Book1 in the Jack McClure series
This new series joins the many political thrillers available to today's readers. The story revolves mainly around politics and religion and an outgoing President who makes his decisions based on his religious beliefs.
The story is tightly plotted with many twists and turns and enough cliff-hangers to keep us flipping pages. It opens with the abduction of Alli Carson, the 19-year-old daughter of U.S. President-elect, a month before her father's inauguration. P.E. Edward Carson seeks the help of his long-time friend Agent Jack McClure, his daughter Alli was once a roommate of Jack's daughter Emma who died in a tragic accident. P.E Carson knows Jack well enough to understand that his determination and devotion will drive him to extremes to find Alli and bring her home safely. On Jack's personal side he has learned how to hide and deal with his dyslexia however he is still struggling with the loss of Emma and the subsequent separation from his wife. There is trouble stirring in the world of politics, the outgoing administration wants their Christian philosophy to dominate, they firmly believe it is a secularist movement that is behind the kidnapping and refuse to consider any other possibilities.
The plot thickens when Jack goes renegade, working strictly against protocol; he runs a parallel investigation to the Secret Service and other government agencies. While on the path of this dangerous and calculating kidnapper, Jack chooses to trust his own instinct and unique abilities to stay one step ahead of the villain....
This thriller has oodles of farfetched action to entertain us. I felt the religious sub-plots boarded too much on extremism and hindered the pacing quite a bit, if there was an underlying message between the lines, I am afraid I totally missed it. Jack's life is portrayed as rather sad and depressing, he is a man that lost everything dear to him and subsequently hides himself in his career. His character is well- develop: a flawed but brilliant hero with unique and extraordinary abilities. The villain has a sci-fi overture not quite fitting to this thriller....and the rest of the characters fall into my run of the mill category.
After all is said and done, I must admit this novel will be filed into my ho-hum category....not bad but not memorable.
Book 12 in the Inspector Lynley series
Ms. George has created a tale of human relationships, a story of betrayal and devotion. This mind bending who- done-it investigative suspense brings us to the Channel Island of Guernsey to solve the murder case of millionaire Guy Brouard.
The story commences with China River and her brother Cherokee travelling from California to deliver architectural drawings to Guy Brouard, a rich philanthropist with eccentric ideas. Shortly after their arrival, Brouard is murdered and the police quickly target China as the prime suspect and arrest her. Cherokee goes to London to seek help from one of China’s old schoolmates Deborah St-James. Deborah and her husband agree and leave for Guernsey to see what they can do to prove her innocence. As they poke around, they find the locals are very tight lipped; the skeletons in their past relating to WW11 Nazi occupation always seem to surface. They discover Brouard’s death has a definite link to the past and many could gain from his demise, they feel the police have not expanded their suspect pool enough and are overlooking many important details.
This complex mystery features Deborah and Simon St-James, two supporting characters often found in Ms. George’s earlier novels. Once again, she has sidelined her normally main protagonists, Barbara Havers completely and Thomas Lynley has only a cameo role at the end of the story. I find the author is becoming long winded; too much detail and too many sub-characters can easily be overdone and turn into a drag. The plot is not as convoluted and is far better than the previous novel “A Traitor to Memory” but I find it is still slow moving and plods along at times. Nevertheless I did like this novel and particularly had fun trying to guess who done it…I was totally off the mark till the very end
Also published under the title “The Whaleboat House”
Amagansett is a clever story set in 1947, in a small working class village east of the Hamptons. The white sandy beaches and dunes have been inhabited by rugged fishermen for years and have come to attract the wealthy and cultured city folk during their summer vacation. As travel became easier, a different class of people frequented the area, rich sports fisherman put a strain on locals whose livelihood depended on the ocean’s bounty for their survival. Where tension grows, trouble is sure to follow…..
Its central plot: part mystery, part thriller and part historical fiction involves money, elite members of society, conniving bad guys, corrupt law enforcement, a war hero and a sexy cop. It opens when Conrad Labarde and Rollo Kemp, fishermen, snag what appears to be a dead weight. When they pull it out of the water much to their horror they discover the body of Lillian Wallace, a beautiful socialite and daughter of a powerful man.
Deputy Chief Tom Hollis is lead investigator and one of his first priorities is to question family and friends. This turns out to be quite a challenge, the locals are not cooperative and all appear to be hiding something. To make things worse, his superiors pressure him from the other side, they want him to wrap up his investigation without delay and declare the incident an accidental drowning and move on. Something smells fishy…..
The storyline meanders at times, slowly unraveling into a “who-done-it” coloured with local myths that are expertly told through fisherman folklore and tales of the sea that go back to the times of the Montaukette Indians. A flashback to the war and other nuggets of history and some tender love moments all add colour to the story.
This tale is powerfully told and shines in its depiction of the fishermen’s ways of life and their sacrifices during the war. The dialogue, characterization and plotting are riveting. Some may find the pacing to be a bit slow, I did at first but soon found myself absorbed in this intricately woven tale. This is an excellent and captivating novel.
