Silken Prey

Lucas Davenport gets mixed up with politics when he's asked to investigate the accusation of child porn on a wealthy political candidate.

Even though the governor is on the opposing party, something about the convenience of the discovery of the accusation so soon before the election doesn't seem right.

The race for the US Senate is a toss up and one of the participants is a wealthy young woman with a campaign staff that doesn't hesitate when asked to perform dirty tricks.. However one of the characters wants more money for his deeds and then goes missing.

The plot is tight and the story is fresh and since it is election time, the story is very timely.

Davenport and his team are working hard to identify the person who committed the dirty trick. When murder is added to the mix,  the reader is in hope that they can be stopped prior to the responsible winning an election they didn't deserve.

Davenport is a top notch and with each story we learn more about him and his family. He's a man of integrity but his primary job is to catch those responsible for the dirty tricks and to reveal what happened to the man who has a reputation for being political. He's been a bag man and Lucas believes he's come to a bad end but there's no proof. Then, there is another murder...

"Silken Prey" is one more story from one of the masters, John Sandford. This story kept my attention and I was sad when I had to put the book down to do something else.

The Legend of Vince Flynn Lives On

This action packed suspense novel picks up where "The Last Man" leaves off.

I was sad to learn of the death of Vince Flynn.  Kyle Mills picked up on the Mitch Rapp adventures and did a nice job in carrying on his legacy.

In this episode, CIA Operative Mitch Rapp and his team are called to action to stop an intelligence leak that could become a disaster for the CIA and the USA.

Disgruntled star agent Joseph "Rick" Rickmann stole an information file with the leading US agents and their international contacts.  He has been killed after his treacherous past comes to light, but instructs his contact to release the deadly information one at a time to heighten the damage and embarrass the CIA.  Mitch has to find where the information is being leaked from and stop it.  He also needs to learn who is disseminating the information.

Well done and lots of action.   And the conclusion is satisfying.

You've Gotta Have Heart" Song lyrics

"Blood Work" by Michael Connelly is one of my all time favorite books.  The plotting is excellent and the central character, retired FBI agent Terrell McCaleb is sympathetic and the story is addictive.
McCaleb is enjoying retirement while living on his fishing boat.  A woman approaches him and requests his help to find her sister's murderer.
When he tells her he can't because of his heart transplant, she responses, yes, it is my sister's heart.  It is keeping you alive and I think you'd want to find her killer.
He agrees and begins a search putting pieces of an intricate puzzle together that leads to the killer.
Nothing is straight forward in Connelley's novels.  Along the way police receive an anonymous call and suddenly McCaleb becomes the main suspect.  The evidence he was collecting is viewed as evidence of the crimes.
The book starts off with a bang and continues to a strong conclusion.
Highly recommended!

He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother

Billy and Ray Johnson were brothers that had the usual brotherly spats but also suffered abuse.

When Billy is found, the reader assumes that it was by someone who watched him crawl down the road by his house. The misery is described but Ray's reaction seems cold and matter of fact.

This sorrowful picture and writing style reminded me of Erskine Caldwell's "God's Little Acre." That book chronicles a family in rural Georgia. "Billy Dead" takes place in the country back roads of small town Michigan.

The Johnson family are unsympathetic. They were hellions and were disliked.

Ray continues with his life as sheriff Keith McCutcheon investigates the murder. We see the reaction of other family members to Billy's death but there isn't any display of sorrow.

Roses aren't always red

Luther Ewing, aka, Five O brings his unique b  background to his job as a cop on the Baltimore County P.D. narcotics  division. This is a contemporary location with the controversy in Baltimore recently after the shooting of a black man by the police.

Luther an ex-Special Forces sharpshooter with experience in Bosnia. In "Red Rain" Luther is working with his crew in narcotics and he comes across evidence that something is different on the streets. It's a feeling that experienced agents tend to get.

Vasilly is a Russian who is bringing vast amounts of drugs into the Baltimore area and ready to begin selling the drugs on the street. His drug cartel begins making headway and Luther's life and routine changes.

There is good dialogue in the story in what the reader can imagine  taking place. There is also realistic descriptions of what life must be like on the streets. 

It might be the way things are but many of the characters had nicknames and with this I had difficulty in determining who was who and what side they characters were on.

The bodies mount up and there are a number of plot twists that keep things unpredictable. I liked the suspense in a story of people at the edge of society-many who have little to redeem them.

A look at old time Brooklyn

From the writer of "Second Street Station," comes a new adventure of Mary Handley who was the first female police officer in Brooklyn.

Mary wants to become an official detective instead of only being called on for certain cases.  She gets her first case when Emily Wortham believes that her uncle was murdered and wants Mary to look into it.

Once again, the reader has the enjoyment of seeing Mary rub shoulders with such notables as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. She attends a lecture by Benjamin Franklin and shares experiences with John D. Rockefeller and George Vanderbilt.

There are discussions of the political events of the time, concerning New York and Brooklyn. In this regard, I was impressed that at this time, Brooklyn was one of the largest municipalities in the United States.

A woman is murdered and Mary investigates this case which became personal to her when her brother was accused of the crime.

There are lots of historical references and a gutsy protagonist in Mary. As I read the story I considered what some of the TV female detectives like Beckett on Castle or the female detectives on shows like Law and Order owed to a character like Mary, who started it all.

I enjoyed the story and reading about a protagonist like Mary.

Recommended.

Blue Monday How I hate Blue monday" Lyrics

Detective Jeremy Perez of the Shetland Islands Police Department believes he is coming to the Fair Isles to introduce his fiancee Fran to his parents and friends. .

There is a celebratory atmosphere until a woman's body is discovered by the Fair Isles Bird Observatory.

It's a small island and everyone knows the victim but no one can believe that anyone would want to harm her.

Jeremy questions many people people looking for clues and the reader experiences a murder mystery set among the bird watching community.It's a good juxtaposition of a living hobby and a murder.Then the body of another woman is found.

I enjoyed the audio book read by Gordon Griffin and his Scottish accent and calm description of the action.

Ann Cleeves keeps the reader guessing.  She does a good job in describing the scenes and the characters.

I felt myself trying to imagine what I would do if I was in a similar situation and trying to guess who the killer might be.

There was good suspense in the story and a surprising twist when discovering the killer.