Keep Her Close

By  

Erik Therme

Keep Her Close, a suspense crime novel, is about a family whose lives are turned upside down again when a horror from the past revisits.  The primary protagonist, Ally, who was abandoned at 3, takes us on a twisted adventure to find her father who has contacted her after 15 years.  Keep Her Close of Erik Therme’s fourth novel.

On their way into a midnight movie, Dan and Holly stumble upon an abandoned 3-year-old girl bearing a hand painted sign “FREE TO A GOOD HOME”.  Fifteen years later Ally receives a letter from a man claiming to be the father who abandoned her.  Dan, now Ally’s adoptive father, refuses to go with her to meet this man and expects that she will not go without him.   Dan is wrong, Ally goes missing, and the frantic search begins.

The book has a great premise and an interesting start.  It then moves into a fast almost frenetic pace where everyone is running somewhere.  I generally like fast paced books but this pace leaves room for little else.  Without story development and background, I almost feel too hurried to get drawn into the drama.

With a few exceptions the characters are too shallow.  I love Judy.  Her character unfolds with the story and I understand her motivation.  Under different circumstances she could have been a genius.  Dan is a well-developed character but he spends more time angry and looking for a fight than he does trying to find Ally.  But, why is Ally in such a hurry? Why does Ellie the roommate even make an appearance?  Holly the mother doesn’t seem to play a significant role either even though you would expect a mother with a missing daughter would be central.  There are many other “cameo” players.  As a final and probably least important note, every female in the book has a name that ends in an “e” sound (Holly, Ally, Ellie Judy, Maddie etc. etc.).  Diversity and variety are good things.

I give this book a 3 on 5 because it is at its heart a good story.  However, I would only recommend it to people who like a quick, fast paced read.  I want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Burglar

by
Thomas Perry 

The Burglar, a murder mystery, follows the day-to-day exploits of Elle Stowell a experienced house burglar in Los Angeles. Stowell looks younger than her age and is able fit right in with the beautiful, fit and energetic women who live in the neighbourhoods that she robs. The Burglar is the latest in a series of several books written by Thomas Perry.

Elle Stowell has never been arrested for Burglary in spite of the fact that she has robbed multiple house in well to do neighbourhoods of Los Angeles. Things are going well for Stowell until she stumbles onto the scene of a multiple murder and she begins being pursued by someone who must have seen her on site. To save herself she must now use her skills to solve a crime rather than commit one.

Thomas Perry has received numerous accolades for his excellent books, but I expect this one will not be remembered as one of his best. The descriptions of how to break into a house and what to steal are tedious. When Elle is discovered she seems to be able to carry on staying in nice hotels and sleep well while people around her are being murdered. When the murderers are revealed, their motives for committing several crimes seem superficial and opportunistic rather than skillfully planned. Finally how could a security company hired to monitor break-ins not know someone was monitoring their offices for weeks. All this makes the book hard to read.

The book is structurally and grammatically well written and a quick read, but the story line leaves me with no choice but to not recommend this book. I give it a 2 on 5.

I want to thank NetGalley and The Mysterious Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Death Spins the Wheel
by
George Bellairs

Death Spins the Wheel, is an Inspector Littlejohn murder mystery, which takes us on a fast paced journey from a Gambling Casino on the Isle of Man back to the French Resistance during WWII.  Scotland Yard Inspector Littlejohn, now Superintendent, happens to be on holidays helping a friend when he becomes embroiled in solving the murder of an elderly lady at a local casino. Death Spins the Wheel is one of many books written by Harold Blundell under the pseudonym George Bellairs.

Madame Garnier spends the evening gambling and winning.  Shortly after finishing for the evening she takes a walk along the beach and is found dead within less than thirty minutes, shot through the head.  Although everyone initially feels her gambling is to blame, Inspector Littlejohn quickly ascertains that the woman’s past may be even more significant.

I like this book because it is fast paced and takes many twists and turns before it finally becomes clear what has occurred.  The characters in the story are unique and interesting enough to hold the readers interest.  Although written in the 60’s and I find it a bit dated in style, there is intrigue and humour throughout the book.  I recommend this book because I found it entertaining and surprising and I give it a 4 on 5.

I want to thank NetGalley and Agora Books for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Nantucket Counterfeit

by

Steven Axelrod

Nantucket Counterfeit, is a murder mystery where we follow Police Chief Henry Kennis in his fifth Nantucket murder investigation this time involving the local Community Theatre.  Kennis, a former LAPD detective, is an intuitive investigator who has found his niche solving crimes in the darker side of the otherwise quiet surroundings of beautiful Nantucket Island. Nantucket Counterfeit is Steven Axelrod’s fifth installment in his Nantucket series of murder mystery novels.

Horst Refn the artistic director in the Nantucket Community Theatre is murdered and shoved into a freezer face first. It looks like quite a violent confrontation and many people dislike Refn enough to bring his life to such a violent end.   Several of the suspects, however, are members of the rich elite of Nantucket and they are reluctant to tell Police Chief Kennis anything.  It turns out that although victim was far from popular, he was in fact much worse than Kennis imagined. 

The author Steven Axelrod is an entertaining writer and the book is very humorous.    I particularly like the exchanges Chief Kennis has with his girlfriend.  Many of the self-deprecating comments he makes are particularly funny.

The one complaint I have about the book is all the lengthy asides that are interjected for no reason.  For example when Kennis discovers a clue about the murder he says:  “It reminded me of the night I figured out Joe Arbogast was sleeping with my ex-wife.”   He then goes on for 11 e-reader pages about Arbogast before he gets back to the point!  There are many asides like this in the book.  I find these very distracting and although they are often funny they are too frequent and for me they make the style cumbersome.  Overall I would give it 3 on 5.

I want to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

The Shining Fragments
by
Robin Blackburn McBride

The Shining Fragments, is an adult general fiction account of the trials and tribulations of the Irish immigrating to Canada in the late 1800’s.    The protagonist Joseph Conlon, a resilient 8 year-old lad, boards a ship in Northern Ireland with his mother and sister but ends up growing up on his own in Toronto, Canada. The Shining Fragments is Robin Blackburn MacBride’s first novel, which she adds to her previously published self-help ebook (Birdlight) and poetry book (In Green).

“Mam died on the third day of the crossing.  After that Joseph stayed in the dark…”

Joseph is left with his sister Coleen on the first line of Chapter 1.  Soon after this he is separated from Coleen and spends his life growing up in an environment that is inhospitable for both his nationality and his religion.  Through the help of his friends and the people he loves he learns to survive and to find his place.  With age he even starts to understand the influences that make him the man he becomes.

McBride does an excellent job of portraying Joseph Conlon.  I have to admit that I don’t like him.  He continually makes himself a victim.  When given opportunities he walks away from them.  He focuses on himself primarily and does not treat those closest to him very well.  He is very much a follower and is extremely lucky that the people around him lead him down the right path.  McBride receives my accolades because she managed to make me really dislike Joseph without overtly making him out to be the bad guy.

There is an overall sadness about the book that I feel doesn’t break even as the book closes.  Again McBride does an excellent job of leading one toward this feeling without dwelling on tearful events that make it obvious why one should feel depressed.

I recommend this book to people who like emotional stories.  Life can be hard for some and they still do alright.  I want to thank NetGalley and Guernica Editions for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Singularity

by
Eldon Farrell

Singularity, a futuristic suspense novel, chronicles the adventures of an unconventional policeman through the decaying streets, of Union City, Virginia.  The protagonist Nathan Miller, a tough cop, claims to be cleaning up the streets of the city, but has a hard time staying clean himself.  Singularity is the first instalment of a series by Eldon Farrell who also wrote the Descent series of suspense novels.

The story starts with mass murder during a church service.  People are gruesomely murdered in the pews without apparently seeing it coming.  Nathan Miller, a decorated policeman, quickly sees it as a cover up for a targeted murder and the chase begins.   In the meantime, Alexis King begins maligning Miller and maintaining on her influential blog site that Miller is a corrupt policeman and a drug trafficker.  Of course, finding out the truth makes the story.

Farrell does a great job of describing the people and the emotions they go through.  However, I missed getting more background.  Why is there a wall in the city?  Why does Miller live on the bad side of the wall while Quinn, his partner lives on the good side?  Who is Quinn and where did he come from?  How did Miller get to be who he is today?  There are many questions that need to be answered in the first book of this series so that we can better follow what comes up next and why. 

 “How we ever allowed Americans to be refugees in our own land. ... Shameful.”
“Call me sweetheart one more time…”
“You are making my skin crawl being this close to your filth.”
“Keep you heads down, shit’s about to get real.”

There are many one-liners like the above that feel like they come from the script of a B-grade movie.  In my opinion most of them are unnecessary and detract from the seriousness of the storyline.

It also struck me as strange that the novel jumped genre from suspense thriller to science fiction near the end.  Readers will have to read it to see what I mean.

I recommend this book to people who like suspense novels because Eldon Farrell writes a good story.  However, because of the inconsistencies noted above, it is not one of the best I have read, so I give it a 3 on 5. 

I want to thank NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

We The Jury

By
Robert Rotstein

We The Jury, a fascinating work of fiction with a real twist, follows the deliberations 8 members of a jury who are expected to rule on a particularly gruesome murder.  The protagonists are jury members from the community with highly varied backgrounds, which ultimately steer their decisions. We the Jury is a departure for Robert Rotstein from his immensely popular Parker Stern series of 3 books.

The fact that David Sullinger has killed his wife Amanda is undisputed.  When the police arrive Mrs. Sullinger is dead, killed by a blow to head with an axe.  Mr. Sullinger claims self-defense and indicates that his wife had been abusing him for years.  Mr. Sullinger has a high-powered lawyer who has never lost a trial.  Meanwhile the public defender Jack Cranston is considered to be a bumbling fool.  The Jury’s choice seems obvious, but is it?  This story centers on the jury and how they reach their conclusions.  All is not what it seems.

Robert Rotstein is a master at character development.  Everything we learn about the people in that room relates to the conclusions they finally reach.  I particularly liked the interactions between the jurors.  Their relationships deteriorate because they are stuck together trying to solve a difficult issue.

The messenger says it best:  “I know I have no friends in this room.  I know you think I’m just a momma’s boy, . . . We don’t have to like each other.  A jury is supposed to be a cross-section of the community and that’s what we are.  Maybe it’s better if we don’t like each other, because maybe that means we’re diverse like we’re supposed to be.  I say let’s do the best we can to cooperate, so we can reach a verdict.”

I am a bit confused by all the time spent on the judge and her health issues.  I am not sure I understand whether or not her issues contribute to the final result.  Regardless, as with the other characters, Rotstein helps us really get to know her.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in human behavior and what drives people.  I give it a 5 on 5.  I want to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.