The 16th entry in Lake’s series (Death on the Rocks, 2014, etc.) is slow to fulfill the promise of its title. But period...
A voyage to the New World is anything but smooth sailing for an 18th-century sleuth.
Twice-widowed apothecary John Rawlings is en route from England with his family when he meets the first of many obstacles to a planned business venture. His ship is wrecked, and it’s many months before he, his three children, and a few other survivors can travel from the remote island where they’ve washed up to civilization and finally to Boston. The company includes an Indian guide, two dandies, and an imperious widow, as well as a fading beauty, Lady Conway, and her much younger husband. When Rawlings finally arrives in Boston, his hope of selling his recipe for carbonated water fades: his prospective partner in trade has died and left his tavern to his niece. Rawlings goes into business with her instead by setting up an apothecary shop in the tavern. One of his first patients is the celebrated Dr. Joseph Warren, and through him Rawlings meets some of the other prominent Sons of Liberty. Although he sympathizes with some of their complaints, he’s still loyal to the Crown and more intent on keeping his children safe than meddling in politics. When he places his daughter in a school for girls, he learns that the headmistress is a former actress—and a former lover of his younger years. They resume their affair in the midst of growing Colonial unrest and threats of rebellion. Rawlings is an uneasy witness to the Boston Tea Party and the death of Lady Conway, who, disguised as a boy, falls from a ship’s rigging and drowns. After he uncovers secrets about her distant past and her more recent activities, his attempts to find her killer lead to danger for both himself and his beloved children.
The 16th entry in Lake’s series (Death on the Rocks, 2014, etc.) is slow to fulfill the promise of its title. But period detail and quirky characters help make up for the leisurely pace.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7278-8617-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Severn House
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Determined to shield her family from violence, a woman becomes a fierce freelance crime fighter in this mostly satisfying...
In the aftermath of a horrific crime, a woman makes herself over into a powerful protector—or perhaps an avenger.
Pinter (The Castle, 2019, etc.) already has the Henry Parker thriller series under his belt. In this book he introduces another potential series character, Rachel Marin. The story opens with a warm domestic scene of a young woman making dinner for her husband and two kids when a shattering (but undescribed) discovery intervenes. Jump ahead seven years, and single mom Rachel is living in another town several states away. When a mugger jumps her as she’s walking home from work, she leaves him bleeding in the street and hurries home to her bookish son, Eric, and sweet little daughter, Megan. Keeping them safe is her mission in life. But when she sees a news report about a body found on the ice beneath a nearby bridge, she’s riveted. The cops assigned to the case, detectives John Serrano and Leslie Tally, are shocked to discover the body is that of the town’s disgraced former mayor, Constance Wright. They’re even more shocked when Rachel, whom they don’t know, sends Serrano a message that the death was no suicide: “Constance Wright was murdered. And I can prove it.” When Serrano and Tally go to question Wright’s sketchy ex-husband, Rachel shows up at the same time, and they don’t know whether to order her away or be grateful for her help. Pinter builds a complex plot on the dual mysteries of Constance’s murder and Rachel’s transformation from suburban mom to crack investigator and lethal streetfighter. But the story has so many subplots and timelines that it can feel overstuffed, and some crucial questions asked early on are answered so late the reader might be surprised to be reminded of them. Pinter creates engaging characters, though, and keeps the suspense taut.
Determined to shield her family from violence, a woman becomes a fierce freelance crime fighter in this mostly satisfying thriller.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5420-0590-6
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is secondhand tough-guy stuff, memorable only in that it feels like you've read it all before.
A former mob enforcer–turned–private eye is called in to investigate the savage murder of a Mafia leg-breaker in New York's Hudson Valley and finds himself on the trail of corporate espionage and a serial killer long believed dead.
The second book in Barron's series featuring Isaiah Coleridge (Blood Standard, 2018) seems, more than the debut, an obvious attempt to establish Coleridge as a strongman smartass in the Jack Reacher mold. The fight scenes are the written equivalent of action-movie choreography but without suspense, because the setup—Isaiah being constantly outnumbered—is so clearly a prelude for the no-sweat beat downs he doles out to the various thugs who get in his way. There's nary a memorable wisecrack in the entire book. What does stick in the mind are the sections that go out of their way to be writerly. It's not enough to say that it was a starry night in the Alaskan wilderness. Coleridge (the name is a clue to the series' literary aspirations) says, "I could've read a book by the cascading illumination of the stars." A later flash of insight is conveyed by "The scalpel of grim epiphany sliced into my consciousness." What with the narrative that spreads like spider cracks in glass and the far-too-frequent flashbacks to the man who was Coleridge's mentor, you might wish another scalpel had made its way through the manuscript.
This is secondhand tough-guy stuff, memorable only in that it feels like you've read it all before.Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7352-1289-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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