A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES

4 stars out of 5

My only acquaintance with this author's police Inspector

John Rebus character came several years ago via a short story co-written with Peter James for the "FaceOff" compilation. That was sufficient, though, for me to be very interested in reading one of the full-blown books - which I was able to do with a pre-release copy courtesy of the publisher (via NetGalley). Quite enjoyable, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for the next one.

As the story opens, a mostly retired Rebus, whose COPD has made stairs a challenge, has moved to a ground-floor flat in Edinburgh with sometimes grudging help from his not-so-old partner Siobhan Clarke. She and her team are working to solve the murder of the son of a man who is under house arrest in Saudi Arabia. As they are finishing up the moving (and trying to get Rebus's dog, Brillo, acclimated to the new digs), he gets a call from his daughter Samantha. It seems that her partner Keith, the father of her daughter, has gone missing.

Despite (or maybe because of) his rocky relationship with Samantha, Rebus wastes no time driving his ancient car to her place. What he finds isn't positive; no sign of Keith and no clues other than that he'd joined a local history group with an interest in an old World War II prison camp that they'd love to turn into a tourist attraction.

And here, the waters get murky; first, the local police seem to think Samantha may have played some kind of role in Keith's disappearance - putting Rebus at odds with the cops as well as increasingly concerned about his daughter. And second, the owner of the land now occupied by a local commune - sometimes visited by Samantha - has ties to a player in the murder case Clarke's team is trying to solve.

As for me, while the book stands alone well, I have no doubt I'd have enjoyed it more had I read previous books and been more familiar with the characters in them. Still and all, this is a clever story that's well-written - and as I said at the beginning, I don't plan on letting another one go by without getting my hands on it.

A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin (Little, Brown and Co., October 2020); 336 pp.

DEAD WOMAN CROSSING

4 stars out of 5

If the first entry is an example, the Detective Kimberley

King series should have a long run. For sure, I'll be waiting to get my hands on the next one.

Detective Kimberley King and her young daughter, Jessica, have relocated to Dead Woman Crossing in Custer County, Oklahoma. It's far a more remote, and presumably laid back, place compared to the NYPD she left behind (along with some not-so-good experiences). For a while, she'll be living with her mother and stepfather in what turns out to be a small cottage on the farm that her stepbrother and his wife operate.

The town got its name after an unsolved crime from 1905, when a young woman was murdered on the banks of a creek. Just as she's getting to know her way around - and to know the ways of Sheriff Sam Walker, her boss - another young woman is found murdered at the same place and in the same manner. Whoever killed the girl back then can't still be alive, so is someone trying to copy what happened back then?

Meantime, Kimberley works to find the murderer, but her family isn't as supportive as she'd like - especially when clues lead to the possibility that the killer is someone they all know. The outcome of that could lead to more than ruffled family feathers as Kimberley learns she and her daughter could be in the crosshairs of a very dangerous person.

All told, it's a solid start to a promising series. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it.

Dead Woman Crossing by J.R. Adler (Bookouture, September 2020); 347 pp.

NEAR DARK

5 stars out of 5

For whatever reason, I've missed the last couple of

books in the Scot Harvath series - as in did not read. Not long after I started this one, I realized I've missed them like I miss long-lost friends. As Celine Dion sang, "It's all coming back to me now" - and I've vowed not to make the same mistake going forward.

What that boils down to, in book review terms, is that I absolutely loved this one. Maybe it's because I saw a less gung-ho, more circumspect Harvath, still reeling from events that happened in previous books. There was plenty of action, but it didn't seem as rough as usual, and I sensed that Harvath's heart wasn't really in it. Besides that, the author's sometimes lengthy diatribes against some issue or other were noticeable to me in their absence. Quite honestly, all that made this book more interesting to me, but I'll venture a guess that die-hard fans might not be quite as enthusiastic. My husband - also a fan of this series - just started reading this one, and I'll be interested to get his take.

As it begins, Harvath is drowning himself in his sorrows (more accurately, in substantial quantities of alcohol) in Key West when he gets bad news; a  beloved colleague has been tortured and murdered. The news gets even worse: apparently, someone is offering an almost unbelievably high bounty on his own head - to be paid to the first player to achieve success. Over his years working for the Carleton Group, which functions as a more clandestine CIA, Harvath has accumulated no shortage of enemies. But is it possible that the two bad news scenarios are somehow connected? 

Enter beautiful and well-skilled Norwegian agent Solvi Kolstad, also a protogee of Harvath's murdered colleague and an intelligence agent, who is on the warpath to find the man's killer. What's more, she wants to hook up with Harvath and put their heads together (with a hint that a few other body parts might be shared as well somewhere down the line). The trick, you see, will be ferreting out the colleague's murderer (and, depending on who that is, who ordered the hit) while avoiding the bounty hunters who will do almost anything to snuff out Harvath for good. The sometimes bloody trail takes him and Solvi to a few countries and a few narrow escapes and culminates, I must say, in an ending that's satisfying to some characters but not to others.

The conclusion to my review is a non-conclusion; I have no idea from whence my copy came. Most of the books I read I get as advance review copies from publishers via NetGalley, but this one - a hardcover edition - simply showed up in the mail with no accompanying documentation. I have a vague recollection of entering some kind of giveaway - possibly from Bookish First - but thus far I haven't been able to confirm it. So for now, all I can say is whoever you are, I thank you very much. 

Near Dark by Brad Thor (Atria/Emily Bestler Books, July 2020); 349 pp.

ROBERT B. PARKER'S SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME

 5 stars out of 5

Spenser is one of my all-time favorite book

characters (and one of very few who translated well to the small screen, IMHO). When this author took over from the late Robert B. Parker, I was skeptical; but he's done an exemplary job of staying true to the original. My only "complaint," if you will, is that I've seen little of Spenser's cohort Hawk - another favorite character - and when he did appear, he didn't quite "sound" like himself. Well, folks, Hawk's back in this one - both in person and voice. . Spenser is his usual self, although he did seem more inclined to respond in quotes from literary works than usual.

Several years ago, Spenser helped teenager Mattie Sullivan; since then, she's attached herself to Spenser to learn the investigation business. Now, one of her childhood friends left a backpack containing a laptop at a posh club when she ran out after being coerced into giving an elderly gentleman a "massage." Mattie promised to get it back and asks Spenser for advice on making that happen. When he goes to the club to ask for the return of the backpack, he gets a decidedly frosty response that convinces him there's far more to the story than meets the private eye.

On the home front, Spenser's long-time love, Susan, is trying to adapt to the third iteration of Pearl, their lovable dog (the second Pearl died recently). Spenser swears the two recent dogs are the original Pearl reincarnated, but Susan isn't quite ready to buy into that theory. She also doesn't quite buy into the need for Spenser to get involved with Mattie's case.

After a bit more investigation, Spenser and Mattie learn that the club is frequented by a billionaire who has properties and important contacts all over the world and an apparent taste for girls not yet old enough to drive a car. The guy turns out to be a hedge fund manager with at least one getaway outside U.S. jurisdiction, where he treats his friends to illicit meetups with smuggled-in girls, some recruited by his female accomplice. Needless to say, that rankles Spenser, who asks Hawk to help him get the girls out safely and put the Jeffrey Epstein wannabe behind bars. But soon enough, Spenser learns it may not be a walk in the park; the couple they're after are in cahoots with the so-called Gray Man, a hired assassin who nearly killed Spenser not long ago - and Spenser isn't exactly itching for a rematch.

All in all, it's another fast-paced, easy-to-read adventure that should satisfy most Spenser enthusiasts. For sure I'm happy, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read an advance copy.

Robert B. Parker's Someone to Watch Over Me by Ace Atkins (G.P. Putnam's Sons, November 2020); 320 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.

DON'T EVER FORGET

3.5 stars

I really had trouble "getting into" this book, an Amazon

Prime Reads selection; at one point fairly early on, I nearly called it quits. But I hung in there, and by somewhere around the halfway point, I had at least some idea of what was going on and was able to keep the considerable cast of characters straight. Now that I've finished, I can't say I truly enjoyed it. The highlight for me, in fact, is that while it's described as a "mind-bending page-turner," it offers a sad, but accurate, portrayal of the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease.

This is the first in a new "Adler and Dwyer" series, although the author explains that some characters and situations are taken from other of his books (none of which I've read). The primary character here is state police investigator Susan Adler; Liam Dwyer - a forensics specialist with the Philadelphia Police Department who's recovering from injuries - makes a few appearances around the mid-point that no doubt set the stage for the next book, but otherwise his contribution is virtually nonexistent. For me, more's the pity; I liked him far more than I liked Adler.

The plot, which centers around what appears to be the kidnapping of a man believed to be a serial killer, is complicated - made more confusing as scenes shift from that to Adler's investigation of a murdered state trooper to recollections of the presumed serial killer to events that apparently led up to the disappearance of individuals years ago that now languish as cold cases. Eventually, all of those begin to merge - with a few twists - as Adler and her team get closer to the truth.

The verdict? Not bad, but if this is to be a series with two main characters - as indicated in the description - my hope is that the next one will put the spotlight on both of them. Fewer characters and a less convoluted plot would help as well. 

Don't Ever Forget by Matthew Farrell (Thomas & Mercer, September 2020); 348 pp.

RELUCTANT HEART

4 stars out of 5

Disclosure: Under normal conditions, I'd rather walk barefoot through hot

coals than read a romance novel. More disclosure: While I wouldn't recognize the author if I passed her on the street, we do share a local connection. And since one of the joys of my life is reading and reviewing books - 88 so far this year, mostly pre-release copies through NetGalley - I figured a positive review can't hurt. In this case, though, I decided to hedge my bets. Instead of begging for a free copy and hoping my request is approved as is the custom at NetGalley, I opted to get my own directly from Amazon. That way, if I couldn't make it to the end without losing my lunch, I'd just skip it and no one would be the wiser.

Well, you're reading this, so guess what? 

The central character is Kacie Parker, an early 40-something who lost her husband Todd a couple of years earlier in a helicopter accident. Their two grown children are off to college (although they live in Virginia, the daughter is enrolled at The Ohio State University - go Bucks). Suddenly, she gets a blast from her past when her husband's old friend Charlie Walsh knocks at her door. And suddenly, her lonely but comfortable life gets turned upside down; Charlie, it seems, has loved her for years. Now, he's come to stake a claim of his own (with fingers crossed that she's willing to even consider letting him in the game).

In truth, she is; she'd love nothing more than for him to lug his suitcase (and her) straight up to her bedroom. But immediately, self-doubts and what-ifs invade her head. Will her lust for Charlie sully memories of her late husband? Will the kids think she's a traitor? How will Todd's parents and their hoity-toity friends react? Ah, the guilt!

And herein lies the biggest issue I have with romance novels - my total disdain for (and admitted inability to relate to) wishy-washy females who just can't seem to get it together. And there's no lack of that here; Kacie straddles the fence more than I'd like, and several times I wanted to yell, hey lady, Charlie's got the hots for you, and you've got the hots for Charlie. Just get it on, already!

That said, Kacie's actions and reactions don't go that far over the top. Several uncomfortable situations arise that leave her confused about her feelings, but after she thinks through whatever the issue is, she is able to sort out and make sense of her emotions. It may take a while for her to come around (with no small amount of help from Charlie, who for a guy seems unusually sensitive to what the woman he's after wants), but it's clear that she knows her own mind and, in the end, will make sensible decisions. No, I won't reveal what those are - you'll have to read it for yourself (which I hope you do).

So it is that I reached the end not only with my lunch intact - actually, two or three of them, plus a couple of dinners - but also with the realization that this is a well-written, entertaining book that I don't hesitate to recommend to anyone who enjoys this genre. Mind you, I'm still nowhere near making a beeline for the bodice-ripper shelves at the library. But when the author finishes her next book (which she says she's working on now), I'll certainly be willing to give it a go. Good job!

Reluctant Heart by Lindsay Evanoff (independently published, August 2020); 338 pp.