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38<br />
<strong>Deadly</strong> <strong>Pleasures</strong><br />
law, who is the mother of his daughter Phoebe. However,<br />
his daughter does not want anything to do with him, though<br />
he is constantly trying to protect her. After all, Quirke<br />
waited until she was a young woman to acknowledge he<br />
was her father. But Quirke’s biggest problem is that,<br />
under stress, he craves alcohol, especially when he is trying<br />
to “dry” himself out. The result is that he’s become a<br />
depressed, morose character who is not close to anyone.<br />
The murder plot is clever and has some unexpected<br />
surprises. And who knew how much illicit sex and<br />
drugs were available in Ireland. The characters are well<br />
drawn with relevant details. But the greatest pleasure is<br />
the language. Black, who is really John Banville, creates<br />
wonderfully vivid word paintings of both Dublin and its<br />
denizens. Though he uses internal monologues to advance<br />
the story, the plot is quite suspenseful. Recommended.<br />
TELL NO LIES by Julie Compton. (St. Martin’s<br />
Press, $24.95, May 2008). Rating B. Jack Hilliard,<br />
assistant DA, thought he had the perfect life: a job he liked,<br />
a beautiful wife, and two lovely sons. However, political<br />
ambition and obsessive sex have ruined more than one<br />
man. First, Jack gives in to pressure to run for district<br />
attorney, even though he realizes his strong objections to<br />
the death penalty will cause problems. Secondly, Jack<br />
finds himself strongly attracted to the gorgeous Jenny<br />
Dodson, a fellow lawyer. He tries to fight his lust/passion,<br />
but one night he just gives in to his urges. And then Jenny<br />
is accused of murder-- on the one night Jack was with her.<br />
He is now her alibi for a capital crime. Obviously, neither<br />
of them wants this made public. Suddenly, everything is<br />
screwed up.<br />
This mystery could be described as a competent<br />
legal thriller with some chick-lit tendencies. But Compton<br />
has also made Jack an ethical man, and his concerns about<br />
hurting this family and his dislike of the death penalty are<br />
deftly handled. Some readers may find it difficult to accept<br />
his infidelity, though he certainly suffers for his lapse in<br />
judgment. His wife’s anger and hurt are well presented. At<br />
the end, he does become more sympathetic.<br />
Undoubtedly, the most vivid character is the sexy,<br />
smart Jenny, who carries a lot of childhood emotional<br />
baggage with her. She is so beautiful and smart it is easy<br />
to see why Jack fell so hard for her. But Jenny’s life has<br />
been scarred too. There is also some sibling rivalry over<br />
Jenny, between Jack and his brother Mark, that seems<br />
very believable.<br />
Overall, a decent, if not very original plot, realistic<br />
characters, and clever legal tricks make this a good read.<br />
THE CHILDREN OF BLACK VALLEY by<br />
Evan Kilgore. (Big Earth Publishing, $24.95, June 2008).<br />
Rating B. Sam Mackie’s young son, Daniel, is rushed to<br />
the hospital with a mysterious illness. After a series of tests,<br />
the doctors tell Sam that Daniel has low-level radiation<br />
poisoning and that they noticed a puncture wound on his<br />
neck. But then Daniel disappears from the hospital!<br />
Daniel and wife Ann are panic stricken. Their first son,<br />
Riley, had also mysteriously disappeared over a decade<br />
Reviews<br />
ago, causing Ann to become an alcoholic and the marriage<br />
to dissolve. Fortunately, the investigating cop is very<br />
sympathetic to their dilemma and is even willing to bend a<br />
few rules to help them find Daniel. From that point on, the<br />
investigation and the plot move like speeding trains all the<br />
way to Africa, where they may be answers.<br />
The strong appeal of this suspenseful thriller is the<br />
plot. It is filled with baffling situations. How did Daniel get<br />
sick? Is his disappearance linked to that of his brother?<br />
Why does Sam have weird dreams about a dark, looming<br />
shape? And why do father and son both keep drawing an<br />
almost alien landscape they have never seen? Why is<br />
Sam’s employer so interested and helpful – or is he? It is<br />
difficult to give many plot details without being a spoiler.<br />
But, even if some readers might question the believability<br />
of the plot, the story keeps drawing us in.<br />
Kilgore has also created some empathetic, likeable<br />
characters. Sam feels guilty about not paying more<br />
attention to his son than to his work. He and his wife finally<br />
realize that Riley’s disappearance has not only ruined their<br />
marriage, but it has made second son Daniel believe he’s<br />
not as good as Riley. Of course, now Sam and Ann are<br />
prepared to take incredibly dangerous risks to find Daniel.<br />
And they do.<br />
Abandoned houses, secret rooms, frightening<br />
dreams, and mysterious recluses – they all add up to an<br />
entertaining read, if you can suspend disbelief occasionally.<br />
A fun thriller.<br />
RED KNIFE by William Kent Krueger. (Atria<br />
Books, $$24.00, Sep 2008). Rating: A- It seems that<br />
even an isolated Ojibwe reservation and a small Michigan<br />
town (Aurora) are not safe from drugs and gangs. A young<br />
Aurora girl has died from a drug overdose, presumably<br />
given to her by Lonnie Thunder, a member of the local Red<br />
Boyz gang. Everyone is very angry. But the girl’s father,<br />
Buck Reinhard, also blames Alex Kingbird, a Native<br />
American who has preached “red pride” and is the<br />
reputed leader of the Red Boyz. And now Kingbird and his<br />
wife have been found dead – executed. Because P.I. Cork<br />
Corcoran is part Indian, he’s called in to investigate the<br />
murders. Using<br />
his network of<br />
Indian friends,<br />
he discovers<br />
the Red Boyz<br />
are not what<br />
they seem and<br />
are probably<br />
not the murderers.Furthermore,<br />
he<br />
soon discovers<br />
both Alex Kingbird<br />
and Buck<br />
Reinhard have<br />
their own troubling<br />
family se- William Kent Krueger
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