SHADOWS REEL

4 stars out of 5

Dark and heavy on politics, this - the 22nd in the series featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett, his family and longtime friend and falconer Nate Romanowski - is a noticeable departure from the usual fare. Don't misunderstand - I enjoyed it immensely, as I did all that came before it. That said, I'm hoping it's not setting a trend for future installments.

Theme One: It's almost Thanksgiving, and Joe's wife Marybeth, director of the town library, is looking forward to having their three daughters at their relatively new home for the holiday. As she's clearing the decks to leave, she sees an unkempt man leave a package on the library steps. When she opens it, she finds a worn photo album that apparently belonged to a high-ranking Nazi officer. Another thing soon becomes apparent: a couple of nasty guys named Viktor and Laslo are determined to get it back.

Theme Two: Joe fields a call about moose-poaching - an out-of-season no-no that makes his blood boil. It turns chilling, though, when he discovers that the dead moose is human - clearly tortured, burned and tossed over a fence on a remote property. Turns out he's a local fishing guide with not much money and no known enemies, so why on earth would anyone want to kill him?

Theme Three: In a previous book, Nate's wife Liv and young daughter Kestral were seriously roughed up, after which the attacker killed a couple of Nate's falcons and stole the rest. The time and expertise it took to train them notwithstanding, the loss of the birds threatens Nate's hard-won livelihood and now he's off not only to get payback for hurting his wife and daughter, but to bring his prized falcons back to their mews.

As might be expected, chapters follow the progress of each scenario to let readers know what's really going on as well as how or if they're all somehow connected. I won't reveal details, but I will say that Nate's adventures evolve into a scenario ripped from the headlines complete with politically-laced explanations that border on diatribes. That Nate dragged Joe into the mix was even more disheartening, even more so since I'm still not sure why that was necessary. 

Still, everything came together well, and I very much enjoyed the historical information that accompanied the photo album scenario (it was, the author says in the acknowledgements, based on facts). And just for my own amusement, I'll also mention something that gave me a guffaw many years ago and again here: At one point, the dialog reads, "Shut up!" Viktor explained. Flash back to the mention of a book in a long-ago issue of Writer's Digest; written by William Noble and subtitled "A Guide to the Uses and Misuses of Dialogue." The title was Shut UP!" He Explained. As a professional writer and editor who often dealt with such idiocies, I thought at the time it was the funniest, yet most appropriate, book titles I'd ever heard of. I have no idea whether the author of this book used the comment intentionally, but it was a hoot to see it again.

Shadows Reel by C.J. Box (G.P. Putnam's Sons, March 2022); 366 pp.

THE BOUNTY

4 stars out of 5

From the first page to the last, I kept thinking that this would make a terrific action-packed motion picture. As for the book? Well, it would make a terrific action-packed movie.

Mind you, I haven't read any of the six preceding books in this series that feature FBI Special Agent Kate O'Hare and professional con man Nick Fox. But I'm intimately acquainted with virtually all of author Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books and am a big fan of author Lee Goldberg, who co-wrote the first five in this series. And, I've read and enjoyed two books by the co-author of this one. So when I got the chance to read and review a pre-release copy, I was delighted.

Now that I've finished, though, I'm a little less enthused; the whole thing struck me as a bit shallow. To be sure, the action never stops (think Indiana Jones on steroids) which, generally speaking, is a good thing - certainly in a movie. In written form, though, it just seemed to be too much, too fast. Beyond that, the limited conversation among the various characters - especially between O'Hare and Fox, despite a few humorous and sexually suggestive one-liners - failed to give me any real insights into their characters or entice me to develop anything close to camaraderie with any of them. 

The plot itself is intriguing; it begins at the Vatican Museum, as Kate and Nick try to thwart a robbery in progress. They're told the target is a priceless diamond-encrusted ring; but turns out it was a very old map which, rumor has it, leads to $30 billion in gold supposedly hidden after World War II by a group of Nazis called the Brotherhood. As it also turns out, the thief - who gets away in fine James Bond fettle - is someone very familiar to Nick.

The resulting chase takes Nick and Kate - who also gets help from a familiar figure - to historic locations in several countries, each adventure fraught with almost unimaginable danger. In fact, what impressed me most about the book is the attention to detail with regard to their surroundings at each new venue; clearly, effort was put into research and making those parts very interesting (at least to me). At each spot, the goal is to find the next piece of the map - hopefully leading to the final piece and, of course, the gold.

Was anyone harmed in the process? Several (but my lips are sealed). Did the gold really exist and did they find it? Still not talking. Overall, it's a thrill-a-minute adventure that most likely will be enjoyed most by those who read the previous books. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for this one.

Now when can we expect that movie? I've got a few ideas for casting (hint: call me).

The Bounty by Janet Evanovich and Steve Hamilton (Atria Books, March 2021); 320 pp.