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.

NOCTURNE IN ASHES

4 stars out of 5

A book series is akin to comfort food for me. Why? Because I read so many pre-release books by authors unfamiliar to me that are sort of like buying a pig in a poke (no disrespect intended), it's a wonderful respite from anxiety when I can return to an old friend. Accordingly, finding a promising new series is a special treat - as is the case with this one. Now that I've finished, I'm looking forward to meeting the main character, classical pianist and budding detective Riley Forte, again (and again and again).  

At the outset, though, I wasn't so sure; having lost her beloved husband and young son two years earlier, Riley remains so stuck in the throes of grief that she can't finish her "comeback" concert and is barely able to function without help from her ever-at-the-ready friend Teren. A fan of weepy, self-questioning female characters I'm not (one reason I read very few cozy mysteries). But as the story moves along, Riley starts to take charge of her own life and becomes a character I not only like, but want to read more about.

Three main scenarios kick off the plot: An on-the-prowl serial killer who has spent many years perfecting his craft, a geologist who strives to be known as the man who saved Seattle-area dwellers from a killer volcano eruption and Riley's struggle to return to some semblance of normalcy. That did make it a bit hard for me to keep all the characters straight early on, but after reading quite a few books that take this approach, I figured (correctly) that at some point the threads would be woven into a single fabric. 

The  geologist actually gets his wish; Mt. Rainier is, in fact, set to blow any second - and his warning comes soon enough to allow most folks to get out of the way. Among them is Riley, who ends up isolated at Mountain Vista, about 80 miles from Rainier's deadly spews. Her buddy Teren, a few neighbors and hunky detective Nate are there too - separated from his partner Rick. When mutilated bodies turn up, the Mountain Vista crowd are stunned to learn that the killer is in their midst as well. Rainier's deadly fallout makes communication with and travel to the outside world impossible, though, so Nate knows he must catch the killer before he (or she) catches them and grudgingly accepts Riley's help. 

Overall, it's quite a ride, complete with some surprises. Within the first few chapters, I narrowed the killer list down to two, but I didn't find out for sure till near the end (and yes, one of my picks was spot-on). It's an engrossing tale, and now that Riley has her head together, I'm hoping to see what her future holds. Many thanks to the author for offering me a copy to read and review.

Nocturne in Ashes by Joslyn Chase (Amazon Digital Services LLC, July 2017); 394 pp.