DREAM TOWN

4 stars out of 5

It's always refreshing when the old is new again - as in a return to the "private eyes" of the '50s. This is the third in the series featuring Aloysius Archer, a P.I. and World War II vet who plies his trade in Los Angeles. This one is a little darker than the first two, I think, but no less entertaining.

Archer works for friend Willie Dash at the latter's detective agency; as this story begins, he's planning a nice evening with old friend and love interest of sorts, Liberty Callahan to ring in the new year. Their dinner is interrupted by the appearance of Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter and friend of Liberty. When she learns what Archer does for a living, she tells him she thinks someone is trying to kill her and hires a somewhat reluctant Archer to investigate.

Later, when he calls Ellie for more information, a man answers but hangs up. Curious, Archer heads for Ellie's house, only to find a dead body inside but no Ellie. Now more curious than ever - and worried that something bad may have happened to Ellie - he sets off on a journey that takes him through the bowels of 1950s Hollywood and the mob-infested casinos of Las Vegas and nearly gets himself killed.

And therein lies the best parts of the book; especially since I grew up in the 1950s with my nose in "movie star" magazines like "Photoplay" and "Modern Screen" to get the latest scoops on Marilyn Monroe, Pat Boone, Doris Day, Audrey Hepburn and James Dean (just to mention a few), the behind-the-scenes studio goings-on, not all of which were pleasant, were a treat to read about.

As for the plot, I can't reveal much more without running into spoiler territory. So, I'll just say I enjoyed this one (and the previous two) very much and think you will, too.

Dream Town by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, April 2022); 433 pp.

A KILLER'S WIFE

4 stars out of 5

Let me get what I didn't like so much about this book - which I read as part of Amazon's First Reads program - out of the way up front. Although prosecuting attorney Jessica Yardley is a woman made stronger in large part by her less-then-perfect life choices, those choices don't quite line up with her strengths (put another way, it's hard to believe she's really that clueless when it comes to love). Also straining credulity is another prosecutor in her office - one who becomes charged with a case central to the plot - who inexplicably turns in a blithering idiot performance when it counts most. Finally, although I fervently hoped I would be wrong in my early assessment of another main character, my hunch was spot-on. And rather than make me happy that I was right, what I felt more than anything was disappointment (and, Lord help me, some sympathy for that prosecuting attorney for whom I had little sympathy to begin with).

All that out of the way, I quite happily stuck with this book from beginning to end - actually wishing I weren't so busy with other things that I was unable to read it in a marathon session. And as I do love any story that includes courtroom action and psychological drama, it was a treat to find plenty of both here to keep me turning the pages. As the story begins, Jessica is worried about her precious teenage daughter, Tara, who seems to be so bored with school that she's in danger of losing her way. Tara's father and Jessica's ex-husband, Eddie, is on death row, convicted of being a serial killer (unknown to Jessica when they were married, of course).  While she's told Tara about her dad, she's never let the girl visit him in prison (nor has Jessica done so).

Since Eddie's conviction, Jessica met Wesley, a law professor at the University of Nevada who recently moved in with her and Tara. When murders similar to those committed by Eddie suddenly turn up, a copycat killer is suspected; Cason Baldwin, a detective and Jessica's one-time love interest, asks her to go visit Eddie to get his insights as to who the killer might be (and who might be the next victims).

Of course, she balks at going to see her manipulating ex; also of course, she relents. Not surprisingly, Eddie wants to get off death row; but he plays it coy and demands to see Tara before he'll cooperate. Of course, Jessica balks at allowing that to happen; also of course...

Somewhere around the middle of the book, readers learn (for the most part) who did what; after that, it's mostly a matter of revealing the when, how and why - some of which happens at the trial of one of the characters - a trial from which Jessica at first is prohibited from prosecuting because of an obvious conflict of interest. Revealing anything more would spoil the book for others, so all I'll say is it ends with that (to me) unhoped-for twist. All told, this is an intriguing start to a new series (Desert Plains No. 1), and for sure I'll be watching for the next installment.

A Killer's Wife by Victor Methos (Thomas & Mercer, March 2020); 351 pp.

THE PREACHER: ACES AND EIGHTS

5 stars out of 5


Warning: Don't even think about speed-reading this book. Oh, you can try, but if you do, you'll miss a whole bunch of good stuff. I found that out early on, and after the first wave of "Oh drat - I've gotta concentrate on this one" hit, I settled back, took my time and enjoyed the heck out of the rest of the ride. 

This is, for the record, Book 2 in what Amazon lists as a two-book series featuring "The Preacher" - a one-eyed priest (Episcopal, I think), Vietnam veteran and professional gambler. When the publisher offered an advance copy for review, the description sounded like a sure bet. I didn't feel at a disadvantage for not having read the first book, either, although now that I'm done I'm pretty sure I missed out on another good thing (that book was a finalist for an Edgar Award).

In this one,The Preacher (readers never get to know him by any other name) knows his way around self-defense because of his Vietnam experience, and he's no slouch at the poker table, either. In fact, he's come to a high-stakes private game at a swanky Las Vegas casino to earn money to support his tiny congregation. Among the other players are a big-time televangelist and a couple of The Preacher's old friends (one of whom is a guy dubbed "Corner Pocket," who happens to be the chief investigator for the Clark County District Attorney's Office). Just as the betting turns serious, all hell breaks loose: two men with machine guns burst through the door, blasting away. The Preacher, the televangelist and the assistant D.A. escape injury, but the other old friend doesn't fare so well (nor does one of the two gunmen). The second hitman hits the ground running away - straight to the roof - where he hitches a ride on a waiting helicopter and escapes.

When the dust settles, the injured friend is rushed to the hospital, and The Preacher and other survivors are questioned by police. The gunmen left behind few clues, except for one oddity: On top of one of the dead bodies is a hand of cards - all aces and eights. Surely, that means something, all agree - but what?

At the hospital, The Preacher hopes his injured friend, whose name is Sam Goines, will regain consciousness and shed some insight on what happened back at the casino. Sam's beautiful wife, Maxey (who just happens to have had a years-ago fling with The Preacher), rushes to visit and is hopeful that first part happens as well. Suddenly, the plot thickens, and the hospital becomes the site of what will be several plot twists, more murder, mayhem and sleight of hand, a character who would give the late Howard Hughes a run for his money, a race to find an errant atomic bomb and yes, more of those hands of aces and eights. Saying much more would give too much away, so I'll just say it's an intelligently written, fast-paced story that hooked me from beginning to end.

When that end came, though, I learned that the author passed away in 2001, making me wonder why it took this long for it to be published. Further, a quick check at Amazon of the first, The Preacher, showed a May 2016 release date. My journalist's curiosity really kicked in then, prompting me to do a little sleuthing. Turns out the first one was published in 1988, followed by not one, but two others. The third, King of Diamonds, appears to have been released in 1989, and given how much I loved this one, I was interested. But good luck getting a hand on it; the only copy I could find has a list price of $184.19 - used, no less - so since I'm not that flush at the moment, I'm gonna pass. None of that is a big deal in terms of how good the books are, of course, but I'm a big believer in truth in lending.

Bottom line? This one's a winner, so if you're game, go for it!

The Preacher: Aces and Eights by Ted Thackrey Jr. (Brash Books, May 2017); 349 pp.

AGAINST THE ODDS

4 stars out of 5

This one caught my eye a few months back when it was offered as a freebie through BookBub. A heroine who is a professional poker player and sometimes gets herself in too deep somehow sounded appealing, and while I've not read anything else by this author, she has enough writing creds that I decided to go for it. But then, it got stuck on the back burner until now, when I remembered to look through my list of downloaded books to see what turned up. After re-reading the description and checking other reviews, I spun the wheel - and by golly, it came up a winner in my book.  

The gambler, Anna Dawson (aka Johanna, Hanna, Jo, JoJo or whoever she needs to be on any given day), lives in Las Vegas with a small group of elderly guys (no, nothing kinky going on here) and an older woman who takes on something of a housemother role. As Anna is taking a financial bath with her latest bet on a sporting event - her track record in this area isn't all that great - one of her friends is murdered and another narrowly misses the same fate. Somehow, she must figure out a way to avoid broken kneecaps courtesy of her loan shark as well as help a sexy detective figure out who's trying to kill off her friends without letting him in on her gambling predicament.

Of course, there's romance involved - and the detective brings his own shaky past to the bedroom to complicate things a bit. And as Anna tries to figure a way out from under her debt, an alter ego makes another appearance that could change the course of her already on-the-edge life forever.

For the record, I did find a few run-on sentences and other grammar glitches, the latter of which may be a result of transition to the Kindle format, but for the most part they didn't stomp too hard on my journalist/copy editor sensitivities. I did find it interesting that parts of the book are set in Pittsburgh - not far from where I live. As for the whodunit and why, it came mostly as a surprise except for one important part, which I'd guessed but didn't know how it fit in till the end.  

Speaking of the end, I suppose it was a foregone conclusion given that Anna moves on to another book, but it didn't make me terribly happy. That said, now I'm looking forward to Book No. 2 in this series, Against the Spread. Game on!

Against the Odds by Mara Jacobs (Copper Country Press LLC, September 2012); 276 pp.