Sean

Michael Connelly always delivers. In this outing, he figured out a way to put Mickey Haller's back all the way up against the wall, but Haller had the Law of Innocence on his side, and that's all that he needed.

This was a slightly atypical Haller outing. The mystery was still there. The elaborate descriptions of the courtroom ballet was still there. But, Connelly was able to keep the book topical by occasionally touching on the start of the growing COVID-19 pandemic, which would have been occurring at the same time in the world of the novel. It was deftly done, and well done.

Solid stuff from Connelly. Very enjoyable.

I like Joe Pickett. He stands for something. He is a tad bit cliche in the tropes of the western hero, but that doesn't hurt. In fact, it probably helps. It helps because when Joe does something out of character, you know it. You feel it. It sits with you as being something that was absolutely necessary to do, otherwise he wouldn't have done it. The true joy of Joe Pickett books is not the mystery itself. It's not the inevitable white-knuckle climax. It's the delight in watching Joe navigate and overcome the maddeningly frustrating world of bureaucrats and governmental red tape. CJ Box knows how to torture his protagonist with the hateful, short-sighted world of pencil-pushers and micromanagers, and that's what keeps me coming back for more. I can't wait for the day when Joe finally snaps and starts slapping the holy hell out of those idiots who deserve to be slapped.

This book was solid. It paints an interesting picture of Rez life, and the struggles faced by Native peoples therein. The main character, Virgil Wounded Horse, is definitely the sort of lead character a writer can build a long-term series around, and I hope to see more of this world.

As a massive Marx Bros. fan, this book seemed like an automatic buy for me. Harry Turtledove has a long history of doing some interesting alternate reality works, and taking the frantic foursome and tossing them back in time the Fredonian Rebellion was a neat take on the brothers Marx.

It was weird to see them referred to by their birth names, though. Only real fans would be able to keep them straight in their heads. The book was also not nearly as humorous as the Marxes were. At first, I was a little distracted by that, but having read enough biographies of the brothers, it was much more reflective of the melancholy and angst the brothers suffered offstage.

I liked this book, but I will be the first to tell you that it's probably not everyone's cup of tea.

This was a good start to a potentially great series. It gets a little bogged down at times, but the premise is solid and the writing was sharp.

One of Craig Johnson's favorite movies is the unheralded modern western comedy “Rancho Deluxe” starring Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston. He likes it because it's laid back and lackadaisical in its approach. Much like Rancho Deluxe, Johnson's newest Longmire jaunt, “Next to Last Stand,” takes a similarly laid-back approach.

It's summer in Absaroka County. (Anyone who reads Longmire knows that they follow a seasonal pattern.) The death of an elderly military vet at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home leads to the discovery of a million dollars in cash in the man's room, and this then sends the usual gang of sheriff's department regulars down a winding trail involving an art heist tied to Custer's Last Stand (or the Battle of Greasy Grass–as Henry Standing Bear would call it).

Like most of Johnson's books, the plot moves along at a crisp pace, the back-and-forth banter is razor-sharp, and the denizens of Absaroka fill out the what would otherwise be a thin plot.

By the end of the book, I realized that I didn't care who stole the art and who might have killed Charley Lee. I didn't care because finding out meant that I would have to stop watching Walt and Vic and Henry and Ruby and everyone else launch one-liners for another year until the seventeenth installment comes out.

At this point, the world that Johnson has created has taken over the mysteries. He could write a book that was entirely Walt hanging out with the locals, and I'd probably enjoy it more than a mystery novel. Don't get me wrong–I like the mystery, too. And it helps get Walt out of the office and interacting with the rest of the crew. But, I'd read a book where Walt just hangs out at the Red Pony for 300 pages and relish every word of it.

The enigmatic Pendergast returns to solve the mystery of why a crap-ton of cheap shoes with human feet still in them washed up on a beach in a ritzy part of Florida.

After 19 Pendergast novels, I'm not about to abandon the series, but at the same time–they're not really breaking new ground anymore. Most of Pendergast's personal mysteries have been laid to rest. The stories have gravitated back toward the odd, but regal FBI agent actually doing his job again. (Even if he seems displeased by having to kowtow to the Bureau's demands.)

The best thing Lincoln and Child have done with this series is to introduce Coldmoon as a partner and foil for Pendergast. I hope they continue with him, because he's a perfect foil to the debonair southerner. Coldmoon is dark where Pendergast is pale. He's unrefined where Pendergast is egalitarian. He's blunt where Pendergast is elusive. Whether Aloyuis wants to admit it or not, Coldmoon is a good match for him, and I will gladly continue to read books where the two agents banter and one-up each other.

This was an enjoyable outing, and the whodunit twist was pure Pendergast. The climax was outstanding, as well. Well done, gentlemen. Well done.

A nice little romp (if a tad slow) for a spin-off from the Agent Pendergast series.

Ever since Lincoln and Child introduced Corrie Swanson into the realms of Pendergast, I was waiting for them to expand her role. I figured she would have been great for a YA series with Pendergastian overtones, but now she's an adult, a grown woman who followed in her mentor's footsteps and joined the FBI. At first, I was looking forward to this, but she does not come off too well in the first book. She's a little uptight, a little by-the-book. She's lost some of the goth edge that she possessed when she was first introduced.

Nora Kelly, the widow of the last William Smithback, is an old friend from the Pendergast realms. It's nice to see her getting a larger role in this world. She's intelligent and strong, and a good protagonist.

OLD BONES starts off promising, with a hunt for Donner party campsites, but the book really only simmers and never boils. It does not really live up to the expectations I have for typical Lincoln & Child work, but I'm going to chalk that up to the fact that it's a first book and they're still finding footing for both of the characters. Both women, formerly secondary characters in Pendergast's world, are now front and center and the writers seem to be figuring them out.

The first book in this spin-off series is solid, but doesn't really hum. However, I anticipate a second book will not suffer a sophomore slump.

CJ Box writes a competent novel with solid characters and rich landscapes. I look forward to reading more about Joe Pickett and his family.

That said, there's something relentless about Joe Pickett. There's a simmering frustration and very little joy. Compared to Pickett's contemporary, Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire, ol' Joe just doesn't have a lot of laughs. There's a lot of heart in CJ Box's writing, and he likes intensity in action, but there's just no humor. No joy. No great one-liners.

I could use more banter, more conversations about nothing.

Still, I'll be looking to pick up book #4 with all due haste.

Another fine outing from John Flanagan. As an adult, I keep craving something a shade or two darker than what the Brotherband Chronicles is about, and I have to keep reminding myself that's a middle-grades book, written for tweens. However, the lack of grimdark aside, the Brotherband's wholesome adventures are still fun to read.

I always like seeing cold case mysteries get solved. The families should get that closure, at least. That makes this Bosch novel good in the end.

Some aspects of it are a little crunchy, at times. Like the scene where Bosch wonders if he was being disrespectful to his colleagues by calling them by their last name only. I guess, if literature is supposed to reflect the times, that is a good thing. Hard to picture Mike Hammer wondering if he was being disrespectful, though.

Maybe Bosch is mellowing with age.

At least he's still putting away the bad guys.

Walt's getting old, the years of treating his body badly are starting to catch up to him, and he's not recovered from his showdown with Bidarte, and there's a wolf in the wilderness that may or may not be a shaman in disguise. Things are lookin' mighty bleak for the beloved sheriff of Absaroka County in this, the fifteenth go-round from Craig Johnson.

LAND OF WOLVES is one of the better books in a series that maintains a high bar for character, dialogue, and prose. After focusing so hard on Walt Longmire alone in the previous book, Walt's back on familiar turf, and the glib, often funny dialogue from Vic, Sancho, Ruby, and Henry comes at a breakneck pace. It was a welcome return to form for Johnson. This is why I read the books. This is why so many people are so invested in the series. At this point in the series, there doesn't even need to be a mystery anymore. I'd read 300 pages of Walt, Vic, and Henry talking to each other.

Walt's getting up there in years. Thoughts of retirement loom large, and there might be a new contender to wear the Stetson of command in Absaroka County, but is Walt really ready to step back? Walt's internal struggles with the weight of the world on his mind and the abuse his body suffered finally catching up to him really drive the plot of this book. The murder mystery is secondary to Walt's personal plot, and for that–this book is ranks right up there in the top three that Craig's written.

I love when these books come out. I hate when I finish reading them because I know it'll be another year before I can clamber up into the sheriff's Bronco for another spin around the county with Walt and Dog.

Michael Connelly is a best-seller for a reason. He writes a compelling mystery with interesting characters and tight dialogue. Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller are two of the most compelling characters in modern mystery fiction, and when you pair them, you get magic.

I listened to this one on audiobook. It was read by Titus Welliver, who stars as Bosch on the Amazon Prime TV series. He was great as a reader and the book just jumped to life. I highly recommend taking it in through Welliver's interpretation.

A very enjoyable detective book from the Man Himself. It was not what I was expecting, but at the same time, like most of King's work, it was very readable and paced itself quite well. I enjoyed the character of Hodges. I liked the villain. I liked the secondary characters. I'm looking forward to reading the next two in this trilogy.

Vampires. Steamboats. George RR Martin's prose. What's not to like?

I'm not a huge fan of vampire novels, but I did like this one. It caught a sense of the time and history very well, and while it was a little fantastical at times, I still enjoyed it.

It's not a classic like ASOI&F, but it's not horrible, either.

Grisham is sort of hit or miss for me. I'm not really into legal thrillers, but as far as legal thrillers go, this was a good one. Grisham really hammers home the horrific details of how Big Coal conducts business, and the rock and a hard place that the poverty-stricken miners and people in Appalachia have are put in daily between testing their love for the land that surrounds their little towns and the desperate need for the jobs offered by the mining industry–and all the ramifications that come with them.

Grisham is no slouch when it comes to prose, but after so many books, he has a definite beat-sheet, and you can feel him writing to it. When the “big twist” happens about 65% of the way through the book, you might be a little surprised, but the second it happens, you know EXACTLY how the rest of the book will proceed. And it does.

I liked this book, but found myself raging at the world during parts of it because we, as people, should not treat our fellow human beings the way some folks in this book get treated. Unfortunately, that's not a writer stretching the truth. It was born out of a writer stating plain, hard truths that we don't care to always acknowledge.

Another strange murder, another dose of Minnesota nice, and–as always–a heaping helping of the subtle sadness that seems to have a way of following Nils Shapiro around.

The third Nils Shapiro novel follows a twisted path around something that starts as a simple murder, but Matt Goldman finds a way to show us that murder, like life, is never simple. There are always too many variables to consider, and too many angles to take when trying to solve something like this. Add into it the complexity of Nils's life, relationships, and acquaintances, and you're left with a very fulfilling adult mystery that both gives you hope and knocks you down a peg.

I like the Nils Shapiro books partly because of my relationship with the Mini-Apple: I have been there. I've driven a lot of those streets, had dinners in a lot of those suburbs, and I know people like the characters in those books. The Midwest has a way of shaping people. I like the Nils books partly because I've had the good fortune to meet the writer on a number of occasions, and I find him to be a likable, interesting, and well-spoken fellow–totally someone I'd get a beer with, especially if he was paying. Hell, if he's buying, I'll even drink Grain Belt or some horrible Minnesota micro-brew. But, the predominant reason I like the Shapiro books is because of how Shap walks a fine line between having a normal life and being stuck in shadow. There's a cloak of depression in the books, it's not overt, but it's constant. I identify with that quite heavily.

I can't recommend this series enough. It's not a rollicking, rolling, throwing-punches, and driving fast sort of detective novel. It has more in line with thinky PI novels like something Colin Dexter might put together than anything Hollywood would traditionally glom onto. For that, though, I think it makes the series all the better.

Matt Goldman writes a solid mystery. The inciting incident is confusing at the beginning, and by the end, you understand how everything went down, even if the ‘why' of human nature doesn't necessarily jibe with how you roll. The detective, Nils Shapiro, is sharp, but he's not Sherlockian. Nor is he Mike Hammer. He doesn't walk into a room and instantly know everything like Holmes would, and he would never beat an answer out of someone. He gets it done by being smart, asking good questions, and paying attention. He dogs out the answers with relentless pursuit and the occasional epiphany. The characters in Goldman's books are real. The mystery and the solution are believable. And the prose is as crisp as a late fall evening in Minnesota.

This being the second go-round of the aforementioned Mr. Shapiro, as a reader, you're always on the lookout for the proverbial Sophomore Slump. I'm glad to say that if Goldman's first book, ‘Gone to Dust,' was a solid base hit, then ‘Broken Ice' is a stand-up double. I'm using baseball analogies, but given the subject of the book, I think hockey analogies would be a little bit more productive, but it's a little tougher to think of one.

Let me think for a second...

In this book, Goldman five-holes the goalie from just inside the blue line. I found the prose even better than it was in ‘Gone to Dust,' and the mystery was even more interesting. Nils Shapiro, being a private detective, only gets called into things that the police can't figure out on their own, so by that notion, the mystery is never going to be cut-and-dried, and Nils will have to do his own legwork.

The story clips along at a good pace, but it's never hurried. The writing is readable and adult. Goldman doesn't pull punches, but he can gloss the prose with a little Minnesota Nice when necessary. Goldman's background in TV writing is evident as the book is also quickly recognizable as being worthy of a film adaptation. You can see the television beats and the scenes flow with visual appeal. I'd love to see the BBC get ahold of this series for a run on ‘Masterpiece: Mystery.'

I'm looking forward to starting the third Nils Shapiro book, ‘The Shallows,' because of how much I enjoyed the first two of Goldman's books. If the publishing gods are willing, Shapiro will have a long and healthy run at the presses.

Another standard Flanagan romp around the world of Araluen. As usual, the Rangers are smart, the Skanadians are fierce, and much coffee is drunk.

While this book serves as a nice crossover between the worlds of the Rangers and the Brotherband, at its heart is a long siege. As with most sieges, it's slow. This book is a little more plodding than most of his stuff, but the Mary Sues win in the end and you feel good about them doing so.

In the last few years, Sebastien de Castell has become one of my favorite authors. His Greatcoats series is a masterpiece. His Spellslinger series up there, too. Geared more toward a YA crowd, the adventures of Kellen Argos is a fun romp, well worthy of reading. With the penultimate installment of this series, you can see the plane is landing, but you don't want the flight to be over.

Kellen finds himself in Darome, a country that exists inside of an intricate series of royal court machinations. Who is lying? Who is your friend? Who is your enemy? In Darome, the answer to those questions are Everyone, No One, and Everyone.

One of the things that de Castell does better than almost any author I've ever read is torture the protagonist. In almost every book he's written, de Castell invents some new method to lower his protagonist to a breaking point, and then somehow get him out of it in a clever and heroic method. Falcio Val Mond in the Greatcoats started this habit of his, but Kellen carries the torch of enduring abuse from the author quite well. At one point in QUEENSLAYER, I remember putting the book down and trying to think my way out of the predicament that Kellen found himself in, and I figured he was done. He was defeated, totally and utterly. In my mind, there was no way out of the trap that de Castell had thrown him in, but somehow Kellen figured out a way to beat the odds and punish the people who needed to be punished.

I love this series. I'll be sad to see it end. However, when it does when the sixth book comes out, it will be a series that will stand the test of time. This book is well worth your attentions.

This is gloriously Jon Richardson at his finest. I love his work on the panel shows, and I enjoy his stand-up. There's something compelling about his fastidious nature and odd examination of the world.

If you're a fan of the podcast, you'll like this book.

If you're not, you may still enjoy it, but you won't have the same appreciation for it. It gets a little verbose at times when the author waxes philosophical about some of the supernatural events, but it's still decent writing, so it's forgivable.

I really like Richard MacLean Smith's voice on the podcast, so when you read this, you cannot help but hear him reading it in his mellifluous tone. That's what makes it fun to read.

If you're really a fan of the podcast, I'd suggest picking up the audiobook version instead. However, there are a few pictures in this book that go along with the stories that you'd miss out on, but not enough to make a difference in your appreciation of the tales.

I'm not a fan of vampires. I liked them when I was a kid, when they were the villains and not the heroes–and definitely when they weren't 100-year-old sparkly-skinned pedos hanging out in high schools.

However, I am a fan of great prose. Having read all of Alex Bledsoe's other series (the fun swordplay romps of Eddie LaCrosse, and the tremendous Tufa novels), it was either read about vampires, or suffer through a drought waiting for whatever he brings us next. I chose to go with reading about vampires.

And I'm glad I did.

Sent in Memphis, Tennessee in the mid-70's, a European vampire, the charming and intelligent Rudolfo Zginski, finds himself in unfamiliar waters. Brought back to life after decades spent as a corpse after being staked, he finds himself falling in with a coven of young vampires who don't fully understand what they are and what they can do, and battling a new drug whose sole intent seems to be to destroy vampires.

Frankly, the plot grooves, the descriptions and prose feel like something best-suited for the big screen of a late-night, 1970's drive-in. Everything about this book is so delightfully 1970's that it made me feel like I needed bell-bottoms and a wide collar just to fit in while reading it. And, while I'm generally not a fan of vampires, I liked this book a lot. Bledsoe can flat-out write. His background in journalism gives him that strong, move-it-along prose that sings. He's not bogged down in thick metaphors or marveling at his own genius–the man has a story to tell, and by god he's gonna tell it.

This book grooves like some old fuzzy-bass funk. I'll get around to reading the second book in the series, The Girls with Games of Blood, before too long, I'm sure.

If you're up for some 70's nostalgia, some righteous prose, and a blood-sucking good time, check this one out.

‘The Happiness Playlist' is a strange title for a book that is ultimately about grieving. But it works. Like so many things Mark Mallman does, it seems strange at first, but in the end, it works. You don't necessarily know HOW it works, but it does. That's the magic of Mallman.

My buddy, Scot, introduced to me to Mallman many years ago. He'd seem him a few times around Minneapolis and told me, “You've got to see this guy.” Eventually, I did. My first Mallman show was at First Ave. in Minneapolis. It was a sight to behold. Mallman occupies musical space somewhere between Frank Zappa and the Muppets. He's not a comedy artist, but there's a humor to his performances. He's not overly-serious, but he definitely holds music as sacred. He is a genius on outlier, somehow remaining relevant, but on the fringe on a constant basis.

It took me exactly .03 seconds to become his fan. I have all his records. I've seen him live maybe fifteen or twenty times now. I've seen him play large venues and small. He never phones it in. He always delivers. When he announced his memoir, ‘The Happiness Playlist,' I knew I'd read that, too.

Plagued by anxiety that stems from grief over the loss of his mother in 2013, Mark is seeking a cure. Could music succeed where proscription drugs and sleep research have failed? That's the basis for this short memoir.

Mallman writes like he's writing lyrics. The sentences are short and punchy. They move rapidly from space to space. There's something musical about his words. It's not the jazz-rhythm riffs of Kerouac or Ginsberg, though. It's different. It's Mallman music. Somewhere between rock and metal, touches of glam, but ultimately simple and likeable when you really look at it.

The healing road is not an easy journey. Mallman is not the first musician to write about grief. He won't be the last. Grief is one of those universals that we'll never nail down because it is so intrinsic and so personal. We all struggle with loss differently.

But, as Mark learns, music makes it more palatable. And music makes life more worthwhile.

With Midnight Ink closing, there's a good chance that this will be the last tour that our intrepid Iowan octogenarians take. Beleaguered tour guide/detective Emily Miceli has certainly earned her vacation. This go-round finds the group hauling up for a wilderness tour in Alaska. Maddy Hunter finds a new way to insert murder into their vacation. Emily solves the crime. And, if this is indeed the final trip with these old friends, she ends the series on a satisfying high note, and we can bid farewell to Emily, Nana, and the rest with a full heart.

The trip around Alaska is full of typical Alaskan fun: sightseeing, Ziplines, and Bigfoot. (Yes, Bigfoot. He's big in Alaska. Well, he's big everywhere...especially the feet.) Maddy always goes on a “research” journey before writing the books, so her descriptions are first-hand, and she writes from experience.

As much as I'd enjoy further adventures, Maddy has certainly solidified her place as a master of the humorous light mystery. I will look forward to seeing what she does next.