Teaser Tuesday: Close Your Eyes by Amanda Eyre Ward

"What do you mean, news?”

“Well, at least you have your priorities in order.” My brother sounded like he was pouting. I remembered the way he would hide under the kitchen table when our parents fought, refusing to come out.


Title: Close Your Eyes
Author: Amanda Eyre Ward
ISBN: 978-0345494481
Publisher: Random House/2011
Pages: 272

This books open in 1986, where Lauren Mahdian and Alex are kids, six and eigth, respectively. When Lauren wakes up from a nightmarish dream, she finds her mother murdered and father arrested of the same crime. Alex and Lauren are bound by that tragedy.  Alex has always been in touch with their father, writing him letters and calling him. However, Lauren has no contact with her father.

Come to 2010, Alex, now a doctor and wants to do something. He goes to Iraq and disappears. Lauren is now utterly alone, with no one to turn to. Her boyfriend, Gerry, is a good person but   Lauren is unable to get close to him.  Slowly, Lauren tries to unravel the truth from her memories, to find out what really happened that night.

We find that Sylvia and Victoria are strangely connected to the Mahdian family. How? The answers to that one keeps the reader in tenterhooks until the end. It is about love between siblings, about love for ones parents and also about that love, which the giver can't understand. Lauren has this strange compulsion to find out everything after Alex disappears. It is her love for him that forces her to seek the truth which she had always tried to brush aside.

It has the right element of suspense, mystery and a good story line. All in all, a good read.

Teaser Tuesday: Borderlands by Brian McGilloway

 'I can tell you that she's dead, and that someone killed her and dumped her here, so it's over to you now. The state pathologist will be here as soon as possible.'

Title: Borderlands
Author: Brian McGilloway

ISBN: 978-0330452557
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur/2008
Pages: 240

This is the first Inspector Devlin book by Borderlands by Brian McGilloway. Inspector Benedict Devlin works in the south but very near the border with the north in Ireland. We get learn about the troubles between north and south and the politics which accompany it.

Devlin has family issues yet tries to piece together a murder of a young girl, Angela Cashell, with no clues except for an old photograph and a very old ring. Her father is very well known by the police and he is the prime suspect. Then another youngster is murdered, with another clue of a photograph – whoever is in the photograph must know something. The photograph is twenty five years old and when Devlin and his colleagues find out who is that person then a lot of skeletons fall from their own police station, Garda station in recent months.

McGilloway has created suspense and mystery, and uses the weather too metaphorically to set the scene for many confrontations, and place the deaths and the investigation in a dark place, while the snow and the whiteness of it is in contrast. Battling the weather at every turn, Devlin is warned off by someone and their revenge but when it starts to affect his young family he needs to solve these murders and the mystery of the photograph rather very fast.

As for as good police procedurals go, it is one of those. I say go for it.

Teaser Tuesday: The Nesting Dolls by Gail Bowen

We were with the girls in seconds. “What’s going on?” I said.

Gracie was the first to speak. “That woman just gave her baby to Isobel.”


Title: The Nesting Dolls
Author: Gail Bowen
ISBN: 9780771012754
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart/2010
Pages: 336

It might sound strange but, this 12th Joane Kilburn novel is my first. Although it might appear that some parts are missing but It is a stand alone one. Here she is married to Zack Shreve, and they are both happy with her adopted daughter Taylor. With Christmas around the corner, everything looks bright and happy. But a young woman enters their life, and leaves her infant son with Isobel Wainberg, Taylor's best friend, and disappears. Everyone is looking for her wanting to know her motive of leaving the baby boy. But she is found dead, after being raped. No one has seen her in the vicinity, and no one knows who she is. 

It turns out that she was the daughter of Delia Wainberg, Isobel's mother. Zack, Delia, and Noah, are old college friends, yet Noah and Zack do not know Delia's past. The baby is much loved by all and Delia is anguished to find her long lost daughter dead. Abby has left the baby in Delia;s care but Nadine, her partner to wants the child. Zack is representing Deila and Joanne thinks Nadine too deserves a chance. 

The novel sometimes gets off the mark but it has a good pace. The complications of relationships is well depicted. And the suspense holds good till the end. I liked the title and the characters. Another good crime fiction novel!!

Teaser Tuesday: Silent Partner by Jennifer Chase

A searing pain impacted her stomach, followed by several more blows near her ribcage. A large knife stabbed through her torso repeatedly, thrust after thrust. 
Rhythmic. 
Intense. 
Absolute.

Silent Partner by Jennifer Chase

ISBN: 9780982953600
Publisher: JEC Press/2010
Pages: 308

The ending is a complete surprise. Why am I starting from the end? Because this starts with the usual story line. Even one starts to thins it is predictable somewhere in between. But no, it is a complete turnaround.

Jack Davis works as a K9 officer in the local police department. When a murder is committed, he gets to meet Megan again. They have known each other since they were children. It is her sister who is murdered. And Megan is a suspect. There is this psychopath killer Darrell Brooks, which is totally evil and twisted soul. Jack is ion his trail. 

Megan sees things in her mind. She hallucinates. No one believes her except for Jack. They resume their old relationship. And Jack is also investigating the case by trying to track down Brooks. He does get a lead. Jack has a silent partner, his dog Keno, who is brave and can go to any length to save his master's life.

This novel has some interesting moments, holds our interest and definitely has a good unexpected ending.


 

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

"Emily Barton, I think, has a mental picture of men as interminably consuming whiskeys and sodas and smoking cigars, and in the intervals dropping out to do a few seductions of village maidens, or to conduct a liaison with a married woman." 
~~~Page 82, The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

Title: The Moving Finger
Author: Agatha Christie
ISBN: 0440158613
Publisher: Dell/1982
Pages: 189

Narrated by Jerry Burton, The Moving Finger is based in Lymstock, which is a typical idyllic English town. Everything seems to be in a slow pace here. But the tranquility ends when someone with a poison starts to write letters to its inhabitants, shredding their reputation. Everyone seems to dread the mailbox. One day the shock and scandal is so much that the receiver supposedly commits suicide. Some think there is truth in that letter and a few others have their misgivings. 

Then another dead body is found and it is a murder. The police have to uncover the truth. Jerry Burton has had a nasty accident while flying and has arrived in Lymstock with his sister Joanna Burton, to recover. Joanna to receives one of the poisoned letters. Jerry knows he has to do something. And Miss Jane Marple comes to his aid in the last quarter of the novel. 

The good doctor, Owen Griffith and his sister Aimee, the lawyer Symmington, and other characters including he childish Megan make it an entertaining reading. The novel moves slow for a mystery but it holds the interest of the reader. The ending was surprising. Agatha Christie novels never ever failed. Lovers of cozy mystery, can read it safely!

Thanks to Stacy of Stacy's Books for this novel! 

Out At Night by Susan Arnout Smith

"They've been using the money to fund eco-terrorism. Paying for safe houses. Guns. Bombs."

~Page 210

Title: Out At Night
Author: Susan Arnout Smith
ISBN: 978-0007275519
Publisher: Minotaur Books/2009
Pages: 283

When Professor Thaddeus Bartholomew is being chased by a killer, he has no time other other than type a text message with the name of Grace Descanso, before he is killed. He is found in a soy field, with a crossbow shot in his chest. 

Grace, is a crime-scene tech and is on a vacation with her daughter. FBI has no compunctions about getting in touch with her. Grace has only a vague recollection of the Prof and does not understand his last text before his death. Her Uncle Pete, who is in the FBI does not want her to walk away. 

When she starts the investigations in her own way, she finds her family involved in it. And the genetically modified soy is only a scratch in the surface.  And the Prof. murder is not a random act! there are politicians, and agriculturists involved. It is always  question of money. 

Out At Night is very real. In the sense that by modifying our plant life, we are playing God, creating havoc for the nature, for humanity. The initial want of better yields, has given way to destruction, power and money. We need to tackle those questions.

Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek

"The blood was definitely female."
"Female...What age?"

~Page 125

Title: Therapy
Author: Sebastian Fitzek
ISBN: 9780330453158
Publisher: Pan Books/2008
Pages: 293

It is as if 12 year old Josephine did not exist. She disappears without a trace from her doctor's clinic without a trace. Her father, a well known psychiatrist Viktor Larenz, searches for her and leaves his practice, goes to live in a remote North Sea Island. It is the only way he can deal with his loss. And he is also drifting apart from his wife.

A beautiful woman, Anna Glass, a writer of children's fiction, come to visit him and wants him treat her for her  rare form of schizophrenia. Her characters in her novel come to life for her and she does not understand that. Dr Larenz finds her story intriguing and reluctantly agrees to treat her as he somehow finds resemblance between one of her characters with Josie. He has to know more, and only by knowing the ending of her story, he might get to know about her disappearance.

Viktor's grief, his obsession to know more, keeps us hooked to this novel. The enigmatic Anna, we want to know more about her. She appears real and yet unreal. Viktor is warned against her but he can't let her go as he can't let go off Josie. Listening to her story, he believes Anna is somehow responsible for her disappearance.

The reader feels for Viktor, his desperation to find anything about his much loved daughter. The interaction between Anna and Viktor keeps the reader wanting more. And when we finally get to the end, it leaves us completely blown out of our mind. Therapy is a novel one can't put down without finishing from start to finish. I would definitely recommend this and look forward to read more by the author.

Blood Over Badge by Wayne Farquhar

"He could feel blows all over his body but he went numb. Pierce beat the shit out of him with a small wooden billy club."

Title:Blood Over Badge
Author: Wayne Farquhar
ISBN: 9780615359113
Publisher: 3L publishing/2010
Pages: 250

It starts with the trial of Kyle, who is barely 17 years old. He has murdered a man and is sentenced for life and sent to Angola Penitentiary, which is a hell hole. 16 years later, we see that his body, mind and soul slowly dissolving away. 

In San Francisco, the Mayor's daughter is kidnapped and murdered. The killer is a rapist too. Jack Paige and Casey Ford are investigating it. They are in look out for the murderer. 

These two are unrelated crimes and unrelated murderers. And suddenly there is a link. And what is that link? The characters have not much in common, not with the victim, the convicts or anyone else. Yet, there is a relationship. And such a one which takes the reader over the edge. With well etched characters, family issues, a revolting correctional officer, and very plausible detailing, intense emotions, great dialogues, this a good crime fiction debut. The ending is such that it hits the reader hard. And we are left with mixed feelings. 

No murderer deserves sympathy, no crime is greater than killing. Yet, there are questions on is it what we want our system to be? Don't prisoners deserve a decent life in prison? How does one deal with crooked correctional officers? As a murder mystery, it works well and Wayne Farquhar can deliver.

Teaser Tuesday: Silent Kill by David Fingerman

Leonard Hout choked back a cry; and vomit bubbled up his throat.  A man lay crumpled on the back seat, his dead eyes staring at the roof.
~Page 8

Title: Silent Kill
Author: David Fingerman
ISBN: 9781603182300
Publisher: L & L Dreamspell/2010

In Silent Kill the reader is aware of what is going on and by whom but the police are not aware of anything.  And the killings and kidnappings do not appear to be connected either.

A cop is found missing, his body is found in a lake. As he was a friend of hers, Minneapolis police officer Louisa Miller, while investigating finds something common, a very big guy seen in the vicinity of all the crimes committed.  Her brother Andrew, a fresh recruit, tells that to his mentor officer, when they get a call for more murders. All these seem to revolve around a Rottweiler.

What makes the killer go on a rampage is a voice in head. A voice from his past. Why?

The kidnappings are related in a way. The murderers are related to that Rottweiler. And all these are somehow connected. Louise Miller has to find the reason and also nab the killer. And in midst of all this something happens, and it becomes very personal for her.

I liked the pace of the novel. And the search for that killer keeps us in our toes although we know who is he. The characters have depth and Louise has attitude. Andrew is too eager to learn. The kidnapped persons too fight to get free. I liked their dialogue and their interaction with each other. Dr. Gillespy seems to have an interesting past. The author kept that open as he did with the psychopath killer. But I loved that Dog, who had gone through so much. Yes, he is a dog, with a past. He remains lovable for us.

It might be gritty, and definitely not an easy thriller, rough at places with plots, sub plots. A few resolved, some left intact. Maybe for another novel. All in all, I recommend this for Crime Fiction readers.

Blood of My Brother by James LePore

“I waited too long, Dan. I’m sorry. If I was the one killed like that, you’d have started the next day. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I’m starting now.”
~Page 123

Title: Blood of My Brother
Author: James LePore
ISBN: 9780981956886
Publisher: The Story Planet/2010
Pages: 313

Blood of My brother is a suspense novel with good thriller elements. It grips the reader right from the start. It has that human element too, which any reader will relate. This novel takes us from Newark, New Jersey to Miami and Mexico. It takes us to places where corruption rules the roost and drug cartels are a way of life.  

Jay Cassio and Don Del Colliano have been friends since they were 5-year-olds. It formed under the shadow of racial riots of 1967 in Newark, New Jersey. From that day onwards, they became best of friends. Dan has always been there whenever Jay had needed him. And that too without asking. After Jay's parents die in a plane crash, it is Dan who sticks to him and gets him out of the tragedy. 

Jay becomes a successful lawyer and Dan, a private Investigator, not very known at that, yet their friendship deepens and they are more like brothers now. A woman, Kate Powers, Jay is representing, is found dead, with her head cut off, her husband Bryce Powers is suspected of murder, but he too is murdered. Initially it is thought of as a murder-suicide. Dan too is brutally murdered, with marks of torture inflicted on his body, Jay thinks it is a coincidence. He goes around asking questions about his friend's murder and finds that FBI is somehow involved and want him to not to pursue it.

But he can't let it go as his best friend is dead and he wants to know why. He remembers that Dan had mentioned a woman, for whom he had acted as a courier of large amount of money for a good commission. Jay is determined to find that woman, who also seems to related to the Powers' murders somehow. Everyone is looking for her. FBI, Jay, Mexican drug lords. She seems to have disappeared into thin air. 

Isabel Perez has nowhere to run, and she wants freedom desperately. She also wishes to kill the powerful men, who disrupted her life completely. For that she has to fight those powers, which no one has dared to fight. Her path gets crossed with Jay and together they know, they have to fight, in which they can either win or die. And both are fully prepared for that. Can Jay take revenge? Can Isabel escape from her past? From her cage? Can they have a future without their pasts? Blood of My brother covers these and gives us more.

Finally, it all about choices. Jay. Isabel. Dan. Not to forget the other characters. They meet, mix, amalgamate and leave the reader wanting more. And we must not forget the bigger issues of corruption, drugs, and using sex as a power. These rot the system. Any system.

For all those lovers of Crime Fiction...I say go for it....Blood of My Brother is well worth it. 

I thank the author for my copy. You can also check out my review of  

The World I Never Made by James LePore