Corktown

by Ty Hutchinson

Abby Kane FBI Thriller

272 pages (ebook version) - 0.97 $

Gangkruptcy Press (January 23, 2013)

En français ici

I had that book thanks to NetGalley, I found the synopsis appealing and wanted to discover Abby Kane.

Synopsis

She's short. She's feisty. She's sexy. She's Mom. Meet FBI Agent, Abby Kane.

In the quiet Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, a mutilated body has the residents nervous and for good reason. Detroit Metro Police recognize the handiwork of the serial killer known as the Doctor. But there's a problem with that. They locked him up seven years ago.

Because of her expertise with serial killers, former hotshot detective and now FBI agent, Abby Kane, is tasked with figuring out how this madman is able to kill again. When she visits The Doctor behind bars, he swears he's innocent and not the psychopath everyone thinks he is. Oddly enough, Abby believes him.

Corktown is a page-turning mystery thriller that dives headfirst into the grit of Detroit, exploring government corruption and deadly violence. Certainly a Mystery and Thriller Top 100 Must Read.

Available in ebook and paperback

What I think of it

I enjoyed Abby Kane, a (very) small, but strong character with a lot of humor, to whom the author attributes regularly thoughts or feelings rather masculine, but it works fine anyway. Abby is a character that you appreciate quickly. She obviously has some weaknesses: her size and her guilt about her children she thinks she does not take care enough. Her children are also present throughout the book (by SMS). There was even a time when we feared for their lives when they are very far from the place of the investigation, I found it good from Hutchinson.

As for the other characters, there is a choice between not very smart cops (as often where the cops have to team up with the FBI, there is always a smarter team, have you noticed?) and crooked politicians. In short, an array of characters quite well written, but with not enough depth to make you appreciate them more or feel for them. Abby is the central character and her colleague mainly serves to give her a humanity and a vulnerability which she usually does not show. This helps to make her a more credible and endearing character, she is not a GI Jane!

The atmosphere is tense, heavy, mostly due to the corruption which prevent Abby to investigate normally but she's doing it anyway. Folders are hidden, characters disappear at the right time, attempts at intimidation are made: all the elements of corruption are present. The atmosphere is tense but raised by Abby and her - sometimes - caustic humor.

The pace is fast, even when the perpetrators are known as the chase to stop them is unabated. Instead, knowing who will be the next victim, Abby and her colleagues are trying to protect them and arrest the culprits, except that - as in life - human error will ensure that things do not go as planned.

A novel that differs from what I have read, since we know very quickly who is the culprit, but the guilty shares the chapters of the book with the officers of the law. Thus we discover the investigation on both sides of the coin - through the eyes of the guilty and the forces. There are three types of chapters, according to the characters that we follow in the chapter: those where we follow the investigation through Abby (told in the first person), those where we take conscience of concealment and political corruption and finally the murders (from the point of view of the culprit). The murder scenes are quite hard boiled and sometimes disturbing. I'm used to read books in which sometimes the crime scene discovered is fairly bloody, but there the murder was live feed, it's very different!

In a nutshell

A book that reads quickly, a heroine one appreciate, a cold and heavy atmosphere, a good old duel FBI vs police: I give it a 3.5 / 5.

My thought on closing the book: not bad!

Thy Kingdom Fall (After Eden Series, Book #1)

by Austin Dragon

Well-Tailored Books

359 pages

ARC

I requested the book because I thought it could be a change to read a mystery novel set in the future (kind of like the serie Continuum). I must say I was a bit afraid of the religious side. 

Synopsis

It is the morning of September 11, 2125. The New York City police commissioner stands on the 170th floor of the Three Towers, clutching his chest in shock. The sky goes dark, filled with dozens of them—the opening attack of World War III. Not merely the planet’s third global war, but the first one of the Tek Age— a hell we have never seen before.

How did we ever get to this place?

In 2089, a former skin-runner-turned-star-reporter quietly investigates the Washington DC daylight murder of the most powerful political king-maker in the nation. It is just the tip of a wider conspiracy and the start of a chain of events leading to this world catastrophe.

The world is a very different place: Western Europe has fallen to the Islamic Caliphate, Israel is gone, Eastern Europe has merged with Russia and Beijing runs the anti-American Chinese-Indian Alliance. America is very different too. The US Constitution has been found unconstitutional and replaced, presidential term limits are gone, and the culture wars are over. The three-term American president is obsessed with keeping the nation safe at all costs—by ending religiosity. But the Resistance stands in his way.

Thy Kingdom Fall is Book One of the epic After Eden Series.

What I think of it

I wish I was able to read more of the book but I couldn't. I abandoned the book on page 94. Too much sanctimonious and religious for me. Dragon describes at length why religions collapsed, how they're now organised, what they should have done... Pages and pages on the subject. 

Sad, because the characters are well described. We easily know who are the good guys and the bad guys. The reporter is likable as well as his boss. The way they interact, the way Dragon describes them in their daily routine is cool. I wanted to know how the investigation would go on but the investigation is completely lost in the details. 

Dragon sets his world (which is 80 years from now) but it's quite the same world I must say except for the religious part of course. USA are now governed by pagans, people rejected all religions, which is difficult to accept knowing it's set in less than 80 years. I mean, some people in the books don't know nothing about religion... have they killed all the old people? That's not believable. Maybe he should have set his world in a future more distant. 

I didn't like reading whole paragraph about the way people dress (mostly when they dress like nowadays bare a few change) or paragraph about the way people behave (which is mostly like nowadays one more time). For example, everyone has an e-pad and spend time reading his message including while discussing with someone else. Does it not remember you something? 

In a nutshell

Dragon's book is the first in a series to come so obviously he needs to set the decor. Elmore Leonard, one of the finest author of crime fiction, wrote his 10 rules for writers. One of them is not to drown the reader in descriptions of characters, places and objects. An advice that Dragon did not follow unfortunately. It's not that it's bad, it's that it's too much. So I won't give a rate but I won't recommend it unless you're really fond of religion and plot. In that case, you should really like it!

The Leopard

by Jo Nesbø
Thriller
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Knopf and Vintage Books - 2012
688 pages - 19.95 $

En français ici

I bought this book with a gift card received for my birthday. I had decided to buy only authors I did not know. Jo Nesbø was one of them but he's so well known by lovers of good thrillers, it was absolutely necessary for me to read one of his book.

Synopsis

Two women are found murdered in Oslo – both of them have drowned in their own blood. What mystifies the police, is that the puncture wounds in the victim’s faces have been caused from the inside of their mouths. Kaja Solness from Homicide is sent to Hong Kong to track down a man that is the Oslo Police Department’s only specialist on serial killings. The severely addicted detective has tried to disappear in the vast, anonymous city. He is on the run and haunted by his last case

What I think of it

I love it! Nesbø became one of my favorite authors. He now stands next to Chattam and Holm (that is something!) In less than ten lines, I was caught up by the story, I could not take it down. So beware, once again, this is an author who does not hesitate to stage violence. This is not for everyone, because honestly, some scenes are difficult to read because they're very graphic. As I love this style, it was pure happiness through the 688 pages that scroll at an extraordinary speed. Yes, 688 pages for a thriller can be scary, but do not worry, it devours quickly! (I've read the French version which contains 848 pages...)

But what makes this book so good, dear reader?

The characters, especially Harry Hole, disillusioned inspector, alcoholic, drug addict, but oh so endearing! This was my first encounter with him, and not in the best conditions, it must be said, since he's found drugged in Hong Kong. Yet, the depth of his character brings us to love him, because we can sense that there is something else behind this fucked facade. The other characters are equally well written, complex, a little predictable for some and they emphasize different aspects of Harry.

The story gets off the a good start, a really good one. We are in the action since the first page, we live the crime through the eyes of the victim, it's pretty intense, thank you! The pace did not falter. We travel a lot: in Asia, the Congo, Rwanda, Norway, as the investigation goes along. Nesbø gives us a very clear idea of ​​the countries Harry visits, their history and particularity, which makes an even more gripping story. We feel that there is a solid basis to the story, which makes it more concrete, more realistic.

The investigation seems to go in all directions, we are lost, we think we have figured it out and we find ourselves elsewhere, in short Nesbø play with our nerves. The motive seems confusing, the investigation complex, we do not see the threat coming, we take it in the face and bam! we remain shocked at having been deceived... again. With all that, Nesbø still manages to bring through the crime a good old feud between two services, a war in which one organization (Kripo or criminal brigade) will win, leaders who put sticks in the wheels, making the investigation more difficult. In summary, there is no dead time (but a lot of deads).

I read on blogs that Nesbø is the new Stieg Larsson (author of the Millennium). Come on! In my case, if Larsson helped the Scandinavian kind of crime fiction to be known worldwide, I have not found that his three novels were exceptional. Nesbø is, in my opinion, a much better writer! I did not experience as many emotions while reading the three Millennium that I had with The Leopard. The suspense is more intense, the dialogues are better written, the characters are very endearing, realistic and well-written (ok, Lisbeth was very well written too). I tell you, we are a notch above with Nesbø (and the notch is high!)

Here's an excerpt of the book and tell me, honestly, does it not make you want to read more?

Excerpt

The drowsiness came. Harry stopped digging. Even though he knew this spell death. A seductive, alluring death, taking him into its arms. Why protest, why fight, why choose pain when he could succumb? Why choose anything other than what he has always done? 

Harry closed his eyes. 

(entire excerpt here on Jo Nesbø's site) 

In a nutshell

One of the best books I've read this year. An author I learned to love. Amateurs of black, Nordic, complex and panting thrillers, treat yourself! A book that should be included in any good bookshelf. I give it a 5/5.

My thought on closing the book: Oh damn, that was good!

Clean Burn

de Karen Sandler

Exhibit A - 2013 (Angry Robot)

304 page - 16.99 $

ARC

En français ici

I got this book through Netgalley and more specifically thanks to Exhibit A (A for Arson!) A new branch of Angry Robot (excellent publisher and guarantee of quality!). I wanted to discover this author and her heroine, a newcomer in the world of crime fiction.

Synopsis

“No child should ever stay missing…”

Wry, smart, tough private eye Janelle Watkins swore off investigating child abductions four years ago, when she left the San Francisco PD.

But when two clients with missing children beg for her help, Janelle can’t say no. Even though it means returning to the scene of her nightmares – her hometown of Greenville.

Forced to enlist the help of her ex-partner and ex-lover, Greenville County Sheriff Ken Heinz, Janelle soon finds herself playing with fire in more than one way, and in a race against the clock to find the missing children before it’s too late.

If Janet Evanovich and the Cohen Brothers ever sat down to collaborate on a story, then this is exactly the kind of incredible novel they might come up with – one full of twists and turns and memorable characters…

Isn’t it about time you met the unforgettable Janelle Watkins?

What I think of it

An excellent first crime fiction - because Sandler is a prolix author in other kind of book - with a heroine with multiple injuries and flaws, but very endearing.

About the characters: Janelle Watkins, ex-cop, private detective, tortured (in every sense of the word) by his past. A heroine not too girly nor too tomboy, a nice mix - which is not always the case for female detectives or cops, I must say. There is also Ken Heinz, ex-partner (in every sense of the word), honest, straightforward and sincere. Two characters very sympathetic to follow. Then there is a lot of secondary characters, well thought out, which gives the impression of being part of the town and to know its inhabitants.

The narrative. Two parallel investigations, one on fire and the other on child abductions bring two former partners together again. The pace does not falter, either because a new lead opens to find the children or because another fire raged. We are taken by the adventures to a burning final (in every sense of the word!)

The author knows how to transcribe Janelle's demons and her worries. We are really feeling her emotions - and they are not all pleasant! - which leads us to understand her reactions - and they are not all pleasant either! I suspected several different people and many times the right one, but I was never really sure until the end. Latter (but not the least in my case), the humor - often cynical - is very well distilled through the story, which makes it more enjoyable to read.

In a nutshell

A very good first crime fiction by Karen Sandler. A heroine to love, despite her shortcomings (or perhaps because of them, I do not know). A story whose rhythm does not slow down. I gave it 4/5!

My thought on closing the book: some great characters!

Before I Go to Sleep

by S. J. Watson

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (6 juin 2011)

359 pages - 21.99 $

En français ici

I did not know this author before I realized that a lot of people talk about him on Twitter. By dint of seeing rave reviews (especially in French by the way) and after discovering that he had won the 2012 SNCF polar prize, I wanted to read this famous first novel.

Synospis

Christine wakes up every morning in an unfamiliar bed with an unfamiliar man.

She looks in the mirror and sees an unfamiliar, middle-aged face. And every morning, the man she has woken up with must explain that he is Ben, he is her husband, she is forty-seven years old, and a terrible accident two decades earlier decimated her ability to form new memories.

But it’s the phone call from a Dr. Nash, a neurologist who claims to be working with Christine without her husband’s knowledge, that directs her to her journal, hidden in the back of her closet. For the past few weeks, Christine has been recording her daily activities -- tearful mornings with Ben, sessions with Dr. Nash, flashes of scenes from her former life -- and rereading past entries, relearning the facts of her life as retold by the husband she is completely dependent upon. As the entries build up, Christine asks many questions. What was life like before the accident? Why did she and Ben never have a child? What has happened to Christine’s best friend? And what exactly was the horrific accident that caused such a profound loss of memory?

Every day, Christine must begin again the reconstruction of her past. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more unbelievable it seems.

What I think of it

A pure psychological thriller (which I must admit is less to my taste, especially the psychological side ...) with a fluidity in the text. We inch in the story and the more we advance the more the suspense and tension build up to an end - although a little predictable - nonetheless very good.

At first I was scared to read the same thing constantly, as Christine forget all her days overnights. I thought that this would be yet another story of butterfly effect, seen and reviewed, but I was pleasantly surprised, because Watson arrives to help us understand the anguish of a woman who wakes up every morning not knowing who is man beside her, without telling us the same thing. He adds every day a detail, a fact, an anecdote that allows us to understand the story of Christine, almost at the same time (almost because as we do not forget ... we - almost - are one step ahead anyway)!

The main character, Christine, is very well written, not too hysterical despite her condition, not too naive either, rather she is an intelligent woman who is looking for answers to her story without blindly believing what people tell her. The relationships between the characters are very realistic, there are no frills. I was really surprised to know that the author is a man considering how he writes and the accuracy in the transcription of the feelings and thoughts of Christine: there is a real feminine sensibility in the writing, which made me think that the author is a woman.

In a nutshell

Amateurs of psychological thriller, this book is for you! It fully deserves its price and for a first novel, S. J. Watson hits hard, it must be said. I give it a 3/5, mainly because I have a harder time hanging on with psychological thrillers.

My thoughts on closing the book: by Jove, I do not like this kind of ending!

Never Saw It Coming

by Lindwood Barclay

Doubleday Canada - 2011

233 pages - 1,99$

Ebook

Mysteries et thrillers

En français ici

Why this book

I've met the author at the QuebeCrime festival last October and I thought he was really cool. He has a lot of humour and knows how to keep his audience alived so I guessed he can do the same with his books. 

Synopsis

Keisha Ceylon is a psychic. At least, that's what she tells people. She watches the news for stories of missing people, then waits a few days and goes to see the family. She tells them she’s had a vision and that she may know where their missing loved one is—for a price, of course. 

Keisha's latest mark is Wendell Garfield, whose wife disappeared a week ago. She's seen him on TV, pleading for his wife to come home, or for whoever took her to let her go. Keisha tells Wendell her vision of what might have happened. Unluckily for Keisha, her vision turns out to be alarmingly close to the truth. As she wades deeper into the mystery, Keisha inadvertently finds herself caught in a web of suspicion and violence that’s much more complicated than she first thought—and which may end up with her own disappearance… 

Also includes a preview of Linwood Barclay’s newest thriller, Trust Your Eyes

What I think of it

A book that will make you forget how late it is. This novel is an expanded version of Clouded Vision and some criticize the fact that the book still looks like a short story. But as a person who sees the glass half full rather than half empty, I think that's what makes its charm. There is no need to always read books that take a month to read. There are so many complicated novels for which we need to focus to remember different characters or different plots. If books were always complex, I would find it boring. Sometimes after a hard, complex or difficult on the emotional side, I find it relaxing to read a more enjoyable and easy to read book. Never Saw It Coming is that kind of book.

Certainly, it is fast to read, but the fact remains that the tone is one of the great thrillers I like: sometimes cynical, often funny, very colorful and with a relentless pace. The characters are well drawn, the story well done.

The story? This is the story of the biter bit, a spinning wheel. We know quickly who is the culprit, but the story does not end there, since it is ultimately more about morality and what we would do in the same situation. There is a great power of questioning in this book: what would I have done if I were Keisha? Would I have done the same, better or worse? This spinning wheel brings back in some characters we thought we'll no longer see. There are a coming and going of various characters in the book, which makes it dynamic.

In a nutshell

This novel asks questions and makes you ask about your values, your decision and that, in some 233 pages. A book that reads quickly, a bit like a short story but that will appeal to readers of thrillers who love dark and funny crime fiction.

The Clock Strikes Twelve

by Patricia Wentworth

Open Road Media - 2011

ARC

Miss Silver #7

En français ici

Why that book

It was proposed in the NetGalley catalog in the Mystery & Thrillers category and as I had never read a book by Patricia Wentworth - but I had heard of her - I took the opportunity to discover this author and especially her heroine Miss Silver. Thanks Open Road Media for this book!

Synopsis

Miss Silver investigates the murder of a great British industrialist. 

Though they share a manor house, the Paradines are not close, and their patriarch does nothing to discourage the petty jealousies that divide wealthy families. A cold figure, James Paradine prefers work to his relations, but on New Year’s Eve he convenes the household. Valuable plans have been stolen from his office, and only one person could be to blame. He knows the culprit’s name, and gives the thief until midnight to come forward. By midnight, James Paradine is dead.

Was it the thief who killed him, or could it have been someone else, acting on different motives entirely? The local constables are baffled, and it is left to prim detective Maud Silver to out the murderer.

What I think of it

I confess to having a soft spot for GA novels, even if they are not the ones I read the most. My first steps in the world of investigation were done with Agatha Christie - Poirot especially, but also Miss Marple - and I find and enjoy here the same spirit and the same kind of character.

Talking characters, Miss Silver is a very nice old lady despite her very schoolteacher side - a very useful side however to get people talking. She is a true romantic judging by her penchant to help lovers. I like the fact that Miss Silver is knitting when she wants to question a person, it puts people at ease and gives them the impression they're having a mundane discussion even though she worms the truth out of them! As for the other characters, they are very well written, briefly described but very realistic, even if they are sometimes on the edge of caricature (especially the constables). 

Like any good Golden Age novel, the decor is very cheesy, very... red. Gold decorations, curtains and all that ostentation give a decor in which I won't live but, for me, it's like a guilty pleasure: yes, I love these old-fashioned decor! The bombastic and pompous relations are also a strong point of these novels and  Wentworth plays excellently this card. The strength of this book is the impression that one has to be in the house, to live this mystery at the heart of the investigation, to be part of the family. If you like Downton Abbey (ah... the decor, the famous British phlegm and the formal relationships ...), you'll love this book. 

As to the investigation itself, it is a classic whodunit. Namely, you can discover the culprit for yourself because the clues are revealed throughout the investigation. There is therefore no great surprise at the end - unless taken in the pleasure of the story, you have forgotten to guess! But what's the purpose of a thriller if we know the end before the end? But simply, dear reader, because the pleasure is not ONLY in the discovery of the culprit - even if it's always enjoyable to have found whodunit! - but in the relationships between the characters, in the humor distilled in the book, in the background, in social conventions, dialogues and characters. To read such a novel, it's like looking through the hole in the little mouse's house and see how the investigation is going, it's to be at the heart of the action without actually being in it and have the chance to find the culprit before Miss Silver - and that part is not won!

In a nutshell 

A great book, very well written with engaging characters. Miss Silver is unquestionably a "armchair detective" to know. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to spend a little time in good company and, as icing on the cake, the chance to find a culprit by yourself ... from your chair (who says that Miss Silver does not sleep in you?) I've given it 4/5 on Goodreads.