"At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are the caves in which we hide." F. Scott Fitzgerald

Bobby Dodge is a Mass. State Police Detective. He's called to the scene of a gruesome mass murder that took place on the grounds of the old State Mental Hospital. Six bodies of children are found in an underground chamber, it is estimated that the crime took place over twenty five years in the past.

One body was tentatively identified by a chain around her neck as Annabelle Granger. However, a woman who read about the bodies being discovered, comes to the police department and admits that she is Annabelle and when she was 7 she gave the locket to her friend, Dori Petracelli.

Annabelle also bears a striking resemblance to Cathryn Gagnon who Bobby met at a hostage scene. When she was younger, Catheryn had been captive in an underground chamber but hunters heard her cries and rescued her. Later, in the hostage scene, Bobby had to shoot her husband who was threatening his family. After he came to know her, Bobby felt that Cathryn set up her husband.

Bobby and Detective D. D. Warren figure that Anabelle had been targeted by a predator and her parents relocated to attempt to save their daughter. Two years before this, Richard Umbrio had kidnapped twelve year old Catherine Gagnon but when the hunters rescued her, she testified against Umbrio and he was in prison when in 1982, her parents reported a prowler who they later thought was a predator.

The investigation moves back to the State Mental Hospital. A records search finds two possible suspects and the reader learns what these men did and why they needed hospitalization. Both men had since been released but the authorities questioned their mental stability.

Lisa Gardner creates suspense as if she were a chef, putting the ingredients together for a feast. The momentum increases with the well crafted plot. In addition, the author provides a surprise toward the novel's conclusion which was excellently described. Annabelle is a sympathetic character who develops into a confident woman, in control of her destiny. The antagonist was well portrayed but the reader will have to learn just how by turning the pages themselves.

Highly recommended.

"A rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way." John Tudor

If it's possible for something to go wrong, it will.

This seems to be the motto of the Border County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Leonard M. Blood. Blood is ordered to serve a notice of eviction on Glenn Allen Ables for tax evasion. He realizes that there is danger involved so asks for the help of two deputies. Ables happens to be an anti government survivalist. When Blood attempts to serve the document, one of his deputies is shot and wounded, another, barely escapes.

Huddleson, Montana seems to be a no nonsense area where they don't seem to take any prisoners. The Huddleson Police Department under firebrand Chief Moody, is called out and not long after, shots are fired, one of the sheriff's men is killed and, as we will later learn, so is one of Ables' children.

With the situation worsening and memories of Waco, Texas fresh on the minds of law enforcement officials, John Banish, an FBI negotiator is called in. Also in attendance at this time is Reginald Perkins, agent in charge, Butte, Montana. A turf war springs up and Deputy Fagin, head of the Marshal's Special Ops Group is attempting to command the situation.

In other words, chaos reigns. This story concentrates on the action taking place without much character build up. As a result, it reads more like a lengthy newspaper report than as a novel.

"The Standoff," a first novel by Chuck Hogan, describes the intricacies of crime scene negotiating and the intense feelings of anti government feeling that exists in some areas of rural America. The author appears to look on as an outside observer and present the legal aspects of the decisions that law enforcement officials make in the time of crisis.

"Look not mournfully into the Past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve your Present." Longfellow

Reporter Ellen Gleeson is raising her adopted son, Will, by herself. One day she sees a flier, "Have you seen this Child?" Something makes her look again. The photo looks amazingly like Will. How could that be?

Being a reporter, she investigates. She searches Google and the family looking for their son, Carol Braverman is looking for her son, Timothy. It's uncanny.

Somewhat concerned, she checks the adoption records and everything seems in order. Just to be sure, she calls the attorney who handled the adoption and finds that she is dead, suicide.

With increased anxiety, she looks at the adoption form and checks the birth mother, Amy Martin. She also manages to get Carol Braverman's DNA by following her to a bar and getting a cigarette she had smoked and discarded.

At the home of Amy Martin, she finds a photo of a man, Ellen begins referring to as, the Beach Boy. Soon after, Amy is found dead. Her friend, Melanie Rotucci thinks that Amy may have taken tainted drugs. She also tells Ellen that Amy had been dating a guy named Rob Moore who used to smack her around. This was four years ago, just at the time, the adoption process was starting.

Now, Ellen comes to believe that this Rob Moore was involved in the adoption. She believes that Will is really Carol Braverman's son Tim and Rob is now eliminating anyone involved in the adoption. Can she stop him before he gets to her and Will? Must she give up the thing she loves the most, her son, Will?

A well done, fast moving drama. This would be perfect for the screen and I would look forward to seeing Ellen portrayed by Nicole Kidman or Renee Zellwiger. The author's description of Ellen is so well done, that it feels as if Lisa Scottoline actually knew this fictitious person. Great suspense, great action, heartaches and drama!

"Every Goodbye Makes The Next Hello Closer"

An arrested prostitute calls FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy claiming to have important information for her. Deliah Rose tells her that a wealthy john is taking street prostitutes to his place, then paying them to let his poisonous spiders crawl on them and engage in other dangerous activities. She states that her friend Ginny was with him and has vanished. Delilah has found Ginny's boyfriend's school ring in the john's car and wants Agent Quincy to stop him.

Kimberly's associate, Sal Martingnetti also informs Kimberly that he's worried that someone is picking off hookers. Twice he has had the drivers licenses of three women placed on the windshield of his car. But, no bodies have been found so it's difficult to get his superiors to permit him to mount an investigation. Even though Kim is five months pregnant, a time that women might begin to take things easier, she decides to work with Sal to attempt to find and stop the person responsible for his crimes against the prostitutes.


One night they follow Delilah down a street where they know that Ginny's boyfriend was shot and realize that Delilah is really Ginny. Ginny admits it and tells them that she calls the john Dinchara, a play on the word arachnid because of his fetish with spiders. She realized that Dinchara gets a kick when someone shows fear so when she didn't scream after Dinchara placed a black widow spider on her, he let her live. He does make her turn tricks and once per month he meets her and gets a payoff.


Kim and Sal must find a way to get Ginny to take them to Dichara and get enough evidence to convict him of his crimes. They propose Ginny wear a wire. Then they find that Dinchara has a teenage boy helping him and is also grooming a younger boy. Now their mission is to stop Dinchara and rescue the boys.

The author knows suspense and has given her readers a story that will keep them mesmerized until the end. She tells her readers that the idea for the story came from her adorable daughter who became obsessed with spiders. Her characters are well described and the antagonist was truly evil, not only doing terrible things to people but training young children to help him in his crimes.

A well done novel that will keep Gardner's fans coming back for more.

"There are souls which fall from heaven like flowers, but ere they bloom are crushed under the foul tread of some brutal hoof." Jean Paul

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is called to the location of a man found murdered in the bistro in Three Pines, Canada.

From the moment the body of the Hermit is found, the author perfectly captures the soul of this quaint area in Quebec. I was captured at the start of the novel. The first words, "All of them? Even the children? The fireplace sputtered and crackled and swallowed his gasp. "Slaughtered?"

I was hooked.

Louise Penny is a very descriptive writer. I believe that her books would be easy to transition to the world of film. In fact, as I learned more of Oliver Broule and the Hermit, and the Hermit's home in the woods filled with treasures, I was picturing the story unfolding as a made for TV drama, perhaps on Mystery Theater.

Louise Penny's writing reminds me of the great Agatha Christie and I can't help comparing Armand Gamache with Hercule Poirot, from his quiet, unassuming manner to
his extreme politeness to the characters and suspects in the story and to his use of logic to solve the puzzle of who killed the Hermit and how did the body get to the bistro.

This is the fifth story with Chief Inspector Gamache and the critics knew from the start that Louise Penny was a star in the making. Her first Armand Gamache novel, "Still Life" won the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony and Dilys Awards.

Amazing.

"I saw gas lamps in the Chinese shops in Shanghai.I saw their elimination by electric lights." Hu Shih

P.I. Lydia Chin is asked by her mentor, Joel Pilarsky, to help locate missing jewelry dating back to WWII. In Shanghai, a cache of jewelry had been found and identified as belonging to European Jews attempting to escape Hitler's influence. Shortly after being found, a Chinese official is suspected of stealing the jewelry.

Not long after being hired to look into the missing jewelry, Joel is murdered. Additionally, one of the pieces of jewelry that Rosalie Gilder brought out of Germany is the Shanghai Moon, a rare, valuable gem.

When Joel is killed, Lydia's former partner, Bill Smith, contacts her and they decide to work the case together. A usual part of the novels with Bill and Lydia contains a bi-play about their personal relationship but there is little of that in this story.

Lydia is told by her friend Mary Kee, a detective in New York's 5th precinct, that a Chinese citizen, who was a policeman, has been killed. He had been looking for Wong Pan, the official accused of taking the jewelry.

Besides the mystery story, S.J. Rozan is providing her readers with a history lesson. Rosalie Gilder's letters to her mother, during the time of turmoil in WWII gets right to the human feel for the trials Jews were subject to at that time. I felt as if I was reading an updated "The Diary of Ann Frank" from the point of view of a young woman exposed to the terrible aspects of War and the manner the persecution of Jews can affect innocent people.

The plot is complex but the story is interesting and enlightening. Worth the effort.

"When Saladin was fighting the Crusaders, he would warn them, he would offer them a truce, he would go the extra mile before attacking. Michae Scheuer

In 1958, Jimmy and Dave Robicheaux were swimming in the Galveston Bay when sharks appeared nearby. A young woman, Ida Durbin, rescued them and forever left her imprint on their lives.

Jimmy, particularly, becomes infatuated and finds that Ida has been working as a prostitute to pay off a family debt. Just when Jimmy and Ida were going to run away to Mexico, Ida disappears.

Years later, Dave learns from a dieing friend that Ida was snatched by two policeman who were on the pad. They were paid by the owner of the house of prostitution.

Shortly after learning this, Dave is assaulted. He gets his job back at the Iberia Sheriff's department. Sheriff Helen Soileau wants him to look into the murders of women who are abducted in Baton Rouge and killed. The last victim was a young woman in New Iberia who might have been a victim of opportunity. When he gets the job back, it gives Dave the chance to look into Ida Durbin's disappearance.

There is a continuing dispute between Dave and Val Chalons. Val is a TV personality and when his sister is murdered, a set of Dave's prints are found in her home. Val makes public this information and the fact that Dave has just married a Catholic Nun. This escalates the conflict to one of physical nature where Dave puts Val in the hospital and almost loses his job. However, after a period of desk duty, Dave goes back on the trail.

James Lee Burke is one of the best mystery writers in America. He is one of only three people who have won the Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel, two times. "Crusader's Cross" continues his excellent writing. The plot is unique, the descriptive writing is excellent and Dave Robicheaux is one of the best protagonists in literature, he is sincere, religious, brave and generally, a good guy.