DP54Cover - Deadly Pleasures

where he lives in the Hamptons -- their hands were cut off
and then they were hung from the Shinnecock Bridge and
left to strangle. Jake senses that his prior life is about to
intrude on his peaceful new one – and he is right.
Jake is blackmailed into investigating by Castello
thugs who threaten his loved ones. At the same time,
retired private investigator Tommy Miller realizes a former
lover is connected to the dead men. The current police
chief who replaced Miller’s corrupt dad pressures him to
investigate, but he planned to anyway. He searches for her
to keep her safe with assistance of ex-cop Kay Barton. The
three sleuths share in common a need to hide from their
respective pasts and a chance for redemption by insuring
their loved ones are safe.
This is the most thoughtful and in-depth narrative
of the bunch. The atmosphere is intense and the in-depth
characters are vividly portrayed. Daniel Judson deserves
to be more widely read.
FIDELITY by Thomas Perry (Harcourt, $25.00,
June, 2008). Rating: B+ P.I. Phil Kramer is shot dead
on a deserted street in the middle of the night. His wife
Emily is left with an emptied bank account and a lot of
questions. She enlists the help of Phil’s associates in trying
to figure out what was happening.
Jerry Hobart is responsible for killing Phil and is
now asked by his employer to get rid of Emily, who
apparently is getting too close to finding answers about
Phil’s recent investigation. But Jerry smells an opportunity
for one big score if he can find out what his employer is
trying to hide, so he delays Emily’s murder until he can find
out his employer’s secrets.
A Thomas Perry novle is always a treat. One is
guaranteed an interesting story line, as well as a fast-paced
race to the finish.
FEVER by Bill Pronzini (Forge, $24.95). Rating:
A- A Nameless Detective novel of late contains at
least two story lines. In FEVER the main case his agency
is working on is that of Mitchell Krochek’s missing wife. It
doesn’t take Jake Runyon long to find her, but she doesn’t
want to go home. She’s caught up in her gambling “fever”
and doesn’t want to return to her husband. But once she
is beaten up and thrown out of her apartment she has no
choice but to return – only to disappear a few days later.
Nameless’s agency has gotten large and successful
enough for them to take on a pro bono case (“to give
back to the community”) from time to time and Tamara
accepts the task to look into the erratic life of a young black
man on behalf of his worried mother. Like any good
mystery, the facts as they unfold don’t make sense until the
denouement when all the pieces are put together.
There are some memorable scenes in FEVER,
but none more satisfying than when Tamara visits home
and asks her policeman father to show her how to become
proficient in small arms training. It’s a classic protective
father/rebelling daughter clash that ends with some motherly
wisdom and daughterly humor.
Usually we find out some more about the main
characters of Nameless, Tamara and Jake. In this volume
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Deadly Pleasures
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it’s Jake’s turn in the spotlight as he comes to a crisis point
in his mourning of his beloved dead wife. He catches his
own form of “fever” as he is consumed in finding out about
a mysterious woman with a paralyzed face with whom he
has a brief encounter. This part of the book is a bit
reminiscent of one of Pronzini’s masterworks, THE BLUE
LONESOME. All in all, FEVER is a welcome addition to
one of my all-time favorite mystery series.
PLAGUE SHIP by Clive Cussler with Jack Du
Brul (Putnam, $26.95). Rating: A- The Oregon is a ship
that looks dilapidated on the outside, but inside is a stateof-the-art
floating ship of war and intelligence gathering.
Their mission to do those jobs that the United States cannot
do in an official capacity. Led by the daring Juan Cabrillo
and manned by a team of loyal experts in their fields, the
Oregon starts this novel by cleverly infiltrating Iranian
waters and sending a crew of men to steal some very
dangerous torpedoes purchased from Russia (a claim
denied by that country).
Not long after pulling off that coup, the ship
comes upon a cruise ship adrift at sea. Hundreds of bodies
litter its decks and just as a small team from the Oregon
boards the ship (dressed in protective clothing), explosions
occur and the ship begins to sink. One survivor is found on
the ship and the team and the survivor manage to get off.
Thus begins a search for answers to the myriad of questions
Cabrillo and his crew have about what happened on the
cruise ship.
I’ve mentioned that I sometimes have difficulty
with high-concept (save the world) thrillers as not being
very realistic – and I value realism in my thriller reading.
But I have to say that I found this book great fun. Lots of
well-written and exciting action scenes peopled by heroic
characters overcame any skepticism I had of the plot.
Perfect summer reading for guys.
SILENT WITNESS by Michael Norman (Poisoned
Pen Press, $24.95). Rating: B+ The author has
taken advantage of the recent national headlines about
Warren Jeffs and the polygamist cult he has led until his
recent imprisonment. An off-shoot of this cult has taken to
a life of crime with disastrous results when they attempt a
robbery of an armored truck. One of the guards and one
of the gang are killed and the gang’s leader is arrested and
sent to the Utah State Prison to await trial.
One of the key witnesses to the robbery, a gay
accountant, is brutally murdered in his office parking
garage and it is thought that the polygamist sect is behind
it -- especially when another key witness disappears. Cops
Sam Kincaid and Kate McConnell investigate.
I really had fun reading Michael Norman’s descriptions
of Salt Lake City and its environs. It has been my
home since 1969 and I have a deep affection for the place.
I’ve been to every place depicted in the book except a gay
bar and a couple of restaurants.
The police investigation is rather predictible, with
no clever detection evident and no real surprises or I would
have given this work a higher grade.