Chasing the Dime, by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly has a wonderful series going with Harry Bosch, the Los Angeles police detective.  Occasionally, though, he ventures out with non-Bosch novels and this is one of them.  On page 179 of this latest book the main character, Henry Pierce, is dangled upside down from the twelfth floor balcony of his condominium by some lowlifes and, I must admit, I was thinking to myself  “Go ahead and drop him!”  As you can tell, at that point I was just a teeny bit disgusted with Henry.  But, let me back up a bit.  Henry’s the head of a high tech company and he’s just moved into a condominium after breaking up with his girlfriend.  He’s given a new phone number that happens to be the old number of a call girl, Lilly, on an L.A. website.  The website is still active and Henry is soon getting calls asking for Lilly.  Intrigued, Henry decides to investigate Lilly and find out what happened to her.  Not a good thing to do—which brings us to Henry’s predicament on page 179.  The good news is that if you stick with Henry and the book you’ll be rewarded with an enjoyable suspense mystery.
 

Summerland, by Michael Chabon

This fantasy tale is set on an island off Washington state called Clam Island.  A part of the island is called Summerland and that is where little league baseball is played under always sunny skies.  One of the little league players is Ethan Feld, who lives on the island with his widowed father, an inventor trying to get his idea for airship cars off the ground.  Ethan is one of the worst players in the league and he has just about decided to throw in his glove and quit.  Before he can, though, his father is abducted and Ethan, along with several of his fellow players, is called upon to be a hero and fight an ancient enemy threatening the world.   This book is supposedly geared to teenage readers but, like the Harry Potter books, adults can read it and enjoy it, too.   Be warned that there are a number of different types of creatures and you might want to keep a scorecard as to what’s what as you read along.  I didn’t like this as much as the author’s last book, Kavalier and Clay, but it was an ok read, especially if you are a baseball fan.
 

The Ice Maiden, by Edna Buchanan

Recently I mentioned the trend of mysteries using crimes from the past as plots and we have another one here with Buchanan’s latest featuring Britt Montero, the crime reporter for the Miami News.  The action starts with a burglar being electrocuted while breaking into a jewelry store.  During the autopsy, it’s noted that the thief had unusual burn scars on his body and this triggers a memory of a violent, unsolved, highly publicized crime from fourteen years ago. Two teenagers on their first date were abducted by five young men and taken to an isolated farm. The boy was killed but the girl, although assaulted and shot, survived and described one of her abductors as having burn scars on his body.  Britt gets involved because she is writing a story on a new police unit, the Cold Case Squad.  One of the squad members was assigned to the original case fourteen years ago and he would dearly love to finally solve the crime.  The key to the case is the girl, now an ice sculptor, who doesn’t want to deal with the police.  Britt is enlisted to work with her but with the rest of the original killers still loose, stirring things up will put them both in danger.  This series is one of my favorites and this is a great addition.  I like Britt just as much as Kinsey Millhone over there on the left coast and it’s always fun to spend some time in Miami with her.
 

Dark Horse, by Tami Hoag

In an author’s note, Ms. Hoag writes that she is a competitive equestrian in her spare time and her latest book is set in the world of horses.   Elena Estes is an ex-cop who made a mistake on the job that cost a fellow officer his life and nearly ended hers.  She has recovered from her physical injuries but mentally she is still a mess and is filled with self-hatred.  She has been living in the guest house of a wealthy Palm Beach horse estate and helping out with the horses while she sorts out what she wants to do with the rest of her life.  And, that’s where things stand when twelve-year-old Molly Seabright comes to Elena with a hundred dollars to hire her as a private investigator.  Molly’s older sister Erin, a groom, has been missing for several days and nobody seems concerned—not the police, her employer, or her self-involved parents.   Elena isn’t a private eye and she initially turns Molly down but something about the girl strikes a nerve and she decides to help.  Her investigation will lead her into dark and dangerous areas of the horse business and provide her with a host of slimy suspects.  I really liked this book.  Elena was a great character and the horse milieu provided an interesting setting.
 

Prey, by Michael Crichton

Jack Forman has lost his job with a computer company and for six months he has been a stay at home dad, raising a teenage daughter and a preteen son. His wife, Julia, works for Xymos Technology, a California company pioneering molecular technology, or what is also known as nanotechnology.   Things had been going ok but lately Jack has noticed some changes in Julia’s behavior.  She is working longer and longer hours and when she finally does come home she’s tense and irritable with Jack and ignores the kids.   Xymos and Julia have been working on a top secret project for the U.S. military but something has gone wrong.  Since the project uses some computer programs that Jack was involved with in his old job, Xymos hires him as a consultant to see if he can solve the problem.  What he finds is technology that has both escaped and become deadly.  Most of this book is terrific with plenty of suspense and the science is interesting and provocative.  I loved it right up till the end—which seemed a little too easy and abrupt.  Still, well worth your time.
 
 
 
 

Back to the Library Home Page

Comments to Bill McCleary