I have gone through a bit of a dry spell lately when it
comes to finding fiction reads that have held my attention. I have picked up
and put down a pile of books, searching for one that would keep me turning
pages. Well that drought has broken…in a big way, with three new books all
hitting the mark.
Robert
B. Parker’s Slow Burn – Ace Atkins (G. P. Putnam Books)
Veteran writer Ace Atkins continues to helm the ongoing
continuation of the Robert B. Parker Boston P I, Spenser series of books.
Atkins has steadily honed in on Parker’s timeless characters and continues to
not only deliver great stories, but also evolve one of Parker’s final character
creations Zebulon Sixkill. It would be easy to see that evolution continue,
with Z getting his one stand alone series.
In Robert B.
Parker’s Slow Burn Atkins has Spenser taking on finding answers for a
series of arson fires that is plaguing Boston. The first arson involved an
abandoned Catholic church and left three firefighters dead. The torch is part
of a trio of near-do-wells who on one hand desperately wannabe firefighters and
who think they are “helping” Boston’s bravest to get the assets and
appreciation they deserve.
That justification starts to when more firefighters and
victims start to get hurt and the torch becomes unglued. Atkins mixes in some
of the usual suspects with new players and ends up with another winning effort.
The
Second Life of Nick Mason (A Nick Mason Novel) – Steve Hamilton (G. P. Putnam)
Sometimes the concept just isn’t enough; it’s the
execution that matters. Multi-award winning novelist Steve Hamilton has
launched a new series featuring lead character Nick Mason. In The Second Life of Nick Mason, here is the concept; Mason is five
years into knocking down a 25 year sentence the old-fashioned way, one day at a
time. Then out of the blue a locked up crime kingpin requests a meeting. After
a time, Mason gets an offer he can’t refuse; if he plays along, the kingpin can
make things happen and get Mason set free.
It’s a great concept, at what cost freedom? Mason is
willing to strike the deal, with strings attached. It doesn’t take long to find
out what those strings involve. Mason is forced to confront not only his new “arrangement”
but ghosts from his past. The conflict and inner turmoil are compounded by one
of the cops who put him behind bars who can’t quite reconcile Mason’s new found
freedom and puts him squarely in the crosshairs.
Hamilton executes on the concept and sets the table for
the Mason series to be a winner going forward as he ratchets up the tension not
only within the lead character, but also with the players he is forced to deal
with.
The
Fireman: A Novel – Joe Hill (William Morrow)
Award winning, bestselling author Joe Hill serves up a
novel, The Fireman that details a
devastating, worldwide pandemic of a plague dubbed Dragonscale, that causes it’s
victims to self-combust and threatens to reduce the world to a pile of ashes.
While some may draw a comparison to The Walking Dead, but they would be off
base. While unlikely heroes emerge during the story, Hill creates an
imaginative tale that given his experience writing graphic novels (Locke and
Key) are strikingly visual, but wildly different than the Dead. There is a level of desperation that propels the story
forward and keeps you locked in.
My only quibble with The Fireman, is Hill’s need to make
snarky, off hand comments that don’t seem to fit the story. Conservative, talk
show host Glenn Beck self-combusts early on in the book and when a hospital
security guard wrestles the Fireman to the ground with a chokehold, Hill
references Eric Garner. Okay we get it; Hill, like his father Stephen King, a
liberal douche bag. I have never understood why writers and other artists feel
the need to turn off potentially
half of their audience.
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