The Tin Collectors
by Stephen J. Cannell
Plot
Inside the department, they’re called Tin Collectors: Internal Affairs Agents, the police of the police. If they catch you breaking the rules, they’ll come after your badge. If they want you badly enough, they’ll collect more than just your tin.
LAPD Detective Shane Scully is startled awake in the middle of the night by a call from his ex-partner’s wife, who is being beaten by her abusive husband. Racing to their house to stop the fight, Scully ends up killing his ex-partner, a cop who is beloved within the department. Suddenly, Scully finds himself an outcast, shunned by his fellow cops who intend to exact vengeance no matter what the cost. Internal Affairs zeroes in on the “renegade” cop with their sharpest young prosecutor, the ice queen Alexa Hamilton, who has her own reasons for taking revenge on Scully.
Desperate to save his career, Scully starts kicking over rocks within the LAPD. What he uncovers is pure evil: a conspiracy going to the very top that ultimately threatens not just his own life but that of a young teenage boy, Chooch, entrusted to Scully’s care by his mother – Sandy Sandoval. Known as the Black Widow, Sandy is a beautiful and courageous woman who also happens to be the LAPD’s most important undercover informant, and Scully will do anything to keep her son safe.
My Analysis
This is the first in the series, so I will admit it wasn’t as good as some of the subsequent novels. That’s okay. That’s usually how it is with successful series. The good ones start out average or a bit above average and improve.
This is not to imply I didn’t enjoy it. The catalyst that started the entire thing started innocently enough, but the mystery that followed became more complex with every chapter. There were several characters, but they didn’t all get huge portions of the spotlight, so they weren’t confusing.
A lot of profanity, so reader beware.
Some good, early character development even though the story was pretty plot-driven. That’s okay, there was enough personal stuff to keep it from being too action-oriented.
A good start to the series. I’ve read others, which means I’ve read them out of order. That’s okay, though. Just know that Scully gets into more trouble than many other cops do. Lol
My rank:
Blue Belt
The One Impossible Labyrinth
by Matthew Reilly
Plot
THE END IS HERE
Jack West, Jr. has made it to the Supreme Labyrinth. Now he faces one last race-against multiple rivals, against time, against the collapse of the universe itself-a headlong race that will end at a throne inside the fabled labyrinth.
AN IMPOSSIBLE MAZE
But the road will be hard. For this is a maze like no other: a maze of mazes. Uncompromising and complex. Demanding and deadly.
A CATACLYSMIC CONCLUSION
It all comes down to this. For it ends here-now-in the most lethal and dangerous place Jack has encountered in all of his many adventures. And in the face of this indescribable peril, with everything on the line, there is only one thing he can do. Attempt the impossible.
My Analysis
Warning: You must read the others in this series, and you must read them in order. This is not one of those series where you can pick one up and understand what is going on. Yes, each book harkens back to some stuff that happened in previous book, but you will not get the full picture without those preceding.
With that in mind, I have to say up front that I had been looking forward to this book for a long time.
Each book in this series is absolutely amazing. This one is no exception. You have action on every page. There are plenty of wonderful characters doing spectacular things. Oh, sure, West is the ultimate hero here, but the others all play their parts very well.
Okay, there are some adverbs that are noticeable and I could have done without them. In this case, I’m going to 99% forgive the author for using them. Only because I loved the rest of the story.
In this book, as well a the others, don’t worry about physics or time (i.e. a lot of stuff happens in less than one minute), and be prepared to stretch your imagination beyond anything encountered before.
Of course, since this is the final book, a lot of the bad guys who showed up earlier have to be taken care of. While I understand, I found it a bit too “easy” to just bump off some of these characters, especially sine they played such major baddie roles before. I guess I understand the need to do this, otherwise, this book could have been doubled in size.
The ending was action-packed, but a little…anti-climactic. Just a little. I guess you have to bring in the adage that it’s the journey, not the destination. So, when the ending comes, well, it’s there and done with, and you move on to the lengthy denouement.
There may be some disagreement on the rank I’m giving this what with the issues I’ve brought up, but the enjoyability factor, as it does in so many cases, outweighs a lot of the problems. And this is one where I enjoyed this story from beginning to end.
My Rank:
Brown Belt
Outlw Mountain
by J. A. Jance
Plot
What kind of monster would savagely murder a 71-year-old and leave her battered corpse to rot in the Arizona desert? A crime so patently inhuman, it shocks even those who should be used to death—like Joanna Brady, sheriff of Cochise County. But the slaying of a complex and truly uncommon senior is only one thread in a bloody tapestry—as death follows death in horrific succession, leading one dedicated officer of the law to risk everything as she seeks answers in the lethal shadow of Outlaw Mountain.
My Analysis
This book had a lot going on. A murder, a mentally challenged adult left behind at an even, an engagement, and a lot of events happening in characters’ lives.
Not sure where to start. While I like a bit of character development (this is a continuation of the Butch and Joanna story), and I don’t mind a subplot here and there, I almost got lost in some of the rest of it. When we dealt with the murder of the woman, I grabbed hold. Otherwise, I was pinballed around with a lot of other things happening.
I enjoyed the climactic scene with Joanna in danger. I did not enjoy the useless ending. The scene at the funeral was not needed and didn’t offer anything. It felt like Jance said, “I don’t think I’ll write one more scene with danger and action. Let me just end it.”
All in all, I think there was too much here to focus on the murder mystery. I’m dropping the rank because of this. this wasn’t up there with a lot of other very good Brady mysteries.
My rank:
Green Belt
The Rule Of Four
By Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
Plot
Princeton. Good Friday, 1999. On the eve of graduation, two students are a hairsbreadth from solving the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Famous for its hypnotic power over those who study it, the five-hundred-year-old Hypnerotomachia may finally reveal its secrets — to Tom Sullivan, whose father was obsessed with the book, and Paul Harris, whose future depends on it. As the deadline looms, research has stalled — until an ancient diary surfaces. What Tom and Paul discover inside shocks even them: proof that the location of a hidden crypt has been ciphered within the pages of the obscure Renaissance text.
Armed with this final clue, the two friends delve into the bizarre world of the Hypnerotomachia — a world of forgotten erudition, strange sexual appetites, and terrible violence. But just as they begin to realize the magnitude of their discovery, Princeton’s snowy campus is rocked: a longtime student of the book is murdered, shot dead in the hushed halls of the history department.
My Analysis
This book was completely different than what I anticipated. I thought it was another adventure, world-hopping, history mystery with lots of clues. Instead, most of it takes place in two days on the campus of Princeton University. Seriously, two days. The first day doesn’t end until almost halfway through the book.
There is mystery, but it’s presented not as adventure so much as here’s a bunch of riddles to solve. It is interesting the way the puzzle is laid out, and I enjoyed that part of it. The ‘treasure’ is intriguing, too, and makes you wonder what if.
There is interesting character development throughout. The five main characters (I’m including Tom’s girlfriend as the fifth) all go through a lot of changes. The issue here is the authors had to set their relationships with flashbacks. That’s okay, but there is a bit of strength lacking when it comes to the development changes throughout the story. One has to remember that the friendships and relationships and past tension has all come and gone.
There was some good action, some mystery, some wondering who can you trust. I’ll give this one a rank of Purple Belt only because I was kept intrigued throughout. I thought for a moment or two that I might drop the book because I didn’t think it was going anywhere. The day long sequence of events that lasted so long seemed unreal at first. I then thought I’d give it a lower ranks because, again, I didn’t think it was going anywhere. However, it kept pulling me along. I kept rooting for Tom and Katie and a satisfying solution. I was given one.
Winter Study
By Nevada Barr
Plot
Soon after Anna Pigeon joins the famed wolf study team of Isle Royale National Park in the middle of Lake Superior, the wolf packs begin to behave in peculiar ways. Giant wolf prints are found, and Anna spies the form of a great wolf from a surveillance plane. When a female member of the team is savaged, Anna is convinced they are being stalked, and what was once a beautiful, idyllic refuge becomes a place of unnatural occurrences and danger beyond the ordinary…
My Analysis
I’ve enjoyed many Barr stories. Some I have trouble getting through. For instance, Liberty Falling. I tried both reading it and listening to it and never made it past the first chapter.
This one I did all right. There were a lot of characters introduced up front and sometimes I had problems keeping track of them.
One issue I had with this one was I didn’t see Anna’s purpose in being there. She just joins up and then asks a lot of questions about what’s going on and what they’re doing. I didn’t quite understand her role in the whole study.
The mystery took a long time appearing. Once the first dead body appears, then things begin to take shape. It wasn’t difficult figuring out at least one of the bad guys. He was a rotten scumbag from the start and only got worse.
I enjoyed the connections between the characters. That played well.
One thing I found unrealistic is Anna’s constant thinking about other things when she’s in danger. Fighting for her life in the frozen over lake or fighting not to fall over the cliff, she thinks of stories from childhood as well as other experiences. I’m sorry, but you are about to die. Don’t you think you should be thinking of ways out of the danger? It took a loooooong time for her to rescue herself from the cliff. I just know in my critique groups no one wants to be taken out of the action by back story. And there is a LOT of back story here whenever she’s in danger.
Otherwise, a good mystery with some graphic detail at one point.
My rank:
Purple Belt
Soul Catcher
By Frank Herbert
Plot
Katsuk, a militant Native American student, kidnaps 13-year-old David Marshall—the son of the US Undersecretary of State. The two flee into the deepest wilds of the Pacific Northwest, where they must survive together as teams of hunters try to track them. David begins to feel a growing bond of respect for his captor, even as he struggles to escape. What the boy does not know, however, is that he has been chosen as an innocent from the white world for an ancient sacrifice of vengeance. And Katsuk may be divinely inspired . . .or simply insane.
My Analysis
So, this wasn’t as enjoyable as anticipated. The author spent a LOT of time in Katsuk’s head. On and on and on about Native American philosophy and traditions and spirit guides and ravens and whatnot. On and on. Every chapter. Well…every section with that character. No chapters.
David ended up being a pretty weak character considering he was the protagonist. There was no real cunning, no intelligent decisions. A lot of questions, but no real development that I could see.
Spattered throughout the story were short bits with notes from Katsuk, comments from the authorities, comments from the parents, and so on. They were fine, but added very little.
The ending was not as I expected, however. Katsuk cheated. I won’t play spoiler but for much of the book, Katsuk told David that certain conditions had to exist for Katsuk to carry out his plan. Those conditions didn’t happen, yet Katsuk ended up fulfilling his plan. Now, this may have been done to show the underlying dishonesty of Katsuk or to put him—and maybe Indians—in a bad light. I was disappointed, though.
There were some interesting moments with the ravens. That was a little intriguing. For the most part, I didn’t find the book enjoyable. David wore the same clothes throughout and even with washing in streams and rivers he must have stunk. Ditto with Katsuk. There was not much of third person close POV on David’s part. Surface stuff. For a twelve year old, he didn’t act scared a lot or relate that he missed his parents.
Just not a very good read in my opinion. This left a lot to be desired.
My rank:
Yellow Belt
Sepulchre
By James Herbert
Plot
The bodyguard. There is a house, hidden away in a small valley, that holds a dark and dreadful secret. The house is called Neath. There is a psychic who lives in that house who is part of its secret. His name is Kline. There is a guardian of the house, and of the psychic, and of the secret. He is known as The Keeper. Together, in unholy union, they serve a force whose existence threatens mankind itself. But now a terrible danger is sensed and an outsider must protect them all.
The outsider is Halloran, and he is unaware of the insidious evil he must face. He will learn of a multinational corporation’s strange method of detecting new mineral resources; he will combat men who thrive on the worst of physical corruption; he will find love of a perverse nature; he will confront the darkness of his own soul. And eventually Halloran will discover the horrific and awesome secret of the Sepulchre.
My Analysis
Maybe it was my mood at the time I began reading the book, but I found it difficult to get into. For the first couple chapters, I reread several paragraphs to understand the story.
Beyond those, as the story progressed, it was fairly easy to understand who the bad guy was, but not his purpose. There were several back stories of all the bad guy’s cohorts and of Halloran. All of them were pretty gruesome tales. Some sex and gore and cannibalism.
It was a little eerie being at the house and seeing some of the weird stuff at the lake. The climax was okay and fairly predictable.
The entire story, however, seemed…off. Bits and pieces of psychics and Sumerians and evil people and the love interest and the secret group… They all fit together, but shakily. A little disjointed.
An okay book from Herbert. Not his best, though.
My rank:
Green Belt
A Drop Of The Hard Stuff
By Lawrence Block
Plot
Facing his demons in his first year of sobriety, Matthew Scudder finds himself on the trail of a killer. When Scudder’s childhood friend Jack Ellery is murdered, presumably while attempting to atone for past sins, Scudder reluctantly begins his own investigation, with just one lead: Ellery’s Alcoholics Anonymous list of people he wronged. One of them may be a killer, but that’s not necessarily Scudder’s greatest danger. Immersing himself in Ellery’s world may lead him right back to the bar stool.
My Analysis
Block writes a wonderful mystery that has just the perfect amount of resistance from Scudder while yet continuing onward trying to solve the mystery.
Block does an excellent job dealing with alcoholism, bringing us deep inside the world, explaining the 12 step program. Showing the results of making bad choices…and choices for redemption.
Block knows how to write. I had listened to a Scudder mystery decades ago, but didn’t understand what I was listening to. When I came across a mystery years later, I almost didn’t read it. I’m glad I did because I finally got it. Each one I listen to, I thoroughly enjoy. Just the right amount of mystery, a bit of action, a bit of danger, and deduction.
Read Scudder for a truly good book.
My Rank:
Brown Belt
Ghosted
By Rosie Walsh
Plot
Seven perfect days. Then he disappeared. A love story with a secret at its heart.
When Sarah meets Eddie, they connect instantly and fall in love. To Sarah, it seems as though her life has finally begun. And it’s mutual: It’s as though Eddie has been waiting for her, too. Sarah has never been so certain of anything. So when Eddie leaves for a long-booked vacation and promises to call from the airport, she has no cause to doubt him. But he doesn’t call.
Sarah’s friends tell her to forget about him, but she can’t. She knows something’s happened–there must be an explanation.
Minutes, days, weeks go by as Sarah becomes increasingly worried. But then she discovers she’s right. There is a reason for Eddie’s disappearance, and it’s the one thing they didn’t share with each other: the truth.
My Analysis
So, this is intriguing little mystery, sort of, and a romance, sort of. Why did Eddie leave all of a sudden and cease contact. That’s the question from the first page. It doesn’t get answered until one nears the end. In the middle, there’s a lot of…sort of.
One of the issues I had this was it kept jumping back and forth between present day to the seven days, but everything was out of order and one had to pay attention to keep up with where everything was. There was a lot of doubt, a lot of people telling her to forget Eddie, a lot of wandering around trying to find answers.
I guess I was hoping for something more. More action, more danger. The answer to the question was okay, but I could have used more clues to have tried to figure it out.
The story is not boring, but it just roll along slowly.
My Rank
Purple Belt
The Store
By James Patterson & Richard DiLallo
Plot
The store is watching you.
Jacob and Megan Brandeis have gotten jobs with the megasuccessful, ultrasecretive Store. Seems perfect. Seems safe. But their lives are about to become anything but perfect, anything but safe.
Always watching.
My Analysis
This is a short book from Patterson and friend. The audio runs a bit over five hours.
One can tell right away Patterson is metaphorically sticking his tongue out, putting thumbs in his ears, and waggling fingers at a certain online company.
However, there is some interesting a somewhat scary stuff here. Yes, this goes a bit over the top…but some things are not out of the realm of possibility. You see it happening today. Just as a small example, the company in this book has a fulfillment center that covers eighteen buildings and three square miles. Pretty large area, but have you seen any of the fulfillment centers from the A to Z company? I have. They’re huge. Huge parking lots.
No, currently you don’t get your stuff by drone, but there’s a fleet of those black and blue trucks all over the place, right?
Anyway, some of the creepiness in this book comes from the characters who are employed by The Store. Immediately, I associated them with the movie The Stepford Wives. Or maybe the pod people in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It has that feel to it. Everyone is so nice and give vague answers and try to bring joy and peace and tranquility to everyone. Meanwhile, they have cameras all over your house and car and drones follow you everywhere.
The premise of this is Jacob and Megan failed at publishing their last book and were offered jobs at The Store. They decide to write a book about their experience, because The Store has become such a monopoly that it’s corrupting legislators and authority figures. That’s what you have to keep in mind. They’re writing a book. Don’t forget that when you read or listen to the audio.
I say this because as things just became worse and worse, I thought this would end up being like the body snatchers movie with Donald Sutherland, where he becomes a pod person. It looked like the story headed that way. But…well, I won’t play spoiler. Just remember what I said earlier.
While this does go overboard a bit, there are some interesting cultural observances to note. Online companies being ever-present and growing. The massive labor force for some of these companies. The one major problem this book brings to the forefront is while companies grow larger, customer service and caring about the customer more than just the dollar the customer spends decreases.
Anyway, enjoy the book. It’s an interesting read.
My rank:
Blue Belt
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