The newest in the popular (with me too) Harry Bosch series has Harry working two cases, one old, one new, and only our hero can bridge the gap between...moreThe newest in the popular (with me too) Harry Bosch series has Harry working two cases, one old, one new, and only our hero can bridge the gap between old school and new when it comes to good old fashioned gum shoe field work that gets results. Connelly, clearly at the top of his game with this great read bangs out another twisty, turny, high end thriller with a decided personal side that he weaves in with his articulate mastery.
Readers, spoiled rotten by this level of skill, will enjoy this book.
Harry refuses to accept some of the trappings of the techno age but not being stupid realizes he must concede sometimes and allow it to help him, or at least enhance his effort to get at the truth and catch bad guys. Raising a daughter in her teens keeps Harry feeling his mortality as he proudly watches her grow but knows he needs to keep a close eye on her because he's made a lot of enemies.
The backdrop is LA and as the story opens a politician's son does a header off the balcony of a Hollywood Hills landmark, a classy but notorious hotel - the Chateau Marmont. It seems some in power are angling for agenda based results and no one seems to care what really happened or that the truth comes out, including the victims father. Harry is determined to out the truth anyway and let the chips fall, even if it means his job.
His other case is drawn from the open-unsolved files of the LAPD and given to Harry and his obnoxious new partner Chu. The murder of a young girl many years earlier has Harry on the trail of a pedophile who, decades later, is still at large.
As a writer I read books from MC and other top authors and I marvel at the high level of work in the writerly categories: description, narration, dialogue, plotting, sub plots, etc. and I can say that I learn a lot from their work. It's a tough translation because you have to know what you're looking at, as a writer, and know that one's "voice" and imagination is what makes the difference between each author.
It is both awesome and inspirational and also might make you want to quit and go hang yourself. I don't recommend that of course. I say stick it out and keep banging the keyboard like Connelly says he did. Connelly is as you may know one of the first members of the exclusive ebook "million seller club" on Amazon.
I recommend this book highly.(less)
As I finished this book a few days ago I had another one of those writer moments where I realized just what "pro" means, and what "best...moreAs I finished this book a few days ago I had another one of those writer moments where I realized just what "pro" means, and what "bestseller" means. Connelly characterizes any and all descriptive terms a person could use for an author/craftsman. He masterfully injects himself into his work on every level and the result is a very strong voice made even better by his high skill level. As I wrote a few weeks ago when I started this book, it's ALL there, everything a reader or writer could want in a book, a novel. Mickey Haller is kind of a quirky guy but somewhere beneath the layers of his person are things, traits if you will, that I can relate to and MC is one of the better authors at pulling the reader in with this element. Like the great Mr. P he can turn a good phrase and snap it into place with great dialogue and pacing. I highly recommend this book and his latest "The Drop" which I will read soon.
I just started this book a couple of days ago and every time I start a Connelly book, as a writer, I can't get over his finesse and skill level with sentencing and structure. Seamless transitions from narration, description to dialogue and back again with such good depth and story-line pacing every word is a case study in good writing. Check that: GREAT writing. Mickey Haller, a spin-off character from the wildly popular Harry Bosch series of thrillers by MC,(love Harry), is a street-smart lawyer in LA trying to survive the ups and downs of the legal world. Haller finds himself defending a crazy little woman accused of killing a banker who's bank was foreclosing on her home. Intrigue and murder follow as Haller and his cool team leave no stone unturned. This is top notch stuff fellow writers and readers, and I sincerely mean that. More on this awesome book as I read through. Next up is MC's 'The Drop' so stay tuned.(less)
Kellerman is always good for a thrill ride. In this, the 26th installment of his awesome Alex Delaware Series, our hero is after a killer who seems to...moreKellerman is always good for a thrill ride. In this, the 26th installment of his awesome Alex Delaware Series, our hero is after a killer who seems to have a taste for beautiful young women. A shrink himself, Mr. K gives unique insight to the mind of both the good guys, most notably Delaware who is a shrink himself, and more uniquely, the bad guys. Characteristic of a top 10 writer in this field, thriller fiction, Kellerman's sentence composition, dialogue and arcing work so well it's almost too simple. Simple in the sense that, like say, Patterson, you read along and stay in the action, in 1st person, forgetting that you are a mere mortal reader and feeling and thinking more like our hero. This is the sign of a craftsman. Mr. K is a master of narration, description and dialogue and the oh-so-smooth blending of the elements that make up a good story. Where he gets his ideas God only knows - but the ideas work. I'm at chapter 18 and the pace is quickening, having myself just recovered from a low-key beginning to this book and suddenly blind-sided by the twisted murder of a beautiful young woman. A woman sitting by herself in an upscale and soon-to-close landmark eatery that Delaware and his lovely wife dined at themselves, Delaware and wife notice her but think nothing of it. Then she turns up dead by mutilation and the case falls to Delaware and his partner, a cop, Milo Sturgis. A very twisted tale unfolds, a tale that could only have happen in LA. You'll find out why as you get sucked into this book from page 1. Get ready for a twisty ending as the pace picks up. Our guy Alex stays on the case and you won't believe what happens. I highly recommend this book.(less)
Finished this book and as always a great and twisty ending for our two heroes Sean and Michelle. Elements of good story telling and structure are alwa...moreFinished this book and as always a great and twisty ending for our two heroes Sean and Michelle. Elements of good story telling and structure are always present in Baldacci's work and his style is very polished. Intrigue on on federal level, lots of bad guys doing dirty deeds, it's a great ride for Baldacci fans. _________________________________________________________________________________________
Started TSM yest. and I look forward to another finely crafted novel by the master of thriller espionage, David Baldacci. Known for his wildly popular Camel Club Series Baldacci has another team, a couple with Secret Service and law backgrounds now both PI's. Seam and Michelle are a pair, boy are they, but the most appreciable and endearing fact about them is they're fearless sincerity when it comes to justice and the pursuit of it for those who cannot pursue it for themselves, such as Sean's murdered lawyer friend, whom he found dead, shot, in his car near where they were supposed to meet, on a lonely wilderness Maine road. It seems someone, someone with connections, money and power, does not want them to uncover the truth about Sean's friend and why he was defending a man accused of killing six people. I'm almost 200 pages into this book and the action is, and has been, thick and fast paced. Baldacci, one of our reigning masters of the thriller/espionage genre, has a pair here who have a sense of humor, a little "history", a complicated relationship and sheer nerve when it comes to going up against impossible odds. Great stuff so far and I can't say more without giving anything else away but take it from me thriller fans, this is well worth the read. More soon! (less)
UPDATE: Jack Reacher is a complex character, a unique blend of cunning intellectual with purely raw rogue male instinct running underneath, like ...moreUPDATE: Jack Reacher is a complex character, a unique blend of cunning intellectual with purely raw rogue male instinct running underneath, like a deep, dark, silent current. Even within the branch of the military of which he was a part of in the years leading up to and including 1997, which is when this recall story takes place, his job description would best be classified, and it is, as a guy the high ups send in when they need something stopped, when it's last resort time. Child's has spun a tale here, an extremely plausible thriller, with wrenching twists and radical turns, sub-plots that run seamlessly along and threaded into the overall plot and arc in all the right places. And, in a 1st person narrative that, as a writer, caused me to actually re-read many paragraph's to brand on my brain what this author just pulled off in terms of skill level. The back roads of Mississippi and a small town surrounding a special forces Army training base are the backdrop, with maybe a little fun-in-the-sun in DC for locational musical chairs - within the hallowed halls of the Pentagon, of course, and, a couple of road trips done the hard way by our hero. These make up the general outline. Description in this book is absolutely stellar along with a hard smack of a plot line, and, for me Child's has again raised the bar in this my favorite fiction genre. If you're a hard-core thriller fan I highly recommend this book. _______________________________________________________________________ I started, with much anticipation, this book the other day and I'm 150 or so pages in.
One thing I will mention at this point is that this book was well worth the wait. If, like me, you're a writer then fasten your seat belts kids. Narrative and dialogue and particularly description will have a whole new meaning for you as a writer. Readers are in for a thrill ride in terms of translated action and vivid imagery. Jack Reacher is on the hunt for a killer who has an appetite for beautiful young women. Child's, at one point early on, describes his character Reacher,or rather Reacher is doing the talking, in 1st POV, standing by a railroad track (in the course of the investigation), close, just feet away from the tracks, as a train approaches and then blasts past him and it's a multi-sensory masterpiece of a scene. In another spot (they're all through this book) where the mother of a murdered girl, in the doorway of her little shack, acts and reacts to news of any progress in her daughter's murder case and this too is a passage that you will never forget. Maybe I just woke up on another level just before I began this book or maybe this book transported me to the lofty world of a bestselling author's perspectives and understanding but I am seriously impressed with Lee's work here and yes, it deepens the story to such a level that even as a well read writer I feel it's affecting my own writing just having been exposed to this exhibition of skill. I hope this book gets the attention it deserves and everyone reads it, I really do. More soon, I'm devoting all day today to reading.(less)
Looking for a "read" the other day I noticed this book on the rack. A fan of Baldacci's for years, of his Camel Club Series and other titles...moreLooking for a "read" the other day I noticed this book on the rack. A fan of Baldacci's for years, of his Camel Club Series and other titles, this book looked like a fun departure from what I've come to expect of him. Let me say this here: I'm pretty sure anything DB writes would sell well, even his grocery list, and this one should do well too. "One Summer" is a heartfelt story of a guy, a decorated war vet, family man and all around decent guy - Jack Armstrong - who finds himself dying from a mysterious disease. Family members, including his darling wife and 3 kids, prepare for his departure from their lives and this world. He accepts his fate and makes his peace, though he doesn't want to go. What happens next could only be written this well by a writer of Baldacci's skill level. Written in 3rd POV with a direct plot, Baldacci spins a tale I'm sure he's been wanting to publish for a long time. I'm maybe 200 or so pages in and though this type fiction is definitely a departure from what I normally read I'm VERY happy to have grabbed this book. For me, even as a writer, the hallmark of a great book, whatever the genre, is the effect it has on me as a person, not just a writer or reader. This book stays with me, the effect that is, even after I put it down. I'm thinking about things I never would have thought about, like Jack is forced to. Trust me, YOU WILL TOO... Powerfully written, I can recommend "One Summer" to you without hesitation. I'm not sure when this book was written but DB had the goods from day one and this novel delivers. I won't give away any more than I already have but I will say this: Family drama, living on without loved ones, troubled kids and personal loss are dramas in life some of us, most of us, will go through. This book is just such a story told with compassion and great skill.Hopefully DB will give us more of this type fiction in the future. (less)
I had never heard of this author until yesterday(I need to get out more...) when I noticed the slick, cool cover on the book and was intrigued by the ...moreI had never heard of this author until yesterday(I need to get out more...) when I noticed the slick, cool cover on the book and was intrigued by the title and the story-line blip on the inside flap. I decided to take a chance on Marcus Sakey's book and I couldn't be more thrilled that I did. Like I said, just because I had never read anything by this author doesn't mean he isn't well known.
The opening of the book is a stellar translation through the character's senses, in third POV, (which reads like 1st POV and almost caused my writer brain to melt) wherein we feel his confusion and literal pain, into vivid images of a desolate, near freezing beach.....somewhere.
With no idea who he is or why he finds himself laying naked, near death, as icy waves wash over him, the discovery of an expensive sports car nearby is where his fight for life and remembrance will begin. As far fetched, on the surface, as this type scenario might sound Sakey pulls it off using both barrels. Skilled narration and description. Daniel Hayes, if that's who he really is, according to the paperwork in the BMW - is a little off the reservation. No wallet, only car type paperwork and a gun in the glove box, he slowly brings himself back to life, having crawled into the vehicle and turning on the heat. In short, a really good intro.
From there the pace goes into hyper drive.
*I warn you though, there is graphic language and description of violence and sexuality in this book.*
Bits and pieces float to the surface of "Daniel's" mind and soon he finds himself running from the police in a little Maine beach town. He decides to head back to LA not having any idea if he really is Daniel Hayes and why, if he is, he ended up on a beach in Maine dying of hypothermia.
Sakey's literal, sometimes gritty and always direct "voice" is a refreshing blend of realism and good old fashioned thriller intrigue. His sentence construction using clever word choices will impress you even if you're not a writer. If you ARE a writer, then keep a notepad handy you're in for a lesson.
If nothing else(and there's plenty...) Sakey's energy, with a polished grit all his own, is infused deeply in this story, and, no doubt all his work.
All the basics are well represented and executed and it's hard to understand why this author isn't a household word but I'm guessing that break point is not far off on the horizon.
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