MADreads

Death and destruction, or how I spent my fall vacation

November 12th, 2009 Jane J. - Central Library

It’s nearing the end of the year and I had a little vacation time to use (or lose) and naturally I did some reading.  Not as much as I thought I would of course, all that nice sunshiny weather got in the way of that plan, but I did get a few books read.

First up was Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti.  This thriller starts off with a bang - or a crash - and doesn’t let up once.  Chemist Emma Caldridge is on a flight to Bogota, Columbia that’s been hijacked and forced to land in the jungle.  The too-small runway causes a crash and kills many of the passengers and crew, but enough remain to be taken hostage by a guerilla army.  Since she was ejected a ways from the crash, only Emma manages to escape capture.  When the possibility of rescue becomes increasingly remote, Emma decides to follow the rest of the passengers and their captors to somewhere where escape may be possible.  Emma’s experience as a chemist and the fact that she’s an ultramarathoner (running races over 100 miles) help her to not only survive but triumph.  Though some reviewers have commented on Emma’s lucky streak and abilities, I liked that Emma was entirely competent and put her knowledge to good use.  Just the right pace for a vacation read.

Next I dived into the latest J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) book, Kindred in Death.  As with all the books in the series this is a futuristic mystery with romance in the mix.  Lieutenant Eve Dallas is supposed to be enjoying a few days off from her job in homicide.  That plan is quashed when a fellow officer’s daughter is murdered.  He wants Dallas on the case and she’s determined to do all in her power to find the killer.  In many of the books in this series the ratio of mystery to romance is probably 70/30, here it’s about 90/10.  So if you read these for the relationship development or the appearance of the members of Eve’s “family” you may not be as pleased with this one as I was.  I liked the intense police procedural arc of this one given the brutality of the crime.  Eve is the future version of Brenda Lee Johnson of The Closer (though the character of Eve Dallas came first) and she is just as single-minded when it comes to murder.  As it should be.

The book I finished just before returning to work was The Hidden Man by David Ellis.  Jason Kollarich is an attorney who is trying to come back from a personal tragedy.  He’d been an up-and-comer at a big law firm but gave it up after the death of his wife and daughter.  Now he is nominally still in business as a single practitioner, but many days he barely makes it to the office.  On one of the rare days Jason does make an appearance at the office he gains a new client.  A mysterious man by the name of Smith hires Jason to represent Sammy Cutler.  Jason has known Sammy all his life, though he hasn’t seen him in years.  Now Sammy is accused of killing a man who was the main suspect in the disappearance of Sammy’s three-year-old sister 26 years ago.  Jason accepts the assignment but chafes at the strictures placed on him by Mr. Smith.  As he delves deeper he realizes that nothing is at it seems - today or 26 years ago.  Great legal procedural.

All in all some great choices whether you’re on vacation or not.

Entry Filed under: Mystery, Recreational Fiction, Romance, Thriller