THE GOOD COP Carter Ross Series No. 4

by Brad Parks

Carter Ross is a reporter for the Newark Eagle-Examiner.  He's been handed an assignment to investigate and write about the death of a Newark policeman.  Just as he's beginning, the death is ruled a suicide and Ross is pulled from the story.

That should have stopped him, but of course it didn't.  The more he learns about Detective Sergeant Darius Kipps, the more convinced Ross is that Kipps didn't commit suicide.  In fact, he had everything to live for.  Blocked at every turn by the police in his quest, Carter is determined to find out what really happened.

Along with his reporting duties, Ross is constantly side-stepping his boss Tina's quest to have him impregnate her.  She's decided that he's the perfect candidate to fulfill her dream of having a child before her biological clock runs down.  But while Ross is seriously interested in Tina, he's not willing to settle for just being a stud service.

Brad Parks has injected a tongue-in-cheek humor in his characters and THE GOOD COP is a hilarious pleasure to read.   It doesn't hurt that the setting is many of the New Jersey towns any New Jerseyan is familiar with!

I enjoyed THE GOOD COP so much that I've since gone back and read all the rest of the Carter Ross  series.  I'd suggest you start with an earlier one, but they're all fun to read as Ross tears up the turf in the Garden State!

ISBN 9781250005526
Pub. Date:  March 5, 2013
336 pages
Hardcover and eBook

DON'T GO

by Lisa Scottoline
To be released April 2013

Having just finished a couple of very intense books, I decided to give DON'T GO a try since it was written by one of my favorite legal thriller writers.

Dr. Mike Scanlon is serving in Afghanistan, a handy theme when presenting the reader with hand-wringing drama.   He's notified that his wife has died from a household accident, leaving his infant daughter with relatives.  Now, Mike Scanlon is a doctor so you have to assume he is working with some brain cells. But Ms. Scottoline's protagonist makes such dumb decisions that you can see very early on just where this book is going and it's frustrating at best.  I was actually moaning out loud to a friend that I couldn't believe he went back to Afghanistan and couldn't believe he signed a poorly worded temporary custody agreement with his wife's sister and her attorney husband.   My friend kept telling me to shut up and even threatened to turn off her hearing aids since she wanted to read the book after me.

I have to admit that I've always tried to skip over the chick lit books written by some of my favorite mystery and thriller writers; John Grisham, David Baldacci and Lisa Scottoline to name just a few.  Without the tension and intrigue of the thrillers written by these authors, the chick lit crossover novels they produce just seem to fall flat.  What I realized is that these authors take themselves too seriously for the chick lit genre and fail to add the humor and comedic touch that make books by Jennifer Weiner, Sophie Kinsella and Helen Fielding such a pleasure to read and a fun way to spend an afternoon.

That said, DON'T GO is trite and predictable and takes itself too seriously.  I was forced to finish reading this book to see just how bad it was, and it was bad!   I would suggest you DON'T GO to your favorite bookseller or library for this one.

ISBN:  9781250010070   
Pub. Date:  April 9, 2013
384 pages    
Hardcover and eBook 

IRON HOUSE

by John Hart

Abandoned by their mother, young Michael and Julian spent their childhood in an horrific orphanage and boys' home called Iron House.  Michael is the stronger and more resilient of the two and he becomes his brother's protector.  When Julian is bullied unmercifully and finally snaps and kills one of his attackers, Michael makes it appear that he felled the bully.  Michael runs away from Iron House and begins his new life on the streets while Julian is adopted into a good home.

In his early teens, Michael is taken in by Otto Kaitlin, a NYC crime boss, and he begins his life as an enforcer, rising in the ranks by doing as he's told and killing when needed.  But Michael meets and falls in love with Elena who doesn't know what he does.  Now that Elena is pregnant, he wants a normal life with his new family.

Although Michael has the blessing to start his life over from the ill and aged Kaitlin, others in the organization won't let that happen.  Michael knows that the mob will go after those closest to him in order to keep him in line and he's doing everything he can to protect both Elena and Julian, who he hasn't been in contact with since he left Iron House.

Adopted by a career politician and his wife, Julian has become a famous author despite suffering with a mental illness.  The skeletons in Julian's adoptive family's closets add to the stress Michael is under in trying to keep his loved ones safe and Elena at his side.

Hart has written an epic story of family love couched in a thriller.  IRON HOUSE is an enjoyable read.

Pub. Date - July 11, 2011
ISBN 978-0-312-38034-2
432 pages
Available in hardcover, audio and eBook

THE NIGHT SEASON

by Chelsea Cain - available in hardcover and eBook

Heavy rains have caused the Williamette River in Portland, Oregon to flood the city.  Det. Archie Sheridan has just learned that one of the recent drowning victims actually died from poisoning before going into the rising water. 

When the medical examiner discovers that more of the presumed drowning victims actually met the same fate, Sheridan finds himself in a search for a serial killer.  The killer is using a very unusual way to harm his victims, a deadly toxin from an exotic octopus sting. 

Sheridan heroically rescues a young boy from the floodwaters, only to have the boy disappear from the hospital.  As Sheridan races against time to find the killer, he believes the child is tied into the case.  Having lost her day job, reporter Susan Ward follows Archie throughout the investigation.  It's obvious that there is an attraction between Sheridan and Ward, but since I haven't read any of Cain's other novels, it's hard to tell what the connection is. 

The murder weapon in Ms. Cain's novel was just a little too far-fetched to be believable.  However, THE NIGHT SEASON is a well written light mystery and I liked that Cain incorporated the true story of the Vanport Flood on Memorial Day in 1948.

ISBN 978-0-312-61976-3
322 pages

STICKY FINGERS - Roxy Abruzzo Series No. 2

by Nancy Martin - to be released in April 2011

Roxy Abruzzo runs an architectural salvage business by day, but picks up jobs from her incarcerated mob boss uncle to make ends meet.  She doesn't mind collecting gambling debts but she draws the line at kidnapping one of her old schoolmates, Clarice Crabtree.

When Clarice turns up murdered, Roxy is on the trail of the killer, in part to prove that she isn't the murderer.   Roxy soon discovers that Crabtree had two separate families and was the major breadwinner for both, something that wouldn't have been possible to afford even with her lofty museum job.  Roxy's search leads her to a dinosaur bone collecting rock star and a small army of other zany characters.

Halfway through STICKY FINGERS, I had to go to Google to see if Nancy Martin was a pseudonym for Janet Evanovich.  (She's not.)  The parallels between Roxy and Evanovich's Stephanie Plum are uncanny. 

Instead of Lulu, Roxy's sidekick is Nooch, a big lovable guy who's a little slow; instead of feisty Grandma Mazur, Roxy has Sister Bob, a retired nun looking to spend her golden years discovering sex.  Just like Stephanie, Roxy has commitment problems even though Martin takes it a little further and has given her character the persona of a sex addict.  Like Stephanie Plum who can't stand next to Morelli or Ranger without her pulse increasing, Roxy's sexual attraction to her high school boyfriend (and the father of her daughter Sage) pulsates off the page.  The similarities don't end with the characters; even the writing style and one-liners will have you thinking you're reading Evanovich. 

STICKY FINGERS is a quick fun read, but I can't help but wonder if Janet Evanovich is flattered or alarmed that Nancy Martin has so closely followed in her footsteps.

ISBN 978-0-312-57373-7
304 pages

NIGHT ROAD

by Kristin Hannah - to be released March 22, 2011 in hardcover and as an eBook

Fourteen year old Lexi Baill has bounced between her drug addicted mother and foster care for years.  Following her mother's death, a relative is finally located in Washington State.  Her elderly Aunt Eva brings her home and provides a stable and loving home for her on the poorer side of this wealthy community.

On her first day of school Lexi meets Mia Faraday, a vulnerable and insecure girl, and the two quickly become friends.  Lexi is soon a part of the Faraday family, welcomed by Mia's parents, Jude and Miles, as well as Mia's twin brother, Zach.  Jude had her own difficult childhood growing up and she is determined to be the perfect mother, totally micromanaging her children's lives and guarding them closely. 

NIGHT ROAD follows the high school years of the Faradays and Lexi and the burgeoning love between Lexi and Zach until a bad decision and ensuing tragedy shatters all of their lives, severing the bonds of family and friendship.  Emotionally complex, this powerful novel deals with the intricacies of family life, parenting, despair, hope and the search for forgiveness with heartbreaking realism.

I loved this book, but I strongly recommend that you keep the Kleenex handy!

CHASING THE NIGHT - Eve Duncan Series No. 11

by Iris Johansen - available in hardcover

Eve Duncan, a forensic sculptor, and her partner, Joe Quinn, are drawn into the search for CIA Agent Catherine Ling's son who was kidnapped nine years earlier at the age of two.  The boy was taken by a Russian mobster, Sergei Rakovac, as punishment to Ling for interrupting his reign of criminal terror.  Rakovac has tortured Ling during those long nine years with stories of her son's death. 

Rakovac has enjoyed CIA protection because of information he supplied to them and, not wanting to disrupt his usefulness, the agency has done nothing to help Ling recover her son.  But Rakovac's time is running out and his involvement with large scale terror attacks has prompted the CIA to order his elimination.  The pressure mounts as Ling is determined to find her son, if he's still alive, before Rakovac's death.  

I enjoy Ms. Johansen's books and have read all of the ones in the Eve Duncan series.  While enjoyable to read, the CIA's use of a brilliant fourteen year old girl in this dangerous game of cat and mouse made CHASING THE NIGHT extremely unbelievable.

MOTHERS AND OTHER LIARS

by Amy Bourret - available in bookstores now

Nineteen year old Ruby Leander was leaving Oklahoma for California following her grandmother's funeral. Stopping at a rest stop changed Ruby's life forever when she discovered an abandoned infant.

Nine years later, Ruby is now living in New Mexico with her daughter, Lark, and dating Chaz, a local policeman. A nail technician, Ruby sees a magazine article with a photo of a missing infant that can only be Lark and the parents who have been searching for her for almost a decade. Shocked, scared and unsure what to do, Ruby's decision is taken out of her hands when Lark discovers the article in Ruby's purse.

Ruby's consults an attorney in her quest to do the right thing, even though she can't imagine life without Lark. Complicating matters, she discovers that she is pregnant with Chaz' child.

Ms. Bourret's novel was a delight to read with good characters and strong writing until she injected a ridiculous plot line worthy of King Solomon in the Old Testament.

Downhill from there; you should skip this one.

SIZZLING SIXTEEN - Stephanie Plum Series No. 16

by Janet Evanovich - available in hardcover

What can I say? The Stephanie Plum series are not intellectual mysteries but I like them. Quick and easy to read, it's like settling down with a favorite candy bar. The comical dialogue, cheap shots at my home state of New Jersey and silly characters add to the fun.

Stephanie, Lula, her plus-sized sidekick who was previously employed as a 'ho, and Connie are trying to rescue Stephanie's cousin Vinnie from mobsters who are holding him until someone pays off his $750,000+ gambling debt. The three ladies are also trying to keep the bail bonds office running until they can figure out how to free Vinnie.

The only problem I have with this Evanovich series is that no one seems to age. Stephanie is still flirting with Ranger while being slightly involved with Morelli. After so many years and 16 books, one would hope that she had made a choice. Otherwise, as usual these are fun, silly mysteries.

THINK TWICE

by Lisa Scottoline - available in hardcover

I don't know what's happening to some of my favorite mystery writers, but I've been really disappointed lately (see previous review for THE RULE OF NINE). I've read every one of Lisa Scottoline's books, but THINK TWICE may just be my last.

The author writes in her acknowledgements that this book is a story about a mother's love. It's actually a very wacky story about identity theft and good versus evil with the most absurd scenarios I've ever read.

Bennie Rosato's twin sister, Alice, has drugged her, buried her alive in the middle of nowhere and taken over her identity!?! While the premise is slightly plausible, the high jinx that Ms. Scottoline takes us through are ridiculous and totally unbelievable.

Entertaining but silly, you should skip this one.

MAYBE THIS TIME

by Jennifer Crusie - to be released in September 2010

Andie Miller is currently engaged but shows up at her ex-husband's office to return his alimony checks. One thing leads to another and before you know it, Andie is headed to stay at a haunted house to care for her his two young cousins for a month. From the minute the book opens, you know that Andie and her ex, North Archer, have considerable feelings for each other.

This is so far afield from books I usually read. It's an expanded romance mixed in with ghosts, odd family members and other unusual supporting characters.

Not my taste and very predictable but actually fun to read.