Category: Roots Books

Book 8 – Red Sky at Night

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While this book is my first read of a book by James W. Hall it is the sixth book in the eleven book series featuring Hall’s  iconoclast beach bum fisherman Thorn. (Anyone know his full name?). The book centers around the senseless slaughter of eleven dolphins at a Key West park that Thorn and his current girlfriend Monica had visited a few days previous. The slaughter is tied to the experiments in pain alleviation being performed on wounded veterans by an old boyfriend of Thorn’s Bean Wilson Jr. Wilson is also being investigated by the DEA for illegal actions and they have placed an undercover agent Greta Masterson in Wilson’s clinic. As Thorn starts to investigate he becomes a target and the rest of the story revolves around solving the mystery of the slaughter of the dolphins and rescuing Greta!

It was a good read and I enjoyed the character development of  many of the characters including Bean Wilson, Pepper Tremaine and Thorn. However, I know that there’s a lot of background on Thorn’s life that was missing, so overall I don’t think I enjoyed the book as much as I would have had I started at the being of the series.  So now, I have to go back and learn about Thorn from the first five books before I travel forward to the next five. Like I need another series. So check James W. Hall out but start with  Under Cover of Daylight.

Dark Tiger – William G Tapply (Stoney Calhoun #3) Book 7 of 2010

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Dark Tiger Book 7 of 2010 – Dark Tiger is most likely the last Stoney Calhoun novel by William G. Tapply. Tapply passed away in July of 2009 after a battle with leukemia.  Tapply is best known for his Brady Coyne series which spanned twenty-six years and twenty-five books.

Dark Tiger is the third book in the Stoney Calhoun series. Stonewall Jackson Calhoun is currently a fishing  guide in Maine and runs a bait shop with his lover Kate Balaban.

Stoney has a past that he doesn’t quite remember, a result of being struck by lightening years ago. Through glimpses of muscle memory and other memory flashes Stoney knows he was a trained agent of some sort.  Now though he runs his bait shop and  occasionally serves as a deputy sheriff when the need arises. Keeping an eye on Stoney is “The Man in the Suit” who knows about Stoney’s past but he’s not telling and every so often pops into Stoney’s life  checking on Stoney’s memory.

As this novel opens, Stoney is told that he and Kate will soon loose their lease on the bait shop and Kate is told her husband Walter, who suffering from MS and  lives in a rehabilitation center will soon be kicked out! Stoney soon figures this is the work of “The Man in the Suit” ,which turns out to be correct. “The Man in the Suit” and his boss tell Stoney they will make everything in his  life OK, if he takes an assignment to go to Loon Lake Lodge in the wilds of northern Maine and solve the murder of one of their agents. The agent was found dead along with a sixteen year old girl in what was made to look like a murder suicide. Only problem is Stoney can’t tell anyone where he is going or why, which does not endear him to Kate! But off he goes. I didn’t think this was a great read, but it was a comfortable one! I enjoy the characters and the story line was ok!

I liked the series and it ended before we learned  the complete story about Stoney’s past and if Stoney and Kate will have a life without the guilt they both feel about their relationship in light of  Kate’s husband’s illness. Stoney, Brady Coyne and William G Tapply you will be missed!

Dennis Lehane Books- Kenzie and Gennaro and More!

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Mysterious atmosphere, shadowy figures, suspenseful

Dennis Lehane – Kenzie and Gennaro Series

In honor of the opening of Shutter Island (which from the trailers looks great) today based on the book by Dennis Lehane. I thought I’d write something about his series featuring Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro.

Before he turned to standalones after the success of Mystic River, Dennis Lehane wrote five novels featuring Kenzie and Gennaro, starting with  A Drink Before the War, which won a Shamus award and ending withPrayers for Rain , including Gone, Baby Gone turned into the movie starring Casey Afleck.

The books are gritty and deal with the underbelly of Dorchester a suburb if Boston, but the writing is terrific and the story lines are fast paced. I think I read these books about as fast as any I’ve read.

They are  the kind you just can’t put down and when you do you can’t wait until you can pick them up again! Lehane said he wasn’t going to write anymore of these books but from what I understand his next book will be a Kenzie and Gennaro, can’t wait! So if you’ve never read them and enjoy gritty novels pick them up you won’t be disappointed!

Dennis Lehane -Kenzie & Gennaro Books in Order

TitleSeries/No.Year PublishedDate ReadReview
A Drink Before the WarKenzie & Gennaro#119942/01/2002
Darkness Take My HandKenzie & Gennaro#219963/20/2002
SacredKenzie & Gennaro#319983/31/2002
Gone, Baby GoneKenzie & Gennaro#419995/18/2002
Prayers for RainKenzie & Gennaro#520003/25/2002
Moonlight MileKanzie & Gennaro #62010

Dennis Lehane – Coughlin Books in Order

TitleSeries/NoYear PublishedDate Read
The Given DayCoughlin #12008
Live By Night Coughlin #22012
World Gone By Coughlin #32015

Dennis Lehane – Standalone Books in Order

TitleDate Published
Mystic River2001
Shutter Island2004
The Drop2014
Small Mercies2023

A Whisper to the Living (Porfiry Rostnikov #16) – Stuart Kaminsky (Book 6 – 2010)

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A Whisper to the Living

A Whisper to the Living may have been the last novel in Stuart Kaminsky’s long-running Porfiry Rostnikov series, and reading it felt like returning to old friends. Kaminsky once again blends mystery, Russian politics, and family drama into a tightly woven 256 pages.

The Story

In this entry, Porfiry tracks the Bitsevsky Park Maniac, a serial killer seeking notoriety, while his team splits across parallel cases: Sasha and Elena protecting a British journalist investigating a prostitution ring, and Arkady with Iosef pursuing a heavyweight boxer wanted for murder. As always, Kaminsky mixes crime with the human side of his detectives—their families, flaws, and loyalties—set against the backdrop of a changing Moscow.

My Thoughts

At just over 250 pages, it’s not War and Peace, but Kaminsky never needed that. He gave us believable characters, intriguing cases, and a window into Soviet and Russian life. Spending time again with Porfiry and his circle reminded me why this series has been a favorite—these characters will be missed.

Parnell Hall – Woodstock Generation

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Parnell Hall writes one of my favorite all-time series starring “Stanley Hastings, the world’s most reluctant private eye, is a failed actor/writer, who chases ambulances for a negligence lawyer in between gigs, which is most of the time” – (from ParnelHall.com). the books are just downright fun reads and a new one is due in July titled Caper! He also writes the Puzzle Lady series featuring Cora Felton also a good time. He obviously also can write music and sing as shown in the following video! I think I have the majority of those LP’s he’s looking at!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov9pa8H4GiM

Abandoned – Cody McFadyen

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Abandoned (A Thriller) Abandoned  is the fourth book in the Smokey Barrett series by Cody McFadyen and in my opinion it may be his best!

About the Smokey Burnett Series

Smokey is an FBI agent and leader of the LA branch of the  National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC). They hunt down the worst men and women who murder men, women and children and serial rapists too.  Smokey is also a survivor.  She lives with the scars on her face, left after a killer broke into her house and killed her husband Matt and daughter Alexa.

 

The previous books, Shadow Man, The Face of Death, and The Dark Side have all been outstanding. I thoroughly enjoy McFadyen’s writing and the characters that live in these books.

These characters include  members of Smoky’s team,  Callie Thorne, Alan Washington, James Giron, and Leo Carnes, who plays a big role in this book.  Smokey’s adopted daughter Bonnie, who is also a survivor, having been tied to her dead mother for three days, and Tommy,  Smoky’s new husband, all combine to make the novels  extend far beyond the chase of a killer. MaFadyen’s first book, Shadow Man was a particular favorite and one of the best debut novels I have ever read.

In Abandoned, Smoky faces possibly the most difficult adversary she has ever faced. The novel opens on the wedding day of one of the  members of Smoky’s team, Callie Thorne.   Smoky receives a text message saying “I’m sending something to you, Special Agent Barrett.”  As Father Yates is presenting Mr. and Mrs……a black Mustang pulls into the parking lot the door opens and  a woman is tossed out. She’s shaved bald and is wearing a white nightgown and as she approaches the wedding party “she puts her hands to her face, turns her head to the sky, and begins to scream. A fingerprint check reveals that she has been  missing for eight years – that she once was a wife, a mother and a cop! So begins Smoky’s hunt for a psychopath who keeps his victims  in absolute darkness and doesn’t derive pleasure from the killing. From an interview at Amazon, Cody McFadyen says this about the killer:

I saw him, he terrified me, and then I wrote him. He lies within the pages of Abandoned. It’s my hope he’ll terrify you as well.–Cody McFadyen

Well, he did terrify me at times and I know he terrified Smoky….so if you are a fan of great writing definitely pick up this one!!  5 out of 5

James Lee Burke

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In 1987, after having only one book published in fifteen years, James Lee Burke, at the suggestion of a friend, turned to James Lee Burjewriting crime fiction. In The Neon Rain, Burke introduced the world to a Cajun recovering alcoholic police detective named Dave Robicheaux and launched his career as a bestselling author. The first Robicheaux novel I read was the 1989 Edgar Award winning novel Black Cherry Blues. From that novel:

“. . . I had found the edge. The place where you unstrap all your fastenings to the earth, to what you are what you have been, where you flame out on the edge of the spheres, and the sun and moon become eclipsed and the world below is as dead and remote and without interest as if it were glazed with ice. ”
— James Lee Burke (Black Cherry Blues: A Dave Robicheaux Nove

After writing like that, I quickly went back and read The Neon Rain and Heaven’s Prisoner and in the last twenty years I’ve read all but one of the books. (Note to self – READ Burning Angel). The books are gritty and deal mostly with the underbelly of New Orleans and New Iberia Louisiana and while I’ve never been to New Iberia or New Orleans through  Burke’s words, I feel that I’ve traveled many a back road, driven across levees  and floated down many a Louisiana bayou and along the way I’ve watched as Dave chase his own personal demons, dealt with the murder of his  wife Annie,  friends who took the wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the law, the mob,  the CIA and just about every other kind of underbelly cretin you can think of!

Throughout the books,  Clete Purcell has always been by Dave’s his side usually taking things just a tad too far, like the time he poured cement into a mobster’s car.  While Bootsie Dave’s wife, Alafair and her three-legged raccoon Tripod, Batiste and the Bait and Tackle shop have oftentimes provided comfort and a safe haven for Dave.

Yes, the list of memories goes on and on, from conversations with General John B Hood (In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead) in the Louisiana swamps, to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina in the The Tin Roof Blowdown and hopefully Mr Burke will keep creating those memorable characters and scenes for us for many more years. James Lee Burke is a national treasurer that any fan of crime fiction or just good fiction writing should read, and read, and read!!

Main Characterr: Dave Robicheaux, Hackberry Holland
Occupation: Detective
Location: New Iberia, New Orleans, LA

Website
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Goodreads
Amazon
Wikipedia

James Lee Burke Books I’ve read…

Creole Belle (Dave Robicheaux, #19)
Feast Day of Fools (Hackberry Holland, #3)
The Glass Rainbow (Dave Robicheaux, #18)
Crusader’s Cross (Dave Robicheaux, #14)
Rain Gods (Hackberry Holland, #2)
Swan Peak (Dave Robicheaux, #17)
The Neon Rain (Dave Robicheaux, #1)
Black Cherry Blues (Dave Robicheaux, #3)
A Morning for Flamingos (Dave Robicheaux, #4)
A Stained White Radiance (Dave Robicheaux, #5)
Heaven’s Prisoners (Dave Robicheaux, #2)
In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead (Dave Robicheaux, #6)
Dixie City Jam (Dave Robicheaux, #7)
Cadillac Jukebox (Dave Robicheaux, #9)
Sunset Limited (Dave Robicheaux, #10)
Purple Cane Road (Dave Robicheaux, #11)
Jolie Blon’s Bounce (Dave Robicheaux, #12)
Last Car To Elysian Fields (Dave Robicheaux, #13)
Pegasus Descending (Dave Robicheaux, #15)
The Tin Roof Blowdown (Dave Robicheaux, #16

Blog Posts

Cork O’Connor – William Kent Krueger

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Cork O’Connor

📚 Discovering William Kent Krueger

William Kent Krueger is the author of a long-running series featuring ex-Sheriff, private investigator, husband, and father Cork O’Connor of Tamarack County, Minnesota.

Purgatory RidgeThe first book I read in the series was Purgatory Ridge. I thought it was one of the best books I had ever read. I quickly went back to the beginning and read Iron Lake and Boundary Waters. From that point on, I have kept up religiously with each new release. At the time of writing, Heaven’s Keep was the most recent — and perhaps the best yet.

What stands out in these books are the rich, believable characters — from Cork and his wife Jo to their kids and my personal favorite, Henry Meloux. Krueger’s writing is exceptional, and each book operates on several levels: gripping mysteries, personal relationships, and thoughtful exploration of Cork’s Ojibwe heritage.

Mercy FallsTwo of my favorites in the series are Mercy Falls and Copper River, where the storyline flows seamlessly across both novels. Krueger is easily an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10.

In praise of Red Knife:

“The Cork O’Connor mysteries are known for their rich characterizations and their complex stories with deep moral and emotional cores. This one is no exception… If you don’t know Cork O’Connor, get to know him now.”
— Booklist

📚 William Kent Krueger: My Journey with Cork O’Connor & Beyond

I discovered William Kent Krueger back in 2010 when I picked up Purgatory Ridge — the third book in his Cork O’Connor series. It hit me hard: one of the best books I’d ever read. I quickly backtracked and read the first two, Iron Lake and Boundary Waters, and from then on, I was all in.

I’ve since read every single Cork O’Connor novel. Each one has continued to build on the rich landscape of northern Minnesota, the layered relationships within Cork’s family, and his ongoing dialogue between two worlds — law and justice, Irish and Ojibwe, past and future. The character of Henry Meloux remains a personal favorite.

Mercy FallsAmong my favorites are Mercy Falls and Copper River, which form a continuous arc — a rare and welcome feature in crime fiction. And at the time I wrote my first post about Krueger, I thought Heaven’s Keep might have been the best yet. It turns out there were many more just as good still to come.

For years, I put off reading Krueger’s standalone novels, unsure if they could live up to the series. But eventually, I gave in — and of course, I loved them. Ordinary Grace and The River We Remember are powerful, moving stories, told with the same grace and heart that defines his best Cork novels.

“The Cork O’Connor mysteries are known for their rich characterizations and their complex stories with deep moral and emotional cores. This one is no exception… If you don’t know Cork O’Connor, get to know him now.” — Booklist