Don't Come Back

“Don’t Come Back” (Book 2 of 2 in the Molly Donovan series) by Tower Lower   255 pages  

I didn’t read Book 1 in this series, and that’s okay, as this is a complete standalone. I have read both book of author Lowe’s Cotton Lee Penn historical mysteries and really enjoyed them. This novel suffers the same problem as those two though. Lowe needs to invest in a good editor; there are so many typos it is almost embarrassing. 

Now that I have that out of my system, let me tell you about what I like the most about all of Lowe’s mysteries. Her protagonists are non-ablest, but that doesn’t stop them. Their disability is like hair or eye color. Important to the reader experience, but not a game-changer. They aren’t written with pity. 

In this novel, the prologue sets up the mystery and creates that “gotta keep reading to find out what happens” feeling.  In the prologue, an elderly Navajo woman is kidnapped. The book’s characters believe she has taken off for a few days with her friend, Eduardo. When Alicia misses her dialysis appointment, which she needs to survive, her daughter calls the sheriff who brings in the FBI. 

The FBI agent, Ray Yazee, is a native of the area with a Navajo father and a white mother. His mother took him away from the area when he was a small child. Ray is curious about his Navajo heritage. He takes the case in the hopes of reconnecting to his roots and to learn the identity of his father. As he gets closer to Santa Fe, New Mexico, Ray begins to hear voices and chanting; he is sure it is the mountains calling him to come home. In one of his dreams, he is told to “find the one-armed Irish woman.” 

Maggie, on the other hand, has problems of her own. Her boyfriend, Miguel, took a three-week trip to Spain to help his cousin battle a drug addiction. But now he’s been gone for three months, and when he does, he brings his “cousin,” Isabella with him.  Cousin, yeah right. 

Ray and Maggie team up to find Alicia and get her to a life-saving dialysis treatment. The suspense is excellent and had me staying up past my bedtime to find out what would happen next.  

Although I complained about the errors earlier, this is really a top-notch suspense thriller. Lots happens in the six days over which the novel is set. Therefore, I’m going to give “Don’t Come Back,” 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

Suspect

The Suspect: An Olympic Bombing, the FBI, the Media, and Richard Jewell, the Man Caught in the Middle by Kent Alexander and Kevin Salwen, 334 pages

On July 27th, 1996, Richard Jewell, a former sheriff's deputy doing security work during the Olympic Games, noticed a suspicious package under a bench in Atlanta's Centennial Park.  The bomb squad was summoned and Jewell joined his coworkers in attempting to clear people from the area.  Less than half an hour later, the bomb inside the package exploded, killing two people and injuring dozens more.  Within days, the press was reporting, based on leaks from within the FBI, that investigators had determined that Jewell had planted the bomb himself.  Tom Brokaw told millions of Americans that there was "probably" already sufficient evidence to arrest and prosecute Jewell.  Three months later, the FBI officially announced that it had, in fact, never had any real evidence to tie Jewell to the bombing, its focus on him having been driven by their belief that he fit the "profile" of a lone bomber, this despite the fact that the FBI knew early on that he couldn't have carried out the bombing alone.  As Kent Alexander and Kevin Salwen report, Richard Jewell's guilt had been a "convenient myth" - it had given the FBI a suspect, the media a story, and the Olympics a chance to move on.  That it had almost destroyed Jewell was a small price to pay.

If their book is a cautionary tale, it is not, however, a polemic.  Alexander and Salwen write in a way that is factual, compelling, and deeply personal, not surprising in that both were tangentially involved in the story and knew many of the players, Alexander as a US Attorney and Salwen as an editor for the Wall Street Journal.  It would be a hard heart indeed which is not moved by their account of the later years of Kathy Scruggs, the reporter who broke the Jewell story, and it is even possible to feel a grudging admiration for Eric Rudolph, the actual bomber, who spent over five years as a fugitive in the Carolina mountains, sleeping in caves and surviving only on what he could catch or scavenge.  Perhaps the greatest insight the book can give is into the direction of the massive power of the federal government and public opinion by ordinary, imperfect people just trying to do their jobs.

The Flight Attendant

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bojalian   368 pages

In this, his twentieth novel, Chris Bohjalian does it again. He writes a compelling murder mystery that grabs readers by the throat and doesn’t let go until the very end.

Cassie is an international flight attendant. She spends more time in foreign countries’ hotel rooms than she does in her Manhattan apartment. Two of her favorite hobbies are drinking (yes she’s an alcoholic) and sex (she seldom goes to bed alone).

After leaving Paris bound for Dubai, Cassie flirts with Alex, a passenger in first class.  After they arrive, Alex takes Cassie to dinner, but says he has another appointment and slips her his hotel key. His tone of voice rubbed me the wrong way, and Cassie’s following his command really annoyed me.

The following morning, Cassie wakes up with the mother of all hangovers. She has less than an hour to meet her colleagues in the lobby of the airport-chosen hotel, about two miles from where she is. Barely able to move around the posh suite, Cassie soon discovers that Alex is not asleep. Someone has slashed his throat from ear to ear.

Cassie remembers very little about the night before. She blacks out more than she cares to admit.  Did she kill Alex?  She has no idea. Leaving as quickly as her pounding head and roiling stomach, she makes it back to meet the rest of her crew.

She tires, desperately, to remember, but all that comes back is that another woman came into the suite and had drinks with them. Cassie thinks she left the same time as the other woman, but can’t remember how she got back in Alex’s bed.

This is a rather complicated story that is east for readers to follow. However, I was disappointed in the ending. My first thought, was “huh?”.  Therefore The Flight Attendant receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Killers of the Flower Moon  by David Grann    338 pages

Since I was young (some would say the period covered by this novel), I have been infatuated with the Native Americans, from their history before Europeans set foot on this continent, to the saga of usurped land and forced assimilation, to modern challenges and desperate attempts to preserve their ancient culture. The research detailed in Killers of the Flower Moon is yet another example of the atrocities committed against innocent people on American soil, one of many such tales that history books neglect to tell about the history of our nation… wow, I need to get off my soapbox, but it is a well written, sobering bit of history that I recommend reading.

In the 1920s, after oil was discovered beneath their land, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma. Mysteriously and what seemed arbitrary, the Indians were being murdered under inexplicable circumstances – shot, blown up, or systematically poisoned – over a period of years. This novel is a true account of the Osage murders, the numerous attempts to investigate the escalating crimes, and the founding of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, headed by J. Edgar Hoover. 

Per Penguin Random House - In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes like Al Spencer, the “Phantom Terror,” roamed—many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations and the bureau badly bungled the case. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection.  Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.

In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward American Indians that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly compelling, but also emotionally devastatingSEE LESS.In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes like Al Spencer, the “Phantom Terror,” roamed—many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations and the bureau badly bungled the case. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection.  Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
      In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward American Indians that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly compelling, but also emotionally devastating.SEE LESSIn this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes like Al Spencer, the “Phantom Terror,” roamed—many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations and the bureau badly bungled the case. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection.  Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. 

      In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward American Indians that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly compelling, but also emotionally devastating.

In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes like Al Spencer, the “Phantom Terror,” roamed—many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations and the bureau badly bungled the case. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection.  Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. 

      In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward American Indians that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly compelling, but also emotionally devastating.

The Target

The Edge by Catherine Coulter Book 341 pages

The fifth in the author's FBI thriller series takes us to the coast of Oregon (hence the title) where an experimental drug is having some pretty horrific effects on people. It will also take its toll on FBI Agent Ford MacDougal who is trying to find out what is going on with his sister, Jilly. Throw in a beautiful woman, an amorous woman and a tough woman and of course Savich and Sherlock with a sprinkling of a drug cartel and you've got a book.

Unfortunately, this was not my favorite book in the series. Mac was not my cup of tea as far as main characters go, I wasn't a fan of how he viewed women. Besides that, this was typical Coulter, fast- paced action, weird townspeople and plenty of danger. There were some things missing in the book that I would have liked to have seen. It was mostly action that I felt belonged in the story. However, I'm glad the author wrapped up most of the loose ends, I just wasn't a fan of how she did it. If someone is invested in the series I would say keep going because the others have been good so far. Don't read in the middle, start from the beginning. I will be reading the next book because I enjoy the adventures of Savich and Sherlock.

The Target

The Target by Catherine Coulter 387 pages

This is book 3 in the FBI thriller series by Coulter. A federal judge named Ramsey was trying to get away from it all when he finds a little girl, named Emma, who has been abused. The story really takes off when her mother, Molly, shows up to save her. Now the three of them are on the run from a madman who is obsessed with Emma. Thrown in a couple of crime boss and the FBI's own Dillon Savich and Sherlock from the previous books and you've got a quite a story.

I enjoyed this book, I can definitely say the story pulled me in. The characters were fine, nothing extraordinary, just fine. The author is very to the point in this series and that is something that I as a reader appreciate. I'm ready to read the next one. I'd recommend what I've read in the series so far to anyone who likes thriller fiction.

The Pursuit

The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, 304 pages

“Nicolas Fox, international con man, thief, and one of the top ten fugitives on the FBI's most-wanted list, has been kidnapped from a beachfront retreat in Hawaii. What the kidnapper doesn't know is that Nick Fox has been secretly working for the FBI. It isn't long before Nick's covert partner, Special Agent Kate O'Hare, is in hot pursuit of the crook who stole her con man. The trail leads to Belgium, France, and Italy, and pits Nick and Kate against their deadliest adversary yet: Dragan Kovic, an ex-Serbian military officer. He's plotting a crime that will net him billions . . . and cost thousands of American lives. Nick and Kate have to mount the most daring, risky, and audacious con they've ever attempted to save a major U.S. city from a catastrophe of epic proportions. Luckily they have the help of an eccentric out-of-work actor, a bandit who does his best work in the sewers, and Kate's dad, Jake. The pressure's on for Nick and Kate to make this work--even if they have to lay their lives on the line.”  This is typical Evanovich.  Her books are always funny with madcap adventures and just enough romance.  Fans of the genre or her previous books will read this.

The Beginning

The Beginning by Catherine Coulter 534 pages

This book contains Book 1 (The Cove) and Book 2 (The Maze) of Coulter's FBI thriller series.

The Cove

Sally St. John is in a crisis, everyone is looking for her and she doesn't have any answers to give them. Her father has been murdered and everyone thinks either she did it or her mother did it and Sally is covering up for her. The most dedicated to finding her is Special Agent James Quinlan, who won't stop until he has the truth from the terrified and yet surprisingly strong Sally. Oh yes and there's a small town that is so picture perfect it's practically unbelievable just like its inhabitants.

There is action and romance in this story. I myself don't understand why there has to be romance in these stories, but a man meets a woman and despite the crazy circumstances they find affection for each other and so on and so forth. I enjoyed this story. There was enough action that the (in my opinion) unnecessary romance didn't take away from the story. I guess I'm picky when it comes to dialogue, the way this writer writes people talking almost sounds wooden like it did on the Dragnet TV and radio show. Nevertheless, it kept me turning pages and wondering who did what. It wasn't entirely unpredictable, I could easily tell when someone was going to sneak up on Sally, but it wasn't the bad kind of predictable. I did like the ending of the story and how things were wrapped up, I'm pretty sure I laughed at the antics.

The Maze

Lacey Sherlock is a new agent with the FBI and she has joined for a specific reason. She wants to take down the man who killed her sister seven years ago. However, even though she helped the FBI catch him, there are lingering doubts that she and her boss (and of course lover) Dillon Savich have to iron out. Lacey's family is the epitome of dysfunctional. She finds out that her sister wasn't all she thought she was and that her killer is a lot more tenacious than she gave him credit for.

I liked this story as well. It was almost an identical twin of the story before it, but that wasn't a bad thing. Both have women in crazy circumstances who get helped by handsome FBI agents and they get together in the end. What I didn't like about this book was how scared Lacey was ALL the time. I get it, there's mean people who want to hurt you, but did it have to mentioned so often that she was scared? It just made her seem wimpy, but she wasn't a wimp, she did what needed to be done. There was more fear than steely resolve and that bugged me. One other thing that bothered me was both Quinlan and Savich got gut feelings at interesting times, they only seemed to get them to suit the plot and at other times it was non-existant, for me it took away the authenticity although I understand why the author did it. Other than that I enjoyed it. The dialogue was still wooden and some of the writing was stilted in places, but as far as plot goes it was good.

Against All Odds

Against All Odds by Irene Hannon, 334 pages

This is the first book in the Heroes of Quantico series.  Monica Callahan, who has been estranged from her father, David, for most of her life, finds his world crashing into hers abruptly.  David is negotiating a hostage situation with a group of terrorists and they have made a threat against Monica.  David has managed to get FBI protection for her in the form of Evan Cooper and his partner.  Monica is reluctant to cooperate, but as she and Coop get to know each other, a mutual attraction begins to develop.  And through their conversations, Monica even starts to consider the possibility of forgiving her father, assuming that she can get through the current crisis alive.  This was a fairly typical Christian romance story but Hannon is a good writer and I enjoyed this book as much as I've enjoyed her others.

Killer Pursuit

Killer Pursuit by Jeff Gunhus   350 pages

I discovered author Jeff Gunhus’ work in 2015 when I read his Night Chill and The Torment of Rachel Adams. Night Chill scared me so bad that I didn’t sleep for three days and still haven’t worked up the courage to read its sequel, Night Terror.

But now he’s turned to a new genre, the political thriller. In Killer Pursuit, the second in the Allison McNeil series, Gunhus takes on serial killers, FBI agents, and prostitutes in Washington, D.C.

High society call-girl, Catherine Fews, is brutally murdered in her Georgetown home. While Catherine is being dismembered, Allison is about to gun down another bad guy.

The D.C. detectives who are investigating Catherine’s death find not one, but two, cameras hidden in her bedroom walls. One is a traditional, security-like camera that has had its memory erased. The other is a highly sophisticated device that “is connected to the Internet through an encrypted connection…and no one knows who’s on the other end.” Hence the FBI’s involvement.

As the news of Catherine’s death travels through the city, many high profile politicians start to sweat, especially the man most likely to be the next President of the United States.

Because of the nature of the crime, the FBI Director asks Allison to run an off-the-record investigation. Seems this case is similar to the one in the first book, Killer Within, which justifies Allison’s probe. I haven’t read the first book. When Gunhus refers to that case, he does an excellent job in supplying the details the reader needs.

Killer Pursuit is a good read, not a great read, which is why I give it 4 out of 5 stars. It had a strong plot (the killer was a surprise). The writing was good, the pacing was excellent. The dialogue was natural and flowed well, and the characters were well-developed. However, there just wasn’t’ anything to set the novel apart from the hundreds that are already out there. 

The Scam

The Scam by Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg, 286 pages

This is more of the usual fare from this team of setting up a scam in order to catch the crook with a few laughs and a lot of sexual tension on the way.  In this book Kate, FBI agent, and Nick, con artist and secretly working with the FBI, are setting up an operation to trap casino mogul Evan Trace in his money laundering schemes.  Along the way, they drag in a Hawaiian gang lord in an effort to take him down also.  There are several close calls along the way, with the worry that their scheme will be uncovered, and Trace setting up a scam of his own that could ruin their plans.  I'm still enjoying this series.  The characters are funny and the stories, even though somewhat predictable, are still fun.  Fans od the romantic comedy adventures should check these out.

Spirit and Dust

Spirit and Dust by Rosemary Clement-Moore, 387 pages

Daisy can talk to the dead.  She’s a consultant to the FBI, although some people don’t really believe in her powers.  She’s also not even quite eighteen yet, which makes her situation even odder.  She’s been called to help on a case and in the middle of it is kidnapped by the father of the missing girl that the FBI is now trying to find.  Daisy finds herself bound to him magically to find his daughter and is off with one of his operatives, trying to follow the clues to the missing girl.  This was a funny story, with fantasy, mystery, romance, and adventure.  I liked it and I think that a lot of teens would too.

Kill Fee

Kill Fee by Owen Laukkanen
385 Pages

 The third entry in the Stevens and Windermere series, Laukkanen has the duo team up again when a prominent billionaire is gunned down in plain site.  It seems like an open and shut case when they are able to track the killer's rental car back to a suspect only to find a deeper plot is place and more people may have already been victims in an elaborate murder-for-hire network.

Kill fee is a fast paced novel with interesting chemistry between the two investigators.  This promises to be a long lived series that would be popular with readers who already like Patterson, Connelly and Coben.