Reviews

Mark Gimenez – The Colour of Law

‘…one of the best legal thrillers I have read for some time.’

Synopsis:
This is the story of a poor-boy college football hero turned successful partner at a prominent Dallas law firm, who has long ago checked his conscience at the door. He catches a case that forces him to choose between his enviable lifestyle and doing ‘the right thing’ in this masterful debut legal thriller.

Clark McCall, ne’er-do-well son of Texas millionaire senator and presidential hopeful Mack McCall, puts a major break on his father’s election plans when he winds up murdered - apparently by Shawanda Jones, a heroin-addicted hooker - after a tawdry night of booze, drugs, and rough sex.

Scott Fenney, who’s worked his way to being a partner at an elite Dallas law firm, is assigned to provide Shawanda’s pro bono defence after the federal judge on the case hears him deliver an inspiring, altruistic and completely insincere speech to the local bar association. Scott plans to farm the case out to an old law school buddy, do-good attorney, Bobby Herrin. But his plans go awry when Shawanda puts her foot down in court and refuses to be passed off to the guy she considers the lesser attorney.

As the case unfolds, pressure is exerted on Scott to deter him from being too aggressive in his defence of Shawanda. That pressure becomes palpable as Scott is slowly stripped of the things he’s come to care for most. Will he do the right thing - at a terrible cost - or the easy thing, and keep his hard-earned, fabulous life?

Review:
This book has a lead character who has been transformed by his lifestyle into a selfish, arrogant and cunning lawyer, but who, by the end of the book, manages to elicit sympathy from the reader.

This debut novel takes the best from Grisham, Meltzer et al - and adds yet more to make this one of the best legal thrillers I have read for some time. The fast-paced storyline is enhanced with comic one liners and dialogue, especially from Scott’s daughter Boo, and Shawanda’s daughter.

This book comes highly recommended and is a definite must for Grisham fans. It’s a sure-fire hit!

Reviewed by: H. A.

CrimeSquad Rating

Raymond Khoury – The Last Templar

“It’s fast-paced, and you can really imagine the story making a great movie!”

Synopsis:
This story certainly starts with a bang… An ancient decoding device on loan from the Vatican is one of a number of objects stolen in a robbery at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, during which one of four horsemen dressed in mediaeval knight’s armour decapitates a police officer on live TV!

Archaeologist, Tess Chaykin, witnesses the daring raid and soon becomes involved with FBI agent, Sean Reilly in a global chase to recover the decoder and help to unlock the long-lost secrets of the Templars. This story traces the demise of the Templars through flashbacks to the thirteenth century that lead to a complex trail of intrigue and deceit that spans centuries and spreads across the globe.

As Tess and Reilly get ever closer to the truth, the net closes in on them. Mysterious and deadly forces are trying to stop them in their tracks. Who can they trust? Finally, having discovered the long-hidden secrets of the Templars, they must decide if they are ready (or willing) to disclose information that will affect millions of lives forever…

Review:
How I wish I hadn’t read The Da Vinci Code… Every story in this genre is now always going to suffer by comparison, and in many ways this is a better book. Raymond Khoury is an experienced scriptwriter and it really shows in the brilliant plotting of this book. It’s fast-paced, and you can really imagine the story making a great movie! The characters are drawn with gusto, though sometimes the distinction between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” is just a little clichéd.

The ultimate secret contained in the Templar manuscripts (yes, it is revealed…!) is both fascinating and thought provoking, and the journey, both physical and emotional, undertaken by the main protagonists in discovering it is truly page-turning stuff. My only real problem is with the ending of the book. It’s literally a cliffhanger (no, I won’t spoil it…), and personally I’d rather have seen things getting a bit less “wet”. I do seriously urge you to read the book though - and you’ll know what I mean!

Reviewed by: A.C.

CrimeSquad Rating

Laura Wilson – A Thousand Lies

‘This is a good psychological thriller that fans of Nicci French and Barbara Vine will enjoy.’

Synopsis:
When Amy Vaughan clears out her late mother’s flat she discovers cuttings relating to the case of Sheila Shand who was given a suspended sentence for murdering her father in 1987. As she investigates further Amy finds that not only is she somehow related to the Shand family, but the case holds disturbing parallels with her own childhood and her difficult relationship with her parents.

Review:
This is an unusual book, which defies any attempts to compare it with other novels. The case of the Shand family is very disturbing and the father is effectively portrayed as a brutal and sadistic tyrant. Laura Wilson is excellent at developing the character of the narrator, Amy Vaughan, who is trying to come to terms with her abusive mother and continuing difficulties with her father.

For much of the book I couldn’t see how the plot would develop and found it a “page turner” in this respect. This is a good psychological thriller that fans of Nicci French and Barbara Vine will enjoy.

Reviewed by: S. W.

CrimeSquad Rating

Richard Montanari - The Rosary Girls

‘…the climatic end will be no disappointment.’

Synopsis:
Only a killer hears their prayers... In the most brutal killing crusade Philadelphia has seen in years, a series of young Catholic women are found dead, their bodies mutilated and their hands bolted together. Each one clutches a rosary in her lifeless grasp.

Veteran cop Kevin Byrne and his rookie partner, Jessica Balzano, set out to hunt down the elusive killer who leads them deeper and deeper into the abyss of a madman's depravity. Suspects appear before them like bad dreams - and vanish just as quickly. While the body count rises, Easter is fast approaching. The day of resurrection and for the last rosary to be counted...

Review:
Jessica Balzano's first case in the Philadelphia Homicide Department is to try and track down the ruthless murderer of the city's teenage girls. Unable to find any evidence and baffled by the seemingly random selection of the girls, Jessica and her new partner remain puzzled as to who is committing these crimes.

This is a definite winner for those readers who enjoy good ‘meaty’ crime thrillers. The Rosary Girl's fast pace and the climatic end will be no disappointment.

Reviewed by: H. A.

CrimeSquad Rating

James Patterson and Maxine Paetro – The 5th Horseman

‘…keeps you guessing right up to the last page… and I do mean the last page!’

Synopsis:
Yuki Castellano, the newest member of the Women’s Murder Club, is devastated when her mother has a severe stroke. She is rushed to the San Francisco Medical Centre, which is currently embroiled in a huge legal case. The hospital is being sued for malpractice. There have been many instances where patients have died for no apparent reason and with all the bad press flying around, Yuki wants her mother transferred to another hospital. However, her mother appears to be making a good recovery. The next thing Yuki knows, her mother is dead.

Yuki is positive it is murder and Lindsay begins to investigate the deaths at the centre while Yuki becomes obsessed with the doctor who is at the centre of all the controversy surrounding the hospital. He was also the doctor who was treating Yuki’s mother. As Lindsay delves deeper into the suppressed dark rumours about the hospital she finds out that someone is despatching patients and leaving buttons on their eyes. All the patients are linked to this same doctor… Does he believe he is an avenging angel with the divine right to take away a life? Or, is someone hell bent on incriminating him?

Review:
This is the fifth outing for the Women’s Murder Club and is, to my mind, by far the best. I really enjoyed Fourth of July, but The 5th Horseman really gets your pulse racing! The story starts with a patient being put to rest. The killer watches as the patient dies before their very eyes. Who is killing off the patients at what was once a great medical centre?

Like Fourth of July, there is a court case in progress. This one is brought against the hospital regarding the large number of people who have inexplicably died in their care. The reader may feel that this court case has nothing to do with the facts that Lindsay is unearthing, but it is all integral to the main plot - and the denouement is simply breathtaking. As with all Patterson novels, we have the usual short chapters adding to the page-turning pace and this story keeps you guessing right up to the last page… and I do mean the last page!

Reviewed by: C. S.

CrimeSquad Rating

Dean Koontz - Forever Odd

‘…Koontz’s unique, larger than life characters will enthral you from the start…’

Synopsis:
We're all a little odd beneath the surface. Odd Thomas is the most unlikely hero you'll ever meet - an ordinary guy with a modest job. You might never look at him twice. But there's so much more to any of us than meets the eye - and that goes triple for Odd Thomas! Odd lives between two worlds in the small desert town of Pico Mundo, where the heroic and the harrowing are everyday events. Odd never asked to communicate with the dead. It's something that just happened. As the unofficial ambassador between our world and theirs, however, he's got a duty to do the right thing. That's the way Odd sees it, and that's why he's won hearts on both sides of the divide between life and death.

Odd's childhood friend has disappeared. The worst is feared. As he applies his unique talents to the task of finding the missing person, Odd discovers something worse than a dead body, encounters an enemy of exceptional cunning and rapidly spirals into a vortex of terror. Once again, Odd will stand against our worst fears. Around him will gather new allies and old, some living and some not. For, in the battle to come, there can be no innocent bystanders and every sacrifice can tip the balance between despair and hope. Whether you're meeting Odd Thomas for the first time or he's already an old friend, you'll be led on an unforgettable journey through a world of terror, wonder and delight to a revelation that could change your life. You can have no better guide than Odd Thomas!

Review:
Forever Odd is the continuation in the life of Odd Thomas, whose name effectively sums up his character. Odd has a special talent of being able to ‘see the dead’ and uses this skill to assist the local Sheriff, and on this occasion to track down an old friend who has been kidnapped.

Whilst not strictly speaking a ‘crime thriller’, Koontz manages to create in Forever Odd, a crime novel, with a hint of the supernatural thrown in. But whether a believer in ‘the dark side’ or not, Koontz’s unique, larger than life characters will enthral you from the start and make you want to read this book from cover to cover in record time.

Reviewed by: H. A.

CrimeSquad Rating

Margaret Murphy – Now You See Me

'…this novel is an excellent introduction to this exciting writer.’

Synopsis:
When Megan Ward goes missing from her lodgings in Liverpool, her friend and landlady is convinced that something untoward has happened to her. However, when her landlady is killed Megan’s disappearance becomes something other than a simple “missing persons” case. Meanwhile, in another part of the city, the computers of Patrick Doran’s security firm have been hacked and money is missing from his personal account. He is determined to get back the money at any cost and the mysterious Megan seems to hold the answer to its location.

Review:
I had not read any Margaret Murphy before and this novel is an excellent introduction to this exciting writer. She writes in the vein of Nicci French, but the plot and evocation of the streets of Liverpool were very much her own. She seems to have an excellent grasp of the intricacies of cyber-crime and I was completely convincing by the story of money being moved around in cyberspace - while its owner desperately tries to retrieve it.

The police working on the case are obviously part of a series and DCI Jeff Rickman appeared to be a detective with a troubled past detailed in previous books. However, the character was well developed and it was easy to enter the world of the Liverpool police force in this story. This is a brilliant book from an exciting writer. I’ll be reading some more.

Reviewed by S. W.

CrimeSquad Rating

Martin O'Brien – Jacquot and the Angel

‘…Jacquot is a charismatic investigator…’

Synopsis:
A wealthy German family is killed in the Cavaillon region of France. The brutal killing, followed by the arrest of a young gardener, shocks the local community but DCI Daniel Jacquot remains unconvinced about the motive for the killings. Soon the mysterious Marie-Ange appears in the village, a psychic convinced that the story behind the killings lies in the German occupation of the area during World War II.

Review:
Martin O’Brien has captured the French countryside perfectly in this interesting mystery. The dope-smoking detective Jacquot is a charismatic investigator. At odds with the authorities yet well liked by his contemporaries. His doubts over the chief suspect for the killings are augmented by letters he has received from Marie-Ange, convinced that the gardener is innocent. Indeed, it is Marie-Ange who is the most interesting character in the book. Stunningly beautiful, she captivates all the men she meets - with the possible exception of Jacquot. I would love to see her reappear in another novel. This is an excellent read.

Reviewed by S. W.

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