December 2004 Fiction and Mystery Reviews

Hark! : A Novel of the 87th Precinct
by Ed McBain

Simon & Schuster

ISBN# 0-7432-5035-4
Suggested Retail Price: $24.95 or as low as $0.01 from Amazon.com!

Meanwhile, back at the 87th Precinct, we are treated to another gritty mystery from Ed McBain. I would even stretch a bit and call this new offering to be one of his best. It is amazing that this is 54th mystery about these special cops. At this point, McBain's fans know them all pretty well. Their personal ups and downs run throughout this amazing mystery.

The plot revolves around an old nemesis who calls himself "The Deaf Man." It begins with a run of anonymous letter being dropped off at the police headquarters by a variety of people, but mostly drug addicts. The letters are addressed to Detective Steve Carella. Soon the whole group of detectives is spending a lot time trying to decipher the meaning of the cryptic message. The thing that is fascinating is that after a lot of hits and misses, the detectives figure out that most, if not all, of the messages are contained in the works of Shakespeare. Sure, but what is the Deaf Man planing to do?

I would tell you more, but it might take the fun out of this fine mystery that you will find a challenging to figure out.

In between the letters there is a lot going on with all of the characters that we have met in the 87th and other precincts. Weddings, mistrust and a shooting that might have been aimed at a television reporter or a member of the Squad.

This is a very fine and involving mystery to tackle. See if you can decipher the words of this menace who is deaf and his hooker friend who is hiring all of those creeps to deliver the puzzle pieces. McBane deserves a pat on the back for this one.

Country of Origin
by Don Lee

W. W. Norton & Company

ISBN# 0-3930-5812-3
Suggested Retail Price: $24.95 or as low as $7.80 from Amazon.com!

Lisa Countryman has vanished into the shadows of Tokyo. No one seems to care too much, perhaps because she is what they call an "Ainoko." Lisa is half African American and half Asian. There is an Amer-Asian Agency official who has been assigned to the case. His name is Tom Hurley, but he can't spend any time in the search because he is preoccupied with an affair with the wife of a CIA officer.

Kenzo Ota is a Japanese cop who is not very respected by his peers. He has major problems with his new apartment. He keeps changing apartments, only to find more noises. A squeaking elevator makes an amusing picture of this cop's world.

Tom does try to follow Lisa's descent into the dark side of Tokyo sex culture. The conclusion is a bit surprising, and no one escapes the harsh judegment of the author.

Lionboy: The Chase
by Zizou Corder, Fred Van Deelen

Dial Books

ISBN# 0-8037-2984-7
Suggested Retail Price: $15.99 or as low as $3.59 from Amazon.com!

I have listed this adventure book, both the first and second of this trilogy, in the adult section, but kids will love it and they'll love to have it read to them. It really is a chance for a family to all enjoy a story and spend some time together reading and discussing the amazing life of the boy who speaks "Cat."

In the first book we meet the boy and his parents. His parents are both scientists and have been working on a cure for asthma. Their boy, Charlie, has asthma. Charlie also has the unique ability to speak with and understand cats. Then the parents are kidnapped, and Charlie runs off to circus where he frees the captured lions and promises to guide them back to their home in Africa. The escape of the boys and the lions add up to a great adventure tale.

The parents have been kidnapped by a major pharmacy company and have been taken to a place where they are being brainwashed and drugged. The company wants to destroy the Asthma cure formula because they produce medicine that is already widely used for this disease.

Now the boy and the lions have escaped capture by riding on the top of a train. It's a private train belonging to a king who is fascinated by the lions and the boy, and vows to help them. There are new characters to meet and many more adventures to read. Charlie is torn between his lions and his parents, but the lions must come first. The group has added a new and strange lion that adds much to the story. Remember that all kinds of cats are helping all the way telling the boy where to look for his parents and how to get there.

OK, it may be a story for kids but I enjoyed the adventures recited here very much. To add to the rarity of this exciting story the Lionboy is of African descent and the hero of this story.

Body Double
by Tess Gerritsen

Ballantine Books

ISBN# 0-3454-5893-1
Suggested Retail Price: $24.95 or as low as $0.48 from Amazon.com!

Maura Isles is the Boston medical examiner. She is used to corpses, but this new one stops her in her tracks. The murder victim is a woman. She was shot to death, and as they begin to work on her, Maura is stunned to find that the dead woman looks just like her. Maura and her friend police officer Jane Rizzoli set out to solve the mystery of who killed this woman. Why does she look like she could be a twin to Maura? Up to now Maura had thought she was an only child, but this evidence is hard to brush aside. A DNA test proves that this murder victim is Maura's sister.

The road to finding out what happened is filled with exciting adventure. Where is their mother? Why did she give the twins up for adoption and who raised the other twin.

It's a bizarre murder investigation and it leads Maura Isles into the dark places of her heritage and the insane relationships that caused her birth and ultimately to the death of her twin.