Criminal: Hard-hitting Suspense Novel

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Sharon

Criminal by Karin SlaughterCriminal by Karin Slaughter

Karin Slaughter has got to be one of the most accomplished crime and mystery writers, and her latest novel, Criminal, clearly demonstrates her skills and abilities. It’s not quite the run of the mill Slaughter offering – and I mean that in a good way.

If you’ve read Slaughter’s books over the years, you’ll be familiar with GBI agent Will Trent. He’s the hero of a number of Slaughter’s mystery thrillers, and she’s slowly revealed dribs and drabs about his past – his difficult childhood in an orphanage, his dyslexia, and his troubled marriage to one of his fellow orphans. In Criminal, everything you ever wanted to know about Trent is revealed – to us, and to his new lover, pediatrician and sometimes Medical Examiner Sara Linton.

But it’s not Will’s story that most grabbed my attention. In a series of flashbacks to 1970s Atlanta that integrates seamlessly into what’s happening in the present, Slaughter tells the tale of Will’s (seemingly) hard-hearted boss Amanda Wager as she battled her way up the ranks in the Atlanta Police Department. Slaughter’s rendering of women working to prove themselves in a male-dominated field, in a time of sexual discrimination (and racial prejudice) was incredibly poignant – and the book is worth reading for just that, although it offers a whole lot more.

The book’s mystery center around the disappearance of a local college student in the present day, and similar disappearances in the 1970s. These were Amanda Wagner’s first cases, and launched her career – and which also left her life inextricably linked with Will’s. Now it seems like the same perpetrator is back to his old tricks, and for some strange reason, Amanda refuses to allow Will, her best investigator, to become involved in the investigation.

Slaughter’s hard-hitting mystery book is full of suspense as always, but where she really excels, and what really elevates her work far beyond any other police procedural, is her ability to paint a picture of a city (and workplace) in the painful throes of transition. Another excellent offering from Slaughter, and highly recommended.

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Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl to Hit Silver Screens

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Sharon

Gone Girl by Gillian FlynnIn my earlier review of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, I predicted that the book would be one of the “It” mystery books of the summer, and it looks like that forecast was spot on. The book has been garnering positive reviews left, right, and center, and has been at the top of the bestseller lists for weeks. So it should come as no surprise that Gone Girl is one of the latest mystery books to be snapped up for a film adaptation.

The book, which centers around Nick and Amy, a young couple who relocate to the country from New York, is one of the best psychological mystery books on the market now. The mystery revolves around Amy’s disappearance on the couple’s fifth anniversary, and how Nick comes under suspicion for what could possibly be a kidnapping or a murder. As the book unfolds, it becomes apparent that the seemingly happily married couple wasn’t so happy after all.

20th Century Fox has forked out an undisclosed seven figure sum for the rights to adapt Gone Girl into a movie. Actress and producer Reese Witherspoon has agreed to produce the film adaptation. That’s big money and a big name, by any standards, and can only mean that it won’t be long before it hits the silver screens. What’s more, Flynn herself has agreed to write the screenplay. That’s more significant to the quality of the movie that you’d think since before she started penning mystery books, Flynn worked with Entertainment Weekly for ten years, first covering movies around the world, then working as the magazine’s resident TV critic. She is a self-professed movie geek.

If you’ve read Gillian Flynn’s mystery books, you’ll know that she has a penchant for characters who are not completely likable. That’s certainly true of Nick and Amy in Gone Girl, and any aspiring Hollywood A-lister is bound to be salivating for the chance to play the two lead roles. It’s months before they start casting for the film, but it’s not too early to dream up your own dream cast. RT Book Reviews thinks that Bradley Cooper might make a good Nick – charming but flawed and possibly a killer. Can you see him in the role? Who would you cast in the film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel? Let us know!

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Drift Away: Hardboiled Private Eye Noah Braddock Returns

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Sharon

Drift Away by Jeff ShelbyDrift Away by Jeff Shelby (Noah Braddock Mysteries)

If you’re a fan of the hard-boiled detective mystery genre and enjoy books by Robert B. Parker and Robert Crais, then you’ll probably enjoy Jeff Shelby’s Noah Braddock books. Shelby’s wise-cracking San Diego PI who solves mysteries with his laidback investigative manner, and manages to squeeze in some surfing between working cases, is back in the fourth book in the series. In the latest installment, Noah’s no longer in San Diego. Instead, he’s licking his wounds after encountering more than his fair share of personal tragedy… and has moved across the country to Florida to try and heal. But you can’t keep a good PI down, and when he encounters a lost young boy on the beach who can’t find his mother, Noah is dragged into the boy and his mother’s lives as their protector. It’s all complicated when ghosts from his past on the West Coast show up. Lots of fast-paced action, and sarcastic and witty gibes make this an entertaining read that will leave you waiting for the next in the series.

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Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: Smash Hit Mystery Novel

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Sharon

Gone Girl by Gillian FlynnGone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn’s latest novel, Gone Girl, has been racing up the charts, and it looks like it’s going to be the “It” book of the summer. The book is sitting right at the top of Amazon’s Mystery/Thriller chart, and was most recently chosen by Amazon editors as the top mystery novel of the year so far. It’s also number two in the list of the Amazon editors’ Top 20 books of the year.

Although Flynn was first published only a few years ago, and Gone Girl is just Flynn’s third novel, it’s a highly accomplished piece of writing.  Indeed, Flynn has an impressive track record. Her debut novel, Sharp Objects, was an Edgar Award finalist. Her second novel, Dark Places, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009. Flynn’s fans include many top mystery and thriller writers, and Stephen King himself has hailed her as “the real deal, a sharp, acerbic, and compelling storyteller with a knack for the macabre.”

Gone Girl revolves around the complicated dynamics of Nick and Amy, two young professionals who’ve been married to each other for five years. The book begins with the couple’s fifth anniversary. As she’s done for the last five years, Amy has crafted a complicated treasure hunt for Nick to go on, in order to find his anniversary gift. Nick hates these games, since he knows that Amy formulates them as a way to flaunt her superior intelligence – payback for Nick’s decision to move back to his hometown, tearing her away from her successful career. It’s a strained relationship, and one that seems bound for more trouble. That trouble takes an unexpected form when Amy disappears from the house and there are signs of struggle. As is usual with such cases, Nick falls under suspicion. All the evidence seems to point to Nick being the murderer, and he does himself no favors by lying and evading the authorities’ questions.

Gone Girl is written in two distinct voices. The story unfolds first from Nick’s perspective, as he muses about his relationship, and morphs through the book from unhappy husband to murder suspect. Flynn then gives us a glimpse at Amy through her diary entries from five years ago. It’s a very different Amy from the bitter and cynical woman that we see through Nick’s eyes. The Amy that Flynn portrays is in the first flush of romance, and recounts Nick and Amy’s first meeting, and subsequent courtship and romance. The juxtaposition of Nick’s cynical musings, and Amy’s idealistic diary entries is jarring – and effective.

The book is tightly plotted, and full of twists, yet marches relentlessly on to its denouement. It’s fast pace, and you’ll be absolutely riveted while you try and find the clues in the narrative that will allow you to figure out the mystery of Amy’s disappearance. This book is highly recommended!

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Amazon’s Top Mystery Novels of the Year So Far!

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Sharon

Just last week, Amazon announced its Best Books of the Year So Far list. Since it’s only July, obviously the books selected were released only between January and June 2012. The annual exercise sees Amazon’s editors pick their favorite books overall, as well as the top 10 in a number of popular genres such as romance, mystery and thrillers, and young adult, among others.

At the top of the list of top mystery novels is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which also occupies one of the top spots in the Top 20 list. (It is ranked second.) Other books on the top mystery novels list include Ace Atkins’ Spenser novel Lullaby (the first one written since Robert B. Parker’s death with the blessing of his estate), Mark Allen Smith’s debut novel The Inquisitor, as well as offerings from veteran authors Lisa Gardner and Phillip Kerr

Amazon’s Top Ten Mystery Books of the Year (So Far) are (in order of popularity):

  1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  2. Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon
  3. Defending Jacob by William Landay
  4. Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby by Ace Atkins
  5. Prague Fatale by Phillip Kerr
  6. Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
  7. Catch Me by Lisa Gardner
  8. Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton
  9. The Inquisitor by Mark Allen Smith
  10. Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith

Is your favorite mystery novel on the list? Would you have chosen the top ten differently? Let us know?

 

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No One Left to Tell: Mystery and Romance in a Thrilling Package

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Sharon

No One Left to Tell by Karen RoseNo One Left to Tell by Karen Rose

Karen Rose is one of the big names in romantic suspense, and for good reason. In her latest book, No One Left to Tell, Rose combines mystery and romance in a thrilling package. She kicks the book off with (quite literally) a bang, and keeps up the unrelenting pace to the very end. Paige Holden is a newly-minted PI who is trying to prove a convicted murderer’s innocence. When the man’s mother is shot right in front of Paige’s eyes and with her dying breath utters her conviction of her son’s innocence and passes Paige a flash drive with proof, Paige brings the data to State’s Attorney Grayson Smith. Grayson was the man who put the man behind bars five years ago, but he can’t ignore the data on the flash drive. Soon Paige and Grayson are drawn into investigating a string of mysterious murders, and they have to rely on each other to get themselves out of a quagmire of danger, blackmail and dark secrets.

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Alcatraz Escape Remains a Mystery 50 Years On

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Sharon

It’s the stuff of legend. Fifty years ago, three men escaped from Alcatraz prison, setting out into the San Francisco Bay in a raft made of raincoats after tunneling out of their cells with spoons, and climbing to the prisons roof. It was a desperate bid for freedom from the “escape-proof prison”.

It’s a mystery as to whether any of the three men – Frank Morris, and John and Clarence Anglin – even made it to shore. Many assume they succumbed to the frigid waters, or were swept out to see, but others believe that the three survived. There’s never been any proof that the men made it – but equally no proof that they were killed.

At the time, the authorities launched a massive manhunt for the three men, searching the waters around the prison island carefully. All that was ever found were a paddle, some life vests, and some letters. A freighter reported seeing a body in a navy blue pea coat floating just past the Golden Gate Bridge. But nothing definitive was ever found, and the tale of the escape has been the inspiration for countless books and movies since then.

The three prisoners were non-violent, and were serving terms for bank robbery. Although Alcatraz was known for housing violent offenders, and the worst of the worst, Morris and both Anglin brothers were sent there not because they were dangerous, but because they had escaped from so many other prisons. With such a track record – and having been given adjoining cells in the belief that there was no way that anyone could get off the island – the escape attempt seemed almost inevitable.

Rumor has it that the three men would reappear on Alcatraz on the 50th anniversary of their escape. The completely unsubstantiated rumor is urban myth, but that didn’t stop Marie Widner (the Anglin brothers’ little sister) and US Marshal Michael Dyke from showing up on the island on June 12, fifty years to the day after the three men escaped.

Needless to say, they saw neither hide nor hair of any of the three. Widner said, “I really do believe the boys made it out of here. I do believe the boys are alive today. I don’t know where they are. I have not heard from them, but my gut feeling is that they’re OK.” Dyke was a tad less optimistic, but wasn’t ready to give up on the manhunt. “It would be really nice to have answers, but some things you never have answers for. They could have died of old age. They could have died in 1962. But it’s hard to say. Until there’s evidence to the fact that they’re not alive anymore, I’m going to keep looking.”

If the men survived, they would be in their 80s now. But until they re-appear, or some other evidence surfaces, it will remain a mystery as to whether the three in fact perpetrated the greatest prison break of all time.

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Damage Control: Near-Perfect Thriller

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Sharon

Damage Control by John GilstrapDamage Control by John Gilstrap (Jonathan Grave Thriller Book 4)

If you’re a fan of mystery books and thrillers, then you may have heard of John Gilstrap. If you haven’t heard of him, then go out now and buy one of his books – you won’t be disappointed.

Gilstrap, who has written more than ten books, is probably best known for his debut thriller, Nathan’s Run, as well as the books in the Jonathan Grave series (No Mercy, Hostage Zero, and Threat Warning.) Damage Control is the fourth in the series, and works perfectly well as a standalone, if you haven’t read the previous three books.

In Damage Control, private security contractor and hostage extraction specialist Jonathan “Digger” Grave (codenamed Scorpion) is called in when six American teens and their adult chaperones are taken hostage in Mexico by members of a drug cartel while there on an earthquake-relief ministry. The kidnappers have very clear demands – $3 million in ransom, and no authorities. Jonathan is hired by Arizona’s Crystal Palace Cathedral to deliver the ransom and bring the missionaries home.

It sounds like a pretty straightforward mission, and Jonathan and his partner, Brian Van de Meulebroeke (aka Boxers) travel to Mexico and hand over the money… but then things go horribly wrong, many of the hostages are lost, and soon Scorpion and Boxers are on the run with one hostage remaining, and only their team-mate Venice (pronounced VEN-NEE-CHAY, if you please, and codenamed Mother Hen) giving them technical support from their home base. The two are on the run from the US authorities, the Mexican Police (who have labeled them mass murderers) and have to use all their skills to get them back home.

Damage Control is a page-turning thriller, with a mystery thrown in – readers will be trying to figure out why the seemingly simple mission went awry, and who betrayed our heroes. Gilstrap layers different plots together into a nice neat package. Throw in some extremely engaging and believable characters, and you have a near-perfect thriller. At 438 pages, the book’s fairly long, and it is “unputdownable”! A word of warning – if you don’t have a day or two to spare, or if you must be up early the next morning, don’t start the book!

 

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Spenser Lives on After Parker’s Death!

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Sharon

Robert B. Parker's Lullaby by Ace AtkinsRobert B. Parker left some very big shoes to fill. When he died in January 2010, fans of the prolific author thought that his iconic private detective Spenser died with him. Not so – it takes more than Parker’s death to bring Spenser down!

For years, fans depended on Parker to deliver a Spenser book a year. Parker didn’t disappoint in 2011, when his last completed Spenser novel, Sixkill, was published posthumously. This May, the 40th Spenser novel (Lullaby) was released… but this time, it wasn’t from the maestro himself but by Ace Atkins.

Atkins, an accomplished writer in his own right, was handpicked by Parker’s estate to write the Spenser books. Critics and fans have been singing Atkins’ praises for Lullaby. The Chicago Sun-Times says of Atkins’ efforts, “Atkins succeeds. He doesn’t sound like somebody trying to emulate Parker. He sounds like Parker in a book that hits all the usual Spenser notes… To manage that with someone else’s characters, let alone with an icon like Spenser, is a minor miracle. Ace Atkins pulls it off.”

Atkins certainly has the right credentials for the job. A reporter for the Tampa Tribune in the 1990s, Atkins is a Pulitzer Prize nominee. His 2011 book, The Ranger was nominated for an Edgar Award. Atkins is himself a big fan of Parker’s books, and the Spenser series. He said, “I didn’t want to come in and start changing everything. You can’t change who Spenser is or how he works.”

Lullaby sees Spenser take on a very young client for the princely sum of a box of donuts. 14-year-old Mattie Sullivan needs Spenser’s help to help investigate her mother’s murder. She’s convinced that the man convicted of the murder is innocent. When Spenser starts to poke around, he stirs up more trouble than he expects.

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Top Writers in Mystery and Romantic Suspense Anthology!

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Sharon

Thriller 3 Love is Murder by Sandra BrownThriller 3: Love is Murder (Anthology edited by Sandra Brown)

It’s a veritable who’s who of mystery and romantic suspense writing in Thriller 3: Love is Murder. The collection of 30 short stories edited by Sandra Brown includes tales by big names such as Heather Graham, Vicki Hinze, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Carla Neggers and Brenda Novak, just to name a few. Allison Kincaid gives us a new Lucy Kincaid story, while Roxanne St. Clair whips out a tale from her bullet catchers series. Lee Child’s popular anti-hero Jack Hero makes an appearance with “I Heard a Romantic Story”, while Dianna Love gives us a little bit of romantic fantasy. This anthology is packed with action, suspense, mystery, murder… and yes, romance. Characters run the gamut – there are cops, criminals, vigilantes, and in one story, the President of the United States makes an appearance. If you’re a fan of mysteries and romantic suspense, you’ll love this collection of short quick reads that will keep you entertained.

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