Monday, August 10, 2009

HARDBALL


Sara Paretsky's private detective V.I. Warshawski returns with a new addition to the outstanding series. Hardball will be in bookstores everywhere in September.
Paretsky's character of V.I. "Vic" Warshawski was one of the first of the strong female PIs who are as hard-boiled as the guys and the this character has never disappointed the reader.
Hardball allows fans to a slight peak inside Vic as this story involves her current family and memories of her beloved parents.
Against her better judgement V.I. assumes an investigation of the disappearance of a young Black man who has been missing for forty years. Lamont Gadsden has not been seen in Chicago since the night prior to the big snow that paralyzed the city for days. His aunt wants him found before she dies and Vic cannot refuse the request.
Johnnie Merton is in prison for crimes that will keep him there for the remainder of his life. He was an old client of Vic's when she worked for the Public Defender's Office, even then his power over the Black community was enormous and he scared Vic though she refused to give him the power over her by allowing him to see her fear. Merton is Vic's opening link to Lamont, but he refuses to aid her search.
Vic cousin Petra, a recent college graduate comes to Chicago to work on the political campaign of a rising politician. She swiftly makes her presence know both to Vic and her employers.
The hunt for the missing civil rights worker and Petra's employment create a tornado of power as Chicago politics: past, present & future collided in a thrilling page turner. The violence is stark and graphic of the world of the 1966 race riots and the political consequences of that era as Vic remembers bits of her childhood with connections to the present.
With the veteran Partetsky welding the pen there are sifts and convergences in plot lines that make for a rapid pace tied in the shrunken fabric of social history.
Nash Black, author of Writing as a Small Business and Sins of the Fathers

Monday, August 3, 2009

DEAD ON


DEAD ON by Robert W. Walker is a chiller thriller of the first magnitude. Rob takes the reader's capacity for the imagination of horror to stomach turning depths, and then gives it more twists than a Georgia backroad that paves an Indian trail. This new addition to his broad range of titles will keep you awake long after the last page is closed.
I've reviewed several titles on this blog that were heralded as thrillers, but none of them had the spine tingling power of DEAD ON.
From the first page when former Atlanta police detective turned PI, Marcus Rydell is contemplating ending his life through his gun point first date with Dr. Kat Holley the tension and suspense builds as they bind together to catch a psychotic killer who has destroyed their lives and halted their careers.
The reader is compelled to keep turning the pages. Rob does little pseudo psychological musing as to what has turned ex-marine, professional hunter Iden Cantu into a monster killer. He illustrates by the deviants' blood curdling actions how a man slips over the line into insanity.
Cantu thrives on torture, both physical and mental for his victims. Cantu picks Rydell as his adversary when Rydell experiences a blackout as his partner and two other policemen are executed over his prone body. It is a duel manhunt of Cantu's choosing unless he can destroy Rydell from inside his own brain before Rydell finds him.
Nothing is predictable in this fast paced horror/thriller and the descriptions are sparse as each character controls their own destiny, which are fought against an unpredictable opponent.
This reviewer will be back for the sequel DEAD END, because there are many questions left unanswered.
You can find DEAD ON in your favorite library or online at Amazon.com. Visit with the award winning author at http://robertwalkerbooks.com.
Nash Black, author of Indie finalists Writing as a Small Business and Haints.