Mini-Reviews of Books #36…
Twisted Traffick. Geza Tetrallyay, author (Black Opal Books, 2017). Author/professor Greg Martens and his wife, ex-Interpol agent Anne Rossiter, are called back to Vienna to help find Julia Saparova, physicist and IAEA monitor, who is responsible for monitoring several sites in Russia. Trying to find her leads to an international gang of cutthroats that specialize in human trafficking and arms smuggling, including obtaining enriched uranium for terrorists.
The good: This book is well-plotted with well-drawn characters, on both the good and bad guys side. The action cycles between the young Russian women, the victims and their plight, and the bad guys’ techniques used to elude the authorities. Some history is included about the evil Beria, head of the Soviet Union’s secret police and second only to Stalin. Settings include one of my favorite cities, Vienna. This is a great book for these reasons and more.
The bad (but nothing serious): I think the author over-explains some things, especially toward the end, and under-explains other things, like how will the terrorists make bombs out of enriched uranium? Maybe dirty bombs? I would have liked to know more about the twins who lead the bad guys and their ascension in the criminal underworld (one is second-in-command of FSB, Russia’s equivalent of the FBI—they supposedly leave out-of-country assassinations to the SVR, but who knows?).
The ugly: In this case, there’s none. Of course, the bad guys are ugly monsters who don’t even deserve to be called human. There are no editing problems, and the cover is rich and attractive.
This is another example where I found a great read in a small publisher’s catalog. I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller and will try the author’s other books ASAP.
Last Gasp. Howard Levine, author (Black Opal Books, 2018). The disaster has occurred: thousands are gassed at a rock concert in the Bronx. Frank Tedeschi, owner of a hardware store who still fights his demons from ‘Nam, and his brother Rob, a cop who lost his daughter in the attack, don’t believe Islamic radicals are reponsible, primarily because Frank’s helper in the store talked about carrying out just such an attack. More motivation for their reaction comes from a fascism-trending regime run by a president who is not a champion of diversity, to say the least. His name is Flowers, and he uses the permanent campaign motto “Flower Power.”
What ensues is more a crime novel than a thriller. We know the perpetrator of the crime, so the only thing left for Frank, Rob, and FBI agent Fowlkes to do is apprehend the criminal (the FBI agent served in ‘Nam with Frank). Or is something else going on?…
Some side stories are interesting too. The Tedeschi family is torn apart by partisan differences, Frank is still fighting his Viet Nam devils, the U.S. is still embroiled in endless wars where politicians feel no remorse in sending others’ sons and daughters off to fight, and American Muslims are one step away from being put in concentration camps or kicked out of the country by Flowers and his cohorts.
It’s worth elaborating on Frank fighting his Vietnam devils. Vietnam tore the U.S. apart because the country’s leaders felt the need to pound rivals into the ground. Now similar leaders are tearing the country apart. The author creates parallels in his fictional setting that mirror our reality today. Tom Clancy would be proud: this fiction seems all too real.
The good: this is a solid, well-written crime novel for the most part, or conspiracy novel, if I can create that category to describe it (many thrillers feature conspiracies). The plot is well-done with some good twists, and the characters are well-drawn. The dialogue moves along. The setting is the tristate area around present day. (Let’s say Frank was 18 in ‘Nam in 1968, so he was born in 1950, so at the time of the book, 2010, he’s 60, or 60+ if we put it a wee bit farther into the future.)
The bad (but no big deal): I felt the timing of Frank’s flashbacks were a little off, but maybe that’s just me. Or maybe there are just too many and some should be combined. While the main villain is thoroughly analyzed, the “other villains,” including President Flowers, are a bit neglected. I also chuckled a bit at “cannabis-induced”; in the context where that appeared, I’d think the author meant cannabis-infused…but maybe not.
The ugly: Again, in this case, there’s nothing to mention. There are no editing problems, and the cover is again well done.
Yet another example of a great read from a small press’s catalog. And another thriller/crime novel I thoroughly enjoyed.
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Comments are always welcome!
Black Opal Books and Penmore Press. Authors can find a lot of TLC by writing for a small press. These are the two that have made me into a mongrel, both a self-published and traditionally published author. The first will publish my post-apocalyptic thriller The Last Humans in 2019; the second published my mystery/thriller Rembrandt’s Angel, a spin-off from the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series.”
Of course, Carrick Publishing also has given me a lot of TLC too, as well as providing editing, formatting, and cover art help (no indie author should be 100% DIY!). Most of my novels come from Carrick Publishing.
All of these publishers have extensive catalogs, which is why I provide links to them here—many good books and good authors to choose from! Take a look.
In libris libertas!
