Books I've Read

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BROKEN PREY #16 In The Prey Series

John Sandford

5 Stars

Sometimes it pays to be lucky rather than smart. Well, actually I’m not sure what smart would have to do with it but. . .

I had finished the last but one of books on my nightstand and I started that one but just couldn’t get into it. So I went to my bookshelves and looked over several assuming that I had read them all. I kept coming back to Sandford and finally reached up and randomly selected Broken Prey. It turns out that I hadn’t read it! Therein is the luck.

I don’t remember when I first began reading the Prey series or what book I started with, I know it wasn’t the original, Rules of Prey. (Interesting fact; Dennis Rader, the BTK killer of Wichita, Kansas used Rules of Prey as a guide when he began killing.) I do know that I became an instant fan and nothing has changed in my fandom since.

Broken Prey is one of the best of the Prey series and I hesitate to say that for fear that it denigrates others in the series. Perish the thought! Sandford writes with an attention to detail and a bam, bam style that continues through his novels. You never get a chance to catch your breath until you put the book down. Nor do you want to. Each paragraph leads you into wanting more, and so you don’t put the book down until you fall asleep and it falls onto your face. (Why yes, I do read in bed, how did you know?)

Lucas Davenport, the protagonist of the Prey series, starts out as a Minneapolis cop, leaves the force for a bit and then rejoins it on a consultant basis, leaves it again and joins the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the law enforcement arm of Minnesota. There he is a big wig, a supervisor with a team of detectives and a couple who are more adept at enforcement than detecting.

In this novel Lucas is faced with a serial killer; one who tortures his victims before cutting their throats and Lucas knows he has to find and stop him before he kills again and again.

One of the things that I appreciate about Sandford’s writing is his attention to details large and small. He uses small details the way a cook will add a spice to enhance a dish; his details may have nothing to do with the story but they do enhance. One example from this book is when he pulls into a trailer park and a cat comes out from under one of the trailers and pauses with one paw raised (a very cat like pose if my cat is an example). It has absolutely nothing to do with the story and once it’s mentioned the cat disappears from any further involvement. But it has added that touch of spice, that flavor, a distant bird painted in a landscape, a making it whole and especially making it real. That’s John Sandford and one reason why I am a fan.

If you are squeamish, don’t read Sandford because his crime scenes are not for the faint of heart. If you prefer dull, stories in gray instead of vivid colors, pass him by. If the mundane is to your taste. . . well, leave him to those of use who enjoy a tale filled with wit, reality, action, familiar characters, because that’s what Sandford writes. And he’s damn good at it.

". . . those who claim to know the Mind of God, who will tell you what God thinks and how He will judge and condemn others—those people are the greatest of all blasphemers." Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast

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MURDER IS BAD MANNERS (Wells and Wong #1) by Robin Stevens

3 Stars, reluctantly

Set in post Victorian England shortly before WWII, this novel deals with a girl’s school and the denizens there of. It is told in the first person for the most part by Hazel Wong, a young girl from Hong Kong, who, along with her best friend Daisy Wells are the two members of the detective club they have formed. It is filled with what the author imagines (and may well have been) attitudes and affectations of young English school girls.

It wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t a good book. I was disappointed as I continue to search for a light mystery author who can make me smile like the late Lillian Jackson Braun did. So far, though I’ve come close, I haven’t found someone who writes with the same sort of whimsy as did Mx. Braun. I will keep up the search.

Much of the Wells and Wong behavior seemed contrived, like a drawing room comedy that didn’t quite pull it off comedy wise. I wanted some of the minor characters to be more fleshed out, especially Beanie, a somewhat less mature girl, easily frightened and sometimes picked on by another girl who was a bully.

The mystery itself was well done even though the reveal seemed to be a mild rip off of Agatha Christie’s Poirot playing to the audience of characters as the Inspector causes the culprit to out themselves.

Ms. Stevens has written quite a few of this series and I wish her well, but it isn’t my cup of tea, Earl Grey or not.

". . . those who claim to know the Mind of God, who will tell you what God thinks and how He will judge and condemn others—those people are the greatest of all blasphemers." Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast

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BAKED by Mark Haskell Smith

3 Stars

This was an odd book. At times while reading it I wanted to like it more and other times I felt that I liked it less. It is filled with humor and fatal mayhem and witticisms that I totally agree with. I heartily agree with Smith’s opinion of the overuse of the word ‘awesome’ as one example.

This is a story of a man who creates the best marijuana strain in the world. This promotes his being shot by those that want to steal that strain. And this is when hilarity and horror ensues.

The prose in and of itself is very well done. There was; however, an over abundance of switching from venue to venue, person to person, event to event. This made it hard to follow at times as it moved from The Netherlands to Southern California to the Bay area multiple times and even in those geographical moves there were changes from the perspective of multiple persons.

Interesting, quirky, certainly a proponent for legalized marijuana. I liked the book but not enough for me to look for more by this author.

". . . those who claim to know the Mind of God, who will tell you what God thinks and how He will judge and condemn others—those people are the greatest of all blasphemers." Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast

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BLACK MAGIC SANCTION (The Hallows #8) by Kim Harrison

3 Stars

I have enjoyed all of the previous Hallows series but for some reason this one didn’t give me the same pleasure as reading those others. It was all but drudgery to get through it and the ending left me . . . meh. What troubles me is that I’m not sure whether it was just a one off of Ms. Harrison’s writing or that maybe I’ve read enough of Rachel Morgan, Ivy and Jinks and the host of other regulars, I’ve had my fill. I mean, after a great medium rare 16 oz. Porterhouse with all the trimmings and dessert (a lovely creme brulee would be good), a 12 oz. top sirloin just doesn’t look as good as it would otherwise. (Oh damn, now I’m making myself hungry!)

Regardless, I finished this book but think it may be a good while, if ever, that I revisit Rachel. Will I miss them? I think more I will miss the pleasure once received of those books.

I can’t say this is a bad book, or, as the 3 stars would indicate, a mediocre one, just that this didn’t grab me.

Oh, there was one part that did cause a degree of emotion and that was when one of the side characters leaves us. You’ll have to READ THE BOOK to find out who.

". . . those who claim to know the Mind of God, who will tell you what God thinks and how He will judge and condemn others—those people are the greatest of all blasphemers." Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast

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THE NOWHERE MAN (Orphan X #2) by Gregg Hurwitz

4 Stars

I first met Evan Smoak, aka The Nowhere Man about a month ago and immediately became enamored of the series; well, the first book of it at least. Now I’ve finished The Nowhere Man, #2 in the series and I find no reason to change my mind. It’s a good read if you like adventure with a fantastic character that Gregg Hurwitz makes believable.

In this story Evan is captured by some bad guys and becomes much like the people he tries to help; the helpless. One of the fascinating parts of this book, even though it took up a small amount of the story, was when Smoak is put on the auction block with enemies from his past meeting to bid on buying him and making him pay for things he did to their friends, relatives and organizations. And some of those enemies have very inventive and painful ideas for making Smoak pay for those acts committed against them.

You might compare Evan Smoak to Mason Cross’ Carter Blake. Though they are quite different in many ways there are strong similarities; both work on their own, not for the government, they both work alone, no organization behind them, both have to deal with lethal organizations they were once members of. Yet, as I said, they are quite different while both authors have brought very interesting characters to life.

If you aren’t aware of this series and you like bang bang shoot ’em up adventure stories you will like Orphan X. . . the man and the book and this, the 2nd book of the series.

". . . those who claim to know the Mind of God, who will tell you what God thinks and how He will judge and condemn others—those people are the greatest of all blasphemers." Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast

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