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Book Review: Untangling the Black Web by T.F. Jacobs

A Lack of Realism Weakens this ‘Hot-Button’ Novel

In just about every poll about Americans’ top concerns, you’ll find healthcare number one or two.  So, a book about a man taking on a “corrupt medical system” after his young wife dies is bound to catch attention.  It got mine.

The book starts well, with charged scenes involving the death of David Higgin’s wife.  And from there, the story moves at a good clip.  After vowing revenge at her funeral, David forms his team and goes after American True Care, one of two, big healthcare insurers in the United States.  The action scenes are particularly well-done, as you can often feel the protagonist’s pounding heart and sweaty palms.  David’s character is also well developed, as the judgmental, self-centered lawyer who throws ethics to the wind in the pursuit of justice.  At the end, there is a redemption scene, of sorts, in which he confesses his excesses; unfortunately, his rebirth seems superficial.  For example, throughout the book, David plays the ‘justice for his wife’ card often – appropriately so, given her tragic death.  But when he expresses romantic interest in another woman in the final scenes, claiming she is actually more his type than his wife had ever been, it seems unlikely he has learned anything about himself.

But while less than admirable characters are sometimes intentional, the loss of tension due to a lack of realism in the plot of a thriller is not.  Regrettably, the book often suffers this problem.  For example, consider the surgeon who makes ‘rookie mistakes’ in order to re-treat and re-charge his patients, and ask yourself, is it possible he could do this more than once or twice?  How could he afford the malpractice insurance?  Or look at the break-in and theft inside the House Majority Whip’s personal office – surely no one is this lax with evidence of criminality and treason.  And why was there no media frenzy or public backlash when the whip was exposed for extorting votes by threatening a Congresswoman with a sex scandal?  Overall, I spent too much time wondering why cause and effect had been suspended, and too little time worrying about the fate of David and his colleagues.

In short, Untangling the Black Web ends up being a collection of well-written, emotional and action scenes on one of American’s pressing concerns.  Unfortunately, their effect is diluted because they’re difficult to believe.

Book Review: The Housewife Assassin’s Handbook by Josie Brown

Humor, Suspense, and Sex Make Strange Bedfellows (Pun Intended)

The Housewife Assassin’s Handbook is the story of Donna Stone who is recruited by Acme, a front for the CIA, after her husband Carl is killed.  Now the career housewife and mother of three can go after her husband’s killers, a shadowy group of freelance assassins known as the Quorum.

I admit to being intrigued by the subtitle of this book:  “Murder.  Suspense.  Sex.  And some handy household tips.”  With a tagline like that, you can’t expect anything too serious, and it’s not.  The story starts well, with a farfetched scene involving Donna on a mission and some decent humor.  And it remains fast and light, being a tale you can finish in an afternoon or a couple of evenings.

But with the premise of homemaker turned assassin, I expected a focus on satire and humor, while the author went for suspense and sex.  Unfortunately, that’s a difficult task.  How do you make a mother who hands out housekeeping tips about killing, poisons, and cleaning up after a hit the protagonist of a suspenseful, romantic yarn?  In this case, the task proved a bit too steep, as the humor wanes, the mystery is fairly transparent, and the reader is left wondering what to make of the sex embedded in a satire.

So, overall, for a light and easy, afternoon read with a touch of humor, The Housewife Assassin’s Handbook will fit the bill.  Just don’t expect to become too engrossed in the suspense or the romance.

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Book Review: Pushing Brilliance by Tim Tigner

Bigger than Life Hero in Nonstop Action Thriller

Simply put, if you are a fan of bigger-than-life action/thriller heroes, Pushing Brilliance is for you.  The book introduces Kyle Achilles, who unlike his namesake, appears to have no heel.  Working with the beautiful, Russian mathematician Katya Kozara, they fight assassins out to kill them for reasons they can’t begin to guess.

Action is clearly the strong suit of this book.  It starts early and seldom slackens.  And each time you believe Tigner is about to wrap up this tale, our protagonists meet another challenge.  Relaxation only comes when you finish reading.  One doesn’t necessarily expect a great deal of character development in a thriller, and this book fits that mold.  We get a glimpse of Achilles and Katya, but nothing in depth.  Both are stereotypes, although Katya seems well beyond the norm on nerdiness.  Do mathematicians really run their lives by calculating probabilities?  Additionally, thrillers often struggle with the romantic connection between the leads – usually they just jump into bed.  Tigner, in my opinion, handles this aspect of the story better than most. 

While I like the bigger-than-life heroes on occasion, they can get old.  There are just so many Olympic bronze medalists, turned CIA operative, turned competitive rock climber, turned invincible hero I can take (yes, that’s Achilles’ resume).  Additionally, there was too much dialog on tactics and strategy with Achilles being the teacher and Katya playing the role of the ready-to-risk-her-life student.  And some of the tactical insights seemed little more than common sense, although Katya was still in awe.  Finally, there was a question if the target of this crime (I’ll leave that vague to avoid a spoiler) would really be as gullible as they are portrayed.  Human nature became a bit warped in places.

But overall, for an action-packed ride filled with gun battles, plotting and counter-plotting, and a bit of technology and romance, Pushing Brilliance is tough to beat.

Be Thankful

“A book is a device to ignite the imagination.”

Alan Bennett
The Uncommon Reader

My Writing Goes Green

A month or two ago, I was beta-reading for a local author.  Beta-reads provide thoughts from a typical reader (somehow, I qualify) on areas that need attention before they are immortalized in a published work.  While the feedback might not be pleasant for the author, it’s better at this stage than later in those 1-star reviews.

Several of my comments on this piece had to do with unfulfilled expectations.  For example, after Scene A had led me to expect a ‘fight to the death’ in scene B, I found little beyond some verbal sparring when I got there.  What happened?  I was at a loss.  A few days later, however, it all became clear.  The author sent me a note that said, in effect, ‘thanks for helping me lose those words that I had fallen in love with.’ 

We all do it.  It’s that clever turn of a phrase (at least in our minds) that keeps words in a manuscript long after their reason for existence has disappeared.  It’s tough to drag them, kicking and screaming to the little trash can in the corner of the screen.  So, I don’t.  Instead, I save them in files I invariably call ‘HOLD.’  The problem was, however, that I had no plan, no idea how to use those words…until today.  Today, my writing goes green.  Today, I start recycling those words I can’t use in a book – in blog posts.

Today’s installment is from a near-future mystery in work, Killer in the Retroscape (http://brucemperrin.blogspot.com/p/killer-in-retroscape.html).  Originally, it had a scene that dealt with ‘smart clothes,’ those garments that contain technology for everything from monitoring your UV exposure to paying for your latte.  In this case, the clothes were a complete wardrobe for analyzing a golfer’s game called (drum roll) The Wearable Golf Pro.  The problem, of course, is that as future technology goes, it’s not.  Most of it is here today, so the words had to go.  But in the spirit of reducing, reusing, and recycling, here’s a few of them from a dialog in that deleted section.

“So, you have to wear the whole nine yards for this to work?"

"No, but there’s six sensors that are required, if you’re going to get any benefit.  Fortunately, they can go in a lot of different pieces of clothing.  But if you’re into nude golfing…well, your swing’s going to suffer.”

OK, it seemed funnier in context.  But the good news for me is that I now have lots of fodder for posts.  Given the size of this snippet and the cumulative size of the ‘HOLD’ files I’ve generated to date, I can write 664 posts from recycled material.

Now, is that green or what?

Book Review: Whiskey Kills (A Top Shelf Mystery) by Lolli Powell

A Satisfying Mystery Driven by Its Humor

Whiskey Kills is a cozy mystery, the second in the Top Shelf Mystery series.  With the absence of sex and violence that marks a cozy, the story features humor in their place.  Erica (Ricki) Fontaine’s sarcastic wit on everything from mothers to men will keep you chuckling to the last page.  As a bonus, those quips are woven into a substantial whodunit.

The mystery contained in the pages of Whiskey Kills is solid.  The author introduces us to enough well-developed characters with possible motives to keep almost anyone guessing.  In fact, it seems like the author could have written most of the book, then flipped a coin to decide who gets nailed in the big reveal – the field was that well populated.  And the suspense is maintained skillfully, as Ms. Powell continues to peel back layers of the mystery onion, revealing new connections and unanticipated motivations to the last page.

But as good as the mystery is, the crux is the humor.  And since Ricki’s investigation often puts her at odds with her police detective boyfriend, Gabriel (Gabe) Russel, a lot of that sarcasm is directed at the opposite sex, e.g., “I've noticed that men have trouble concentrating on more than one thing at a time, and he was already doing two.  Asking him to also think was probably expecting too much.”  (Potential male readers be forewarned!)  But no one escapes her caustic view, including herself, making Ricki a very likeable character.

In the true spirit of back-seat writing (e.g., being a book reviewer), I’ll pick one nit.  For me, Ricki pushed the ‘ignore common sense’ theme somewhat too far.  In this regard, the book was a bit like a YA, with a protagonist ignoring authority, parents, and sometimes, even friends.  Would it really be out of character if Ricki didn’t do everything that people told her to avoid?  She can be frustrating…but maybe that was the author’s intent.  The heroine you love to fret about?

Overall, I recommend that you read Whiskey Kills because it’s a satisfying mystery.  And then, if your sense of humor is like mine, you’ll love it for the laughs.

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Book Review: At Bay (An Alex Troutt Thriller, Book 1) by John W. Mefford

Who’s the Real Alex Troutt?  Beats Me.

At Bay introduces us to Alex (Alexandra) Troutt, Special Agent of the FBI.  Following a serious car crash which produces total amnesia, she starts to rebuild her past as she also builds a case against a brutal, serial killer terrorizing the Boston area.

For a thriller, At Bay was slower than I expected, with a large portion of the book dealing with Alex’s memory loss and the inconsistencies she saw between her internal feelings and the way others characterized her past.  Presumably, this was the author’s intent – give the readers of the series a significant insight into the person that is Alex Troutt.  And with this much emphasis on character development, one might expect a clear picture.  But because of the strongly differing perspectives, none emerged.  In book 2, Alex might be the hard-driving, risk-taking FBI agent we saw occasionally in book 1…or she might quit and become a soccer mom.  I couldn’t guess (although it’s probably the former, given this is a thriller series).

The opposing viewpoints about her character also seemed to push the finale to the final few pages, where there were simply too many convenient coincidences and extreme, deductive leaps to build much tension from realism.  The way the final victim was identified, the way the location of the final murder was determined, and the way the suspect was identified all seemed to involve such unlikely events and leaps of faith that it was difficult to give them any credibility.  To me, the end really fizzled, and it was slow getting there.

Overall, At Bay seems to aim for an in-depth look at what makes Special Agent Alex Troutt tick – her marriage, her kids, her drive for justice.  But that picture is never clear and the thriller part of the tale is relegated to what’s left, making the story a bit unsatisfying.

Book Review: Death's Privilege (A Sarah Gladstone Thriller Book 2) by Darryl Donaghue

Interesting Theme, Solid Plot with an Ending that Fizzles a Bit

When British police detective trainee Sarah Gladstone is assigned to an apparent suicide, it appears a simple case, a chance to check off another training requirement.  But when a connection to another suicide is found, and both become murders, Sarah takes the lead on a case that will change her life.

There’s a lot to like in Death’s Privilege, not the least of which is character development.  Sarah Gladstone comes across as a real person – strong, caring, determined, although flawed.  Her personality is one side of a generational gap with the old-hands who mentor her (and another trainee) on the other.  While she is caring and sees people as salvageable, they represent more of a ‘keep your distance to keep your sanity’ approach to crime fighting.  Sarah resists that view and where she falls after the events of this book is a central theme, key to how you may feel about the ending.

The basic plot – two unconnected, apparent suicides that become murders – was also solid.  I was sold after reading the synopsis, and the book continues the suspense, especially in the early parts.  The rigors of Sarah’s job are also well described.  The long hours, the sacrifices, even the minor inconveniences of aging accommodations and limited budgets are well depicted.

But while the way Sarah was characterized was a strength, the process of developing that persona wasn’t.  The sections where Sarah lamented her sacrifices and worried about their effect on her family and herself were too drawn out.  All the angst pulled the story down.  Additionally, some facets of her personality seemed out of place, as if they had been added merely to increase complexity or suspense.  A minor example, to avoid any spoiler, was her claiming to remember nothing during an exam when by all other accounts, she was flying through the program.  But the primary downside was the ending.  It was too rushed and too convenient.  Most of the late reveals involved relationships, aliases, and basic facts about people that the police should have known much earlier.  And both the way the details of the crime were exposed in the final pages and the nature of culprit’s motivations were somewhat disappointing.

Overall, the ending leaves something to be desired, but as a police procedural across generational boundaries with characters who feel real, Death’s Privilege is tough to beat.

Four Two-Sentence Horror Stories Just for Writers

In honor of Goodreads latest Ask the Author Question – Can you tell us a two-sentence horror story – I give you four of them, just for writers.  Please add your favorite in the comments.

“I’ve never written a review before, but this last book was so spectacular that I went to all the popular sites – Amazon, Goodreads, B&N, Kobo,” said the reader.  “It completely deserves the one-star rating I gave it.”

‘Thanks for your submission,’ read the email from the publisher.  ‘If you haven’t heard from us in 13 months, we’re not interested…or the backlog is even bigger than we expected.’

The police detective frowned at the mystery writer, saying, “I’m sure you’ve heard about the string of grisly murders in the area, each more gruesomely inventive than the last.  After looking at your online searches and the books you’ve gotten from the library, you need to come with us.”

“The sixth revision of your latest novel has great potential,” said the agent to writer.  “We just need to tweak the plot a bit, change the protagonist’s accent from western Australian to lower Bronx, put the sections we changed to ‘telling’ back to ‘showing,’ reverse the order of the two twists, change the setting from 1800s England to the 1980s in the US, which means the hero can go back to being a disgraced Navy seal with a multibillion-dollar, reality TV series, make the protagonist’s love interest left-handed, and for god’s sake, kill all the run-on sentences.”

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Book Review: The Fallen Child by David Thompson

I Didn’t See this Coming from the Blurb

While a book’s cover may catch my eye, it’s generally the author’s synopsis that drives whether I hit the buy button or not.  With The Fallen Child, I read a synopsis describing a Walter Mitty-type character, living in his dream world as much as in the real one.  The book delivered on that front, along with the humor that’s implied – who ever heard of a serious dream world.  But the synopsis also mentioned that Adam’s illusions encroached on his reality, sending him on a journey with implications for the future of humanity.  It sounded like the stuff of a taut psychological thriller.  On that front, the book never lived up to the promise.

What The Fallen Child provided was a look at a man, Adam Reynolds, moving from a pointless, aimless existence to someone with purpose, with happiness, and maybe with a better understanding of life…or perhaps just a more elaborate misunderstanding of it.  Adam was drifting through life, until his adventures with Evelyn changed him.  Sounds heart-warming, and to a degree, it is.  But the story intertwines life and dreams, and life that’s stranger than dreams, in ways that are both confusing and familiar.  While the source of the confusion is apparent, the familiarity stems from the fact that the story is basically a modernized, retelling of a Biblical tale.  There are some heavy hints in the first quarter of the book, and by the midpoint, Adam and Evelyn are discussing the parallels openly.  But even with these philosophical and religious roots, it was hard to find much to ponder in its pages.

Overall, The Fallen Child has its moments, particularly in the touches of humor and Adam’s metamorphosis, but you’ll need to wade through strange dreams, some stranger than truth reality, and even a few imaginary friends to find them.

Walking for Words – The Cotswolds

“Walking for Words” is my irregularly recurring post about hiking, which I include in a blog about writing because it’s the source of my inspiration.  (OK, I know, that’s thin, but it sounds better than saying I included it because I can.)  This time, the hike was in the Cotswolds, a rural area in South Central England.

As the Cotwolds is crisscrossed with public footpaths, as is much of the UK, the possible routes are many.  The one I took was a 50-mile loop, starting and ending in Moreton-in-Marsh.

The area features beautiful rolling hills dotted with picturesque towns and villages.

Homes constructed from the golden-yellow Cotswold stone.

And plenty of pubs where I put away a few too many of these.

The trip ended with a visit to a local university, so now I can say in all honesty, ‘I studied at Oxford.’  I studied the outside of some of their buildings while I sipped a coffee in one of the local restaurants…but that’s studying, right?

Happy writing (and hiking),

BmP

Book Review: The Grave Man by David Archer

A Decent, Feel-Good Book, But Not My Style

The Grave Man is the first book in the Sam Prichard Thriller series, introducing us to Sam, a private investigator and former police detective, now medically retired due to an injury sustained on the job.  We also meet Indiana (Indie) Perkins, a computer hacker of extraordinary skill, who I suspect is a recurring character.  Her skills have as much or more to do with Sam’s success as a PI as he does.

I have to admit I’m not a big fan of the down-home, somewhat macho, and trite-heavy tone of the book.  For example, early in chapter 1, Sam says, “Excuse me, sir, I ain’t no politician!  I prefer to be honest and work for my livin!”  The book plays on social stereotypes and urban myths to a significant degree.  And what’s with all the exclamation points?  It seems like the characters are always shouting.  The investigative procedures Sam uses are a bit simplistic as well.  If he thinks he has the upper hand, he threatens the witness/suspect, who then gives up everything he knows.  If Sam doesn’t have superior abilities, he tells the witness/suspect the gravity of the situation, and he caves anyway.  Don’t look to this book for a good police procedural.

As characters, both Indie and Sam strain the limits of believability.  Indie, for example, is the beautiful, single mother, educated at MIT but unable to find any job except working the counter at Dairy Queen.  Really?  She’s also the perfect cook and housekeeper, game for anything even when it involves having a gun put to her head.  And it’s truly amazing how in a matter of minutes, hacking primarily Facebook and email accounts, she can discover information on crooks that have eluded law enforcement for years.

While it may sound like I hated the book, I didn’t.  As a somewhat simple, feel-good, change of pace, it wasn’t bad.  And if the homey, slightly macho, too good to be true tone is what you seek, look no further.  You’ll find The Grave Man a worthwhile read.

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Book Review: The Last Firewall by William Hertling

High Marks for Action in a Somewhat Overused Plot

There are technothrillers that chill you with a look at near-future technology gone wrong.  And there are ones that rock you with action that’s both real, near-term, and perhaps out there a bit.  The Last Firewall is solidly in the camp of the latter.

Catherine (Cat) Matthews is an everyday student (in a near-future world) with everyday concerns, such as boyfriends, and only a few quirks.  For one, she can see people’s data streams in netspace and sever them.  But when she’s pushed into a life or death situation, she discovers capabilities she didn’t know she had, starting her on a collision course with an Artificial Intelligence with designs on the world.  That course is littered with bodies and battles, waged with everything from today’s bullets to tomorrow’s massive cyberattacks.  Catherine is supported (and opposed) by a cast of interesting characters – other AIs, robots, the creators of Artificial Intelligence, human-AI hybrids.  Other than a couple of the villains, there’s hardly a human you’d recognize.  But all the same, they feel more real than you might expect, adding to the book’s appeal.

There are a few downsides.  For one, romantic inclinations in the heat of battle seem a bit out of place.  Cat discovering new capabilities just in the nick of time also gets a bit overused.  And the basic plot – an evil AI taking over the world is somewhat trite.  That said, The Last Firewall does that theme just about as well as any of them, blending an array of current and possible future network technology.

So, if you’re looking for a thought-provoking story on AIs and human coexisting in the future, you’re probably in the wrong place.  But if you’re seeking an action-packed battle to the end between a super heroine still learning her powers and an evil AI, The Last Firewall is for you.

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Book Review: The Final Enemy by Dan Petrosini

Not Hard Science Fiction; More Like Sensationalized Fantasy

The Final Enemy is the story of Jack Amato, a newly graduated reporter who is writing obituaries for a Keokuk, Iowa, newspaper, waiting for the scoop that will lead to fame and fortune.  And when he makes a far-fetched connection between a meteorite that lands near his home and the cessation of death – and the connection proves real – he has his exclusive.  What follows, however, is not what he expected from fame and immortality.

The story gets high marks for vividly portraying humanity’s fight for survival in this apocalyptic tale.  It becomes gruesome and gory in places as the government tries to tiptoe its way through the landmines of population growth, the loss of spirituality, and widespread famine.  They often misstep and Jack is quick to cover the human suffering.

But unfortunately, the problems with the story are many.  Take for instance the fact that Jack’s second major scoop is that overpopulation may result if there is no death.  Wouldn’t anyone conclude that after about 30 seconds?  Jack’s rise to fame seemed like the daydream of a fifteen-year-old, not that of a protagonist in an apocalyptic thriller.  Additionally, for a “hard science fiction” book, the genre indicated on Amazon, most of the science-related material is treated with a wave of a hand.  It’s a new “element” but its atomic number is never found.  It emits some type of energy, but the type is never known.  It ends death, but the only hypothesis suggested is that cells continue to divide forever.  But cellular senescence (loss of function) increases mortality after maturity, it doesn’t cause it.

Human nature is also dealt with the poorly.  When the connection to immortality is proven, everyone demands to be exposed – there is widespread rioting to get close, even though the side effects aren’t known.  Even though the long-term effects aren’t known.  Even though it doesn’t restore people, it just keeps them from dying.  Would people really clamor for immortality if they had to live with a growing list of infirmities forever?

Admittedly, several of these limitations stem from the fact that when I read hard science fiction, I was expecting a story that builds tension and suspense by blurring the line between technical knowledge and a theoretically possible fiction.  If this is what you are seeking, you should look elsewhere.  However, as a fantasy about population growing out of control and some bizarre countermeasures by a beleaguered government, it yields a descriptive, surprising tale, if not always believable.