STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE

5 stars out of 5

After I finished wonderful book, I learned that the author took a year off starting in 2021 to travel. She says she resisted any calls for writing - producing no book last year - but got many ideas for books to come. If this one is an example of what she churns out after a respite, I encourage her to get outta Dodge whenever the urge strikes.

Actually, this is the third in a series; I haven't read the others, but I had no trouble following this one and insofar as possible warming up to a the rather standoffish Frankie, who's a recovering alcoholic and ace finder of missing people. When Kaylee Pierson's attorney asks Frankie to meet with Kaylee - dubbed the Beautiful Butcher because she violently murdered 18 men - just 21 days before she's to be executed for her crimes, Frankie is skeptical. But Kaylee's pleas for Frankie to find her long-lost younger sister Leilani and the billionaire who "kidnapped" her touched a nerve, and Frankie agrees to give it a try (albeit reluctantly).

The trail leads to a remote atoll in the Hawaiian Islands owned by said billionaire, where she'll join a team of workers who are trying to make the island habitable while not disrupting the abundant flora and fauna including large killer crabs and (gulp!) arachnids with bodies bigger than a Sumo wrestler's fist. Those tasks are difficult enough, but it soon becomes clear that something else is afoot, making it hard for Frankie (and readers) to know who to trust. Communication with the outside world is quite limited in this remote place to begin with, and a violent storm that starts rolling in not long after the billionaire and his young lady friend arrive threatens to reduce it to zero and wreak havoc on everything and everyone in its path. But alas, the storm isn't the only danger threatening human life - and Frankie, assuming her decision of who to trust is spot on,  may be the only hope for survival.

All told, it's an exciting adventure with more than a few surprises along the way. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner (Grand Central Publishing, March 2024); 409 pp.

RETRIBUTION

4 stars out of 5

This is the third book I've read in this series, and I have to say that I enjoy learning about our 50th U.S. state almost more than the story itself. Almost. But if it were a contest, the story would win.

This one is pretty much an edge-of-seat story that puts the lives of main character, Hilo Chief Detective Koa Kane, and those around him in jeopardy. It begins with the discovery of a murdered man; fingerprints on the murder weapon match those of Koa's brother, Ikaika, who has a troubled background but has been doing well for some time now. Of course, Koa smells a rat, but how can fingerprints lie?

Also of course, Koa is off the case because of his conflict of interest, but that doesn't stop him and a couple of colleagues (and his brother) from trying to get to the truth - impeded by the fact that the murder investigation has been turned over to a department colleague who is incompetent at best and is after Koa's job at worst. Then comes a shot across the bow - or rather an open space - that nearly kills Makanui K'au, another of Koa's close colleagues. 

The situation at the station goes from bad to worse as Koa's rival colleague's connections to the city mayor come to light; worse are the attempt to kill Nalani, the love of Koa's life, and another murder attempt that succeeds. Can Koa identify and catch the killer before even more of his friends and colleagues die? Only those who read the book will find out. Well done - and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. Now it's your turn!

Retribution by Robert McCaw (Oceanview Publishing, June 2023); 336 pp.

TREACHERY TIMES TWO

4 stars out of 5

This is the second book I've read in this four-book (so far) series featuring Hilo, Hawaii's Chief Detective Koa Kane, and like that other one, I enjoyed it very much. I'll admit it takes a little more effort to read these because I'm almost totally unfamiliar with our 50th state, its customs and, perhaps most important, those people names that often contain multiple apostrophes. But that's not necessarily a bad thing; to me, it means the books are of almost as much importance as a learning opportunity as for entertainment.

This one has two storylines, primary of which is the accidental discovery of a woman's body in an old cemetery that's been partially unearthed in a volcanic eruption. Problem is, the body isn't from an old burial; clearly, it's a recent murder, and whoever did the deed went to some lengths to conceal her identity. As he begins to look into the case, though, Kane's past comes back to haunt him in a big way; suddenly, he's forced to confront the possibility that the murder he committed 30 years ago will come to light. If it does, it's almost certain to ruin his career and, he thinks, his relationship with the woman he loves.

Investigation of the woman's body leads to a local defense contractor working on a highly classified project under the direction of an Elon Musk-type billionaire (is it just me, or are Musk clones showing up way too often in mystery/thrillers these days)? Anyway, it soon becomes clear that corporate powers-that-be haven't been totally honest in their explanation of the dead woman's job, prompting Kane and his crew to dig a little deeper. As it turns out, she played a much greater role at the company than the company is willing to admit - leading to questions as to which side which person is on.

Amid all this, Kane has to deal with the grandson of the man he murdered all those years ago - a death that was at the time ruled a suicide. The grandson, an attorney, claims the investigation back then was shoddy (which, pretty much, it was), and he's looking for the truth about his beloved grandfather (who was, by all other accounts, a rather nasty fellow). When somebody takes a potshot at Kane, the question becomes, who took it and to which case does it relate? From that point on, the action heats up considerably, as do Kane's angst and hand-wringing over his years-ago actions. But the woman's death isn't much easier to solve - at least not without some pretty tense moments. All told, it's another attention-holding adventure, and I once again thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a copy.

Treachery Times Two by Robert McCaw (Oceanview Publishing, January 2022); 353 pp.

FIRE AND VENGEANCE

 4 stars out of 5

The description intrigued me - and I'm always up for

a new-to-me series - so I happily accepted the publisher's invitation to read it. Now I've finished, and I found it to be an interesting, and for many reasons unique, plot.

I do have to say that reading it was a bit of a struggle for me, given that I'm almost totally unfamiliar with Hawaiian given and surnames. In part, that's my bad; after all, Hawaii has been a U.S. state since 1959 (the year I graduated from high school, in fact). That this many years later the only words and people from Hawaii I knew going into this were "aloha," "mahalo" and Daniel Inouye doesn't exactly put me in a very good light. Still, the abundance of characters and the frequently interspersed Hawaiian phrases made the reading slower than my usual speed of light (notably, though, the meanings of those phrases are always explained).

I'm not sure where the book falls in the series - Amazon calls it No. 2 and Goodreads says No. 3 - but it seemed to me to stand alone quite well. The star of the show is Detective Koa Kane, who, as the official description says, isn't from "a typical law enforcement family." For one thing, he's a murderer who never got caught; for another, his younger brother has been in trouble with the law ever since he was a child and currently is in jail with four more years to go on his sentence.

The story begins with an horrific blast: The sudden eruption of a volcano that's still classified as active but has been quiet for 200 years. When it blew this time, it took with it most of a school that was built recently right at the top (I know, I can't fathom why anyone would do that either, but then Hawaiians are far more used to living with volcanoes than I am). Some children and teachers were killed in the blast; making matters worse, though, is the realization that someone - or several someones - involved in the building process knew that the school would be situated right over a volcanic vent (fumerole) and tried to cover it up with concrete.

As the investigation heats up, Kane gets another blow: His brother collapses in jail, and afterward it is learned that he has a previously undiagnosed brain tumor. That, in turn, leads Kane to split his efforts between solving what has become a crime at the school and trying to get his brother an early release from prison. And at the outset, both become seemingly impossible tasks.

He may be down - especially when conspiracy rears its ugly head - but he's not out. From this point on, the action picks up on both fronts; on the negative side, it's hard for him to tell the bad guys and gals from the good. On the positive side, he's got several loyal friends and sources who are well qualified, and willing, to help. All in all, an enjoyable book - and I look forward to the next one.

Fire and Vengeance by Robert McCaw (Oceanview Publishing, May 2020); 353 pp.

KILLING MAINE

4 stars out of 5

Some of my favorite authors don't hesitate to tackle issues important to them - Brad Thor and John Grisham come to mind immediately. But Gott im Himmel - in this one, the editorializing nearly obliterates the story. And that's too bad because there is a story here, and, IMHO, a darned good one. 

I came close to missing it; after a few chapters, I'd grown so weary of the bashing of the wind energy industry, "crooked" politicians, newspapers and business leaders that I actually considered giving up. Now that I'm finished, I'm very glad I hung in there, and I thank the publisher for offering me a copy for review. My 4-star rating, in fact, is based on the underlying story - with the caution to other readers that  they'll have to ride out a soapbox derby to find it.

In fairness, though, the ever-increasing wind turbine farms in Maine is not only central to the plot here, but an important environmental issue: Their presence, particularly in such large numbers, clearly is harmful to wildlife and humans (hence the title of the book) while bringing, not insignificantly, the lure of huge profits to proponents. Hey, I'm from northeastern Ohio, where the big issue now is fracking; trust me, I get it. But in a work that's touted as fiction, the constant haranguing is, well, overkill.

I'll also note that this is the author's second book featuring former Special Forces veteran Pono Hawkins, who mostly spends his civilian life surfing in Hawaii (the first is Saving Paradise, which I have not read). This book stands alone well, though; I didn't realize there was a previous book until after I'd finished it. That said, when the main character mentioned on a couple of occasions, "As I said in that other book..." I did wonder what the heck he was talking about. 

Here, he's called to come to Maine - in the dead of winter, yet - to help former Special Forces teammate Bucky get out of jail after being charged with murder (as well as a successful shootout that destroyed a couple of wind turbines). Problem is, Bucky and Pono aren't even close to being friends; Bucky's testimony back in the day helped put Pono in prison (he was exonerated shortly thereafter), and then he had the audacity to marry Pono's girlfriend Lexie. But loyalty to the corps trumps everything else, so Pono reluctantly says goodbye to the ocean waves and heads to the Pine Tree State, where his own ancestors are lying (probably in unrest, given the current environmental issues).

Then things start to get muddled - and very cold. For openers, Bucky is less than cooperative despite his insistence that he's innocent. In short order, Pono becomes the target of an unknown sniper, and as one might expect, his lust for his pre-prison flame Lexie returns with a vengeance. The course of his investigation also puts him in close contact with the murder victim's widow, Abigail, and long-ago girlfriend Erica, now a hot-shot attorney. For sure, there's plenty of contact to go around; the sex scenes really aren't graphic, but they're plentiful enough that I started to suspect that while the incessant whine of those turbines may be destroying the hearing of local folks,  it's making them very horny as well.

The corrupt powers-that-be, of course, aren't happy to find Pono's nose in their big business. At every ice-covered turn, he's thwarted by local police, who seem intent on putting him behind bars again. And in the middle of all this, Pono learns that his beloved father, who's still in Hawaii (where the government also is corrupt, BTW), is dying of cancer. Pono needs to get back to see him, but that won't be easy when the police are eyeing his every move. Besides that, his efforts could be putting the three women with whom he's enamored in danger. And there's this: If the corruption is as entrenched as he believes, even if he's able to track the identity of the culprits, nothing will be done about it.

Some editing would be helpful here and there - a few words are omitted in sentences, and it struck me as odd when a character whose grammar has been almost impeccable suddenly  pops up with, "I didn't do nothing." Of course, how it all works out in the end I won't reveal, but I'll certainly repeat that this is a story worth reading. 

Killing Maine by Mike Bond (Mandevilla Press, August 2015); 388 pp.