The Force

The Force is the 7^th Don Winslow book reviewed in the blog, and in this one, he’s changed venues from Southern California to New York City. Winslow’s character and plot development have only gotten better, and if it’s possible, even more gripping. Detective First Grade Dennis John Malone was a veteran sergeant of NYPD’s most elite unit, The Manhattan North Special Task Force. He had graduated from the police academy with all the necessary idealism, but then he faced the real world of police action and the erosion that happened to his idealism. This is a story about corruption, guns, drugs, and sex. After decades on “Da Force” when Denny finally got arrested and placed in the MCC (Metropolitan Correction Center), he thought to himself, “At least, at last, tell yourself the truth. You know exactly how you got here. Step by motherfucking step.” This novel is about Denny’s steps of degradation, the environment in which that occurred, and the myriad of people who were most impacted by his decisions. This is not a book with good guys – just bad guys. Great writing – if you start this book, be prepared to put the rest of your life on hold until you’ve turned the last page.

Presidential Intentions

Presidential Intentions is the first book in a trilogy about Samantha Harrison, who was the first woman Republican candidate for president. The set up is that she will run against a woman on the Democratic ticket. The book sets up the next two novels, so this one is an introduction to Harrison’s character, her family, and those important people around her. Although I’ve not gotten to the second and third books yet, I will certainly do so. It looks like the author is appropriately setting up this conservative candidate to have some very real personal struggles, such as when her right-to-life position is challenged by her daughter’s decision to go through with an abortion. Also, although not personally in favor of the death penalty, as the Governor of Virginia, she must decide whether to allowed a psychopath, Peter Vasquez, to be executed, the very man she had been successful prosecuting some years earlier. I’m eager to read more of the story, so the second book, Presidential Declarations is near the top of my ready queue.

The Wanted by Robert Crais

Devon Connor is a single mom who is worried about her teenage son.  Tyson has never been a good student but he has always been a good kid.  However, his latest transfer to an alternative high school has resulted in new friends, Alec and Amber, who appear to be leading Tyson astray.  Tyson suddenly has new expensive clothes and electronics plus rolls of cash.  Devon is concerned Tyson is dealing drugs but doesn’t want to call the police until she’s positive Tyson is breaking the law.  So, she hires Elvis Cole to investigate.  Elvis quickly learns that Tyson is involved with the two other wayward souls, robbing rich people’s homes.  Foolishly, they keep the merchandise they want and fence the rest.  Elvis gets a list of the victims and their reported stolen merchandise from his cop friends who also tell him they have a video of the perps and expect to soon make an arrest.

Devon hires a lawyer and strikes a deal with the ADA for Tyson if he confesses and turns himself in.  After much coercion Tyson agrees but then disappears before his intended surrender.  Turns out he is infatuated with Amber and wants to warn her of her impending arrest.

Meanwhile, Elvis learns that the police aren’t the only ones looking for the teenage burglars.  Harvey and Stemms are two ruthless hitmen who have been hired by one of the victims to retrieve a stolen laptop computer apparently containing incriminating information about the owner.  Harvey and Stemms know no bounds when it comes to getting what they want.  They also have the video of the crooks and discover their identity before the cops.  They kill one witness and arrange a fatal accident for Alec before he can warn his partners.  Elvis enlists the help of Joe Pike.  Now they are in a race to find Tyson and Amber before either the hitmen or the police make their move.

Crais comes through with another hit in his Elvis Cole/ Joe Pike series.  The contrasting personalities of the two detectives hold your interest to the end.  Elvis with his smart-ass remarks alienates some but endears others.  Pike’s stoic, ‘just the facts mam’ style comes off as just cool.  Together they keep you in anticipation of their direct and decisive response to unwarranted violence.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance look.

Law and Disorder

Law and Disorder is my second Mike Papantonio novel, and it’s the first in his series about Attorney Nick Deketomis, aka “Deke.” In this legal thriller, progressive attorney Deke takes on two powerful adversaries at the same time, a pharmaceutical company whose product killed his daughter’s best friend and nearly killed his daughter as well (he’s also contenting with a corrupt court), and a Texas oil refinery that has been polluting the water table for years and killing the locals as well. The oil refinery is owned by two brothers who inherited their billions and who play their game by psychopathic rules (sounds remarkably like the Koch brothers). When they try to set Deke up for some bad publicity, he accidentally kills his assailant and is then charged with murder. The doctored video of the assault does not look good for Deke. The news coverage is disastrous for the family. I raved about the first Papantonio novel, and I’m equally impressed with the second. The courtroom drama is incredible. So, Mr. Papantonio, when are you going to write your next novel? I’m ready to pre-order it now.

Two Girls Down

I got the chance to read a prepublication thriller from Simon & Schuster, Two Girls Down, by Louisa Luna. Jamie Brandt was a single mother who understandably struggled to deal with the responsibilities for her two girls, 10-year-old Kylie and 8-year-old Bailey. The girls’ father just took off when Jamie was born and he had not been seen or heard from in years. On the way to a birthday party for Kylie’s friend, they stopped at a Kmart. The girls stayed in the car while Jamie ran in to buy a gift which she could barely afford. Despite having been under strict orders not to leave the car, by the time Jamie returned, the girls had disappeared. Very quickly it was determined that they had been kidnapped.

Luna brought a great cast of characters to this story. Alice Vega was the protagonist who specialized in finding missing children, and she was very good at it. Arriving from her home in California, Vega needed some local assistance, and she turned to recently disgraced and voluntarily retired police officer Max “Cap” Caplan, now doing very mundane work as a private investigator. There was more to Cap than his story suggested. He was a divorced father with a precocious 16-year-old daughter, Nell. There were other well-designed individuals in the police department and in the families of all the principal characters, but Vega and Cap were the ones who carried this story.

As Luna developed the characters and set up the plot, the first chapter was a little slow, but by midway through chapter two, I was hooked. My only frustration was that my own life kept interrupting me from reading it all the way through in one sitting – it was that good. The author had twists in the plot that I did not see coming – the resolution was not what I expected. Vega and Cap are the sorts of characters that could carry a long set of novels. I hope to see more from Ms. Luna. The novel is scheduled to be released after the first of the year, so get this one reserved right now.

Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch is in his sixties now but shows no sign of slowing down.  Banished from the LAPD for political entanglements, he works cold cases for the San Fernando Police Department as a volunteer.  He repurposes an old retired jail cell across the street from the police station to serve as his office.  Boxes of old unsolved case files can be locked in his office and an old wooden door laid flat and supported by the file boxes functions as his desk.  Harry relishes the solitude but also enjoys his role as mentor and instructor for the three person SFPD detective squad.  With Maddie away at college, this seems the perfect venue for Harry to fulfill his need to help the helpless by doing what he does best… solve murders of people labeled by society as too unimportant to rectify.

Harry is also expected to work some current cases for SFPD… the murder cases.  Two pharmacists, a father and son are shot and killed execution style in their store.  Evidence points toward a pill shill scam orchestrated by the Russian mob.  Harry finds one of his old partners, J. Edgar now working for the medical board assigned to monitor drug prescriptions.  Edgar has contacts with the DEA and hooks Harry up undercover as a homeless opioid addicted pill shill.  He joins a group of desperate addicts who take questionable prescriptions for opioids to numerous pharmacies then turn the pills over to the Russian mob for resale on the streets.  The desperados are flown in an old parachute jump plane to various cities, rich with pharmacies, all over California and are housed in a tent farm in the desert.  Harry hopes to assist the DEA in finding the mob leader as well as the murderers… a dangerous endeavor.

Meanwhile, bureaucratic wheels are turning to free the long-imprisoned Preston Borders who has new evidence that Bosch, once upon a time, framed him.  Harry arrested Borders decades earlier for the rape and murder of a young woman and was instrumental in putting him away.  Now armed with a new lawyer and DNA evidence, Borders is accusing Bosch of planting evidence that wrongly convicted the good citizen.  Bosch remembers the case well and knows in his soul that Borders is guilty.  But Harry’s over zealous reputation and his nasty separation from the LAPD have everyone including his former trusted partner, his half-brother, Mickey Haller and his daughter questioning his actions.  Harry’s reputation as well as everything he stands for is on the line.  He hires Mickey as legal counsel and puts his investigative skills to work to refute Borders’ claim.

Connelly has been my favorite author for decades and shows no sign of letting up.  Harry Bosch’s profound need to help the helpless, no matter who they are, whether he is paid or not, keeps him alive as a human being and as an extraordinary protagonist for a fiction writer.  What will Connelly do next to extend the career and adventures of Harry Bosch?  How is it possible after twenty books to keep getting better and better?

Depraved Indifference

Depraved Indifference is the second of 29 books in the Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi series, written by Robert K. Tanenbaum. I’ve very favorably reviewed both the first and last novels of this series. These are legal dramas which are played out in the office of the New York City District Attorney. Karp and Ciampi are the protagonists – compelling figures. I jumped into this book eagerly, and the set up was excellent. The story takes place in the mid 1970s. Under the threat of setting off a bomb, a group of Croatian terrorists highjack a plane to bring attention to their cause which is freedom from Croatia from Yugoslavia. In the process, Terrence James Doyle, a cop on the NYPD bomb squad is killed. Usually, bringing a cop killer to justice would be a priority for all law enforcement people, but suddenly there were political roadblocks being thrown in the way of pursuing Doyle’s murderer. That’s where the story lost me. One the one hand, Tanenbaum included his very rich cast of characters in the DA’s office, and he wrote of the ongoing power struggle in the office. But Tanenbaum took the story back to Yugoslavia and the struggles between various ethnic groups during WWII, and since that time. Characters who were alive and involved in horrific atrocities among these ethnic wars were tied to the current murder. So, the case went far afield before Tanenbaum circled the barn a few times and finally brought the story to a satisfactory conclusion. I was not as hot for this story as the other two, but I plan an eventual return visit to Karp and Ciampi once I get caught up on my reading queue.