A note about BOOK REVIEWS. Sort Of.:
These are not, in any way, meant to be comprehensive reviews. They are intended to acknowledge that I have read the book, and give my honest core impressions.
If a real review is what you wish, there are many wonderful book blogs available, and I have provided some tools to find them under the tab marked "Useful Stuff."
"LIES! LIES! IT'S ALL LIES!"
This book is a post apocalyptic, murder mystery, with touches of social commentary and conspiracy theory thrown in.
And it's the first in a series.
And it managed to throw me completely off the scent a couple of times!
"It took him a moment to place me. A few years ago, his house had been damaged in the big earthquake.
I didn't know him then or that he was with LAPD, but not long after I
jogged past while he was clearing debris and saw that he had a small rat
tattooed on his shoulder. The tat marked him as a tunnel rat in Vietnam. I stopped to give him a hand. Maybe because we had that connection."
This offering has the same smart ass P.I., and the same intense, fast pace plotting as those that came before. It also, however, has a brief cameo appearance by a another detective from another popular series.
Many authors insert allusions to the work of other writers into their work, but I have not seen one instance in which it was done better than here. It was really quite amusing.
"A fine layer of ash had blown into the carport, showing a single set of cat prints going from the side of the house to the cat hatch built into my door. People in Minnesota see things like this with snow."
"Aimes had learned long ago, perhaps in an earlier life, that a poet would die for a rose."
"The devil takes his toll, even in this angel town."
I had a hard time choosing a quote this time. There were many good ones.
Now that I am reduced to reading them as I can get my hands on them, and way out of order, I expected it to be much more disconcerting than it has been. As long as I orient myself as to where the next book belongs in the series, before I start reading, the stories themselves are strong enough to ground me.
"I looked from her to the man in the
polka dot tie then back at her again. "They say that's one of the ways
you know you're middle aged," I said. "When everybody you meet reminds
you of somebody else."
After you've read deep into a series, you tend to create in your mind a pretty strong idea of what to expect from it's main characters.
This particular novel made me reevaluate some of my conclusions.
"Doctor, all your friends try to walk right over me."
Clair said, "That's them teaching you to push back. Thank you, Debbie."
I was on the library waiting list for thee months!
This time around the authors managed to keep three suspenseful plots in the air at one time. Two were resolved soundly, while the other I expect will be revisited some time in the future.
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