Wednesday 20 September 2017

Red Tide by Jeff Lindsay

Red Tide (Billy Knight Thrillers #2)Red Tide by Jeff Lindsay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Billy Knight is a LA cop retired to Key West as a fishing guide. With pressure form his friends he tackles an immigration problem - Haitians are being killed instead of being landed in Miami. Billies instincts tell him something is very wrong but needs to get evidence of what and where. First up Billy has to sort out his personal problems from then on the action starts. Very good story well written and entertaining. It is a story that is bang up to date with the immigration problems around the world. The story illustrates very clearly if this problem is to be solved someone has to take the first step. It may however require more resources than one ex LAPD man, governments worldwide need to take responsibility to get a lasting solution.

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The Sleeper by J. Robert Janes

The SleeperThe Sleeper by J. Robert Janes
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Set in pre-ww2 Britain this is a custody battle to top all custody battles and be warned it is complicated or at least it appears that way. David Ashby has removed his daughter from Germany and his Nazi wife is determined to get her back using the influence of her General father. I have a read a pre proof copy of the book which could account for some of the difficult disconnections I found whilst reading, e.g. jumping from one location to another without a chapter break. In any case it still needs a good bit of work to be worthy of more than two stars. The story is okay, albeit getting three security services involved for a custody case seems excessive, however they must have seen some bargaining powers going begging  with the high level connections of the child mother. As historical fiction goes I liked the idea of examining relationships between Britain and Germany immediately prior to the war, a bit more detail might have helped.

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Night of the Bonfire by Kevin Scott Olson

Night of the Bonfire (Michael Quinn, #1)Night of the Bonfire by Kevin Scott Olson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ian Flemings Bond style is easy to replicate however you must have a good storyline to make it work. With Michael Quinn, Kevin Scott Olson has produced an excellent facsimile including gadgets,the beautiful girls and an outstanding story. Entertaining from start to finish he sends his private contractor into the art world to uncover and bring down a major drug player. The author has delivered everything you would expect of the genre, action, thrills, suspense, violence and of course moderate sex. This has been a great book to read after my last two selections have failed to deliver. Recommended.

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The Mark by Kiki Swinson

The Mark (The Score #2)The Mark by Kiki Swinson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Sometimes you get something you don't expect and this is one. This is the story of a bank robber trying to go clean, however her ex from whom she stole more than her fare share has caught up with her. Not surprisingly he wants his money back. Okay this appears like your normal crime novel but it is written from the perspective of the girlfriend who like all the characters are black and criminals. The author has chosen for authenticity to use the totally alien language of a black gangsta. With every sentence peppered with profanity and double negatives it is not that easy or pleasant to read. The storyline itself is okay but the style chosen takes all the limelight and unfortunately  tends to portray violence, criminality and drugs as acceptable behaviour. 

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Bluebird Bluebird by Attica Locke

Bluebird, BluebirdBluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A Texas Ranger investigates a murder whilst under suspension with the target of getting some evidence against the local white supremacist group.  As he digs into the recent events others start to emerge and he is confronted with complex family structures which are a product of the South and it's slavery / racist history. It is a good  storyline however I find the atmosphere created by the language of the South irritating, and subconsciously keep linking it with the Dukes of Hazard TV programme, diminishing the impact of this serious subject. If even half of the events accurately represent reality, then it is very easy to see why there is so much resentment in "black" culture. We appear as a society unable to let go of the past and must punish today's people for the crimes of their ancestors.


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Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

Before the FallBefore the Fall by Noah Hawley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A young struggling artist is caught up in an aircraft accident which should make him hero after saving the life of a four year old boy, however the other passengers on the plane causes the investigations take a different course. This is an okay book however the format is not my favourite as the story is interrupted by the bios of all the passengers in turn, which in my view is wasted, most are unnecessary as the plot is easy to work out about halfway through. The good part is the story of Scot one of two survivors and how he assimilates to life after the accident.  The author also takes this opportunity to expose the media and their anything for a story attitude, truth or not, relevant or not. As with most things in life it is what you cannot have that creates the most problems.

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Kill Devil Falls by Brian Klingborg

Kill Devil Falls: A Novel of SuspenseKill Devil Falls: A Novel of Suspense by Brian Klingborg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

US Marshall Helen Morrissey is assigned to collect a bank robber from remote town but things don't go as normal. Firstly her car starts to go wrong as she navigates the mountain road to Kill Devil Falls which exists due to a non existent gold rush. As she reaches town things go from bad to worse and is forced to stay overnight due to car failure. What follows is a good story of the depths people will be driven too by greed. Can Helen survive the night and get out with her charge. This is a full on story with action from the start to finish, a little predictable in places but does not detract from the overall enjoyment. This is what happens when the rest of the world forgets that a places exists.

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Villa Golitsyn by Piers Paul Read

The Villa GolitsynThe Villa Golitsyn by Piers Paul Read
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Having read the synopsis and with the title you can be forgiven in thinking this is an out and out spy novel, but it isn't. This is a story of relationships, emotions and philosophy. Simon Melsom who works for the foreign office is asked to provide feedback on a visit to an old school friend now living in Nice, south of France. You could say that the book is overtaken by his school friend's alcohol problem, but that is only part of it. As we progress through the story more and more is revealed of the characters, and this is the mainstay of the book, getting to know the players. The style of story is not my normal reading and therefore it all seemed fairly strange filled with intangibles. Had I known from the outset it was not a spy novel I would not have read it, was this deliberate? A more honest synopsis may be required.

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