Baldacci turns in another action-packed thriller, bringing back government assassin Will Robie to thrill us with his deadly skills (and to make us wonder what the hell he is doing killing people for the government!) This time, Baldacci gives us double the excitement by giving us a female Will Robie in the form of Jessica Reel, another government assassin who had trained with Robie, but who has apparently gone rogue and killed several American government agents, including the number two in the CIA. When Robie […]
Chinese/U.S. Relations Viewed Through the Lens of a Murder Mystery
Flower Net is the first of a trilogy by this author, whose Snow Flower and the Secret Fan blew me away when I read it several years ago. This book travels back and forth between the U.S. and China in 1997, and is an incisive political commentary couched in a splendid if somewhat gruesome murder mystery. Liu Hulan is a beautiful young Chinese detective who has had to fight hard to achieve her respected status, but has to contend with the fact that is a […]
Lincoln Lawyer Returns in Fine Courtroom Style
Connelly does what he does best, combining excellent courtroom drama with personal stories that go beneath the surface and bring his characters to life. Mickey Haller is still doing business out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car, and his employees include an ex-wife, her new husband, a chauffeur who owes him favors, and a newly-hired young lawyer with ambition. Haller himself is still that odd mixture of half selfish and half heart-of-gold that makes him an interesting character—the reader keeps rooting […]
A Mind Puzzle of a Crime Thriller
I’ve been a long-time fan of Deaver’s well-executed serial killer novels starring his dynamic duo Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs. His next series with Kathryn Dance was less inspired, and when he wrote the Ian Fleming knockoff Carte Blanche, I was worried that the old Deaver magic had gone walkabout. So I was happy to learn that Deaver has re-discovered his creative flair for the original and the bizarre in The October List. Don’t get me wrong—the writing itself is not stellar and the characters […]