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.

Bomber Jackets by Rob Santana; An Insightful, Witty, and Sincere Queer Romance in 1970’s New York

 Bomber Jackets by Rob Santana; An Insightful, Witty, and Sincere Queer Romance in 1970’s New York 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I suppose that it's fitting that I would review Rob Santana’s latest novel during Pride Month. As many long time Readers of this blog know that Rob Santana is a long time favorite of mine because Readers don't know what to expect when reading his novels except that it will be unexpected. What you read at the beginning of the book is not the same book when the final page is read.

 The Oscar Goes To deals with the glamor and gossip of Hollywood and becomes a tragic story about the mental breakdown of an abused starlet who commits suicide live on air. Little Blue Eyes starts as a heartwarming family drama about a single woman finding an abandoned baby and transforms into a heady custody battle and savage indictment of racism, class struggles, and addiction. Freeze Frame evolves from a quirky romance between two eccentric characters into an emotional crime drama as a murder is accidentally captured on film and various characters are destroyed by it. Not to mention the short works in which Jane Austen and Adolf Hitler are written in different ways.

Santana's latest and very timely book, Bomber Jackets also creates various tones into one text. It starts out as a desolate Crime Mystery as Patrick Madden, a landlord/building super, is interrogated by a police officer about a murder in which he was either a witness or a participant with his fellow gang members cousin Junior and friends, Frank Rapallo and Bambi. It then turns into a witty Queer Romance between Patrick and Erica Velez, a saucy and delightful transvestite tenant. Finally, it becomes an insightful and sincere Bildungsroman as Patrick finds his life irrevocably changed by the tug of war between his gang and his love interest, his loyalties between who he was to who he could be.

The darker aspects of the book’s Crime Mystery beginning are augmented by its setting and tone. It's probably no coincidence that Santana chose this particular time and place. As many know, New York City was in a severe economic crisis in the 1970’s. Well the whole country was but NYC’s situation was so bad that it faced near bankruptcy in 1975. This led to the infamous New York Times headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead” when the President refused to bail out the city though he later relented. There was massive unemployment, cuts in municipal services, declines in the subway system, and the so-called “white flight” when middle class families fled to the suburbs creating a larger racial and class divide. A city wide blackout in 1977, increased crime in places like the South Bronx, Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, and Times Square, and the Son of Sam killing spree only increased the anxiety and uncertainty. 

On the positive side there was an explosive rise in arts and culture much of which is still recognized today. Graffiti art and hip hop were created specifically because of this economic crisis. (Hip hop actually benefited from it by performers hosting street parties and using used technology, second hand clothing, scratched records, and inexpensive items to create the sound and aesthetic). Disco offered escapist entertainment as many danced their troubles away, did drugs, and traded partners. Along with disco was a rise in Queer culture as many LGBT+ people came out and wrote, sang, performed, painted, and possibly for the first time felt free to live their truths.

The New Hollywood filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Walter Hill, and Sidney Lumet, and television shows like All In the Family, Kojak, Taxi, Rhoda, and Barney Miller addressed the times head on. Authors, poets, and musicians like Lawrence Block, Judy Blume, Peter Maas, Don DeLillo, Donald Westlake, Alice Childless, Frank O'Hara, Audre Lorde, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, John Kander, and Billy Joel captured that gritty time with their words and music. This is the milieu in which Patrick lives.

Patrick lives in a dilapidated apartment building with his stepmother, Yanna as his mother drifts from parental responsibilities and his father is in a coma. He collects rent and makes repairs or contacts other people to make those repairs. He has to face many complaining and threatening financially struggling tenants who need roofs over their heads but aren't looking forward to paying for them. Outside is pure kill or be killed Social Darwinism. If one doesn't get mugged, held up, raped, shot, or stabbed, there is always the fear that they will run into Son of Sam lurking in the shadows waiting for another victim. It's a desperate, bitter, and anxious existence.

Patrick is part of a mini-gang called the Bomber Jackets with Rapallo, Junior, and Bambi. His pals are also on the lower rungs of the economic ladder and work in dead end jobs, have unhappy marriages, and boast of criminal reputations. They endlessly mock each other with sarcastic quips and playful threats towards one another and those outside their circle. It's a means to vent out their frustrations, cover up their emotions, face their own insecurities by needling others for their weaknesses. Their antics start out mostly harmless but with a sardonic sharp edge that hints at darker intentions.

Those edges become larger and the intentions become more pronounced when a minority moves in and around Patrick's apartment, LGBT+ people. A presumed gay couple moves into the neighborhood. When Erica moves into Patrick's apartment, they are uncertain whether a man or a woman has moved in. (To answer the question, Erica identifies as female but sometimes wears her previous men’s clothing to avoid being harassed or when meeting her estranged family.) 

As often happens (and we can certainly see now), when people are struggling, they will take their frustrations out on someone different, an other. So Patrick’s gang attacks the LGBT+ around them. They catcall them, insult them, stalk them, and play childish but harmful pranks like throwing bugs and roaches into their apartments. Those interactions become more volatile as the book goes on, particularly as Rapallo becomes more violent and unpredictable. 

With the dark setting comes the Queer Romance between Patrick and Erica. Once Patrick gets over his confusion about Erica's gender identity, he becomes a close friend, which he admits to the police officers interrogating him. While Patrick questioned his friend's attacks on the LGBT+ community, he mostly remains neutral and inactive. He thinks that Rapallo and the others are idiots, but can't quite break away from them partly out of fear of what they will do, confusion about his own identity and sexuality, and misplaced loyalty to people he knew for most of his life. 

It takes Erica to make Patrick look at himself and take some action. Erica is flashy, charming, flirtatious, witty, saucy, independent, and fearless, someone who draws Patrick in with her vitality and effervescence. Her clothing, wigs, and style show us a woman who could be a skilled performer and that life is her stage. She quips at Patrick with lines like “Look at me. This Uptown Girl aims to hit fast ‘cause I'm there to assassinate.”

Erica has flashes of being a Manic Pixy Dream Girl but she also has layers that keeps her from being just a stereotype or a tool that brings out Patrick’s better qualities with no story of her own. Even though she wants to go to Drag Balls, she suffers from insecurity and panic attacks when she's there. She longed to be with people like herself, but once she is, she is intimidated partly because she spent so much time in the closet that it has become her comfort zone. She is more comfortable being outrageous and standing out from people who are seemingly normal than she is with people who are like her. It's a struggle but she is willing to adapt and refocus herself, playing on those hidden character traits as well as her more public persona.

In fact the few times when Erica is in male clothing, and reverts back to her assigned gender identity at birth, Eric, is when she shows the most vulnerability. She is quiet, uncertain, shy, self-conscious, and clearly miserable. As Eric, she hides and stays invisible drifting into the crowd that she would have made them pay attention and look at her as Erica. She reverts to make her family happy and to stay safe but it takes a toll on her. As Patrick bonds with and falls in love with Erica, he sees that her female identity is her real identity and the male identity that she is forced to wear is the disguise. 

As Patrick and Erica grow closer and accept each other, he begins to see his former friend's darker side and is less apathetic towards their actions. He has to make a choice between his old loyalties and new love. In doing so, like Erica he accepts and lives his own truth. 

Girls, Crime, and The Ruling Body by Barry Ziman; Secrets, Murder, and The Political Elite

 

Girls, Crime, and The Ruling Body by Barry Ziman; Secrets, Murder, and The Political Elite

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: In the hallowed halls of the rich, famous, and powerful lie some of the darkest secrets: sexual assault, rape, pedophilia, abuse, shady business deals, racketeering, corruption, fraud, mismanagement, cooking account books, workplace violations, safety and health violations, double dealing, treason, murder, supporting and sometimes committing genocide. They think that their wealth and famous names will prevent them from facing any accountability or punishment. Unfortunately, in many cases, they are right. Barry R. Ziman’s Girls, Crime, and The Ruling Body is about people like that and how the wealthy and powerful do terrible illegal things and quite often get away with it. 

Ryan McNeil is the chief of staff for Assemblyman Nickolas Somatos, a brilliant and ambitious New York based politician who has his sights set on higher positions of power. Cathy Wilet, a beautiful intern, is reported missing and foul play is suspected. This concerns Ryan because by chance he was one of the last people to see Cathy alive. He is questioned by police after he reveals his connection with her. Ryan is considered a person of interest so he becomes obsessed with the case and Cathy. This puts him at odds with his job when Ryan's notoriety affects Somatos’ approval ratings and his relationship with his girlfriend, Caroline who leaves him. Seven years later, Ryan is still chief of staff to Somatos who is now a U.S. Congressman. He also has an advantageous though unhappy marriage to his sophisticated but troubled wife, Annie. Ryan's new life begins to crumble when another woman ends up missing in a case similar to Cathy's and because of the similarities, Ryan becomes a primary suspect.

What is particularly striking about Girls, Crime, and The Ruling Body is the inside look at the wealthy and powerful and how they function, operate, and maintain control over the United State's population. It's the type of world where everything and everybody has a price and quite often that price is high.

Somatos is a politician who might have started out with good intentions and ideals, a real concern and desire to change the world. However, idealism has been replaced by pragmatism. The good intentions became mired in compromise and gain. He still has certain beliefs that he wants to come to fruition but knows that the price is his soul to become the arrogant hypocritical judgemental politician that he once ran against. He is one of many in this book who live a life of unchecked privilege, of wealth, power, influence, and glamor. Decisions are made by people like him on behalf of the people who are expected to follow along without complaining.

It's the type of glamorous surface that occurs so often in these types of works. We might admire or envy those people from afar but fear or are suspicious towards them when we learn what is inside. Various other characters in the book are seduced and fall susceptible to this life: politicians, business people, lobbyists, spouses, lovers, interns, media. Everyone is held under a microscope as their inner selves are revealed. Quite often those inner selves are repellant, repugnant, and filled with naked aggressive, hateful, decadent, violent, and murderous intentions.

 This behavior is seen by Ryan who stands on the outside and wants in. He is no better than anyone else. He has frequent affairs and has an ambitious drive to climb higher in this cesspool. Even his concern for the welfare of Cathy and the other women isn't based on any real concern but is actually based on his lustful obsession for them and fear over what these cases could mean for his long term career and family plans. 

This book has a very cynical view towards politics, justice, and the American system. That cynicism carries over to the end. For spoiler’s sake specific points won't be mentioned. Let's just say it doesn't end the way many mysteries and thrillers do. Instead it continues the cycle of powerful people doing horrible crimes to innocent people and facing no accountability for it. Everything gets swept under and covered by complacency, apathy, and insulating privilege. 

We want to believe that everyone is created equal but unfortunately some are born at the finish line and are able to influence everyone and everything else in their favor. Money, fame, and power often interfere with the actual pursuits of justice, equality, mercy, and compassion. That won't keep many from pursuing them and helping people to actually be seen as equal no matter their race, sexuality, gender identity, country of origin, faith, beliefs, or income status. Maybe then when we are truly seen as equal, justice can truly be met. 

How We Were Before by Jonathan Kravetz; Anatomy of a Murder, Origins, and Aftereffects

 How We Were Before by Jonathan Kravetz; Anatomy of a Murder, Origins, and Aftereffects 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: In my review of Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, I referred to it as a “whatdunnit,” as compared to a “whodunnit.” Instead of figuring out who committed a murder, the emphasis is on the murder and its aftereffects. We may already know who did the murder. Instead the real question is “something violent happened so what are you going to do about it?” 

Jonathan Kravetz’s anthologized novel, How We Were Before is another great example of a “whatdunnit.” It is a Crime Novel with a murder at the beginning and deals with how it impacted multiple characters. 

Elderly couple, Pete and Tara  Blythe, are murdered by Billy Lawson who is arrested, tried, and found guilty. The aftereffects are felt by multiple characters in different chapters. 

The present situations involving the characters alternate with flashbacks that focus on the pair’s lives from their meeting to their deaths at Billy’s hands. 

The narrative challenges the Reader with its complex and intricate storytelling and characterization. It is a testament to Kravetz’s writing skills that he gathers such a large cast and makes each character rich and complete. In each chapter, he recalls the murder and its effect in ways that are fresh and unique every time instead of becoming tedious and repetitive. To accomplish this, he pulls some interesting narrative techniques to engage the Reader in the character’s conflicts stemming from the murder and within their own lives. 

A perfect example of the complexities in this book can be found within the chapters that involve Police Chief Tim Pearson. His dereliction of duty and inactivity towards Billy Lawson’s escalating behavior ended up becoming key factors in the eventual murder. He is later revealed to have had a more personal involvement in the Blythe’s lives and later did and said the wrong thing to the wrong person.The fallout is seen through the eyes of his young son, Louis as Pearson engages in alcoholism and abuse to cope with his own failings and remorse. Louis’ home life becomes more tempestuous to the point that he steals a gun for protection. It takes several chapters and other characters’ points of view before Pearson’s story ends in a violent but inevitable conclusion. 

The aftermath of the murder and public trial are effectively felt by those most prominently affected by it: The Blythe’s daughters, Shelby and Samantha and Billy’s mother, Peggy. Shelby tries to overcome her aching loneliness and grief by finding romantic partners and trying to escape into romantic fantasies. She also begins writing to Billy to understand her own feelings towards him and maybe potentially find a path to forgiveness. Samantha’s journey is much more aggressive and upfront. She tries to maintain a public facade while her marriage is crumbling. She and her husband Carlton are filled with buried rage and simmering resentment that threatens to explode into more violence. 

Peggy Lawson’s story is no less tragic. As the mother of the perpetrator, she has to not only contend with knowing about and fearing her son’s behavior but also being painted as the villain in the story. She withdraws into alcoholism and seclusion only to find that seclusion broken in the worst way by someone who takes advantage of her fragile state. 

The book alternates the present with the past by showing important moments in Pete and Tara’s lives. We see their idyllic meeting and early courtship. We see their troubled marriage and complicated relationship with their daughters and of course we see their inevitable demise. Kravetz writes them as complicated multilayered people filled with many flaws and virtues whose loss becomes even more felt the more that the Reader gets to know them. 

Similarly we also peer into Billy’s character. The book does not absolve him of the murders and he certainly deserves punishment but he is also written as multilayered and thought provoking as the rest of the cast. He is seen as a very troubled young man with very few advantages and an addiction that he can’t control. The moments where he shows his vulnerabilities and self-awareness reveal him as someone who knows what he did and accepts that he will spend the rest of his life paying for it. 

This book doesn’t just feature the people who are immediately involved in either the Blythe’s or Billy’s lives. There are many characters who have a peripheral involvement in the murder but still have their lives greatly affected and altered by it. Vice Principal Zachary Rivers desperately tries to save the life of Barry, one of Billy’s high school friends. Ballet instructor Wendy Watson’s relationships with her students, particularly Shelby Blythe, propel her into a troubled romance. Janey, a homeless woman, develops an unhealthy obsession with Samantha Blythe. Adam Liu, Louis Pearson’s best friend has a front row seat to the implosion of his friend’s family. Matt Foster and Emilia Stone, two reporters covering the murder and trial, get up close and personal to some of the participants and so on.

How We Were Before shows that two lives weren’t the only ones destroyed that night. The murder carried a ripple effect that impacted the lives of many others and will continue to do so for a long time to come.