Michael A. Draper's Blog, page 34

A fine, literary novel, the setting reminded me of "Cold Mountain."

As much as "The King of Lies" is a mystery, it is also a family chronicle. In the North Carolina setting, as Work Pickens travels the countryside to see his love, Vanessa, the setting is reminiscent of "Cold Mountain" which was written by fellow North Carolinian, Charles Frazer.

Work Pickens is a defense attorney in Rowan County, North Carolina. He's called out of court and informed that his father's body has been found. Ezra, a powerful but universally disliked man, has been missing for almost two years. When his body is found and Work goes to the scene, the novel begins to spin with possibilities.

The night Ezra was last seen, the delicate family balance was destroyed. Certain facts about Work's sister, Jean, and her female companion, Alex, came to light. A confrontation developed and when Work's mother attempted to intervene, matters turned deadly.

Work is a man with both strengths and weaknesses. He does his best at defending his clients but isn't ambitious. He doesn't love his wife but is reluctant to call off his marriage and make a new life with the Vanessa, his true love.  The female characters are not strong, Work's wife, Barbara, his sister Jean and his girlfriend, Vanessa are all women who have been manipulated throughout their lives.

The story is told with literary excellence and Work Pickens is a character who will remain in the reader's thoughts long after the book is back on the shelves.

Look here for good suspense

Journalist McKenna Wright sees footage of a woman rescuing a teenager who had fallen onto the train tracks.

McKenna recognizes the woman as an old friend and former classmate of McKenna's husband at West Point. The woman, Susan Hauptmann, had disappeared nearly ten years ago.

Thinking that this might be a good story of interest to her paper, McKenna begins looking into Susan's disappearance, not realizing that by doing so, she'd be putting herself and her husband in danger.

Also taking her time is a story McKenna was working on about a police killing of a young man and a police officer accused of shooting the man while the man was unarmed.

McKenna becomes paired with Det. Joe Scanlin who feels that he didn't do justice to Susan's disappearance because Scanlin was dealing with a family issue of his wife's battling early Alzheimer's disease at the time.

Alafair Burke has spun a complex plot that moves along nicely with appropriate tension. The last hundred pages of the story were very exciting as parts of McKenna's investigation and the legal case come together in a surprising manner.

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"Young blood, I can't get you out of my mind." Song lyrics

In "Blood Money" the story initially seems pulled from the newspaper headlines. The story tells of a highly publicized murder trial in Florida where a nightclub waitress is accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter for interrupting her mother's life.

Jack Swyteck realized how difficult the case would be when he took it on and was anticipating a guilty verdict.

When the jury announced 'not guilty' there was an outrage.

As the woman, Sydney Bennett, is scheduled for release, there is a near riot and a young woman dressed up to look like Sydney is injured and goes to the hospital in a coma.

There are many twists to the story as the injured woman's family has no health insurance and the woman's father  asks Jack to sue the TV station for their part in causing the riot which resulted in his daughter's injury.

We also learn of a darker side where a serial killer is at work and manipulating many of the events.

I enjoyed reading about Jack Swyteck and his code for taking on difficult cases.  I also liked the message in the story about families without health insurance and their fear of the hospital costs. In addition, I agree that the news media often causes things to escalate and should bear responsibility when things get out of hand due to their trying to build up a situation to something grander.


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"Crime and Privilege" tells the story of a middle class m...

"Crime and Privilege" tells the story of a middle class man involved in the world of the rich and influential. These people seem to feel that they can buy their way out of any difficult situation.

Not feeling wealthy like his friends, George Becket appears to be in awe of them.

The book opens with George at a party in the Palm Beach mansion of Senator Gregory of Massachusetts. George is with two college aged friends who offer to show an intoxicated co-ed the mansion. Upstairs, the two members of the Gregory family have sexual relations with the barely conscious woman.

George is in a moral dilemma about the wrongness of the situation and his friend's actions but doesn't want to create any hard feelings. Eventually, he's had enough and stops further assault on the woman.

Later, he's visited by a member of the co-ed's family. They want him to testify about the rape. When he tells the man that it appeared consensual, the man tells George that the woman's father is very wealthy and will ruin his life unless he testifies.

Years later, George is a lowly DA in Cape Cod. He's housed in the basement of the DA's office and takes the least prestigious cases. He's approached by a man looking for help with the investigation of his daughter's murder almost nine years previously. The coincidence is that this also involves the Gregory family.

George reluctantly takes action but his investigation begins in a half hearted manner.

The story is well told and the writing literary as we see George become more convinced in his actions and willing to take on the family and its wealth.

George is somewhat interesting but a weak character. I felt that the story was enjoyable but a bit too lengthy. George traveled around the world to get answers and this seemed to lessen the tension.

Walter Walker is a fine writer and I look forward to reading more by him in the future.



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"Bad boy, Bad boy, what you gonna do." Song lyrics

A woman comes to the police department requesting Det. Inspector Alan Banks. She's a former neighbor of Banks and wants to report that she found a gun in her daughter's room.

Since Banks is on vacation in America, his partner, Annie Christie, takes the case. She reports the crime and a group of firearms authorized police go to the woman's home. Unfortunately, there is an incident at the home.

Banks's daughter, Tracy, heard about the incident and went to ward the girl's boyfriend, Jaff and in so doing, becomes part of the situation. He tells Tracy that he has to hide out and she takes him to her father's house since she knew her father was away.

The author takes us through the steps of the investigation as we follow the history of the gun and learn more about Jaff who is holding something for a bigger criminal and he is in danger from this man and the man's enforcers.

The story is well done with sufficient tension to maintain the reader's interest. There are some good surprises and overall they combine for an enjoyable reading experience.


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"Black is black, I want my baby back." Song lyrics

Henry Bosch is working out of the unsolved crime unit with the approach of the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots.

He picks a cold case involving the murder of Anneke Jespersen who was murdered during the riots. Bosch was only able to spend a short time with the case when he was first summoned about the body being found.
As he looks into the gang warfare that predominated the area in which Anneke's body was found, he comes against a major impediment. His supervisor is a controlling officer who demands on knowing what is going on with each step of the investigation.
There is some excellent plot twists and the investigation moves to a national guard unit that was stationed in the area  during the riots.
The suspense of the story mounts as Harry gets close to the answers in spite of his busy body lieutenant who wants him on other cases.
The story is realistically told with Harry being a tough investigator who feels that the victim deserves his best. There is also nice character development as we see the kind of music Harry enjoys.
Connelly is known for his excellent conclusions and I felt that in this story, the conclusion fell a bit below the author's past masterpieces.
Overall recommended.

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Good times never were so good

The late Robert Parker has given the reader two Texas lawmen reminiscent of Woodrow Call and Gus McCrae of  "Lonesome Dove."
Virgil Cole and Everett Hatch search for a young woman who has captured Virgil's heart. They are searching in the towns along the Rio Grande. When they find the girl, she has sunk to being a whore in a run down bar.
The men rescue the girl and travel to Brimstone, Texas. This is a town that is growing due to the railroad and the cattle business.
 Based on their reputation as lawmen in other towns, the sheriff gives them a job as deputies.
They encounter a former bandit who has opened a high scale bar and a preacher who preaches militant Christianity.
I enjoyed the story and observing the ongoing clash between the bar owner and preacher.
Parker does a good job in describing his characters and the Texas setting.

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I was dreaming along, on Lighthouse Bay

In "Lighthouse Bay," we have the story of three women, two of whom are in different time periods and all have something in common.
In 1901, Isabella Winterbourne was on a cargo ship that sank. There was a valuable  item, covered with jewels that was meant as a gift from Isabella's husband to the Australian Parliament.
Isabella is the sole survivor and landed with the bejeweled item. The value of the jewels would be enough to free Isabella from the disdain and poor treatment by the Winterbourne family.
In the modern day, Libby Slater has just been to the funeral of a man who was her lover for twelve years.
She decides to return to Lighthouse Bay, her original home. Her lover had bought her a home by the water. It also included a room where Libby could spend time with painting, a lifetime goal.
Libby's sister, Juliet has been living on land she inherited from her father. She runs a B&B and hasn't spoken to Libby for twenty years.
The story is entertaining and the setting is picturesque. It is interesting to see these three brave woman trying to achieve their dreams and overcoming obstacles.
Scheduled for release Apr 9th.

A story with a message

In "Betrayal of Trust," the author has written a compelling story with important messages about bullying and parental relationships with their children.

Investigators J. P. Beaumont and his partner, Mel, are summoned to the Washington State governor's residence. Upon arriving, the governor shows them her step-son's I-phone where someone has sent him a snuff film.

As the investigators try to find the identify of the person who was killed in the film, they speak to the step-son who shows his defensiveness  Later, they learn that he has also been subject to extensive internet bullying.

Politics, and over protective parents are witnessed as is the cruelty that some teenagers show towards each other.

The investigators overcome some heavy odds in dealing with the sensitive issues in the case. However, the story is well told and leaves the reader with something important to think about.

Please check out my  Amazon review with the below link.

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"Dark moon, way up high." Song lyrics

A police officer is murdered at a police convalescent center. Detective Inspector Alan Banks is instructed to handle the case with added scrutiny since it involves a member of the police department.

Set in the English countryside, we see Banks examine possible suspects. Then another murder is discovered and the search becomes more urgent.

Since there is the possibility of the murdered police officer being corrupt, Banks is forced to work with an officer from Professional Standards.  Banks shows his resentment at this since he prefers to work alone and doesn't want someone looking over his shoulder.

The plot takes a turn as we learn of a connection between the murdered police officer and the second victim. The connection involves a missing twenty-year-old woman who went missing in Estonia.

The characters are particularly well drawn and it is interesting to see the respect Banks forms for the officer from Professional Standards.

Peter Robinson is a first class writer who demonstrates his talent for plotting, characterization and his ability to maintain the reader's attention throughout the story.

Recommended

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