I'll See You In My Dreams

I’ll See You in My Dreams is the fifth of six books in the Arthur Beauchamps series, the sixth book that I’ve read by this author, and if you’ve been following my posts, you know I’ve become a devotee of William Deverell. This one is a remarkably clever crime novel. Through the first four books, Deverell sometimes refers back to Beauchamps earlier dysfunctional days of alcoholism and a failed marriage, all happening while he built a reputation as one of Canada’s most able criminal defense attorneys. But, the backstory was never filled in, until now. In this novel, the author jumps back and forth between 1962 and the present. In 1962, Beauchamps was just 25 years old, fresh out of law school, struggling to decide if he really wanted to be a lawyer, and his firm threw a murder case his way as a means of keeping this talented man in their firm. That first murder trial did not work out so well for Beauchamps and haunted him for the next 50 years.

While this novel could be a stand-alone book, it’s my advice to start at the beginning (Trial of Passion) and work your way forward. The gradual character development of Beauchamps and his cast of characters is too good to miss. This novel involves Arthur trying to correct the bad outcome of a 50-year-old case. Although his client, Gabriel Swift, was convicted of the murder of Professor Dermot Mulligan, the body was never found and Swift escaped to South America. In the course of the book, Deverell not only fleshed out Arthur’s troubled past and recovery from the depth of substance abuse, but he also delved into the Canadian government’s long history of mistreatment of its indigenous peoples. The author continues to poke fun at the legal system and the human failings of its most prominent jurists. I’ve gotten pretty good at predicting story lines and anticipating where an author is headed, but I have to say that the resolution of this story is one that I did not see coming until the author presented it in the last few pages. My advice – read William Deverell.

Once a Crooked Man by David McCallum

Once a Crooked Man is David McCallum’s first novel which in and of itself is amazing for a man in his eighties.  McCallum is first and foremost an actor, best known for his role as Illya Kuryakin in the 1960’s TV show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  More recently he has played a forensic scientist, Ducky in the hit TV show, NCIS.  I hadn’t made the connection that the two roles where played by the same actor until I read the promos about this book.

Sal, Max, and Enzo Bruschetti, brothers and career criminals have profited well from a lifetime of illegal activities both in the U.S. and abroad when Max develops health issues and decides to retire.  But Max knows retiring will require covering their tracks to avoid repercussions from violent business partners and from the law.  While the Bruschetti brothers are discussing their plans, Harry Murphy, a young actor inadvertently overhears the brother’s scheme to murder their European partner.  Harry hops a plane from New York to London and warns the partner just as he is attacked.  Harry ends up with a suit case full of cash and the role of a lifetime.  The London police engage him as a spy to gather evidence to dismantle the Bruchetti’s international organization.  But the London police woman sent to New York with Harry to protect him, ends up siding with the Bruchetti’s. Harry must use his charm and acting skills to save his own life.

So, this book is not great literature and fails the plausibility test more than once.  I got the feeling, the elderly Mr. McCallum was acting out a fantasy of a young Mr. McCallum.  But the book was entertaining and held my interest… better than a lot of books that fall into the ‘airplane book’ category on MRB.

Ice Chest by J.D. Rhoades

When a book has been compared repeatedly to Ocean’s 11, the cast of characters might be warranted.

Paragon Security

‘Chunk’ McNeil: Former police detective. FSU DLine back in the day.

Zoe Piper: Half Chunk’s age, ginger-haired, punk cut, hacker, armed with what is destined to become the next great tool for personal protection.

The Enigma tour

Hermione Starr: Chaperone for the models in the tour. Low-mid 40s, but pretty hot. No one knows, but she’s a black belt and a pretty good shot with a pistol. And a penchant for playing a little fem-dom

Gareth Gane: promotions manager for Enigma and keeper of the Ice Chest.

Ricky Vandella: Irish comedian (on the C-list and falling) who is the MC for the ‘Birds of Paradise’ tour

Clarissa Cartwright: Enigma’s IT girl this year. She’ll be wearing the crown jewel of the Birds of Paradise tour making her the current face of Enigma. Was Mario’s girlfriend until she mistakenly received a photo of Mario having a happy ending to a meal while she’s out on this Enigma tour.

The Atlanta thieves

Uncle Rafe Valentine: Branson’s uncle. Dreams up the idea to steal the Ice Chest. Small time thief in Atlanta. Spent his days while incarcerated in prison libraries with his nose in Word Power books to improve his vocabulary

L.B. Gordon: Rafe’s thief partner. His mom was a bit of a literary nut and named her kids after great writers. L.B. stands for Lord Byron. He’s gone by L.B. his entire life. Can’t blame him.

Elihu and Japeth Lowman: Georgia twins who grew up in the Church of the First Fruits Unto God and To The Lamb, or COTFFUG&TTL for short. The high priest felt that he should be the only one to procreate with the female believers and castrated the men and all boys when they reached puberty. Both are built like linebackers. Being a eunuch means a kick in the crotch has no effect on them.

The New Jersey connection

Mario Allegretti: son of Silvio, NJ mob boss. Boyfriend—make that ex-boyfriend—of Clarissa if she has her way. But he did have a nice dinner that night.

Aldo “Moose” Cantone: Allegretti muscle sent to Atlanta to keep an eye on Clarissa for Mario who learns he has a thing for a fem-dom. Mistakenly sent the photo to all contacts in Mario's phone.

Paul Chirelli: a mob old-timer, as skilled with making a suggestion as he is with a firearm.

The Innocents caught up in the mess

Branson: Early 20s. and nephew of Uncle Rafe Valentine. Does bus boy and room service for the Imperial Hotel where the show will be held. Got his eye on Stephanie. Nice guy caught up in his uncle’s scheme. Tries to do the right thing and mostly fails.

Stephanie: Waitress at the Imperial Hotel. Sort of likes Branson because he is real. Solid. Lives with a  clown, literally.

The Ice Chest 

The object of everyone’s attention, the crown jewel of this year’s line of luxury lingerie. Enigma’s $5 million dollar, jewel encrusted bra.

Paragon Security (Chunk and Zoe in charge) has been hired to protect the Ice Chest (that’s what everyone on the tour calls the pricey bra). It’s a nightmare trying to balance exposure, publicity, travel and security. Too many people have access from the dozens of models, stylists, costumers, management, and hangers-on, most of whom have something dicey in their background check.

Advance publicity prompts Uncle Rafe and L.B. to work out a plan to steal the Ice Chest. They need an inside man, Rafe’s nephew Branson. Rafe and L.B. work out a plan, before grabbing the Lowman twins to help if and when muscle is needed.

On the big day, a diversion sends the show into chaos. As the models scramble for the exit, Clarissa and the Ice Chest get pulled out and stashed into a delivery van driven by the Lowman boys.

Local Atlanta detectives are less than useless. Chunk and Zoe figure they are soon to be out of a job, Hermoine, too, and figure it might help their causes if they can find Clarissa and the bra. Branson is having 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th thoughts about his role, Moose has lost sight of Clarissa so Mario and Paul fly in to take over, Rafe and L.B. set out to fence the stones and get rich, no one can find Clarissa or Branson forcing Mario and Paul to lean on Stephanie, but she knows nothing until they all find their way to an abandoned warehouse to settle scores and, just maybe, eliminate unnecessary witnesses, until Ricky Vandella arrives with delusions of saving everyone’s ass.

This is J.D. Rhoades first foray into comedic crime. The Shamus-nominated Rhoades is one of the early pioneers, I guess you could say, in one of my favorite genres: red-neck noir with his Jack Keller series (you really should read those. Each has been reviewed here at MRB). And Rhoades hit a hanging curve high over the far fence. This is a flat out riot. Loved it from the first chapter. Character development, imagination, dialogue, twists, you name it. A brisk 300-page book easily read in a day or two. I’ve no clue about how one would draft out the outline for comedic violence, but Rhoades surely seems to have the formula.

East Coast Don

p.s. Zoe’s soon-to-be hot item in personal protection? The Hello Kitty Taser. Where do I buy stock?

Snow Job

If you’ve been following my blog posts, you know that I’ve become a devotee of Canadian crime novelist William Deverell. Snow Job is the sixth novel of his that I’ve read, the fourth in the Arthur Beauchamp series, and I’m hooked. If you’re new to this author, start at the beginning with Trial of Passion, and you’ll be able to enjoy the character development as the author intended. The story line evolution over the course of these books is remarkable, starting with Beauchamp, a retiring attorney, a master of criminal defense, moving from his home in Vancouver to the rural island of Garibaldi, a short sea plane hop from Vancouver. In the recent book, he’s remarried to an environmental activist who has been elected as Canada’s only Green Party member of Parliament. The action has shifted to Ottawa. While keeping the crazy characters from Garibaldi involved in this new book, Ottawa serves as a launching pad for Beauchamp’s international adventures. There are two more books in this series, and I’ve already downloaded the next one, I’ll See You in My Dreams.

An Evil Mind by Chris Carter

Stanford roommates all four years. Robert Hunter and Lucien Folter. Robert is the son of a blue-collar single dad; mom died of cancer when he was in elementary school. He comforted himself during his father's long absences at work with his school books. Graduated from high school at 15 and was accepted by Stanford. Lucien is the more typical college student. Comes from a bit more money, decent grades, reasonable athlete. Both are studying psychology, each with an interest in the criminal mind.

Upon graduation, Robert stays at Stanford enrolling in the PhD program, which he completes at the age of 23. Lucien heads east and enrolls in Columbia's PhD program in psychology where he gets as far as being ABD (all but dissertation) and more or less falls off the radar. While Lucien went to Robert's PhD ceremony, they both lost touch with each other.

Robert's dissertation was on the mind of the serial killer and became required reading for detectives and federal agents alike. The FBI tried to recruit him for their vaunted behavioral analysis unit, but Robert decided on joining the LAPD starting from the bottom as a patrolman eventually becoming one of their best detectives.

In rural eastern Wyoming, the local sheriff and his deputy pull into a truck stop at 6am to get the first slice of the day's fresh baked pies. Only a couple other tables are occupied. At the counter, the sheriff notices a car's headlights in the mirror headed fast for the restaurant. The car clipped a curb and sideswiped a parked car. No one is hurt, but the sheriff and deputy go out and check on the driver. The deputy looks into the parked car and then into the opened trunk where he finds an open cooler and promptly throws up that delicious pie.

The driver of the car, one Liam Shaw, is taken into custody. Given the nature of contents and that the car is registered in another state, the FBI is called in and takes Shaw to their highest security area deep in the basement of the behavioral unit's home in Quantico, VA. The guy sits silent for days, rising and bedding at exactly the same time each day, staring at a wall of his cell. He is questioned  but says nothing. On the 5th day, he simply says, "I'll only speak with Robert Hunter."

Hunter is headed for a vacation and not interested in helping the FBI, but stops in his tracks when a photo of Shaw is actually his former Stanford roommate, Lucien.

You see, while Robert was learning how to become a policeman and detective, Lucien was sort of teaching himself how to become a serial killer. As any good researcher would do, he kept copious notes on his thoughts, feelings, and methods knowing that someday, they would become a virtual primer on the mind of the serial killer as told by the killer.

Been pretty active, too. His first kill was as an undergrad at Stanford and progressed to Columbia and then out to the rest of the country. 25 years worth. In the interviews, Lucien knows he holds all the cards because he knows the victims and where they are all buried. And he relishes jerking the chain of the FBI and Hunter. He's good. Had to be to stay out of the FBI's interest for so long. Had it not been for a random accident, he might still be out there killing.

From what I've heard, the source material for the Hannibal Lector character is perhaps the creepiest presentation of a serial killer in current literature. The crimes committed by Lucien are hideous and Lucien is the epitome of a sociopath on steroids. The step by step evolution of Lucien and his crimes takes one into a mind that no sane person can comprehend. Dozens of twists and reveals are breathtaking.

Having said that, it seems like this book should have had a deeper development of both Hunter and Lucien. What's there is good, but I found I was wanting more of how Lucien became this way and less about what he had done. Same for Hunter. In the end, it seemed like I was reading the script of a stage play with 2 main characters and 2 supporting players (FBI agents).

An interesting take on the cop-perp interplay and worthy of a look. If it only had a little bit more.

East Coast Don

Hushabye by Celina Grace

Celina Grace is a mystery writer who decided to self-publish after fifteen years of striking out in the traditional publishing game.  She is best known for her Kate Redman series which features the female detective sergeant in the UK’s West Country district.

In Hushabye, the baby of Nick and Casey Fullman is kidnapped and their nanny is murdered during the abduction.  Nick Fullman is a successful real estate developer and workaholic.  As Kate and fellow officer Mark Olbeck familiarize themselves with the Fullman family, they find several persons of interest and multiple motives for the crime.  Nick has a dubious past including mob related business deals, a jealous ex-girlfriend and an administrative assistant with a crush on him.  With no ransom demand, no one can immediately be eliminated as a suspect.  Kate feels a personal connection to the case.  As a teenager, she gave up a baby for adoption and the guilt and regret she harbors from this experience leads her down pathways totally ignored by her male colleagues.

I chose this author because her given name, Celina is the same as my hometown, a name you rarely find in the world today.  So with my expectations set appropriately low, I was surprised to discover a reasonably well written novel.  The characters were interesting and well developed and the plot was plausible and complex.  Yet I thought it lacked that something special to draw you in and compel you to keep flipping pages.  It lacked the suspense you feel from the more prominent authors and therefore by comparison made this story seem rather ordinary.

Final Approach by John J. Nance

Chapter 1: The weather is tough in Kansas City. The whirling storm cells have Captain Pete Kaminsky of North America flight 170 worried enough to park the Boeing 737 away from the gate in an area before the taxi runway they call the hammerhead and let the cells pass. An incoming North America Airbus 320, flight 255,  is on final approach captained by the airline's senior management pilot.  And off to the far end of the airport is a C-5A loading a massive parcel for the Air Force. 

Chapter 2: The Airbus makes an attempt at landing only to encounter a wind shear and the pilot aborts the landing. Hanging out at the outer beacon is the co-pilot's suggestion but the captain rejects it and gets clearance to make a loop around the airport for a second attempt. Flight 255 circles back around, makes the turn, but fails to make the last turn when the nose dips and is now headed directly at the 737 waiting at the hammerhead. When the landing lights of 255 show the plane bearing down fast, Captain Kaminsky powers up to move his plane out of the way. Problem is a plane doesn't accelerate like a muscle car. Flight 255 hits 170 broadside scattering debris and bodies across the waterlogged Kansas City tarmac; hundreds are dead. 

Pretty hefty start, wouldn't you say?

Chapter 3 to the end of the book: Joe Wallingford is an airline accident investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB. Investigative teams essentially wait out the next disaster. When your team is in the bullpen as the next Go Team and an accident happens, you go. Wallingford's team draws this collision and heads out immediately.

When they arrive, their first order of business is to find the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from each plane. As they pick through the pieces, the impending shitstorm becomes apparent:
1. Why didn't 255 finish the turn, then nose down, and why didn't the co-pilot intervene.
2. What was in that massive container being loaded to that C-5A that no one seems to want to acknowledge even exists much less was actually there.
3. On board 255 was a Congressman from Louisiana whose political leanings made David Duke look like Bernie Sanders. His 'people' are screaming murder and sabotage.
4. North America airline is hemorrhaging red ink and forcing pilots to scale back needed maintenance to save time, money, and maintain their flight statistics.
5. The head of the NTSB, a political hack vying for an ambassadorship and maybe a cabinet post, is making noises to Wallingford  about the Airbus having technical issues and wants the investigation directed there and not at North America airline or any possible human factor error.
6. The 2nd in charge at the FAA is known to favor US-produced aircraft and is looking for any excuse to ground the French-made Airbus.
7. Then there is the matter of an unauthorized car on the tarmac that snuck in behind a crew shuttle bus. A certain Kansas Senator was meeting his chief of staff (and main squeeze) who was booked on 255. When he sees the crash, he is sure she is dead, panics, and flees the airport. Security cameras pick up the car dashing out, leading some to think the occupant had something to do with the crash.

How would you like to be the Investigator-In-Charge of this nightmare? But being an NTSB investigator is all Wallingford ever wanted to be. He loves that his job is to determine the cause and to figure out how to make sure it doesn't happen again. Blame is not in the mandate of the NTSB. The courts will determine that when the passenger's families start piling on the lawsuits.

This is a new genre for me. The airline thriller. A single incident whose aftermath spirals out of control as new evidence is found and old theories are discounted. Nance is a former fighter pilot, airline pilot, a lawyer, and airline consultant for various news outlets; the insider's knowledge lends a high degree of authenticity to the story. About half of Nance's fiction titles are airline thrillers. As odd as this might sound,  the nature of the strain between business, the NTSB, FAA and the potential interference of politics really contribute to making this an edge-of-your-seat thriller.

I came across this on Net Galley. The story is set in the early 1990s when Reagan's Star Wars defense initiative was still in full swing. What I didn't notice until about two-thirds of the way into the book is that this book's original copyright date was 1992 (Nance's first novel); most of the titles I get from Net Galley are new releases. Turns out Final Approach was re-released by another publisher in late January 2016.

While some might think this has the earmarks of a made-for-TV movie, I really thought it was far better than that. We here at MRB will occasionally call a book an 'airplane' book, meaning it would be a worthy diversion for a long flight, however, I think you probably should reserve this for when you are grounded for a while. Not sure an airplane disaster book is proper reading on a long flight, but that's just me.

East Coast Don