Sly As A Fox by Wendy L. Koenig
Sylvia Wilson returns in Sly As A Fox following her terrific debut in On The Sly.
Wendy Koenig has created a wonderful character in Sylvia Wilson, and this novel gets off to fast start that pulled me in immediately. Sylvia's brother Aaron has not texted as promised while he is undercover for the FBI. She doesn't know who to trust, even those in law enforcement. The pacing is crisp and the action is believable, something that so many thriller novelists can't get quite right.
I especially liked the connection between the two books. Having read many series, it's rare to have a main character progress so naturally. It's a testament to a personal story that sticks with you from the first novel that the references to it in Sly As A Fox hit every note. If you can, read them in sequence but I'm going to break my usual rule and recommend jumping right in if that's how you want to play it. You won't be sorry.
Son of Andalusia Farm by Thomas K. Mathews
(Sorry, I've had trouble downloading the artwork which is one of the best covers I've seen.)
I’ve read and reviewed five books by Thomas K. Matthews in this blogs, and he is one of those talented writers who somehow has not caught on with the reasonably large following that he deserves. He has a project that may come to pass with a large movie production company, so maybe that will bring his talents to a bigger audience. My favorite novel of his was one of his early ones, Rejection, a thriller murder mystery. Check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
This novel is a literary fiction entitled Son of Andalusia Farm. This story began in 1918, but mostly takes place during the 1930s and 1940s on a former cotton plantation near Montgomery, Alabama. The plantation had been converted to one of the notorious southern prisons which housed both black and white prisoners although those groups were mostly segregated in this story. It’s about the mysterious history of the Bradley Family and it’s hidden past. The Warden of the Andalusia Prison Farm, Hollister Thatcher, was married to Elizabeth Bradley who desperately wanted a child although the warden really had no interest in having a baby. When Elizabeth proved to be barren, she stole the baby of an inmate who had received a 17-year sentence for tenuous reasons. The prisoner was already pregnant at the time of her incarceration. Since the warden had dictatorial powers over his prisoners, and since the birth mother Mariah had been threatened if she ever spoke of this matter, it was Elizabeth who raised James as her own child.
This story is about the unfair and sociopathic practices of the warden. James turned out to be a good man, actually a godly one, and when Elizabeth died when James was about 14, the warden perceived him as a threat to his own significant misbehaviors against the prisoners who were in his custody. Warden Thatcher did all he could do to harm his son, falsely declaring that he had stolen money so James could become a prisoner. It was the warden’s attempt to break James’ spirit that led to such sadistic decisions. Guilt about his behaviors led the warden to mismanagement of the prisoners and extreme alcoholism, and his alcoholism only led to more poor judgments which finally came to the attention of Bureau of Prisons in Alabama.
I’ll leave the unveiling of the plot to the next reader to discover. This is a very well-written novel with a timely plot development and compelling characters. I give this book my strong recommendation.
In this novel, Clete is fascinated by repeated apparitions of Joan of Arc who he thinks has essentially become his guardian angel while he pursues a nasty fentanyl drug cartel. Those apparitions seem to be obvious aspects of Clete’s hopes and fears. However, it’s not always clear which figures are apparitions and which are alcoholic hallucinations. Clete finds himself infatuated with the very beautiful Clara Bow, the former wife of the main evil guy in the cartel. (In real life, Bow was a movie star from the 1920’s, and she is a person about whom Taylor Swift has been writing lyrics.) There are lots of brutal scenes and much brutal talk throughout the book.
As usual, Burke’s descriptive writing is better than nearly any other author that I’ve reviewed in this genre. However, as Burke has grown older and this series has matured, he has begun writing about the spirit world and the supernatural, a theme that does not really interest me.
A Death in Cornwall is Daniel Silva’s 24th book in the Gabriel Allon series. I’ve read them all, and I’ve read most of them more than once. Without question, I’m a fan of this series. Silva publishes one book a year, and each time, upon getting it, I read it in a day or two and them and forced to wait another 364 days to get the next one.
Now retired from the Israeli secret service, Allon is active with his art restoration talents, which in this case takes the reader into the world of art purchases and restorations of the most valuable paintings in the world, specifically a Picasso worth more than $100,000,000. This takes us into the world of art forgeries which are a rampant problem in the sale of such pieces of art. But of course this story involves deaths that must be solved, and curiously, a murder victim, Professor Charlotte Blake turned out to be a world-renown expert in the history fine art, and she is especially known for researching the provenance of such works.
As Silva was called in by a friend from the police force in Cornwall, it becomes clear that Professor Blakes murder which was initially thought to be due to a local serial murderer, was actually due to a consortium of the megawealthy who have been using the “London Laundromat” to wash the proceeds from worldwide drug sales, thereby concealing billions of dollars. That operation brought the story to corruption at the highest level of English lawmakers.
As usual for Silva, the plot line is perfect, and his characters are both compelling, easy to love and easy to hate. For devote readers of this series, Silva includes many of the characters he has developed over the course of these three books. I will rate this book as a 5+. These books are always standalone novels, but if you’ve never read about Allon, I advise you to start with the first one, The Kill Artist, and work your way through this impressive series.
As the general events of this crisis should be reasonably well known, especially to those who fit the category of 'baby boomer,' I'll not go over the story. The main difference here is the author . . . Jeff Shaara.
Lots of readers may never have heard of Shaara despite him having written 19 books. His first two books were Gods and Generals followed by The Last Full Measure, both about the civil war. And the remaining 17 have been about various American armed conflicts that span our history. It's his style that sets his books apart from all others.
His style is a direct descendant of his father, Michael Shaara. His dad wrote a single book before an untimely death in his 50s. He was a professor at, I think, Florida State University. In the latter 50s, he took his family on a trip to NYC, but made a detour to visit Gettysburg, PA where he was bitten by the civil war bug. After the trip, he went to work on a book telling the story of the great battle from a different viewpoint. What he did was tell the Gettysburg story from the viewpoint of the various commanders of both sides. While the facts of the battle were spot on, what Shaara did was personalize the story with his fabricating the interactions between and amongst both Union and Confederate leaders. Fifteen publishers weren't impressed. When a publisher was finally found, the book went to press and shortly thereafter was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for literature for The Killer Angels.
(and if you've never read it and find the civil war of interest, run out right now and buy it or borrow if from your public library. It is one outstanding piece of historical literature. Riveting)
Heart disease took his life. Years later, son Jeff picked up the family mantle and finished their civil war trilogy. In those books, he too followed his father's recipe - tell the story from the point of view of command be it political or military. The Shadow of War follows a winning pattern.
His books are copiously researched with regards to the details of the subject. Given how much has been presented about the Cuban Missile Crisis, I doubt there are many new facts to further enlighten the reader. What is interesting is his presentation of the conversations/meeting/arguments/behaviors, etc on both sides of the naval quarantine that personalize the story and make the book a can't-put-it-down event.
While the main characters are the Kennedy's and Khrushchev (and families, aides, advisors), Shaara does add one (quasi-) fictional character as a way of presenting how the American public was reacting to the crisis . . . a Florida-based college teacher and his family.
You do the math on the identity of the father.
East Coast Don
