Fiction To Heat Up A Cold Winter

As we prepare in my neck of the woods for yet another blast of icy cold from Mother Nature, I find there’s nothing better than tossing another log on the fire and grabbing a good book to take the chill off. This winter as provided us with great reads from reliable veterans and newcomers alike.

Death at Nuremberg (A Clandestine Operations Novel) – W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth – (G P Putnam)

W. E. B. Griffin and writing partner William E. Butterworth easily fall into that reliable category with the latest entry, the fourth, in their ongoing Clandestine Operations series, Death at Nuremberg. While I’ve read a number of Griffin’s books from various series, I am not a completist of his work, so while regular readers may be put off by the volume of background and carryover from prior books in the series. It worked for me to get me quickly and easily up to speed and not leave me wondering who many of these characters are and what they had already done.

Safe in the knowledge of that detail it was easy for me to track through the current story of special agent James Cronley, Jr. as he gets tossed into yet another turbulent situation as he charged with protecting the U.S. chief military prosecutor at the infamous Nuremberg war crimes trials following WWII. Griffin and Butterworth toss in some clever traps along the way that will keep you and Cronley guessing as to what’s actually afoot.

Is it the Soviet Union’s NKGB or the equally infamous Odessa organization who tried to smuggle Nazi war criminals out of post-war Germany that are behind the nefarious plot? The pair weave a great story that takes us back to the amazing crossroad that mixes the nasty remains of the great War, the start of the Cold War tensions that would chew through decades of diplomatic chess matches and billions of dollars and the start of the spy organization that would wage the struggle. This is great read that delivers on the authenticity of the comings and goings of that time.

The Chalk Man: A Novel – C. J. Tudor (Crown)

I can’t quite put my finger on it; there is just something about the debuts British fiction writers that seem to capture my attention and suck me in hook, line and sinker. A couple of years back there was The Widow by Fiona Barton and Written in Dead Wax, from Andrew Cartmel’s excellent, The Vinyl Detective series. You’re never quite sure where the story is going, but you know you just want to be along for the ride.

That is the hallmark of C. J. Tudor’s debut The Chalk Man. As Tudor set the table, laying out the characters, the places and the direction the story would go you can see the makings of something truly great. I admit at times there was a sense of “hurry up and get on with it” but, that may be the magic of what makes this book tick and percolate forward.

Then there is those didn’t see that coming moments that will not only shock and jolt you, but will have you hanging on to see what happens next. Soon enough you’re elbow deep in the story and simply along for the ride. Tudor sets the tone early, describing a seemingly ordinary, blissful scene at a town fair that gets ripped apart when a piece rickety traveling carnival ride break free and hurtles into a beautiful, young girl, and hurls our main character into a nightmarish rescue operation.

Tudor does a nice job of balancing the dueling, decades apart, story lines that bounce between 1986 and 2016. There is a vivid, visual quality to Tudor’s writing that evidence her background in script writing and will make it clear that this story belongs on the big screen.

Two Kinds of Truth (A Harry Bosch Novel) – Michael Connelly – (Little Brown)

Michael Connelly is a true master. Along the way he has managed to create some of the most memorable and colorful characters in crime fiction. He takes those living and breathing fictional creations and breathes life into the stories he populates with them to the point where you as a reader develop an empathy towards them and can relate to the struggles they face.

Harry Bosch is one of those brilliant creations and Connelly once again manages to ensnare him into a pair of running storylines that serve up the best of what make Bosch tick. In Two Kinds of Truth Bosch is plodding along, working cold cases for the San Fernando PD almost as a hobby more than a career, when he gets sucked into a very real, very current double homicide that the understaffed, inexperience SFPD isn’t really prepared to handle.

Then comes the hook that Bosch gets jammed up on an old murder case from his past, that has a wannabe actor appealing a murder conviction from death row as his clock ticks down. This is Connelly and Bosch at their best; smart ass, wise cracking, follow your gut and figure it all out by the end of 417 pages. Connelly uses his master’s touch to weave past partners, The Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller and a cast of colorful folks into the story, making this an almost perfect way to kill a cold winter’s night.