Crime/Mystery

Crime/Mystery

Central Park West by James Comey

Reviewed by Ian Lipke To align one’s name with an author who is highly regarded in the field of fiction is praise indeed. In the case of James Comey, the comparison is with John Grisham, the man widely regarded as having invented the legal thriller. Comey takes his readers deep inside the hate-filled and treacherous

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Crime/Mystery

A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao

Reviewed by Ian Lipke This book is very much a tongue in cheek account by a Fijian-Indian-Australian who refers to herself as culturally confused. In fact she has one of the sharpest minds to be found in the world of fiction. She demonstrates this in her new book A Disappearance in Fiji where readers are

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Crime/Mystery

Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater

Reviewed by Ian Lipke I read Death of a Bookseller in a state of apathy, mildly amazed that such vulgar writing could be sold as “deliciously dark, unsettling, and utterly addictive”. The book is said to be a thriller; I found not even the vestiges of a thrill. Maybe I’m a worn-out curmudgeon who has

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Crime/Mystery

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

Reviewed by Gerard Healy This is a first-class crime novel by American writer Dennis Lehane, with a plot that builds steadily towards a tense show-down. But it’s the characters that make the story stand apart from the everyday: the more moral ones have foibles, while the wicked seem ordinary. It is set mainly in a

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Crime/Mystery

The Signatory by Stuart Black

Reviewed by Ian Lipke This book straddles the shaky fence between crime and thriller writing.  It is best described as a crime novel amply boosted by patches of quite scary writing that makes the heart skid into overdrive until the situation is resolved. Such passages combined with some very good writing make a much more

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Crime/Mystery

The Rush by Michelle Prak

Reviewed by Ian Lipke The Rush is, at long last, an outback thriller with backbone. No longer is some suburbanite translated to a property south west of Nowhere, who thinks like a city person armed with a bit of knowledge she has read in some novel located in the corner store. Rather we meet people

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Crime/Mystery

Echo Lake by Joan Sauers

Reviewed by Ian Lipke  Echo Lake was meant to scare its readers. It is the standard “who-dunnit” that, apart from the aim of untangling clues and deciding who caused the death of Victim X, builds an image that scares the reader as it unfolds. It is the author’s intention that readers should be left uncomfortable

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Crime/Mystery

Home Before Night by J. P. Pomare

Reviewed by Rod McLary Home Before Night is JP Pomare’s sixth novel and, like the author’s previous books, it contains at its heart a dark secret.  Lou and Marko are driving home from an engagement party.  Marko is driving, clearly too drunk to be doing so, and an accident occurs involving a cyclist.  They leave

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Crime/Mystery

Robert Ludlum’s The Treadstone Rendition by Joshua Hood

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Alpha Team was sucking gas. That is the full extent of the introduction to this chapter. It is all that is needed. Every sign that a battle is to occur, and many lives will be put at risk. The chapter is representative of the book. This is a rather simple piece

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Crime/Mystery

Standing in the Shadows by Peter Robinson

Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve A friend who, at the wonderful age of 102, has been a lifelong avid reader, cites Inspector Alan Banks’s exploits as her greatest pleasure. She has read all previous 27 novels. Now that she can no longer see….what a terrible affliction for a reader!….she listens to audio books of Peter Robinson’s

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Crime/Mystery

Eleven Liars by Robert Gold

Reviewed by Rod McLary Even though this is the author’s second book [his debut novel was Twelve Secrets] I had not previously heard of him.  As the novel’s title is Eleven Liars and the previous one is called Twelve Secrets, there is more than a suggestion that we are at the beginning of a series

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Crime/Mystery

Simply Lies by David Baldacci

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Simply Lies is an uncomplicated title that describes more than adequately the latest yarn by David Baldacci. The characters create a mindset in which to tell a lie and then maintain it with the simplicity of truth. One chapter begins with a character introduced as Arlene Robinson. She is most plausible

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Crime/Mystery

Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Juan Gómez-Jurado is a new writer to my stable. I was impressed. The publisher has made a feature of the fact that the writer is new and exciting, a practice that makes me look askance at the claims for the merits of the book. In this case, however, the inflated descriptions

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Crime/Mystery

How to Kill a Client by Joanna Jenkins

Reviewed by Patricia Simms Reeve This is a first novel by Joanna Jenkins, herself a partner in an international law firm before deciding to write full-time. Her experience has given this thriller a marked ring of authenticity as she recounts the stresses and demands of a large, successful firm that is driven to acquire lucrative

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Crime/Mystery

Crows Nest by Nikki Mottram

Reviewed by Gail McDonald The author of Crows Nest, Nikki Mottram, studied psychology at the University of Queensland and worked in London and Australia in positions protecting and promoting the welfare of children at risk of harm. In this, her debut novel, she draws on her knowledge and experience in child protection to promote a

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