchen sink).

Now that I have woken up (however belatedly) to the reality that blurb writers don’t give a damn about readers I understand why the back of my edition of Camilla Lackberg’s The Preacher says “chilly…just like the icy environment it describes” despite the fact the entire book takes place in a sweltering Swedish summer and the heat is mentioned approximately 817 times throughout the story (people sweating, buying electric fans, fainting with heat exhaustion, being on summer holidays….). But in blurb-writing land Scandinavia = cold so a major plot element is ignored and not allowed to get in the way of a good, book-selling blurb.

It can be dangerous, or at least expensive, to make threats on the internet these days so I won’t share my fantasy in which all the world’s blurb writers are collected together and set atop a giant bonfire. I’ll just suggest you stop reading their blurbs. They’re bullshit.

*for the purposes of this post I am lumping all people who put things on book covers/jackets (blurbs, stickers, pull-quotes) under the umbrella heading of blurb writers (it’s more polite than the collective noun I use in my head).

hat tip to Karen of Euro Crime for the pics

I’ve (virtually) climbed Mount Logan

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I’m prepared to accept that reading 13 books is not quite as rigorous a challenge as climbing the highest mountain in Canada, and I’m sure it was a lot more fun but the stages of the Canadian Book Challenge #4 were all names after mountains so I’m happy to claim the scalp. For the challenge I needed to read 13 Canadian books (written by Canadians or set in Canada) between 1 July 2010 and 1 July 2011 so I’ve squeaked in with a month to spare. And here they are one more time:

Book 1 - April Fool by William Deverell (rated 3.5) A funny tale featuring an over 50 lawyer battling the forces of environmental destruction.

Book 2 - The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney (rated 3.5) An evocative historical fiction tale featuring the hunt for a murderer in remote Canada in 1867. This one ties for the best sense of place of the bunch.

Book 3 – The Devil’s in the Details by Mary Jane Maffini (rated 3.5) A victim’s right’s activist is named the beneficiary of the will of someone she can’t remember meeting which turns out to put her life in danger.

Book 4 –  Dead Politician Society by Robin Spano (rated 3) A Toronto politician is killed and a young female policewoman goes under cover in a local political science course to see if the murderer can be found.

Book 5 – The Taken by Inger Ashe Wolfe (rated 3.5) The discovery that a body in a lake is really a mannequin should bring relief to 62 year-old policewoman Hazel Micallef but it starts a strange game of cat & mouse with a killer.

Book 6 – The Dead of Midnight by Catherine Hunter (rated 3.5) A crime fiction book club losing members due to their grizzly deaths. Eeek, a little close to home :)

Book 7 - Negative Image by Vicky Delany (rated 3.5) A fashion photographer is murdered in the fictional town of Trafalgar (BC) and local policeman John Winters is under suspicion for the crime.

Book 8 – A Colder Kind of Death by Gail Bowen (rated 3.5) Joanne Kilbourn becomes a murder suspect when the man who is in prison for murdering her husband is killed.

Book 9 – Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt (rated 3.5) A young girl’s body is found 5 months after she was assumed to have run away and Detective John Cardinal must investigate this crime and others linked to it. This was the other book that tied for best sense of place as it had very strong imagery. It would have rated 4 but for the rather lengthy focus on the torture perpetrated on some of the victims. 

Book 10 - The Edge by Dick Francis (rated 4) The only ring-in but the book features an across-Canada rail trip on which an English Jockey Club investigator goes undercover to try to stop a criminal deed. It’s Dick Francis at his storytelling best.

Book 11 – The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood (rated 2.5) A dystopian future not unlike many others depicted for us I found this one a bit predictable and very, very slow. It didn’t help that the audio book contained the book’s hymns being sung by a dweeb with a guitar which was very grating on the ears.

Book 12 – The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny (rated 3.5) In a fictional Quebec village the body of a man is found in the local bistro which is odd enough but even more peculiar is that no one in the small village admits to knowing who he is.

Book 13 – An Ordinary Decent Criminal by Michael Van Rooy (rated 3.5) A funny and engaging tale in which an ex violent criminal moves to Winnipeg where some people are determined not to make it easy for him to ‘go straight’.

I can’t really draw any insightful conclusions about the state of Canadian crime fiction (all but one of these books was in my preferred genre) other than that I think it’s in fine shape if a near random selection of books can produce 11 out of 13 books rated A good, solid entertaining read with a spark of something special or better on my personal rating scale. The only theme (if you can call it that) I noticed is that more than a few of the books dealt with tough subjects through the use of humour that seemed similar in some ways to the Australian way of looking at things. Of course this could be because I naturally selected books like that when scouring descriptions and reviews for challenge books.

I will be reading more by many of these authors which is, I guess, at least one aim of the challenge and have another Canadian book nearing the top of my TBR pile which will count towards the Global Reading Challenge.

Review: An Ordinary Decent Criminal by Michael Van Rooy

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After a strong start I’ve let my completion of the Canadian Book Challenge limp along for the past few months but have finally gotten around to reading the 13th and final book which allows me to (virtually) reach the summit of Mount Logan (all the challenge’s steps have been named after Canadian mountains).

Monty Haaviko has killed, stolen, sold drugs and spent quite a bit of time in prison. But, at 32, he’s changed his name (though almost no one calls him by the new one), has recently married a woman he loves, is the proud father of 10 month-old Fred and has just moved to Winnipeg determined to go straight. However when his house is broken into by three men one night and all of them end up dead at Monty’s hands few people, especially not the Winnipeg police, believe that he was sincere in giving up his life of crime. Monty, ably assisted by his wife Claire, have to prove his innocence and come up with creative ways to stop to the campaign to run them out of town.

I can’t remember who or what prompted me to get hold of this book (other than its Canadian-ness) but I’m very glad I did as it is a refreshingly unpredictable tale.  Monty borders on being a little bit too clever at MacGyvering his way out of problem situations to be 100% credible but Van Rooy has used enough gentle humour and self-deprecation in his protagonist to make me want to believe in the character and I ended up willing him on to success at defeating his enemies with only length of rope and a drill bit. I also like the fact that his definition of ‘going straight’ is different from what mine would be (no killing but petty theft and the odd small con job seem to be OK) because that is more believable than someone managing to make a switch in one fell swoop. Perhaps the most likable characteristic about him for me though is that he never once downplays his violent, criminal past or tries to brush it off as someone else’s fault. He just wants people to accept that he’s done all the prison time he was sentenced too and is now a changed, or at least changing, man.

The plot unfolds well, almost in two parts as first Monty deals with extricating himself from the immediate legal problem of having killed intruders in his house and then moves on to sorting out the bigger problem of the campaign against him. There are lots of really terrific scenes in which Monty spots potential set-ups and manages to wriggle out of them before they do much damage (during which I learned many helpful hints for turning to a life of crime should the urge ever arise) and it’s fun to watch him turn the tables on his tormentors. My one quibble is that I never quite swallowed the motivation behind the tormenting but that’s a small thing really as I could well believe it was happening regardless of the reason.

I really had no expectations of this book by the time I plucked it from the TBR pile so was chuffed to find characters and a storyline that were unusual and engaging. It was one of those books I took every opportunity to read (e.g. gobbled up some pages while standing precariously on the bus) because I really became quite desperate to find out what would happen next. It does require a higher-than-usual suspension of disbelief but it’s worth it for the large dose of fun and the opportunity to question one’s ingrained stereotypes about good guys and bad guys. 

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Though only in his 40′s Michael Van Rooy passed away earlier this year, so this and the two subsequent Monty Haaviko books are, I assume, all that we’ll see.

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My rating 3.5/5
Author website http://www.michaelvanrooy.com/
PublisherRaven Stone (2005)
ISBN 0888013132
Length 341 pages
Format paperback
Book Series #1 in the Monty Haaviko series
Source I mooched it

Crime Fiction Alphabet: S is for Science

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As you might have guessed by now I’m using this year’s round of Crime Fiction Alphabet to both tell you about books I like and get you to give me recommendations for new books to read that feature themes or character types that I enjoy (for when I finally get my TBR mountain under control) (in a couple of years). That goes double for this week, I love crime fiction that features science of the vaguely credible variety or scientists that aren’t mad and I haven’t found nearly enough of them. Though I have collected a few favourites.

Officially it’s probably more of a thriller than it is crime fiction but I’m prepared to bend the rules for Martin Woodhouse‘s Tree Frog (1966). The first of five novels featuring scientist Giles Yeoman who is an aeronautical engineer working, very reluctantly, for the British Government’s Seeker Section and it opens with the crash in England of an un-piloted plane that appears to have originated in East Germany. In some ways this is a typical cold war thriller in which the race is on to perfect long-range reconnaissance aircraft but Yeoman’s deadpan dialogue and reliance on his scientific knowledge and skills to get him out of tight spots is a refreshing change from the more violent spy-thrillers of Woodhouse’s contemporaries. I will admit though it’s been a long time since I read this book and I wonder if it might have dated (as happened with Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain which I used to love for similarly science-y reasons but was disappointed by on a recent re-read).

Randy Wayne White has a long-running series featuring a Florida-based marine biologist Marion (Doc) Ford, who was once an intelligence agent for the US government. In his fourth outing, 1996′s Captiva, Doc Ford is called upon by his best mate (a burned-out hippie) to investigate the death (via a bombing) of a friend of his. The story revolves around a clearly contentious (and real) fight between sports and commercial fishermen and whether or not net-fishing should be allowed. There’s more science and thoughtfulness in the ensuing ecological and economic debate than you might expect from this kind of thriller. The series can be a little more ‘blokey’ (a few more explosions, car chases and violent outbursts) than I might normally enjoy but the characters are multi-dimensional and the science is generally pretty solid.

Alex Brett is a Canadian writer who has (as far as I know) only written two mysteries both featuring Morgan O’Brien who is an investigator of scientific frauds working for the Canadian government. In the second of the two books, Cold Dark Matter (2006), Morgan is called upon to collect the research diaries of an astronomer who apparently committed suicide while working in Hawaii. Her questioning of the suicide, and the unexpected competition she encounters for the research data of the astronomer, leads Morgan to uncover some of her own government’s well-kept secrets from the cold war era. It really is a fascinating novel and the scientific issues in it (and its predecessor Dark Water Creek which will teach you amazing things about salmon fishing) are explored intelligently and entertainingly. It’s a shame that Alex Brett appears not to be writing any longer.

As you can see I’m a bit light on for scientific mysteries so do let me know if you have a good recommendation (I’m ignoring medical doctors and forensic specialists for this category).

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Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise is hosting the crime fiction alphabet meme which requires the posting of an article relating to the letter of the week. Do join in the fun by reading the posts and/or contributing one of your own. You don’t have to write every week.

Review: Buried Strangers by Leighton Gage

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The buried strangers of this book are the remains of dozens of people discovered in a secret cemetery in an urban forest outside São Paulo, Brazil. Chief Inspector Mario Silva of the Federal Police has to trick his self-absorbed boss into allowing him to travel from Brasilia to investigate the case. What he and his small team, which includes his nephew and fellow policeman Hector, discover is that the bodies were all buried relatively recently and that many of the graves contain multiple bodies including what appear to be family groups. Silva also makes use of the local detective who was first called in on the case and he starts to unravel the rather ghastly tale when he hears of a family that has recently gone missing.

Leighton Gage really is a terrific storyteller. In this book we spend a concentrated amount of time with several key characters on both sides of the law and Gage, using just the right mix of plot advancement and character background, absorbs the reader in each mini-story in turn and makes turning just one more page a necessity rather than an option. The various threads eventually wind their way to a satisfying and credible conclusion, though there are several twists away from the predictable along the way.

Something this book shares with its predecessor is a very strong sense of place with many aspects of Brazilian life and culture being depicted though, sadly, it is the unpleasant, uncomfortable elements that are the most memorable. We see public life in which corruption is the norm and integrity the exception. We also see a country where human life is not all equal, a theme all the more powerful because the author restrains himself from preaching or judging, choosing to demonstrate the reality through credible characters and situations which force the reader to ponder what they might do if confronted with similar circumstances.

There is also a really lovely sense of humour in the book, shown mostly through the relationships between Mario Silva and his team such as the gentle ribbing everyone gives Hector over his infatuation with a young pathologist. This adds to the credibility of the characters overall and offers some much-needed relief from the subject matter which, although less overtly violent than in the first book of the series, is at times equally harrowing. Buried Strangers has all the things that good crime fiction should offer: engaging characters, a rollicking good story and some things to make you think long after the book is back on the shelf.

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Buried Strangers has been reviewed at Crime Scraps and Kittling: Books

I have also reviewed the first book in this series, Blood of the Wicked

Norman from Crime Scraps also posted an interview with Leighton Gage just prior to the original publication of Buried Strangers in 2009. It is in three parts: one, two and three.

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My rating 4/5
Author website http://www.leightongage.com/
Publisher Kindle editiob [this edition 2010, original edition 2009]
ISBN this eBook edition did not have one
Length 251 pages
Format eBook (ePub)
Book Series Number #2 in the Chief Inspector Mario Silva series
Source Provided free by the author

Aussie Authors Update #1

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Earlier this year I decided to post my reviews of Aussie crime fiction exclusively at my other blog, Fair Dinkum Crime, which I co-host with fellow Australian blogger and crime fiction fan Kerrie of Mysteries in Paradise. As the sole purpose of that blog is to review and discuss Australian crime fiction the decision made sense but has resulted in a distinct lack of Aussie crime fiction here at Reactions to Reading. That just feels all wrong to me so I have decided to post an occasional summary post about Aussie crime fiction here.

LINE OF SIGHT by David Whish-Wilson

Synopsis: In Perth, Western Australia in 1975 Ruby Devine, brothel madam and mother of three, is shot and killed in her car by the side of a highway. Some months later there has been no arrest and, some would argue, no proper investigation to speak of. Superintendent Frank Swann of the WA Police has accused his fellow officers of the crime and its subsequent cover up. Although his accusations have led to the establishment of a Royal Commission (the highest form of official enquiry possible in Australia) Swann’s life and the lives of his family are at real risk. In fact his oldest daughter has disappeared and Swann is fairly sure she is dead at the hands of the same cops who killed Ruby. Unfortunately he doesn’t have enough evidence, or enough living witnesses, to put them away.

Review summary: The book captures its time period and its setting beautifully. The language, the cultural and political references, the policing methods, the isolationist stance that Western Australians had (still have?) are all ably shown in a myriad of small ways and I really did feel transported back in time. The many scenes of utter desperation and despair in the book are, for the most part, balanced out by the inclusion of Swann’s perseverance and the Royal Commissioner’s slowly dawning strength to provide a really satisfying and highly recommended read.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime, My rating 4/5

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THE MAYA CODEX by Adrian d’Hagé

Synopsis: The book opens in Vienna in 1937. With Hitler about to take control of his native Austria, Jewish University Professor Levi Weizman reluctantly agrees to accompany a Nazi expedition to the Guatemalan jungle. The Nazis are looking for proof of the superiority of their Aryan heritage, while Weizman is looking for a document believed to have been written by the Mayans many centuries ago. When the book jumps forward to the present day Levi Weizman’s granddaughter Aleta is following in the family tradition of archaeology. She too is searching for the fabled Mayan codex, purported to be a warning about a catastrophe that will befall the world in 2012. But she has made some powerful enemies in the CIA and the Catholic Church. CIA Agent Curtis O’Connor is sent to kill her but decides instead to join her search for the codex

Review summary: Overall The Maya Codex is an intelligent thriller that presents a plausible (if far-fetched) doomsday scenario that incorporates a rather chilling amount of credible details about our recent and not-so recent history.  The characters are pretty standard fare for a thriller but the book does offer some insight via an overall theme exploring the corrupting influence of knowledge and power on a collection of unlikable individuals. If clever, high-speed romps are your thing I can recommend this one.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime, My rating 3.5/5

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THE TOWER by Michael Duffy

Synopsis: In Sydney’s CBD they’re building the world’s second-tallest building. One night a woman falls from The Tower and happens to land on a police car below. By the time Detective Sergeant Jon McIver and Detective Senior Constable Nicholas Troy of the Homicide Squad get to the scene it has been determined she which floors she could have fallen from and is a systematic search is underway. Although they are told to wait for the search to be completed McIver disappears into the upper floors and when he doesn’t return Troy becomes worried and goes after him, a little worried about McIver’s tendency to drink while on duty. McIver and Troy, along with the construction site’s security manager Sean Randall, do have an encounter that leaves one of the three injured. In the subsequent investigation the woman is eventually identified and the list of her possible killer(s) grows quickly.

Review summary: This first novel in a series introduces is fairly unique character for crime fiction in Nicholas Troy. He’s young-ish (early 30’s), doesn’t have the demons that many of the most famous fictional crime-fighters have and is not yet as jaded or set in his ways as an older man might be and is still trying to work out the kind of man, policeman, father, husband he is or wants to be. The book also has several other really interesting male characters, a first-rate depiction of Sydney and an almost true-crime sensibility. It’s well worth a read.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime, my rating 3.5/5

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THE BLACK RUSSIAN by Lenny Bartulin

Synopsis: Jack Susko is a second hand bookseller with major financial problems. When he is delivering an old art catalogue to a customer the gallery belonging to said customer is the subject of an armed robbery. In addition to stealing the contents of the safe the thieves take off with the contents of Jack’s bag which, of course, was one of the few valuable items he owned (a rare first edition of an Ian Fleming novel that he was on his way to a buyer with). This turns out to be only the beginning of Jack’s woes as he reluctantly finds himself the centre of attention for several competing groups of evil villains.

Review summary: the book’s sub-genre is hard to pin-point but it’s somewhere in the vicinity of black comedy with hints of satire and old fashioned hard-boiled detective caper thrown in. The character of Jack is entirely believable and he’s likeable too and I would recommend this to anyone who wants a book that has a definite Australian feel to it (the setting, the people and the attitude are spot on). Of course if you just want smart wisecracks and a slightly absurd romp it’ll fit that bill nicely too.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime, my rating 3.5/5

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THE WRECKAGE by Michael Robotham

Synopsis: In Baghdad we meet Luca Terracini an American journalist investigating a series of bank robberies that no one else seems terribly interested in, despite the enormous sums of money involved and the sheer number of robberies. Meanwhile in London when retired policeman Vincent Ruiz witnesses a young girl being hit by her boyfriend he plays the good Samaritan; a decision he regrets when one of his most precious keepsakes goes missing. At the same time the wife of an English bank executive reports her husband missing. In a complex but thoroughly riveting plot these disparate stories eventually intertwine in an all-too credible tale of corruption on a grand scale and the lengths people will go to hide it.

Review summary: Although it features a couple of characters familiar to readers of his earlier novels, Michael Robotham’s seventh book is something of a departure from its predecessors; more political in content and also more of an international thriller. It is a very current book, delving into such issues as the current state of play in Iraq so many years after the war began, the fallout from the global financial crisis on the world’s banking institutions, and the bizarre combination of hard slog and good luck required to gather intelligence about terrorists and their evil plans in these uncertain times. While the story is certainly fast-paced and full of action and suspense, Robotham has managed to stay clear of sensationalism, develop engaging characters and providing a more thoughtful and thought-provoking book than the average thriller. It’s probably my favourite of Robotham’s books.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime, my rating 4/5

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NAKED CRUELTY by Colleen McCullough

Synopsis: Taking place throughout 1968 this is McCullough’s third novel to feature Police Captain Carmine Delmonico and his team who battle the evil doers of Holloman, Connecticut. The book opens with a brutal rape which the victim, Maggie Drummond, reports to Police although the rapist warns her not to. What soon becomes clear is that Maggie was not the first victim of this rapist, merely the first brave enough to come forward. After publicity it transpires that a number of have been raped in an exclusive suburb. However, even having a string of earlier cases from which to garner evidence, the crime spree is not solved quickly. Part of the reason for that is the Holloman PD is stretched to the limit with damaging vandalism, a high-profile kidnapping and the discovery of a weapons cache at a local high school on their plates at the same time as the vicious rapes.

Review summary: I am a huge fan of Colleen McCullough and her writing (as I wrote about upon reading her second book in this series) but I’m afraid this book just didn’t work for me on many levels at all. The historical setting has too many modern sensibilities, there are far too many characters for any to be depicted in any depth and the plot is jam-packed with threads of which many are downright silly. Overall I found it superficial and pretentious, with only a few hints of the humour and adventurousness that I enjoyed about its predecessor.

The full review is at Fair Dinkum Crime, my rating 2/5

Review: Priest by Ken Bruen

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Priest opens with its anti-hero, Jack Taylor, having been virtually catatonic in an asylum for five months, following the event that occurred at the very end of The Dramatist. If you have read the earlier novel you will not think that unreasonable at all (and if you haven’t Jack does explain early on what led him to his current low point). But a chance encounter pulls him out of his fugue state in time to leave the institution and be called upon by his old nemesis, Father Malachy to investigate the beheading of a local priest.

That synopsis makes the book sound more like a traditional crime novel than it really is, when really the crimes are a device for Bruen to explore the changes he has observed in Irish society. The most significant of these is the impact of the exposure of widespread paedophilia by Catholic priests and the sustained cover-up by the Church. The impact on individuals, as Jack tracks down two men who were abused by the recently murdered priest, is beautifully depicted, though, of course, extremely sad. And through the first-person telling of the story by Jack we also see the impact on the wider society which was once, in various ways, held together by the Church and its representatives (the priests) and is now adrift somewhat without the familiar anchor. Having been raised Catholic (now lapsed) I have read and watched whatever I can get my hands on about this theme, both fiction and non-fiction, and I cannot recall having read anything which depicts the far-reaching impacts of this series of events as thoughtfully, intelligently and accurately as has been done here. Bruen has teased out what the media coverage, with its sensational headlines and moving on to the next story after 5 minutes, always misses: the lasting impact on victims, their families and all the connected people who’ve had their beliefs shattered.

Jack is more ‘together’ than he thinks he has a right to be here, though ‘together’ is a relative term. He acquires a home (several at one point), and a trainee and does his job with a little more dedication than in the previous novel though he is, at heart, one of life’s losers which is soon borne out. Though he is a loser with the soul of a poet and his ode to Ireland, and its people, which is partly what this book felt like to me, is quite haunting. As is his depiction of both alcoholism and depression and their effects upon the sufferer, which makes more sense and has more clarity than most of the non-fiction you’ll read on either subject.

The rest of the characters are somewhat minor players who surround Jack for the most part but even if their appearance is fleeting they’re all brilliantly drawn. One who stood out for me was a nun who looked after Father Joyce (prior to his beheading). I might have grown up half a world away from Ireland but I know nuns exactly like her: sharing both behaviour and fears. Bruen has captured perfectly the impact the Church’s hierarchy enforced social deprivations has on such a person.

There’s no getting away from the fact that Jack Taylor and his exploits make for melancholy reading but Bruen manages, through a combination of humour and wonderfully crisp writing that doesn’t enable the reader to wallow in despair, to make it an enjoyable experience. I’m being a bit harsh in not giving the book a full 5 stars but the ending was a smidgen less brilliant than the ending of its predecessor so I thought it only fair to knock off a half a star.

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Priest has been reviewed at Kittling Books,  Yet Another Crime Fiction Blog

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My rating 4.5/5
Author website http://www.kenbruen.com/
Publisher Corgi Books [2010]
ISBN 9781409085461
Length 183 pages
Format eBook (ePub)
Book Series #5 in the Jack Taylor series
Source I bought it

Crime Fiction Alphabet: R is for Religious Cults

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When I was a university student I was perpetually broke and so was willing to do almost anything for a few bucks or a hot meal. This included acting as a guinea pig for studies being carried out by the campus’ psychology and medical faculties and taking part in the introductory seminars held by the various cult-like groups that always proliferate where young and possibly vulnerable people are. I have many (many) faults but being suggestible and wanting to be part of the in-crowd are neither of them, so I was never in much danger of being sucked into their clutches. I did however develop a fascination with religious cults and how they tick that has stayed with me to this day. Most of the books I have read on this theme are either non-fiction or not in the crime genre but I have found a couple over the years. As always I’d be pleased to hear any recommendations you have for good books on this theme.

Jupiter’s Bones (1998) is Faye Kellerman‘s 11th Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus book and features an investigation into the death in southern California of Dr Emil Ganz, otherwise known as Father Jupiter, leader of a doomsday cult with a belief system based on a curious mixture of maths and mysticism. Although I grew a bit tired of this series some years ago I always liked the way it tackled religious themes in general, neither preaching nor condemning, and this one is no exception. There is. of course, a standard police procedural (with the policeman’s wife pitching in where appropriate) but also a not unsympathetic look at the cult and what brought its members together.

Laurie R King‘s standalone novel A Darker Place (1999) is a terrific story in which Anne Waverly, who is a former cult member, university professor and covert FBI agent, goes undercover in a dangerous cult in an effort to save its members. Having survived her own cult experience but losing a husband and daughter in the process Anne is a tortured soul with self-destructive tendencies and a complicated personality. One of the best things about the book is that it depicts the cult leaders not as rabid psychopaths or outright charlatans but as highly functional ‘normal’ people who believe their version of the truth. this is a far more realistic (if scarier) prospect that the madmen (and women) of TV cults who most people would run a country mile from.

Kerry Greenwood‘s Heavenly Pleasures (2008) is the second of her Corinna Chapman series set in present-day Melbourne. As the book opens one of Corinna’s neighbouring shop-owners is experiencing poisoning of their produce (delicious hand made chocolates) and at the same time Corinna’s recently acquired boyfriend Daniel has started to investigate a mysterious cult that is preying on the young and vulnerable people who frequent the soup kitchen that Daniel helps out at. A much lighter look at religious cults than the other two books mentioned here.

So, do you know any crime fiction featuring a religious cult that I should check out? All recommendations gratefully accepted (with the exception of Meg Gardiner’s China Lake which I have read and did not enjoy nearly as much as Stephen King did).

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Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise is hosting the crime fiction alphabet meme which requires the posting of an article relating to the letter of the week. Do join in the fun by reading the posts and/or contributing one of your own. You don’t have to write every week.

Review: The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg

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In the second of what is now 8 books (though only 4 translated to English so far) we return to the summer resort town of Fjällbacka in Sweden. Writer Erica Falck and her partner, policeman Patrik Hedström, are enjoying a few days’ holiday before the birth of their first baby. Their idyll is interrupted when a recently deceased body and two skeletons are found and Patrik must return to work early and head up the investigation. It soon becomes clear that the skeletons are the remains of two young women who disappeared in the late 1970′s and the body is that of a young tourist. Attention for the murders soon focuses on the feud-ridden Hult family, one of whom was accused of the earlier disappearances (though he died before the crimes were solved). With an incompetent boss and a couple of staff who couldn’t work in an iron lung, Patrik has few resources to help him solve the case as quickly as everyone is demanding.

I very much enjoyed this book though will concede that at least a portion of that enjoyment is sheer relief that the book contained a Swedish bloke who wasn’t a complete bastard (unlike Box 21 which I recently finished). Patrik is a really terrific character. Unlike many of his crime fiction counterparts he is no lone wolf either at home or at work. He is very wrapped up in Erica and their soon-to-be-baby and, even though his work is important, is still involved with their home life (including getting rid of their series of annoying visitors who refuse to leave the house and expect to be waited on hand and foot by the heavily pregnant Erica). At work he relies on his colleagues, well at least the functional ones like Martin, the eager young rookie and Annika who holds the office together and the teamwork they display while doing their jobs and dealing with their idiot of a boss is credibly depicted. While there are plenty of obsessed loner characters that I really like, they’re not always realistic whereas Patrik feels very real indeed.

The story of The Preacher is one I was probably destined to enjoy. I love family sagas and other people’s family feuds. Throw in a charismatic or odd religious character and you’ve well and truly hooked me. This book had all of that with the large Hult family full of complicated relationships and a charismatic preacher as part of their heritage. Although at times I thought the author had forgotten there was a crime to solve I didn’t mind too much as I was quite engrossed by untangling the family history and changing my mind (several times) about whodunnit.

Läckberg’s books are lighter or cosier than many police procedurals, so not recommended for those whose preferences are entirely at the dark/hard-boiled end of the genre spectrum. However if you like your crime fiction to be set within a fairly credible, middle-class environment that most people will recongise (even if you’ve never been to Sweden) then you could do much worse than this book. It could have done with a bit of editing but other than that it’s nicely written, has interesting characters and even a sense of humour.

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I’ve reviewed the first book in this series The Ice Princess which features Erica in a more prominent role.

This book has been reviewed at DJ’s Krimiblog, Euro Crime and Reading Matters

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My rating 3.5/5
Author website http://www.roslund-hellstrom.com/
Translator Steven T Murray
Publisher Harper [this translation 2009, original edition 2003]
ISBN 9780007253944
Length 419 pages
Format paperback
Book Series #2 in the Erica Falck/Patrik Hedström
Source I bought it