Saturday, November 16, 2013

"High Chicago", by Howard Shrier

Book 2, in the Jonah Geller series

This series is definitely Canadian very unique in its genre and I love how each story is crafted from current events found in the news. A few weeks ago I had the chance to read “Miss Montreal “ the 4th novel in the series and skipped momentary book 2 and 3 but I couldn't keep too far away before returning to the sequence to catch up. Here I am this time telling everyone nice enough to read my thoughts that Mr. Shrier has definitely won my admiration and made me one of his most faithful of fans. 

Jonah Geller, the protagonist is so unlike any American hard-boiled detective we read these days. He exploits his Jewishness, does not carry a gun and splits his attention between Toronto and an American city with his gay female partner. First he was in Buffalo in “Buffalo Jump” and now in this second installment Jonah brings his investigating skills to the Windy city, Chicago. Of course along the way Jonah will re-establish contact with Dante Ryan, a former contract killer now a restaurateur, for assistance. 


“High Chicago” has a stylish Hollywood crime drama opening. Jonah is hired to look into the apparent suicide of the daughter of a well-known Toronto property developer. Not one to mind his manners, he smells a rat that needs fixing and soon find himself up to his neck, deep in trouble, crossing words with a major real estate developer and the father of the dead girl. Before long he is in hot pursuit of a mega builder (reminds you of Donald Trump) who has ways of dealing with pesky investigators. Before it is all over, a considerable of mayhem has taken place, some surprising plot twists unfurled and we are plunged into nail-biting suspense not typically found in this kind of mystery. Needless to say Jonah is a wonderful character and the supporting cast is as varied as they come all with their own strong personality and ambition rarely seen.

This is a strong entrée and a very entertaining addition to a fantastic series.

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