ADVERSE EFFECTS

3.5 stars out of 5

Too many characters (made worse because
most have more than one identity), too many plot twists, too much technical information. The result? Way too much of what could have been a good thing. Because of the subject matter - an experimental drug gone wrong - I wanted very much to love this book. But in the end, for the most part, I'm not at all sure I "got" what happened.

That out of the way, I'll try to summarize my thoughts on the plot: Christina Silva, a gorgeous Latina psychiatrist, is participating in a trial of a drug called Recognate on behalf of the manufacturer (a company that appears to be operating off the industry radar). Supposedly, the drug helps regenerate lost memories, or replace bad ones, or both - I think - and so far, it seems to be helping Christina's patients. That is, until it doesn't; suddenly, one patient goes berserk - and then another. Did the drug, which is related to betaendorphins, trigger the aberrant behavior, or did something else happen?

Right about then, Christina is accosted by a nasty looking man who tells her she isn't who she thinks she is. She doesn't believe him, exactly, but part of her own memories - most of which she lost when she was in an auto accident in which her parents were killed - hint that maybe the guy knows what he's talking about. All she's sure of is that she's got a few secrets of her own - most of them lost for the time being, one not that could result in revocation of her license to practice - and she desperately wants to learn the truth about her past.

Along come the cops, notably in the form of local detective Gary Wilson, plus a couple of FBI agents who seem to enjoy playing good cop, bad cop and making life miserable for Wilson. He tends to believe what Christina tells him, though (his opinion bolstered by what could be a fatal attraction to the psychiatrist). Clues point to a clandestine organization called Zero Dark - and from that point on, as Christina tries to find out about her past while dodging bullets (literally),  things began to get murkier than they already were. 

As I said early on, I really wanted to love this book. And I'm sure if it gets to the right readers, it will be; it's technically well written with a well-researched, timely plot, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the pre-release copy to read and review. My experience, though, was summed up at the end by Christina (or whoever she really is) as she basically says hey, I'm not sure what went down, but I've determined not to worry about it and just get on with my life.

Yeah. Me too (sigh).

Adverse Effects by Joel Shulkin (Blackstone Publishing, September 2020); 352 pp.

ONE BY ONE

 5 stars out of 5

Oh, how I envy the creative minds of fiction writers!

Mind you, I'm a writer too - not a bad one, even. And I probably could make a convincing case that writing a newspaper account of the same event 10 different times in 10 different ways gives me some claim to creativity. But the kind that's in this book? Only in my dreams.

That's a roundabout way of saying those dreams came true in this book (which, happily, was written by someone with actual talent for fiction). Not only is it an engrossing story, it took what to me is a new approach that made it stand out among all the others I read every month (86 so far this year). To begin with, there's a timely hook: a British social media tech company called Snoop that offers a wildly popular music app that allows members to "see" what other members are listening to in real time. The shareholders have gathered at a ski chalet for some R and R, but right off the bat, things go a bit haywire with the realization that one who is here was left off the guest list sent to the chalet hosts. Inadvertently? Maybe yes, maybe no.  Then comes the founder's announcement that could spell gloom or doom for the company going forward.

Faced with incoming inclement weather, the group decide to hit the slopes before they're shut down. And from that moment on, things go from bad to worse as an avalanche cuts off all communication with the rest of the world and shareholders start taking hits "one by one." The only things they're sure of is that there's nowhere to go but down (and even going in that direction could lead to dire consequences) and one among them is, shall we say, not a very nice person.

From the middle of the book on, it was hard for me to put down; sorry to say I can't share many of the juicy details without spoiling things for others who haven't yet read the book. Suffice it to say I was happy that an event we'd planned was canceled, thus giving me two straight edge-of-seat hours to finish up. Thoroughly enjoyable, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with a pre-release copy to read and review.

One By One by Ruth Ware (Gallery/Scout Press, September 2020); 383 pp.

THE LAST AGENT

 5 stars out of 5

Chalk up another winner in this series - after

reading the first, The Eighth Sister, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the next one. And it certainly didn't disappoint. I'm not a very "excitable" reader, really - and I'm always pretty sure an author won't put his or her series star six feet under. But the closer I got to the end of former spy Charles Jenkins' adventures getting into and out of Russia, the tighter I held my Kindle and the closer to falling off the edge of my seat.

Charlie, now married with two children - the daughter named after Paulina Ponomayova, an agent who sacrificed her life to save his in the previous book - isn't exactly happy with his former life. His own country betrayed him and even put him on trial for treason, so he owes nothing. But then, an agent from the CIA's Clandestine Services pays Charlie a visit - telling him that a woman believed to be Paulina is alive - but probably not well - in one of Moscow's nastiest prisons. 

After the way he's been treated, Charlie has no confidence that the agent bringing the news is telling the truth; he could be setting Charlie up for a fall that could be permanent. There's also no proof that the imprisoned woman is Paulina, although clues strongly suggest that is the case. In any event, the agent plays to Charlie's indebtedness to Paulina as he tries to convince him to return to Russia, determine whether or not the woman is his old friend and, if she is, get her out of the prison, out of Russia and  safe in the United States.

It's quite a tall order, and even Charlie isn't sure he's up to the task. His wife Alex isn't thrilled with the thought of such a dangerous mission, but she acknowledges that her husband is with her only because of Paulina's efforts. So off he goes, and the nonstop adventure begins - starting with a surreptitious and almost disastrous venture to Russian soil. First up is identifying the woman; for help with that, he must find a former Russian officer who once was Charlie's nemesis.

It is here that I must stop; otherwise, I'd give away too much. Suffice it to say Charlie's adventure only gets more fast-paced and frightening as the chapters zip along to an exciting end - one that leaves the door open for the next adventure. I'm more than ready - and until then, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this one.

The Last Agent by Robert Dugoni (Thomas & Mercer, September 2020); 405 pp.

THE DARKEST EVENING

 4 stars out of 5

After reading one of this prolific author's

other books - The Long Call - and giving it the highest 5-star rating, I was eager to start this one, the ninth in the Vera Stanhope series. I've not read any of the others, but that wasn't a problem at all. I think perhaps it would have been nice to know more about Vera and her teammates as I read this one, but at no time did I feel disadvantaged because of it.

I will say it had me looking up British words and phrases; I've read quite a few books set in merry old England and surrounding countries, plus our daughter-in-law is from London and still has her beautiful English accent, so I'm well acquainted with "torch," "jumper," "biscuits" and women who "fall pregnant" (that last one always makes me chuckle; I'm familiar with getting "knocked up," but down? Nuh uh). But I encountered quite a few new terms here, although that's certainly not a complaint. It just sent me to Google a few more times than usual. 

Truth be told, though, I never quite warmed up to Vera - maybe because it seemed her co-workers seemed more tolerant of her than loving. But that's okay; I didn't need to love her to thoroughly enjoy the story. It begins as Vera is driving through a hazardous snowstorm in Northumberland and spots a car that's slid off the road. One of the doors is open, so she stops to help and finds a young child in the back seat. Who, she wonders, would leave a child alone in this weather? She grabs the child, leaves a note in the car, and heads for the nearest warm place - which happens to be the estate of her mostly estranged relatives. She hasn't been here in a long time and, understandably, isn't sure who she'll find and how happy they'll be to see her. On the way in, she meets a distraught man on a tractor, who says he just found a woman's body in the snow.

Once in the house, Vera calls in her team to check out the crime scene. Inside, Vera finds the "housekeeper" - a woman who apparently left a promising career to basically clean house and cook for the husband and wife who now own the property and the wife's rather obnoxious mother, who seems to think she runs the place. The night before, they'd hosted a big bash attended by the well-heeled; the husband wants to turn part of the property into a theatre and hit them all up for seed money.

Finally, the body is identified - a troubled young woman who was the baby's mother. From that point on, the goal is to find the killer; unfortunately, there are quite a few who might fit that bill - including Vera's relatives. Then another woman is murdered, raising more questions. But the closer Vera gets to solving the murders, the greater the chance that she might become the next victim. Good book, for which I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review prior to its release.

The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur Books, September 2020); 379 pp.

PAYBACK

 5 stars out of 5

Simply not taxing my brain with flashbacks in time and

chapters that switch perspectives of a dozen characters I can't keep straight make this one a winner in my book. For once, I could sit back and enjoy a book from exciting start to exciting finish. On top of that, the characters are quirky but pretty much realistic (well, as much as in any of the cops-and-robbers TV shows that I love), and I'm eager to read about them again.

This is the second in a series, and alas, I did not read the first. That said, I never felt as if I'd missed anything (although I wish I'd read it just because I like this one so much). "Tank" Rizzo is a highly skilled former police officer who was seriously injured on the job and now handles special cases for the department. He's assembled a crew of helpers that includes his former partner, "Pearl" Monroe, who was injured along with Rizzo and now uses a wheelchair. A year or so ago, Rizzo's brother - who worked at an accounting firm that caters to the hoity-toity - died with his wife in an auto accident. Their son, Chris, now lives with Tank; a computer whiz, he's intent on finding evidence to prove his parents' death was not an accident.

Meanwhile, Detective Eddie Kenwood is still on the job, racking up confession after confession that has provided him with one of the highest case resolution stats of anybody in the department. But it's starting to look as if he isn't coming by those confessions honestly; thanks to Pearl, one case, in particular, has caught Tank's eye. Just because he hates dirty cops - and Eddie in particular - Tank agrees to take on the case. 

Almost from the start, it becomes clear that neither case will go down easily; in fact, just heading out the door can prove risky. But thanks to the special talents of Tank and his band of men (and a woman) and their friends - some of whom would make Al Capone's mob look saintly - they keep plodding along right to the end. I love Tank and Pearl, and the interaction among all the characters made the story all the more appealing. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for introducing me to this series by way of a pre-release copy. Now will you please add me to the list to get the next one? Pretty please?

Payback by Lorenzo Carcaterra (Ballentine Books, August 2020); 286 pp.

2020: HOW TODAY'S BIGGEST TRENDS WILL COLLIDE AND RESHAPE THE FUTURE OF EVERYTHING

 5 stars out of 5

"Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" --Fleetwood Mac

As I too fast approach octogenarian status, I'm ever

more aware that I'm not ready to leave this world (whether I'm looking down or up when I get there is a topic for another day). A big reason for this is my fascination with what the future has in store. Some of that is influenced by where I started - growing up using crank telephones, watching a tiny black-and-white TV screen while my dad was on the roof rotating the TV antenna to get the channel we wanted (one of only three available, I might add) and helping my mom put soppy wet clothes through the wringer of her washing machine. I gravitated toward books written by futurists - researchers like Alvin Toffler, John Naisbitt and Faith Popcorn.

So when this book came within my sights, I zeroed in. And I certainly wasn't disappointed - if anything, it's made me more determined to hang around as long as I can to see how the author's predictions play out. He holds the Zandman Professorship in International Management at the Wharton School, and clearly he's done extensive research on the subject (just check out the extensive list of sources at the end of the book). But while he's an academic, the book really doesn't read like a textbook (neither is it something you can skim, but it was so interesting that doing that never entered my mind). He got my attention early on with just one sentence: "Simply put, the world as we know it today will be gone by 2030."

Oh yeah? Tell me more. And he does, in eight chapters that focus on various topics ranging from changing demographics - by 2030, for instance, the world's largest generation will be age 60 and up (even today, they own 80% of the net worth in the United States alone) and half of the world's wealth will be owned by women 10 years from now. Also interesting to me is the change in birth rates; by 2030, the author notes, one-third of American men and two-thirds of American women will retire childless. As for technology, we ain't seen nuthin' yet. By 2030, there will be more computers than human brains and more robotic arms than human labor in the manufacturing sector. "Artificial Intelligence will bring about epochal change," the author maintains. We're also moving fast toward a cashless world. Today, more than 80% of all international trade is invoiced in dollars - but that will change (pun intended) fast.

For I've read that the author has added his take on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the final version of the book, but alas, my pre-release copy for review (for which I thank the publisher, via NetGalley), did not include it. I'd also be interested in his opinion on what effect the current U.S. administration will have on progress, but that's not in here either. I'm no expert, but I do have a couple of theories. First, the advances in technology noted here that relate to our personal lives - like a no-currency, no bank society - may be slowed because the current administration is allowing - even encouraging - people who believe the government is conspiring against them to come out of the woodwork. No way will these folks willingly give up their "guaranteed Constitutional right to privacy," no matter how much it may improve their quality of life. Meanwhile, the pandemic has shown us (well, at least my husband and I) that we can see, hear and buy just about anything we need and want without ever leaving home; that could help speed up the permeation of technology into just about every facet of daily living (especially the cashless society thing). Only time will tell - but if you want to get ready, I encourage you to read this book. 

2030: How Today's Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything by Mauro Guillen (St. Martin's Press, August 2020); 288 pp.

WHO'S NEXT?

 4 stars out of 5

This is the second in the series featuring Detective Dan

Lockhart and psychologist Lexi Green, and for the two of them, it's pretty much same old, same old. Lockhart is still wrestling with bouts of PTSD and with finding the beloved wife who disappeared 11 years ago. Green is still being largely ignored by the police department even though her profiling expertise has helped them solve cases, and for the most part ignored by Lockhart as well.

The plot involves two scenarios, the first of which is the gruesome murder of a well-known man in Wimbledon; the other is an attacker of women at bus stops. For the most part, Lockhart concentrates on the former, where the only clue seems to be a strange mark on the victim's neck, while colleague Max Smith follows up on the latter. Lockhart calls on help from Green, but he's called to task for doing so by his boss so has to solicit her advice on the sly (after which he seems to consider her persona non grata, making me wonder why in the heck she keeps going back for more, especially when she's spending hours working for Lockhart but not getting paid a dime). If there's supposed to be any sort of romantic "connection" between Lockhart and Green, I didn't feel it in the first book - nor did I in this one. 

At any rate, two chases are on, with Lockhart inserting a third as he continues to be hung up on finding the wife that her brother and parents insist is long since dead. Green, smarting from being shut out of the police investigation, decides to go off on her own (quick: get her in a cozy mystery series - she's a perfect fit for the typical never-listen-to-reason heroine). Everything comes together nicely in the end (well, except maybe for Lockhart and Green). A cliffhanger, paves the way for the next book, which came as a surprise mostly because it made me wonder why what happens didn't happen years ago. Of the two books in the series so far, I enjoyed the first one a bit more, but this one makes a more-than-decent follow-up. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

Who's Next? by Chris Merritt (Bookouture, September 2020); 449 pp.

HIDDEN

 4 stars out of 5

Lotsa lust, not much trust. That pretty much sums

up the relationship between investigative reporter Bailey Rhoads and Austin Police Detective Jacob Merritt. Both are working on the same murder case and are infatuated with each other, but each refuses to share new information with the other. 

The two meet after a woman is found murdered on a hiking trail; the initial assumption is that it was a mugging gone very wrong. But Bailey, who's being pressured to come up with a lead story for her newspaper, suspects the woman may not be who she appears to be, while Jacob learns a few details on his own. Chapters switch between their points of view and follow their budding romance that's filled with tension because neither is free to reveal much of anything case-related to the other (for the most part, rightly so; cops shouldn't talk about ongoing cases and good journalists don't reveal sources). But as a journalist myself, I'm not altogether sure why she refused to share at least a few of her other findings - it's not as if Jacob would be writing a story or running to another reporter to give something away - but I guess it makes the story more interesting.

Somewhat oddly, Bailey seems to make more progress toward solving the crime than Jacob, a professional cop. Her dogged persistence leads her to a huge technology company which, she learns, is working on a project that's paying huge dividends but definitely skirting the boundaries of ethics, if not the law. Finally, their investigations begin to merge - and leads them to conclude that another woman's  life is in immediate danger. But can they find her before the would-be killer does? Read it and see. This is the first in the "Texas Murder Files" series, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading about the couple's next joint adventure. Meantime, thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

Hidden by Laura Griffin (Berkley, August 2020); 349 pp.

SHADOWS OF THE DEAD

5 stars out of 5


When I read Collecting the Dead, the first book in this series, I said in my review that it knocked my socks off. Then I got this one, and there went my toes. 

It's absolutely exhilarating to find a new series that's this enjoyable; I love Magnus "Steps" Craig, an agent with the FBI's Special Tracking Unit. He's clever, amusing and "special" in another sense. Ever since surviving a childhood accident, he's had the ability to see "shine" - the essence, or aura, human beings leave behind wherever they go - in glorious living colors. It's not always a welcome talent, though, so he wears special lead crystal glasses that block it out when he doesn't need it on the job. As for that, his ability is a secret except to his partner, Special Agent Jimmy Donovan, his father, the head of the FBI and, of course, readers like me.

That ability is stretched almost to the limit in this book, when it's learned that the body of a female jogger in a wooded area isn't the first. Apparently, a serial killer has been plying his or her trade for years - and the modus operandi smacked of a seriously deranged individual. Steps and Jimmy catch the "perp," and that theory becomes a reality. Also a reality, though, is that at least one someone else is involved - someone who may be more dangerous than the one they caught (if that's possible).

When yet another woman goes missing, time becomes the enemy. The team has a pretty good idea how long they have before this latest kidnapping turns into a murder - and it may not be long enough. It takes the skills of every expert in the Special Tracking Unit, plus the help of other law enforcement officials with whom they routinely work, to identify and locate the person behind the grisly murders. The devil, of course, is in the details - and while I won't reveal any of them, trust me when I say they make for a highly engrossing story that I really, really didn't want to put down. 

For the record (and for those who prefer to read books in order), somehow I missed the second installment, Whispers of the Dead, more's the pity. It's a mistake I intend to rectify as soon as possible. Meantime, thanks once again to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy. Outstanding!

Shadows of the Dead by Spencer Kope (Minotaur Books, August 2020); 384 pp.

DEADLOCK

3.5 stars out of 5


This series featuring really cool (and now married with a young son) FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock is in second place when it comes to books from this author - I absolutely love her "Brit in the FBI" series co-written with J.T. Ellison. That said, I was excited to start this book - the 24th in the series. But sadly, it just doesn't measure up to the others I've read. The writing doesn't rise to the usual standard, the plot just didn't grab me and one of the characters I hope to never "see" again.

There's more than one story going on here, the first of which centers around Marsia Gay, who is in a correctional treatment facility in Washington, D.C. - and Savich is responsible for putting her there, so she's out to get him. She's also out to get another prisoner - a woman who has agreed to testify against her in an upcoming trial. Meanwhile, Rebekah, the young wife of a powerful U.S. Senator, visits a female medium named Zoltan, who claims Rebekah's late grandfather wants her to reveal a "secret" he passed on to her before he died. And, Savich is puzzled when he gets a red box containing part of a jigsaw that shows an unidentified pier cluttered with dead birds.

As fate (and the plot) would have it, FBI agent Pippa Cinelli, a financial expert who has been sent on a temporary basis to help Savich and Sherlock and their team, spots the puzzle. And wonder of wonders, she recognizes the scene as a pier in her home town (wow, what are the chances?) So, she's sent back, at first to work as an undercover agent, to see if she can find out who sent the puzzle and why. Ultimately, she connects with the local police chief, and the two begin a more in-depth investigation that's rife with potential danger.

Almost from the moment Pippa appeared, I suspected she was being groomed for a spin-off series; that feeling intensified when she was given the lion's share of page time. Actually, I hoped that would be the case; she struck me as childish and borderline silly - so if she got her own series, I could simply ignore it. Now that I've finished this book, I doubt that she'll be setting off on her own, so I'm hoping she'll be taking a background spot (the farther back the better) in the future. That police chief, on the other hand, is a totally engaging character, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him.

Most of the main characters take turns at being the targets of the bad guys and gals, and there's a fair amount of action to hold readers' attention right up to the end as the pieces of all the puzzles come together. This certainly isn't my favorite of the series, but it's definitely worth reading. 

Deadlock by Catherine Coulter (Gallery Books, July 2020); 476 pp.

UNTIL I FIND YOU

4 stars out of 5

Overall, I'd call this an edge-of-seat read; it's hard to resist the horror of going blind all by itself. Throw in a switcheroo of your infant son with a different one, and, well, yikes. 

Rebecca Gray is a recent widow, trying to care for a three-month-old baby her late husband never got to meet. If that weren't enough, she has a degenerative eye disease that's quickly moving toward total blindness. She gets around - far better than I'd have expected of anyone given the circumstances - with help from her near-photographic memory and the requisite white cane. Always, she keeps her son Jackson near, with bells tied to his tiny legs to alert her to his presence. She's also plagued with the feeling that she's being watched or followed and that someone may have been in her house.

Bec, a former professional cellist, has a few close friends with whom she socializes; one of them has a 10-year-old daughter, a musical prodigy Bec has taken on as a student. One day, Bec nearly collapses - and agrees to one of her friends' suggestions that she take sleeping pills and get some rest while the friend hangs around in case the baby wakes up. Bec gets a much-needed rest, all right, but the walls come crashing down when she goes to the crib to get Jackson and finds a baby there that isn't him.

She panics, understandably, and becomes even more agitated when her friends - even the one who stayed with her and Jackson - that the baby is the same one she's always had. Immediately, she concludes no one else will believe her - especially not the police - so instead of seeking professional help, she turns to the ex-boyfriend she loved with all her heart but who left her to take a job in another part of the country. He's found a new job here now, it seems, and they recently reconnected. Jake's actually a homicide detective, but he frustrates Bec because he emphasizes that while he'll do what he can to help, he has to follow established department rules.

With barely a little help from her friends, then, Bec pretty much sets out to investigate on her own - along the way bumping into walls both real and imagined. Finally, there's a breakthrough - and Bec realizes the truth doesn't live far from home.

Admittedly, I wasn't able to sympathize with Bec as much as I would have expected given her predicament. But fairly early on, she lost me when she refused to even consult the experts - rationalizing that they "won't believe me." Trust me, if somebody gave me the wrong baby, you'd have to pry me out of every police station and social worker's office in the state with a crowbar. When I got to the end, I also realized that Bec's concerns about being followed and the home invasions hadn't been addressed. So were her suspicions accurate or merely figments of an overactive imagination?

Still, the book was hard to put down, especially as Bec gets closer to finding her baby (or at least finding out what happened to him). All told, it's an engaging, fast-paced tale. Thanks to the publisher, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

Until I Find You by Rea Frey (St. Martin's Griffin, August 2020); 320 pp.