Modern Day Robin Hood

The Thief – A Robin Monarch Novel – Mark Sullivan (Macmillan Audiobooks)

Robin Monarch is a modern day Robin Hood with a twist. Monarch is a take no prisoners thief with special training courtesy of U.S. Special Forces and the CIA. His targets are not merely the rich, but the filthy rich who made their fortunes through nefarious means.

Those who struggle to release a firm grip on reality, may have a difficult time with Monarch’s almost super human ability to adapt and overcome the forces arrayed against him, but it makes for a fast paced thriller when you decide to simply let go. Monarch finds himself up against some downright evils folks as one of his “victims” proves to be less than happy about having $20 million stolen from his stash.

 

“Big” Beau Arsenault displays a full on mean streak when it comes to his money and strikes back by kidnapping the beneficiary on Monarch’s criminal endeavors, Sister Rachel, a missionary doctor who saved Monarch from the slums and gangs years before.

Jeff Gurner, who did a solid job with the recent Equalizer audiobook (which was way better than the awful Denzel Washington movie) narrates this tail through far flung places and exotic locales and breathes life in the characters created by author Mark Sullivan.

Sullivan, who has penned a number of other Monarch thrillers, has recently become a member of the James Patterson cadre of co-authors, helping the book churning machine to write the Private series.

Summer Reading Stampede…Part 2

The annual stampede of great summer reading is upon us; here is round two of my look at what to expect from both the tried and true veterans of the form to up and some up and coming new talents.

Target America – A Sniper Elite Novel – Scott McEwen with Thomas Kolonair (Touchstone Books)

With the untimely passing of Vince Flynn we lost not only a great person, he remains one of my all-time favorite author interviews, but a fantastic writer and more adventures with Mitch Rapp. The authenticity of Rapp’s character and actions made the stories even better.

It is that been there done that authenticity that makes the second installment in Scott McEwen’s Sniper Elite series, Target America – A Sniper Elite Novel and the lead character Gill Shannon such a solid potential candidate to fill the Rapp void.

Chechan terrorists smuggle a pair of Cold War era leftover Russian “suitcase nukes” into the United States; when one gets detonated in a drug tunnel on the U.S., Mexican border, the race is on to track down the second nuke. Shannon and his band of highly trained Seal Team 6 Black operatives are on the hunt and the ripped from today’s headlines story line about the rights of U.S. Citizens who want to do us harm is just one of the sub-storylines.

McEwen, the bestselling, co-author of late, Seal Sniper Chris Kyle’s American Sniper, clearly taps into some insider sources to craft this entertaining read.

Don’ Ever Look Back – Daniel Friedman (Minotaur Books)

Retired long-time Memphis detective Buck Schatz is a cantankerous, cranky, 88 year old resident of an assisted living facility; the latter of which he is clearly not happy about. Author Daniel Friedman, who scored an arm load of award nominations and won the Macavity for best first novel, for Shatz debut in Don’t Ever Get Old, is back with  the second installment in the series; Don’ Ever Look Back.

When Buck is confronted by an old nemesis, Elijah, over some bad scrambled eggs and with an odd request for help. Buck must wrestle with old demons as well as new maladies. While Friedman is clearly skilled with mystery, it is his ability to interject Buck’s biting humor into the mix that makes the character stand out. The intertwining of current events and those of the past bring an interesting contrast that help to drive the story.

Unlucky 13 – James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little Brown Books)

The 13^th entry in James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series, Unlucky 13 weaves an intriguing set of mysteries for the four lead characters to unravel and solve; a seemingly straightforward auto accident takes an unexpected turn when it turns out the wreck was caused by ingestible belly bomb and then the FBI sends Detective Lindsay Boxer a recent photo of one of the Club’s most dangerous killers, Mackie Morales.

 

While the belly bomb angle is certainly had the potential to carry the book, but seems to get lost in the mix of tracking down the elusive Mackie, and ends up being left unresolved. The Women’s Murder Club is a winning franchise based largely on the characters who drive the story and they continue front and center here. With the return of Mackie, I am hoping the plans call for bringing the belly bomb angle to conclusion at a later date.

 

Fiction Finds From a Snow Drift

Despite the popular notion that fiction strictly falls into the domain of the beachgoer, here is word from a mound of Northeast snow that fiction is alive and well even at the tail end of a too long winter. Here’s a selection straight from the snow drift:

Notes from the Internet Apocalypse – A Novel – Wayne Gladstone (Thomas Dunne Books)

Imagine…one day the internet just stopped working. Refresh if you want to, but you’ll be met with and endless loading signal that never connects. No warnings, no announcements; a few days in and reality starts to set in. Wayne Gladstone, our author and lead character starts to blog the events of the day the old school way, chronicling the comings and goings in a notebook in the form of Notes from the Internet Apocalypse.

A rumor that someone still has the internet sets Gladstone off on a search for answers; along the way he gathers up a collection of fellow travelers; folks who previously made their living via the world wide web. On this journey Gladstone concocts a downright funny tale as the group confronts a series of internet culture reference points including: Reddit circles, “live” Youtube videos, and hackers unplugged.

Gladstone’s debut is an entertaining Rickroll through the wonderful world of internet iconography.

The Amazing Harvey – Don Passman (Minotaur Books)

Don Passman is a music industry legal heavyweight and bestselling author of All You Need to Know About the Music Business, who serves up his third novel The Amazing Harvey a murder mystery with an unlikely hero/suspect.

Harvey Kendall is a part-time substitute teacher and magician who aspires to a Vegas showroom. Kendall is one the verge of breaking out to magic stardom when he is accused of a vicious murder; his DNA recovered from the crime scene.

Kendall is the perfect wisecracking schlub and Passman serves up enough twists and turns to satisfy any mystery fan and keep you guessing what is real and what is an illusion.

NYPD Red 2 – James Patterson and Marshall Karp (Little Brown Books)

Murder victims are being deposited around New York City, left in tableau settings and decked out in white Tyvek suits. When one of those victims turns out to be a politically connected, filthy rich daughter and wife of a pair of NYC’s wealthiest men; the call goes out to the elite NYPD Red squad to solve the case.

The “victims” all have one thing in common; crime. Even the rich broad was videotaped by her killer admitting to offing her lesbian lover. These “criminal/victims” are being cleaned up by the HAZMAT killer.

 

NYPD Red 2 serves up the typical Patterson formula, plenty of plot twists, fast pacing and colorful characters.

Runner – Patrick Lee (Minotaur Books)

Patrick Lee, author of The Breach series, is back with a new set featuring ex-special forces soldier Sam Dryden, which kicks off with Runner. Dryden thought he had settled in to the quite life of an ex-military man; but he is haunted by the violent death of his wife and child. Unable to sleep yet again, Dryden laces up for a run and along the way finds himself thrust headlong into a high stakes thrill ride.

 

Lee delivers the goods with a spare, economical writing style. He’ll send a chill down your spine with a look inside some of the powerful technology in the hands of the bad guys, that given today’s headlines, take on a very real feel.

As Dryden and the mysterious young girl with an interesting skillset literally take off on a runner, you’ll wonder how long they can keep up the pace. This one is a great mix that will have fans of Jack Reacher and Mitch Rapp cheering for more.

Merry Christmas Alex Cross – James Patterson (Little Brown)

The most dangerous thing in Merry Christmas Alex Cross, the latest installment in the long running series of popular whodunit’s from mega-best- selling author James Patterson, is not a psycho killer, pistol packing punk or even an Islamic terrorist hell bent on destruction. Nope, it turns out the most dangerous item in the story is the hero’s telephone!

It’s a showy Christmas Eve in Washington, DC when what has to be the most dreaded sound in the Cross family home front, the ringing of the phone calls the master detective/psychologist off on another adventure to face down evil.

While bestselling authors have often been unable to resist the urge to use the Christmas holiday as the backdrop of their story, this one may leave long time Patterson fans more than a little cold. While not truly a collection of short stories or novellas strung together around the Cross family holiday, the book is made up of at least three storylines that don’t quite hang together. Disjointed is the best word I can come up with to describe the effort.

At times it feels like the ridiculously prolific Patterson had a few storylines hanging around the “it’s a good story, but I can’t quite make a book out of it file” that he decide to pull together with a little Christmas glue. After the phone rings for the third time, you start to wonder if the DC police can’t do anything without Alex Cross.