Saralee Says
Jan Burke is one of my favorite mystery writers, and I am thrilled that her newest book, Bloodlines (Simon & Schuster) once again features Irene Kelly, the curious reporter. If you do not know about Kelly then stop what you are doing right now and go read Goodnight Irene (Simon & Schuster), Burke's first novel which was published in 1993. I guarantee that you, too, will become hooked. Her series is the best since Sue Grafton introduced us to Kinsey Millhone in A is for Alibi (Pocket Books).
Burke is one of the few writers who can combine suspense with the ability to be clever. Her character, Kelly, is daring and manages to be assigned to cover homicide investigations that frequently put her in danger. Kelly and city detective Frank Harriman sometimes combine forces and often compete to solve murders that usually happen in Southern California. The other Kelly books are Sweet Dreams Irene (Pocket), Dear Irene (Avon), Remember Me Irene (Pocket), Hocus (Pocket), Liar (HarperTorch) and Bones (Signet). Flight features only Frank Harriman and Nine introduces a new character, Alex Brandon. I am partial to the Kelly series, and the great news is that you do not have to read them in order, but it helps. The great drought is over with Bloodlines as finally Burke has rewarded my patience with another Kelly mystery. It was worth the wait because I could not put this book down.
In this book, Kelly has a chance to investigate a crime that plagued her mentor, O'Connor. Will Harriman and Kelly work together or compete during this captivating story? I will not spoil the surprise but will tell you that Burke is at her best in Bloodlines.
James Patterson has rewarded us with another in his crime novels featuring Alex Cross. To my disappointment, none of the victims seem to have Nashville names this time. Patterson attended Vanderbilt and occasionally names characters in his stories after his friends from Nashville. In London Bridges (Little Brown), Patterson's tenth in the series featuring Cross, the Wolf returns. He is part of a group of master criminals who can make an entire community disappear. Are several of the immoral people who Cross has managed to capture in this sinister plot together? Will more misfortune plague Cross' personal life, or is Patterson going to reward him with some much needed happiness? Like all of Patterson's books, London Bridge is fast paced and a great treat to read.
Larry's Language
Let me make it clear that I introduced Saralee to Burke both in person at the Southern Festival of Books and in writing by loaning her a treasured copy of Goodnight Irene. Then I did the same thing with Patterson and Nelson DeMille by giving her an edition of Along Came a Spider (Warner), Patterson's first Alex Cross novel and The General's Daughter (Warner) by DeMille.
My reward has been that Saralee never returned my copies and asserts her marital rights by insisting that she gets to read their new books first. I have tried negotiating, pleading and acting out, because these are three of my very favorite authors. Having failed all attempts at persuasion with Saralee, now I just buy two copies of their new books because they are the kind of fast-paced, thrill-bending, keep-you-awake-late reading that is so addictive that you cannot wait for the paperback.
DeMille's new book is Night Fall (Warner). Remember the true-life horror of TWA airplane Flight 800 that crashed at sea shortly after takeoff from New York on July 17, 1996, killing all aboard? Remember the many Long Island residents who reported that they believed they saw a guided missile strike the airplane and cause the disaster? Remember that the government investigation, after extensive reconstruction, concluded that a spark in a near empty fuel tank caused the airplane explosion?
DeMille's explosive novel explores the possibility that the many eyewitnesses were right and the government report was wrong. Of course in such a traumatic situation that lasts only a few seconds eyewitness accounts are frequently mistaken and misleading. But what if someone videotaped it and did so under embarrassing circumstances so that they concealed the videotape?
Night Fall features John Corey, a former New York City detective now working for the federal government. Corey learns that his enemies are other federal agencies - including the FBI and the CIA - as he struggles to unwrap the mystery of one character seeming to return from the dead, the shock of TWA 800 and its subsequent cover-up. Unfortunately, DeMille's fiction seems all too true. This is a conspiracy buff's delight.
Join us for our next book club discussion which will feature Gilead: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson.
