Mini-Reviews #12…
[Note from Steve: These reviews are growing a bit. I’ve written enough novels and read enough books to be opinionated about what I read. Basically I’ll choose to review a book I’ve casually read (my “official reviewing” is done at Bookpleasures) if there’s something I like enough to recommend it to my friends, i.e. all readers of this blog. That’s true of the first two reviews here. Although I don’t like to review a book here if I don’t find any redeeming qualities (I will do that at Bookpleasures, though), I’ve decided to include one of those from time to time too (the last review is an example), because I don’t want my friends, the readers of this blog, to raise their BP while reading an author who really screws up. Mind you, these are just my opinions. Yours might be different. I can only provide fair warning.]
Surface Tension. Christine Kling, author (Ballantine, 2002, 2007; Tell-Tale Press, 2012). This ebook is a reissue of the 2002 original. I’m happy to see it. First, it shows that even thrillers have long legs, so maybe some of my own ebooks will still be entertaining readers many years hence—this one certainly entertained me. Second, it shows a migration from the Big Five. I don’t know who owns Ballantine now, and don’t particularly care, except that it’s undoubtedly one of the Big Five. But the author has decided to go her own way and reissue in what looks like an indie ebook. ‘Nough said about indie v. traditional publishing…for now.
This novel is the first in the Seychelle Sullivan series. Seychelle and brothers Pitcairn and Madagascar were named after islands, a quirk of her father. That’s a bit of weirdness I didn’t need, but I guess it shows the family likes living on the water. Sey is part-owner of the salvage boat Gorda and runs her own salvage and towing business. In the opening chapter, she dashes off to get first dibs on the salvage job for The Top Ten, an expensive sailing yacht captained by her ex-boyfriend and ex-Navy SEAL Neal Garrett, only to find a woman’s body on board—his new squeeze—and Garrett missing. Thus begins Detective Victor Collazo’s stalking of Sey because she’s his first suspect; he’s a Fort Lauderdale cop.
Her life becomes complicated after that. The Top Ten is a owned by a local scumbag, Benjamin Crystal, who tries to nickel-and-dime her about the salvage op. Sey’s brother Maddy, a gambling addict, wants his part of her business in cash to pay off gambling debts, which means selling Gorda. And a young girl Sey has befriended and is getting her life back in a shape while living in a shelter is brutally murdered. Sey is helped by her Samoan friend B. J. and her lawyer Jeannie as she sorts it all out.
There are enough twists and turns in this mystery/suspense/thriller to keep any reader of these genres guessing. My only complaint is that the principal villain doesn’t make his appearance until later in the book, and even then the reader can be easily duped just like Seychelle. I guess this makes this more a mystery than a thriller. Great read, though; you’ll enjoy it. (PG-13, for some sex and violence, but no more than Law and Order—can’t seem to escape those reruns on cable.)
Skyflash. Lee Gimenez, author (River Ridge Press, 2015). John Taylor Ryan, ex-Delta Force soldier, is now a PI working as a consultant for the regional FBI director in Atlanta. He (Ryan) is a bit of a wise-ass; she (the FBI lady) is getting steamrolled by her boss, although it can’t be for her good looks. Lauren is Ryan’s girl, though, and she’s a looker too. A new designer drug, Skyflash, is hitting the streets. Paul, the chemist and designer, is a henpecked man-toy for his wife, Jessica, who’s another looker, only evil.
That’s the main cast of characters. The plot is Ryan bringing down the Skyflash network and later saving Lauren. It’s a pure thrill ride—no twists or turns here, just full speed ahead. This is straight, linear storytelling without complexities. It’s also minimalist writing in the sense that the author only gives enough description to allow the reader to form his/her own images of characters and settings (something I applaud). Don’t get the idea that you’ll have to work for it, though. This is a fun read—James Bond without opening credits and theme song.
Ryan isn’t Bond, though. He reminds me more of Child’s Jack Reacher or Baldacci’s John Puller, but a bit dumber or at least more naïve. Most readers of this genre will be able to predict Ryan’s coming trials, so it’s hard to understand why he can’t. To avoid spoilers, I won’t give examples, but I’ll say that it doesn’t take away from the fun. The ladies remind me of Bond women, though. They all look good, whether saint or sinner.
Beyond the linear plot (not my preference, but it works well here), the later word-for-word repetition of the opening scene—a flash forward, if you will—seemed a bit lazy and unnecessary. The Spanish needed editing too. These are nitpicks, though, and most readers won’t care about these things because they won’t affect their enjoyment of this well written thriller. (A caveat for my blog readers: this book isn’t PG-13; it’s more like R, for explicit sex and violence.)
Cosega Search. Brandt Legg, author (Laughing Rain, 2014). Even the title’s wrong with this ebook. There’s no search! An archaeologist’s team makes a great find, something he thinks confirms a Native American legend (Cosega is a Native American term?—it sounds like parallel processing with two game stations or one of those VW model names that make no sense to me).
The nerdy scientist teams up with an in-your-face reporter. The two of them have been looking for something all their lives and think they’ve found it in the artifacts. Unfortunately, this will turn conventional beliefs upside down, so everyone starts chasing them, including the Vatican. It becomes a ho-hum road trip without end—no search involved.
The quote from Tom Clancy running in my website’s banner is a propos: “The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.” This author doesn’t follow that sage advice—far from it! His story is so farfetched it makes UFOs and little ET cadavers at Roswell seem as believable as an Argentine Pope liking borscht instead of pizza.
Speaking of the Pope, the author tries to outdo Dan Brown in painting the Church as the Devil’s handiwork, but he fails miserably. More unbelievable stuff. Vatican Security I’ll believe, but Vatican Black Ops? Hit men from the Holy City? Mr. Clancy’s rolling over in his grave. I poured some more medicine, but I’ll need a new bottle of Jameson.
Errors abound too. Here’s one: the Vatican’s thugs have just beat the crap out of photographer Josh, the reporter’s cameraman. Before killing him, they torture him, including a pistol-whip across the face. But the author writes, “The FBI found Josh’s body…with no sign of foul play.” Huh? I don’t think those torture wounds would disappear by the time the FBI arrived. Maybe the Vatican thugs were also plastic surgeons? At least there’s minimal dropping of words and misspellings—copy editing but not content editing maybe?
There’s an industrialist, definitely a one-percenter, or maybe even tenth-of-one-percenter, financing the archaeologist’s digs. We’ll never know if he’s bad or good, though, at least not in this book (see below). He has Special Ops working for him too! NSA also has “a huge secret force, which was unequaled in power and resources.” Ignoring the conspiracy buzzwords, I’d say the author doesn’t understand how American intelligence works if he thinks the NSA is competing with the FBI, CIA, and DHS.
All that aside, the author also makes statements like: “He didn’t know it yet, but the Eysen was the most important case he’d been assigned….” These prescient and omniscient statements occur often enough to be extremely irritating. And they’re insulting to readers. Let me find it out for myself, damn it! I’ll know whether the agent has an important case or not—correction: maybe not in this book.
That leads to the ultimate swindle, in fact. I can’t help thinking those statements are segues to the other books in the series. There’s nothing as bad as a novel that doesn’t end. There’s no resolution here—you’ll need to read #2…and #3…and….? This is worse than a cliffhanger. Sorry, Mr. Legg, I won’t finish your unbelievable story by reading other books in your series. That’s not the correct way to write a series! (To be complete, this ebook has a PG-13 rating.)
In elibris libertas….
