The Westing Game Review

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The Westing Game Review'The Westing Game' was my favorite book as a pre-teen, so when I returned to it years later, my expectations were low. Was I wrong! This book might be accessible to younger readers, but no one who loves a mystery with incredible characters should miss this for the world.
While the plot centers around a less than run-of-the-mill whodunit, the book mainly focuses on the characters: each unique, bizarre, and ultimately endearing. The author manages to make them quirky without making them caricatures. The developing relationships between the 'heirs' as they attempt to unravel the mystery, is, I think, far more important than the mystery itself; they also develop in their sense of identity. These are all themes any adult can appreciate, woven into the story with humor and sly understatement, yet in effect deeply moving.
The plot is complex and suspenseful, layered so impenetrably that at least one surprise at the end is inevitable. Yet even when wrapped in the most logical of puzzles, the author never loses the human touch. There are many scenes portrayed with hilarious, touching absurdity; and Raskin is dead-on with her take on human nature, even when her depiction seems exaggerated.
Read it for a good chuckle--but in the end it may be more than that.The Westing Game Overview

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Watch for Me by Moonlight: A Midnight Twins Novel Review

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Watch for Me by Moonlight: A Midnight Twins Novel ReviewMeredith and Mallory Brynn are identical twins, exact mirror images of each other. Friends and family can tell them apart by their personalities: Meredith is outgoing, bubbly, and a cheerleader, while Mallory is more of a loner, serious, and a soccer player. Being twins is something unique in itself, but a few added phenomena even set the Brynn girls apart from other twins. For one, they don't even share the same birth year. That's because one was born just before midnight on New Year's Eve, and the other arrived just after midnight on New Year's Day. The other unique characteristic they share is their psychic abilities. Mally sees visions of the future, while Merry sees visions of the past.
Merry and Mally are now 15, and though they are getting accustomed to slipping off into their psychic visions, the things they see usually don't make life any easier. And life is defiantly challenging, more so now than ever before. Their mom, who works as a nurse, decided to go back to school and become a doctor --- which means lots of babysitters coming in and out of the house to care for Merry and Mally's one-year-old baby brother, Owen. The twins help out when they can, but they also have schoolwork and team practices, plus the school formal dance is quickly approaching. So the family has a bunch of sitters to fill in the spaces when loved ones can't care for the little guy. And even though life is hectic, and awkward with strangers coming and going, everyone loves Owen and wouldn't give him up for anything. Unfortunately, someone or something is trying hard to take him away.
Owen is getting violently sick, and multiple visits to the emergency room have put the family in the grips of worry. Even specialists haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with him. Mally and Merry can pick out bits and pieces from their visions, but they are painfully vague and not giving away any easy answers. The family helplessly stands by as Owen grows weaker.
At least Mally has a bright spot in the horrors. She and her boyfriend Drew are closer than ever, and she even goes to the mall to buy a formal dress for the school dance. But she can't help dread the future just a bit, and not because of something she saw in a vision. Drew is graduating this year, and then he'll be off to college.
Merry finds an unexpected bright spot as well, as she, too, falls in love. The mysterious fellow appears to be a stranger in town, as no one seems to know anything about Ben. But Meredith feels connected to him right away and falls for him hard. Unfortunately, Ben isn't your average guy next door. In fact, he is a ghost who is having trouble crossing over, confused about what he's supposed to do. But Merry can't stand the thought of losing him, and she begins to consider the possibility of crossing over with him.
The final installment of the Midnight Twins trilogy is just as outstanding as the first two, filled with mystery, suspense, fantasy, paranormal thrills, and romance. Jacquelyn Mitchard obviously loves her gifted twin characters and has given them a lot of heart, personality, and charm. She has them confront some serious situations, including murder, mental illness, and the afterlife, pulling readers along for the ride and giving them issues to think about long after the book is finished. She also has a talent for filling the pages with lots of energy, and keeping the story flowing in new and unexpected directions.Watch for Me by Moonlight: A Midnight Twins Novel Overview

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Cases Review

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Cases ReviewThis book is basically a pretty flimsy excuse to remember being young and strong and smart and free as a bird in Las Vegas and San Francisco in 1953, but I loved it. The plot strains credulity, but read it for the atmosphere.Cases Overview

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Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2) Review

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Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2) ReviewThere are many kinds of wolves in the world, and not all of them are human. Not even those that walk on two legs.
Someone, someTHING, is shredding people in Chicago, leaving behind huge doggy footprints painted in the blood of the victims. Oh, and of course, it's round about full moon time. Reluctantly Karrin Murphy, Director of Special Investigations for the Chicago P.D., has had to call in Harry Dresden, professional wizard. Not that she trusts him much anymore after the way he left her hanging the last time they worked together. But he's the only with the knowledge and special skills she'll need if she has to deal with a werewolf on the loose.
In this second volume of his exciting new "Dresden Files" series, Jim Butcher has packaged up another action-filled detective story with a mystical twist. Like any good gumshoe thriller, "Fool Moon" has a plot full of peril, false leads, near misses, and all the usual (and unusual) suspects. Like any good fantasy tale, it has a believable, well-developed mythology. The reader comes away with an arcane education--werewolf lore, potion-cooking, demon-summoning. As narrator, Harry Dresden lets his audience in on all the little trade secrets of the practicing mage. Now, if only he could learn to be so candid with his colleagues and friends....
In the final analysis, "Fool Moon" is more about learning to trust than about foiling werewolves, more about self discovery than arcane knowledge, more about the demons in Harry's heart than those in his summoning circle. In other words, it is about Harry Dresden himself, a hero of pure intention, tremendous power, and courage in the face of unspeakable danger, who just happens to be afraid to meet his own eyes in the mirror. He infers the blackness of his own soul from the reactions of others brash or foolish enough to meet his gaze. And he fears that the kind of knowledge that has so blackened him will be at least as destructive to others. Harry's struggle to come to terms with himself and those he cares about, his faltering advances and all-too-frequent backslides, are what really keep the reader turning the pages. They are also what keep Harry half a step behind the villains until it is almost too late.
If you like action, mystery, magic, or just watching the growth of a compelling character, you'll want to read "Fool Moon."Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2) Overview

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Irish Alibi (Mysteries Set at the University of Notre Dame) Review

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Irish Alibi (Mysteries Set at the University of Notre Dame) ReviewOn page 27 of Irish Alibi, McInerny mentions that part of a Father Dowling mystery was once set in the heating tunnels on the Notre Dame campus, but he failed to tell us which mystery that was. Having finally located it, I am posting the information that the title of that mystery is A Cardinal Offense, published in 1994. But be aware that, although the story line includes a Notre Dame/USC football game, the main focus of this rather long book involves the effects of the proliferation of marriage annullments granted in the United States.Irish Alibi (Mysteries Set at the University of Notre Dame) Overview

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History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers Review

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History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers ReviewIntroduction: Allan Duffin weaved a fascinating historical survey with threads cast by women in blue who overcame culturally discriminating obstacles and strengthened the fabric of law enforcement professionals in the United States. History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers captivates readers with over 675 references to situations, events, and results detailing challenges women faced as they became police matrons 19th century and rose to police chiefs in the 20th century. Just changing the name from policeman to police officer seems subtle, but is recognition of the great strides women made while achieving higher positions. The story ranges from the 1840's through Civil War, World Wars I and II, the civil and equal rights movements into our current 21st century debate over the legality of same-sex partnerships.
Content Review: History in Blue... tells real events about actual police women clearing barriers in the male dominated field. It validates the cultural challenges women faced. Spanning the United States, from Hawaii to Maine; Alaska to Florida; north, east, south and west, these women wrote a page turning history. It reads fast like a John Grisholm or Joseph Wambaugh novel.
Early accounts as social enforcers separating overly aggressive young lovers, arresting mashers, spooners, and fox-trot dancers progressed through the long uphill battle of the 1950's-1970's and developed into prostitution stings, infiltrating drug rings, sending untold numbers of unsuspecting criminals behind bars. Civil and equal rights laws forced progress through the 1970's and 1980's putting women and race in a pressure cooker enforcing laws against dismissive and defiant men. Policemen's wives increased the pressure with their concerns over policewomen riding shifts with their husbands. Height and weight entry issues, uniforms, bullet-proof vest, and hand gun size - all of these and more reflect the arduous steady movement from more polite times to the brutally blunt current times in 2009. Allan Duffin energized a passive historical review into a tightly packed survey for general readers to learn more about the challenges and contributions women make to the law enforcement profession.
Page after page recount limited duties and little respect to growing acceptance and earned respect. Allan Duffin crystallizes each woman's challenge and contribution by using their names that breaths life to the events and respect to the woman. Beth Bradbury's account from Idaho recalled the six foot "mark on the door frame...If you were shorter that that, they wouldn't hire you as a police officer." Other departments required higher education requirements yet women received lower pay that led to discrimination cases, awards, and equal pay. Riveting accounts from Indiana's Jill Rice in 1993 during a drug sting from Texas to Indiana capturing drug suppliers, and dealers in a well coordinated bust using local, state, federal and military resources. Julia Grimes from Alaska tells about flying her Cessna 185 to Manakotak after an aircraft crashed into the tundra. From the ground to the skies, women's frontline challenges with success and detailed tragic accounts of women and men who lost their lives in the line of duty. All while policewomen endured ridicule, harassment, and dressed in public restrooms because police forces and leadership did not accept or make room for their growing numbers in the ranks. Pressing political and leadership issues highlighted Ella Bully-Cumming's rise from entry to her appointment as Chief of Police in Detroit by a corrupt newly elected Mayor Kilpatrick. And, Cathy Lanier's surprising selection as Washington D.C.'s first woman police chief. The road is paved although still not yet smooth. The direction is as clear yet as unpredictable as a police officer's daily beat - you just don't know what is going to happen next. This cultural history demonstrates women from all walks of life and all ages have surpassed cultural challenges and are prepared to succeed.
Reviewer's Conclusions: Allan Duffin writes with a vivid, broad lexicon making the history leap from the pages and compelling to read. A History in Blue... is the grit behind glitzy dramas like Law and Order, Saving Grace and The Closer. The book seemingly covers every cultural aspect women faced with emotion and professional restraint and maintains historical relevance. A possible woman authorship shortcoming is overcome with respect to documenting situations, actions, and results in a historical context. A man's authorship adds dimension to the women's history by capturing accounts from interviews and research while realizing the complicit and implicit behavior and implications for both women and men. The subjects and stories are real, yet told with more pitch and range than the monotone on Cops. Women and men readers who lived through many of the periods covered in A History in Blue... will easily identify local and national historical events like the Los Angeles Rodney King riots and 9/11 seeded through the history like landmarks along a journey.
A History in Blue is a fast easy read and as entertaining as it is referent, spotted with humor as well as tragedy. It is a reference for all leadership, management, and social studies, and a reference for all police officers. Allan Duffin succeeded recounting a cultural history women wrote to become law enforcement professionals.
History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers Overview

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The Guilty Plea: A Novel Review

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The Guilty Plea: A Novel ReviewI recently finished both The Guilty Plea, and its predecessor Old City Hall. I consider this a review of both books.
3 stars is a relatively low rating, although I want to be clear that I enjoyed reading this book. It has a lot of positives. First and foremost, this book is authentic. I currently study Canadian law, and have spent a lot of time in the Toronto area. This book is a very authentic reflection of both. It is refreshing to read a legal thriller with an authentic Canadian edge. I also think that Rotenberg does a great job developing some of the main characters, Detective Greene and his father in particular.
Now for the "buts". Even though the plot is reasonably exciting (I was eager to see what happened next), I found it to be simplistic. It had the depth of an episode of CSI. It reminded me a bit of the Hardy Boy books I read as a kid. There are a couple twists, some subtle hints along the way, and a climax "ah hah" moment at the end. More experienced thriller writers generally put together a much more complex, multi-layered story, with different story arcs, overlapping in interesting ways. Both of Rotenberg's books focus on a single narrative: a single murder, with an obvious suspect who everyone thinks committed the crime (but did they really?!). We see the case from different perspectives, but Rotenberg doesn't really use that device to create suspense. There is a side plot in both books regarding the death of Officer Kennicot's brother, but neither book pushes the story line forward, even a little bit. That annoyed me.
There were a few other things that annoyed me as well. Right off the bat, I found it agitating to see the same device used to kick off the plot in Guilty Plea as we saw in Old City Hall. In both books, an immigrant worker goes through a routine, comments to themselves how silly North Americans do things, and then discovers the body and calls the police. As I started reading the book, part of me wondered if I could have saved my money and just read Old City Hall again. But my money spent, I read on. The main story wasn't so forumalic, but I ran into a bigger problem: it didn't always make a lot of sense. For instance, there is one scene in which Detective Greene and his father mourn the death of the detective's late mother. The chapter concludes with Greene emotionally "letting go". Here's the problem: Greene's mother has almost never been mentioned in either of the two books, and this whole things comes totally out of nowhere. At least the distraction is momentary; the romantic relationships of our main two characters (Greene and Kennicot) are a constant annoyance. The relationships don't progress in a believable way, they have no value to the plot, they don't reveal anything about the main characters, and by the end of the book they are of no significance at all. Speaking of the end of the book, I didn't like the final twist/climax. A good twist is one that you can't believe you didn't see coming; this twist was one I couldn't believe even after it was spelled out in detail. The resolution of the story also felt rushed, although in some ways that was a good thing: the climax made more sense when I didn't have time to think about it.
That's how I'd recommend you approach this book. It's an insightful and authentic look at Toronto, and the Canadian criminal justice system. The story is good popcorn fun, and some of the characters are quite likeable. But don't waste your energy trying to figure out whodunnit. Enjoy the book like you would enjoy CSI: don't think too much, and try to enjoy the ride.
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The House on the Cliff/The Ghost at Skeleton Rock/The Sting of the Scorpion (Best of the Hardy Boys, Classic Collection: Volume 2) Review

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The House on the Cliff/The Ghost at Skeleton Rock/The Sting of the Scorpion (Best of the Hardy Boys, Classic Collection: Volume 2) ReviewI loved this book! Now if only I was able to find the other Classic Collection books on Amazon, as well.The House on the Cliff/The Ghost at Skeleton Rock/The Sting of the Scorpion (Best of the Hardy Boys, Classic Collection: Volume 2) Overview

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Nancy Drew 34: The Hidden Window Mystery Review

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Nancy Drew 34: The Hidden Window Mystery ReviewThis review concerns the original 1956 edition as well as the revised 1975 edition, which is a shorter version of the original. Nancy reads a magazine article about an Englishman who is offering a reward for a centuries old stained-glass window believed to have been brought to the U.S. many years ago, but it has since vanished. Believing that the window could be located around Charlottesville, Va, near Richmond, Nancy, Bess and George set off to stay with Nancy's cousin who lives in the area. While there, an actress and her daughter beg Nancy to solve the mystery concerning the mysterious noises that they hear in their new home, Ivy Hall. How Nancy locates the hidden window and discovers the truth behind the ghost of Ivy Hall is a rather interesting story. Personally, I feel that this is the last of the really great books of the series. From #35 on, the books are typically nothing more than horribly-written, boring mysteries that (if Nancy goes to an actual place) read more like tour guides than anything else. The exceptions to this are few and far between. Thankfully, this book is nothing like that. The mystery is interesting, there is plenty of action and the book is fairly well-written. The book also manages to keep you wondering just who is friend and who is foe. I enjoyed reading this book and I would be surprised if other people who read this book couldn't say the same.Nancy Drew 34: The Hidden Window Mystery Overview

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Biggie and the Meddlesome Mailman Review

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Biggie and the Meddlesome Mailman ReviewJob's Crossing, Texas is a small town where everyone knows one another and secrets are hard to keep. However, most residents prefer that their neighbors mind their own business. Letter carrier Luther Abernathy prefers gossip. He goes out of his way to attain information on people and disseminates his findings to anyone he meets.

However, Luther must have found one secret that its owner wanted kept buried because he is found dead by Biggie Weatherford and her grandson J.R. in what appears to be a car accident. However, Biggie and J.R. know that Luther was murdered because the killing blow to his head came from behind not in front as it would have in a vehicle crash. Biggie has a lot on her plate and has no time to investigate Luther's death. Still, whichever item she works on, somehow she and J.R. keep ending up in the middle of a murder investigation.

BIGGIE AND THE MEDDLESOME MAILMAN is a wonderful entry in a warm series. The who-done-it is obvious, but retains a cozy charm to it thanks in part due to the strong showing of the secondary players coming off the bench to propel the tale forward. Biggie and the narrating J.R. are a fabulous amateur sleuth duo whose milieu seems to always be a homicide investigation no matter how hard they try otherwise. Nancy Bell provides her audience with a comical look at small town Texas that retains the freshness of the previous three entries.

Harriet KlausnerBiggie and the Meddlesome Mailman Overview

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Pacific Heights: A Novel (Marten Fane) Review

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Pacific Heights: A Novel (Marten Fane) Review
According to the book's flyleaf, this is the start of a "new series" featuring detective Marten Fane.
From the Amazon product page, "... the quiet, plotting detective Marten Fane...".
Well, that's certainly accurate. He's so quiet he's basically comatose. Though this may be an accurate description of the type of guy who has a successful career in intelligence in the real world, it makes for some pretty boring reading, and not exactly the kind of literary character who's going to set the world on fire with a fan following.
That's the problem with this book. It never really develops any momentum. A couple of society trophy wives are having affairs with the same guy, who seems to be doing something nefarious. The problem is that you have to wade through over half the book to really find out what's going on, and that half of the book never develops any pizzazz or sense of danger.
Yeah, he's getting in their heads. So what? Then, by the time you do find out what the bad guy's doing, it's hard to develop any sense of urgency even then. There's a real problem with pacing in this novel.
The other problem is the characters. None of the players are really all that distinctive; they wander in and out of the story; they're not especially unique or interesting. The whole thing's kind of a yawner.
Meh.Pacific Heights: A Novel (Marten Fane) Overview

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The Killer Is Dying: A Novel Review

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The Killer Is Dying: A Novel ReviewA "mystery" which is also a breathtaking and complete literary experience, this powerful novel "out-noirs" almost every "noir" novel I have ever read with its sad and desperate characters trying to cope with the miseries fate has dealt them. As they live their daily lives in various parts of Phoenix, none of Sallis's three main characters expect that things will change--they just soldier on, doing whatever it takes. The first character, Christian, is a Vietnam vet, a former medic who has been a contract killer for many years. Hired to kill a "nondescript office-dweller at a nondescript accounting firm in a featureless city [Phoenix] where everything is dun-colored," he has just discovered, at the outset of the book, that some other assassin has made the hit--and botched it. His goal is to identify the other hitman and complete the job for which he has been hired, but time is short: Christian is dying.
The second character, Jimmie Kostof, is a thirteen-year-old who has fallen through the cracks. His mentally ill mother disappeared more than a year ago, and his father, shortly afterward. Incredibly resilient, he has been staying alive in his house without being discovered by the authorities. His nights are especially difficult, however: he has somehow tapped into the nightmares of Christian, the killer. The third character, police investigator Dale Sayles, is also alone. His wife Josie, who is dying a lingering death, has disappeared, leaving a note explaining that "I'm not a survivor, Dale. I've known that all along."
The reader comes to know these characters through a series of impressionistic, descriptive episodes in which the individual characters are not initially identified. Gradually, one comes to recognize the different points of view from references to details connected with each specific character. In a literary tour de force, none of these characters associate directly with each other, and do not even know each other, during the action. They live parallel, not interconnected lives, illustrating stylistically the solitary nature of their individual lives. The minimal contact that eventually does develop at the conclusion is a glancing contact which barely registers.
As Sallis develops his themes by having his three main characters live their separate lives, he creates enormous sympathy for them, and the reader gains small measures of hope for them as they sometimes begin to reach out tentatively to connect with others. He also includes more information in fewer words than almost any other writer I have found. Every word and every image counts here, and his descriptions are memorably unique. A man's "belt buckle [was] recently let out a couple of notches so that the old half-circle hoofprints showed." The passengers on a bus are referred to as "Jonahs." Sayles, after a sleepless night, believes that "the light...out there somewhere in the night [is] feeling its way blindly toward him." Even small details, such as the books Jimmie reads and the TV programs which Christian sees and remembers reflect the themes and states of mind, adding to the novel's strength. Powerful, thoughtful, often heart-breaking, and complete, this novel reflects a kind of honesty that is rare in fiction. Mary Whipple
(WHAT YOU HAVE LEFT: THE TURNER TRILOGY; CYPRESS GROVE, CRIPPLE CREEK, SALT RIVER ) BY Sallis, James (Author) Paperback Published on (12 , 2008)
Cripple Creek: A Novel
Salt River: A Novel
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The Great Airport Mystery (Hardy Boys, Book 9) Review

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The Great Airport Mystery (Hardy Boys, Book 9) ReviewThis is a fascimile of the original book. A nice copy and a nice idea. So far they have released about 8 of these fascimile editions in the Hardy Boys series and several in the Nancy Drew and Tom Swift series also.
The Great Airport Mystery is a tale of early flying, mail plane robberies, and races across the countryside in a roadster. It was a long ago time when kids had to pass exams to graduate from High School. No revisionism and mindless updating to make the stories "relevant" to the contemporary reader. This is not great literature, but updating is really little more than colorizing black&white movies.
This is just plain fun, and thanks to the publishers for giving us an opportunity to see what fun was for kids 75 years ago.The Great Airport Mystery (Hardy Boys, Book 9) Overview

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The Big Sleep & Farewell, My Lovely (Modern Library) Review

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The Big Sleep & Farewell, My Lovely (Modern Library) ReviewSeeing as how "The Big Sleep" and "Farewell, My Lovely" are the first two Philip Marlowe detective novels that Raymond Chandler wrote (published in 1939 and 1940, respectively), this is a grand place for a Chandler novice to begin pursuing the morally decrepit alleys and boulevards of the rich and not-so-rich in Los Angeles.
One thing you should note is that Chandler held the conventional detective stories (think: Agatha Christie) in disdain. Ergo, any attempt of mine to barf back the plots to you is a waste of time. They are so complex that you often forget exactly what happened shortly after you finish reading the books themselves...which doesn't detract from their quality whatsoever mind you. It's been told often enough that after their publication, Chandler often didn't even know what was going on in his own novels!
Suffice to say that both books concern murder among the wealthy elites in L.A. during Chandler's life--a time when the city was a lot smaller than its present size, and more hostile to outsiders--particularly to people of color. "The Big Sleep" concerns a disappearance and a reclusive millionaire and his two daughters (one is a mentally deranged nymphomaniac; the other is a bit more sensible, but no less shady) and the lengths he'll go to protect them. While this isn't the best Marlowe novel, this is probably the best place to start. Plus, it got made into a pretty good movie starring Bogie and Bacall.
"Farewell, My Lovely" is perhaps the most politically incorrect of the Marlowe books. It starts off with a murder at a bar in South Central L.A. and extends its tentacles into jewel heists and gambling rings where it is difficult to ascertain exactly who is doing what to whom. In Chandler's L.A., nothing is what it seems.
The story itself is engrossing, however, you must prepare yourself for Marlowe dropping the "N" word at least once, and his mockery of an American Indian for speaking in pidgeon English. Remember that this was 1940 and was 25 years before the Watts riots began to put an end to the white-dominated old boys network that used to rule L.A. That in itself makes it an interesting look at the mentality of the powers at be (the wealthy, the LAPD) and see how much has changed since Chandler's day...and how much hasn't.
My personal favorite of Chandler's books is "The Long Goodbye"--the second-to-last Marlowe novel that was published in 1954. I would rank both of these books below that one, but "Farewell, My Lovely" is a close second, while "The Big Sleep" is an auspicious debut for the hard-boiled, cynical, yet romantic ...
For those who are willing to take more than a passive interest in the works of Raymond Chandler, this two-book set is an excellent place to start. Furthermore, for those who are merely casual Chandler fans, this set is great because these two books are among his best (and it looks nice on your bookshelf too!)The Big Sleep & Farewell, My Lovely (Modern Library) Overview

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Very Bad Men Review

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Very Bad Men ReviewDavid Loogan lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his girlfriend, Detective Elizabeth Waishkey and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Sarah. Loogan edits a mystery magazine, and he has made the mental leap from writing and critiquing stories about crime to tracking down villains in real life. In Harry Dolan's latest novel, "Very Bad Men," David tells us a story that will explain "the motives people have for killing one another." As we will see, the reasons for taking someone's life can vary from a matter of convenience to a thirst for revenge. Loogan, who is a witty first person narrator, gets embroiled in his latest adventure when someone drops an unsolicited manuscript at his office, in which the anonymous writer confesses to committing murder and even provides the name of his next victim.
An emotionally disturbed individual has targeted particular men whom he believes must die; if he has to dispatch others who are not on the list, so be it. When Elizabeth and David become familiar with the case, they discover that it is far more complex than it at first appears. "Very Bad Men" involves a seventeen-year-old bank robbery, corrupt public officials, an aspiring senatorial candidate, and an ambitious young newspaper reporter who stirs things up.
Harry Dolan has created a large cast of characters, each of whom plays a role in what will turn out to be a Greek tragedy, Michigan style. The author is good with details: how to kill someone who is locked up in prison; what it is like to live with excruciating migraine headaches; a fine description of the landscape and inhabitants of Michigan's Upper Peninsula; and the tricks that tenacious journalists use to get their stories. Although the plot is ridiculously convoluted and not particularly believable, "Very Bad Man" is entertaining enough to hold our interest. As bodies pile up and events occur that shed new light on what is happening, David and Elizabeth decide to dig deeper into the past. They suspect that the slaughter will not stop until secrets that have been hidden for many years are finally revealed.
Very Bad Men Overview

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