Two debut thrillers and an exciting ebook

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and Shiver by Allie Reynolds were gifts from my daughter. She'd enjoyed reading both the thrillers and thought my wife and I'd like them too. Her choice of crime fiction comes with high recommendations.

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The Silent Patient is described as "A shocking psychological thriller of a woman's act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive."

The blurb on the back of the 339-page book tells us about the story of Alicia Berenson who "lived a seemingly perfect life until one day six years ago (when) she shot her husband in the head five times. Since then she hasn't spoken a single word. It's time to find out why."

"They were all there. So which one of them did it?" says the cover of Shiver (Headline, 2021). The 425-page book tells the story of "A reunion weekend in the French Alps (that turns deadly when five friends discover that someone has deliberately stranded them at their remote mountaintop resort during a snowstorm."

The Silent Patient and Shiver are both debut novels and were to be developed as a movie and a television series, respectively; although, I have no updates about either of the ventures.

Carolyn Arnold's The Little Grave (2021) is the first Detective Amanda Steele book in what appears to be a series of ten books. The 324-page Kindle edition was available for free on Amazon. My thanks to the author.

This is what the book is about:

"It's been five years since Detective Amanda Steele's life was derailed by the tragic death of her young daughter. The small community of Dumfries, Virginia, may have moved on, but Amanda cannot. When the man who killed Lindsey is found murdered, she can't keep away from the case. Fighting her sergeant to be allowed to work such a personal investigation, Amanda is in a race to prove that she can uncover the truth. But the more she digs into the past of the man who destroyed her future, the more shocking discoveries she makes."

At present, I'm reading The Silent Patient in paperback and The Little Grave on my tablet.

The Ann Patchett excerpt that made me buy her books

Excerpts often influence whether I pick up books by authors I have never read before. That, along with a post on Twitter (now X), is how I discovered the award-winning American author Ann Patchett, who writes both fiction and nonfiction.

I was drawn to her writing when I read about her latest book Tom Lake, which is described as a “Beautiful and moving novel about family, love and growing up” or in the words of The Guardian, “A truth that feels like life rather than literature.”

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Those are the kind of books I have always enjoyed reading, and hope to write someday, now more so since my wife and I launched a website Pocketful of Happiness which stemmed from our desire to be as happy as possible and spread a little joy among our readers. Books like these have a feel-good quality about them. 

Ann Patchett's writing has been variously described as warm, poetic, illuminating, rich, poignant, funny, powerful, compelling and stirring. This was evident from the many excerpts I read including this affecting passage from This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (2013):

“People seem able to love their dogs with an unabashed acceptance that they rarely demonstrate with family or friends. The dogs do not disappoint them, or if they do, the owners manage to forget about it quickly. I want to learn to love people like this, the way I love my dog, with pride and enthusiasm and a complete amnesia for faults. In short, to love others the way my dog loves me.”

It prompted me to buy the book along with These Precious Days: Essays (2021). Both are personal  and literary collections of essays and memoir.

I look forward to reading one of these books as soon as I finish Agatha Christie’s The Murder on the Links.

Why I left a book fair empty-handed

About a month ago, I visited a Books by Weight exhibition in South Mumbai hosted by Butterfly Books and, in a rare display of self-restraint, left empty-handed. 

It wasn't because there were no good books to buy. I simply didn't feel the urge. Perhaps two years of working from home, followed by a hybrid routine, had something to do with it. Apart from evening walks, the occasional social visit and grocery runs in the neighbourhood, I had barely ventured out until that day.

I was also conscious that there was little point in adding to a collection of books that already contained many unread books. Only a few months earlier, my wife and I had given away more than a hundred paperbacks. I had no desire to replace them with another stack that might sit unread for months, if not years.

As I grow older, though not necessarily wiser, I find myself increasingly drawn to the idea of owning fewer things and making better use of what I already have. That applies to books as much as anything else: read them, enjoy them and then pass them on. 

One evening, my wife asked me, "What are you finally going to do with all your books? It's time to move on." 

She had a point. It's not as though I own a treasure trove of rare and valuable editions, aside from a few out-of-print western paperbacks and some books with particularly memorable covers. What she really meant, I think, was that I needed to outgrow the habit of buying books simply because I loved the idea of owning them. There was a time for that, and perhaps that time had passed.  

We still have many books, I more than she. I'm also holding on to my comic books, some of which I've owned for decades. What will become of them when I retire, I don't know. Paper, after all, has a shelf life.

These days, I do most of my reading on a Kindle and a tablet. Both are convenient, reader-friendly and, above all, kind to limited shelf space. Physical books possess a charm that ebooks can never quite replicate, but practicality has led me to draw a line between the two. My reading is now roughly 70 per cent digital and 30 per cent print.

I still buy the occasional paperback from secondhand bookshops and book exhibitions, but only after asking myself if it's really worth having the book and wouldn't an ebook serve my purpose just as well. 

The answer to those questions is increasingly shaping my book-buying habits. Having fewer books doesn't mean reading less.

Book Review: Drink with the Devil by Jack Higgins

I read Drink with the Devil—the fifth appearance of Jack Higgins' trademark hero Sean Dillon—before the lockdown and decided to finally review it during my sixth month of working from home. Somehow, I always seem to pick up a Higgins novel to revive my blog every few months. Maybe it's because he is my favourite action-thriller writer and also one of my comfort reads.

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In Drink with the Devil (1996), Higgins offers a glimpse into Dillon's early life—first as a disillusioned IRA assassin, then as a skilled mercenary for the PLO and the Israelis, the KGB and the Red Brigades, and finally as an operative for a highly secret British intelligence unit answerable only to the prime minister.

The story begins in 1985, London.

The IRA sends Sean Dillon—posing as Martin Keogh—to team up with legendary Loyalist militant Michael Ryan and his young niece Kathleen. Together, they hijack a truck carrying £50 million worth of gold bullion. The IRA wants to prevent Ryan from using the gold to buy arms and ignite a civil war in Northern Ireland. Fortunately for Dillon, things do not go according to plan. One night, while he and Ryan are transporting the bullion across the Irish Sea aboard a hired boat, the crew attempts to seize the treasure for themselves. The resulting confrontation ends with the boat being blown up and the gold plunging to the bottom of the rough sea.

Cut to 1995, New York State.

Michael and Kathleen have vanished from the radar of both the IRA and British intelligence. The gold has never been recovered. Michael is serving a 25-year sentence in a New York State prison for a botched bank robbery and the shooting of a police officer. Kathleen, now working as a nurse at a nearby hospital, visits him every day. Living under the names Liam and Jean Kelly, they are believed to have died years earlier. 

But news of the lost bullion reaches the mafia family of Don Antonio Russo, who strikes a deal with Michael and Kathleen: a share of the gold—now worth £100 million—in exchange for their freedom. The discovery also attracts the attention of the American and British intelligence services, the president and the prime minister, and the IRA.

Enter Sean Dillon. The former IRA hitman is given a single mission: prevent the gold from jeopardising the fragile peace process in Northern Ireland. A decade after their last encounter, he comes face to face with his old friends Michael and Kathleen once again—and that is where the real twists begin.

While I haven't read many of the nearly two dozen Sean Dillon novels, I can say that Drink with the Devil is not one of his best. The story moves at a steady pace and has enough action and dialogue to keep the pages turning, but the plot felt rather flimsy. At times, it seemed as though even an amateur could have got away with stealing the gold. I also found it hard to believe that British intelligence could not trace either the missing bullion or the whereabouts of Michael and Kathleen. They could hardly have disappeared without a trace.

In Jack Higgins' defence, however, Dillon, his boss Brigadier Charles Ferguson, who heads the secret unit known as the Prime Minister's Private Army, and Special Agent Hannah Bernstein do not enter the picture until much later. Their story starts in 1995, when the tale of the Irish Rose lying beneath the Irish Sea begins.

Drink with the Devil has all the hallmarks of Higgins' simple, direct and conversational storytelling style. The characters—including the appearance of his other endearing hero, Liam Devlin—and the charming Lake District setting in northwest England, with its pubs and cafés frequented by Republicans and Loyalists alike, make the novel a fairly entertaining read. As in many of his IRA-themed novels, Higgins weaves the Northern Ireland conflict and its assorted players into the narrative. As a history buff, I found those political and historical undercurrents particularly interesting.

Whatever the strengths and weaknesses, it is always a pleasure to read Jack Higgins.

Book Review: Dangerous Lady by Martina Cole

The Ryans—Benjamin and Sarah—and their nine children, eight sons and a daughter, live in poverty and hardship in a seedy district of London. Michael, the eldest, is devoted to his mother and especially protective of his little sister Maura, the bright spot in an otherwise harsh household. His feelings toward his father, a habitual drinker who drifts through life with little purpose, are distant. It is from him that Michael and his brothers are drawn early into petty crime. 

It is not long before the “Bills”—as the police are called in the novel—come calling. Michael develops an intense dislike for the uniformed men. As he grows up to become a powerful and feared mobster, that antipathy toward the police becomes one of his main traits—one that nearly destroys the very family he is determined to protect.

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Martina Cole’s Dangerous Lady traces Michael Ryan’s rise in the London underworld. In many ways, Ryan—born into an Irish-English family and eventually ruling the West End underworld of London—echoes Michael Corleone, the Sicilian-American heir who comes to dominate New York’s gangland. The resemblance, however, is only partial.

In spite of Michael's intimidating presence through most of the 416-page novel, Dangerous Lady is not so much about him as his beautiful sister Maura. Following a secret love affair with a cop, fear of Michael and a painful abortion at the age of 17, she joins her brother and together they build a criminal empire that would’ve made the Sicilian Mafia proud. She proves her worth not just to Michael and her other brothers, but even to the traditionally male-dominated crime syndicates of London. But Maura also has a soft side to her, the result of unfulfilled love that comes back to haunt her and perhaps a chance at redemption.

British crime writer Martina Cole’s debut novel is more than a high-octane crime story; it is the violent saga of a crime family whose exploits stretch from post-war London in the 1950s to the mid-1980s. As the years roll on, the Ryans lose more than they gain, both within the family and on the streets of the West End.

Though Dangerous Lady is a crime drama with plenty of action and gritty scenes, I did have a few reservations about the novel. At times it feels rather long, with the narrative slowing and moving back and forth in time. I am not particularly fond of flashbacks, which may have shaped my reading of these sections. The writing is fairly straightforward, as is the dialogue. I also found it difficult to fully empathise with or connect to the characters—Michael or Maura, their strong-willed mother Sarah, or even the brothers who work in Michael’s organisation.

Despite these issues, Dangerous Lady is both entertaining and readable. It offers a dramatic canvas of organised crime, along with an all-too-real portrayal of an unlikely female gangster with a heart. I plan to read more of the Maura Ryan series, as well as other books by the author.

Confessions of a Book Collector: So Much for Restraint

In the first three months of this year, I bought more books than I did in the whole of 2018. So much for restraint. Any resolve to cut back on book buying quickly disappeared as I walked through book exhibitions and second-hand bookstalls looking for interesting books and comics.

A few titles, including Yuval Noah Harari's 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, were bought online (I already own his Sapiens and Homo Deus.) I also picked up several guides to better writing, two of which are featured below. And although I ordered Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology for my son, I intend to read it myself at some point.

The highlight of the haul was the discovery of three rare Sudden novels by British author Oliver Strange, including two different Corgi editions of The Range Robbers. The book is the first of ten adventures featuring the Texas outlaw James Green, better known as Sudden for his lightning-fast draw. After Strange's death, English writer Frederick Nolan wrote five more Sudden novels under the pseudonym Frederick H. Christian. They remain my favourite westerns to this day.

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Having explored humanity's past in Sapiens and its future in Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari turns his attention to some of the most pressing questions facing the modern world in 21 Lessons for the 21st Century.

Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories shows Agatha Christie at her most versatile, with a mix of mysteries, twists and suspenseful tales featuring both familiar and lesser-known characters. 

In The Wrath of God, Jack Higgins—my favourite writer of all time—combines action, suspense and political intrigue in a gripping tale of revenge set in a troubled South American republic.

The Mating Season is a classic Jeeves and Wooster comedy, filled with Wodehouse's trademark humour, eccentric characters and tangled plots. 

Blind Eagle is one of the many instalments in Don Pendleton's long-running Stony Man series, known for its military action, covert operations and fast-paced storytelling. 

The Wilt Alternative is the second novel in Tom Sharpe's popular Wilt series, known for its sharp satire, eccentric characters and wildly improbable comic situations. 

Captain America: The Secret Story of Marvel's Star-Spangled Super Hero offers a behind-the-scenes look at the character's creators, adventures and cultural significance over the decades. 

 

Norse Mythology is Neil Gaiman's retelling of the classic Norse myths, capturing their humour, wonder, magic and tragedy in his distinctive storytelling style.

Dreyer's English combines writing tips, grammar guidance and editorial wisdom with a generous dose of humour. Drawing on decades of editorial experience, Benjamin Dreyer provides an entertaining and insightful guide to clearer, more effective writing.

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing distils Gary Provost's years of writing and teaching experience into a practical collection of 100 concise tips to help writers communicate more clearly, effectively and confidently. 

The Range Robbers is the first novel in Oliver Strange's Sudden series, introducing James Green, a mysterious drifter better known as Sudden for his lightning-fast draw. Guided by a strong sense of justice, the western hero repeatedly finds himself confronting outlaws, corruption and lawlessness across the American frontier, while making new friends wherever he goes. The book launched a series of 15 adventures, 10 written by Strange and a further five by Frederick Nolan after the author's death.

Book Review: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

In order to find yourself, sometimes you have to lose something. Or, in Cheryl Strayed’s case, someone very dear—her mother, who dies of cancer. The loss leaves her distraught and sets off a chain of difficult events in her life: estrangement from her stepfather and younger siblings, extramarital affairs and drug use, the painful decision to put down her horse, and a divorce from the man who truly loved and cared for her.

Cheryl is lost in the wilderness of her life. And it is the wilderness she turns to, hoping to find herself again or, as she puts it, “to save myself.”

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Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail is an engaging and entertaining memoir filled with vivid details of her journey.

Four years after her mother’s death, Cheryl sets out on an epic and deeply personal journey—all alone—hiking the 1,100-mile Pacific Crest Trail stretching from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. Her own route begins in the Mojave Desert, then moves through California and Oregon, finally reaching the Bridge of the Gods—a cantilever bridge—and into Washington state.

It takes her over three months to complete the hike, across mountain ranges, forests and plateaus, through extreme heat, record snowfall, and encounters with wildlife like bears and rattlesnakes. The journey, shadowed by fear and self-doubt, is as intimidating as it is absorbing. The land as hostile as it is hospitable. In the end, she comes out changed, grateful to the PCT—the “long walk”—for helping make her whole again.

Throughout her journey, Cheryl recalls, with a tinge of pain and sadness, the life she left behind—her childhood, the abusive father who abandoned them, the stepfather who admirably filled his shoes, remorse over her failed marriage, and finally, the one person who meant the world to her—her mother, and the illness that took her away. The frequent flashbacks, however, do not take away from the joy of reading about her hike, which Cheryl tells in the first person, in a candid, engaging, and almost conversational style.

Wild struck a chord because I had read similar journeys of self-discovery, undertaken for different reasons. Notably Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words, where Peace Pilgrim (Mildred Lisette Norman) walked over 25,000 miles on a personal journey for peace; the classic Walden, where Henry David Thoreau lives in the woods of Massachusetts; and, In Quest of God and In the Vision of God by Swami Ramdas, the monk who walked the length and breadth of undivided India in search of spiritual salvation.

Nearly all of us must, at some point, step onto some kind of trail—not necessarily a physical one—and try to find ourselves.

Book Excerpt: Justice Gone by N. Lombardi Jr

Presented below is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Justice Gone by award-winning author N. Lombardi Jr. Inspired by the fatal beating of a homeless man by police, the novel, published in February 2019, introduces Dr Tessa Thorpe, the central character in a series of psychological thrillers.

Back of the Book
 

“When a homeless war veteran is beaten to death by the police, stormy protests ensue, engulfing a small New Jersey town. Soon after, three cops are gunned down. A multi-state manhunt is underway for a cop killer on the loose. And Dr. Tessa Thorpe, a veteran's counselor, is caught up in the chase.

“Donald Darfield, an African-American Iraqi war vet, war-time buddy of the beaten man, and one of Tessa's patients, is holed up in a mountain cabin. Tessa, acting on instinct, sets off to find him, but the swarm of law enforcement officers gets there first, leading to Darfield's dramatic capture.

“Now, the only people separating him from the lethal needle of state justice are Tessa and ageing blind lawyer, Nathaniel Bodine. Can they untangle the web tightening around Darfield in time, when the press and the justice system are baying for revenge?”

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Excerpt from Justice Gone

Bruntfield, New Jersey, just another banal town in a part of the country that nobody thinks about, was about to become famous; or rather, more aptly put, infamous. People sauntered past lackluster shops unaware that in a few days, the lackadaisical streets would bear the rabid frustrations that divided the nation; a pus-like bitterness that was held in check by the demands of everyday survival and the distractions offered by obsessive consumerism and brazen media would inevitably blame the cascade of events on the weather, since the origins could be found on a hot summer day in 2006. Sure, just about all summer days are hot, but this one was close to the record, and humid to boot. By the end of July, the Northeast coast was suffering under a sweltering heat wave. Despite the humidity, no one could remember the last time it had rained. A hundred-year drought was predicted, they'd said.

Bruntfield, among the many places under this curse, had its water supply so severely depressed that the city authorities were forced to impose water rationing. As if that wasn't enough, the excessive load on air conditioners led to incessant brownouts. With the weather nothing less than insufferable, suffocating, oppressive, even provoking, tempers flared along with the temperature. But the local situation, as bad as it was, was about to get worse.

In the heart of this small town, just a block up from the bus depot, sat Sliders, a rather successful drinking establishment catering to young adults, and noted for its ecstasy-fueled rave parties. At four in the afternoon, the owner, Joe Poppet, a burly man with a thick red beard and a well-developed beer belly, was staring out the large glass facade of his bar.

"Screw this heat, man."

Joe was sweating because he didn't want to turn on the air-conditioning; as a rule, he didn't put it on until a half hour before opening. He possessed a rather cynical personality, considering himself continually persecuted by life's little aggravations. Now it was the heat ramping up his electricity bill; soon it would be the freezing temperatures inflating his heating bill…always something. His worries constantly exceeded his hopes. He was sort of a "glass-half-empty" man.

Rudy Glum, the shaven-headed bartender, was an easygoing optimist, a "glass-half-full" kind of guy. He was whistling as he washed the glasses in the sink behind the bar. "Tell me about it," he chuckled. "I hear ya, buddy."

But Rudy's sanguinity did not rub off on Joe. "There's that guy again."

"What guy?"

"That fucking guy we saw yesterday."

"Oh, yeah, he's probably from the bus depot. Lotta homeless hang out there."

Joe continued to stare out the glass facade, feeling helpless. "For Chrissakes, why can't the city do something and get rid of those bastards. They're a fucking eyesore…it's bad for business. Probably got diseases too."

Rudy finished drying the glass in his hand and hung it up on the beer mug rack. "Yeah, it's a goddamn shame," he said noncommittally, trying to get these glasses done before the evening crowd surged in.

"He doesn't have a shirt on."

"Yeah, well it's hot, ain't it? Wish I could take mine off."

"And we're opening in an hour. Ladies Night tonight."

Rudy said nothing while reaching for another glass from the sink behind the bar.

"Call the cops."

The bartender froze with the glass still in his hand. "And tell them what?"

"I don't know, tell 'em there's someone suspicious hanging out on the corner…trying to break into cars or something. That way they'll come fast."

Reluctantly, Rudy put down his dishrag, picked up the phone, and dialed 911, not feeling good about it at all.


Patrolman Rafael Puente might well be considered an unattractive man. A pencil-thin mustache above diminutive lips made insignificant by his large inflated face, gave his head the appearance of a balloon with a cartoon countenance. His acnescarred skin oozed sweat as he studied the thin disheveled man, shirtless with unkempt hair and a scraggly beard, standing three feet in front of him. "You were trying door handles on cars, eh?"

The man's body wavered, but his gaze was focused hard on Puente's eyes. Then his own eyes darted left and right, revealing his vacillation on how to handle this situation. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Puente began playing with his baton, twirling it down, and then back up smack into his palm. Rotating it down, rotating it up, like a long yo-yo…like the tail of an agitated cat ready to pounce. "Give me a language…tell me a language you speak in."

"Like what?"

Puente's tone rose in hostility. "Tell me a language you speak in."

"I don't know. What do you want to know?"

The humidity was so dense it felt like a sponge rubbing against their skins; so thick you could almost take a bite out of it and chew it.

"I want to know what kinda language you speak."

"I don't know."

"Yeah, well, what do you know?"

"I don't know."

"My partner, he speaks ten languages. Right, Foxy?"

Patrolman John Fox, a clean shaven, waspish-looking man standing to his right, smiled a mouthful of nice bright teeth.

"Yeah, that's right. I can speak Mongolian, Cambodian…" Fox came closer, boxing in the man they were questioning.

"He don't speak English," Puente told his partner.

"You don't?" Fox asked the homeless man.

The figure in front of them became fidgety. "What do you think I speak?"

Fox put his hands on his hips. "I don't know, you tell us. You're speaking English right now, aren't ya?"

Puente interrupted. "You know, it seems I see you all the time, and all the time I gotta say something to you. Do you enjoy that?"

"Oh yeah, I love bumping into you all the time."

"Really?"

The bearded man looked to his left and right, looking for an escape route while at the same time desperately trying to tell himself that these guys were just American cops and not the enemy in Iraq. He was trembling with the effort. "So, what do you guys wanna know?"

Puente's baton was still twirling with a pent-up belligerence. "I asked you already."

"I don't know what…"

"You trying to open car doors?"

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about."

"What does that mean, is that a yes or a no?"

"I don't know, don't know what you're hassling me for, man."

"You got any ID on you?"

"No. I don't need any."

"You don't need any?" Fox voiced with a rising tone of contempt.

"No, I don't drive, I don't vote, no credit card, and I don't use my passport anymore."

"So what's your name?" Puente asked.

"Felson. Jay Felson."

"What's your first name?"

"I just fucking told you, man. Jay."

"'J' is an initial. Tell me your full name."

"Jay, J-A-Y, Felson."

Puente, his question answered, went off on a new tack. "You know, I can take you to jail right now…loitering, suspicion of burglary."

"You don't have anything better to do?"

"What's in your knapsack?" Fox interjected.

"Why? You wanna search it?

"If you don't mind."

The bearded man swung his bag off his shoulders and handed it over. "Knock yourself out."

"Sit down," Puente abruptly ordered.

"Sit down where?"

"On the ground."

This was getting hard. Just cops, he reminded himself, but he suspected something worse.

"I said sit down."

"Where man?"

"Where you're standing, on the ground."

Felson plopped down on the concrete pavement.

"Put your legs out in front of you. Stretch them out."

Just do it. He did so, his arms at his sides supporting him.

"Put your hands on your knees."

No, this is a mind fuck, man. He ignored the command.

"I said put your hands on your knees."

Realizing he didn't have much choice, Jay drew his legs up first, then put his hands on his knees.

"Stretch your legs out."

He removed his hands from his knees and stretched out his legs.

"Put your fucking hands on your knees."

"What the fuck you want me to do. I can't do both."

"Give it a try, lean forward and put your hands on your knees."

Fox was going through the items found in the knapsack. "Got some letters here. They ain't addressed to Jay Felson…let's see, Casey Hull, Donald Darfield… You stealing other people's letters, boy."

"I'm gonna mail them."

"They already got stamps on them," Fox noted. "How come you haven't mailed them yet? You know, just slip them into a mailbox. There's one right over there on the corner."

Puente was still toying with his baton. "Let's take him in on a 4-96." Four-ninety-six was police code for handling stolen property.

Jay Felson, feeling an ache in his lower back, removed his hands from his knees, once again placing his arms in back of him to support himself.

"Hey, what the fuck I tell ya! Hands on knees!"

This time Felson was not eager to comply. He remained motionless in silent defiance.

Puente then reached into his back pocket and slowly, deliberately, put on a pair of latex gloves. He thrust one glove-laden fist in front of Felson's face. "See these fists?'

"Yeah, what about 'em?"

"They're getting ready to fuck you up."

"That just sucks."

"Put your legs out, put your hands on your knees"

"Hey, I'm sick of playing games, which one is it!"

Puente slapped him in the head.

"Hey, wouldya just fucking…"

"Put your hands on your knees!" he yelled, giving Felson another slap.

"Wouldya just fucking…"

Fox got on his handheld radio. "Code three, four-fifteen, bus depot corner Fifth and Clemston." (Code three, urgent, proceed with lights and siren; four-fifteen, disturbance.)

Puente slapped Felson's head a third time. Felson stood up, tired of being hit while on the ground.

Puente raised his baton.

Felson put his hands in front of him to display supplication.

"Hey, hey all right!"

"Get on the ground, get on the ground now!" Fox screamed. Both officers began to hit Felson on his legs and side with their batons, and he did what came instinctively-he ran.

"Take him down, take him down!" Puente yelled.

They grabbed him, got him down on the pavement, pressing his face against the concrete, and the real beating began.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, sorry, man."

"Put your hands behind your back," the two cops shouted, twisting his arms.

"Okay, I'm sorry…I can't breathe…"

The two cops were on top, Puente with a knee in Felson's back and Fox kicking him. "Stop resisting," they both yelled in turns.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

A second patrol car pulled up with sirens blaring and flashers blazing. Two more officers sprang from the car and piled on. One of the new guys, Victor Fratollini, tasered Felson, zzzzt, and Fox began walloping him over the head with his stun gun. Another unit pulled up. Two more cops, two more assailants, and seeing Fratollini smashing the homeless man's cheekbones with his elbow, joined in the fracas.

Zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt they tasered him again and again.

"Dad, Dad, help me!"

More tasering, six times now.

"Help me, Dad! I can't breathe, I can't…Dad…"

Someone pounded Felson's head into the pavement.

"Dad help me!"

A pool of blood formed beneath him. The six police officers relentlessly pummeled him, the scene resembling a feeding frenzy of enraged carnivores…until Felson was no longer able to call for his father.

© Reproduced with the written permission of N. Lombardi Jr and John Hunt Publishing
(Roundfire Books)

 

About the Author

N. Lombardi Jr (N for Nicholas) has spent over half his life in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, working as a groundwater geologist.

In 1997, while visiting Lao People's Democratic Republic, he witnessed the remnants of a secret war that had been waged for nine years, among which were children wounded from leftover cluster bombs. Driven by what he saw, he worked on The Plain of Jars for the next eight years. Nick maintains a website with content that spans most aspects of the novel: The Secret War, Laotian culture, Buddhism etc.

His second novel, Journey Towards a Falling Sun, is set in the wild frontier of northern Kenya.

Nick lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. You can read more about him and his work at Goodreads.

Short Story: Partners — Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham

Partners: Rogue Lawyer (2016) is a 60-page prequel to John Grisham’s full novel Rogue Lawyer published a year before. It is also Grisham's first digital short story, written in his familiar style: concise prose and a brisk pace, which keeps the reader turning pages until the end.

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Since I hadn’t read Rogue Lawyer, it seemed sensible to begin with Partners: Rogue Lawyer and find out how Sebastian Rudd first meets Thomas Cardell, better known as Tee Ray. By the end of the story, Tee Ray has offered to become Rudd’s partner, bodyguard, law clerk and driver all rolled into one.

In effect, John Grisham introduced readers to Rudd and Cardell in Rogue Lawyer and then returned to tell the story of how the two first crossed paths.

Rudd, in his early thirties, is a street lawyer who works out of a converted bar in a crime-ridden neighbourhood. He represents clients other lawyers avoid—people he often suspects are guilty long before they enter a courtroom. Yet, his courtroom skills have earned him a formidable reputation. Despite having handled more jury trials than most lawyers his age, he remains one of the most unpopular attorneys in town.

Rudd’s unpopularity reaches new heights when he reluctantly agrees to defend Tee Ray, a Black drug courier charged with killing a White police officer in what he claims was self-defence. The slain officer—a decorated Marine and former honour student—quickly becomes a local hero, with the town, the media and the police force rallying behind him. Rudd, meanwhile, finds himself caught between his client’s powerful employers in the drug trade and threats to his own life.

Rudd knows that without hard evidence or credible witnesses, Tee Ray is likely to be sentenced to death for killing the police officer. Determined to uncover the truth, he begins digging and, with help from contacts in the drug organisation, discovers that Tee Ray’s account is accurate. He had been forced to shoot only after the officer opened fire on him repeatedly. Looking to boost his arrest record, the cop had targeted Tee Ray, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A swift trial follows.

Partners is a fast-paced and well-crafted story that examines not only a violent crime but also the racial tensions that continue to shape American society. Grisham handles these themes with his customary restraint and sensitivity. One of the book’s strengths is that its characters are neither saints nor villains. Regardless of which side of the law they occupy, they are portrayed as flawed individuals.

Another enduring quality of Grisham’s fiction is his sympathy for the underdog. Through characters such as Tee Ray, whose chief ambition is to provide a better life for his teenage son, he gives a voice to people who are often overlooked. It is this empathy, as much as the legal drama, that gives the story its emotional weight.

Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut and other books

I bought no more than a dozen secondhand books this year. I’m pretty sure of that. Let me see—a few westerns, thrillers and spy fiction, some Lee Child, P.G. Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, Enid Blyton and Kurt Vonnegut. Yes, that’s about it. I haven’t read any of the books yet.

© Prashant C. Trikannad

I also ordered some nonfiction from Amazon. They're all there in the picture on the left. I haven't read those either. Although I have been dipping into the books on writing, I don't read them from cover to cover.

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Separately, I also picked up Khushwant Singh’s autobiography Truth, Love & A Little Malice (2002). Singh was a diplomat, journalist, columnist, parliamentarian and author. He was also one of India's most entertaining storytellers. I enjoyed his clear, straightforward style. The book itself had a troubled publication history and was delayed for several years because of a court case.

I also added a handful of comic-books to my collection as well. These included two graphic adaptations from the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter, the shared pen name of several children's writers. I also downloaded a few titles offered during Amazon's Free Comic Book Day promotion. Most of my comics reading happens during the daily commute.

Of the fiction books, I plan to start with Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake. It's presented as a novel, though from what I've gathered it's part-fiction, part-autobiography and part-reflection on writing and life. Vonnegut himself described it as a "stew" and his last novel.

The central idea is an intriguing one. A glitch in time forces everyone to relive ten years of their lives exactly as before, unable to change a single decision or action. Vonnegut uses that premise as a starting point, but the book seems to wander freely into memories, observations and stories about family, aging and the business of being a writer.

We'll see how it goes. 

Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favourite writers. I like his writing so much that I'm often tempted to imitate his style. His sentences were short, simple and almost staccato. He had a knack for saying a lot with very little. Add to that a wry sense of humour, and it's easy to see why I keep returning to his books.

Book Review: Rain on the Dead by Jack Higgins

I will give you my verdict right away. Rain on the Dead (2014) is one of the most disappointing Jack Higgins novels I have read.

The British writer's 76th action thriller features a familiar cast of anti-terrorism veterans: the legendary former IRA gunman Sean Dillon (in his 21st appearance); his boss, General Charles Ferguson, who heads a secret intelligence unit reporting to 10 Downing Street; Captain Sara Gideon, a decorated Afghan war veteran; Major Giles Roper, a wheelchair-bound technology wizard; and Billy Salter, a gangster-turned-MI5 agent, along with his gun-handy uncle Harry, who runs a dockside pub.

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While those are good reasons to read the book, a weak story and an even weaker plot are compelling reasons to give it a miss. Unless, like me, you're a die-hard Jack Higgins fan who will read anything by the man who gave us such gripping novels as The Last Place God Made (1971), A Prayer for the Dying (1973) and The Eagle Has landed (1975).

Rain on the Dead begins with a failed assassination attempt on the charismatic former US President Jake Cazalet at his estate on Nantucket, an island off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Unfortunately for the two Al Qaeda-backed Chechen gunmen, Ferguson and his team happen to be visiting Cazalet at the time and foil the plot masterminded by a faceless figure known only as the Master. Not very original and not very scary either.

From there, the action shifts to Drumgoole in Ireland, Paris and finally London, as Ferguson's team thwarts repeated attempts to kill Cazalet. Frustrated by these failures, the Master, who reports to some kind of grand council, hires more desperate men, including rogue special ops soldiers, to eliminate Dillon, Gideon and the others. They fail too.

Two more things kept me from enjoying the novel.

The writing, peppered with dialogue, often felt amateurish. Preposterous as it may sound, I even wondered whether the book had been ghostwritten. The narrative lacked depth, the conversations were at times school-grade, and there were even a few typos. This was not the Jack Higgins I grew up reading.

Then there is Sean Dillon himself. His role during the Troubles in Northern Ireland continues to haunt him, as it does many of Higgins' former IRA protagonists. Though still respected by his allies and feared by his enemies, Dillon is clearly past his prime. Maybe it was intentional. Here, he plays a largely supporting role, rarely doing more than turning up with his Colt .25. Instead, the brave Captain Sara Gideon and the young, reckless Billy Salter take centre stage as they hunt down the shadowy Master before he can get anywhere near Jake Cazalet, who first appeared in The President's Daughter (1997).  

So, will I stop reading Jack Higgins? Never. I still have many of his novels waiting on my shelves, and I'm certain most of them will remind me why he remains one of my favourite thriller writers.

Book Review: Merrick by Ben Boulden

"Thief, gunman, killer. A hero you'll hate, but root for anyway."
 
Every time I watch a heist movie or read a story about an armed robbery, the same thought crosses my mind: Something's going to go wrong. No matter how meticulous the planning, things don’t always go as intended.

That's exactly what Merrick—a tough outlaw with a conscience and the hero of this fast-paced Western short story by by Ben Boulden—discovers when he joins forces with an old partner to ambush an armoured wagon in Texas and make off with a $15,000 payroll.

Merrick, who is brought in as a last-minute replacement, is well aware of the risks involved in the venture. Experience has taught him that a holdup is never easy, even if the dough is. Though reluctant to accept mastermind Clarence Tilley’s offer at first, the .44 Remington wielding outlaw cannot resist the lure of $15,000 and the prospect of moving to the California coast to live the good life.

But Merrick's getaway plan is shattered when Spider Robison, a particularly vile, greedy and trigger-happy gang member, double-crosses his accomplices, clubs Merrick over the head and makes off with the loot. After regaining consciousness, Merrick sets out to hunt Robison, not so much to seek revenge as to retrieve his rightful share of the haul and be on his way.

Merrick is not the quintessential Wild West outlaw. He is an outlaw alright but one with a conscience—a man willing to break the law, yet unwilling to cross certain lines. Tough, dangerous and quick on the draw when he has to be, Merrick also possesses a vulnerability, a sense of fair play and justice, and perhaps even compassion, qualities that set him apart from others of his kind.

At just 25 pages, Merrick is a cracker of a Western that fans of the genre will relish. Its simple but engaging plot—a stage robbery gone wrong—reminded me of the pocket-sized black-and-white Western comics I read in my youth. I could almost see each scene unfolding as a comic-book panel. Merrick would make an excellent comic-book.

I hope Ben Boulden—author of Blaze! Red Rock Rampage (15) and Blaze! Spanish Gold (18) in the Blaze! Adult Western Series—casts Merrick in more short stories, perhaps even a novel or two. I’d like to read more about the Utah outlaw’s exploits in the author's crisp narrative style. 

Book Review: Dead Line by Stella Rimington

The story of English author Stella Rimington is almost as interesting as the plot of Dead Line, the fourth novel in her espionage series featuring MI5 agent Liz Carlyle. Dame Rimington, who joined Britain's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency in 1969, was appointed Director-General in 1992, becoming not only the first woman to hold the post but also the first head of MI5 to go public.

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With nearly three decades of intelligence experience behind her, the series is written with first-hand knowledge. Dead Line, the only novel in the series I have read so far, is a convincing and realistic entry in the world of spy fiction.

The British government is weeks away from hosting a Middle East peace conference at Gleneagles in Scotland. While Syria and Israel are at the heart of the talks, heads of government from Britain, the United States, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran are expected to lend their weight to the proceedings. The conference may not produce an immediate breakthrough, but it is vital that it concludes without incident. The prestige of 10 Downing Street depends on it.

There are, however, rogue agents and even nations that will stop at nothing to wreck the conference. Acting on a tip-off from MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, MI5 chief Charles Wetherby entrusts the sensitive case to Liz Carlyle. Her task is to track down two terror suspects, including a Syrian journalist, believed to be planning an attack on the summit.

But there is one problem: Liz has almost nothing to work with. Starting from scratch, she uncovers a conspiracy far more dangerous than she, Wetherby or anyone else in British intelligence had imagined. Her investigation puts her on a collision course with allies in the CIA and Mossad, while the trail leads to a shadowy Syrian operative with a chilling past and a thirst for revenge.

Dead Line may not have the spectacle of a Tom Clancy thriller, the legacy of John le Carré or the technical detail of a Craig Thomas novel. What it does offer is a believable portrayal of how intelligence agencies might actually operate behind closed doors in the fight against terrorism and subversion. Rimington writes with clarity and her methodical plotting reflects one who has seen that world. Liz Carlyle is a credible intelligence officer, balancing the demands of her profession with career ambitions, family concerns and private emotions.

I plan to read more in the series by Britain's most famous spy.