Recent reads

Catching up (as usual)...

THE LOCK ARTIST (Steve Hamilton) was in my TBR stack prior to publication. With all the hoopla and awards, one would think I would have read it sooner. Just as well I didn't, as the story didn't capture me as thoroughly as it did the Edgar Award committee. The story revolves around a mute teen boy, Michael, with a skill for lock-picking and safe-cracking. The prose pretty much lies flat except in one or two places, and though much is made about the circumstances that rendered our hero mute, those circumstances had little to do with the plot. The passages that detail lock-picking and safe-cracking are certainly interesting, but the teen love story dropped the suspension on my disbelief.

THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X (Keigo Higashino) was a much more interesting book, though again the prose sometimes felt off-key or a-kilter. I don't like to automatically blame the translator though; it could be the author's doing. Nevertheless the story is a wonderful cat-and-mouse tale of psychology as well as being a story of unrequited love. When Yasuko and her daughter inadvertently kill Yasuko's abusive ex-husband, a neighbor, Ishigami, weaves a complex web of protection around her. Ishigami is a math genius who proves to have a talent for real-life applications. But his foe turns out not to be the detective investigating the case, but an old college friend and physicist, another very bright thinker. Though there is a plot twist at the end that crushed the beauty of the tale rather than enhancing it, it's wonderful to watch two labyrinthine minds contest Yasuko's fate.

A KILLING WINTER (Wayne Arthurson) is the follow-up to the author's 2011 debut, FALL FROM GRACE. Newspaper reporter Leo DesRoches is exploring the world of Edmonton's homeless when one of his contacts, a Native street kid, goes missing. The search for the boy takes Leo into the violent world of Native street gangs, all the while Leo must deal with his own gambling addiction. The author has eliminated the expository passages that revealed his journalism background in the previous book, but the overall story arc staggers, though does not collapse, in the final third of the book. The ending is saved by a surprising scene as Leo's past sins appear to be catching up with him. It's a manipulative device, some might say, to get readers like me to buy the next book, but I would do that anyway. I like the character of Leo, I want to know his fate. And it's clear that the author has worked to improve his skills from book to book.

AS THE CROW FLIES is the latest novel in Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire series. As with all of the books in this series, what's not to like? Walt and his friend, Henry Standing Bear, witness a woman's fall from a cliff. Or was it a fall? The book is filled with well-defined, complex characters and Johnson's trademark Western humor. If you're unfamiliar with Johnson's novels, you don't have to start at the beginning (THE COLD DISH) but the truth is, you'll be cheating yourself if you don't.

Darrell James makes his debut as a novelist with NAZARETH CHILD. And a terrific opener it is, too. James has created a smart, modern heroine in Del Shannon, a Tucson field operative with a reputation for being able to find anyone, anywhere. The only person Del has never been able to locate, or even learn her name, is her mother. Until one day the FBI comes calling, and Del learns she has inherited a house right in the middle of Nazareth Child, Kentucky, a town run by a religious zealot named Silas Rule. Silas has more on his mind than saving souls though, and the FBI wants Del to find out what. I see the term "best-seller" all over James's future.

I could, maybe even should write an entire blog post about William Goldman's first novel, THE TEMPLE OF GOLD. First published in 1957, the book is a fitting start for the man who would later write MARATHON MAN, MAGIC, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, and the screenplay for BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. Technically this book is a re-read for me, but I first read it around 1968 and I remembered little about it save the names of the main characters and that I liked it. And after reading it I now know why I was never enamored of CATCHER IN THE RYE. Holden Caulfield was never as funny, as interesting, or as male as Raymond Euripides Trevitt. Ray's coming of age story takes a bit longer than many such, as Goldman skillfully guides Ray through the teen years, the Army, and married life.

This must be the month that I re-discover Goldman's work. I was hoping to re-read his SOLDIER IN THE RAIN when TCM aired the film version this past week. A Steve McQueen film I had never seen, and based on a Goldman novel I enjoyed (although the screenplay was co-written by Blake Edwards and Maurice Richlin)? Oh, yeah. I'm there, I'm right there. And what a satisfying film it is, too. McQueen's none-too-bright Eustis Clay's friendship with Gleason's beautifully underplayed and erudite Maxwell Slaughter works a treat. Gleason was never better. ("Let me tell you something, my friend: being a fat narcissist isn't easy.") I'll be watching it again soon.

And of course I wouldn't dream of skipping the latest episode in John Sandford's Lucas Davenport series, STOLEN PREY. No one can accuse the author of shortchanging the reader on pace, tension, action and body count. This time around Lucas is after money launderers, hackers, thieves, and a trio of hit men for a Mexican cartel. It's a tough job for Lucas and his pals but a fine old time for the reader.

The name is Clara. Clara. Not Clarice.

The whole world knows Clarice, right? 

 So let's not talk about her.

She's kind of wishy-washy anyway, compared to Clara. That's right, Clara. Hit-woman extraordinaire, Clara Rinker is far and away my favorite of author John Sandford's many fine villains, including the ultra-creepy Dr. Bekker. 

On author Steven Hart's very fine blog, he not only declares (and I agree) that the Lucas Davenport series, unlike so many series, continues to surprise and improve, but he also goes on to divide Sandford's villains into three categories, and I quote: "those who are dangerous because they’re stupid, those who are dangerous because they’re stuck in a corner, and those who are dangerous because they are missing the crucial elements that separate full-fledged humans from two-legged monsters."

I agree with that statement, too, but I make an exception for Clara Rinker. Clara's anything but stupid. She's very intelligent, very cautious, researches and plans her kills for speed and efficiency, and knows that the St. Louis mob she (mostly) works for will readily kill her to prevent her trading any of them for lenience should she ever be arrested. She can trust no one, and she plans and prepares accordingly, including putting herself through business school.

Nor is she dangerous because she's stuck in a corner. She's dangerous, full stop. She's not a cornered rat. She's too smart to let herself get boxed in. Time after time, she's one or even several steps ahead of Lucas and his team. Always, always, she leaves herself a way out. She's bold, but her boldness is always calculated.

So what does that leave? Oh, yeah. The two-legged monster. Nope, she's not that either. She doesn't kill for pleasure; that's just a job she happens to be good at. She's also good at running her bar and at bookkeeping. And she's capable of love and loyalty and deep emotion.

In Clara Rinker, John Sandford has created his most memorable and sympathetic villain. As a result of being sexually abused by her stepfather and older brother, Clara ran away from her Arkansas home when she was 16. She turned to exotic dancing to make a living until one night she was raped by a customer. She set the rapist up for a kill, and when her bosses determined she had a natural talent for wet work, her career as a mob hit-woman took off.

Capable of hiding in plain sight, that's Clara. She's a chameleon. The FBI knows they have a hit-woman on their hands but that is the sum total of all they know about her -- until Clara takes a non-mob client in Minneapolis and Lucas Davenport gets involved. Clara's client is a sociopath of the first order, a lawyer who both befriends Clara while dragging her ever deeper into danger. Clara doesn't worry about her crazy client, or how smart Lucas is or his intimidating reputation. The only thing that bothers her, nags at her really, is that he appears to be very lucky.  At one point in the first book which features Clara, CERTAIN PREY, Clara even dances with Lucas. She knows who he is, that he's getting close to identifying her, but he thinks she's just a pretty woman who runs a very nice bar. When he discovers how wrong he is, even Lucas has to admire her poise -- and her brass, which she further displays by directly confronting Lucas in a shoot-out that is, for the reader, both heart-stopping and hilarious. Without providing too much in the way of spoilers, at book's end Clara makes a clean getaway with the FBI and the mob both wanting her. The Feds think they can make her sing (they can't), and the mob thinks what the FBI thinks. Kirkus Reviews wrote of this book that author Sandford "hits a home run over the curve of the earth." I don't disagree, but am left wondering how to heap even more praise on MORTAL PREY, the second book in which Clara appears.

If Clara is sympathetic in the first book, the reader is almost entirely on her side in the second book, the events of which occur some three years after CERTAIN PREY. Hiding out in Mexico, keeping a low profile, Clara works as a bookkeeper until one day at lunch her lover is killed by snipers. Clara, too, is wounded and her unborn child dies. Angry, grief-stricken, and knowing full well that the mob has finally found her, she does something she hasn't done since she was raped: she kills for revenge. This petite woman taking down wary, well-protected mobsters one after another while dodging Lucas and the FBI makes for tense, action-packed scenes. Even when Clara kills an FBI agent, one whom the reader has come to know well, it's hard not to sympathize with Clara's reasons for doing so (which involve the suicide of her younger, mentally deficient brother), all the while knowing that Clara has now crossed a line she can never cross back again. At book's end, although the reader is happy that Clara fails once more to get Lucas in her crosshairs, the reader cannot be entirely happy with the turn of events. Clara is, in many ways, the flip side of the coin that is Lucas Davenport. It is only Lucas's recognition of a like mind and spirit that allows him the insight which leads to vanquishing her. And Clara's downfall is not the hubris of so many villains, but is a result of the deep loss that leaves her without any real desire to rebuild and reinvent her life yet one more time.

I think no one has created so many memorable and unique villains in crime fiction as John Sandford, but in Clara Rinker he created a complex creature in whom the reader can find as much to admire as to loathe.

Thanks to blogger extraordinaire Jen Forbus for creating and hosting the Heroes and Villains Theme Week. Be sure to check out Jen's blog and vote in the ultimate hero versus villain poll. Friday, the 20th, is the last day to get your vote counted, so don't waste time.

Also, everyone who comments on one of my posts this week -- that would be today's post, as well as the Doctor Death  and the An almost ordinary hero posts -- will have his/her name entered into a drawing to receive the newest Lucas Davenport novel, STOLEN PREY, in either hardback or ebook form, when it is released on May 15, 2012. You can click here to read the first chapter free.

Doctor Death

This week's theme is Heroes & Villains, the brainchild of the amazing woman who brings you Jen's Book Thoughts. Yesterday I gave some space to hero Lucas Davenport, the Minneapolis cop created by John Sandford. Today and tomorrow this space belongs to arguably the two most memorable villains Davenport has faced. Sandford has a real knack for creating 3D bad boys and girls: grotesque serial killers, brilliant psychopaths, and whack jobs who kill for motives other than the pleasure of so doing. So choosing just one or two out of the long line of nasties Davenport has vanquished could have been a wrenching choice but Sandford made it easy. I simply chose the only two prominent villains who were the leading antagonists in multiple novels. (I say prominent because I know of at least one criminal who appeared in a non-leading role in several books in the Prey series.)

First up is respected pathologist Dr. Michael Bekker, the top villain in Eyes of Prey. Respected, yes, and an extreme narcissist (as so many serial killers are). Vain, completely consumed by his own physical beauty, he is possibly even more concerned with his clothes than is Lucas. An addict, Bekker takes multiple categories of drugs multiple times a day: cocaine, amphetamines, barbiturates, steroids -- if it's mood altering, he takes it. And yet he remains a distinguished light of the medical profession. He's noted for his very fine research on death and dying. Well, and why not? Bekker is fixated on discovering whether there is anything for the human spirit after death. Just maybe during his time in Vietnam, Bekker killed for the first time. And liked it so much he very quietly began taking lives in the US hospitals where he works and has free reign to do his "research." The nurses and staff think him "creepy," and nickname him Dr. Death. But no one has any real evidence that the handsome doc is anything except a bit strange.

And then Bekker decides that his wife needs to die. That way Bekker can get his hands on the beautiful old house and all the antiques his wife owns, sell everything and begin to live in the style to which he believes he is entitled. But Bekker is no dummy. On the contrary, he's highly intelligent. Calculating, conniving, and cunning. And cold. He enlists the aid of an accomplice to kill Mrs. Bekker in a particularly brutal fashion, so that Bekker himself will have an airtight alibi. It is that unusually airtight alibi that has the Minneapolis cops looking more closely at Bekker than they might otherwise have done.

The twist in the case is that there turns out to be an eyewitness to the murder, and the race is on between Davenport and Bekker to find that crucial witness. The crafty doctor feeds the cops a number of false clues, and the bodies begin to drop as Bekker creates more victims in order to distract Davenport.

Among the more fascinating aspects of the Bekker character are the parallels to real-life former physician Michael Swango. Swango was implicated in as many as 60 fatalities (mostly by poisoning or overdose) although he admitted to only four. Like the fictional doctor, Swango was noticeably fascinated by death early in his career. Like Bekker, Swango did not limit his predations to hospital patients. Where the two characters differ, if only by degree, is that Sandford's creation is more intelligent, more daring, more brutal, and more vengeful. But then, as Bekker learns after killing Lucas's lover, Lucas can be brutal and vengeful himself.

In Silent Prey, the sequel to Eyes of Prey, Bekker performs a daring courthouse escape during his trial for the crimes committed in the first book. Bekker, and thus the action, move to New York City. Davenport being the expert on Bekker, the NYPD brings him in as a consultant and once again, the hunt is on. But in a city with millions of eyes watching for this killer -- who continues to murder with impunity -- Bekker finds a way to make himself invisible.

Of all Sandford's books, Eyes of Prey and Silent Prey come closest to being horror stories rather than crime fiction. Bekker is irredeemably evil, a true monster. He has no good qualities, or if he does, he twists them for his own dark purposes. He has much in common with Hannibal Lecter, save that Bekker lacks Lecter's ability to restrain himself. To read a better summation of Bekker's character, check out what Sandford himself had to say about Eyes of Prey and Silent Prey.

Later this week, I'll introduce you to Clara Rinker, my favorite of all Sandford's villains. Unlike Bekker, who exists to horrify the reader, Rinker may very well get you on her side instead of Lucas's!

In keeping with yesterday's discussion of Davenport's top 100 songs of the rock era, what rock song would make a great theme for Dr. Michael Bekker? He has a fixation about mutilating the eyes of his victims, so perhaps you could work that in? Or not. All comments on this post will earn you a chance to win a copy (hardback or ebook) of the new Lucas Davenport book, STOLEN PREY, when it is released on May 15.

An almost ordinary hero.

Heroes and Villains is the theme this week, and is the name of the event sponsored by Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts. Be sure to check out Jen's blog and vote in the contest this week between the ultimate hero and the ultimate villain.

As a participant in this event, you might guess I've chosen a long-time favorite as my hero: Lucas Davenport. Lucas is the protagonist in 21 novels (with at least one, possibly two more to come) and two made-for-television films. He makes brief appearances in author John Sandford's Virgil Flowers series as well.

It's difficult to know what to say about a character about whom much has already been written, and so authoritatively.  Tall, lean, dark hair, a scar slashing through one eyebrow and down to the cheekbone. A guy not afraid of the physical but whose outside-the-box thinking is his greatest job asset. A guy who loves a joke but occasionally suffers from clinical depression.  Something of a philanderer in the early books of the series, Lucas develops a happy family life in the later books, including a baby son and an adopted teen daughter. He drives a Porsche throughout the series, making him the envy of almost everyone he knows. The money for the car came from his early involvement in computer games and simulations, something he gave up early in the books also. In later books Lucas also drives a more family-oriented vehicle, some sort of SUV that I don't pay attention to. Hm, he's mean and tough and, oddly enough, a GQ devotee. I mean the man is a serious clotheshorse, with the funds to indulge his fancy.

But none of that really jumps out at you and yells, hey, you gotta read about this guy, does it? What makes Lucas Davenport a hero? Why do I nearly break into a run from the parking lot to the bookstore on those days when a Davenport book is released?

Funny, but I don't think of Lucas (Never Luke. Never.) as a hero. He's a little bit of an anti-hero early on,  a  bit Dirty Harry-ish. More than willing to take rough vengeance on a pimp who used a church key on a prostitute's face, said prostitute having been one of Lucas's informers. But Lucas has too much money, and plays politics too well to ever be just a clone of Harry Calahan. Lucas is more of an action-oriented problem solver. With, natch, some hellacious problems to solve. And as the series progresses, Lucas becomes less of a lone, street detective, and more of a team leader, driving force, idea man, and media manipulator. But always with street instincts. Watching the puzzle pieces all come together, laughing over the jokes and some of  the situations the characters face, delighting in the hunt as much as Lucas does -- these are just some of the reasons Davenport is among my favorite heroes. If, indeed, he is a hero and not just a guy who really enjoys his job. And it's not just Davenport. His entire supporting cast of recurring characters, from vice cop Del Capslock (do you love that name, or what?) to adopted daughter Letty, become welcome friends who are missed when absent.

But a hero is only ever as good as his villain, and John Sandford writes some of the best, baddest villains in crime fiction. The series kicks off with RULES OF PREY, and one of the smartest, coldest villains Lucas will ever face: maddog. The hook to the story is that the killer leaves notes at the crime scene for the police, notes that list his rules for committing murder and eluding detection: 'Never kill anyone you know.' 'Never have a motive.' And so on. Further on in the series, Lucas tries to bring down the 'Doctor Death,' Dr. Michael Bekker, a brilliant mad man. And no one who has read hit-woman Clara Rinker's story will ever forget her; she's the one criminal who is perhaps the flip side of the coin that is Lucas Davenport. I'll give Clara and the not-so-good doctor their moments in the limelight later this week.

The body count is high in these books, and there are a few readers who might find the language offensive as well as the violence. I'm afraid you can't count me among them. Author John Sandford does a superlative job of drawing the reader into Lucas's world, to the point that in BROKEN PREY, one of the standout novels in an outstanding series, Sandford got a ton of fan feedback on a list of songs Lucas was putting together for his new iPod: Best Songs of the Rock Era (suitable for a road trip). Taste in music is so subjective that not even Lucas was immune from criticism when it came to the songs he finally chose for his top 100. His final list is below. Look it over and tell me which song you think shouldn't be there? And which song isn't there, but should be? All comments on this week's posts will earn you a chance to win a copy (hardback or ebook) of the new Lucas Davenport book, STOLEN PREY, when it is released on May 15.

  1. Sharp-Dressed Man · ZZ Top
  2. Legs · ZZ Top
  3. Mustang Sally · Wilson Pickett
  4. Superman's Song · Crash Test Dummies
  5. Rock On · David Essex
  6. Radar Love · Golden Earring
  7. Heart of Glass · Blondie
  8. White Rabbit · Jefferson Airplane
  9. Somebody to Love · Jefferson Airplane
 10. Layla · Derek and the Dominoes

 11. Roadhouse Blues · Doors
 12. House of the Rising Sun · Animals
 13. Sweet Emotion · Aerosmith
 14. Dude (Looks Like a Lady) · Aerosmith
 15. Dancing in the Dark · Bruce Springsteen
 16. Born to Run · Bruce Springsteen
 17. Thunder Road · Bruce Springsteen
 18. Every Breath You Take · Police
 19. Heart of Saturday Night · Tom Waits
 20. Hot for Teacher · Van Halen

 21. Won't Get Fooled Again · Who
 22. Hotel California (covers the Eagles) · Gipsy Kings
 23. Give Me One Reason · Tracy Chapman
 24. Down on the Corner · CCR
 25. Lyin' Eyes · Eagles
 26. Life in the Fast Lane · Eagles
 27. Skateaway (Roller Girl) · Dire Straits
 28. Mary Jane's Last Dance · Tom Petty
 29. Me 'n Bobby McGee · Janis Joplin
 30. Black Water · Doobie Brothers

 31. I Love Rock 'n Roll · Joan Jett
 32. Jack and Diane · John Mellencamp
 33. The Wall (Part 2) · Pink Floyd
 34. Money · Pink Floyd
 35. Piano Man · Billy Joel
 36. After Midnight · Eric Clapton
 37. Lay Down Sally · Eric Clapton
 38. You Shook Me (All Night Long) · AC/DC
 39. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap · AC/DC
 40. Long Cool Woman · Hollies

 41. Like a Rolling Stone · Bob Dylan
 42. Knockin' on Heaven's Door · Bob Dylan
 43. Subterranean Homesick Blues · Bob Dylan
 44. Satisfaction · Rolling Stones
 45. Brown Sugar · Rolling Stones
 46. Sympathy for the Devil · Rolling Stones
 47. Anarchy in the UK · Sex Pistols
 48. Sugar Magnolia · Grateful Dead
 49. Slow Hand · Pointer Sisters
 50. Sweet Dreams · Eurythmics

 51. Jailhouse Rock · Elvis Presley
 52. Ziggy Stardust · David Bowie
 53. Night Moves · Bob Seger
 54. Bye-Bye-Love · Everly Brothers
 55. Purple Haze · Jimi Hendrix
 56. Lola · Kinks
 57. Tender is the Night · Jackson Browne
 58. Louie Louie · The Kingsmen
 59. Bad to the Bone · George Thorogood
 60. Turn the Page (covers Bob Seger) · Metallica

 61. Sweet Home Alabama · Lynryd Skynyrd
 62. We Will Rock You · Queen
 63. Ramblin' Man · Allman Brothers
 64. Rock 'n Roll · Led Zeppelin
 65. What's Love Got to Do With It · Tina Turner
 66. Born to Be Wild · Steppenwolf
 67. With or Without You · U2
 68. Paranoid · Black Sabbath
 69. Blue Morning Blue · Foreigner
 70. White Wedding · Billy Idol

 71. Sweet Child o' Mine · Guns 'n Roses
 72. Paradise City · Guns 'n Roses
 73. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (covers Dylan) · Guns 'n Roses *
 74. Walk on the Wild Side · Lou Reed
 75. Feel Like Makin' Love · Bad Company
 76. Rock of Ages · Def Leppard
 77. Brown Eyed Girl · Van Morrison
 78. Devil With a Blue Dress · Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels
 79. Respect · Aretha Franklin
 80. I'm in the Mood · John Lee Hooker & Bonnie Raitt

 81. I Got You (I Feel Good) · James Brown
 82. Unchained Melody · Righteous Brothers
 83. Little Red Corvette · Prince
 84. Roll Over Beethoven · Chuck Berry
 85. Mr. Tamborine Man (covers Dylan) · Byrds
 86. Ohio · CSNY
 87. Peggy Sue · Buddy Holly
 88. Great Balls of Fire · Jerry Lee Lewis
 89. Pretty Woman · Roy Orbison
 90. Runaway · Del Shannon

 91. Walk This Way · Aerosmith / Run-DMC
 92. (Sittin' on the) Dock of the Bay · Otis Redding
 93. Smells like Teen Spirit · Nirvana
 94. Still Crazy After All These Years · Paul Simon
 95. Who Do You Love? · Bo Diddley
 96. One Toke Over the Line · Brewer and Shipley
 97. I Wanna Be Sedated · Ramones
 98. Should I Stay or Should I Go · Clash
 99. Burning Down the House · Talking Heads
100. Waltz 2 / Jazz Suite · Dimitri Shostakovich