The North Sea Killer by Dale E. Manolakas; The Mantis Corruption The Mantis Gland Series Book 3 by Adam Andrews Johnson

 The North Sea Killer by Dale E Manolakas 

Dale E. Manolakas’ The North Sea Killer is a short but tight thriller about a rich aristocrat with a very dangerous side. 

Edward Kenworthy is the second son of the Duke of Belford, a prominent British family. Besides being a wealthy playboy, he is a serial killer and his latest conquest is Chloe Bridgeport, an American senator’s daughter. When she goes missing, the trail appears right at Edward’s doorstep and his collection of dead bodies and other activities won’t be hidden for long.

There isn’t a moment in this book that is wasted because of its short length and tense plot. It tells a fascinating Psychological Crime Thriller from beginning to end that takes multiple view points of the murders, the coverups, the investigation, the arrest and trial of Edward’s colleague and cohort, Greg Sterling, the estate gamekeeper’s son, and the eventual accusations and evidence mounting against Edward. 

Edward makes for a charismatic but terrifying killer. He is reminiscent of the type of villain found in old Alfred Hitchcock films who hides his sinister intent underneath a veneer of wealth and privilege. He is the center of a very wide circle of the elite and famous, people who get drunk, take drugs, sleep around, and run wild. 

One of his favorite places to scout for potential victims is the International Edinburgh Festival because it fits both aspects of his personality. It’s a public place to go where he can see and be seen among the fashionable and idle rich elite. It’s also somewhere he can find young female victims far from home, easily attracted to his charm, and who may not be reported missing for while if ever. This location selection reveals that Edward spends just as much time maintaining this entitled surface as he does killing women. It is the surface that allows him to do such nefarious things without getting caught. 

After all, Edward could always call a solicitor, one of his father's contacts, crooked and prestigious law enforcement officers, one of the estate’s many employees, or a partygoer and an alibi is provided, money is thrown around, bribes are offered and taken, threats are made, a witness is paid off, a case is dropped, a body is hidden, and Edward is home free and clear. These are resources that Greg doesn’t have so it’s no surprise that when the law comes, they come for him and try him as the killer instead of Edward. Greg is made the fall guy and Edward is all too willing to throw him under the bus so he can continue his private activities. 

To be fair, no one looks particularly good in this book. Many characters reveal a duplicitous nature underneath their surface. Chloe’s friend, Shannon Kelly is a distraught key witness but she is also an aspiring actress who is willing to use her friend’s death as a launchpad to her own career. Her father, Senator Jeffrey Bridgeport, is clearly grieving and wants to see justice done but also knows that he can get sympathy votes that will take him far into politics, perhaps to the White House.

 The prosecution and defense attorneys, Thomas J. Dodd and Penelope Thompson respectively use the case to raise their own standards and those of causes that are important to them. Then there’s Edward’s father, The Duke of Belford, who becomes aware of his son’s violent tendencies, has his own speculation, and has to weigh whether he wants to protect his family name and legacy or provide evidence against his son and give Edward’s victim the justice that she deserves. 

The North Sea Killer is a tense thriller that peeks into various minds in a murder and its aftermath the investigators, the witnesses, the allies, the attorneys, the judge, the court staff, the jury, the observers, the friends, the family members, the victims, and the murderers. 

The Mantis Corruption (The Mantis Gland Series Book 3) by Adam Andrews Johnson 

Now we return to Teshon City and its world of Shifts, people with extraordinary abilities provided by the Mantis Gland and their sworn enemies, The Messiahs, a theocratic powerful religious cult that force Shifts into isolation, imprisonment, and extinction while killing them and feasting on their glands. The first volume, The Mantis Variant introduced us to this Science Fiction world and its protagonists Ilya, a Shift with the ability of flight, Dozi, a human runaway and their new family The Mystic, who has healing abilities, Theolon Mystic’s husband, and Lahari, their Shift daughter. The second volume. The Mantis Equilibrium introduces us to some new characters like Nanyani and Tachma, new Shifts and Auntie Peg, the eccentric leader of the Anti-Messiah resistance. It also makes the series darker by raising the stakes, putting the characters in more violent and destructive situations, and killing off an important cast member.

If possible the third volume, The Mantis Corruption gets even darker by giving us characters with stronger and more chilling powers and severe graphic body modification. It also expands the concept even farther by taking place mostly outside of Teshon City and putting the regular cast in supporting roles towards the end. 

West of Teshon City are the wastelands of Xin. Sumi and Harakin are among the many who were forced into the military from the time that they were children. They are also the only non-humans in their regiment and have abilities that help their destructive commanders. Harakin can manifest light and can create photon blades that emerge from her hands as weapons. Sumi can transport people and objects from one place to another.North of them the village of Kestapoli where a woman named Tisa can create figures out of shadows that do her bidding resides. She encounters a new companion Olona, an organic mechanic who builds prosthetic body parts. The four characters end up ostracized and isolated from the oppressive regimes that surround them. They have to go on the run and into hiding. If only there was a resistance group made up of humans and Shifts, that fight these regimes perhaps in Teshon City. Meanwhile, at Gunge there is a colony that could serve as a warning for the avaricious and cruel Messiah. They absorbed the Mantis Glands and also everything else from the Shifts including their bodies.

This is the volume that is larger, larger in setting, larger in powers, larger in scope, and larger in conflicts and consequences. Instead of focusing on the core characters in and around Teshon City, it focuses on some new characters in new places.

We get to see more of the world that surrounds the entire series and the people who reside in these different locations. Xin for example is a savage militarized wasteland whose residents have to fight for survival. Kestapoli by contrast appears more picaresque, almost reminiscent of a Medieval village but many of its residents are just as cruel and intolerant towards Shifts as the Xinian military are. This focus on surrounding communities reveals that the conflict against the Shifts is a universal one that is seen in several countries, villages, cities, and cultures.

Along with the expansion, this volume emphasizes the darker aspects particularly with the character’s physical and psychological states. The book is very upfront with how child soldiers are formed with the violence, regimentation, and forced executions faced by Sumi and Harakin. Their superiors are intentionally cruel and sadistic as one would expect a militaristic society to be. 

However, there is something just as threatening, maybe even more so from the people of Kestapoli. It doesn’t take much to turn this seemingly normal peaceful community into a bloodthirsty volatile mob that will turn on their own as Tisa discovers with her bigoted parents. We expect nothing resembling empathy or loyalty from Xin so we are not disappointed when none is shown. But the rejection from Tisa’s family hits the soul because these are people who should have loved her but instead do not accept her as she is.

The darkness is also felt in the more physical attributes. In previous books, the Shift’s powers were amazing and would probably be ones that Readers wouldn’t mind having. Who wouldn’t want to fly from one place to another or use superior strength to lift heavy objects? On a hot day wouldn’t it be fun to use your ice giving powers to cool yourself off or use fire on a cold day? Yes the Shifts have the potential to be dangerous but when they are used as weapons, it’s accidentally as Nanyani shows in the last book.

In this volume, the Shift abilities are not only strong but powerful and potentially destructive, facts acknowledged by those who lead them. Sumi and Harakin are forced to use their powers to kill in very graphic ways. In one chilling chapter, Sumi observes various prisoners and obeys her commander’s orders to kill them. She does so by using her transportation abilities to move their hearts and other organs from their bodies and crush them while the remaining body parts explode. Shifts are born with these abilities and can’t always help or control what they do with them but there are those who will exploit those abilities for their own ambitions.

By far the most graphic, stomach churning, and unforgettable aspects of the book are the Gunges. They are creatures from nightmares, are no longer human, and have metamorphosed into complete monsters in body and personality. Some have extra arms and legs growing out from their torsos. Others are covered with eyes that belonged to their victims. Others’ throats retain different voices of those that they absorbed going from low bass to high soprano in one conversation. One character has absorbed so many Mantis Glands that he is a large misshapen gelatinous blob of various body parts merged into one form that can barely move. It’s not a place to let the imagination dwell too much if they don’t want to have trouble sleeping afterwards. 

The expansion and the darkness cover the book so much that when the plot returns to Teshon City and the original characters, the book changes. The original characters and setting are missed and it's great to see them back again. It’s also wonderful that Sumi, Harakin, Olona, and Tisa are in a place with a diverse group of friends and allies that welcome and accept them. 

However there are some concerns. Among them is that the meeting between old and new characters happens so late in the book. We have gotten so used to this new environment that returning to the old one is almost jarring and abrupt. Yes, we expected the groups to meet. That was a given but when it happens it does almost as an anticlimactic afterthought instead of a natural progression. Perhaps they could have just given this book to the newcomers and have them meet the older characters at the very end, during the last couple of chapters. That way their new acquaintanceship can be fully explored in Part Four.

The other issue concerning the meeting of worlds is what happens to the action afterwards. The meeting is abrupt but so are some of the following chapters which deal with many of the fights and battles. The conflicts are anticlimactic and move too fast. This is especially egregious when some of the characters that confront and vie against each other have been around since the beginning. The confrontations have little build up and require more resolution and follow through to make a more gradual approach. Instead it feels like, “That’s all after three books? That’s all there is? What happens in the next two books?” 

The expanded universe, new characters and the darker atmosphere are the best aspects of this volume and the reunion with older characters is a nice return, but the third book probably needed more work to make this volume stand out from the previous two.

The Serpent's Bridge (The Serpent Series Book 1) by S.Z. Estavillo; Immigration Controversies Surrounds Murder Mystery

 

The Serpent's Bridge (The Serpent Series Book 1) by S.Z. Estavillo; Immigration Controversies Surrounds Murder Mystery 

Spoilers: With President-Elect Trump's mass deportation plans looming on the horizon after his Inauguration, concerns and issues involving immigrants are very timely.

Soon there will be mass deportations of undocumented immigrants which may cause economic and labor hardship to them and the country. The future Trump Administration is also considering deporting whole families regardless of citizenship, removing the status of DACA recipients and asylum seekers, sending the military and National Guard to enforce their laws, and sending immigrants to detention centers to be processed. If this sounds ominous and familiar that's because it is. Many dictatorships often used mass deportations as a means of control and dominance to remove the latest minority to be scapegoated and derided as “The Other”, an enemy.

These controversies are explored in S.Z. Estavillo’s mystery, The Serpent's Bridge, Book 1 of The Serpent Series. Besides being a tightly woven solid Murder Mystery, it personalizes the immigration debates by giving us three people who stand on opposite sides.

Defect Anaya Nazario just finished a case in which a long time family enemy is finally stopped. She won but is left physically wounded, emotionally battered, and longing for the alcohol that she is in the process of giving up. 

A new case comes Nazario’s way when single mother, Esperanza Flores and her son, Alex witness the nighttime murder of a man by an unidentified assailant. Esperanza's employer, Millie Goodwin, a pastor’s wife, also becomes involved in the investigation when she starts to develop feelings for ICE Agent Eric Myers after his adopted son, Nicky is seriously injured by an unidentified party.

The three lead characters intersect with the investigation and the larger controversies surrounding it. They represent different facets of the immigration experience and pursuit of the American Dream. That makes the book surprisingly relevant for 2024 Readers.

Nazario represents the children of immigrants, those whose antecedents came from another country and made good and whose children are citizens. Nazario’s late father was the highest ranking Puerto Rican narcotics officer and considered the best narc agent on the force. That's a lot to live up to and even though Nazario loved him, she still feels the pressure of filling that void to represent herself, her gender, and her ethnicity in a tough mostly white mostly male dominated field.

It's not a surprise that her flawed behavior is just as present as her dedication to her job. She is brave and protective of her suspects. She is able to make the connections in the murder investigation to arrive at potential suspects and motives but she is also packed with vulnerabilities and insecurities that this case tests.

Nazario falls down, doubts herself, and is caught up in her personal struggles as much as the victims and suspects. In one terrifying chapter, she falls off the wagon so badly that she loses consciousness and has to be cared for by her ex. She also has a dark past which says that she understands what it means to be a woman of color caught in a bad situation which could mark her for life.

Esperanza represents the recent immigrants and their experiences moving to a new country trying to fit in and be accepted. While she has all of her documentation in order, she understands how easy it is to be thought of as “an illegal.” It could be someone with a criminal history or for some innocuous reason like forgetting where they put their papers. She understands because she has been there and knows the struggle to leave one politically and economically unsafe country, move to a potentially hostile and judgemental one, and live there with very little.

Esperanza has very little in her life except Alex and it is he whom she takes pride in. He's a genius who is overly mature with a rational scientific mind. She pushes him to become an American success because she is unable to. She is very protective of Alex and often worries about him in a dangerous neighborhood surrounded by drugs, violence, gangs, and a potential premature loss of life.

It is Esperanza's place in society as a recent immigrant that puts herself and Alex in the situation that they find themselves in. They witness the murder but can't tell anyone about what they saw. It's a conspiracy of silence brought on by fear, mistrust, and suspicion towards the authorities. This conspiracy is the effects of the racism and xenophobia towards newly arrived immigrants and the American society that often protects and even at times rewards that behavior.

The third side in this triangle is Millie. She represents the white American activists who either help or hinder the immigrant cause. While one would expect she and her husband would be anti-immigrants, they are the opposite. They defend them because many are part of their congregation. They help them receive important services like food pantries and counseling. In fact, they help local immigrants so often that they weigh the consequences whether Eric, an ICE agent who attends their church presents trouble for them and their parishioners. 

An early chapter shows the conflict inside Millie. She attended a protest defending immigrants and Eric arrives to not only uphold his position as an ICE agent but so Nicky can share his own personal story. While Millie recognizes that the agent is exploiting the boy's grief for his own purpose, she also sees how parental he is towards him and it moves her. 

Millie has problems in her own life with an unhappy marriage and a troubled son with whom she is estranged. However, she has to hide it all under a veneer of respectability within the community. She denied a lot of her own anguished personal trauma and now she has someone whom she can confide in and fall in love with. Her affair with and empathy for Eric and involvement in the case causes her to question everything that she originally thought and believed.

The investigation causes Nazario, Esperanza, and Millie to examine themselves and their feelings towards justice, personal happiness, identity, racial profiling, and what it means to live in America. The issues raised in the book move far beyond a simple fictional murder and resonates in real life.

The Fourth Victim (Belfast Murder Mystery Book 7) by Brian O’Hare; Cold Case Gets Heated By Inspector Sheehan and Co.

 The Fourth Victim (Belfast Murder Mystery Book 7) by Brian O’Hare; Cold Case Gets Heated By Inspector Sheehan and Co.

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: If you are interested, please read my reviews for previous volumes Murder by the Coven, Murder on the Dark Web, Murder of a Runaway, and Conduit to Murder

 In Belfast, if you want a murder, new or old to be solved, then you call Inspector Thomas Sheehan and his team. In this seventh book in the Belfast Murder Mystery Series, The Fourth Victim, they do just that work on a current murder case which takes them to an old one.

In this volume, Sheehan and his partner, Detective Sergeant Denise Stewart are called into investigate the murder of Seamus Higgins, MLA who was beaten to death in his apartment. He has a very colorful past, as part of the New IRA and may have been targeted by them or members of other terrorist or paramilitary groups. Besides that, the team discovers that 14 years ago, he was involved with an unsolved murder concerning four wayward law students, a little girl, a grieving mother/attorney, and an errant vehicle.

This volume covers two specific murder cases, the current one and the one from 14 years ago. The investigation into Higgin’s death is efficiently handled especially when there are similar murders suggesting a pattern. There are some red herrings that are slightly hampered by a flashback occurring too early in the text for the Reader, but they provide some interesting leads for the investigators to uncover.

Unlike many of the other books in The Belfast Murder Mystery Series, this one doesn't get too involved with the personal lives of the investigation team themselves. The only subplot is Malachy McBride, one of the detectives, becoming a bit too friendly with a person of interest. It is charming but not overpowering leaving the mystery to do most of the heavy lifting.

In fact the strongest characterization occurs during the murder from 14 years ago. It's very reminiscent of movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer in which an early murder occurred, was never solved, and a grief stricken loved one takes it upon themselves to do what the law couldn't and execute vigilante justice even if it takes years to get it done.

The flashbacks contain a fascinating story that is the highlight of this volume. From the callous wayward self-serving youths who caused this tragedy to the family who found their motivation to fight against it either by latching onto a cause, trying to move forward with their lives, or seeking blood for blood, it is a strong look on the effect that murder has on the people involved. 

The Fourth Victim reminds us that sometimes time can change the way that we see an investigation and what we thought then may not be the same now. That often, a case is never really cold. It just takes a bit longer to heat up.

Conduit to Murder (A Belfast Murder Mystery Book 6) by Brian O'Hare; Conduit to an Excellent Mystery

Conduit to Murder (A Belfast Murder Mystery Book 6) by Brian O'Hare; Conduit to an Excellent Mystery

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: A conduit is someone or something that conveys, protects, and sends things like information, goods, money, and ideas. When it comes to crime, a conduit could send information, order, or bribery money to various criminals and can be beneficial in creating an organized network of such individuals.

Brian O'Hare’s latest Belfast Murder Mystery, Conduit to Murder is a thrilling murder mystery in which Inspector Thomas Sheehan and Co. have to find a conduit to a large criminal network.

Sheehan and his team investigates the murder of an antiques dealer/politician found bludgeoned to death and who is part of a sinister criminal network. They discover someone has been leaking information about the case to the press. They receive alarming death threats that escalate into violent attacks and kidnapping. There appears to be a spy on the police force but who? How large is this network anyway and who are they? Above all, who is the conduit who is conveying information and payments to the various members and bringing all of these people together? 

This is a solid mystery all around. Many of the frequent tropes found in O’Hare's series like corrupt rich people, conflict within the team, suspenseful moments when one or several of Sheehan's team are in danger, are dialed up in this volume. This makes it a winning installment in the Belfast Murder Mystery series.

Many of the best moments are those that concern Sheehan's team and their close proximity towards danger. In one chapter, Sheehan and his wife, Margaret, are almost run off the road by a violent driver who is not only expressing road rage but is tied to their investigation. The incident causes Sheehan to put Margaret into hiding and their separation is heartfelt.

In another chapter, Sheehan's partner Denise Stewart and her boyfriend, Sergeant Tom Allen go undercover as a vacationing couple while chasing a lead to the South of France. Unfortunately, their targets are aware of their presence and people are killed. It's a very violent graphic trap and shows the long reaches that their antagonists possess.

The mole in the police force subplot is well played and dips into suspicion almost to the point of paranoia. It's tense reading about every word that the team says even in confidence, every lead that they investigate even if they are red herrings, and their homes and loved ones used as collateral. It really brings home the thought of constant surveillance and what happens when you can't even trust those you see every day.

Also the mole reminds the characters and Readers how wide this crime ring is and how their power and influence surrounds everyone and everything. In fact, this is only one of many crime ring conspiracy groups in the entire series. These groups are made of rich influential people who believe that they are above the law and feel entitled to do anything that they want including theft, rape, assault, forced prostitution, human trafficking, and murder without repercussion. They are insulated in their own worlds and think that those under them are theirs to play with, ethics, laws, or basic human decency be damned. 

It seriously makes one wonder if these various groups in each volume are connected as one large supergroup and there is some mysterious head pulling all of the strings that has yet to be revealed. 

Conduit to Murder is tightly put together with its clues, investigation, witness questioning, suspect interrogation, and resolution. It's not the type that relies on twists except for the mole reveal. Mostly it focuses on this war between the crime ring and Sheehan's team. This is a conduit into an excellent mystery.

 

Journeyman: A Central City Novel (Kulpa and Bayonne Mysteries Book 2)by Indy Perro; Central City Sequel Doubles Down on Cop and Criminal Duality

 

Journeyman (A Central City Novel) by Indy Perro; Central City Sequel Doubles Down on Cop and Criminal Duality

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: When we last left Central City in Indy Perro’s book of the same name, Detective Vinnie Bayonne and ex-con, bar owner, and informant Kane Kulpa pool their resources to solve the murder of several prostitute’s clients. The murderer was identified and Tran van Kahn, the leader of a Vietnamese gang that tried to muscle in on Kane’s territory, was murdered. Unfortunately, these came at a great cost to Kane and Bayonne. Adam McKenna, Bayonne’s partner and Kane’s brother, was left institutionalized and Kane and Adam’s developmentally disabled and traumatized mother, Molly Matches died.

 In the followup novel, Journeyman, we see the cop and criminal are struggling to rebuild shaky lives. Bayonne’s commitment to justice is questioned because of his friendship with Kane and he embarks on a relationship with prostitute Cassandra. Meanwhile, Kane is beginning a tentative  leadership amidst rivalries from gangs who are out for blood and revenge. Bayonne is assigned to investigate the possible overdose death of the mayor’s son. Meanwhile gang war is declared after a shootout occurs outside Kane’s bar, the Side Saddle.

This is the type of mystery where the author is less concerned about the mystery itself than they are about the lead characters. Frankly, it’s all the better for it. The O.D. plot and the gang plot are interesting but in some ways predictable. There isn’t much in the way of a whodunnit so much as the enemies are quite visible leaving little to surprises or revelations. It’s stuff that is often found in other works that deal with gangs, drugs, sex work, political corruption, and crimes and quite frequently done better. Nothing new technically arrives or is resolved. But that is not where Journeyman’s real strength lies.

Journeyman’s real strength, in fact the strongest asset to the Central City series as a whole are its two leads: Vinnie Bayonne and Kane Kulpa. While in some works anyone can solve the central mystery, with this one only Bayonne and Kane can solve this one and leave Central City well in somewhat peace. 

We see these two at their most emotionally vulnerable as they try to maintain some semblance of order with their surroundings. They are protective of those that they are close to: Bayonne with Cassandra and Kane with his friends. We also see them facing antagonists challenging their leadership from various gangs to corrupt politicians and authority figures. Despite this, the two men have the strength and compassion to protect those around them.

One of the best chapters that show the duo’s concern for others is when Bayonne and Kane visit Adam in the hospital. As they talk to and care for Adam and confide in each other about his treatment and their concerns about his future, it is clear that both men are in mourning for the seriously ill man in front of him. Adam is not dead but is just as gone as if he had a bullet to his brain. They lost a partner and best friend with a once bright future in front of him and a brother with a broken past which deprived him of a family. We see that these men have many of the same concerns, goals, and motives even if they have different means to obtain them.

Unfortunately it is the means that cause a wedge between Bayonne and Kane. Kane desires to remain as leader and overpower his rivals. He becomes more ruthless and colder in ordering murder and extortion. 

As Kane ascends in the Underworld, Bayonne becomes more regimented in upholding the law. As the world collapses and becomes grayer, Bayonne holds onto the black and white of the legal system. 

Bayonne and Kane’s friendship is forever scarred when the two make decisions putting them in direct conflict. In the end, they face each other equal in power, are having ascended in their careers, but now no longer friends. What's worse is because of their shared history, they are not only enemies but enemies that know each other's backgrounds, secrets, and modus operandi. 

Bayonne and Kane are worthy opponents who will certainly lose their worthiness by the next book. They may lose what once made them great: their friendship.

Weekly Reader: Righteous Assassin A Mike Stoneman Thriller by Kevin G Chapman; Suspenseful Thriller About A Religion Obsessed Serial Killer

 

Weekly Reader: Righteous Assassin A Mike Stoneman Thriller by Kevin G Chapman; Suspenseful Thriller About A Religion Obsessed Serial Killer

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Kevin G. Chapman is a tight and suspenseful murder mystery/psychological thriller about two police officers and an FBI agent who are on the search for a serial killer so obsessed with his warped sense of religion and justice that he is willing to kill people for.

Detectives Mike Stoneman and Jason Dickson come upon the body of a man who was killed in a very unusual way. Mob boss, Mickey "Slick Mick," Gallata or what was left of him was found inside the tiger enclosure of the Bronx Zoo with the large felines munching on his remains and the binding that held him. It's a gruesome sight.

At first the detectives think that it could be anything: a mob hit, a jealous rival, anything. Then they investigate a few earlier unsolved cases such as Pierre LeBlanc, a businessman who owned a drug company and was found frozen to death in the cold storage unit of a restaurant. There were also businessman, Nicholas Devito and fashion designer, Marlene Sheraton who died from a fatal shot of Novocain and were poisoned by a sharp object respectively. All dead in unusual ways, all unsolved, and all at the end of the month. 

With the help of a forensic pathologist, Dr. Michelle McNeil, and FBI profiler Special Agent Angela Manning, Stoneman and Dickson realize that these murders are not random. They are the work of a serial killer obsessed with religious ideology. 

In fact, the murders are reminiscent of the 10 plagues of Egypt. The killer believes that he was sent by God to bring justice into the world. Not only that but his blog entries reveal that he is bragging about it and is looking for other targets.

The mystery is a nice effective one. The Righteous Assassin is one of those villains who gets off on showing how smart they are while being consumed by their obsession. Their blog entries are filled with religious dogma and nicknames for  enemies like "Abel," "Eve," "Napoleon", "Centurion" and so on. They set themselves higher than their victims. 

Even the methods of murder are clever in a sadistic sense with how they tie to the Ten Plagues. Since New York City isn't exactly surrounded by livestock to poison, the Assassin poisons a potential victim's steak in a restaurant. Another victim is burned by boiling water, since the chances of them getting boils aren't as likely as they would have been in Biblical times.

Sometimes in thrillers, the murders are not really justifiable but understandable especially if they are the type who escaped punishment. This shows that somewhat as the chosen victims were involved in such activities as human trafficking, drug dealing, and organized crime which often resulted in the ruin and deaths of others. 

However, the Righteous Assassin does not come across any better. They are not as sympathetic as say Neiman, the serial killer, in Brian O'Hare's Murder on the Dark Web. In fact, they are judgemental, self-righteous, and delusional. Even their backstory carries no understanding for their character. This is not a case of subverting guilt and innocence, right and wrong. Instead it's the guilty vs. the truly guilty, wrong and also wrong. 

Of course the investigators on the case have their own issues as well. Stoneman and McNeil have a developing romance that gets up to them dating. Dickson and Manning have some flirtatious exchanges. The romances come to an unfortunate conclusion when lives end up on the line.

By far the biggest conflict is between Stoneman and Dickson. Stoneman is an older, street smart, seasoned detective who knows when to research information and when to follow a lead. Dickson is younger, intellectual, passionate, and is eager to look for this killer before they strike again.

However, the biggest hurdle in their partnership involves race. The Caucasian Stoneman acts condescending towards the African-American Dickson. Stoneman calls his partner demeaning nicknames like "Junior" and "Kid" and dismisses some of his theories even though Dickson is often right. It takes well into the book before Stoneman realizes that his behavior is interfering with the investigation. He slowly begins to understand his partner's position and recognizes his abilities. He develops as a character through his partnership with Dickson.

Righteous Assassin is a suspenseful thriller that looks at subjects like race, crime, justice, religion, and revenge. It is a truly righteous thriller.

New Book Alert: Central City by Indy Perro; The Thin Line Between Cop and Criminal Gets Thinner

 

New Book Alert: Central City by Indy Perro; The Thin Line Between Cop and Criminal Gets Thinner

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: There are many authors in the hard boiled mystery genre that explore the thin line between cop and criminal. Sometimes their methods aren't that different. Sometimes they are psychologically damaged and may have more in common than others are aware. Sometimes the police officer displays behavior that could be considered violent or illegal while the criminal is a beloved member of the community and devoted family head.

One author who explores that line is Indy Perro with his novel, Central City. This mystery suspense thriller tells of police officers and a representative from the other side of the law conducting their own separate investigations on the same murders only to learn that their links are much tighter than either would believe or want to admit.

After a tense opening set in 1977 in which two young boys are caught in an abusive situation with their father, we turn to 1992 where a man has been brutally murdered. Detectives Vinnie Bayonne and Adam McKenna are on the case. After they investigate similar murders before and since this one, they learn that the men all had something in common: they were prostitute's johns (clients). So someone is out killing men who solicited prostitute's company but who and why? Is it a jealous ex? A prostitute making the johns pay? Someone with a venereal disease making the whole world pay? A religious person removing sin from the world? 

While Bayonne and McKenna conduct their investigation, someone else is trying to figure it out, someone with less legal means at his disposal. Kane Kulpa, an ex-con and informant to the police is also looking for the murderer. Of course, he gets to bypass all of those pesky laws and requirements that police officers aren't supposed to follow like resorting to violence, intimidation, and psychological mind tricks. Of course that cops do them anyway further cements the close links between characters on the opposite sides of the law showing that they aren't that different except one carries a badge and the other doesn't.

Of the characters in this book the best one is Kane himself. He acts as a go between the law and the lawless not really a part of either one. He has a mutual respect with Bayonne and often offers information for the price of a drink. He is also caught in an approaching war between different gangs as a Vietnamese gang threatens him to leave his old gang behind and work with them or else. 

Just like Bayonne and McKenna, Kane wants to keep the streets safe. He is especially protective of the prostitutes including having one, with the delightful name of Molly Matches, live with and work for him as a housekeeper. His history as a once abused child and former convict gives him empathy for impoverished citizens forced to turn to crime when they have no other means of employment. Kane comes across as a better character than Bayonne and McKenna.

Bayonne and McKenn aren't bad characters per se. They are just not as developed as Kane. Perhaps that's the point, to subvert our understanding and loyalty between cop and crook. Bayonne is the seasoned veteran without much of a character and backstory. He is clearly concerned for people like Kane and the prostitutes, taking a fatherly concern for their welfare. He is the kind of cop that many wish would exist in real life: the type that looks beyond the poor and criminal exterior and sees the suffering hurting person inside.

McKenna is the typical rookie who tries to set himself above the people that he and Bayonne encounter. However, there is a surprise twist that links Kane, Bayonne, and Mckenna and puts them closer together. Even though the surprise is somewhat easy to guess, it's not cheesy and the results bring out the best in all three characters.

Central City is a brilliant detective noir story with modern sensibilities that reveal sometimes law givers and law breakers are often on the same side.

Weekly Reader: The Colours of Death: Sgt. Thomas' Casebook by Robert New; Mystery Anthology Is Bright With Color Theme

 

Weekly Reader: The Colours of Death: Sgt. Thomas' Casebook by Robert New; Mystery Anthology Is Bright With Color Theme

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: The color of death might be black as the symbolic color of mourning like seen on the robes of the Grim Reaper. It might be red, the color of blood when it comes outside of a body. In some cultures, the traditional color of mourning is white. However, according to Robert New's The Colours of Death: Sgt. Thomas' Casebook, death comes in a variety of colors.

Colours of Death is a suspenseful mystery anthology with an interesting premise: each short story takes the theme of a specific color. The colors in the title are revealed as a symptom of the murder (blue skin revealing that the victim has been poisoned as seen in "Blue: Blue Bloods" ) or a specific trait about the murderer or victim in question. (One of the characters has flaming red, almost orange hair, in the short story, "Orange: The 11th Killer.") 

The stories fall into a mostly predictable pattern. A murder occurs somewhere in Perth, usually seen through the perspective of the potential victim or one of the eyewitnesses. Something odd happens or some unidentified character with a unique trait appears to make what the character sees even more bizarre. Then Sgt. Brad Thomas and his colleagues are called in to investigate the crime. The color element is introduced during the investigation describing either the cause of death or the victim or killer's appearance. Thomas interviews suspects and searches the scene of the crime to gather evidence and find probable solutions. He also discusses the case with others including his mentor, Prof. Engels, forensic pathologist, Sally Summers, and his fiancee, Amy Stevenson. Thomas uses his deductive skills or intuitive reasoning to come up with a Eureka moment, connected to the color. He discovers the killers' identity and gets them to confess in a final interview. Thomas is then left contemplating his dangerous career and upcoming marriage to Amy.

While the stories are formulaic by nature, the colors are made to explore all of the interesting ways and possibilities in which a murder can occur. New does a brilliant job of making each story unique in execution, connecting the story with the rest of the anthology, and also allowing the story to stand on its own as an interesting case in its own right.

The stories run an interesting gambit of murderous possibilities. In "Black: Black Death," Thomas investigates the murder of Johnny Smyth, a man who had his bones broken, organs damaged, and had been beaten so much that the bruises on his skin appeared black. ("It's like he was sandwiched between two trucks or fell from the sky from a parachute," Sally observes.) Thomas uses information that he gathered investigating images and memories from his own rural background to reason that Smyth had been killed and dropped into a mine that was owned by Athol "The Fugue" Fugate, a local crime boss posing as a legitimate businessman and reoccurring antagonist in Thomas' series. This is among the more gruesome cases, but it stands out because of the one on one struggle between the opposite sides of the law. Those sides are found in Thomas' Sherlock Holmes-like deductive reasoning and empathy towards the crime victims vs. Fugate's smooth ability to do away with his enemies and making his name known and feared by the general public while literally getting away with murder.

Thomas has a fascination with psychology and criminal profiling. That profiling comes into play in "Orange: The 11th Killer." Thomas engages in a conversation with Paul over an investigation in which 47 different hair samples are found around a series of dead bodies. Thomas reasons that the person is obsessed with hair. Perhaps he could be bald or has a unique hair color in which he was noticed or mocked for. (The orange in the title refers to hair color.) Thomas also notes that the killings occurred on the 11th of each month as an important date in the killer's life. Of course he is found to be right. There is almost something psychic about this approach to crime solving and the short length makes Thomas' observations a bit too quick and obvious. However, this story reveals how crime solvers get into the killers' minds to learn what they are obsessed with and what compels them to take such a dangerous path.

Another brilliant case is "Yellow: The Storyteller." Aaron Stevenson, Thomas' future brother in law, is contacted by a local serial killer known only as The Storyteller. In Jigsaw like fashion, the Storyteller kidnaps a family member of the chosen target and then calls them to tell them that they have exactly 45 minutes to solve three riddles or said family member would perish in a fire that the Storyteller would start. (Yellow as in flames. Thomas and co.'s only possibility is that the Storyteller is a firefighter because they know the exact time of fire progression.) During a tense three way conversation, Aaron,Thomas, and Engels reason their way through the riddles to save the life of Aaron's son, Jethro. The three men use their vast knowledge to determine the solutions. One example involves the clue "Franklin's 51st theft stole the credit for this." Instead of the more obvious choice of Benjamin Franklin, Engels comes up with the theory that the clue refers to Rosalind Franklin, whose photo fifty one revealed the helical structure of DNA and who was not given credit for the discovery until after her death. The story is almost a process of figuring out who is smarter: the criminal who gets people to play their games or the officers who are trying to end the game.

One of the more heartbreaking cases in the anthology is that in "Blue: Blue Bloods." A toxin is released during an awards ceremony at Sangre Azul School causing hundreds of deaths, most of them children. The blue in the title is a double meaning revealing the blue skin which is a symptom of the toxin and that the school's name is French for "blue blood." This is another case that is largely dependent on Thomas' rural background and knowledge of poisons, but what stands out is the emotional tone of this story. It is matter of fact but carries a sense of sadness about the realization that a whole school full of children, almost a generation, will never graduate and ascend to college, never be with their families, or never hang out with their friends, because of one person's hatred and vile actions. Hundreds of families are greatly affected by this tragedy including parents and siblings. The short story calls to mind real life mass murders such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in which the majority of the victims were children.

New captures the senses well with his writing. The colors themselves capture sight and the many of the murders affect the victim's senses of smell and taste. 'White: Sting'' is one that activates the sense of touch not only in the victim but subconsciously in the Reader. Sally investigates the body of Grant Dillon. The cause of death was a self inflicted gunshot to the head but what confuses Sally is the body's appearance. Why was Dillon hairless all over and why was his skin red raw as though it had been waxed several times? Why was their one folder in his medical cabinet marked "Pain" which contained several receipts for prescribed and over the counter pain medication and alternative treatments? Dillon was clearly under a lot of pain that may have resulted in his suicide but what?

After talking to his doctor, Sally learns that Dillon had been infected for a year because of the stings from the white hair of the Gympie Gympie Tree, native only to Queensland. The hairs of the tree can embed in the skin and cause unbearable pain that can last for up to two years. ("It's like being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time," Dillon's doctor states.) Someone clearly wanted Dillon to suffer. 

Readers with a low tolerance for pain or are extremely touch sensitive to rashes and bruises are advised to read only with plenty of aloe gel nearby to soothe the psychosomatic pain that will inflict in becoming too involved into this story.

Besides an interactive sensate experience thanks to New's description, the characterization in this story stand out. Both Dillon and the person who contributed to his death are written very sympathetically. Unlike many of the previous stories, there is a clear motive and understanding towards why someone would want to cause such suffering. 

Also Sally emerges as a real hero in this story. In most of the previous stories in this anthology, Sally's role is to be Thomas' sidekick just to provide forensic analysis and be amazed at Thomas' observations and solutions. This time Thomas is in the back seat, preparing for his wedding and giving only a few suggestions to propel her investigation in certain directions. Refreshingly, "White: Sting" gives Sally a chance to do some real legwork, interview suspects, and come up with a solution based on her own medical expertise.

The Colours of Death is an anthology that reveals that death cannot only wear many faces, but it can be many colors as well.