Deadline by John Sandford

Deadline by John Sandford

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Better than the previous outing in the Virgil Flowers series. Funnier and more believable.

Virgil is trying to get an assistant DA onside, and the DA says: "If we go to court, we like to have things pretty well wrapped up." Virgil replies "Dave, I've been doing this for quite a while. You don't want them wrapped up, you want a gold-plated guarantee, because otherwise you're afraid you'll screw up your conviction stats."

Plus ça change... In Canada, it's completely different, but the results are the same... US DAs might prosecute a losing case because it's politically necessary, but here the Crown attorney has no need to bolster conviction stats because they're not elected, but they still refuse to prosecute if they think they won't win.

Sandfor has a way with a simile. ‘The woman with a minimal flesh wound “screamed, "I'm dying, I'm dying, where's the goddamn ambulance." She sounded like a blackboard being run through a table saw.”’

Mandarin Gate by Eliot Pattison

Mandarin Gate by Eliot Pattison

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another solid entry in Pattison's Inspector Chan series.

In this case, I read more for the fascinating descriptions of Tibet than for the mysteries, but the mysteries hold their own.

I read this immediately following Bone Rattler, which Pattison sets in his own country's history, and I find I prefer his take on Tibet than the history with which he is probably more familiar.

Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America by Eliot Pattison

Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America by Eliot Pattison

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had a lot of trouble with this, and nearly gave up on it.

In short, there's a lot of racism, and I'm not entirely convinced it's all the racism of the characters.  The protagonist, Duncan McCallum, is a convict transported from Britain to the New York colony in 1759, and he has the prejudices one might expect of someone completely unfamiliar with the American natives. But, as his vision is expanded and he learns how little he originally knew, there's too much of the "noble savage" in the natives he later meets (and for that matter in the only black character) for me to be comfortable.

Also, Pattison seems to know a lot about Tibetan culture and as much as one might expect of an American about American history and culture, but I have a really hard time believing his English characters...

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is not your usual crime caper. Locke Lamora and his partner Jean are the last remnants of an organized crime ring—in a fantasy world with a medieval setting. But, hey, I love crime novels and fantasy, so why not...

I've been waiting through two books for this, and it was worth the wait. We know from the very beginning of The Lies of Locke Lamora that his lost love, Sabetha, is central to ... well, everything. So finally, we meet her, and she is everything we expected.

Naturally, when they do finally meet, they're maneuvered into being on opposite sides...

The story takes place in three disjoint periods. We see the earliest days of Locke Lamora's memory, when he first meets (and loses) Sabetha.  Then there's the framing plot, in which Locke and the Gentleman Bastards (including the found-again Sabetha) are performing the play which give the novel its name, The Republic of Thieves, during which Locke and Sabetha become lovers. Finally, we have the latest installment of Locke's, and his sidekick Jean's, lives in which they're coerced into an odd political contest where they have to rig an election. Even though it would cost him his life, Locke might still have refused until told that Sabetha is working to rig the election the other way.

So far, the series isn't losing any steam.

The Son by Jo Nesbø

The Son: A novel by Jo Nesbø

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My wife has a fascination with Scandinavian mysteries that is completely beyond my comprehension. I mostly find them too bleak to tolerate, but so far I've enjoyed Jo Nesbø's "Harry Hole" series, and I read them as fast as they get translated into English (which is for some odd reason not in the order they were published in Norway...).

This isn't a Hole novel. And that's a good thing, because it's much better. In my opinion, this is Nesbø's masterpiece. A tightly written police procedural, where you get all the clues you need to solve the crime, but probably won't see the light until nearly the end of the story. I loved every moment of this one.

Personal by Lee Child

Personal by Lee Child
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Surprisingly, still as good as ever. Reacher's funny, cool, and always a little bit smarter and faster than his opponents.

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This tale takes a rather different tack to apocalyptic events than most such stories.

The protagonist is a (dedicated) policeman, in a world with a known expiry date: an asteroid is on a collision course with the Earth, and while it may not wipe out all life, it's certainly going to put an end to human civilization. So, many people are happy to let civilization go early, including policemen, and the load falls on the few who stay on their jobs.

When you know the world is going to end, can you—should you—hold it together as long as possible?