Valley Of The Devil Dolls

"The Marchand Sisters: In The Dark" by Judith Arnold

2012-02-12T21:51:00.000-08:00

Julie Sullivan works at the Marchand Hotel, a comfortable life after her early years as a fashion model when she was a teen. Back then, her testimony put a model agency owner in prison for exploiting his young employees and supplying them with drugs. This man, Glenn Parry, swore to get revenge. Mac Jensen has been hired by Julie's sister Marcie to protect her, as Glenn Parry is finally out of jail. He's masquerading as the hotel's head of security in order to fulfil his duties. There are instant sparks between Mac and Julie, but he must hide his true identity while he tries to figure out who is sending her threatening e-mails. Glenn Parry seems the likely party - or is he?

This is apparently part one in a twelve-part series involving the people who run the Marchand Hotel (not just the Marchand sisters). It's a fairly plotless piece of romantic suspense drivel, though not as awful as it could have been. The plot never goes beyond the threatening e-mails Julie is receiving, so the story is not likely to tax your brain too much. There is some intrigue regarding somebody potentially trying to sabotage the hotel, as well as some missing transferred funds attributed to the Marchands' late father, but I'm assuming those will be explored in later novels, as no explanations are provided here for those story strands. I don't know if I'm intrigued enough to hunt down the eleven (11!!!) other books in the series, but if you're after a book you can read, not get too aggravated by, and then forget once it's over, this one fits the bill.

"Already Gone" by John Rector

2012-02-12T17:07:00.000-08:00

Jake Reese has overcome a violent, troubled youth. He is now a published author, with a university teaching post and a new wife in Diane, the love of his life. When he is attacked by two thugs who cut off his ring finger, he wonders whether something from his past has come back to haunt him. When Diane goes missing - and then turns up dead in a suspicious car accident - Jake must try to figure out what is going on. Against advice from others, he gets back in touch with Gabby, the man who raised him after his father went to jail. Gabby doesn't always operate on the right side of the law, and his involvement could make things even more complicated.

For most of its duration, "Already Gone" is a punchy, fast-paced thriller with plenty of intrigue and unforseen plot twists. The character of Jake is likeable and it is easy to get behind him when things go sour. However, it begins to get a little too convoluted for its own good, and it's eventually confusing over who did what to whom and who wanted the other dead. The motive behind the madness is also quite disappointing; I guess I was expecting something a little more startling and original, considering how strong the rest of the book was.

In fact, by the end of the proceedings, this one bears a striking similarity to "Never Look Away" by Linwood Barclay. Both involve a wife who suddenly goes missing. Later events and motives are also quite similar. If you've read "Never Look Away", by no means assume you shouldn't pick this one up as well, but be warned there's a definite sense of deja vu hovering over things here. I believe I found "Never Look Away" lacked the twists and thrills of Barclay's other novels, so if you haven't read it, this might be the better alternative, as "Already Gone" did genuinely suck me in and I read it very quickly.

My only other beef - a minor one - is how novels in this genre always seem to involve the protagonist having a close friend from the wrong side of the tracks who can operate outside the law. It's a convenient plot tactic here, since the character of Gabby manages to capture the two thugs who attacked Jake without us being told how he managed to even find them in the first place. What did he do differently that Jake couldn't have done? It's a little annoying.

Otherwise, "Already Gone" marks an effort from an author I'm looking forward to reading more from.

"The Burning" by Jane Casey

2012-02-06T10:22:00.001-08:00

DC Maeve Kerrigan is part of the task force tracking down a serial killer dubbed "The Burning Man", who likes to viciously beat his victims before setting them on fire. The fifth victim is Rebecca Howarth - or is she? There's enough difference between the manner of Rebecca's death and those of the other victims that Maeve is allowed to dig into Rebecca's life to find out who may have wanted her dead, and tried to make it look like The Burning Man did it.

Intercut with Maeve's investigation is the viewpoint of Louise North, Rebecca's best friend, who is always on hand to provide clues and steer the direction of the murder enquiry, but who seems to have a lot to hide herself.

It's hard to discount "The Burning" if only because it is very well-written and the character development is sharp and believable. The characters and their relationships are well-defined and draw you into the story. Which is a good thing considering this is otherwise an overlong and very feeble mystery. Sorry, but it was entirely obvious from the get-go who killed Rebecca. You have to wade through quite a lot just to find out "how" and "why". Since it is made rather clear that The Burning Man didn't kill Rebecca, it renders that part of the narrative obsolete, yet Casey still continues to devote a fair bit of time to it. Why am I supposed to be invested in a plotline that will have no impact on who killed Rebecca or why they did it? Casey should have minimised the presence of The Burning Man investigation and focused primarily on making it a bit harder to figure out who killed Rebecca. Then again - was it supposed to be a mystery? Was I simply supposed to enjoy the rich prose and the psychological probing of a damaged mind?

Nope, that doesn't cut it with me. While I wouldn't call the book "predictable" there certainly weren't any surprises. I need a little more than good writing and character development to justify a book that clocks in at nearly 500 pages. Plot twists. Suspense. That would be a good place to start. Nevertheless, Maeve Kerrigan is a surprisingly appealing heroine, coming off strong and not too stupid. She pops up again in Jane Casey's next novel "The Reckoning" apparently, and Casey has enough talent for me to hope that she might put out something really special.

"Blind Instinct" by Fiona Brand

2012-01-30T01:42:00.000-08:00

Sara Fischer is a librarian who discovers a Nazi codebook in her late father's attic. This coincides with the return of dreams in which she was Sara Weiss, a spy for the French Resistance. These memories of her past life enable her to unravel the code and inadvertently puts her life in danger. Also involved is childhood friend and unrequited love Marc Bayard, who works for National Intelligence. He's still tracking down Alex Lopez, head of a brutal cartel that is in a war with a Nazi-based cabal over diamonds looted from a sunken ship, the sinking of which involved some sort of murder cover-up.

I think.

To be honest, I had no idea what the hell was going on in this book. It wasn't until I hopped onto the Internet and did a little research that I discovered this was book number three in a trilogy! However, absolutely nowhere on the cover, or on the back-cover blurb did it mention this book was part of a trilogy. No, you have to flick through the book and read the author's acknowledgements to get any sort of idea that two books came before this one. Pretty shifty, considering the asking price for this thing is $15.95! I can't really complain because I bought it for $2 from an op shop. Nevertheless, tactics like this to sell more books really tick me off. I was expecting a fairly brainless romantic action thriller. Instead, I kept getting tons and tons and tons of complicated back-story dumped on me.

Ironically enough, this is what scores the book points. "Blind Instinct" isn't some by-the-numbers romantic thriller churned out by an author operating on autopilot. It's a reasonably complex conclusion to what is obviously a well-researched thriller series. I'm not sure I was intrigued enough to hunt down the previous two books (I know how it all ends, after all), but "Blind Instinct" shows off an author with a little talent to spare. And - despite having trouble following events - I read it all the way to the end. That's REALLY saying something.

"The Guilty" by Jason Pinter

2012-01-25T20:04:00.000-08:00

Henry Parker is a journalist who comes across the story of a lifetime when an unknown assassin begins picking off famous people - including a popular actress and a media magnate. Journalism being the cut-throat world it is, he wants to find a unique angle. He gets it when he realises the assassin is using a very unlikely weapon - a Winchester. This was a rifle used by Billy The Kid. His investigation uncovers secrets from the past, which could possibly change history. Unfortunately, his knack for the facts brings him to the assassin's attention.

"The Guilty" is mildly diverting, and the history regarding Billy The Kid is quite intriguing. Events cap off with a slam-bang finale. So why isn't it ultimately successful? The main fault would have to be levelled at the characters. Unfortunately, Henry Parker himself is the worst offender. He wonders whether he'll have to live a solitary existence because his profession brings too much danger into his life and could threaten the life of his girlfriend Alison, whom he loves dearly. Is he for real? Journalism is only dangerous because journalists actively chase the danger! There are actual noble jobs out there like police officers and video store clerks who don't ask for the danger but get it anyway. So I found Henry to be a deluded, arrogant buffoon. The rest of the characters don't fare much better.

The other issue I found here was with the portrayal of journalism itself. I'm not a journalist, but the rest of my family is, so I have some passing familiarity with the profession. The journalism presented here did not really seem to connect with reality. Apparently reporters are allowed to print wildly biased opinion pieces on topical stories. The subplot involving rival journalist Paulina Cole and her quest to ruin Henry professionally is just ludicrous. One article she writes in particular would never even have made it to press.

The final nail in the coffin is the motive of the killer. Sadly, it just doesn't make much sense. He believes his targets are corrupting society, or something random like that. Pinter doesn't make any effort in exploring this opinion or why the killer follows his belief so devoutly. He's spending too much time trying to show how Henry faces the difficult decision over whether or not to break up with Alison because of the danger his job brings into his life. Give me a break. I'm tempted to cap off with some clever comment regarding what "The Guilty" is guilty of, but I won't.

"Watch Me" by Brenda Novak

2012-01-25T18:20:00.000-08:00

Sheridan Kohl returns to the town of Whiterock twelves years after she was nearly killed by a gunman who murdered the boy she was with. There's been a development in the case and she wants to lay the past to rest. However, her arrival is met with another attack that nearly kills her. She is saved by Cain Granger, stepbrother of the boy Sheridan was with twelve years ago, and the man she has been in love with ever since a teenager. However, Cain is pinpointed by chief of police Ned Smith and his own stepfather John Wyatt as the prime suspect in both crimes - they happened on or near his property. Another murder makes things very difficult for Cain, and he struggles with his feelings for Sheridan while trying to prove his own innocence and keep her safe.

"Watch Me" is a surprisingly decent mystery that doesn't overplay the romantic angst and keeps the identity of the villian neatly hidden. Everybody has a plausible motive for murder. Sure, that means it could have been anybody, but I prefer that to Scooby-Doo surprise baddies with ridiculous motives. The only real complaint here is the way every single female character in the story is completely and totally in love with Cain Granger. One is obsessed with him. It's hard to figure out why. He doesn't seem like a bad guy, but other than that he's kind of dull. Not the best of its genre, but far from the worst.

"Senseless" by Mary Burton

2012-01-10T06:46:00.000-08:00

Eva Rayburn is six months out of prison after serving ten years for the manslaughter of Josiah Cross, a sicko who raped her and branded her with a four-point star. Josiah was from a rich family, the patriarch of which basically railroaded her and the police into making her admit to the death. In actuality, Eva cannot remember killing Josiah.

The past comes back to haunt her when the sorority sisters who testified against her all that time ago begin to start dying, their bodies discovered with four-point star brands. Detective Deacon Garrison is on the case, and eventually discovers the link between the current murders and Eva's past. Of course, this being a romantic suspense novel, he begins to fall for the woman he's not sure he can trust.

While Mary Burton does tick off a lot of the requisite cliches for a romantic suspense novel, there's more here to enjoy than to pick apart. She has a good handle on plotting, suspense and characterisation. Both our leads have tortured pasts - Eva with the whole convicted felon thing and Deacon with his guilt over being unable to "save" his sister or his wife (his sister had cystic fibrosis and his wife committed suicide). Deacon does threaten to become the dreaded melodramatic alpha-male, but he's likeable enough and at least has two brain cells to rub together. Eva's "I don't need your charity" attitude gets quite grating at times, but she comes across as a believable representation of somebody who has had to weather a lot of heavy stuff in a short life span.

There's no denying a few pages could be shorn off this thing, but that's more to do with a couple of unnecessary subplots - for example, a petty thief who witnesses one of the crimes. I prefer that to Karen Rose-style endless navel-gazing about falling in love with the wrong man/woman. Eva and Deacon fancy each other, but don't go on and on about it. The plot is surprisingly complex for a romantic thriller of this sort, and delivers some genuinely clever plot twists late in the proceedings. I'm not familiar with much of Burton's work, but if this novel is any indication, she's sitting at the front of the romantic suspense pack.

"Think Of A Number" by John Verdon

2012-01-01T03:02:00.000-08:00

Dave Gurney is a retired homicide detective who is contacted by an old college friend (from some twenty-five years ago) about some weird letters he has been receiving. The letter asks him to think of a number, and when he opens a smaller envelope - there is that number! More letters follow, until the point where the friend winds up dead in a bizarre crime scene.

Despite his wife Madeleine not being too happy about him being pulled back into the world of homicide, Gurney finds that this is a puzzle he just has to solve. His previous good reputation gets him onto the team as an investigator for the district attorney, where he is given almost free reign to follow the clues. Sure enough, another similar murder eventually occurs. How can this killer know what number his victims will think of? What connects all of the victims?

Unfortunately, the answer isn't as interesting or exciting as what is set up by the plot. "Think Of A Number" is a disappointinly slow and routine story. For me, the intrigue was behind what made the killer sure that his victims would think of a particular number. But the author seems far more focused on explaining the ins and outs of how the killer set up his bizarre crime scenes. It made for very dry reading and really not that far removed from countless other novels in this genre that put emphasis on forensic accuracy. The solution to the "think of a number" scenario is disappoiningly obvious and dull (and randomly figured out by the characters during a single brain-storming session late in the novel).

Characterisation is another major flaw here. Navel-gazing, thy name is Dave Gurney. Get over yourself, buddy. If we're going to spend all our time with a character, make him at least a little interesting. Being haunted by a dead son, and nagged by a wife who doesn't like his job, is something seen far too often in this genre, and Verdon doesn't do anything new with it here. Wife Madeleine may seem to provide some arbitrary inspirations for Dave to solve a particular clue, but other than that her sole function is to make Dave feel bad for doing something he genuinely enjoys. Great character! Similarly, the people who make up the police teams that Dave works with are all strident, arrogant and prickly, with huge chips on their shoulders. Almost all of the dialogue in the novel is adversary in nature. It gets tiresome.

The novel is refreshingly well-plotted in that the clues are all there to be figured out if you're paying attention. No arbitrary Unfortunately, because the pace was so stifling and the characters so unappealing, I wasn't really paying as much attention as I should. I'm surprised by the number of raving reviews this has received - intelligent plotting still needs suspense, decent pacing and interesting characters. Think of another book to read.

"Twice Kissed" by Lisa Jackson

2011-12-12T03:11:00.000-08:00

Maggie McCrae has a tumultuous relationship with her twin sister Mary Theresa. Her sister now goes by the single-moniker name of Marquise and is a talk show host whose fame is slowly on the decline. When she receives a telepathic message from her sister stating that she is in danger, Maggie begins to worry. The worry is confirmed by the arrival of Thane Walker, Marquise's first husband - and Maggie's first true love. He says that Marquise is missing - possibly dead - and that the police suspect he had something to do with it. Despite not trusting him, Maggie agrees to pack her teenage brat of a daughter off to Los Angeles to stay with her aunt, and go with Thane to Denver to dig into Marquise's life to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

I know I vowed never to read another book by Lisa Jackson after the truly atrocious double-whammy of "Left To Die" and "Chosen To Die", but I happened to already own this (purchased at a sale quite cheaply), so I figured I had to get it out the way. While not nearly as awful as those previously mentioned books, it's still not very good. There is very little plot to speak of here, and all suspects are introduced so briefly that we don't get to know anything about them, so we don't really care if they had anything to do with Marquise's disappearance anyway. A fair amount of time is spent with Maggie's daughter Becca, but there's no point behind it. She's never in any danger and has no impact on the central mystery. She should have been packed off to Los Angeles and stayed there, not to be heard from for the rest of the book. That would have been nice, as she was quite an odious character.

The romance angle is typically overwrought and melodramatic, though at least partly believable. A lengthy flashback - that does nothing to illuminate the central mystery, mind you - shows how Maggie and Thane first fell in love, and the circumstances that broke them apart. Therefore, the tension between them in the present doesn't feel as forced as it might have done. You do have to wade through a lot of "I can't trust him/her!" to get to anything interesting, though. The explanation behind the mystery is very pat and silly, and the villian's motivation ill-defined at best. There is no way to figure out the answer to the mystery - the revelation is through a completely random plot development raised late in the book. Look at it this way - if converted into film/TV form, this would barely take up an hour-long television show. It's that thin. A look inside the book reveals this was originally published in 1998. Even more than a decade ago, Jackson was writing plotless drivel. This hasn't done much to sway me from my decision to no longer read her books.

"The Stalker" by Joan Lowery Nixon

2011-12-10T18:41:00.000-08:00

When Bobbie Trax is arrested for the murder of her own mother, nobody is more shocked than Bobbie's best friend, Jennifer Wilcox. She is convinced that Bobbie is innocent, despite the police claiming the case is closed. Despite being an immature, melodramatic pain-in-the-ass, she manages to convince ex-detective Lucas Maldonaldo of her theory, and they team up to find the real murderer. Of course, this puts Jennifer herself in the real killer's sights.

"The Stalker" came out in 1985, just a year before the teen thriller genre was revolutionised (for lack of a better term) by R.L. Stine with "Blind Date". It's scary to lay such claims on a mediocre author like Stine (although admittedly his output was a lot better before he was releasing four books a month), but his content was certainly edgier than what had come before it. There isn't much to be found within the pages of "The Stalker". The plot is very thin, the culprit identifiable the moment they are introduced and the main character is truly detestable. If I thought some of the wilting flowers found in romance novels were bad, Jennifer Wilcox really takes the cake. She's supposed to be eighteen years old, but spends most of her time complaining "It's not fair!" whenever something doesn't go her way. You almost expect her to cross her arms in front of her chest and stamp her feet. She snipes at everybody around her and generally behaves like a complete buffoon. Every moment spent in her company was a total chore. And since the whole story is told from her point of view (third person), it makes the whole, thankfully short, novel much the same. Avoid.

"Every Move You Make" by Carla Cassidy

2011-11-27T02:06:00.001-08:00

Annalise Blakely is the owner of a company that creates handcrafted dolls. One day she receives a package that includes one of her dolls and a cryptic message. Little does she know, a woman has been murdered and her body displayed just like that of the doll. It seems like somebody out there with mother issues blames Annalise and her dolls for the horrors they suffered as a child. Luckily for Annalise, she has started a romance with detective Tyler King, and he is investigating those very murders. Her estranged father and half-brother have also come back into her life. Could her new happiness be threatened by the psycho on the loose?

As far as romantic suspense novels go, "Every Move You Make" sits at the top end of the scale. It was very refreshing to have two main characters who didn't want to make me reach into the pages of the book and slap them both silly. Annalise isn't some fragile wilting flower, and Tyler isn't some melodramatic alpha-male. They both seem to have their heads about them, lending some credibility to their developing relationship. Annalise's issues with her dead mother, her desire to continue her mother's legacy (she inherited the doll company from her) and her bitterness over what she feels is her father's abandonment of her is believable and provides a good context for her reluctance to fully embrace a relationship with Tyler. No, it's not the stuff of deep intellectual literary drama, but it makes Annalise a much more rounded character than what this genre usually provides. Yes, her heart flutters whenever she's around Tyler, but he's not all she thinks about. Following her journey of personal enlightenment isn't nearly as tiresome as it could have been.

Just to be clear: there's nothing new here. It's probably a little slower-paced than your typical romantic thriller. The killer's motive is as hold as the hills and his identity rather arbitrary (my excuse for when I'm not able to pick it). But all in all, there's not a lot I can really complain about here. I'm a huge fan of TV movies featuring a B-list actress playing a damsel in distress. "Every Move You Make" was like a TV movie in written form. I could easily see this tale nicely fitting a 90-minute midday movie. Take from that what you will, but from me it's a pretty high endorsement. A pleasant surprise.

"Eyes" by Felice Picano

2011-11-27T02:06:00.000-08:00

Stu Waehner is a social caseworker, in a deteriorating relationship with girlfriend Jennifer. He is also the object of obsession for Johanna Poole, who lives in an apartment building opposite him. She can see into his apartment, but he can't see into hers. She keeps a detailed, extensive journal on him, noting every step in their progressing "relationship". She starts to call him, but refuses to meet in person. At first, Stu is unsure about the calls, but is soon drawn to the woman he knows as Joan. In fact, he comes to rely on Joan's presence in his life, even after he begins a relationship with Johanna herself, unaware they are one and the same.

The front cover of the book proclaims this as "The Shattering Novel of Love and Terror". I wouldn't go that far, but it certainly is an intriguing and compelling little character study. Originally published in 1975, this one holds up extremely well, and could conceivably occur in any time period. Picano gets deep inside his characters' heads, so that we know their every weakness, insecurity and character flaw. Johanna obviously has more than a few screws loose, but she is not portrayed as some over-the-top loony. She is a pretty, intelligent woman....who just happens to be a voyeur with a demented, idealised view of true love. Her reasons for keeping a journal about Stu are completely rational - to her. This sort of strong character development helps to make proceedings remain believable when a romance does actually develop between Stu and Johanna.

It made for quite fascinating reading as Stu refused to let go of his phone relationship with Joan, despite having the real thing with Johanna. Likewise, Johanna just couldn't let go of her alter ego despite landing the man she had been longing for. Their mutual self-destructiveness leads to risky, poorly thought-out character actions that can only end badly.

Although the book cover and blurb try to sell this as a suspense thriller, I wouldn't really categorise it as such. It is a little too leisurely paced to ratchet up the tension you would expect from the genre, and there are no real twists to the plot. However, it is certainly never dull, as the complex relationship between Stu and Johanna/Joan is explored so deeply. "Eyes" was a change of pace from what I normally read, and a welcome one.

"Taboo" by Casey Hill

2011-11-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

Reilly Steel is a forensic investigator who has come to Ireland, home of her father, to help bring Ireland's lab into the twenty-first century. Haunted by a mysterious past that has driven her father into alcoholism, Reilly channels her issues into her work, and is highly regarded in her field. Her skills are put to the test by a series of murders in which victims are forced to enact societal taboos before being killed. Brother and sister forced into incent, a husband forced to suicide, a young man forced to eat human flesh....the murders are quite grisly and shocking. Reilly notes that Freudian clues are being left at each crime scene, impressing Chris Delaney, the detective on the case. However, it isn't long before the murderer drags Reilly into things on a personal level.

Although the serial killer in this novel likes to commit murders that shock society, shock is hardly an emotion likely to be experienced by anybody who reads the book. "Taboo" plays it extremely safe with characters straight out of central casting, non-graphic descriptions of crime scenes and standard forensic-investigator mumbo jumbo. Although too much descriptive prose in novels can irritate me, here I could barely even tell the events were happening in Dublin, Ireland. It could have been "CSI: Miami" for all I knew. Hill at least, for the most part, doesn't fall into that tiresome trap of a character saying "real life isn't like TV and crimes can't be solved in neat one-hour packages" blah, blah, blah. That's usually the justification an author will throw out because they secretly know their plot is dull and not going anywhere. The plot here moves along at a decent pace, so events are thankfully never boring.

Unfortunately, "Taboo" is just too routine and familiar to even really get out the starting gate. There is a decent twist regarding the true nature of the event from Reilly's past, which I didn't see coming. However, it renders everything that comes after it as completely ridiculous. I can't give anything away, obviously, but it took me right out of the book and I struggled to finish the last fifty pages. Idiotic revelation, ludicrous motive and silly climax. It dragged down even further what was already a below average crime novel.

On a side note, the killer and Reilly are supposed to be familiar with Freud. However, at one point Reilly is carrying on about the subconscious holding far more information than the conscious. Now, I may have only done very simple, brief work with Freud in my university days more than a decade ago, but I'm fairly certain that Freud never used the word subconscious. He always talked about the "conscious" and the "unconscious". I could be wrong (I usually am), but by that time I was already thoroughly unimpressed by the book and likely looking for little extra things I could nitpick about. What would Freud say about that?

"The Colour Of Blood" by Declan Hughes

2011-10-10T03:46:00.000-07:00

Ed Loy is a private detective in Dublin, hired by ex-rugby-player turned dental surgeon Shane Howard to find his daughter Emily. She has shown up in pornographic movies, and Shane is now being blackmailed - pay up or the movies go wildly public. It actually doesn't take Ed too long to locate Emily, but that is hardly the end of it. Ed opens up a whole can of worms involving the sordid history of the Howard family. When Shane becomes the prime suspect in the murders of both his wife and a young rugby player behind the porno movies, Ed must dig into the Howard's history, which also seems to be linked to a local crime boss.

To be honest, I'm a little tired of the well-worn cliche in the private detective genre in which the person who hired the private detective actually has the most to hide. Then they go and act all surprised when the private detective goes and does their job properly and detects things. In this case, it is not only Shane Howard but his sister Sandra as well. Considering how things pan out, what the hell are the doing hiring Ed Loy in the first place?

Other than this glaring plot point and some other minor quibbles, Declan Hughes is a pretty damn good author. Sure, the descriptions are a little too lengthy for my taste, but he does a good job of setting up the scene and establishing atmosphere. The characters are extremely well-drawn, feeling like real people. The plot is fantastically structured. While most other authors could write a whole novel about a missing girl and the effort to find her, that is only a starting point here. Seriously, Hughes crams most 400-page novels into about 50 pages here. Each chapter twists the story in a new direction. In some ways, it reminded me of Harlan Coben in his prime.

So what went wrong? Yes, I was bothered by the fact Ed was hired by people who had secrets they didn't want uncovered. It makes no sense whatsoever. But on top of that, the novel was just missing that special something that made me not want to put it down. It took me about a week to read this. Even a bad Harlan Coben novel generally has me reading it from start to finish within a day or two. The constant allusions to the involvement of a local gangster may have had something to do with it. The plot just keeps on returning to former-gangster-turned-businessman Brock Taylor and his possible involvement in current events and the various crimes from the past. I'm simply not a fan of crime gangs in crime fiction. Gang warfare has ruined many a crime novel for me. Also, events come a little convoluted. Everybody has something to hide and is involved in some way. It didn't help that at least three characters all had the name of "David". I got a little lost sometimes, which made it hard to catch up when I returned to the book.

All complaints aside, "The Colour Of Blood" comes highly recommended. Hughes is a talented, literate author. This is actually a top-notch reflection of what this genre has to offer - from a technical standpoint. But, like I said, it shouldn't have taken me so long to finish it. Something was missing. I'm just really not sure what.

"Evil Without A Face" by Jordan Dane

2011-09-18T03:49:00.000-07:00

Jessica Beckett is a bounty hunter haunted by her past as an abused child. Her obsession with criminal Lucas Baker inadvertently alerts her to the activities of a secret criminal organisation. Meanwhile, young Nikki Archer has sought to escape what she thinks of as a rotten life with her mother in Alaska. Her on-line chats have not been with another teenager, but with a criminal mastermind who likes to kidnap young teenage girls. Nikki's uncle, Payton Archer, who used to play for the NFL, vows to find out who is responsible. This eventually leads to crossing paths with Jessica, and chasing down an evil, global corporation.

There's nothing wrong with "Evil Without A Face" that I can actually put my finger on. But for some reason, it never really gripped me, and it took a long time for me to finish the book. I was never compelled to pick it up during a spare moment and eventually had to force myself to finish it. As far as romantic suspense goes, this falls on the grittier side, as it deals with the young teenage girls who fall victim to online predators. Jessica herself has survived a childhood in which she was kidnapped by a pedophile. The book (perhaps thankfully) doesn't delve into too much detail regarding Jessica's past, but it does give the character a bit of an edge.

In fact, the book is largely plot-driven and action-based, as Jessica and her new employee, the mysterious Seth Harper, get tangled up in far more than they bargained for. The book is more than half-way through before Jessica and Payton even meet, which is highly unusual for this genre. In a way, it's refreshing, but it also makes what follows a bit more troublesome. "Evil Without A Face" suddenly transforms from a not-bad thriller into a typical romantic-suspense bore. Jessica and Payton are attracted to each other. They inherently sense something in one another. Blah blah blah. The cliches come thick and fast, which includes the introduction of a covert alliance that operates in taking out evil global conspiracies. How convenient.

I'm sick of covert operations in this genre. It's tired. It's overdone. The introduction of Alexa Malone, an agent for this operation, clearly screams "sequel!" As does Seth Harper's mysterious past. I imagine they're the central characters for the next two instalments of what the book jacket calls the "Sweet Justice" series. Blech. I appreciated the fact that "Evil Without A Face" was more thriller than romance, but would have preferred it continue in one vein, rather than abruptly shifting tones halfway through.

"Cold As Ice" by Anne Stuart

2011-09-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

Genevieve Spenser is a snotty, uptight lawyer who boards the boat of billionaire Harry Van Dorn to get some papers signed. Little does she know, he is a maniac bent on world domination (or something). He wants to stage seven tragedies that will send the stock market plunging and allow him to make a few more billion (or something).

Also on board is Peter Jensen, who is supposed to be Harry's personal assistant, but is actually an assassin for The Committee, who want to stop Harry before he can carry out his deadly plans. His directive is that Genevieve become collateral damage so that the mission can go off without a hitch. However, sparks are flying between the two, and he finds himself torn between his duty and his libido.

Considering what a rampaging bitch Genevieve is, Peter would have been better off letting her get blown up in the boat. It's been a while since I came across such an unlikeable, insolent, nerve-grating whinebucket. Seriously, she behaves as if she just celebrated her thirteenth birthday. But she's great in the sack, so Peter is happy to risk the fate of the world to keep her safe and keep on bedding her.

Your book is in trouble when the most entertaining character is your villian. Harry Van Dorn is supposed to be sick and depraved, but he's far more interesting than Peter or Genevieve. I couldn't help but wish that Harry might achieve all his goals and live to fight on in an inevitable follow-up (I believe this is part of a series involving agents working for The Committee). He's certainly preferable to spending time in the company of Genevieve. Then again, getting your fingernails forcibly removed whilst watching a Katherine Heigl movie would probably be better than spending time with a woman like Genevieve.

"Cold As Ice" has no real plot to speak of - Harry's plans are ambiguous at best - but has a few sprinklings of action and moves at an easy enough pace. Better characterisation may have helped in overcoming the serious personality flaws of its central protagonists.

"Killer Instinct" by Joseph Finder

2011-08-21T05:26:00.000-07:00

Jason Steadman is a sales manager at Entronics, a multi-media software company along the lines of, say, Panavision, who organise contracts to provide their product to an organisation. He's happy doing what he does, but his wife Kate thinks they are falling into a bit of a rut, and wonders why he isn't a little more ambitious. After all, they are supposed to be starting a family.

About the same time as Kate starts pushing him to get up and go, Jason meets a tow truck driver who just happens to be an ex-Special Forces officer. Kurt Semko got a dishonourable discharge, but after helping Jason out, the two strike up a friendship. Jason invites him to take part in a company baseball game, which results in their team finally winning. It soon progresses to Jason helping Kurt get a nice job in security at Entronics.

Kurt believes in repaying favours. So much so that all of sudden Jason finds himself the recipient of extremely good fortune, while others around him fall victim to major bad luck. Jason gets the promotion he is after and his life improves dramatically, but he eventually suspects that Kurt is being not just underhanded - but decidedly ruthless - in ensuring his success. In fact, could Kurt even be committing murder. When Jason tries to put a stop to things, his new best friend becomes his worst enemy.

A solid plot and an engaging lead character help "Killer Instict" deliver the goods. The reader is with Jason Steadman every step of the way, as he tries to navigate his way through a cut-throat corporate world that is out of step with his general nice-guy persona. The suspense begins to build as you wonder just how far Kurt is going to ensure that Jason lands his deals and secures the promotions he is after. Kurt actually comes across as a likeable guy. Who wouldn't want somebody like that in their corner, guiding you to the outcomes you want to achieve? However, Jason isn't too comfortable with some of Kurt's tactics, and his outright horrified when he suspects Kurt has committed murder.

The main problem with "Killer Instinct" is that is eventually reaches a state of static. Another bad thing happens that benefits Jason. And another. And another. Kurt is obviously behind it. This holding pattern is kept in place far too long and the suspense that was previously generated eventually dissipates. There is an okay plot twist at the end, but the climax is underwhelming. This one should have been ratcheting up the tension and surprises, but never quite gets there. Beyond this, a proper explanation as to how Kurt gathers his intel is never adequately provided, nor a tangible motive as to why he goes to such lengths to repay a favour. It's possible there's some corporate-world parable at play here, but it hasn't translated into a fully gripping thriller.

All in all, it's worth the reader's time, if purely for the strong characterisation and initially intriguing plot.

"Heartstopper" by Joy Fielding

2011-08-21T05:08:00.000-07:00

Sandy Crosbie is a teacher at a school in Torrance, Florida, a place she moved to with her family shortly before her husband dumped her for the town's resident sexpot. Struggling to raise two teenage children by herself, combined with teaching an English class full of self-absorbed teenagers who couldn't care less about the material, is stretching Sandy to the max. Adding to her worries is the fact that there could be a serial killer operating in the town, as one of her daughter's classmates has already been discovered murdered.

Sheriff John Weber tries to gather up clues without having to resort to calling in the FBI, but there doesn't appear to be any motive to the crime. And with so many town members hiding a variety of secrets, it's hard to sort out what might be relevant.

"Heartstopper" is quite a lengthy novel despite the fact that not a lot really happens. There are long chapters from the point of view of the killer, but these do not illuminate exactly why the killer is doing what they are doing. Further to this, I'm not sure if the identity of the killer was supposed to be a secret or not. We learn about the aunt of one character being dead, and then one of the killer's chapters happens to mention a dead aunt. It results in a novel where you know all along who the killer is, but never know exactly why they are doing what they are doing.

Where the novel does succeed is in exploring the generation gap between adults and teenagers. The adults fail to understand what motivates their kids, and vice versa. It also honestly explores the emotions felt by Sandy about the disintegration of her marriage. While this genre tends towards the female protagonist who can take control of her life and not put up with any crap, Sandy is presented as an otherwise intelligent woman who simply cannot come to grips with the fact her husband no longer finds her "worthy" of love. She does get her moment of triumph, but she at least comes across as a believable, relatable character.

However, I'm supposed to be reading a thriller here. I was not thrilled. My heart did not stop. My eyelids drooped a bit, but that's about it. Strong character development is all well and good when you have an involving storyline to back you up. That is not the case here. There is barely a story to be found. Somebody is kidnapping girls and women and killing them. Their motive is never made properly clear. I had to slog through more than 500 pages to a conclusion that I already saw coming. I need these so-called thrillers to stop wasting my time.

"The Cutting" by James Hayman

2011-08-21T04:42:00.000-07:00

Detective Michael McCabe is the head of a Maine police force investigating the murder of a high-school girl, whose body has been discovered with her heart removed. Now another woman is missing, and the belief is that the two cases could be linked. Thanks to his convenient photographic memory (or something similar - the novel insists it's something a little different), Michael believes that there are several unsolved murders out there with the same M.O. and that a serial killer is on the loose.

The investigation soon leads Michael to Dr. Philip Spencer, who heads up an organ transplant team at the hospital. Since the killer seems to display surgical knowledge and precision, there is the possibility that the victims are linked to some sort of black market organ transplant scheme. The doctor insists that isn't possible, but as McCabe's team track down leads, it appears that there are more than a few skeletons in the doctor's closet and a black market organ transplant conspiracy isn't out of the question, nor the possibility that the killer is enjoying a few fringe benefits with the selected victims.

"The Cutting" is another so-called serial killer thriller that is happy to coast along on pre-established genre conventions to generate its so-called suspense. There is absolutely nothing here that you couldn't find elsewhere. For example, the idea of an organ transplant conspiracy has already been done to much better effect in "Harvest" by Tess Gerritsen - and that was written fifteen years ago! Obviously, the crime genre is going to revisit material that has been done before, but that doesn't mean the author can't find some way to shock or surprise the reader. "The Cutting" presents a couple of theories and a couple of suspects and then fails to go anywhere else with the premise. Short chapters from the point of view of the latest kidnapped victim do little to amp up the tension or suspense. We know so little about her, and considerably little time is given to developing her character, so you simply aren't drawn into her plight.

The other huge fault here - and a considerable cause for concern - is the ease in which the author links homosexuality with every conceivable sexual deviation. The idea strongly presented here is that if a guy is gay, it's only a short step to rape, murder and torture - of either gender! Once the killer's identity is revealed, absolutely no motive is given to his propensity for raping and torturing women that are to be harvested for organs. He's bisexual, so obviously he's only one step away from being a sick, vicious killer! Don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything - there is never any question that the killer is male. But every single character in this book who isn't heterosexual is presented as a twisted psychopath.

There is little to recommend "The Cutting". It's unoriginal, homophobic and suspenseless. There is no attempt by the author to mix things up or explore new territory. With so much else out there competing for your attention, this one should be cut from any future reading lists.

"Ghost Shadow" by Heather Graham

2011-08-13T06:05:00.000-07:00

Katie O'Hara runs her own karaoke business in Key West, Florida. She's ready to buy the old town museum, which is the site of Key West's own murder mystery, in which the dead body of Tanya Barnard was discovered. This was ten years ago and nobody was ever arrested for the crime.

Suspicion did fall upon her fiance David Beckett, but he had a solid alibi. Nevertheless, such accusations can never be truly shaken off, and he took off to do what all alpha males in the romantic suspense genre do - join the military and become a wildlife photographer. But he's back now and stopping the sale of the museum, as he believes no good could come of it. He also believes that Tanya's killer is still out there, ready to strike again, and convinces his police detective brother Liam to re-open the cold case.

As for Katie, she has the special ability to see ghosts, and as the body count slowly begins to rise, the ghosts seem to be trying to communicate to her the identify of the murderer. Could it be David, the man she is rapidly falling for?

Of course not! This is romantic suspense genre, remember. The alpha male love interest is the one character you can 100% guarantee will not be guilty. However, as hokey as my plot description makes this book out to be, I actually enjoyed it. God help me, I'm considering getting the other two books in the trilogy. While abundant cliches are present, Graham conjures up a rather appealing atmosphere and back-story for Key West. The mystery is unfolding just as Key West gears up for its annual Fantasy Fest. The town really does come alive, which adds to the story. Graham even has a good handle on the supernatural element. There's no question that ghosts exist or that Katie can see them. Her encounters with various ghosts are even mildly spooky. The murder mystery is fairly feeble - by the very nature of the genre I was able to spot which characters would be getting their own story in the next two books - so that narrowed down the suspect pool quite dramatically. The romance side of things was surprisingly well-handled. The relationship between Katie and David developed believably and both came across as fairly level-headed. I also quite enjoyed the character of Bartholomew, the ghost who watches over Katie. He stole several scenes.

No, it's not a genre-defining piece of work. But it was much better than I expected it to be. I liked the characters, and this is one of the few books I've read in which the locale has just as much personality and presence as the characters. Who would have thought?

"Black Friday" by Alex Kava

2011-07-11T02:00:00.000-07:00

College students are planning a stunt at the largest mall in America, carrying jamming devices in their backpacks. Or so they think. They're actually carrying bombs, unwitting pawns in a much larger terrorist plot.

FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell is assigned to the case, where she once again encounters on/off love interest Nick Morelli, who is now the head of the security firm employed by the mall. Further complicating things is the fact her half-brother Patrick Murphy is friends with the college students who carried the backpacks, and has erroneously been identified as a person of interest. He's now on the run, trying to track down another friend - Rebecca Cory - who is being hunted by the real terrorists for knowing too much.

Maggie is contacted by a person connected with the terrorists, who reveals that a second attack is imminent.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ALL ALEX KAVA NOVELS!!!

Maggie O'Dell is, in my opinion, one of the most useless FBI Special Agents I have ever encountered in fiction. Her track record is terrible. In "A Perfect Evil" and "A Necessary Evil", the killer eluded capture. In "The Soul Catcher" the killer randomly decided to kill themselves, despite Maggie being at their complete mercy. In "At The Stroke Of Madness" and "Exposed", Maggie is knocked unconscious by the killer and nearly killed, needing somebody else to rescue her. Only "Split Second" seems to involve Maggie actually nailing her opponent, as "Black Friday" once again has the main antogonist evading capture.

Can this stupid woman do anything right?

The book fails in almost every other area as well. Plot-wise, it's very thin. Kava suggests the mastermind is John Doe #2, who was spotted by several witnesses during the investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing. Several conspiracy theories exist regarding this possible third terrorist. It's an intriguing theory and Kava fails to do anything with it. Despite some rumblings of Government influence and involvement in the terrorist attack, the mastermind - named Robert Asante here - is never given a clear motive as to why he's doing what he's doing. He's just there, plotting an evil attack and - because Maggie is such a tool - getting away with it. A completely uninteresting, personality-free villian. Furthermore, no definitive answers are given as to the how and why of the attack. Just a lot of suppositions.

Romance-wise, it's a washout. I'm not terribly bothered by that, but this is published by MIRA, who specialise in romantic-based suspense. It also begs the question as to why Nick Morelli is even here. He started off as a small-town sheriff when the series began, became a prosecutor and is now the head of a security firm! It's ridiculous! These job changes are solely to keep him in the series, but his relationship with Maggie is never explored, resolved or moved along.

I don't want to read about an FBI agent who can't sort out her lovelife or do her job even halfway competently. I don't want to hand over my money to an author who clearly doesn't care about what she's writing. Underplotted and confused, this is the final black mark against this mediocre author's name.

"You Belong To Me" by Karen Rose

2011-07-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

Lucy Trask is a medical examiner - and now the target of a serial killer, who is leaving his victims for her to find. There is obviously a connection between the victims and Lucy's own past, but Lucy has spent most of her life running from her past, and can't think what she might have done to upset a vicious murderer so much. Detective JD Fitzpatrick is on the case, and there is an immediate spark between him and Lucy. Together they try to find out who hates Lucy enough to make her the centrepiece of his evil plans.

"You Belong To Me" is another efficient offering from Karen Rose, once again hampered by overlength, eye-rolling romantic cliches and - this time - a definite feeling of de ja vu. It's established fairly early on that the killer is seeking vengeance over the rape and murder of his sister, with the mystery lying around Lucy's possible connection to the crime. Although Rose's novels tend to blend in to one another, I'm pretty certain the rape-and-revenge angle made up a large part of "Scream For Me". In any case, there was a real sense of been-here-before hanging over the proceedings. There is initially some intrigue over a subplot involving private detective Clay Maynard chasing down a client he had helped fake his death, who now appears to have been lying wildly about his reasons for wanting to fake said death - but the link between this plotline and the main plotline is revealed fairly quickly. Once that happens, there doesn't seem to be much point for Clay to hang around, but he remains present for much of the novel. Unfortunately, you really could cut Clay from the novel entirely and hardly effect the novel at all. Not a good sign.

Rose's attempts at romantic angst are beginning to get quite desperate also. Lucy feels responsible for the death of her fiance, whilst JD feels responsible for the death of his first wife. He even says at one point: "I killed her!" and then fails to elaborate any further. Is this a homicide detective or a theatre actor? The romantic aspect actually feels toned down compared to other Rose novels, but Lucy and JD behave like such juvenile buffoons it becomes really distracting. All I kept thinking throughout the book was - "Grow up!"

As far as romantic suspense authors go, I'd say Rose is one of the best. There is real promise here for the author to break out from the rigid genre formula and deliver something truly memorable. "Silent Scream" showed signs of that. "You Belong To Me" feels like a bit of a step back - the protagonists get tiresome and the plot isn't as complex as it likes to think it is. But the book is well-developed, very well-paced and easy to read. Even with the current flaws (which I somehow doubt will be ironed out any time soon), Rose delivers work of a consistent quality and seems to be improving on some of her earlier work.

"Chosen To Die" by Lisa Jackson

2011-06-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

After the cop-out ending of "Left To Die", in which Det. Regan Pescoli was trapped in the clutches of the still-unidentified Star-Crossed Killer, we now get the hotly anticipated follow-up "Chosen To Die". Although I doubt anybody was hotly anticipating this absolute pile of shit.

When your predecessor is a 400-page cheat, you're not exactly getting off to a stellar start. And "Chosen To Die" doesn't do a single thing to try and amp up the plot strands left dangling by the first book. Regan Pescoli is at the mercy of a killer who likes to injure women, nurse them back to health and then tie them naked to trees so that they die of exposure to the nasty cold weather. Her partner Det. Selena Alvarez and Sheriff Dan Greyson frequently point out that they "need to find this bastard", but don't really seem to do much. We get points of view from ancillary characters who contribute little to the plot. Remind me again the purpose of Grace Perchant, the psychic? Why was she even here?

There is absolutely no plot to speak of here.

Just like "Left To Die" felt like a combination of two unfinished books that Jackson pulled out the drawer, dusted off and slapped together, "Chosen To Die" similarly throws in a random subplot in which psychiatrist Dr. Jalicia Ramsby suspects that her patient Padgett Long is not as brain-damaged as she appears. Especially after her brother Brady Long is murdered, leaving Padgett sole heir to a large fortune. It's made clear that the Star-Crossed Killer murdered Brady, but any mystery behind why he did it is left largely unexplored. And there is no connection to his penchant for tying naked chicks to trees.

Jackson is supposed to be a romantic suspense writer, but here she even bungles the romance angle. Since Regan is a captive for the whole book, Jackson relies solely on flashbacks to explain the deep love between Regan and the rebel cowboy Nate Santana who is ignoring the law and looking for Regan on his own. Another character even refers to him as a Long Ranger. I nearly vomited right there. To convince us that Regan and Nate are in love, Nate is all Regan thinks about and is what inspires her to fight and survive. Um....what about her kids?

After more than 400 pages of this puerile rubbish, Jackson can't even be bothered to give a decent motive or identity to the killer. He's a character that has never been introduced in either book, only referred to a couple of times. As for why he's tying naked women to trees, apparently it's because his application to join law enforcement was rejected. Yes, readers get to suffer through two truly awful books just to be offered that stunning psychological insight.

Yeah, that's a spoiler, but it will save you from wasting any time on this pathetic excuse for a book. It makes me so angry that authors like Lisa Jackson can earn a decent dollar for dribbling shit for 400 pages. I will not read another book by her ever again and urge any reader to do the same. She does not deserve it.

"The Surrogate" by Tania Carver

2011-06-08T00:35:00.001-07:00

DI Phil Brennan is head of the task force investigating the murders of pregnant women who have had the baby removed. It's only after the third murder (which opens the book) that the team decides upon Ryan Brotherton as their prime suspect, having obviously not looked at anybody for the first two killings. He's the abusive ex-boyfriend of the victim and wasn't too happy at the prospect of becoming a father.

Criminal profiler Marina Esposito is brought into the investigation to provide insight into the killer's motivation. As luck would have it, she and Phil had a romantic interlude that ended badly. Even luckier, Marina just happens to be pregnant....

"The Surrogate" wants to be a provocative, shocking thriller. The book cover invites comparisons to Karin Slaughter and Tess Gerritsen. Unfortunately, the only thing you're going to find here is another predictable, run-of-the-mill police procedural with stock characters and situations. Your plot doesn't need to be original (gruesome baby-stealing has been the subject of just about every crime TV show and Gerritsen's own "Body Double"), but you at least need to do something interesting with it. Not here. There's not a single trick up this book's sleeve. Not one moment to make you sit up and say "wow". It plods along from start to finish, as if ticking off an invisible list of all the requisite elements of a standard crime novel.

Beyond this, the characters are flat and uninteresting. Phil Brennan is mentioned as having had a bad childhood and now suffering panic attacks. It would also appear that it has made him a willing lapdog of a manipulative bitch like Marina Esposito. You really couldn't ask for a more unlikeable character. She ended things with Phil because he wasn't there to save her from a psycho who blamed her for his being caught. Yes, her happiness, safety and well-being is the entire responsibility of another person. She keeps this attitude up right until the end of the book. And Phil just sits there and takes it. Further to this, she's been carrying on with Phil behind the back of her live-in long-term partner. But she's aimless and unfulfilled, not sure where her life is headed, so that excuses it.

Um, no.

So there you have it. Intercut with a predictable serial killer tale is the romance between a pussy-whipped douche and a selfish cow.

"The Surrogate" isn't the worst crime novel you'll find on the shelf. It at least moves reasonably quickly and has enough of a hard edge to maintain interest. But there are many other authors out there able to take material that has been done before and do something a little different with it, or at least populate the story with quirky characters you like or can relate to. Here I was just turning pages to get to the end, not racing towards it.

"Fallen" by Karin Slaughter

2011-06-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

Faith Mitchell is returning to her mother's house from on overlong seminar. She finds her baby, whom her mother was looking after, locked in the shed. Inside is one man already dead, plus two more still-alive intruders. She manages to shoot dead the two intruders without much trouble - but her mother is nowhere to be found. As the investigation gets underway, Faith is suspended without pay and her partner Will Trent takes over - with heavy guidance and interference from his boss Amanda Wagner.

Faith's mother Evelyn Mitchell retired from the police force under a cloud of suspicion when her drug force task members all eventually went to prison for corruption. It happened to be an investigation that Will himself headed, and he is fairly certain that, while her retirement prevented any prosecution, she still had plenty to hide. Could something from that investigation be coming back to haunt Evelyn and her family? As a drug turf war erupts (yawn), Will's relationship with Dr. Sara Linton turns romantic as she repeatedly helps out in the investigation.

All the elements that I picked apart in "Broken" seem to be reversed here, and I couldn't be happier. Slaughter has delivered a twisty, exciting thriller that recalls some of her best work. I was of the belief that Sara would spend this novel still pining over her dead husband, but Slaughter has actually moved her forward to the point where she's actually pursuing a relationship with Will. Even though "Broken" hardly pointed towards a believable union between the two, the author does a pretty commendable job of selling the concept. Maybe I was just really relieved that Sara had stopped being a blubbering pain in the ass. She actually has a purpose in being in this book, both with the romantic subplot and the medical assistance she provides the other characters. And there's no sight of Lena Adams to be found!

Unfortunately, Slaughter has seen fit to replace Lena with Angie Polaski (or Angie Trent), Will's flighty and seemingly mentally unstable wife, who leaves him for months on end and basically treats him like shit. Their past was explored in "Triptych", in which Angie was a damaged but still likeable character, and the main female protagonist. Transforming her into a deranged banshee for the sake of providing a hurdle in Will and Sara's relationship is lazy, and doesn't really gel with the melding of Slaughter's two series. If you're going to carry characters over, at least make it consistent.

Otherwise, "Fallen" is a real return to form for Slaughter, with a very noticeable shift away from drudging forensic and police procedural detail towards plot development and more action-oriented pacing. I was never bored, despite really not being a fan of drug turf warfare plots (which this involves a lot of). It's to Slaughter's credit that she can still generate tension from this scenario, as well as continually shifting the direction of the plot. I enjoyed reading this book, and hope that the next one can continue her tradition of (usually) quality output.

"The Missing" by Jane Casey

2011-04-12T03:38:00.000-07:00

Sarah Finch is a teacher haunted by the disappearance of her brother Charlie some sixteen years ago. No trace of him was ever found. The event had a drastic effect on her family, with her father eventually moving out and her mother refusing to move on with her life, to the point where her daughter stopped existing for her. Nevertheless, Sarah continues to live with her selfish, ungrateful alcholic mother in a state of suspended misery.

When her twelve-year-old student Jenny Shepherd goes missing, Sarah is the one who discovers the body. Chief Inspector Vickers and Detective Sergeant Andy Blake are at first grateful for her help in the investigation, but as she continually inserts herself into the proceedings, they begin to get suspicious. As for Sarah, she gets the feeling she is being watched. She has an over-eager colleague romantically pursuing her, and a pesky reporter close to uncovering her history. Her romance with Blake further complicates matters.

An okay mystery is wrapped up in this overlong tale. I quickly found myself tiring of Sarah's character. She's another one of those timid, supposedly dowdy, young women completely unaware that all the men around her are completely enamoured with her, and that she is actually a bit of a bombshell. Please. Her devotion to her (frankly) selfish bitch of a mother is explored and explained late in the novel, but it hardly justifies slogging through the constant misery her mother puts her through. Flashbacks to the family's life after the disappearance are effective at first, but soon grow tiresome. Basically, Casey makes the point that the disappearance has had a devastating impact on the family and then just keeps on drawing and drawing it out.

Character actions and motivations are also a bit iffy. The romance between Sarah and Blake in particular is handled in a very cliched manner. Sarah's completely out of left field decision to head over to his house and sleep with him is totally out of character and pretty laughable. It seems to be there for the express purpose of causing tension down the track, not because it was the natural progression of their relationship. And the behaviour of Geoff, her colleague, is clearly stalker-ish and bordering on sexual harrassment, yet she just grins and bears it. As mentioned before, her mother is painted as such a self-absorbed, bitter misery-guts, it's never really clear why Sarah also puts up with this, even despite the last-minute revelation regarding their relationship.

It all wraps up in an okay showdown with the real killer, but the revelation of their identity is pretty arbitrary. "The Missing" aims to be a psychological thriller more than a crime novel, and the lack of reliance on forensic procedure is refreshing, but for me it didn't quite strike home. The mystery was too thin and the characters too hard to relate to.

"Never Say Die" by Tess Gerritsen

2011-04-12T03:24:00.001-07:00

Willy Maitland wants to find answers regarding the apparent death of her father twenty years ago. He was reknowned pilot "Wild Bill" Maitland, whose plane crashed in the jungles of Vietnam. However, Willy isn't entirely convinced that he is really dead, and has promised her dying mother she will uncover the truth. She is forced to rely upon the help of mercenary Guy Barnard, who has his own reasons for wanting to find out the truth.

As Willy becomes subject to threats on her life, and the people they interview wind up dead, the two soon realise that there are people out there who want the truth behind the plane crash to remain a secret.

Even going all the way back to 1992, when this romantic thriller by Gerritsen was first released, it was clear that Gerritsen had more talent than her romance novelist counterparts. Sure, the usual cliches of Willy and Guy finding each other "damnably" attractive are present, as are the insecurities both have over what might happen if they gave in to their desires, but Gerritsen also has a sure grip on plotting and pacing. She is able to set the scene in Vietnam quite nicely without going overboard in her descriptions, providing a nice, light travelogue. There is plenty of action as Willy avoids numerous attempts on her life, and even a little genuine intrigue as to the mystery behind the plane crash. It all builds to a pretty decent climax in the jungles of Vietnam. Don't be mistaken - this is strictly romantic suspense fodder, but it comes in at the top end of the scale, and it's not hard to see why Gerritsen went on to much bigger, better things.

"Die For You" by Lisa Unger

2011-04-10T04:21:00.001-07:00

Isabel Raines believes she has a marriage that is pretty close to perfect. Sure, there have been rough patches along the way, including a miscarriage and infidelity, but all in all things are pretty rosy. Until Marcus Raines simply doesn't return home. Until his office is stormed by a fake FBI team who tear the place up, conk Isabel over the head and take off. Until she discovers that she never really knew her husband at all - he has cleared out their bank accounts and is seemingly up to his head in all sorts of nefarious business. Seemingly driven more by ego than common sense, Isabel shifts heaven and earth to find out WHY this has happened to HER? Why why why? Oh yeah, and one of the cops investigating Marcus is having marriage woes. And Isabel's sister Linda is having an affair with an art critic. And both Isabel and Linda remain haunted by the suicide of their father when they were children. There's an okay if conventional and unoriginal thriller buried here somewhere amongst the internal musings frequented upon by Isabel and Linda regarding the suicide of their father. Sure, it all sounds psychologically insightful and perhaps provides a reason why as adults they're such absolute numbskulls, but it really does get to be a bit much. If Unger wants to explore the damage done to the psyche when a child loses a parent through an act such as suicide, why is she doing it within the context of a thriller in which a woman eventually globetrots to Prague to track down her treacherous husband? If she wants to explore what drives a successful, happy wife and mother to embark on a sexual extra-marital affair, why is she doing it in a book about that woman's sister embarking on a quest for truth and justice? Linda's affair has nothing to do with Isabel's betrayal at the hands of her husband nor her search for answers. All it really does it take up space and paint her as a selfish whore repeatedly running the risk of needlessly destroying her family. The fact is, Unger's character development is extremely well-crafted and believable. The characters and their actions make sense in regards to what they have been through. Unfortunately, their actions are constantly bone-headed and stupid. Isabel may be a well-developed character, but I didn't particularly like her. Nothing else really mattered to her except finding out WHY she was betrayed. Why her? How dare Marcus?!? She seems to believe she's far more well-equipped to find answers than the police or anybody else and frequently puts herself into near-suicidal situations, while also bringing danger and suspicion to her otherwise innocent extended family. She's the most egotistical, whining, moronic douche to be portrayed by the author as some sort of strong, moral heroine. Actually, I seem to be saying that a lot about female protagonists, and it makes me sound bad, but seriously....is it that hard to create a female character with a strong, steady head on her shoulders who isn't prone to endless introspection, ridiculous choices and self-entitled whining? Just asking. The other annoying trait is having Isabel be an author. We get lots of musings about what the author does, what they see, what they capture, their role, ad nauseum. It makes the author seem highly self-aware and displays an off-putting sense of self-importance. Lisa, honey, you're writing a mass-market paperback about a woman chasing her husband across the world to Prague to find out why he betrayed you and cleared out your bank accounts. If you want to write literature, drop the ridiculous globe-trotting and the conspiracies and sign up with a smaller publishing company and produce books with poetic, meaningful titles that people in turtleneck sweaters read while drinking some hard-to-pronounce latte at a bohemian coffee shop. "Die For You" is one-third standard betrayed-woman yarn, and two thirds psychological and emotional turmoil. Decide for yourself which interests you more.

"Chillwater Cove" by Thomas Lakeman

2011-03-09T02:13:00.001-08:00

Peggy Weaver is an FBI agent still haunted by an incident when she was ten years old, in which her best friend Samantha was kidnapped by a child sex predator. Peggy managed to get away because she ran for her life While Samantha was eventually returned, it was clear she had suffered greatly, and wouldn't share her experiences with anybody. It's twenty-five years later when Peggy discovers horrifying pictures of Samantha from the time she was abducted, during the course of another investigation. When she learns that Samantha - now married with a child - has received the same set of pictures, Peggy returns to her hometown to discover the truth.

Her return opens up a can of worms. Her father is the chief of police, and they've had a rocky relationship over the years. When Samantha is once again abducted, Peggy's presence in the investigation causes further friction with her father. While it is almost certain that Samantha is once again in the clutches of her original abductor, several other factors complicate the issue. Samantha's rich-boy husband is keeping secrets and hiding facts from the authorities. Samantha's book about the Melungeons, a race of people descended from slaves and who live in the mountains, seems to have made a lot of people uncomfortable, and appears inextricably tied in with current events. On top of that, it's apparent Peggy's own father has secrets to hide.

"Chillwater Cove" is the sort of book that restores your faith that every now and then, a thriller can come along that just completely blows you away. This is one is tightly-plotted, twisty, fast-paced, action-packed, suspenseful and scary, with believable three-dimensional characters, complex relationships and snappy, witty dialogue. I don't think anything you would find within the pages of this novel could be called new or inventive, but then not a lot in this genre is. However, what you will get is a novel where the non-crime, non-action elements are just as gripping as the main narrative. The relationship between Peggy and her father Russell is at the core of the story and it rings true from start to finish. Through their interactions, you understand how Peggy came to be the person she is and how his presence continues to influence her actions. Russell is a character you really want to hate, but is written so well that his unlikeable characteristics actually contribute to the story and the father-daughter conflict. The relationship between Peggy and her colleague-cum-former-fiance Mike Yeager is also explored, and never at the expense of the story. In fact, this is one of those rare occasions where more focus on that relationship would not have hurt the main plot. Mike Yeager is not just some love interest - there isn't even a sex scene! How often do you see that? Even secondary characters get terrific personality arcs. For example, Officer Ripley (I'm not sure we even learn his first name) experiences huge personal growth as the story progresses. It's this sort of attention to detail that draws you into the story and has you caring about everybody involved.

Plot-wise, there are several different strands running concurrently, each contributing to the book as a whole. Since Samantha's original abduction and her current abduction are part of a much larger picture, this leads to numerous interesting plot twists as the story nears its conclusions. Characters are revealed to have varying degrees of motivation. Characters thought to have little bearing on the plot become much more important later on down the track. My only minor quibble would be that the Melungeons too often engage in that hokey Native American Spirit-Speak, i.e. "you're surrounded by men made of lies, Weaver's daughter" etc. They seem civilized enough - would they really talk like that? But it's not enough to really take anything away from the effectiveness of everything else.

Maybe it was the fact I've read so many so-so crime novels lately. Maybe it was the fact I bought this for $5 from a discount newsagency and didn't have high expectations. But I think "Chillwater Cove" leaves many full-priced novels by popular, established authors well in the dust. It's one of the best books I've read in ages and I can't recommend it highly enough.

"Three Weeks To Say Goodbye" by C.J. Box

2011-03-06T07:41:00.000-08:00

Jack and Melissa McGuane are the parents of adopted nine-month-old baby Angelina, since they are unable to have children of their own. However, an unlikely legal snafu has occurred in that the birth father - a snotty over-privileged 18 year old called Garrett - never signed away his rights. Conveniently, his father is the powerful Judge John Moreland, and there's no question of who will get custody. The title refers to the amount of time Jack and Melissa have before handing over the baby, and to find out why the Judge and his son want to get hold of Angelina so desperately, since it's clear that Garrett has no interest in looking after her. They soon find they're willing to go to any lengths to hold on to their child.

The bond that exists between the parents and their daughter is the glue that holds together this otherwise ridiculous thriller. Box seems to be aiming for the same sort of territory as Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay, in which ordinary people go to extraordinary lengths to defend their family and loved ones. However, he seems to lose grip of what would really make for a tense and exciting story and instead lets the narrative veer off into all sorts of bizarre and unlikely scenarios. One of the more intriguing elements involves Garrett basically knowing he has the parents by the balls - they're willing to do anything in the hope he might sign away his parental rights. Garrett is portrayed as a sociopath, and it's not clear why he doesn't exploit this situation to its full advantage. After some juvenile pranking and one nasty act, he pretty much disappears from the plot. A really gripping thriller could have been fashioned from the vise he has Jack and Melissa trapped in. Instead, the writer seems more interested in exploring the moral consequences of good people being forced to do bad things. This is all well and good, but the situations the characters find themselves in to bring them to that point of questioning their actions are so ludicrous that it all becomes rather moot. For example, the sequence in which Jack, Melissa and their detective friend Cody Hoyt call upon Cody's crazy uncle Jeter to "scare" Garrett into signing the papers results in a bar shoot-out that leaves several dead, but has no impact on the plot other than for Jack to question his morals over standing by and watching it go down.

The themes of grief and personal loss are also muddied by the ending in which Melissa is left sedated at home while Jack and Cody gather up the "guys" for some justified vengeance. Rather than using the mountain of evidence they have which would easily put everybody away, it instead becomes a macho gung-ho mission in which Jack can further examine his slide into moral questionability as he shoots and kills a bad guy - simply for that purpose! Putting the focus on the antagonistic relationship between Jack, Melissa and Garrett could have explored moral choices in the same way - what would they be willing to do to both keep a sociopath happy and keep their baby? Instead, we get a convoluted conspiracy mystery filled with non-sensical events and actions (why does Jack keep calling the judge and giving away his game plan?), capped off with a suspenseless, underwhelming shoot-out.

C.J. Box is a good writer in that he creates believable, likeable characters that quickly get you on side. He shows skill in being able to manipulate the reader's emotions. But the situations he creates to do this go too far beyond the realm of credibility and frequently don't make any sense. Which is a pity, since the premise of this one showed so much promise.

"Phone Calls" by Ann Reit

2011-02-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

Juliet Gibson is an aspiring poet who is in love with Timothy Thornton from afar. She has plenty of other boys in her life, including fellow poet Oliver, who has recently returned to town after four years away. Not to mention philosophical Cliff and sporty Mike. However, none of them except Tim send that special tingle down her spine. Juliet is despairing that she'll never find that special boy when she receives a mysterious phone call in which an anonymous male voice quotes "Did my heart love till now?" from Shakespeare's classic play. Being a poet, Juliet finds this wonderfully romantic, and not creepy the way the rest of her family and friends do. In fact, it gives her the confidence to start growing out her hair and wearing pink sweaters. Her mysterious Romeo calls the same time each week and, as all the boys in her life suddenly start showing romantic interest in her, she must figure out which one of them it is.

"Phone Calls" is one of those treasures I managed to find for just 1o cents during an Op Shop trawl. I was attracted to the so-bad-it's-good cover in which a blandly pretty girl (with what can only be called a mullet) clutches a phone to her ear as if she's just been told she's won the Lotto as opposed to having cheesy Shakespearean sonnets recited to her. I like grabbing these books from decades past to see how far such things as attitudes and technology have progressed since the book was published. Alas, I couldn't find anything outrageous within the pages of "Phone Calls". Even though it was written before the advent of mobile phones, it doesn't change things. And the message the book puts out is largely along the lines of most modest teen romances: be yourself and like you for who you are. It avoids cliches such as the "mean girl", and is actually kind of bland. The identity of Juliet's secret admirer is a foregone conclusion and the resolution is a bit pat and overly convenient. There is some mild humour in the descriptions of Juliet's house and her fashion choices (they're all horrible), but otherwise "Phone Calls" isn't exactly something you should go out of your way to find.

"Breakneck" by Erica Spindler

2011-02-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

Detectives Mary Catherine "MC" Riggio and Kitt Lundgren are back (after "Copycat"), this time when first MC's fiance Dan and then her cousin Tommy are murdered. Different weapons and methods had been used for both, so they are unsure whether the deaths are related. However, Tommy's murder certainly seems connected to a series of other deaths, most of them impressionable young college students who shirk socialising for excessive computer use. Each have a reputation for being a "cracker" - a computer hacker who uses their knowledge to illegally obtain others' funds over the Internet. Certainly, the victims exhibit wealth beyond their means, including Tommy, even though MC refuses to believe he could be involved.

The detectives' meeting with FBI Special Agent Jonathan Smith alerts them to the existence of a skilled hitman named "Breakneck", whose signature is that he never uses the same weapon twice. Ah, a possible connection to Dan's murder! However, MC must also deal with the fact that Dan might not have been the man he claims he was - the youth centre he worked at with good buddy Erik Sundstrom seems connected to the events as well. So what secret did all these victims share that got them all killed?

Interestingly, this offering from Spindler is not courtesy of usual publisher Mira Books. Was there not enough romance in her books anymore? Because certainly, Spindler is showing a refreshing tendency to move away from "terrifying situation brings about true love" and towards the issues faced by couples once they're in a relationship. The focus here is on Kitt and her partner Joe's relationship and the difficulties it faces after the death of their child and the demands of Kitt's job. Of course, I didn't really give a shit about any of this, especially since I got tired of Joe banging on about it all being Kitt's fault. However, the more Spindler writes, the more she seems to be abandoning the strict genre formula conventions, when the opposite is usually the norm.

Disappointingly, "Breakneck" is not one of her better efforts. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it was never gripping enough, and just didn't seem to hold together from start to finish. Basically, young folk are dying, they were all "crackers", and a deadly assassin was offing them all over some stolen money. There are a few loose strands in which you wait and see how they connect to the proceedings, but it was not enough. Not to mention one strand which seems to exist solely so a gay character can be revealed as a sick pervert, but which has nothing to do with the main plot. He's outed, exposed as a freak, kills himself, and that's the end of that. Never mentioned again. It was so offensive I nearly put the book down right there. The other maddening element is MC's constant hand-wringing over what sort of person Dan really was. He's dead now, honey, it doesn't matter too much anymore! Part of the problem was the forced nature of MC and Dan's relationship. Spindler has to repeatedly ram down our throats just how much they're in love in only a short time before he's murdered for the sake of the plot. At the end of the day, the relationship could have been removed entirely and not affected events all that much. It also presents the problem of how MC stays on the case with not one, but two, people close to her being the murder victims. Despite the chapter in which Kitt effectively blackmails the police chief into letting MC remain involved, it is unconvincing at best.

The book also attempts a subplot over the relationship between MC and Kitt and how much they trust each other. I'm sorry, but their friendship never seemed real enough for me to be invested in the betrayal Kitt felt whenever MC would race off and do something without her. Especially when most said transgressions were pretty damn piddly.

Nevertheless, "Breakneck" provides a bit of mindless entertainment. Despite the shaky, padded plot, there are one or two decent twists along the way, and MC and Kitt, despite minor faults, are fairly likeable. Nice to see two reasonably strong female characters as the leads. And the novel is another example of the evolution of a writer who has enough talent to try something different and move her writing in another direction. It's worth sticking around to follow her progress.

"Double Exposure" by Bonnie Hearn Hill

2011-02-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

Reebie Mahoney is adrift in life after losing the vineyard she co-owned with her ex-husband. She does a variety of different jobs, but none mean much to her. However, in her latest job as a newspaper temp, she is chosen by the mistress of a dead ex-president to be the recipient of a big exclusive. Unfortunately, the mistress is shot and killed before any juicy interview can take place. Reebie becomes the main suspect, even though it makes absolutely no sense that she could have done it - she had a co-worker witness right with her for f***'s sake.

The president's mistress - Jeanette Sheldon - has actually been presumed dead all these years, so what really happened the night she was supposedly killed? Why has she been living a secret life? Why did she choose an absolute numbskull to confess all her secrets to? Reebie teams up with hunky journalist Leo Kersikovski to find out the truth, but everybody has secrets to hide - Jeanette's best friend Marcus (a closeted TV star), her other lover Ed Palacios (a sort-of mobster), the president's wife, the president's retarded son, the president's former aide and Dorothy The Dancing Donkey. Okay, I'm kidding about that last part.

It's hard to know where to start in trying to describe how awful this book is. How any editor could have slogged through it and thought: "Wow! Let's get this on the shelves, pronto!" is a mystery to last beyond time itself. For starters, the plot is all over the place, despite there not really being any plot. By the end of the book, you're left wondering why everybody went to so much trouble to do what they did. Characters die for very little reason at all. Motives make little sense.

But then again, I suppose that would have something to do with how terribly the characters are written and conceived. As is typical for the romantic suspense genre, the main character is the main culprit. What. A. Moron. The absolute nadir for me was when she asked the hitman who's trying to kill her to help out the other lady he's just whacked over the head. Sure honey, the hitman will put away his weapon and check to make sure she's okay. Then again, the hitman isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Instead of killing a witness, he's happy to crack them on the noggin and provide them with the opportunity to later escape. Savvy.

When Reebie isn't being a total tool, she's being an exasperating whinger. How dare her ex-husband take possession of the winery in the divorce! I mean, it belongs to him and his family, but he had a moral obligation to hand it over to her because she did such a great job running it! She bangs on and on about this, and it often gets to be too much to take. What planet is this idiot from? I would have been rooting for the folks who wanted her dead, but considering they were all too stupid to successfully off such a dippy drip (I'm really running out of adjectives for "stupid person"), that was also difficult.

The icing on the cake is the terrible writing. Check this out: "his polish-black hair was so silky that my first impulse was to stroke it. That's what beauty does to us. Our first thought is that of the child. Touch it. Make it mine. But the child grows up and learns what happens when you reach for those bright balloons bursting with colour." Okay. Sure. What the f*** does that mean? Either my brain can no longer register metaphors and similes through too much exposure to romantic suspense garbage or....I'm reading romantic suspense garbage.

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

What really sealed the deal was when we learnt that the ex-president's aide shot and killed Jeanette. Interestingly, he also bit her on the ankle. Right down to the bone, apparently. WOULD THIS NOT BE OF INTEREST TO THE CORONER AND DETECTIVES WHO COULD MAKE A TEETH MOLD AND IMMEDIATELY RULE OUT THEIR PRIME SUSPECT????? Hands down, "Double Exposure" wins my award for the stupidest book I've ever read, so now I'm actually looking forward to see if anything can top it.

"Cutline" by Bonnie Hearn Hill

2011-01-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

Geri LaRue is a partially deaf journalist who arrives in San Francisco for a new job, only to find that her roommate Leta Blackburn has gone missing. Leta is also a journalist, and was secretly working on a story involving the death of a priest. She'd recently interviewed troubled film star Harry Miller, and was researching the topic of "erotomania", the psychological problem that affects stalkers - they believe the person they are pursuing is in love with them. The psychiatrist helping Leta with her research is Dr. Malcolm Piercy, so both he and Harry are first on Geri's list of people to question.

With Leta's disappearance now big news, and its possible connection to the priest's murder - and some other murders, Geri is able to score some decent jobs thanks to the fact she knew Leta personally. As she quickly develops feelings for Malcolm, he reveals that he believes the killer is a woman, and that the victims are all men she thought were in love with her - an erotomaniac! Geri soon discovers that when her colleague told her everybody has secrets, he was more than right. Everybody in her life has some sort of connection to Leta, all with a possible motive to want her to disappear. On top of that, the killer is still out there, offing more men that she believes want to be with her forever.

Trying to write the synopsis for this romantic thriller reinforced just how ridiculous and nonsensical the whole thing was. Just how the Razor Killer, as the book dubs her, manages to find the time to develop intense relationships with several different men over just a few days is never really explained. Why was the killer trying to establish a link between their killings and the suicide of another of Malcolm's patients? It plays heavily in the story and is also never explained. Why was she going after all these men and not the man who caused her to snap in the first place? I won't reveal the identity of the man, as that would be a spoiler, but once again - never explained! It would seem the author threw all these disparate threads together and didn't really care if they tied up adequately.

The other main issue is the protagonist herself. I really couldn't stand her. She has a real chip on her shoulder about being partially deaf. The author tries to explain her stinky attitude, but can't really pull it off. Geri keeps claiming she wants to be treated like a "normal" person, so never tells anybody about her condition. Yet she gets all pissy when people take her to be cold and standoffish when she doesn't respond to them. It's because she can't hear them - but how the hell are they supposed to know that? Her overuse of the words "crikey" and "cool beans" was similarly irritating to the point of distraction. Her romance with Malcolm never once comes across as being genuine or believable. He seems far too, well, stupid to be a psychiatrist and Geri is far too immature (and she's supposed to be twenty-eight for God's sake) to hold any sort of job with even a modicum of responsibility. She would be more believable as an empty-headed party girl heiress. A romance between her and colleague Steffan Kim would have been far more credible, as there is some actual chemistry between them, but God forbid a romantic suspense thriller feature a relationship between its heroine and a non-white man!

"Cutline" is a clumsily plotted mystery with ill-defined characters. It took me a long time to finish because I didn't much care for anybody or what happened to them.

"The Dirty Secrets Club" by Meg Gardiner

2011-01-08T03:43:00.000-08:00

Jo Beckett is a forensic psychiatrist called to the scene of a traffic accident in which several are dead or injured. One of the dead bodies is Callie Harding, a tough prosecutor with the word "dirty" written on her thigh in lipstick. She's the driver of the vehicle, which she drove off a bridge and into an oncoming mini-van. Lt. Amy Tang gives Jo free reign to get the why behind Callie's actions. Was it suicide or something much more sinister. The word on Callie's thigh soon leads Jo to the club of the title, in which privileged high-rollers divulge their worst sins seemingly just for the thrill of it. Members of the club are dying at an alarming rate, and it would appear to be linked to the actions of a couple of participants, who double-crossed and brutally beat an aspiring member. He wants the names of all the members so he can get revenge. Things get dicy when the killer and his lackey - nicknamed Skunk - believe Jo has the names he wants.

It's hard to believe this mess came from the same author who delivered such outrageous and thrilling action-suspense novels like "Crosscut" and "Kill Chain". Gardiner has dumped the Evan Delaney series to start anew with a different protagonist. I'm assuming it's because the book covers can include the lucrative word "forensic" in the heroine's job title and sell a few extra copies. Because really, there's nothing Jo accomplishes or uncovers that couldn't be done by, oh say, A DETECTIVE INVESTIGATING THE CRIME! It makes very little sense. Neither does the club that sets the whole book in motion. Sorry to state the obvious, but once you start telling people your secret, it's not exactly a secret anymore, is it? Despite the old saying "two can keep a secret if one of them is dead", none of the supposedly intelligent and successful club members seem to take that on board. And if the secrets are bad enough that the possible exposure would drive them to suicide, why the hell divulge anything in the first place? Gardiner attempts to provide reasons, but they ring false. I mean, one character jumps off a bridge to prevent his secret - he participated in a gangbang in which the female participant later went crazy and drowned herself - from becoming public knowledge, only to write about it in his bloody suicide note! Huh? And a secret of that nature wouldn't hurt his career - here in Australia you can get your own television show out of it.

The killer and his accomplice and the reasons for their revenge are revealed early on, further killing most of the suspense. Gardiner demonstrates her skill with action sequences through car chases, on-foot pursuits and the like, but is continually frustrated by the confines of working within a conventional crime thriller framework. Couple that with a gratuitous and unnecessary cameo from Jesse Blackburn, a character from the Evan Delaney novels, and it would appear that Gardiner isn't quite willing to leave the more action-oriented books behind. However, there being two more Jo Beckett novels, I'm guessing they're selling well and it could be a while before we return to the more interesting and thrilling Evan Delaney series.

As for Jo Beckett, like I said, there seems to be no good reason why a forensic psychiatrist should be doing something the police can do just as well. And she comes from the school of female protagonists with Haunted Pasts (dead husband) and Debilitating Fears (claustrophobia), seemingly to give her personality, but serving only to make her tiresome. She bangs on about her dead husband to the point of tedium and the book takes its sweet time in revealing how he died and why she feels responsible. And her developing relationship is straight out of romantic suspense hell. Gabe Quintana is a pararescueman who used to belong to the Air National Guard and is always around to provide a solid shoulder for Jo to cry on and help her to absolve her guilt. He was so unbelievably perfect I expected wings to grow out his back at any moment.

"The Dirty Secrets Club" was mildly diverting while I read it, but the more I thought about it after I finished it, the more I disliked it. A ridiculous premise, an author seemingly out to score points with the lucrative forensic crime market crowd and an abundance of cliches and contrivances combine to deliver one of the more cynical, derivative and silly novels on the shelves. Just wait until you get to one villian's confession - it's straight out of Scooby-Doo!

"Don't Look Back" by Scott Frost

2011-01-08T02:48:00.000-08:00

Lt. Alex DeLillo and her partner Dylan Harrison are called to the scene of a dead body that has been discovered at a sports stadium. The body belongs to the daughter of a high-powered lawyer who went missing several years ago. There is a painting at the scene, copied from the work of Spanish artist Goya. When more bodies start to show up, each with some sort of reference to Goya, it is obvious a serial killer is on the loose. It appears the murders are likely connected to the cover-up of child abuse in the church. When the chief of police confesses his own participation in the cover-up, he becomes a target as well.

I've previously read "Never Fear" by Scott Frost, but you wouldn't know it from reading this book. Usually when I pick something up featuring characters I've encountered before, I can recall character traits and relationships, but absolutely nothing registered here. There is absolutely zero character development. None whatsoever. I'm assuming that Frost is relying on familiarity from previous installments to do the work for him, but why would he be so....well, arrogant to assume that a reader has read all the previous books? Despite occasional references to previous books, DeLillo and Harrison are merely figureheads as the plot races from point to point. And from a purely technical standpoint, "Don't Look Back" really scores. The pace is consistent across the board, with new twists and plot info thrown at the reader at every turn. But with so little emotional investment in the characters, it's hard to get drawn into the story. I simply didn't care. And when one character proclaims: "they were murdered by the Vatican!" my interest dwindled completely. It's like a switch flipped in me and the book lost me completely. This is more a personal preference that a plotting flaw. I just don't care for religious conspiracies. They don't interest me. At all. I encountered the same issue with Kathy Reich's "Cross Bones". I finished it merely because I had started it. That was the case here, also. When DeLillo managed to have a personal conversation with The Pope himself, that was all she wrote. I managed to make it to the end, though.

Other issues arise. Why does DeLillo keep making claims along the lines of: "I know this killer", only to be surprised by each new thing he does? And what exactly was Goya's motive? Was he systematically slaughtering those covering up the abuse or those seeking to expose it? The plot wasn't entirely clear on that, as some victims were doing one while others were doing the other.

Scott Frost's skill with pacing and plotting means he's an author that can't be immediately dismissed. I always complain about too much time being spent on trivial romantic and character interplay. The fact that this one dispensed with that element completely was one of it's biggest drawbacks. If you don't care one iota about the main characters, you're kind of lost. At least in other books when I want to shake the drippy female lead out of her whining inertia I'm invested in the character (albeit through revulsion and irritation). Here, despite the consistent action and plot twists, I simply couldn't muster up any enthusiasm for the proceedings.

"Silent Scream" by Karen Rose

2011-01-08T02:19:00.001-08:00

A "protest fire" is lit by four college student activists who want to stop construction on an environmental site. Unfortunately for them, a girl was inside the building at the time and winds up dead. Fortunately for somebody watching from the wings, it is the perfect opportunity for him to blackmail the four students into doing his bidding.

Firefighter David Hunter is on the scene to put out the fire and discovers the body. He also finds a mysterious globe. Police detective Olivia Sutherland soon finds out that similar globes were placed at protest fires more than ten years ago - which also ended in somebody dying. Could there be a link between these fires?

Conveniently, David and Olivia have a Past. They had a one-night stand in which David cried out another woman's name while Olivia was giving him a blow job. David knows he's in love with Olivia, but she doesn't trust him. Good thing there's a murder investigation going on that involves the both of them so that they can work things out, right?

Karen Rose's novels are over-long and spend too much time on trite and boring romantic misunderstandings. They way David and Olivia behave might be somewhat acceptable for a couple of sixteen-year-olds in a new relationship, but for two supposedly mature adults in careers like firefighting and homicide investigation? A little bit of a worry. On top of that, Olivia and David are otherwise painted as being utterly selfless to the point of sainthood. Sure, they have Demons In Their Closets, but once revealed, they're quite mild. So much time is spent on these two, their romantic insecurities and their collective pasts that the thriller and mystery element sometimes gets lost - despite the story taking place only over a few days!

Another tiresome element is the continued referencing to other books. Just about every character is somehow tied to another character from another book who has found love and sanctuary through a Terrifying Experience. It borders on the ridiculous.

The disappointing thing about these flaws is that it detracts from the fact that Karen Rose is otherwise quite a good author. The pacing is constant, and the killer is always active. A nice change from the usual killers in romantic suspense, who typically skulk around in the shadows doing everything in the nude and masturbating frequently, while continually promising: "I'm coming for you soon!" but never actually doing anything. In fact, this killer was quite pro-active and business-minded. Sometimes I found him more interesting than the bland main characters and their romantic to-and-fro. This killer got things done and I appreciated that. Also, this one delivers some solid suspense and actions as it races towards its climax, along with some genuinely decent plot twists. But it shouldn't take SO LONG to get to them! Shave 150 pages off this thing and you'd have a top-class, suspense thriller. As it is, it's still well above-average for the genre, and I think Rose has the talent to break out of the romance formula and deliver something truly memorable along the lines of Tess Gerritsen or Karin Slaughter (pre-Broken, of course). I'll keep reading to see if it happens.

"The Murder Bird" by Joanna Hines

2011-01-06T02:18:00.000-08:00

When famous poet Kirsten Waller is found dead in her bathtub, only her daughter Sam Boswin refuses to believe the verdict of suicide. Her mother's journals are missing, and so is her latest poem - titled "The Murder Bird". When she discovers the journals are in the possession of her stepfather Raph (Kirsten's ex-husband), a well-known lawyer, Sam must go to extreme lengths to obtain them, eventually seeking help from Raph's clerk, Mick. Despite Sam being a highly-strung, high-maintenance pain in the ass, Mick is strangely attracted to her and risks his professional career to help her.

Sam believes "The Murder Bird" poem might relate to an actual murder, and that Kirsten was killed over what she knew. Raph, his sister Miriam and their mother Diana certainly have quite the checkered past, and Raph seems particularly intent on keeping the journals away from Sam. What exactly do they have to hide?

"The Murder Bird" is the sort of book that requires its characters to behave like they belong in some alternate universe in order to move the plot along. Absolutely nothing here makes any sense whatsoever. What sort of moron, believing that a murder has been committed, WRITES ABOUT IT IN AN OBSCURE F***ING POEM INSTEAD OF GOING TO THE POLICE??? What the f*** does that achieve? The event that sets the whole plot in motion is just too ridiculous for words. Therefore, it was just about impossible to buy into any of the events or character actions that followed. These don't feel like real people at all. They're merely puppets to serve the pathetic plot. It makes no sense for Kirsten to write a poem about a suspected real-life murder. It makes no sense for Raph to steal Kirsten's journals. It makes no sense for a killer to be worried about an obscure poem in the first place - exactly how many people do they expect to read it and immediately connect to an event they would know nothing about? It makes no sense for Mick to help Sam when she's such a pissy, ungrateful bitch. What a stupid, stupid book.

"Don't Be Afraid" by Rebecca Drake

2011-01-06T01:58:00.000-08:00

Amy Moran is a real estate agent trying to hold things together as a single mother caring for her young daughter Emma. Her life becomes complicated when dead bodies start showing up at the properties she is trying to sell. The detectives on the case - Mark Juarez and Emmett Black - have opposing opinions on the case. Black is eager just to close the case, first trying to pin it on the first victim's ex-husband, then trying to pin it on Amy herself. Juarez, who is battling both professional and personal issues, is more keen to look at the case from all angles. Of course, we the reader know that the real killer is a madman with a twisted past and a deadly fixation on poor Amy.

"Don't Be Afraid" is a comfortably predictable thriller that neatly checks off all the requirements of the genre. Innocent, overly naive female protagonist. Main detective with a personal issue affecting his personal and professional life. Psycho with mother issues who likes to masturbate and kill people (though not necessarily in that order). Bigoted other detective too lazy to investigate the case properly. Lightly developed ancillary characters who serve to either be potential victims or potential suspects. I easily predicted each new step the story took. On the positive side, the relationship between Amy and her daughter is believably developed. I even laughed a couple of times at Emma's comments and behaviour. It seemed real. It made for a nice change - young children in books can often be irritating.

Similarly, I was impressed by the restrained tackling of the romantic subplot. Amy actually seems more concerned by the sinister events surrounding her rather than focussed on whether or not a hunky guy likes her. And while I easily figured out Mark Juarez's personal issue, it was something you don't usually find in a thriller of this sort. Despite the familiarity of much of the plotting, the author should be commended for at least trying not to always go the most obvious route.

At the time of reading this, I had put my back out and was in quite a lot of pain. When I wasn't unconscious due to a myriad of different painkillers, I would pick this up and read a couple of chapters and momentarily forget how much pain I was in. Sometimes, that's all you need from a book.

"A Cold Day In Hell" by Stella Cameron

2011-01-06T01:32:00.000-08:00

Eileen Moggeridge is a single mother to Aaron, but in a rapidly progressing romantic relationship with Christian "Angel" DeAngelo. He's got some sort of mercenary past (like most blokes in these sorts of romantic thrillers), and is the legal guardian of Sonny, a protected witness. Eileen's life becomes complicated when first her ex-husband Chuck shows up, wanting to reunite the family and spend more time with his son. Then Aaron is injured in a mysterious shooting. And then both her and Angel are seemingly the target of a mad shooter.

Other mysterious events are occuring in their town of Pointe Judah. Heavily pregnant Emma Duhon is attacked by an anonymous stranger in the parking lot. A local worker goes missing. Could all these events be linked? And how?

Stella Cameron is another romantic suspense novelist who likes to link all her novels together, with just about all the characters having had a story of their own. It sometimes gets hard to keep track of all the characters and their histories. For example, the parking lot attacker seems to be aggrieved by a club that a few characters were once members of, but it's obvious that club and the story behind it is from another novel entirely. So what is it doing here? Coming into the story cold, we don't know enough about it to understand who it affects - or why. There are continued references to experiences the characters have had, and we're simply left to assume that it's from another connected book. To me it seems to be a cheap way of dispensing with character development - the author can simply assume the reader has read all the other books in the series and is already familiar with the characters' various traits.

Sorry, no dice.

I'm probably being too picky on something I bought for $2 from an Op Shop, but the original selling price was $16.95, which is absolutely outrageous for a product with such shoddy, threadbare plotting like this. In the end, the biggest issue is indifference. It's not good enough for me to recommend, nor is it bad enough for me to rip it to shreds. I simply read it and promptly forgot about it.

"Cross Country" by James Patterson

2010-12-31T23:38:00.000-08:00

Alex Cross, police officer and psychiatrist, is called to the scene of the massacre murder of an entire family. He's shocked to discover that the mother of the family is a former sweetheart of his from university. It seems she was working on a story about the atrocities being committed in Africa, crimes in particular by a psychopathic gang leader known as The Tiger. When more families are murdered, Alex takes it upon himself to head to Africa and bring the killer to justice once and for all.

"Cross Country" isn't so much a thriller as it is a series of vignettes in which Alex encounters various dangers in Africa while pursuing The Tiger. The adventures themselves are certainly never boring, and do highlight - on a superficial level at least - the turmoil occuring in that country. However, the plot is almost an afterthought. The journalist that Alex meets in Africa - Adanne Tarsi - seems to hold the answers that Alex seeks, and was the one who provided the material that got Alex's sweetheart killed. If that's the case, why is Adanne still alive? She's a reporter and a public figure and holds far more threat than some university professor! Inconsistencies such as these ensure "Cross Country" is little more than a chase-filled travelogue, rather than the conspiracy thriller the book cover would have you believe. Did James Patterson take a trip to Africa himself and figured he could get a little tax write-off over the experience?

As usual, there's a cameo by Kyle Craig, Alex Cross' arch-nemesis. Does anybody else find Kyle Craig a little underwhelming? I kind of wish Patterson would be done with him and move this franchise in another direction. Every new book seems to end with Craig promising some distant future mayhem. Yawn.

"Awakening" by S.J. Bolton

2010-11-25T03:00:00.001-08:00

Clara Benning is a wildlife vet who has settled in a small village that allows her to hide from the world. She has severe scarring on her face and doesn't like dealing with people too much. All this changes when houses in her village find themselves under siege from an influx of snakes. The area is home to harmless grass snakes, except now dangerous adders are showing up too. Then, in one home snake invasion, Clara finds a taipan, considered to be possibly the most dangerous, venomous snake in the world. To coincide with this, one by one, elderly citizens of the village are showing up dead, apparently the victims of deadly snake bites. Adding to the mystery, Clara is pretty sure she is being stalked by Walter Witcher, a man she was friends with - but who is supposed to be dead! Looking further into these events, Clara discovers links to a church fire in her village in 1958 which killed several people, various religious cults, and the messy history of the Witcher family.

"Awakening" gets off to a terrific start, with many creepy, suspenseful sequences as snakes, both harmless and deadly, invade various homes. There's also Clara's run-ins with a possible zombie, who seems to be able to get into her house at will. Unfortunately, it pretty much dies in the ass after that. What starts off as scary, suspenseful and original eventually becomes silly, contrived and tiresome. Bolton begins to take her sweet time setting up scenes and describing them in excruciating, minute detail. I don't know about other readers, but I have enough imagination to conjure up in my mind a spooky setting simply through being told the character is in a church graveyard as night falls. Here, we get pages upon pages of description - what the church looks like, what the trees look like, what the night looks like. It actually detracts from the atmosphere she's trying to achieve. This extends throughout the book. In later chapters, Clara walks through a seemingly empty house. We're told EVERY SINGLE INTRICATE DETAIL OF EVERY ROOM, even though it has nothing to do with what she's looking for or what she eventually finds. This doesn't create suspense. This creates frustration and boredom.

For a supposedly intelligent woman, Clara comes off as a too-dumb-to-live damsel-in-distress from gothic Victorian chillers. Why is she gallavanting through church graveyards at nighttime without a mobile phone? Why does she act like an adolescent girl any time a man so much as looks at her? We're supposed to believe Clara is highly emotionally damaged from a lifetime of carrying around horrible facial scars, but it seems very odd (and convenient) that two men should suddenly find her highly desirable despite her massive "fault". Clara's distrust of other people and her unwillingness to interact with them don't exactly make for a likeable main character. Plus, if she hates people so much, why is she even investigating this mystery? More than any other novel I've read, I never quite understood Clara's motivation for uncovering the truth. She had no real stake in the proceedings. If she just walked away, it would have no effect on her life.

The method in which it all ties together falls short of satisfaction. Too much of the story is a back-and-forth mystery over Ulfred, one of the Witcher brothers. He's dead and then he's not. He's dead and then he's not. Over and over again. It results in the novel achieving this sort of holding pattern until the author decides to jack proceedings up for the finale. Unfortunately, her insistence on down-to-the-last-detail description derails most of the suspense she's trying to achieve in these chapters. I should be gripped by every word, not skimming entire paragraphs trying to reach a page where something actually happens!

"Awakening" is a thriller twice as long as it needs to be. It has genuinely creepy moments to recommend it, but the mystery underlying the whole thing is quite feeble, which is only reinforced by the haphazard way the author links it all together in the finale. It's all too elaborate to be believable. I can't deny this is original and occasionally scary - all the more reason why ultimately it's so disappointing.

"The Sitter" by R.L. Stine

2010-11-23T03:02:00.000-08:00

Ha, I found it! The recent parity of the US and Australian dollar made me venture onto Amazon to grab some books I'd been wanting to purchase. "The Sitter" was on there from some alternative seller for $0.01, but postage and handling costs ensured I paid far more for it than it was actually worth. Nevertheless, it made me once again appreciate the Internet for providing me with the opportunity to get hold of material that simply isn't available in this country.

"The Sitter" has Ellie Saks abandoning her life in the city to escape from her ex-boyfriend Clay, who has become a creepy stalker-type dude. Despite the fact she sleeps with him just a couple of chapters into the book. Anyway, encouragement from her friend Theresa has her searching for jobs in The Hamptons, and luck has her landing a job as a nanny for Chip and Abby Harper. They are parents to two-year-old Heather and creepy four-year-old Brandon, who has mysteriously stopped speaking. As Ellie tries to connect with Brandon, she finds herself the victim of a campaign of terror. What does it have to do with the curse of the Harper guest house, as told to her by former Harper nanny Mrs. Bricker? As Ellie searches for the truth, she must contend with Clay's repeated attempts to get her back, as well as her repeated sightings of Will, an ex-boyfriend whose death in a car crash she feels responsible for.

Golly. This one is all over the place. On the one hand, there's Brandon's creepy and violent behaviour, and whether he might be possessed by the ghost a young boy in love with his nanny. But it doesn't explain why he doesn't speak or why he tries to kill his own sister. On the other hand, there's the nasty gifts that Ellie keeps receiving and who might be sending them to her. The novel presents Clay and Chip as the main suspects, but even the book points out they have no actual motive. Is there a connection between the two. Finally, the subplot of dead ex-boyfriend Will just gets in the way. We know it's going to figure in the proceedings at some point, otherwise why include it?

The end result is a thriller that's more effective than Stine's "Eye Candy", but yet falls short of any sense of satisfaction. Basically, all these disparate threads serve to expose Ellie Saks as the most idiotic, inept, stupid, frustrating, infuriating moron ever put into the pages of a novel. I've never come across such a numbskull in all my reading years. She's too stupid to live! She keeps running off to chase after any blonde boy who resembles her dead ex (or is he?) - whether she's supposed to be looking after her charges, or getting intimate with a nice new boy she's met - nothing matters except chasing after this guy. Tiresome. Then there's the fact she just doesn't get the hell out of dodge while the going is good. For Christ's sake, leave it in the hands of the police and hightail it out of there! Finally, she just has no common sense. If you were babysitting a boy who had already killed TWO birds and tried to drown his own sister, would you ask for somebody to drop off your beloved pet cat to come stay with you? She actually seems surprised when the cat winds up decapitated.

These faults only serve to highlight Stine's other main inadequacies - simplistic writing and chapters that end on false scares. Just like "Eye Candy", I couldn't find much to differentiate this from the "Fear Street" books other than heightened sexual situations and coarse language. I recently read on the Internet that this is being considered for big screen treatment! Other than one genuinely effective plot twist, I can't see this making its way to cinemas without some MAJOR rewrites.

"The Devil's Garden" by Richard Montanari

2010-11-23T02:05:00.000-08:00

Michael Roman is a rising star in District Attorney's office, with an amazing win rate. His personal life is also going swimmingly, with beautiful wife Abby and four-year-old adopted daughters Charlotte and Emily. However, his life is about to thrown upside-down, because his daughters' natural father just happens to be Aleksander Savisaar, a survivor of the Chechyan Army and all-round psycho. Michael's methods to adopt his daughters wasn't entirely above-board and now Savisaar is back to claim what is his.

The plot here reminded me a lot of a movie I saw called "The Tie That Binds", in which Keith Carradine and Daryl Hannah play a psychotic couple who terrorise the nice middle-class couple who adopted their daughter, after social services took her away. It was a typical stranger-from-hell thriller from the mid-90s, which saw such entries as "Single White Female", "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle", "Unlawful Entry" and many others. What made those movies - and many of their ilk - mostly effective was that the threat came from a person who seemed to be ordinary. Police officer, roommate, nanny - all people we would normally assume we can place our trust in. In "The Devil's Garden", Savisaar is portrayed as an intelligent, ruthlessly cunning and highly efficient killing machine. He makes himself a known threat right from the get-go. There's no dramatic irony as he works his way in from the inside (the psycho nanny from "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" could teach him a thing or two), he simply executes his plan, even utilising outside help (never a good idea).

And that's where this one falls apart. Despite being repeatedly told that Savisaar is efficient and deadly, we're never shown. If he's so smart, why does he bring people into his plan when he already seems to know it will lead to further clean-up down the track? If he's so smart, how can he obtain an illegal passport for himself so easily, yet has to do it the legal way when it comes time to get passports for his daughters? If he's so smart, why does he attack and injure police officers in plain view of hundreds of witnesses? It doesn't add up.

Then we have a bizarre supernatural-lite aspect involving the twins - when they were born, they were originally a set of three, but one of them was stillborn. They like to do everything in threes. They always pick three lollies at the supermarket. They always have a third chair at their tea party table. Similarly, they seem to know their father is coming for them - telling Michael "he's coming" in Estonian, despite never learning the language. They're mysteriously drawn to Estonian myths in the public library and hum strange foreign tunes. Savisaar believes he is "deathless", as per a popular Estonian myth, but these metaphysical ideas are never believably elaborated upon or properly explored. Is this a thriller about a psycho ex-soldier on a mission to get his kids back, or a supernatural allegory of some kind?

Finally, there's the dreaded cop-on-the-case subplot. Plenty of chapters get dedicated to Detective Desiree Powell tracking Savisaar's crime spree - she's continually playing catch-up on a series of events the reader is already fully aware of. Powell could be removed from the proceedings entirely and not affect anything. It smacks of a cheap way to pad out a plot that doesn't really have much going for it to begin with.

With too many plot inconsistencies, undeveloped, underdeveloped and blatantly non-developed ideas, and pointless extraneous material, this garden could have done with a lot more watering and more than a little pruning. Seeds are seemingly planted for a sequel, though I doubt there will be many digging around for it. Chuck this one in the recycling bin with the weeds.

There, I'm done with the gardening metaphors.

"Still Missing" by Chevy Stevens

2010-11-15T02:19:00.000-08:00

Annie O'Sullivan has nearly finished an open house (she's a realtor) when the last arrival kidnaps her at gunpoint. She's taken to a cabin in the woods, where she is abused, raped and humiliated on a near-daily basis for a year, before she manages to escape. The investigation into who kidnapped her and why reveals further secrets that shake up Annie's already-quite-shaken world. Her abduction, escape and the investigation is detailed in sessions with a therapist.

These days, books often like to skip between points of view. Some chapters will be in first person, other chapters will be in third person etc etc. One thing "Still Missing" has going for it is the consistency of the writing style. The entire story is laid out through Annie's visits to her shrink. Everything is seen through Annie's eyes. We get to know Annie quite well, and she's a believably-drawn character.

While undeniably an involving read - I got through it almost in a single sitting - it is not the masterpiece the publishers, other authors and Amazon readers would have you believe. The point of view - one of the book's plusses - is also its biggest drawback. Since Annie is having these sessions with a shrink, we know from the get-go that she escapes her captor. We read on to see how she manages it, but there's not a lot of suspense when you're waiting for something you know already is going to happen. Instead, the book becomes more of an endurance test as Annie is repeatedly raped, physically and emotionally abused, and physically and psychologically tortured. I found myself hoping she'd escape simply because I was tired of reading about the sickening things being done to her. I can handle nasty material in a book, but it seemed somewhat pointless and redundant because we already know the outcome.

"Still Missing" then caps itself off with an out-of-place romantic hook-up and arbitrary plot twist regarding the who-why-what of the kidnapping. It's almost as if Stevens felt the story should have some kind of twist to it and randomly chose one. It doesn't ruin the story per se, but it really could have been anybody, for whatever reason.

Not for those with weak stomachs or sensibilities (or even those with strong stomachs and sensibilities, in my case), "Still Missing" is well-written and draws you in, but the end doesn't justify the means.

"Sworn To Silence" by Linda Castillo

2010-10-31T00:50:00.000-07:00

Police Chief Kate Burkholder is thrust into a murder investigation in which women are showing up brutally murdered, numbers carved into their stomachs. They are identical to murders from sixteen years ago. Kate is plagued by the question posed by about 90% of crime thrillers these days - same killer or a copycat? Kate is inclined to believe the latter, as she shot and killed the murderer after he attacked and raped her when she was a teenager - and still Amish. When she is too slow to call in outside help, she also gets caught up in police and council politics, all while the killer continues on his spree.

There's a lot actually working against "Sworn To Silence", so I'm surprised I didn't hate it. For one, we have the utterly unoriginal and predictable storyline. Then we have the Amish angle (Kate used to be Amish, but left the lifestyle behind after rumspringa). I've read a couple of books with Amish characters, and they tend to be fairly dull, with the author at pains to describe how honest, hard-working and kind they are. Finally, a little research showed that Linda Castillo is usually a romance/suspense writer. Fears of Lisa Jackson-style inanity rose up inside of me. However, "Sworn To Silence" works in spite of itself. Firstly, while a romance does develop between Kate and FBI Special Agent John Tomasetti, it doesn't occur until well into the book, and the two thankfully don't spend too much time pining over each other. Secondly, while the Amish are portrayed as honest, hard-working and kind (yeah, that's why they shun family members who abandon the faith), we're not beaten over the head with it. Lastly, despite an extremely over-familiar plot, with each of the crime genre elements neatly and predictably covered, the pacing is solid and sometimes exciting. These days, I'm happy simply if the book isn't boring. Castillo delivers a police procedural that appears accurate but doesn't get bogged down in the mundane details.

However, it does have negative points. In particular, the whole book is based on Kate's belief that the original killer is dead, as she shot him in self defence. It's mentioned that the killings stopped after her attack, but that's it. Kate and her family never discovered any momentos from the murders, never heard a confession....nothing. No solid, concrete proof that the man she killed was really a serial killer and not an opportunistic rapist. A pretty naive belief for somebody who's SUPPOSED TO BE A POLICE CHIEF!!! Much time is wasted on this highly obvious red herring and it hurts the novel a great deal. Similarly, the identity of the killer is poorly handled. Tomasetti gives a profile and just pages later a character is described as having many of those characteristics. Was it even supposed to be a surprise?

"Sworn To Silence" really shouldn't get a positive review. A stunning lack of originality and a groan-inducingly obvious red herring are not good ingredients for a solid, memorable thriller. But as I said, the real crime for any crime thriller is to be boring. This certainly isn't. It moves quickly and capably and crime readers will enjoy it, even if they can predict every that happens.

"No Way Home" by Peter Spiegelman

2010-10-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Private investigator John March's latest client is Nina Sachs, who wants him to look for her ex-husband, Gregory Danes, who hasn't been heard from in a while. She doesn't want the child support and alimony payments running out. Danes is a rich equity analyst, but troubled times on Wall Street have seen his credibility and career plummet. March's investigation eventually reveals that other people are looking for Danes as well, gradually making his work harder - and more dangerous. He must try and discover if something sinister has happened to Greg, and whether it was related to his family life, or the colleagues he worked with in the last days of his troubled career.

Notice how I used words like "eventually" and "gradually"? That's because this book is in no hurry to get anywhere. It's one of the most boring thrillers I've ever read. 200 pages in and March barely knows more than what he started with. The narrative basically consists of him tracking down anybody who might provide him with a clue, only for that person to respond with something along the lines of "f**k off, I don't want to talk to you". Over and over again. It was repetitive and unexciting. I imagine P.I. work is exactly like this, but it sure doesn't make for enthralling reading.

Another drawback is the description. Sure, you need to set the scene, but this one takes it to absolutely ridiculous proportions. Sometimes, if March has to wait five minutes to speak to somebody, he'll take a walk. We're then treated to minute detail about the street he walks down and what's in the shops he looks in, etc etc. Similarly, anytime he enters an office, every little thing is described, right down to the photos on the desk. Acceptable maybe if they're going to have relevance later, but that's certainly not the case here. The positive that came out of this was that I was able to skip up to two and three pages at a time - without missing a thing.

The slow-moving plot and the wordy writing style also serve to expose John March as a fairly unsympathetic character. He comes across as a self-involved, immature putz. The plot has several diversions involving his interactions with his family, which only serve to slow down an already almost-immobile plot, and paint him as being even more unlikeable. Nobody much likes spending time in his company, and hey - neither does the reader! His romance with neighbour Jane Lu is also a casualty of his badly-drawn character. I couldn't understand why she would put up with such a misery-guts. In the previous book, "Black Maps", there was detail about the murder of John's first wife, but it's only touched upon very lightly here, and I can barely remember a thing about the first book. So it doesn't quite justify him being a childish asshole all the time.

Plot revelations, when they do come, aren't terribly earth-shattering, and aren't enough to make trawling through this bore worth the effort.

"Harvest" by Tess Gerritsen

2010-10-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

Dr. Abby Di Matteo is a surgical student who is on the verge of being accepted into the hospital's elite organ transplant team, courtesy of her lover Dr. Mark Hodell. However, her career hits rocky ground when she teams up with resident Dr. Vivian Chao to ensure that the heart of a car accident victim goes to a dying teenage boy, rather than Nina Voss, the wife of a millionaire. Her attempts at holding onto her job are further jeopardised when Nina becomes the recipient of another healthy heart, and Abby discovers that its procurement wasn't exactly above-board. No traces of the donor's details can be found.

Things only get worse. Nina's husband Victor, furious at Abby over her involvement in the original heart switcheroo, uses his considerable wealth to tie Abby up in law-suits. One of the transplant team members seemingly commits suicide, but a detective finds the death suspicious. As Abby uncovers a conspiracy, attempts to discredit and silence her step up a notch.

Published in 1996, this was Gerritsen's first thriller after many years writing romantic suspense tales. It's no surprise this catapulted her into the big-time, as it's an enjoyable fast-paced read. Poor Abby really does through all seven levels of hell to uncover the truth about the organ harvest conspiracy at Bayside Hospital. Her determination to proceed despite everything that's thrown at her makes her an engaging heroine, one you want to see triumph against adversity. The conspiracy itself it quite intriguing, revealed in bits and pieces. There are some nice action set-pieces as the novel nears its conclusion.

The weaker elements involve the plight of Yakov, a young Russian boy on board a freighter bound for America. The reader can quickly surmise that he and the other youngsters on board are the unwitting donors for those wealthy enough to pay for the organs they want. I found the book pretty much ground to a halt every time the story went back on the boat. I'm guessing Gerritsen wanted to put a human face to the victims of such a conspiracy, but not much interesting ever really happens in these chapters, and maybe I'm a cold-hearted bastard, but I never really found myself caring about what happened to Yakov. He was just too much your stereotypical strong-but-cutesy child. Also, as the book races to its finish, it does leave a few questions unanswered. Why did Elaine disappear - how much did she know about what was going on? Who exactly was Tim Nicholls and what happened to him? Who put the offal in Abby's car? Why were the other transplant members killed? Did they want out? Does Abby ever get cleared and get her job back?

All in all, "Harvest" delivers the goods when it comes to medical conspiracy thrillers. Sure, the chapters with Yakov on the boat could have been trimmed, but otherwise this is an entertaining, action-based thriller with a pace that rarely flags. Nearly fifteen years have passed since "Harvest" was released, and I think Gerritsen is still at the top of her game. One of the best authors in the genre, without doubt.

"Caught" by Harlan Coben

2010-09-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Wendy Tynes is a reporter who likes to catch pedophiles in the act - and does so live on her TV show "Caught In The Act". Her latest target is social worker Dan Mercer. Haley McWaid is an impeccably-behaved grade-A high school student who disappears without a trace.

Three months later, Haley is still missing, with the case very much cold, while Wendy's less-than-legal shenanigans in trying to catch Dan Mercer sees a judge throwing out the charges against him. The bad publicity results in her losing her job. Nagged by a strong feeling that all is not as it seems, as well as wanting to restore her reputation, Wendy starts to dig deeper into the events that made her and her TV show target Dan in the first place. Inevitably, it opens up a whole can of worms. It seems all of Dan's college roommates have had downfalls of their own. Have they all been set up? When Dan is seemingly murdered and a link established between him and Haley McWaid, things start getting even messier.

Harlan Coben is typically one of the more reliable thriller authors out there. His novels have established their own kind of formula, but they're entertaining and usually much better than most in the genre. Unfortunately, "Caught" is his weakest, clunkiest effort so far. Coben only keeps the truth hidden because a great deal of the novel simply seems to involve Wendy tracking somebody down to talk to them, only for her interviewee to respond with something along the lines of: "I can't speak to you" or "I don't want to talk about it". It happens over and over again and just gets frustrating. Certain characters keep the truth hidden only because the plot demands it, not because it makes any sense. By the end, I didn't feel as if I'd read a thriller with honest plot twists and revelations. It was all very manufactured and artificial.

A recurring theme in many of Coben's novels is how much a parent loves their child and how far they would go to protect them. I'm sure it's a reflection of how close Coben is to his own family, and that's a great thing, but he bangs on and on about it here to the point of nauseum. Okay, you love your child! We get it! You'll do anything to protect them! We get it! Parenthood is a precious, fleeting, special thing! WE F***ING GET IT!!!! Seriously, just about every other paragraph has one of the characters blathering on about how much they love their child, or recalling a special memory, blah blah blah. There are chapters written from the point of view of Haley's mother Marcia, father Ted and sister Patricia, for the single purpose of ramming this viewpoint down our throats, as none of these characters play much a role in the proceedings other than to worry about their daughter/sister. Usually, whenever Coben writes from the point of view of a particular character, it's because they have something to contribute to the plot, or that character will become important later. Not here.

Is "Caught" an anomaly in an otherwise impressive output? Or has Coben lost his touch? It's silly to dismiss him over one bad book. This is nowhere near as awful as "Play To Kill" or "Broken". Despite the endless 'I love my kids' drivel, this travels along at a decent enough pace and I read it in two or three sittings. Yet neither do I think it's unfair to hold a strong author to higher standards than what is delivered here. There's no question I'll be picking up the next Coben offering and hoping for the best.

"Bloodline" by Mark Billingham

2010-09-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Detective Inspector Tom Thorne latest case involves a series of murders in which the only connecting element is a sliver of X-ray found on the bodies. It is quickly discovered that the victims are all children of the victims of serial killer Raymond Garvey, who murdered seven women. He is now dead thanks to a brain tumour, so the suspicion of Thorne and his team is that the murderer must be someone who knew and was close to Raymond Garvey. While looking into the life of Garvey, the team must also try to protect those who are still targets, in particular Debbie Mitchell, the rough, abrasive mother of a mentally handicapped child.

"Bloodline" is almost a return to form for Billingham, after the truly dreadful "Death Message". The first third is tightly paced and enjoyable. Unfortunately, everything that happens is outlined very neatly on the back of the book. Once it's established that a diabolical killer wants to off the children of Raymond Garvey's victims - which happens fairly early - there isn't much else for the narrative to go. Thorne's team do what most detectives in this genre do these days - plod about interviewing folk, waiting for test results and in Thorne's case, find something else to be miserable about. This time, it's the fact that his partner Louise has had a miscarriage. How does he feel about this? How does this affect his relationship with Louise? Was he ready to be a father? Is he ready to try again? It just goes on and on like that before the narrative once again starts gaining speed before the climax. Unfortunately - once again - Billingham botches what could have been quite an exciting ending, with one character's actions coming out of left field and not making much sense. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER - why go to all the trouble of escaping from a killer if you're just planning on committing suicide anyway?

Billingham is a very on-and-off author. He can deliver absolute dreck like "The Burning Girl" and "Death Message", or top-notch thrillers like "Sleepyhead" and "Buried". "Bloodline" has a combination of his best and worst traits. The plot is more interesting and exciting than usual, but gets too sidetracked with the intricate miseries of its central character's life. If Billingham can resist the urge to go back to British gang-turf-war rubbish (which populated his worst novels), I imagine things can only go up from here.

"Live To Tell" by Lisa Gardner

2010-09-19T00:21:00.000-07:00

After an entire family is slaughtered, detective D.D. Warren believes that the father - now in intensive care - is a possible suspect. However, when a similar crime occurs, it's obvious something sinister is going on. The investigation leads to a pediatric psych ward that treats extremely disturbed or violent children. As it happens, one of the workers there, Danielle Burton, was the lone survivor of an incident in which her father murdered her entire family. Could there be a connection? Intercut with all of this is the story of Victoria Oliver, a woman who has had to make huge sacrifices in order to care for and protect her eight-year-old son, who is a budding violent psychopath.

"Live To Tell" is unfortunately another victim of the scenario in which a writer gets too attached to their research. Lisa Gardner is one of my favourite authors, but her latest offering has failed to live up to her previous releases. The most frustrating thing here is that this had so much potential. It's a fascinating premise, one you don't find too often in this genre. Entire families being murdered - both past and present - violent, unpredictable children and the possible connections between them all. For a little while, I was really into the book. But the intrigue fizzled out as it became apparent the plot wasn't going anywhere. Once all the intriguing elements are established, Gardner spends far too much time holding things close to her vest in order to keep the reader in the dark. I like not knowing where a plot is heading, but you need to at least play fair with the reader and drop little tidbits every now and then. Here, the pacing just ground to a halt as we spent far too much time with spiritual healer Andrew Lightfoot. All his mumbo jumbo about "spiritual planes" and what-not wore thin very quickly. The acknowledgments at the end of the book thank a family for sharing their story about their experiences with a mentally disturbed child and that the best help came from their interactions with a spiritual healer, which I suspect is the reason why we learn far more about that occupation than is actually necessary.

Another irksome element is Alex Wilson, a former detective who now teaches at the Academy. He feels he's getting rusty, so naturally he's allowed to insert himself into the investigation tag along to crime scenes and even question suspects. It's the sort of ploy you'd expect from a crime TV show like "Bones" or "Castle", and doesn't seem genuine. He's also a transparently obvious plot device - as a love interest for D.D. Warren. As for D.D. herself, I'm somewhat perplexed that she's become the central recurring character for Gardner's novels. I quickly got tired of hearing about how horny she was. She's not especially interesting, plucky or cluey, and should not be the driving force for a novel. And the Bobby Dodge cameo was gratuitous and unnecessary - either bring him back into the fold, or move on!

It's hard to know how I feel about "Live To Tell". It's certainly not a patch on her best work, neither is it as truly awful as "The Third Victim" or "Alone". It has an excellent premise, an initially intriguing set-up, but blows it with a choppily-paced midsection, an irritating central detective and that bloody spiritual healer. I certainly can't whole-heartedly recommend it, so it's pretty much a case for somebody checking it out and deciding for themselves.

"The Crucifix Killer" by Chris Carter

2010-09-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

Robert Hunter is a hotshot homicide detective with a knack for solving crimes. Teamed up with rookie partner Carlos Garcia, he finds his most horrifying case coming back to haunt him when a murder victim shows up bearing the mark of the Crucifix Killer. The only problem is that they caught the Crucifix Killer a couple of years ago - he was convicted and executed. The pair must figure out whether this is a copycat or they caught the wrong guy. They must also contend with pimp D-King, who is out for vengeance of his own when he believes his favourite girl Jenny might be one of the killer's latest victims.

It's amazing how many crime thrillers get released these days about detectives tracking down a killer they thought had already been caught, and trying to find out if they're dealing with a copycat or if they arrested the wrong person. "14", reviewed not long ago, had a similar premise. To "The Crucifix Killer"'s credit, it's quickly established that yes, this killer is the real deal, and the wrong man was executed. That doesn't stop it from being a cliched, badly written entry in the genre, however. Frequent crime readers will comfortably predict the identity of the killer and their motive. Carter attempts to divert attention with the subplot involving D-King and his search for Jenny's killer, and throws in a snuff movie subplot as well, but it does little to hide the fact that this is a weak, pedestrian effort. Characterisation is routine. Hunter is apparently something of a genius, having graduated at a young age, but choosing police work because it is a noble profession. Garcia is a newcomer to the homicide division, trying to juggle his job with his marriage. Unfortunately, neither really has much of a personality, although they're likeable enough. Unnecessary padding is another obvious flaw, most noticeably in a chapter devoted to two guys who wake up after a party and discover a snuff movie, in which one of them recognises the victim. They're never heard from or mentioned again, nor their connection to the victim explained. What was the point?

"The Crucifix Killer" isn't the total train-wreck the review suggests. I didn't put it down in absolute disgust the way I did with "Play To Kill" or "Broken". Carter demonstrates some ability in generating suspense, as evidenced by the opening chapters, which are dangled before the reader as a sign of what's to come. He needs to start writing better - improve the dialogue and not flit between past and present tense (the narrative inexplicably turns to present tense when describing or setting up a scene, before diverting back to past tense once the characters start talking). He needs to tighten up the pacing - either remove those unnecessary chapters, characters and subplots, or beef them up and tie them into the main action more convincingly - in the end, "The Crucifix Killer" winds up almost being two separate stories. It might also help to not make your killer and their motive so glaringly obvious.

Yes, the author needs to do a lot of work to deliver a memorable thriller. But there is a small glimmer of promise here.

"Never Look Away" by Linwood Barclay

2010-08-30T18:42:00.001-07:00

David Harwood is a reporter with wife and young son. He takes them on a trip to an amusement park in the hope that it might cheer up his wife, who has been hinting at depression and suicidal thoughts. When his wife disappears from the park, he finds himself unable to prove she was even there. As more facts come to light, he finds himself a suspect in his wife's disappearance. While Detective Barry Duckworth collects evidence against him, David must find out what secrets are in his wife's past and whether she's the victim of a conspiracy - or the one behind it all.

I've previously read "No Time For Goodbye" and "Too Close To Home" by Linwood Barclay and found them to be great thrillers, in the same style as Harlan Coben. "Never Look Away" gets off to a good start, but there really isn't enough plot here to sustain the novel for its entire length. This one comes off as something you might see adapted into a TV movie - once the big reveal (which in itself is pretty predictable) is done and dusted, there isn't much else place for it to go. And the further the book goes along, the more David seems like a bit of a nitwit. However, despite the lack of twists in the narrative, Barclay is still able to generate considerable suspense. This is due mainly to very strong characterisation. The characters and their relationships are exceptionally well-drawn, making you care about what happens to them. And isn't this what a good novel should do? Even though the plot wasn't as twisty as I was hoping it to be, I was still hooked by the events because I wanted to find out what happened to the people involved. In particular, the relationship between David and his four-year-old son Ethan was very natural and believable, providing an on-going explanation and motivation for all of David's actions. A subplot involving the owner of a profit-based prison wanting to buy land in David's town takes up more room than it should, considering it really doesn't have much to do with Jan's disappearance, and there is about one ending too many. The saddest thing really is that, while an average thriller, "Never Look Away" is probably a lot better than most of the stuff out there on the shelves right now.

"Play To Kill" by P.J. Tracy

2010-08-24T02:01:00.001-07:00

The Monkeewrench team first introduced in "Want To Play?" is called upon by the FBI when videos of real murders start turning up on the Internet. Also involved are detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth, since one of the murders occurred in their jurisdiction. Monkeewrench decide to develop software that can differentiate between fake and real murder videos (yeah, that one didn't ring true with me, either). A link is discovered in that comments were posted before the murders were committed, giving clues as to who would be killed, plus where and when. However, it must be determined whether it is the work of one murderer, or many, and just what connection does an alcoholic judge have to it all?

Let me just start by saying this is the stupidest, most inane, most unsatisfying thriller I have read in some time, and that spoilers are likely to follow. I am utterly gobsmacked that garbage of this nature can not only make it past an editor but also see the light of day as a published manuscript. P.J. Tracy, who is actually a mother-daughter team, took four years to deliver this plotless, suspenseless nonsense, which just boggles the mind.

First of all, while some may enjoy the "quirky" characters, I found them to be either personality-free (Magozzi, Grace MacBride), or cutesy, nauseating caricatures (Rolseth, the rest of the Monkeewrench crew). Everybody spends plenty of time sass-talking, to the point where it just feels like they're killing time. Don't they have a killer/killers to catch? Then we have the endless internal musings. Should Grace trust humanity again? Should Magozzi keep pursuing a relationship with Grace? Should Rolseth/several-other-briefly-introduced-detectives-and-sheriffs throw it all in and spend their days with their families? This sort of thing extends to even the most minor of characters (they show up in one or two chapters and are never heard from again), but we strangely never get a peek into the psyche of Annie, Harley and Roadrunner from Monkeewrench - odd, considering they've been central characters in all five damn books! I kept expecting Rolseth's Cadillac and Grace's dog Charlie to chime in with their thoughts about the universe. As for Rolseth, I don't think I've ever wished so fervently for a character to simply just shut the hell up.

Then we have the utterly lazy plotting. Since the characters are all having such a jolly good time contemplating the way of the world, or exchanging 'witty' dialogue, not much space is left over for suspense or plot twists. It pretty much goes like this: murder videos start showing up on the Internet. Characters find a way to possibly intercept said murders. Two of the potential murders that a majority of the book focuses on have nothing to do with anything. The bomb scare that makes up most of the last third of the book also has nothing to do with anything. Cue quick wrap-up that never identifies any of the killers, but offers a quick motive from the only minor character who appeared in more than two chapters. Conveniently, the whole case is solved before Monkeewrench ever get to use their dodgy real-murder-spotting software.

Go read "Want To Play?", the first book in this series. It's terrific. An absolute ripper. The other three are pretty decent thrillers also. "Play To Kill" is just astonishing in its ineptitude. Where are the plot twists? Where is the suspense? Where is the feeling that even one of our major characters is at risk or under threat? They all just sit around and exchange jokes. Or, in the case of Grace MacBride, sit around being a miserable bitch. I get really angry when I waste time, effort and money on worthless rubbish like this. As good as the previous four books were, I will never read another book by this duo again.

"14" by J.T. Ellison

2010-08-17T01:37:00.000-07:00

Lt. Taylor Jackson is faced with a case in which a copycat is duplicating the murders of a serial killer dubbed "The Snow White Killer", whose victims were young women with dark hair and pale skin. That killer disappeared some 20 years ago, and the new murderer is recreating his spree with alarming accuracy, although adding a few touches of his own. Taylor receives some help from FBI agent partner John Baldwin, whilst fretting about her upcoming wedding to him. Tension arises in the form of Charlotte Douglas, an FBI agent with the hots for John (not to mention his ex-lover), plus some valuable information regarding their killer. Thrown into the mess is Taylor's missing father, and his link to a mobster.

Wow, what a mess. I don't think Ellison was sure which book she wanted to write. A serial killer thriller about and old murderer and his apprentice? Or a police procedural about a police lieutenant torn between family and duty? So, yep, she simply decides to combine the two. While she manages to draw some links between the two plot strands, it's not enough for this to come off as a cohesive whole. For the first half of the book, Taylor and her team are tracking down a serial killer. For the second half of the book, they're trying to bring down a mobster, with the serial killer plotline wrapped up with little fanfare. In fact, it's hard to find a less exciting way to wrap up a psycho-murderer plotline. And since he manages to elude capture quite easily at the end without even being identified (will he show up in a later book? who knows?), makes you wonder what the whole damn point was.

Another secondary plotline involves Taylor's apprehension at getting married to Baldwin. It never feels genuine, and simply comes across as a desperate attempt to inject a little romantic tension into the proceedings, especially since this is published by Mira, who specialise in romantic fiction. The title "14" in itself bothered me - it has absolutely no relevance to the plot. When the book starts, there is mention of the fact that Snow White had 10 victims in total and the murderer has now reached 4 - but the body count quickly goes up from there, and there is no special significance attributed to the number 14 at any other point in the book. It's just further indication that Ellison seemed clueless as to what to do or where to go with her story. Half by-the-numbers serial killer thriller, half yawn-inducing-catch-the-mobster police procedural, this has no real plot twists, no startling character revelations, zero suspense - in other words, a one-hundred per cent fail.

"Last Known Victim" by Erica Spindler

2010-07-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

In post-Katrina New Orleans, several severed right hands are found in an old refrigerator. About the same time, Captain Patti O'Shay's husband, also a police captain, is found murdered. Both cases quickly go cold. Two years later, both cases get re-opened when a body is discovered with its right hand missing. Underneath the body is O'Shay's husband's police badge.

The investigation quickly establishes a link to young stripper Yvette Borger, who believes she is being stalked by an obsessed secret admirer who calls himself "The Artist". Along with detectives Spencer Malone and Stacy Killian, O'Shay puts her career on the line to protect Yvette and possibly uncover her husband's murderer. However, Yvette is soon uncovered as a less-than-credible witness, with much of her story not adding up. Is there a killer on the loose, or is Yvette simply just stringing them all along in a bizarre fantasy of her own making?

This is probably Spindler's best work to date. While never an outstanding writer, I've always found her books to be solid, dependable thrillers, if a little predictable. "Last Known Victim" is suspenseful, fast-paced and has many plot twists, keeping the truth neatly hidden. I was quite pleased that I was unable to anticipate the identity of the killer. Keeping matters lively was the antagonistic relationship between Yvette and the members of the police force. She's an insolent brat, no doubt, but I actually really enjoyed the character. I'm sure many readers will find her a pain in the ass, yet I felt Spindler did a good job in juggling her good and bad characteristics. Nothing worse than a cliched, straight-forward stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold. I'm not saying Yvette is a fully-rounded, complex individual akin to something you might find in literature, but her antics were believable under the circumstances, and often amusing.

The only minor quibble I have here is the relationship between Spencer and Stacy (they appeared previously in "Killer Takes All"). Spencer's off-hand "macho" no-big-deal marriage proposal reeks of the sort of synthetic dramatic tension found only in fiction, whether it be book or film. I've known plenty of guys over the years who have gotten engaged (several just recently) and married, and they all took it pretty darn seriously. The resulting fall-out from his ridiculous proposal is tiresome and doesn't ring true at all. Then again, for most of the novel Spencer doesn't exactly come across as particularly cluey, so maybe he really is brain-dead.

Thankfully, however, that only comprises a small part of the novel (most other crime novels these days, it would seem, focus on the relationship aspect more than the crime aspect, yes I'm looking at you, Karin Slaughter). Here, Spindler mostly seems focused on delivering an exciting, twisty murder mystery and she succeeds.

"Web Of Evil" by J.A. Jance

2010-07-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

Ali Reynolds is heading to Los Angeles to finalise her divorce from husband Paul Grayson, who is set to marry his pregnant mistress, April Gaddis, the day after the proceedings are over. He never shows at the hearing - but that's because someone had trussed him up, slapped him in the boot of a car and left it in the path of an oncoming train. Ali winds up as a suspect in the murder, and things start looking especially bad for her when it is revealed that Paul never had time to change his will and she remains his sole beneficiary. A sense of sympathy results in her getting involved in April's plight, which makes her life even more complicated and ultimately gets her caught up in the web that ended her husband's life.

After too many books to count in which proceedings went nowhere fast, "Web Of Evil" was a small, but refreshing change. It's by no means a terrific book, and far too many contrivances pile up as it heads towards its finish, but at least SOMETHING HAPPENS. There's no slogging through endless, minute technical detail as evidence is collected from crime scenes, or characters throwing motives back and forth while sitting around on their asses waiting for results to come back from the lab. Jance seems to operate on this outrageous, novel notion that you can have a little action and suspense in your story, and that your climax doesn't need a Scooby-Doo surprise villian popping up to explain their motive that had barely been hinted at in the previous 300 pages (sorry, a direct reference to "Broken", a letdown that still rankles me). In "Web Of Evil" the characters are pro-active in both sorting out their problems and tracking down the source of them. Unfortunately, this is where my big quibble with this book arises.

Throughout her turmoil, Ali counts on help from both her mother and a police officer friend by the name of Dave Holman. Through the latter, they are privy to all sorts of insider information because Dave just happens to be a former marine and several of his marine buddies are now in different areas of law enforcement. When the plot calls for it, Dave conveniently has a friend he can call on for help. Consequently, as the book nears its finish, Ali doesn't so much seem like an independent woman solving her own problems as she does a woman simply being in the right place at the wrong time because Dave and his buddies already have everything figured out and are letting her tag along out of the kindness of their hearts. When she's allowed to accompany them on a major police takedown, I was almost taken - right out of the book.

It seems like a no-win situation in the crime/thriller genre. I hate a police procedural so focused on accuracy that they forget to include any suspense or action or even much of a plot (or in the case of Stuart MacBride and James Patterson, about four or five mini-plots that have nothing to do with each other). On the other hand, I get fed up with the more pacy thrillers which suspend disbelief with the never-ending supply of helpers the protagonist can conjure up at the drop of a hat when the plot demands it. There don't seem to be many books out there that can tread the fine line between the two (my favourite authors Tess Gerritsen and Robert Crais would be examples of those who can). Then there are the crime authors who got their start in category romance, but that's a whole other issue....

"Web Of Evil" did the trick for me after a seemingly never-ending parade of complete yawners. It's not perfect, but the characters are both believable and likeable, the plot moves at a solid pace, and the ending doesn't come out of left field - it's not predictable, but it's an expected outcome from all the clues and hints dropped throughout the story. I'll be interested in taking a look at this author's other works.

"Broken" by Karin Slaughter

2010-07-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

The body of college student Allison Spooner is discovered in the lake, but despite the presence of what looks like a suicide note, the death is quickly determined as murder, thanks to a stab wound in her neck. It doesn't take long for them to arrest Tommy Braham, an intellectually disabled young man with a crush on the victim. But the arrest goes bad and one of the detectives is badly injured.

Sara Linton is back in town for Thanksgiving, and receives a phone call saying that Tommy is desperate to see her. When she arrives at the prison, he is dead, having written the words "Not Me" in his own blood. Knowing that Lena Adams is one of the detectives on the case and that she has a tendency to screw up everything she touches (plus she blames her for the death of her police chief husband), Sara calls the Georgia Bureau Of Investigation, hoping they might uncover Lena's incompetence and end her career for good. Will Trent, whom Sara worked with in "Genesis", is sent over. He quickly ascertains that Lena and Interim Police Chief Frank Wallace are indeed hiding something. Uncovering a motive for murder, however, proves much more difficult.

It's been a long time since I've read a zippy, twisty crime thriller and unfortunately, "Broken" hasn't broken the drought. This one is excruciatingly slow-paced. We discover in the prologue that Allison is killed at the lake. The detectives take until PAGE 200 to confirm it. If the author had removed the prologue, this revelation might have evoked perhaps an "ok, that's interesting" response, rather than my muttering of "it's about goddamn time". Alas, things don't particularly speed up from there, so I doubt it would have made much difference. This is one of those books where the solution to the crime is rather simple and unexciting, and barely justifies the long wait it takes to get there. Is it wrong to expect just a little excitement and suspense while reading a supposed crime thriller? Everybody is just going through the motions - collecting evidence, speculating about motive or in Sara's case, moping about her dead husband. I'm sure it's all very accurate, but it's also absolutely, stultifyingly DULL. There's no story here! Just 300-odd pages of rambling before the arbitrary identity of the killer is revealed and everything gets neatly wrapped up.

On top of this, Slaughter continues to fall into the same trap that permeated the other novels. She apparently killed off Jeffrey Tolliver to shake the series out of its equilibrium and approaching staleness. Now, instead of Sara spending each book with a different reason to be angry at her husband, she now spends each book moping about his death and their supposedly perfect, wonderful relationship (even though each previous book has clearly discredited this - they were always arguing!). She was a real weak link in "Genesis", and even though she doesn't actually appear much here, all of her scenes typically involve her crying about Jeffrey. As for me, I'm glad Jeffrey's dead. He was annoying. Will Trent is a much more interesting character. The hints at romance between him and Sara also ring false - I mean, how are we supposed to buy this plot direction when Sara is still barely coping with Jeffrey's death nearly four years later and at one point says: "Jeffrey has ruined other men for me"? I suspect that, despite suggestions at the book's conclusion that she's ready to move on, Sara will be spending the next book in much the same frame of mind, not moving the series anywhere.

Anything good to say? Well, Will Trent is probably the most likeable character Slaughter has created. He's complex, the world has dealt him some tough blows, but he's not a pain in the ass. Lena Adams is also not nearly as annoying as she usually is. Even to the point where it sometimes doesn't even feel like we're dealing with the same character from previous books. I never thought I'd see the day in this series where Lena was more tolerable than Sara.

But just because you like a couple of characters is not nearly reason enough to slog through this murky, near plot-less bore. There is zero suspense, a feeble mystery with precious few suspects, meaning barely a plot twist in sight. If you like lots and lots and lots AND LOTS of technical detail and little else, this might satisfy you. I normally look forward to each new Slaughter release, but this is easily one of her worst.

"Blood Runs Cold" by Alex Barclay

2010-07-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

Special Agent Ren Bryce is chosen to head up the task force investigating the murder of another FBI Agent, Jean Transom. The investigation is hampered by the fact that the body gets swept away by an unexpected avalanche and can't be located. She falls for her informant, which could possibly compromise the investigation.

That's about as much plot that can be described for this deadeningly paced junk. You could easily skip to page 267 (part two) and barely miss a thing. That's how little happens in the first two thirds of the book. Since there is no body, there aren't many avenues for the investigation to take. Instead, Ren gets into a relationship with informant Billy Waites, who works at the Brockton Filly, a local pub. Most of the book is taken up with their stop-start romance and Ren's calls to her shrink to complain about her complicated life. Combine that with Ren and her task force colleagues' constant sass-talking and you'd be forgiven for thinking that nobody involved seems particularly concerned with tracking down a murderer, least of all the author.

The mystery gets wrapped up with little fanfare (there's a distinct paucity of suspects), and then thirty-odd pages are left over for the author to deliver a series of twists related to (very) minor subplots sprinkled earlier throughout the story. But because there has been so little detail or build-up regarding these subplots, said twists evoke little more than a "so what?" mentality. They hardly justify the fact we've slogged through endless pages of Ren's paranoia, insecurities and general whining.

Alex Barclay is the author of two previous novels, "Darkhouse" and "The Caller", both of which I've read - and they're not bad. They featured a different protagonist. It's quite rare for a crime author to abandon a series of books featuring a main character, only to start a new series with another character (a follow-up Ren Bryce thriller called "Time Of Death" has just hit stores at the time of writing, one of the reasons I picked up this long-ago-purchased-but-not-yet-read thriller). One can possibly assume the other series wasn't selling well and publishers urged Barclay to start afresh? But on the evidence of this appalling go-nowhere snoozefest, it's hard to think why. "Darkhouse" and "The Caller" were much better novels and I cannot think of a legitimate reason why anybody should plunk down cash for this drivel.

"Superstition" by Karen Robards

2010-06-19T02:14:00.000-07:00

Reporter Nicky Sullivan thinks the big break in her career will be a live broadcast of a seance in the house where three teenage girls mysteriously disappeared fifteen years ago. The seance is lead by Leonora James, Nicky's own mother, a famous psychic. Also on hand to make sure nothing goes wrong - his attempts to shut the seance down were unsuccessful - is police chief Joe Franconi, who is haunted by a ghost of his own, literally.

During the broadcast, a woman is murdered, and Nicky also comes very close to losing her life. As more murders occur, she must team up with Joe to discover the truth, while battling her attraction to him.

If the book cover didn't tell me otherwise, I would have thought this was written by Karen Rose or Lisa Jackson. Except even those two provide a bit more plot than what can be found here. The solutions to the two mysteries (the events of fifteen years ago and the events of now) are wrapped up so arbitrarily in the last part of the book that Robards could easily have claimed aliens did it all and it wouldn't have made much difference. Most of this, as can be expected, is devoted to the developing romance between Nicky and Joe. The latter is a yawn-inducing, cliche-ridden typical alpha male, and I could barely remember much about him once the book was finished. The former is okay as far as female protagonists go, but her attitude towards the supernatural quickly gets weary. If anybody dare suggest they are a non-believer, she behaves like a snotty child who thinks her viewpoint is the only valid one. Not the quality one would expect in a REPORTER, for God's sake.

The supernatural element is the other part of this novel that just doesn't work. The fact that Joe has a ghost - Brian Sawyer - haunting him comes across as cheesy. Making it part of what helps him and Nicky connect is even cheesier. Either plant your novel in the real world, or make the "ghosts"/supernatural element a central, non-disputeable part of the plot. I like ghost stories. I don't like stories that dance around the idea to fill up space. The presence of some scary ghosts could have perhaps made this book a little more interesting. I stress - PERHAPS.

Yet another author too scared to abandon the rigid formula of romance novels (does anybody remember the day when the love interest could also be a suspect?), Karen Robards delivers a by-the-numbers romantic thriller with clunky pacing and even clunkier plotting.

"To Die For" by Melanie George

2010-06-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

Abby St James is a timid young woman who decides to masquerade as her twin sister Michaela, overseeing the men's magazine that she owns. Why such a wishy-washy wet napkin would believe she could pass for a wild, promiscuous, thrice-married man-eater isn't terribly clear. Anyway, she finds herself overwhelmed by the magazine's publisher, Stefan Massari, who has always been at odds with Michaela over the way the magazine is run. In fact, she faints after their first meeting because he is just so intense. Abby has a deep-seated mistrust of men ever since she was finger-banged against her will in high school. Of course, Stefan manages to break down those walls through repeated seduction attempts that border on sexual harrassment.

Unfortunately for Abby, Michaela has an enemy, and this stalker doesn't know they're stalking the wrong twin.

"To Die For" is the sort of 'romantic' suspense trash that gives the genre a bad name. Like many female authors, a clear distinction is made here between 'good' and 'bad' girls. Only the nice, well-behaved, near-virginal woman is worthy of the swarthy Italian's desire and love. On the other hand, the outspoken, ball-breaking, sexually active woman, by the book's end, has been raped and beaten, presumably for her sins. She even gets to donate a kidney to her 'better' sister so that she can repent. As a male reader, I found these portrayals offensive, and I'd be very surprised if a woman didn't as well. This extends to the character of Stefan, described as the typical exotic, masculine protector of fragile woman. Though it must be said, 'fragile' doesn't even begin to describe Abby. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more weak, irritating and helpless female character anywhere in general fiction.

Perhaps worth a browse just to see how bad it is - open up to just about any page and you'll get a nice dose of florid dialogue or lurid sexual descriptions (usually involving fingering of some type) - "To Die For" is real bottom-of-the-barrel stuff.

"Freddy Krueger's Tales Of Terror #2: Fatal Games" by Bruce Richards

2010-06-06T22:36:00.000-07:00

Chip Parker, his mother and his adopted brother Al are moving to Elm Street, where the mother hopes to make a go of it as the owner of a donut shop. Al is a bitter, angry teenager and resents his adopted family. Tensions only increase when both brothers try out for the position of quarterback on the football team at their new school.

Chip meets and falls for a strange beauty named Alicia, and learns of her connection to the history of the house he now lives in. She was having eye surgery when she discovered the dead bodies of several local teenagers stuffed into the boiler in the basement. The eye surgeon's nephew had hung himself nearby, apparently guilty of the crimes. However, she confides to Chip that she thinks the killer was Johnny Murphy, now locked up in an insane asylum.

Other strange things occur. Alicia's ex-boyfriend Scott Miller thinks that she was possessed by some sort of evil spirit while been operated on in that basement. As for Scott, badly injured in the same car accident that blinded Alicia, his grotesquely maimed face can inexplicably not be cured by plastic surgery, and only seems to get worse as time goes on, so he hides from the world. Meanwhile, Al is getting progressively nastier, and is having mysterious conversations with an unknown person in the basement. Suspicious accidents start occuring at school. What on Earth is going on?

To be honest, I really have no idea. Just reading that synopsis back to myself makes me think I possibly imagined reading this book. Back in the heyday of teen thrillers, which ran for about ten years between 1986 and 1996 (R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike were the big names), just about every publisher flooded the market with their own versions. There were about three different series based on hororscopes, while both Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers (from the "Halloween" movies) had a handful of books released. I was quite happy to pick this one up for curiosity value, and would certainly love to get my hands on more.

Because "Fatal Games" isn't actually half-bad. Sure, the plot is all over the place, but there is the germ of a good idea here. Disappointingly, it all turns out to be the work of Freddy Krueger himself, which didn't make much sense. Either the author couldn't figure out a way to hang this all together, or there was a mandate by the publisher that Freddy Krueger had to be the villian. After all, this is one of his tales of terror. I suspect it's a mixture of the two. Once the story is over, there are several questions left unanswered. What was the deal with the voodoo doll Chip found in the backyard? Why did Johnny originally murder those cheerleaders and run over his football teammate? Why is he seemingly helping Al injure his current teammates? What's the connection to eye surgeon Dr. Hawke and the fact several of the dead bodies had the eyeballs removed? How was Alicia's blindness miraculously cured? You're probably getting the idea by now. So, with a little fleshing out of his ideas, the author really could have been onto something with this book. Not bad for an obscure relic from the teen-thriller era before "Twilight".

"One False Move" by Alex Kava

2010-05-31T05:20:00.001-07:00

Melanie Starks and her son Charlie have got through life by being low-level con artists. When her brother Jared Barnett reappears in her life, they step into the big leagues with Jared's proposal of a bank robbery. He's been in jail for the last five years for rape and murder, but his shady lawyer Max Kramer has gotten him out on a technicality. It doesn't mean he's innocent, but Melanie is willing to trust him, while Charlie looks up at him as some sort of idol.

The bank robbery goes horribly wrong, with four people winding up dead. The crime spree continues as the three of them go on the run, eventually taking crime writer Andrew Kane hostage. On their trail is Detective Tommy Pakula, a friend of Andrew's and one of the original arresting officers of Jared Barnett. Helping out is district attorney Grace Wenninghoff, original prosecutor of Jared Barnett, who assumes that he's possibly stalking her.

"One False Move" gets off to an okay start, but pretty much falls apart by the end. Everybody's motives aren't entirely clear, and the climax is a joke. By the end, you're wondering what exactly the point of the whole thing was. Adding insult to injury is the "who cares?" minor twist that caps this underwhelming effort off. One main fault is the lack of a central character to anchor us in the story. The chapters flip between view-points so often that there is nobody for us to identify with. Andrew Kane is given a lame scared-of-commitment backstory, but it doesn't really make us care about him, even though he's the hostage and we're supposed to worry about his safety. But he's got a flat personality, plus it's never clear even why the trio bother to keep him around.

Grace Wenninghoff's chapters have her convinced that Jared Barnett is stalking her, since he keeps showing up wherever she goes, may have stolen one of her daughter's toys, and left a calling card in its place. However, it's hard to understand why this element was included in the novel. Jared Barnett is running from the law, so there is no suspense in wondering if he'll come back for Grace. Of course he won't. As for Melanie Stark, she's so wishy-washy and oblivious that she quickly becomes tiresome. Not great traits for a character you're supposed to also care about. Her son Charlie fares even worse. He's portrayed as some sort of innocent victim, but nobody's forcing him to commit all these crimes. He does it because he likes it. Detective Tommy Pakula is a good character, but is short-changed by all these varying view-points. And the book itself is seriously short, clocking in at only 300-odd pages, with large font, short chapters and five (count 'em - five!) parts.

"One False Move" lacks focus and energy. I never felt compelled to go back to it after finishing a chapter. Not a good thing to say about a story involving bank robberies, murder and hostages. Plot elements are raised and then never mentioned again (what was the deal with the ceramic gnomes again?). There's no build-up to any sort of exciting ending - it simply feels as if Kava had run out of ideas and interest and had to finish it as quickly as possible. Disappointing because it had the opportunity to be so much better.

"Skin" by Mo Hayder

2010-05-31T03:11:00.000-07:00

Picking up almost where "Ritual" left off, Detective Jack Caffery's latest case involves a woman found near railway tracks, which looks like a suicide. Police diver Flea Marley's latest case involves a skinned dog brought up from the depths. As it turns out, the dog was the woman's pet. Is there more to the woman's death than initially thought? Both appear to lose interest, however. Jack is convinced that he is still being stalked by the Tokolosh, a myth-based creature that featured in "Ritual". As for Flea, she finds the dead body of footballer girlfriend Misty Kitson in the trunk of her car, realising she was the victim of a hit-and-run when her irresponsible brother borrowed her car. Now she's preoccupied with disposing of the body and saving her brother's skin, even though he's resolutely ungrateful for it, conspiring with his girlfriend to make it look like Flea was the driver who killed Misty.

"Skin" is awful. Like so many crime thrillers these days, this one crams three disparate storylines into its narrative. So instead of one decent plot, we get three mediocre ones. This book abandons the plot of the dead woman and dead dog so that Jack can investigate the Tokolosh (leading to one admittedly very creepy sequence), only for him to promptly abandon that investigation to go back and probe into the woman's death. Meanwhile, Flea's adventures in trying to get rid of Misty's body doesn't have much to do with anything. Attempts to tie everything together at the end are underwhelming and contrived, to say the least.

It's sad to see an author who could release a genuinely frightening thriller like "The Treatment" put out something as disjointed and unexciting as this. She tries to have it both ways as well - we're expected to have read and to remember everything that happened in "Ritual", since so much in this book is linked to what happened in the previous one. Yet she never reveals the name of the killer in that book! So if you happen to read this one first and can't understand what's going on, you're expected to go back and read the previous one. Very cheap tactic. I'd say neither are worth forking out your cash for, anyway. "Gone", the next Jack Caffery thriller, is already out, but I've got serious reservations. Perhaps if someone lets me know that Flea Marley is nowhere to be found I might give it a go.

"Abandoned" by Cody McFadyen

2010-05-31T02:41:00.000-07:00

FBI agent Smoky Barrett and her team are back, this time drawn into the mystery of a woman thrown out of a car at the wedding of team member Callie. The woman is eventually revealed to be Heather Hollister, a police officer who went missing eight years ago. She shows evidence of being tortured and held in a place with no light. She is too traumatised to give any information. As the team investigate the link Heather's remarried husband Douglas Hollister might have to the initial disappearance, they learn that other people have been abducted under similar circumstances - except these folk are showing up with homemade labotomies....

There's a good thriller buried somewhere in "Abandoned". There are some interesting glimpses into the villian's past, and their motivation for and execution of the kidnappings quite captivating. Later in the novel, an exploration of anti-feminism raises plenty of interesting points - the kidnapper often trawls through the websites of bitter, cuckolded men who hate their wives, hoping to find their next collaborator/victim. Whether or not you agree with some of the fictional characters' viewpoints, there are some intriguing insights into what is acceptable behaviour for the sexes.

However, you have to wade through a lot of tiresome crap to find it. This book is not in any hurry to get anywhere. Heather Hollister's inability to provide the feds with any information seems a convenient excuse for McFadyen to do what he does best with these characters these days - let them focus on and ruminate about anything and everything that doesn't have anything to do with the case they're investigating. They have to ponder their futures when the FBI director announces cutbacks and relocation. Smoky has a couple more secrets she has to reveal. Yawn! I'll save you the trouble: she has secretly gotten married to Tommy, and is now pregnant. McFadyen spends an inordinate amount of time on Smoky and Tommy talking about their relationship and how "cool" it is. Smoky has to step up to the plate as a parent when surrogate daughter Bonnie kills a cat. Yes, you read that right.

"Abandoned" is probably about one-third of a good book. I don't dislike these characters, but focusing so much on their personal lives at the expense of the crime element is boring! Unless McFadyen is going to go in a wild direction and write about a thirteen-year-old female serial killer, I don't care that Bonnie killed a cat! What a RIDICULOUS diversion! Is this guy just cashing his cheques or what? When I buy a book in the crime genre, I'm buying it for what I hope will be an exciting, suspenseful thriller. Not a tedious soap opera about a traumatised woman rebuilding her life with a so-perfect-he-barely-resembles-human mercenary and a wise-beyond-her-years girl. Because that's mostly what I got here. After two misfires in a row, I'm not sure this author is getting another chance.

"Lost Souls" by Lisa Jackson

2010-05-31T01:32:00.001-07:00

Kristi Bentz has survived a serial killer twice, but will she be lucky a third time? She's re-enrolled at trendy university All Saints, where lately co-eds have had a habit of going missing. She wants to be a true-crime writer, and figures digging into this story is the perfect way to start out. The room she rents also just happens to be the former room of one of the girls who has gone missing! Distracting her from her mission is ex-lover Jay McBride, who conveniently happens to be filling in as a lecturer in one of her classes. He has links to the police, which can only be beneficial.

Another student - Lucretia - who was Kristi's roommate when she first attended the university, comes to her with news that there is some sort of cult on campus. Many girls are a part of it - including those who have now disappeared. Since the missing girls are considered runaways, with families who care little about them, the police aren't interested in any connections between them or any supposed illicit shenanigans at the college. Still in love with Kristi, Jay agrees to help her figure out the truth.

I read "Lost Souls" a little while ago, but thought it would be the decent thing to do to review it, since it wasn't too bad, and I so thoroughly trashed "Almost Dead" and "Left To Die". Yes, like most of Jackson's novels, it features an anonymous killer who is finely muscled and likes to do everything in the nude, with female victims that typically find themselves waking up naked and at the killer's mercy. Once again, there is the continued, seemingly pathological overuse of the word "damn". I don't know why it bothers me so much, but could she PLEASE expand her vocabulary, especially when it comes to the use of adjectives? That aside, "Lost Souls" is a surprisingly decent thriller, with plenty of suspects, all with a motive. There are a couple of plot twists that are well done, too. The romance between Jay and Kristi feels like it's there because it has to be, and their dismissal of the consequences of a student and faculty member hooking up is glossed over with lame justifications you typically wouldn't expect from supposedly intelligent people. However, Jackson manages to achieve a nice balance between the thriller elements and the standard "I have no time to be falling in love with so-and-so" internal monologues Jay and Kristi frequently indulge in. As for Kristi, I liked the character, but found it hard to believe that she was supposed to be twenty-seven-years old. She behaves like she's just turned eighteen, and she's disappointingly passive in the book's finale.

Lastly, just to demonstrate why "Left To Die" was such manipulative garbage, "Lost Souls" ends with a cliffhanger, but one that doesn't cheat the reader. In the epilogue, Kristi's father John has a vision of his dead first wife. It doesn't affect the story we've just read, but certainly garners interest in his story, to obviously be continued in another book. There's a difference between a cliffhanger and an out-and-out cheat, and I think Jackson knows that difference. Which makes her and the publisher's cash-grab in "Left To Die" even more inexcusable. Just check out Amazon's reviews of "Left To Die" to see how many of her fans have vowed to not only never buy the follow-up, but never buy another book by her again!

"Left To Die" by Lisa Jackson

2010-05-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

Jillian Rivers receives mysterious pictures of her first husband, who has been presumed dead fore more than a decade. Suspecting it may be work of her second husband whom she is now divorced from, she heads off in search of the truth. But a psycho stalker blows out her tires somewhere in Montana and her car crashes horrifically. She is rescued from certain death by Zane McGregor, who tends to her wounds in his isolated cabin. Since she was actively targeted by a person who wants her dead, Jillian isn't sure she can trust Zane. Especially since there is a madman out there who enjoys causing pretty women to have car accidents, at first helping them to recover, before tying them naked to a tree and letting them die of exposure.

Detectives Regan Pescoli and Selena Alvarez are the ones responisble for catching this killer. Not that they do much detecting amongst the fifty-thousand-or-so times they say something along the lines of: "We have to catch this mad bastard soon!" Also, Regan is more than a bit preoccupied with her churlish and ungrateful teenage children, Bianca and Jeremy, and her ex-husband Lucky, who is suddenly showing an interest in being a full-time carer for said children. Now, what could possibly be the connection between the psycho tying naked chicks to trees, and the psycho who used pictures of Jillian's presumed-dead first husband to lure her to Montana?

As it happens, nothing. I know it's not cool to reveal too much about a book's plot, but this piece of junk is nothing but filler. About half-way through the detectives surmise that Jillian's psycho is simply a copycat who uses the other killer's M.O. as an opportunity to try and off her - Jillian survives, of course. So much of the book is devoted to the demented activities of the psycho who is called the "Star-Crossed Killer" that by the time it is revealed Jillian Rivers and Zane McGregor have nothing to do with him, there is little room left for their own story to go. The solution to the mystery of Jillian's tormentor is very simple and utterly stupid. To add insult to injury, the identity of the "Star-Crossed Killer", which we were lead to believe was the main element of this novel, is never resolved. No, we have to wait for "Chosen To Die" before we get to find that information out! It's been a long time since I've been swindled like that in a book, and this is certainly one of the worst cases I've come across. Combine Jackson's contempt for her audience with her continued bizarre over-use of the word "damn" (at least three times a page), and you have a pile of shit like "Left To Die" that should be left on the shelve, to die a long and painful death of its own.

"Cry Wolf" by Tami Hoag

2010-04-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

Laurel Chandler is a prosecutor who has returned to her family home in the bayou after disastrously losing a child abuse case in which she pointed the finger at several big names. She reunites with her aunt Caroline and older sister Savannah, who is now a rampaging slut thanks to the sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of her stepfather when she and Laurel were young. Laurel was never subjected to any abuse, and still feels guilty for that fact all this time later. Although she wants to leave her lawyer past behind her, she unwittingly finds herself standing up for the Delahoussaye's, the owners of a bar that is being targeted by sham televangelist Jimmy Lee Baldwin, who decries it as a place of sin.

And what would a bayou tale be without a cliched gothic romance to go along with it all? Laurel falls for Jack Boudreaux, a former-lawyer-turned-horror-writer haunted by the suicide of his wife and subsequent death of their unborn child. He calls her many Cajun endearments whilst also declaring himself as somebody she can't rely on, despite popping up EVERY SINGLE TIME Laurel finds herself in even the smallest bit of bother. You'd think he was stalking her, but she just eats it up. Most of the time. Oh yeah, there's also a psycho lurking about strangling women and dumping their bodies, and the victims appear to be women with "loose morals". Uh oh. Could slutty Savannah be a target?

The back cover description of this plotless drivel concentrates mostly on the crime element of the women being strangled. I can tell you now that the strangler is barely even mentioned in the first 300 pages. The killer only seems to be included so that there can be an "exciting" ending, in which Laurel is abducted, stripped and molested. Otherwise, you would be VERY hard-pressed to call this a crime novel at all. Most of the 528 pages are devoted to Laurel and Jack as they talk, talk, talk and talk some more, and brood about their mutual haunted pasts. The revelation of the killer is pretty arbritrary and boring and there's no real motive given for his penchant for murdering "loose" women. "Cry Wolf" is an unmitigated bore with characters straight out of Romance-Cliche-Central that fails to entertain in any way whatsoever.

"Close To You" by Mary Jane Clark

2010-04-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

Eliza Blake is a popular news correspondent who has moved out of the city for a more steady lifestyle with her daughter. But instead of tranquility she finds terror - 140 people suddenly become obsessed with her! Actually, it's far less than that, but you get the drift. Problems begin when she is continually bothered by the previous owner of the new house she has just bought. Larson Richards won't give her the combination to the safe, inappropriately buys her daughter a puppy, and bugs her to invest in his latest venture to create a pizzeria franchise. On top of this, his parents - who lived in the house - died from a mysterious gas leak. Then there's Keith Chapel, one of her producers, who's coping with an unhappy pregnant life and dreams of starting an affair with Eliza. Abigail Snow is in charge of promos and is a stereotypically predatory lesbian also wanting to get down and dirty with the correspondent. Cornelius "Meat" Bacon is a bat-obsessed weirdo who thinks Eliza wears inappropriate attire for a news reporter. Jerry Wasilowski likes to spend his time making phone calls to her office and anonymously declaring his love. There's also Samuel Morton, whose daughter has recently died of cancer. Eliza tentatively responds to his overtures of romance after her lover, Mack McBride, cheats on her while on assignment in London. Intermingly with all this is August Sinisi, a car mechanic who is copying the keys of rich folk and breaking into their homes....

So Eliza has many obsessed admirers. But which one actually wants to kill her? The answer is slow in coming in this laboriously plotted thriller. The short chapters are a big advantage, making this one easy to read in nice bite-sized pieces. But the convoluted nature of Eliza conveniently having so many admirers at once drags this down - whose to say that once the story is over she isn't going to have another big bunch of pyschos declaring their love for her? The introduction of so many secondary characters is another negative factor - I resorted to writing all their names down so I could keep track of everybody - and it left little time for many of them to be adequately developed. "Close To You" is far from the worst suspense novel I've come across - the romance element is refreshingly low-key and not dwelt on too much. But don't go rushing to hunt it down.

"What To Do When Someone Dies" by Nicci French

2010-02-20T12:29:00.000-08:00

Ellie is understandably shocked when she is informed her husband Greg has died in a car accident. Even worse, there was another woman in the car with him - a woman by the name of Milena Livingstone that she has never heard of before. She begins obsessively detailing every moment of the last month of Greg's life in an effort to prove that Greg and Milena were not having an affair. The police and her friends think she is acting crazily out of her grief, but nothing will stop her in her mission to show that there was something fishy about Greg's death.

A visit to Milena's business partner Frances is initially out of curiosity, but she winds up offering her services to help clean up the business, which is in disarray after Milena's death. She gives her name as Gwen (one of her closest friends), and this new "job" allows her more personal access into Milena's life, which only exacerbates her obsession with making everybody believe that her husband was not an adulterer. Is she simply crazy? Or is there something more to Greg's death than the police investigation or inquest revealed?

For the first 100 pages or so, the book really lives up to its title. Ellie mourns, attends the inquest, organises the funeral - all the details one would conceivably attend to after the death of a spouse. It doesn't exactly make for exciting reading. Things pick up somewhat after she deceptively gets the job at Milena's old business. There's an effective undercurrent of suspense as we wonder just how much of a hole Ellie will dig for herself, and whether the new people in her life should be trusted or not. Although not a lot ever really happens, I was quite drawn into the story - more than I thought I would be after the very slow start. French takes us into every corner of Ellie's psyche, delivering one of the more fully-rounded main characters I've come across in a suspense thriller. Ellie isn't always likeable - often quite exasperating - but she feels real, which is why I kept reading to find out what happened to her.

"What To Do When Someone Dies" isn't for those who like their thrillers zippy and twisty, that's for sure. But through perserverance I was totally sucked in and ended up quite enjoying the experience.

"Evidence" by Jonathan Kellerman

2010-02-19T07:38:00.000-08:00

Psychologist Alex Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis arrive at a crime scene in which two dead people are entwined in a lover's embrace. They are quickly able to ID the male, but the identity of the female remains unknown. The male - Desmond Backer - was recently employed at a now-defunct architectural firm based on being environmentally friendly. Most of the females there had a relationship with Backer at some point or another, except for one of the partners, Helga Gemein. She's a rich Swiss who believes that humanity is a blight on the environment, and therefore didn't like anybody too much. Of course, the other partners in the firm aren't too happy with Helga either.

Alex and Milo interview the females who dallied with Desmond but, obviously, there's a lot more going on than originally thought. The investigation manages to pull up links with the brother of a sultan from the Indonesian island of Sranil who appears impossible to track down - and may have been involved in a murder. There's Desmond's own murky past which seems to have involved some amateur eco-terrorism. And trying to identify the female gets them involved with the FBI, as she was one of their informants. I'll leave it there, as to reveal much more would defeat the purpose of reading the book.

Jonathan Kellerman on auto-pilot is usually better than most of the stuff out there and this is no exception. The whole thing seems almost formulaic, yet you'd be hard-pressed to find another crime novel on the shelf with as many twists and turns as this one. Some little factoid dropped early on gains significance later. A minor character you wouldn't think twice about turns out to be much more involved than you would have guessed. It's the work of a writer who knows what they're doing - and doing it well. Fans of Kellerman will know what to expect, and new readers will undoubtedly be thrilled at discovering of the genre's best.

What I've yet to figure out is why Alex Delaware is even around? He doesn't get paid for tagging along with Milo everywhere, yet he's allowed to sit in on interviews, visit crime scenes and generally participate in all sorts of police matters that no civilian would ever be allowed to join in on. Yet he doesn't really contribute much other than to speculate with Milo about theories as to whodunit and whatnot. That's the other big problem with Kellerman's novels of late - Alex and Milo bounce around all sorts of outlandish scenarios and hey presto! They're right! It lacks credibility, and seems a cheap way to move the story onto the next point. The other minor quibble is the one-word titles he's been giving his novels - "Rage", "Obsession", "Compulsion", "Bones" etc and now "Evidence". I'm not sure why the title "Evidence" is more appropriate here than any one of his other books; it seems the title choices are just as generic as the plot structures. But at the end of the day, Kellerman is still one of the few authors you can count on to deliver an unpredictable and enjoyable crime mystery - every time.

"Little Face" by Sophie Hannah

2010-02-17T05:19:00.000-08:00

New mother Alice Farncourt comes home from a session at the health club, only to claim that the baby in the cot is not her own. Her husband David thinks she is insane, and tells the police as much. Her mother-in-law Vivienne sits on the fence, unwilling to believe her son or his wife is lying. Intercut with these current events are chapters set one week later, in which David has reported his wife and baby missing to detectives Simon Waterhouse and Charlie Zailer. As the two storylines merge, the detectives must figure out the mystery behind the baby-swap and whether there is any connection to the murder of David's first wife, Laura, which was thought to have been solved, as well as Alice's current disappearance.

There's no denying "Little Face" is a very well-written, well-constructed mystery. Even though the story keeps jumping back and forth in time, it never becomes confusing. The suspense is solid as several different scenarios are dangled in front of us as to the reason behind all the mysterious events. Hannah doesn't attempt to pull the wool over our eyes with any out-of-left-field plot twists - you either figure it out yourself or you don't. Very refreshing. I had my suspicions, but could never come to any firm conclusions, so I let the story carry me along. There was also strong characterisation, giving credibility to various characters' actions and behaviours. For example, I thought the main character of Alice was a bit of a wet napkin, but Hannah gets you inside her head so skilfully that you understand the reasons behind the decisions/actions she makes, even if you don't agree with them. And, ultimately, I wanted her to triumph against adversity. I felt the solution to everything a little pat, and the motives behind some actions pretty far-fetched, leaving this one sometimes feeling like a quaint Miss Marple mystery.

However, if you're after a psychological thriller that keeps you guessing, with well-defined and believable characters, "Little Face" is the one to get. My quibbles with it are minor, and the good points certainly outweigh the bad. Hannah is a talented writer that I will be reading more from.

"Precious Blood" by Jonathan Hayes

2010-02-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

Dr. Edward Jenner is a forensic pathologist called upon to act as a private consultant by the father of a murder victim. She had been found nailed upside-down to the wall in her flat. Although he's not a part of the medical examiner's office (having retired after post-traumatic stress disorder related to recovering bodies from 9/11), the detectives investigating the case are happy to have him around. After checking with other departments for similar crimes, Jenner comes across a crime scene in which the decapitated victim's head was placed in some spilled milk. Examining both bodies reveals that a weird script has been etched on the backs of their necks, indicating a serial killer at work.

On top of this, the roommate - and witness - to the most recent murder has been advised by her uncle to take refuge with Jenner, since said uncle lives in the same building and trusts him. This roommate, Ana de Jong, is quite traumatised by her experience (she narrowly avoided also being killed), which leads to feelings developing between her and Jenner, despite her being nearly half his age. Further investigation finds a link between the deaths and the dates in which martyrs were killed. Jenner and the police must use this information to possibly predict the next potential victim and the day that they will die, all while facing the possibility that Ana is still a target.

"Precious Blood" is a standard serial killer thriller, maybe just a touch above average. Hayes thankfully manages to display his research and knowledge without getting too dry, technical or boring. And the police investigation angle is also well-handled - even if one of the clues they track down is a dead end, it usually leads to a new direction in the story. The pacing is tight, and the finale has some solid suspenseful moments. So why am I not urging crime fans to rush and hunt this one down?

Basically because of the character of Ana de Jong. She is an absolute pain in the ass. She spends pretty much the whole book on a "poor-me" crying jag. She doesn't display one iota of wit, strength or crackling personality. Sure, perhaps her behaviour is a realistic portrayal of a twenty-one-year old university student after witnessing a murder and only just escaping with her life, but it sure gets tiresome with her constant juvenile attitude and bouts of sobbing. Jenner's attraction to her - and bedding of - can only be described as some sort of middle-aged male wish-fulfillment, as I doubt many guys would put up with such high-maintenance. As for Jenner himself, he makes for a very bland protagonist, and his sudden transformation into superhero during the climax is not very believable, especially considering he had broken ribs. But he is at least smart, which is what keeps the plot moving.

So, while this does deliver as a serial killer thriller, the unappealing main characters and their unrealistic relationship does rob if of some suspense and credibility. I'll happily revisit this author again, so long as Ana de Jong is nowhere to be found.

"Eye Candy" by R.L. Stine

2010-02-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure this was never actually released in Australia - I was never able to find it in any bookstore. But I managed to get hold of a copy for just $7 through Book Depository. I was intrigued because this, along with "The Sitter" (which I've yet to track down), was a short-lived attempt by former teen/tween thriller writer R.L. Stine to re-tackle the adult suspense genre. His initial attempt - "Superstitious" - was apparently not very successful. These two books came out around 2003/2004, and I'm guessing they weren't terribly successful either, because he hasn't tried another adult thriller since. Last time I checked, Stine was back in "Goosebumps"-style territory, though I don't know how much luck he'll have since the teens and tweens are only reading the "Twilight" books these days. I refuse to have anything to do with "Twilight" - I liked vampires back when Buffy and Angel were on TV and the teenagers actually had witty dialogue and vampires didn't bloody sparkle.....but I'm getting totally off-topic here.

"Eye Candy" has Lindy Sampson heading into the unpredictable world of Internet dating a year after the death of her fiance. She sets up dates with three guys who are all really into her, as well as another guy she happens to run into at a bar. However, the fun world of dating is short-lived when she receives a phone call telling her to "never say no to me!" She also receives a threatening note, and somebody steals all her panties! Of course, from this point on, all her dates act as suspicious as all get-out, leaving her unable to tell which one is mentally unbalanced. Heck, even the police detective she calls upon for help (he used to be partners with her dead fiance), acts funny around her. Oh yeah, and her roommate Ann-Marie's boyfriend Lou has a thing for her and likes to sexually harrass her when he's drunk. In any case, Lindy has to go on a lot of dates she doesn't want to, all the while wondering if the next date will end up with her being murdered.

It's not surprising that R.L. Stine's foray into thrillers aimed at adults didn't last. His writing style will simply never cut it. Flowing over from the days of "Goosebumps" and "Fear Street" is the simplistic writing style and short chapters, many of which end on a false scare. There's a few F-bombs chucked in, a couple of sex scenes and stronger violence, but it still felt like I was reading a "Fear Street" book from the early 90s. It's very under-plotted, and I could figure out pretty easily where everything was headed. I think if even James Patterson attempted to hand in a thriller with these sorts of twists, the editor would give it back to him. But it was engaging in its own trashy, empty way, and there was a certain comfort in reading an "adult" book that took me back to my own teen/tween days. And I'll read 100 more books like this before I'll go anywhere near "Twilight"!

"Afraid" by Jack Kilborn

2010-02-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

Sheriff Ace Streng might be nearing seventy, but it's not hard protecting the town of Save Haven, which has a fairly low population - one that gets lower once tourist season is over. And the population starts to decline once more after a helicopter crash - a site he's summoned to by Josh and Elmer, two of his deputies. Meanwhile, Fran is a waitress preparing to finish for the night when she and the last patron of the day are attacked. Ace, Josh and Elmer are also attacked when they investigate further into the crash. As for the rest of the town, they've all headed over to the school gymnasium after being told they're the winners of a big lottery, not really caring how bogus that sounds....

Managing to survive repeated attacks, Ace, Josh, Elmer and Fran come to realise there is a group of super-strong soldiers in town with a scary mission: Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate. And these soldiers keep asking for the whereabouts of one Warren Streng - Ace's estranged brother....

"Afraid" gets off to a creepy, suspenseful start - and never stops. The characters - and the reader - barely have time to take a break before the next ordeal starts. This is an approach that I loved, as it made for a book that was never dull. The only problem is that sometimes it gets to be a little too much, which robs it of suspense. For example, the sequence in which Fran is trying to rescue her son Duncan from her neighbour's burning house just goes on and on. It's totally superfluous to the rest of the story and quite contrived - how convenient that the elderly neighbour has a bomb shelter and has gone crazy and is trying to kill him? Similarly, there is a subplot involving Elmer's fiance Jessie Lee, who is one of the townsfolk at the gymnasium, and the only one suspicious of what is going on. It leads to some enjoyable, suspenseful sequences, but never really leads anywhere.

Nonetheless, "Afraid" is an action-oriented story that was a welcome change from my usual stomping grounds in the crime genre, one that is lately getting dragged down by authors more concerned with authenticity than tight, twisty plotting. But enough of that. There's plenty of thrills, spills, gore and suspense in this book to keep any fan of action or horror satisfied. It's pacing never flags and it would make a terrific movie.

"Pretty Little Things" by Jilliane Hoffman

2010-02-13T17:20:00.000-08:00

Laney Emerson is your typical 13-year-old girl, facing problems with her stepfather and trying to fit in at a new school. And as her luck would have it, her Internet boyfriend is actually a sick pervert who kidnaps her at their first special meeting. He keeps in some underground cavern, where there appear to be other girls held captive.

Special Agent Bobby Dees is the guy at the head of the task force dedicated to tracking Laney down. They've been galvanized into action by the media's response to Laney's mother's sob story, even though she appeared to care little for her daughter, figuring she had run away. Dees had previously been considered a Golden Boy due to his ability to locate missing children, alive or dead. But since the disappearance of his own daughter a year ago, some are questioning whether it is appropriate for him to be a part of this task force.

It soon becomes apparent that the kidnapper is making this personal for Bobby - sending him communications through a journalist who is attempting to reignite his career through Laney's story. Meanwhile, Bobby's wife Luann simply wants to move away from town due to the stress of not knowing what has happened to their missing daughter.

"Pretty Little Things" is so routine and derivative that it's hard to believe anybody could be bothered to write it. It dances around the sordid subject matter (whether that's for better or worse is hard to decide) and simply goes through the motions as Bobby and his team try to track down the kidnapper. The chapters concerning Lacey's plight do have a bit of an edge, but not nearly enough to make this stand out from the pack. Author Hoffman is former attorney herself and her previous novels have had a strong courtroom setting which is sorely lacking here, as this element is clearly her forte. All the stuff involving police and FBI procedure, forensics etc etc smacks of research, and is fairly laboured. As for the revelation of the kidnapper, it's so groan-inducingly obvious it's hard to tell whether it was meant to be a secret. Basically - who else could it have been?

A killer/kidnapper who hoards his victims in underground caverns has been done by, of course, James Patterson in "Kiss The Girls", but to also much better effect in Chris Mooney's "The Missing" - and probably countless other serial killer thrillers. You may as well track down any one of them, as I imagine it won't be much different to this one. As for Hoffman, go grab her debut novel "Retribution", which is an exciting and gripping combination of both serial killer thriller and courtroom thriller. The sequel "Last Witness" isn't as good, but sets up some intriguing scenario for a further sequel (which I'm still hoping might one day surface). Don't even bother with "Plea Of Insanity". I know that the crime market is very large and authors are going to inevitably cover the same material, but that doesn't mean we have to put up with such by-the-numbers fare such as this.

"Bye Bye Baby" by Lauren Crow/Fiona McIntosh

2010-01-30T18:35:00.000-08:00

Confused by the title of the review? Well, it would have been simply "Bye Bye Baby" by Lauren Crow if I hadn't been to the bookstore just yesterday. While there, I noticed a book also called "Bye Bye Baby", except this time by Fiona McIntosh. I picked it up to have a look, especially since I'd just finished reading the one by Lauren Crow. At which point, I noticed the synopsis on the back was exactly the same! Flicking through, especially to the end, it seemed that both books were identical, except for the name of the author. I don't know why there was a change of name, and I can't say for certain that there are no differences between the two, but if there are, this review is based on the book with Lauren Crow as the credited author.

DCI Jack Hawksworth is put in charge of a serial killer enquiry in which somebody is killing men, removing their lips and their genitals and painting blue on their faces. His second-in-command is DI Kate Carter, whose relationship with her fiance hits a rocky patch when she realises she has the hots for her boss. Making this worse is the fact that Jack only has eyes for his new neighbour Sophie Fenton, a beautiful wheelchair-bound woman. The investigation eventually determines that the killer is a woman and that she is seeking revenge on those involved in her rape and the death of her baby some thirty years earlier. The killer's own loss of a child from SIDS is the stressor that has caused her to become a murderer.

"Bye Bye Baby" isn't a bad debut crime novel. Although mostly a police procedural, Crow doesn't get bogged down in the minute details like most other authors - the detectives here figure things out at about the same pace as Crow reveals plot twists to the reader, so the novel thankfully never devolves into a case of the reader simply waiting for the detectives to catch up. Insights into the killer's mind are another benefit here, gradually outlaying the motive behind the killings. This is probably the most absorbing and interesting element of the novel - my sympathy was fully behind the murderer. The victims deserved everything they got, really. The main problem here is the fact that nothing is new. The rape-and-revenge plotline is as hold as the hills. There are very few plot twists, and the most major one is easy to spot from a mile away. Crow has talent as a writer, as the book keeps you involved, but originality is not a strong point. And she's good enough that I want to track down the follow-up - which I might never have known about, because it's under Fiona McIntosh's name.

The Tess Gerritsen Books Are Becoming A TV Show

2010-01-27T14:36:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite series is the one featuring detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles in the books written by Tess Gerritsen. Here's a series that keeps delivering consistently original, suspenseful and fast-paced crime novels, some of the best in the genre. A trip to the Internet Movie Database revealed that Angie Harmon has been cast as Rizzoli (she's already played Lindsay Boxer in the TV version of the Women's Murder Club novels by James Patterson) and Sasha Alexander (NCIS) has been cast as Maura Isles. I'll be looking forward to this one. It should put some more money into the bank for Gerritsen, who'll hopefully return her attention to writing again (perhaps for the TV show as well), instead of providing endless quotes for other books and releasing endless omnibuses of her previous romantic suspense novels from before she hit it big.

And let's hope this show is better than that "Sex & The City" meets "Law & Order" meets Lifetime TV version we got that was "The Women's Murder Club".

"Beneath The Bleeding" by Val McDermid

2010-01-27T14:11:00.000-08:00

The fifth book in the series featuring detective Carol Jordan and loopy psychiatrist Tony Hill begins with the death of a popular football player. It's particularly difficult to determine whether the death was accidental, suicide or murder. Another subplot that carries along with this involves a young man as he goes through all the stages of preparation in order to commit an act of terrorism - in this case, detonating a bomb. As for the football player, when another mysterious death occurs, Tony Hill uncovers a possible link between both victims to a particular high school, but his theory is one that Carol dismisses as unlikely. Tony sorts through the clues in both cases, all while stuck in a hospital bed after getting hit in the knee by an axe, thanks to an escaped mental patient.

"Beneath The Bleeding" is a decent addition to the series, if slowly paced. The plot twists that finally pop up towards the end of the book are well done, particularly in regards to the bombing subplot, where nothing is quite as it seemed. The problem with reviewing the book is the lack of information I can give about the plot without summarizing two thirds of the whole thing - something the back cover of the book does itself. That's what I mean when I say "slowly paced". Then you have Tony's injury, which seems to be included simply because McDermid had knee surgery herself and knew what it was like and wanted to write about it. It adds little to the plot, often in fact slowing it down. What's worse is that both plot strands have nothing to do with each other - McDermid had the chance to pack all sorts of action, suspense and twists into the separate storylines, but instead is happy to let them both coast along while Tony and Carol spend a large amount of time arguing with each other and internally analyzing their unusual relationship. I've never been a fan of authors who try to do the whole "CSI" thing and have two or more disparate crime storylines running concurrently. It generally means there's not enough "meat" to fill just one story. I don't care that in real life detectives investigate several cases at once. This is fiction - I'm sure poetic licence would allow for one great, juicy story instead of two, three or four mediocre ones.

Anyway, I cut McDermid some slack because she is a good writer and the relationship between Tony and Carol is admittedly much more complex than what you find in most other books. If you're a fan of the author or the series, this is worth picking up. Other readers may want to find something a little more exciting, or perhaps go and get "The Mermaids Singing", the first novel in the series.

"Neuropath" by Scott Bakker

2010-01-27T01:11:00.000-08:00

Wow. I've got to admit my brain hurt a little after reading this one. My outlook on the world and existence itself was also affected, thanks to the bleak ending. While marketed as being part of the crime genre, "Neuropath" is more of a science-fiction thriller, thankfully abandoning the typical attention-to-detail-and-police-procedure-accuracy that can sink most other crime novels. However, there is an abundance of philosophical debate which can get a little weary.

Professor Thomas Bible is contacted by the FBI because they believe his best friend from his college days - Neil Cassidy - is now kidnapping and torturing people. At first Thomas couldn't believe such a thing. But this killer seems to be using methods based on something they called The Argument, which was a frequent topic of conversation between them at university. Essentially, it's an argument about physiology versus consciousness - we are merely extension of our brains, reacting to the environment and other stimuli. Any decisions we make aren't really based on our own free will, but merely our consciousness becoming aware of the decision after the brain has already made it. Which suggests that there is no such thing as free will in the first place. So Neil Cassidy is kidnapping people, cutting open their heads and re-wiring their brains to demonstrate this. One woman is rewired to program pleasure as pain. Another is rewired so that he never recognises a person's face - everybody is a stranger. When Thomas discovers that Neil was having a long-standing affair with his ex-wife Nora, he slowly comes to realise that he's at the centre of Neil's lunatic behaviour. With FBI Agent Samantha Logan, he tries to anticipate his former friend's next move.

It's actually quite hard to explain the philosophical theories at the core of "Neuropath" - I'm not entirely sure I grasped it all myself. But it certainly gives you a lot to think about, whilst also delivering the goods as a scary, gruesome thriller. There's a minor subplot about another serial killer called "The Chiropractor", who likes to remove his victim's spines (yum), which ultimately connects to the main plot in a wonderfully twisted way. Like I said, all the philosophical debate gets a little heavy at times, and some of Thomas Bible's inner monologues are really tiresome, but "Neuropath" is a genuinely disturbing, frightening novel with some jarring plot twists that attempts to be a little more cerebral than your typical thriller and generally succeeds. If you're willing to stick with it, I highly recommend it. And I'd just love to see Hollywood put out a movie called "The Chiropractor". I can imagine the tagline now: "He'll send a chill down your spine....before he rips it out!"

"The Venus Fix" by M.J. Rose

2010-01-26T13:37:00.001-08:00

Dr. Morgan Snow is a sex therapist with a 13-year-old actress daughter on Broadway, and a strained romantic relationship with Det. Noah Jordain. He's currently investigating the murders of web-cam girls - they are being poisoned while performing live on-line. It seems their killer taints stuff like oils and lubricants, posts them to the girls as a "fan" and asks them to use it. It does lead to one memorable sequence - a kinky lesbian sex scene that ends in the girls vomiting uncontrollably. There's still some originality left in fiction, folks! Anyway, Morgan herself is treating a patient who only likes to refer to himself as "Bob". It turns out he's a prolific judge with an addiction to on-line porn - and a connection to the girls who are dying. She's also counselling a group of teenagers with on-line porn problems, and a couple of them may also have links to the dead girls.

While that purports to be the plot, most of the book dwells on Morgan's stress over her daughter wanting a television career in Hollywood. Morgan's own mother was a child star whose career crashed once she was a teenager, and she eventually died of a drug-overdose. Morgan doesn't want this for her own daughter, and even contemplates moving back in with her ex-husband to provide a more stable home-life for her daughter. This is turn leads to further tensions with her detective lover. All of this tiresome melodrama detracts from what could have been a very entertaining, trashy thriller. As it is, all the story threads come together really well at the end, something of a rarity these days, it seems. The last third was fast-paced and exciting, with a surprise killer with a thoughtful and believable motive and a solid climax. If they'd excised all the personal problems Morgan is going through, there wouldn't be much of a book left, but the thriller aspects deliver the goods admirably.

"Black Out" by Lisa Unger

2010-01-26T12:48:00.001-08:00

Annie Powers would seem like the typical upper middle-class woman, with her husband Grey and daughter Victory (ugh), and pampered lifestyle, except for the fact she can't remember much of her past. When she is followed by a mysterious stranger on the beach outside her home one night, it is the beginning of a strange upheaval in her life. She starts suffering migraines and bits and pieces of her former life begin to return to her. She remembers her life as a teenager, when her mother decides to marry a death-row inmate. This incident brings the inmate's son into their lives, which eventually leads to disaster. Intercut with this are chapters set in the future, where Annie is stuck on a boat, attempting to escape an unknown threat.

The biggest disappointment in "Black Out" is that it could have been so good. As the plot slowly unfolded, I occasionally felt as if I had come across a winner. Unexpected twists, a story that keeps you guessing as to what is really going on, the whole deal. But eventually the twists start becoming a little convoluted...to the point where Unger writes herself into a corner and has no choice but to completely cop out. Events in the last part of the book would seem to totally contradict events that had happened earlier. When a story leaves you unsure as to what did or did not really happen, that's not good writing. It's not good story-telling. I did not come away from "Black Out" feeling satisfied. One option would be to read the whole thing again, knowing the outcome from the beginning, but I don't think there would be much to gain from that. Of course, it's hard to explain my disappointment without ruining the story, so be warned that there is a SPOILER below.

My first SPOILER! Yay!

Final warning: SPOILER AHEAD

Throughout the story, Annie relates the activities of a detective. He initially blackmails her when he discovers that she changed her name, and is using the identity of a dead woman. However, he realises something untoward is going on, and uncovers many unsavoury facts about Annie's husband and his parents, and their possible involvement in what is going on now. At the end, though, he's revealed as nothing more than a figment of her imagination, conjured up whenever she suffered a migraine. This is despite the fact he interacted with other characters, and that Annie supposedly interacted with his wife. Therefore, everything that happened before is thrown into doubt. Did Annie's doctor really get murdered? Did she really locate her believed-to-be-dead lover from her teenage years and finally kill him? What exactly happened on that boat and who killed them all? And how exactly did Annie obtain all the information she needed if the person who discovered it never existed? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

"Almost Dead" by Lisa Jackson

2010-01-26T12:24:00.001-08:00

"Almost Damn Dead" is probably a more appropriate title here, as "damn" is about the third most used word after "the" and "and". It's not that I'm a prude or anything - have you seen some of the stuff I read? - but the use of the word is so frequent and so obvious that it's really distracting. How could it get past an editor? Remove "damn" from here and you can cut the book by about 30 pages. Seriously.

The plot has Cissy Cahill spooked by the fact that her evil mother has escaped from prison. Suddenly, members of her family begin to die. We the reader know that the mother has an accomplice, but as for Cissy and her ex-husband Jack Holt, they are clueless as to who might want to off the entire Cahill clan. As for Cissy's mother, we're never actually told what she did to get into prison in the first place, nor the intricate details of how she managed to escape, either. The plot makes some very lame attempts to cast suspicion on Cissy and Jack themselves, but this book sticks so rigidly to the romantic suspense formula that you know nothing is ever going to come of it. About the only saving grace here is that Cissy and Jack already know each other (they are on the verge of divorce), rather than having them meet and fall in love simply because the author wants them to (the problem faced by Jackson's "Deep Freeze"). However, Jack doesn't have much of a personality, and Cissy is so unpleasant and self-centred it's hard to figure out why anyone would want to spend time in her company, personality or not. At the funeral of her grandmother, whom she admits she didn't even like much, she behaves as if she's the only person who has a right to the mourn the woman, dismissing everybody's condolences. She ultimately snubs her neighbour, who while at times is a little overbearing, has never been anything but nice to her. Cissy concludes that her neighbour is a catty bitch who wants to steal her husband away. Then there's the babysitter Tanya, who does a bang-up, professional job, whom Cissy simply dislikes because she can. When Tanya tells Cissy that she's quitting because she doesn't like working for her and thinks she should see a shrink, I was going: "Right on!" I kept hoping it would be Cissy that wound up with a bullet between the eyes rather than most of the ancillary characters.

I always try to say something positive about a book, because there's no fun in constant negativity (or is there?), but I'm struggling here. While I managed to finish the damn thing (ha ha), the whole product was hugely damaged by having such an odious main character. Combine that with a flimsy plot (someone remind me again exactly what Cissy's mother went to prison for), a writer seriously short of adjectives (maybe try "old couch" instead of "damn couch"), and a romance that feels like it's there simply because it has to be, and you have a damn stupid book that takes too damn long to read and DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!!!

"You Can't Hide" by Karen Rose

2009-11-26T23:24:00.001-08:00

Tess Ciccotelli is a psychiatrist whose patients are dying in mysterious circumstances - and she looks like the prime suspect. Detective Aidan Reagan thinks she's a cold-hearted bitch, but slowly comes to change his mind the more he gets to know her. It doesn't take long for the police department to figure out that Tess is being set up. And she's being set up by somebody who obviously really, really hates her. Soon, not only are her patients targets, but so is anybody who knows her - friends, family, mere acquaintances and those who simply have the misfortune to say hello to her.

This being a romantic thriller, much of the focus is on the developing relationship between Tess and Aidan, but I have to admit that it was handled quite well here. The main barrier to their happiness lies in a previous case where Tess gave evidence in court that let a child-killer live out the rest of his life in a psychiatric institution, as opposed to rotting on death row. Aidan discovered the body of the last victim, and can't believe she could help effectively set a killer free. This sort of material is deeper than much of what you find in this genre, so it helped the two characters feel like real people, as opposed to two people who simply get together because that's what's supposed to happen.

The plot is also well-constructed. While there are a few plot strands that simply feel like filler, Rose for the most part delivers a twisty suspense tale. I'm happy to announce that I didn't figure out the identity of the killer - the clues are there, and I was pleased that it all went right over my head.

"You Can't Hide" arrived earlier in Rose's career, and I suspect that might be why it is of a much higher standard than her current work. Since she's now churning out a couple of thrillers a year these days, the quality has slid. Nevertheless, it's always a pleasant surprise to come across something much better than you were expecting it to be. Refreshingly clear of many of the cliches found in the romantic suspense genre, "You Can't Hide" is one that should be hunted down.

"Close Enough To Kill" by Beverly Barton

2009-11-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

This is another one of those romantic suspense novels where the lead characters spend as much time thinking lustful thoughts about each other as they do hunting a serial killer. The culprits this time around are Sheriff Bernadette "Bernie" Granger and her new deputy Jim Norton, who was once a big-time football player. She had a big crush on him when she was a teenager, so she tries to keep her feelings in check whenever he's around. As for him, he's taken the job to be closer to his son, whose mother has spent a lot of energy on keeping the two apart. Although a lot of effort is spent on establishing that Bernie is a plain woman, Jim slowly develops feelings of attraction toward her (despite taking a couple of cracks at her sister first - what a guy!)

Oh yeah, and they're hunting a serial killer. He's called The Secret Admirer, as he first seduces his prey with innocent notes and gifts. Then he proceeds to send them kinky S&M sketches, before kidnapping, raping, torturing and murdering them. Quite a few women become victims, and the finger points at all the handsome, eligible bachelors in the town. I figured the killer the moment he was introduced. I kept thinking: "Oh come on, it really can't be that obvious! I'm not THAT clever!" Seriously, the killer's identity was meant to be a surprise?

"Close Enough To Kill" works fine on a trashy level. There's lots of sex, rape and death to keep you occupied, all delivered with a complete lack of class. The writer has a curiously blunt approach to her descriptions. My favourites were: "After raping her in the anus with a wooden phallus..." and "Damn, what a pair of tits!", the latter being Jim's internal response when he finally gets Bernie out of her bra. But to be fair, Barton generates at least a little suspense in the sequences where the women are being initially stalked - one woman's car breaks down, and another woman is nabbed despite having police protection.

Fairly indistinguishable from much of the genre's output, and I doubt romance readers are going to appreciate Barton's unimaginative, crass descriptions of rape and murder.

"City Of The Sun" by David Levien

2009-11-14T14:49:00.000-08:00

Nearly two years after their son disappears, Paul and Carol Gabriel are forced to get the help of private detective Frank Behr when the police appear to be doing nothing. Behr is haunted by the death of his own son, so this latest case hits closer to home. He's eventually convinced to let Paul accompany him in the investigation, which opens up leads that suggest the boy is still alive.

"City Of The Sun" has rave reviews from other writers, amongst them being quote-whore Harlan Coben, but also from Michael Connelly and my own favourite - Robert Crais. So I did hold out hope that this would be a dark, suspenseful experience. And while it is a dark story, there just wasn't enough going on for me to be truly gripped. Behr's sources, which help him in developing new leads, conveniently pop up when needed. And the answer to the "mystery", when it comes, is pretty by-the-numbers, with a pretty outlandish climax.

With precious few plot twists (if any) to ratchet up the tension, it's pretty much the reader wallowing in the misery of depressed, burnt-out characters. A follow-up has just hit the shelves, but I might pass on it.

By the way, the long absence between posts is due to a faulty laptop, and a lack of funds in obtaining a new one. In that time, I've also read "Life Sentences" by Laura Lippman. But it was a boring, pointless pile of shit that doesn't really warrant a review - and is the first book I've ever taken to a second-hand bookstore. Both that and "City Of The Sun" were simply too easy to put down, so that's why I've done little reading in the last couple of months.

"The Darker Side" by Cody McFadyen

2009-09-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

This is the third book to feature Special Agent Smoky Barrett, coming after "Shadow Man" and "The Face Of Death". The former was a solid serial killer thriller, but the latter is one of the best entries in the genre. Despite a pretty awful beginning 40 pages, "The Face Of Death" developed into a fast-paced, genuinely scary and even moving thriller. It comes highly recommended.

When an author's second book vastly improves over the first, I take that to be a good sign. So I was very much looking forward to "The Darker Side". Alas, with greater expectations come greater disappointments, as "The Darker Side" is a very by-the-numbers affair, with the curious lack of drive in the proceedings exposing some of the author's more annoying traits - ones I was able to gloss over in previous outings because the stories were so involving.

Agent Barrett's case this time is to chase a killer who seems to be using his victim's deepest, darkest secrets against them. He'll get them to reveal their worst sin before murdering them. The first victim turns out to be the transexual son of a Senator. Although much is made of this political connection for the first part of the novel, it's basically forgotten about by the time the book is over - just one of the many faults to be found here. But, moving on....the second victim is a reformed drug and sex addict, which leads Barrett and her team to the woman's church and Father Yates, the priest she made her confessions to. From here, Barrett realises there's a very strong religious undertone to the murders and that the numbers 142 and 143 found on each victim means that her killer has actually been in operation for a very long time....

"The Darker Side" just has everybody - the author and the characters - going through the motions. It's clear McFadyen has run out of ways to move these people along. Smoky Barrett has endured being raped by a madman and watching as he murdered her husband. Same madman also mutilated her face. In the previous books, we learnt Smoky shot and killed her daughter while aiming to shoot and kill the madman, who used the daughter as a shield (these events all took place before "Shadow Man", so I'm not spoiling anything). In this book, we learn a couple more horrible truths about Smoky that she's had to endure. I mean, it's getting a little ridiculous. We're up to the third book here. It seems McFadyen only seems to be able to develop and define Smoky through the tragedies she has endured. Well, buddy, you're running out of credible ways to do this. Time to create new characters, or move the focus primarily to the plot, and further away from the characters we already have.

The other thing that really bugged me here was the way people talked. Callie, a member of Smoky's team, calls everybody "honey-love". Bonnie, Smoky's adopted daughter, calls her "Momma-Smoky". Kirby Mitchell, a character from "The Face Of Death" (who, realistically, doesn't even need to be here) calls Callie "Callie-babe". I mean, ugh! Enough! It was really irritating, and was highly noticeable because the plot here was so lacking. The religious theme to the murders was pretty ho-hum, the motive a real non-event, and the killer himself wasn't terribly interesting.

The fact that "The Darker Side" was a bit of a bomb doesn't mean I'll be giving up on the author. "The Face Of Death" was an excellent book, and I'm of the belief that somebody who can turn out a winner like that deserves a second chance.

"City Of Fear" by Alafair Burke

2009-09-12T00:58:00.001-07:00

Generic title for a generic crime story in which homicide detective Ellie Hatcher comes across the dead body of a party girl while on a morning jog. She has cuts on her body and some of her hair has been hacked off. The investigation quickly leads to a prime suspect, Jake Myers, who hooked up with the dead girl at a club shortly before she died. The evidence against him is pretty tight, and all involved think they've got their man. But Ellie is then alerted to three old cold cases by a still-grieving father of one of the victims. All were young girls. All were snatched after being at popular clubs. And something has been done with their hair.

Ellie isn't sure whether to forge ahead with the case she has, or investigate further and see if she can make any links. The reader already knows that the same killer is behind all murders, so it's basically a matter of waiting for the book's characters to catch up. This is one of those books that's happy to just coast along without any surprises or originality. So much time is spent on Jake Myers - first building the case against him, then uncovering the conspiracy he hatched with buddies and lawyers to get somebody else to confess for him - that it simply becomes dull. We know that Jake isn't the killer! Give us a little something to keep us involved! The revelation that Ellie is connected to the case, and in the killer's sight - something that would happen much earlier in a better book - doesn't come until well into the third act.

"City Of Fear" is easy to read and does deliver some of the requirements of the genre. But just because you're not covering any new ground in the crime genre is no excuse to deliver something so lacking in suspense. Burke has got police procedure and law down pat - but so what? Just because it seems accurate doesn't make it interesting. This one needs far more surprises, to be more suspense-driven, to be more interesting, to even compete with the big names in crime.

"Road Kill 2: Dead Ahead"

2009-09-08T09:03:00.001-07:00

The original "Road Kill" was a great thriller starring Paul Walker and Steve Zahn as two brothers who play a trick over a CB radio against a trucker by the moniker of "Rusty Nail". Of course, a pissed off Rusty Nail sought revenge, relentlessly stalking the brothers.

In this day-and-age of endless direct-to-DVD sequels, it's quite astounding the variation in quality you can find. "Wrong Turn 2" was gorier, funnier and more entertaining than many theatrically released films. "The Grudge 3" and "Boogeyman 3" were fairly blah. "Pulse 2" was pretty darn awful.

Luckily, I felt "Road Kill 2: Dead Ahead" was well above average. And it actually brings back Rusty Nail, rather than just being an in-name-only sequel. This time around, two sisters (Nicki Aycox, Laura Jordan) and their boyfriends (Nick Zano, Kyle Schmid) break down in the desert on the way to Las Vegas. After a bit of hiking, they come across an abandoned house with a 1971 Corvette inside. They decide to borrow the car until they can find a rental car. Then they'll return with the Corvette - and some cash. But the car belongs to none other than Rusty Nail, and that pisses him off. He kidnaps Zano, and puts the other three through various mental and physical tortures in an effort to save him.

This one really sucked me in. It builds up the suspense at a steady pace, before finally letting loose with a gruelling torture scene, a couple of exciting car-chase sequences and a couple of other suspenseful scenarios. Director Louis Morneau has been behind many a direct-to-DVD venture, and he's had more than his share of duds, but he really seems to be in his element here. He also gets good performances out of his actors - the torture scene is actually largely free of gore, but the two actors involved look so frightened, and in so much pain, you really buy into it.

"Road Kill 2: Dead Ahead" seems to have received largely negative reviews on-line. But I found it to be well-crafted schlock, with a cast and crew who actually seemed invested in how the final product would turn out.

"The Haunting Of Molly Hartley"

2009-09-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

Although I love the made-for-TV domestic/stranger-from-hell thriller, I'm not overly fond of the made-for-TV supernatural/ghost-story thriller. "The Haunting Of Molly Hartley" - which doesn't actually involve any haunting - plays a lot like something you might expect to see on cable TV. I've already been disappointed by such fare as "Devil's Diary" and "Deadly Pledge", and this flick, which was released theatrically in America, barely rises above the level of those two movies.

The plot has Molly (Haley Bennett) rapidly approaching her 18th birthday. She's experiencing nosebleeds, panic attacks and weird visions. Perhaps understandable, since she recently survived being stabbed in the chest with a pair of scissors by her own mother. Her mother, now locked up in an asylum, was of the belief she was trying to save her daughter from a terrible legacy. One that would come to fruition on....oh my God....her 18th birthday!

Kind of like "The Uninvited", this one covers up the fact that absolutely NOTHING is happening by throwing in plenty of Molly's aforementioned nosebleeds, panic attacks and weird visions. There's about five in the first twenty minutes. Add to that plenty of false scares - a few of which admittedly got me. And that's what's so annoying about this uninspired hack job. Director Mickey Liddell clearly knows how to set up his shock scenes. If he actually had a script to go along with his budding directorial talent, there could be a decent movie to be found. Unfortunately, what we're left with here (after a pretty decent prologue) is a series of boo scares leading up to an amazingly flat, "who cares" finale. It's like everybody involved didn't care how it ended either.

"The Haunting Of Molly Hartley" looks good, moves along quickly, has a solid cast, and certainly isn't boring. But it is one of the emptiest so-called thrillers I've come across in a long time. Wait until it comes to television - where it truly belongs.

"Obsessed"

2009-09-08T04:33:00.000-07:00

I must admit it's good to see these sorts of domestic thrillers back in the mainstream again, since they've pretty much been relegated to the realm of TV movies and direct-to-DVD releases. We've had "Disturbia", "Lakeview Terrace" (which I keep meaning to see) and more recently "Orphan". This time around it's "Obsessed", which made a crapload of money at the box office in America, but curiously bypassed theatres here in Australia. It stars Idris Elba as an ad exec with a beautiful wife (Beyonce Knowles), a young child and a big new house. But when temp Lisa (Ali Larter) shows up at work, trouble starts brewing. It's clear she's got a thing for him, but he's clearly not got a thing for her. This doesn't stop her from mauling him in the bathroom at the Christmas party, or letting herself into his car and flashing him a glimpse of her in bra and panties. He keeps on rebuffing her, which only seems to make her more and more determined.

I love TV movies, so I've already seen this plot at least 1600 times. But I'm still not bored of it yet, and I appreciated the fact that "Obsessed" didn't pretend to be anything it wasn't. I turned my brain off, went with the flow, and wasn't insulted with any ridiculous last-minute plot twists, as is so apt to happen in thrillers these days. I expected certain things from this movie, and I got them. Sometimes a generic product can be a liability, but in this case I think there's something to be said for a movie that delivers pretty much what you're wanting from it. Crazy hot woman? Check. Douche bag main character unable to make a smart decision? Check. Domesticated stay-at-home wife who suddenly turns into Chuck Norris in big climax? Check! I was a little disappointed we didn't get the best-friend/colleague-who-figures-out-what-psycho-is-up-to-and-cops-it-good subplot (who can forget Julianne Moore getting sliced to ribbons by the rigged greenhouse in "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle"?), but was able to let it slide.

The acting is on-the-ball. In particular, Idris Elba makes for a likeable lead, even if his character is a bit of a dolt. Beyonce Knowles lacks the acting chops of her co-stars, but she's not nearly as bad as people make her out to be, and she's certainly no worse than any of the actresses who take on similar roles in similar TV movies. Ali Larter is a stand-out - she's an absolute stunner and seems to be having a really good time with the role. In fact, I wanted to know more about the character. What made her this way? What's her motive? In the script, she's just a nutjob, end of story.

You won't be surprised by anything in this movie. You'll nitpick at all the plot holes. You'll marvel at the ridiculous, over-the-top catfight that caps things off. But secretly you'll love it. I certainly did. Every predictable, manipulative minute of it.

"Inside"

2009-09-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite horror movies is "High Tension", a French flick with an utterly stupid twist ending. So why is it a favourite? Because what happens after that twist ending is so over-the-top and bloody you can't help but love it. So I didn't have any hesitation in plonking down money for "Inside", another French horror movie that has received praise from horror fans for being uncompromising and, of course, outrageously gruesome.

"Inside" focuses on Sarah (Alysson Paradis), a pregnant woman right on the verge of giving birth. She's somewhat apathetic about the whole thing, as her husband recently died in a car crash. However, she's forced to fight for her life, and the life of her unborn child, when her home is broken into by a mysterious woman (Beatrice Dalle) who makes it clear, in no uncertain terms, that she wants Sarah's baby. And she's willing to go to extraordinary lengths to get it. Anybody who ventures into Sarah's home, whether it be to visit or, later, to try and rescue her, they are typically subjected to a violent, gruesome demise.

For the most part, "Inside" seemed to me to be your typical post-"Saw" horror movie. Lots of gore, bouts of brutal violence, some genuine suspense amongst the unpleasantness. I was thinking "yeah, it's a good movie, nothing special". Then along comes the final 5-10 minutes, which basically made me fall off the couch, whilst watching the screen through the gaps in my fingers. Yikes. Wow. Just when I thought I'd seen everything....

I'm now in the process of making sure everybody I know who can handle a flick like this watches it. Anybody else should be very wary....

"Orphan"

2009-09-02T03:25:00.000-07:00

Killer kid movies are nothing new. "The Bad Seed" back in the 50s started it all, and in 1992 there was the minor cult classic "Mikey", which starred the little kid from TV's "Family Ties". It was a cool direct-to-video release (way back before there were DVDs), with Mikey proving to be quite adept at dishing out vicious punishments to those who cross him. I actually own it on video, as I'm not aware of any DVD release as yet. Starring Josie Bissett before she went on to "Melrose Place", Ashley Laurence from the "Hellraiser" movies and Mimi Craven, wife of horror director Wes, it's worth a watch.

Anyway, 1993 saw "The Good Son" released, which was Macauley Culkin's attempt at breaking out of kiddie roles. It didn't work - he stopped acting the following year. Another decent movie. 1994 had the direct-to-video offering "The Paperboy", which starred Alexandra Paul during her stint on "Baywatch". And 1996 gave another direct-to-video killer kid in "Daddy's Girl", probably the weakest out of this lot. If there have been any other killer kid flicks since then (other than the "Children Of The Corn" movies), they don't immediately come to mind, which means they probably weren't very memorable in the first place.

So it's good to see the sub-genre get another work-out in "Orphan", which I saw at the movies a couple of nights ago. Yes, it even got the big-screen treatment! Here, a married couple (Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard) decide to adopt after an upsetting stillbirth. They settle on Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), a 9-year-old from Russia. She wears old-fashioned clothing, is very well-spoken, and wise beyond her years. The eldest son (Jimmy Bennett) doesn't take to her, but Esther seems to bond with the youngest child (Aryana Engineer), who is deaf. Of course, the viewer knows Esther is batshit crazy, but it's fun watching as the family members eventually catch up. Only Sarsgaard remains hopelessly clueless.

"Orphan" really goes for the jugular and doesn't hold back. Although not fast-paced like a slasher flick or action movie, this one still had audience members literally running out of the cinema when they needed a toilet break, just so they didn't miss anything. Esther doesn't bat an eyelid, whether it be dropping the "f" bomb, or killing a nun with a hammer and making her poor deaf sister help hide the body. It just gets more and more crazy as it goes along, culminating in a loopy twist that, while deliciously over-the-top, somewhat undermines the jaw-dropping audaciousness that had come before it. Nevertheless, I had a blast. "Orphan" has strong acting, decent boo scares, genuine suspense (Esther's new siblings are frequently on her hit list), and wacky surprises.

"Genesis" by Karin Slaughter

2009-08-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

Along with Tess Gerritsen and Lisa Gardner, Karin Slaughter's books are ones I always look out for each year. The interesting thing about it is that her books are both very good - and very exasperating. Most of them follow the lives of medical examiner Sara Linton, her husband police chief Jeffrey Tolliver and his deputy, Lena Adams. In the first novel, "Blindsighted", Sara is still trying to forgive Jeffrey for cheating on her. Other events that transpire involve Lena suffering a brutal rape. The novels that followed explored Lena's psyche after such an ordeal, as well as Sara and Jeffrey's relationship. Most of the books have been of a very high level, with twisty plots, psychological depth and strong characterisation. The exasperating part - the series achieved a state of equilibrium. No matter how much personal growth Lena would go through in one book, by the next one she was the same, bitter rape survivor. Similarly, no matter what sort of new level of trust Sara and Jeffrey would achieve in their relationship in one book, by the next one they were back to bickering and being distrustful. Slaughter admitted just as much on her website when apologising to her readers for killing off Jeffrey in "Skin Privilege", the sixth book featuring the characters.

"Genesis" brings back Sara Linton, three-and-a-half years after Jeffrey's death. But she's really only a side character, as the focus is on detectives Will Trent and Faith Mitchell from "Fractured", Slaughter's last novel. The action this time around involves a naked woman being hit by a car. After being taken to hospital, it's apparent she's escaped from a madman who had been holding her prisoner and torturing her. Clues eventually lead to the underground cave she escaped from, as well as the dead body of a woman who was being held captive at the same time. When another woman disappears, leaving behind her young son, Will and Faith must figure out if the case is related (we the reader know that it is), whilst dealing with evasive witnesses, lying witnesses and their own myriad personal demons.

Slaughter is one of those authors who does their research and likes their novels to be accurate. Whilst never boring, this tale is a little long in the tooth. While I'm certain an investigation is laborious and getting lab results do take time, a little poetic licence to move things along won't make me take the novel any less seriously. This one is over 430 pages in a small font. Luckily, the plot here is a real ripper. Whilst "Skin Privilege" and "Fractured" were quite disappointing, "Genesis" makes up for that with its shocking crimes and frequent plot twists. For me, it was a lot like an episode of "SVU", which is always a good thing. Whilst I spotted the madman the moment they were introduced, getting there was still an absorbing, consuming experience and definitely one of Slaughter's best.

And because it was so good, I was able to forgive the book's one major flaw: Sara Linton herself. She didn't serve much purporse in being here. Each time a chapter is devoted to her, the narrative grinds to a complete stop whilst she pines endlessly for Jeffrey. Seriously, it's ALL she does. And considering that, in all the previous novels, she spent most of her time hating him, all her ruminations about him being a wonderful man and the love of her life and that she'll never get over him (etc etc) don't really come across as believable. To be honest, I thought Jeffrey was a bit of an ass, and was glad when he got offed at the end of "Skin Privilege". Whilst I would have preferred that Lena Adams - the most annoying character ever in fiction (though my mum would tell you that honour would go to Robin Castagna in the Alex Delaware series by Jonathan Kellerman) - was the one who died, at least she was nowhere to be seen in "Genesis", probably another reason why it was so good. If you're a fan of Slaughter, check it out. And it's probably a good place to start for first-time readers too.

"Deep Freeze" by Lisa Jackson

2009-08-18T19:55:00.001-07:00

Jenna Hughes is a former Hollywood actress who has retired after an on-set accident killed her sister and resulted in her last movie never being released. She moves to Oregon for a new life as caring mother, but daughters Cassie and Allie aren't terribly pleased with the decision. It's a decision that Jenna herself will come to regret as she is targeted by a madman obsessed with her and her movies. He's kidnapping women to use as molds for recreations of Jenna's most famous film characters, setting up a twisted shrine for her. When Jenna receives threatening notes and eerie phone calls, it attracts the attention of Sheriff Shane Carter. He's quickly attracted to Jenna while investigating the case, and knows the culprit is somebody close to her.

It's a pity that so many female crime writers start off in the world of category romance, because while it obviously teaches them how to become good writers, they simply can't shake off the need to incorporate a cliched romance into their story. Lisa Jackson has a unique ability to conjure up a spooky scenario - being stalked in a snowy forest, checking out a dark, empty house - without mincing words. Most writers will spend ages describing every little thing, sapping away the suspense. But I'll admit there were a couple of times during "Deep Freeze" where I got mildly spooked - and for me, that's saying something.

However, when it comes to the romance side of things, Jackson simply cannot find enough words. What could have been a tight, fast-paced story about a woman being stalked is spread out over 500 pages. And, I'm not kidding you, most of the word count is devoted to Jenna and Shane's musings about each other.

Jenna: What was she thinking? She shouldn't be having these fantasies about the rugged, good-looking lawman! She had too much on her plate! She was being stalked by a madman!

Shane: What was he thinking? He shouldn't be having these fantasies about the sexy, vulnerable Hollywood princess! He had too much on his plate! He was tracking down a kidnapper and killer!

The book is permeated with variations of these statements over and over and over again. Did this thing even have an editor? To make things worse, the romance doesn't even come across as genuine. It's more than obvious these two are only getting together because the plot dictates it. We're told over and over again how great these two believe the other to be, but never actually shown. Shane seems to determine that Jenna is an "intriguing" woman simply because she comes into the station to report a stalker. I determined Jenna to be an uppity, judgemental cow. She eyes every single male character with distrust and decides most of them to be weirdos, without sufficient reason (except for Shane, that is). I understand that this would partly have to do with making sure there are plenty of red herrings, but it's a little ridiculous. In the real world people would be telling her to get over herself. And besides, I picked out the bad guy the moment he was introduced.

I'm not going to recommend "Deep Freeze". Thanks to Jenna and Shane being such drips and unable to come to any quick decision regarding their feelings, the narrative meanders far too much. In fact, the same fault can be found in our killer. He's endlessly musing: "I'll come for you soon, Jenna!" Well, buddy, hurry the hell up! What's keeping you? Sheesh.

I'm not smarter than a 5th grader

2009-08-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

Last night I was watching "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?", despite the fact I totally loathe Rove McManus. And while I'm not smarter than a 5th grader, I'm certainly smarter than the dumbasses who are contestants. And at least if any 5th grader tries to mock me because I'm dumber than them, I'm certainly a lot bigger than them and can knock them flat on their precocious little asses.

In any case, while trying to restrain myself from throwing something at the TV screen every time some lame joke dropped from Rove's mouth and feeling sorry for poor Dylan (one of the 5th graders), who never seems to get picked, I noticed just how creepy one of the 5th graders, Lilly, was. She's always got this massive smile plastered on her face. But not a happy smile. More the smile you'd expect to see on the face of a child who has just set their house on fire with the rest of the family still inside. It's really disturbing.

But it made me think that the show would be much more entertaining if it were re-named "Are You Smarter Than The Children Of The Corn?". So, instead of some dimwitted "celebrity" swimmer dropping out at the $10 000 point with all that cash to give to their charity, they instead suffered some gruesome fate at the hands of the demonic corn children. In particular, there's a scene in "Children Of The Corn II: The Final Sacrifice" where the cult leader takes his wooden voodoo statue into church and makes one of the church members suffer the most disgusting nosebleed you're ever likely to see. Witnessing something like that would make it much more easier to sit through Rove's dire attempts at comedy. Seriously, does he have a picture hidden away of Channel 10's executive getting down and dirty with a goat? Why is he still on television?

And if you don't know what I'm going on about when I talk of the "Children Of The Corn", shame on you. Part 1 came out in 1984 with Linda Hamilton! Part 2 came out in 1993. Part 3 was the film debut of Charlize Theron (she gets dragged underground by some stop-motion monster). Part 4 gave an early lead role to Naomi Watts and co-starred Karen Black. Part 5 was the film debut of Eva Mendes, and in my opinion the best one in the series! Part 6 was shit, but it did co-star Nancy Allen. I haven't seen Part 7, so shame on me. Luckily, a made-for-TV remake of the original is on its way very shortly.

"The Unborn", "The Uninvited", The Underwhelmed

2009-08-09T05:54:00.001-07:00

"The Unborn" stars Odette Yustman as a pretty co-ed with tight underwear (I think her name is Casey) whose world goes haywire when the neighbourhood boy she's baby-sitting knocks her on the noggin and declares: "Jumby wants to be born now". Things get sinister when she discovers that she had a twin who died in utero - and the parents' nickname for him was....oh my God....Jumby!

Well, as it turns out, this haunting has little to do with the dead twin and more to do with what's called a "Dybbuk", a malevolent entity that is constantly seeking to re-enter the world of the living. Casey's family has had this thing on their tail since the days of Auschwitz, where Casey's grandmother and her....oh my God....twin were subject to Nazi experiments to change eye colour. The grandmother's twin died and the Dybbuk took over his body.

Casey decides the best way to deal with her situation is to have an exorcism, and calls upon priest Gary Oldman to help out. In the meantime, the Dybbuk takes it upon itself to bump off everybody in Casey's life. My biggest beef here is that the Dybbuk seems to possess people at will. It apparently wants to possess Casey - so what exactly is stopping it? I don't think it's explained why it can possess other people and not its main target. Other than that, I have to give "The Unborn" props for at least trying to come up with something original. When 90% of mainstream horror releases are remakes, it's refreshing to see a studio take a punt on a script a little different. While not scary and ultimately not successful, "The Unborn" does boast an original idea, which is more than can be said for most movies.

"The Uninvited" is a remake of the Asian horror movie "A Tale Of Two Sisters". Emily Browning plays a girl who is released from an institution after the death of her mother. She returns home to her father (David Strathairn) and his new girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks), who just happened to be her mother's nurse. Along with her sister (Arielle Kebbel), the suspicion is that Banks wants to kill them both so that she can have daddy all to herself. They even believe that she was responsible for the murders of three children from years ago.

This is one of those movies that doesn't have much to say until its "twist" ending, so everything but the kitchen sink is thrown in here to try and make us believe something is actually happening. Scary visions, nightmares and false boo scares make up the running time until the big reveal. And let me just say, it's now been ten years since "The Sixth Sense" and scriptwriters REALLY NEED TO FIND A NEW TWIST ENDING! To be honest, the previews alone were enough to make me suspect what the ending would be and I wanted to see if I was right. I like being right, obviously, but I like an entertaining movie more. I'm going to make a movie where every single character has been dead all along and call it "The Underwhelmed". Or maybe "The Unsurprised". Or maybe "The Unentertained". And so on....

"The Alibi Man" by Tami Hoag

2009-08-09T05:27:00.000-07:00

This is a follow-up to "Dark Horse" a surprisingly good private eye novel set in the world of horse-riding. Our main character is Elena Estes, a former narcotics cop now working as a groom, trying to forget the life she used to live (a screw-up resulted in the death of a workmate). While riding her horse, she comes across the dead body of Irina Markova, another groom and sort-of friend. Unable to shake off her cop instincts, Elena decides to do her own investigation, much to the delight/anger of detective James Landry, whom she recently just broke up with. Her plate soon gets very full. Notorious Russian gangster Alexi Kulov wants to get info from her. And her ex-fiance Bennett Walker becomes a prime suspect when it's revealed Irina went to an after-party with him and other rich guys, who call themselves "The Alibi Club", as they like to provide each other with an alibi whenever one of them does something naughty. Bennett and Elena's past is very rocky, since all those years ago he asked her to provide him with an alibi when he raped and beat another woman. Obviously, he looks good for this latest murder.

"The Alibi Man" is a solid crime thriller that holds attention. Good plot twists, edgy violence and a refreshing lack of romance cliches (Hoag used to be a category romance author, and that element could often overwhelm other novels). The main fault here is characterisation and dialogue. The latter is flat-out awful. The former leaves a lot to be desired. Basically, our main characters are really unpleasant! Det Landry is a hot-headed racist, and Elena is a flat-out bitch to everybody she meets. It was hard to understand why everybody found her "intriguing". If I found myself at the receiving end of her snotty attitude I'd tell her to f*** off and bury herself in a deep hole. I don't understand why the criteria for a "complex" character is to have them being world-weary, self-loathing and angry with the world. I'm sure there are plenty of complex people out there with wonderfully sunny dispositions. Why can't I spend 350 pages with one of them?

"The Death List" by Paul Johnston

2009-08-05T04:48:00.000-07:00

Matt Wells is a crime novelist in a bit of a career slump. Life gets even worse when he is contacted via e-mail by the White Devil. The e-mails at first seem to be from a fan, until one of them instructs him to go around to his ex-wife's home, where he discovers a murdered dog in his daughter's bedroom. His tormentor wants Wells to turn his crimes into a novel and, in between sending him notes to use in said novel, is also committing several murders. He starts off with people in his own life who have wronged him, before moving on to everybody in Matt's life.

At first, I thought I was onto a winner with "The Death List" thanks to a quick-moving plot and some inventive, nasty murders. I was ready to believe that a twisty, exciting thriller was about to unfold. Unfortunately, the above plot description is about it. It would appear the White Devil aka Leslie Dunn really is doing this just for the hell of it, as no real link is established between him or Matt Wells, despite early revelations that they were both adopted. I had just over 100 - 150 pages to go before I simply fell out of interest with this book. The subplot involving three SAS members with their own agenda against White Devil never did anything except get in the way. They tail him, then show up at the end and kill him. Oops, is that a spoiler? Well, why did I plough through 400 pages just for random, undeveloped characters to pop in and save the day? It pissed me off.

Next rant: the police on the case are always two steps behind. The reader knows more than they do thanks to several different view points - Matt Wells, the killer etc. It doesn't contribute anything! Like "The Neighbour" that I read recently, you could remove the police element from the book entirely and lose nothing.

Next rant: Matt's ex-wife is yet another typical bitch-on-wheels without any redeeming features. Why does she hate Matt so much? It's not adequately explained. She's a never-ending stream of bitterness and unpleasantness. To call her one-dimensional is being very generous.

Next rant: with the main character being a crime novelist, there are all sorts of jibes and in-jokes about crime fiction, crime writers, crime readers etc. I'm guessing it was supposed to be clever, but it wore thin to the point where you suspect Johnston has his own personal bitterness about the whole thing. I don't like being told repeatedly that I'm some sort of ghoul for liking the crime genre, or that I'm reading crass commercialism. It's a bit rich, considering I forked out good money to pick up this particular book by this particular author. Get over yourself, buddy!

Next rant: I was under the impression that the situation Matt finds himself in (having everybody in his life threatened, being stalked, being framed for murder etc etc) evokes suspense because how on Earth does one remove themselves from that sort of situation? I mean, if it were me, I'd be well and truly screwed. So, naturally, you'd expect lots of suspense in seeing how Matt - a crime writer but otherwise ordinary guy - manouvers himself out of a very tight corner. Wrong. Matt used to be a rugby player and his former team members include an ex-SAS member, a computer hacker specialist and a guy who owns a high-tech security-laden mansion, each who conveniently pops up when needed. In the final 100 pages or so, amongst tracking White Devil, they sit around and call each other "lad". Blech. Then, as they race from place to place (White Devil owns quite a few properties), and discover victim after victim, we get ten different versions of "this guy's a mad bastard!" and "is nobody safe?" You know, we have spent THE LAST 300 PAGES ESTABLISHING EXACTLY THAT! YES, WHITE DEVIL IS A MAD BASTARD AND NO, NOBODY IS SAFE! Sorry, had to get that off my chest.

Golly, was there anything right with "The Death List"? Well, considering I really had to force myself just to finish it, I guess not. I certainly wasn't bored to begin with, but when you get more and more irritated with each page, it quickly erodes any good-will that had built up before it.

"Boneyard" by Michelle Gagnon

2009-08-03T01:57:00.000-07:00

Ever read a book where there's nothing particularly wrong with it - good pacing, strong characterisation, never boring - but is simply let down by the fact that there is nothing original or surprising to be found within its pages? That's the main problem with "Boneyard" by Michelle Gagnon, which has all the prerequisite elements in place for a good crime thriller, yet fails to do anything remotely interesting or remarkable with them. The plot follows Special Agent Kelly Jones from the FBI being called in to supervise on the discovery of a mass site of bones. Because some of the bones have crossed borders, the FBI gets to be involved. She's up against jurisdictional spats between detectives Bill Doyle and Monica Lauer, a trail that has gone cold, and the fact she's had to give up vacation time to work on this case.

As it turns out, the discovery of the bones is largely thanks to a man by the name of Dwight, who has a grudge against the real killer (whom he calls Captain) and wants him to be caught. He's dispersing the bones so that they'll be found by the authorities, and even trying some murders of his own to pin on Captain. How he actually discovered who the real killer was is never actually explained. And the reason for his grudge is only ever touched upon very lightly and very briefly, and therefore falls short of satisfaction.

"Boneyard", to its credit, zips along quite entertainingly for the most part, but starts piling up massive contrivances as it limps to its unsatisfactory conclusion. Halfway through, Kelly's lover Jake shows up to provide light romantic tension. Then, for some reason, he's allowed to come along on official FBI business - being let into crime scenes, bashing into suspects' homes - the whole deal! WTF? It's utterly ridiculous. Without trying to spoil anything, he's then largely responsible for the capture of the bad guys, while Kelly - the character we've been following for most of the book and supposed to believe is an intelligent, take charge woman - sits around on her ass.

As for the main killer - Captain - was his identity supposed to be a secret? It's perfectly obvious who he is the moment the character is introduced. It doesn't seem like Gagnon even tried to make it a mystery. And his actions at the end don't make a lot of sense. Why did he kidnap that particular person? What was he trying to achieve? Gagnon attempts to give a motive, but it's pretty thin and unconvincing.

If "Boneyard" had made an attempt at something just a little different, a little surprising, the outcome would have been enormously different. But Gagnon seems happy to deliver a crime novel pretty much indistinguishable from the hundreds that have come before it.