Kingdom of the Blind

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Louise Penny is one of my top five authors with her series about the head of the Surete de Quebec, Chief Superintendent Armand Gamache. This is novel #14, and she certainly keeps it current. Penny has surrounded Gamache with a gaggle of beloved characters, and now because of several prior questionable decisions, Gamache is on suspension. His future is held in the hands of a student in the Surete who Gamache bet on despite her most unsavory past. It has always been his apparent weakness, the need to save someone in whom no one else can see value. If you’ve already read Penny, then you don’t need more inducement to buy this one. If you haven’t read Penny, then start with Glass Houses, and go through these novels in order. You’ll enjoy the very rich style of Penny’s plots and character development.

The Don Con

The Don Con by Richard Armstrong is a very clever, funny story. How would you con a Mafia con man, the very one responsible for sending you to prison for two years? What are the risks? Armstrong showed wonderful character development (especially the protagonist, Joey Volpe, “the fox”), and there were last minute plot twists that I did not see coming.  This one gets my endorsement.

Like Lions by Brian Panowich

All right, boys and girls. Right from the top:

This

Book

Kicks

Ass

1972. Bull Mountain is in north Georgia. It’s been run by the Burroughs clan for 4 generations. 3^rd generation boss is Gareth Burroughs. He runs guns, drugs, ‘shine’, through his county, anything that’ll make him money. Cruel man. To everyone. Wife Annette has been beaten enough and sneaks out with Clayton, the baby of their 3 sons. Leaving pre-teen older sons, Buckley and Halford. But she doesn’t get out of the compound before Gareth stops her. With Halford keeping a gun on her, Gareth keeps Clayton and lets Annette leave, penniless with just the clothes on her back.

Present day.

Gareth died some time ago with his meth shed caught fire. Buck is also dead. Clayton decided not to continue in the family business and got elected county sheriff. That left Halford in charge. Just like his deddy, a cruel cruel man. Ruthless and a killer of those who challenged the mountain. But one thing he did was he kept order on the mountain. He was more of a middleman who had to be paid to move contraband through his county to points north. But he did drugs. A lot. And got even meaner when high. One day, he chased a girl into the sheriff’s office, drew a shotgun on her and was met with two slugs to the chest. Courtesy of the sheriff. His brother Clayton. (most of that is what I gather happened in book #1).

Bull Mountain is home to an off-the-books club called The Chute. Rumor has it that it launders Burroughs money. Four idiot kids from some low-life family looking to expand their territory, hit The Chute and don’t find what they are looking for. Three fall. The fourth, JoJo is delivered to the man who was Gareth’s chief lieutenant (Scabby Mike) where he, Clayton and another member of the Burroughs followers interrogate JoJo. When done, JoJo is delivered back to his family’s homestead and dropped at the front door of the Viner matriarch.

Family against family for control of the criminal empire that is Bull Mountain. It’s the Capulets v the Montagues; Hatfields v McCoys; Corleones v Barsinis . . . on Bull Mountain, it’s the Burroughs v the Viners.

And make no mistake about it. This feud involves money, drugs, guns, pride, vengeance, vendettas and a whole lot of history. The violence is merciless, and the revenge is vicious. And no one is immune. Anyone remotely connected to either family is at risk. Clayton’s wife Kate and their 1yo son Eben are targeted. And we quickly learn about family loyalty and the depth of that loyalty.

Panowich is from Grovetown, GA that I’m guessing is near Augusta. His debut novel Bull Mountain was the 2016 International Thriller Writers Award winner for best first novel and was also the Pat Conroy Award for best crime novel. Other reviewers have called his work ‘Country Noir’ or ‘Southern Crime’. I’ve used the term Redneck Noir, but this might be in its own class. Hillbilly Noir maybe?

Whatever. This isn’t our normal political thriller or police procedural. This is about family and the extent to which family will go to protect family and anyone important to that family. In doing so, Panowich plants twist after twist in the plot, most of which you will never anticipate. Especially the final twist in the epilogue.

What you need to do is find this book. And not even having read Bull Mountain, based on this one, I’d suggest you find them both and read them in order. Also found a note that a British studio, ITV, has optioned his work for TV. Nothing more than that. Stay tuned.

ECD

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Below the Fold by RG Belsky

Dora Gayle, a homeless woman who called herself Cinderella, held the door open to a coffee shop hoping for a handout, was found stabbed to death in the vestibule of a bank. An unknown in a city with thousands of faceless unknowns.

Clare Carleson is Channel 10s news director. Last time we met she was still struggling with a decision she made as a freshman in college. Remember that Clare is first and foremost a reporter, a Pulitzer Prize winner for her work about a little girl who was abducted on the way to school and never heard from again. She goes against the grain of her news staff and approves a full press on Dora Gayle’s murder, determined to prove that being homeless doesn’t make one any less of a person than a politician, athlete, or movie star.

A month or so later, Grace Mancuso is found bludgeoned to death in her apartment. Grace was a player with Revson Investments who got caught up in an embezzlement scheme that bilked a couple hundred investors out of millions. Regulators went after Revson and Grace took a plea. People within Revson and the investors weren’t really happy with Grace for different reasons. The suspect pool is large. This murder of a hot blonde business woman presses Cinderella off the primetime news and, as they say in the news business, ‘below the fold’.

Grace’s murder was brutal. She was barely recognizable. This was about more than just money. This was personal. She’d had a string of boyfriends, a girlfriend, and was desperately in need of money but close to a big score. A really big score.

But it was more than just the murder. A note was left at the scene. A note with 5 names of people who must account for their sins:

1.     Bill Atwood: Disgraced Congressman (for multiple affairs) now trying to amend his image as President of Benson College in NYC

2.     Emily Lehrman: Big shot criminal defense attorney who was once an advocate for renters, homeless, and others under the boot of The System.

3.     Brendan Kaiser: Media tycoon who just happens to own Channel 10 amongst multiple other media outlets and formats.

4.     Scott Manning: NYPD detective on force leave due to possible involvement in mis-deeds that resulted in an Hispanic suspect being tossed out a window.

5.     Dora Gayle: Homeless women recently stabbed to death.

Clare tells her boss about Kaiser being on the list and they both take this info to Kaiser. To his credit, Kaiser tells the news team to go all out on one condition – that Clare be the lead reporter. Forever a reported, Clare dives in.

Initial main questions are the connections between the names. Their first investigations find no connection and then start to wonder why a homeless woman would be included with the other four.

Kinks in Atwood’s story point to him and in everyone’s haste to find Grace’s killer, Atwood is taken in custody. But in the afterglow of leading the cops to Atwood, Clare’s not so certain now.  One of Clare’s mentors once told her about a hot story, ‘No matter how much you feed it, the beast is always hungry.’ And this beast is really hungry.

So Channel 10’s team starts back at the beginning by tracing the history of each name on this list way back, 20-30yrs, finding one night when all five names on the list crossed paths, even if was just in passing. The night the METS came from behind to beat the Red Sox (the night of Buckner’s error) that propelled the METS to a World Series title. The connection found, the beast starts roaring for food and the story unfolds.

Have to finally admit what I guess I’ve always thought. I’m ready to elevate Belsky into my power rotation. I loved his Gil Mallory series and Clare Carleson is equally excellent. One of Belsky’s goals is to show readers the true ins and outs of news reporting, much of which is based on his own reporting career. To say Clare is a flawed news director and reporter is an understatement because her college decision still haunts her in life, loves (and three failed marriages), and career. On one level it’s hard to pull for Clare because of her personal self-inflicted issues, but on the other hand, she is such a dogged reporter that each lead, no matter how small, is met with our approval that we can’t help but hope she wins. And maybe, just maybe, with a couple wins, she can finally find in it herself to look in the mirror and not be so sad.

ECD

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Set Apart by KJ McCall

President Dale Durham is months into her 2^nd term as President. The feature accomplishment of her first term was getting a nationalized health system in place. Her 2^nd term begins the implementation. She was an interesting candidate four years earlier. She and her husband were childless, but she became pregnant just after being nominated by her party. They withheld news of her pregnancy and revealed it at her inauguration. Early in her first term, she gave birth to a son.

Upon enrollment into this new system, each patient must give a blood (for blood banking and compatibility testing) and tissue sample (for DNA). Implementation of the nationalized health system is not without some expected snags. Chief of which is that government payouts to physicians and hospitals far exceeds expectations. The program’s head and its regional directors are forced to cap payments and order reductions in clinic hours. Operating Room times are slashed. Small to medium size hospital ERs are closed on weekends and also have to close their doors for 4-8hr/day, usually overnight.

But perhaps the biggest realization is that when patient needs far exceeds the capability of the medical system to provide, prioritization and rationing has to be imposed. And that means what was once a theoretical argument must be put in place.

A Tier system defines priority categories for each citizen: Tier 1 includes ‘high ranking government officials’, industry moguls, scientists, and celebrities (entertainment, sports, media). Families of those are also included. Tier 2 is made up of military officers, federal employees, health care professionals, attorneys, land law enforcement. Again, families are included. Tier 3 is anyone else. (but after initial implementation, the regional head from California convinces the other regional heads that a Tier 4 needs to be added. This would be any non-citizen).

Then, each person will have a Treatment Eligibility Score (TES) determined. Start with a Tier score (T1=0, T2=100, T3=300, T4=400). Now add 10 points for each decade over 50. Then more points for various chronic conditions in their medical history, with more points for ‘lifestyle’ diseases like obesity, smoking, substance abuse, and more. The resulting TES is then used to rank patients when requesting further diagnostic testing, elective surgery, and costly treatments. The lower your score, the quicker one gets service or treatment. The underlying philosophy is that healthcare is prioritized for those who can give the most to society. Old and infirm are at the end of the queue.

A scientist responsible for groundbreaking discoveries in the treatment of emphysema needs a lung transplant. A Senator needs a new kidney. And most heartbreaking for the nation, the President’s son has developed a cardiomyopathy that requires a heart transplant.

The health system database ha been set up to mine the genetic and molecular information to find potential donors - a national donor list. But when transplant demand exceeds supply, it’s now possible to mine the database and find someone with a high TES (meaning last to get treatment for anything). A very small group under the control of the program’s chief medical officer finds an eligible person with little or no family ties, snatches them, sedates them, and tests them for compatibility. If not compatible, they are dropped off at an ER as the sedation wears off. But if they are compatible . . .

The scientist get his lungs and the Senator gets his kidney. The President’s son? Still looking.

That’s where a parallel story comes into play. Dr. Sand, an internist (Tier 2), his wife and daughter, fed up with DC life, move to rural Pennsylvania into a German Baptist community. Much like the Amish, but they do drive and use electricity. Dr. Sand’s sister is a database administrator for the new nationalized health system. His brother is a DC detective who investigates missing persons (and he’s getting the hots for a local widow). The strange kidnappings around the country eat at the detective and the details of the TES formula raise ethical issues with the sister.

Ergo, the intersection of the two stories. Shouldn’t take you long to figure out the basic details of how these two stories intersect.

Set Apart was first published in 2010 and I can only guess that it didn’t sell well with reviews saying It was overly long with excessively drawn out descriptive text. The 2^nd edition’s  forward says that McCall took those comments to heart, shortened the book to tighten up the story and his publisher is re-releasing it in 2019.

This is really two stories in parallel. One is a medical mystery and the other a coming-to-grips-with-life story. For some, this will be an interesting set of parallel circumstances intersecting late in the book. For some.

Not so much for me. The medical mystery is a cautionary tale of an abuse of a nationalized health system. Could it happen? Theoretically, I guess it could. Practically, I doubt it because I suspect that a nationalized system would have multiple safeguard layers and firewalls to allow such an egregious misuse of what most everyone accepts is the highest level of personal privacy. Then again, I could just be naïve. The coming-to-grips story seemed just too easy of a change in life for the Sand family. A well-to-do family from DC up and moving to a near-Amish setting and becoming as close to the locals as an outsider can? I just didn’t buy it. Maybe this German-Baptist enclave isn’t as cloistered as the Amish. I found myself skipping long segments from Pennsylvania because, to me, they were presented simply to set a stage for Dr. Sand’s family to be caught in the system’s database net. Might have been more interesting if there were more examples of overreach of the for the police, appalled doctors, and computer hackers to detect. It came down to this: Are the nuances on one family’s life enough to carry the story or would it be more interesting for multiple instances of transplants for The Privileged (Tier 1s) at the expense of the Tier 3/4s make for a more compelling tale?

ECD

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Countdown America by MC Fox

Ten years ago, a CIA extraction team of Isabella, Suzanne, and Jason with overwatch by Vanessa rescued a Senator Matthews who had been abducted when on a peacekeeping mission.

Fast forward ten years. Isabella has been appointed as a Chief Supervisor on Cyberterrorism. She and Jason were married with twin 6yo boy and girl, but not long after their birth, Jason died of pancreatic cancer. Suzanne is still in the field, and Vanessa still works for Isabella as her confidant.

Andre, a nerdy Russian programmer has been spirited into the USA with an assignment that must be fulfilled if he ever expects to see his family again. He is under the thumb of this Yuri, a man of little patience but grandiose dreams for Mother Russia.

Isabella is out for her usual Sunday morning jog leaving the kids with her mother, herself a retired CIA analyst. Isabella makes the turn back and is attacked. But the mutt sent to ambush her was far from being up to the task, is easily bested and Isabella hauls him in to a Langley detention room. She gets nothing from him until he says neither she nor her family are safe.

That sends Isabella speeding toward home only to find it empty with some evidence of a struggle. When she returns to the detention center, one of her team, John Beck, tells her the prisoner swallowed a cyanide pill hidden in his teeth, an old KGB tactic.

Isabella’s kids and her mom have been missing for 12hrs. No clues. Isabella needs sleep but can’t go home so a room in a nearby hotel is reserved. During the night, mutt #2 tries to kill Isabella. He fares worse. Isabella doesn’t capture him.

The full force of the CIA is brought to bear, but the details are kept highly compartmentalized to Isabella’s core team. Big questions: Why was Isabella targeted and just what is coming?

Members of a Kansas credit union find that their accounts have all been emptied. The entire computer system of a rural Arkansas (or was it Mississippi?) EMT unit is shut down. Tests to convince Yuri that the virus works and to keep Andre’s family alive.  In theory, this new virus has the potential to bring down the bulk of the American electronic infrastructure.

The core team has to consider someone knew: 1) when and where Isabella was running. 2) that the kids were home with her mom. 3) that the first hit failed. And 4) where she’d be spending the night. The only conclusion:

A mole.

So now, the events of these couple days added a new level to the hunt. Is the mole can be found, then Isabella’s family can be found. Isabella is sure her core team is clean, so she starts looking for the mole, or even more ominous, the hunt for moles.

This book reminded me of two earlier books that, sort of, mined the same themes:

First is a Tom Clancy book, the title of which escapes me, where one part of the plot involves a computer takedown of Wall Street. Countdown America might be thought of as the plans and preparation necessary to eventually press the ‘go’ key for Clancy’s book. Big difference here is the mole hunt where Clancy’s book was more about finding the source and fixing what happened.

Second is Brad Thor’s Athena Project where Thor stepped away from Scot Harvath and presented an all-female team of deadly operatives. Personally, I thought Athena Project was Thor’s weakest effort, but he keeps bringing back one or two characters from time to time and that’s OK. The core characters in this book are mostly female, but not entirely. And when it comes just to the characters, I found Isabella and Suzanne, et al. a better unit than the Athena team.

 

MC Fox presents a fast-paced story about a mom who will do “anything to get the bastard” responsible. An easy 2-day cruise read. But something was missing. We find out ‘who’. We find out ‘what’. But we never find out ‘why’ only Isabella was targeted. There are so many other professionals ‘out there’ both in and out of government with similar responsibilities as Isabella. Why just her? One might think that the ‘why’ is the hook for a part 2 of an Isabella Bendel series. Based on the way the book ended, I’m not so sure. But I could be wrong. Been wrong plenty of times so why not this time, too.

ECD

A Colder War by Charles Cumming

Three British assets that were being run out of the Istanbul office have been killed. All within a few weeks of each other. An opposition journalist, also friendly to the Istanbul office, has been put in prison without due process.

The cover for the well-seasoned agent running them, Paul Wallinger, is that he is a career diplomat. His wife and two adult children live in England. While the son was Paul’s favored child, his daughter was mostly estranged because of his job and lifestyle. Paul had planned a weekend on a Grecian island with his current paramour, a former Hungarian agent now restauranteur in Croatia. After the weekend, Paul climbed into the pilot seat of a rented Cessna headed home to Istanbul, but for unexplained reasons, this experienced pilot crashes.

At Paul’s funeral, his SIS boss, Amelia, enlists the help of Tom Kell, a recently ‘retired’ agent. A couple years ago (and one book earlier), Kell was involved with a rendition that went south. The CIA operative was at fault, but somehow, Tom ended up taking the fall.

Amelia wants Tom to investigate Paul’s death, setting him up as an insurance investigator. He heads off for Istanbul, the Greek Island, the coastal Croatian town, and back to Istanbul trying to get a feel for what happened. But also to see if there is a mole behind it all.

The mechanic who serviced the plane inexplicably commits suicide. The Hungarian woman is killed in her apartment. Either the mole or the Russian handler is trying to tie off loose ends.

Amelia thinks the mole could be any one of 5 or 6 people and Tom is assigned to look into Ryan, a ‘Cousin’ in Istanbul (Cousin = CIA). While the Brits and the Yanks are on the same side, they are still adversaries in a dangerous game.

Kell and his team of watchers keep very tight surveillance on Ryan, but when the Russian handler digs into Kell and his relationship with Rachel, Wallinger’s daughter, he makes a couple guesses and concludes that Ryan is blown. Now the real chase begins as Kell and team try to keep up with Ryan’s extraction plan.

Tom is a disgraced agent given the gift of opportunity to get back into a game he has sorely missed. While most readers will assume that Kell will catch his man, what you wont’ expect are the consequences of the capture which Cumming skillfully uses to set up the 3^rd in the Tom Kell series.Cumming has a brief but very successful writing career with one trilogy done and two books into this Tom Kell series, with both current titles achieving NYT best seller status. A talented writer with a creative imagination that keeps the well-trod mole hunt theme current and engaging. A little slow to get going, but once Tom gets the scent, the pace picks up considerably..

ECD