Tag: crime

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#BookReview: Everyone Is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf

Solid Mystery Lacks Real World Punch Of Other Similar Works. At this point, we’ve all read some variant of some mystery set in and around the world of reality television, right? This is truly a solid tale of its type, so far as it goes, so even if you haven’t read one, this is a good one to start with there.

I’m not sure if a certain aspect of the tale was *meant* to be picked up on early or if I (and apparently a few other reviewers) just *did*, but to me if that particular aspect was supposed to be a “twist”, it was about as curvy as say the bend in the US coastline from roughly Charleston to roughly Jacksonville – ie, easily seen from orbit without much effort at all.

The thing blatantly missing – or perhaps it was so subtle that even I simply missed it within this text, as other reviewers have said they loved its presence – was the lack of any actual social commentary baked in to the tale of “reality television”, as most in this space tend to have to some degree or another. While I’m glad there was no heavy handed preaching on the subject – no matter the view the author was trying to convey – I do wish that there had been *some*, or perhaps, again, at least some that was more obvious and memorable.

Outside of those two aspects though, this really was a fun and solid mystery of its type, maybe not quite as hard hitting as some of Gudenkauf’s previous works, but that is also ok – sometimes both the writer and the reader need a chance to simply enjoy a tale without having to think too hard or without having emotional strings pulled too heart or without too much strain on the heart re: pulse and blood pressure. Not to say that this tale is bland, it absolutely is not. It just isn’t *as* intensive as Gudenkauf’s prior books – akin to an “easy” 5K at half of your normal running pace while training for a half marathon. You’re still getting a good workout, it simply isn’t anywhere near the intensity that could hurt you. 😀

Overall an enjoyable work and a solid one given its premise. Very much recommended.

This review of Everyone Is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf was originally written on March 15, 2024.

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#BookReview: Before The Badge by Samantha J. Simon

Victim Blaming And Typical Academic Ideologies Mar Otherwise Remarkable Work. Primarily in both the early and late sections of the book, the author frequently goes the typical anti-capitalist, everything is racist rants so common throughout both Academia and the field of sociology in particular. While the “everything is racist” bit is also found in the middle, it is toned down a bit as the author more proactively describes what she actually saw during her year of embedding herself within police academies to study exactly how new police cadets are trained.

It is within this section in particular that the book truly shines – and the problem of police brutality is exposed as beginning even in the earliest stages of a cop’s career, in how they are forced to think just to survive training. The psychopath David Grossman and his “Killology” are briefly discussed, though Radley Balko’s work tracing the militarization of police and the increasing frequency of police brutality in his seminal work The Rise Of The Warrior Cop is never mentioned at all. Through this section, we see in stark detail just how police are trained and what at least some of their instructors seem to genuinely believe – and while many will agree with these positions, many more will see just what any attempts to reform policing are truly up against.

It really is the conclusions, where despite Simon claiming to have no real suggestions on how to proceed, then proceeds to make sweeping suggestions of how to proceed, that mars this text more than anything – and I openly admit here that this is absolutely one of those points that will encourage many to buy the book and encourage many others to burn it. Here, Simon proceeds to blame the victims of police brutality for being victims of police brutality via claiming that because guns are so prevalent in the United States, cops are of course warranted in assuming that everyone is armed at all times and thus of course their lives are in danger at every moment – exactly what Simon exposes they are trained from the very beginning to believe. She also ultimately believes that policing as we currently know it should be completely abolished *and replaced with some other system*, seemingly not realizing that *any* State system is force from its very nature, and that ultimately *any* State system of policing will result in exactly the same problems the abolition movement claims it is trying to solve.

Still, the text is reasonably well documented, with its bibliography clocking in at about 21% of the overall text, and the actual reporting of what she saw and experienced was quite well done. Truly, even those who may want to burn this book after reading it *should still read it first*. And then either defenestrate it or burn it, if you feel so led. 😀

Seriously, read this book no matter your thoughts on policing in America. At minimum, you’ll gain a much more detailed understanding of how police officers are recruited and trained, and ultimately more knowledge – even when so skewed as this text is – helps make stronger arguments for whatever position one may have on any given issue. Recommended.

This review of Before The Badge by Samantha J. Simon was originally written on March 3, 2024.

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#BookReview: The Girl In The Smoke by Matt Hilton

Relentless Action. This is one of those books that starts off with the barest semblance of “normalcy”, and then… well, I hope you like balls to the walls action, because that is what you’re going to get here. The heart of the crime here is typical enough to be easily understood, with enough wrinkles to make it interesting to try to figure out exactly what the hell happened. But the action is what you’re here for. If, like me, you found Hilton first through the Po and Villere thrillers… well, if you thought the action in those tales was relentless, you aint seen nothing yet. And here, the action is just as violent as anything you’ll see there… without the massive hulking excons to execute it. Indeed, in what could be a bit of a bridge too far for some, the young girl in question has more of a proclivity for violence than some of those entrusted with her care, which produces interesting relational dynamics at times. Overall a fun and short action thriller, great for those times when you just want some basic escapism without too much thinking involved. Very much recommended.

This review of The Girl In The Smoke by Matt Hilton was originally written on February 8, 2024.

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#BookReview: Little Girl Vanished by Denise Grover Swank

Bad Detective? Bad Private Investigator? This is absolutely one of those tales that brings the “Bad Teacher” / “Bad Judge” trope into criminal investigations, and it also uses a seemingly currently common approach (I literally read two different books using it back to back) of having the investigator have a similar unresolved crime in their past as a “hook”. And yes, it actually all does combine quite well. Even for those who are, like me, more prone to protest police shootings than support them, this tale actually shows a bit of a human side to police who shoot people. Though in this case, even the way *that* is portrayed is perhaps the most singular unrealistic thing about this book. Still, Swank uses even that to help build her overall lore here, as in any series starter building in hints of a bigger lore is absolutely essential in keeping readers wanting the next book. So overall, the book does both of its jobs quite well – it both establishes the character and world, and provides readers enough motivation to come back for Book 2. Very much recommended.

This review of Little Girl Vanished by Denise Grover Swank was originally written on June 26, 2023.

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#BookReview: In My Life by Kay Bratt

When Art Imitates Life. This deep in this particular series, you really need to read the first two books in the series – which are both excellent, btw – in order to fully understand all that is going on here… and to avoid major spoilers from each of those two books. Once you’ve read those books, you’re going to want this one on hand anyway, as it picks up shortly after the events of Book 2. Once again, the crime being investigated is one Bratt had heard a similar tale of in her real life, and once again (as is so often in Bratt’s writing), those who have paid attention to her for in some cases not long at all will notice other details of her life making their way onto the page. In a glancing reference here, we get a reference to a child currently living on Maui, as Bratt’s own youngest daughter currently does. But much more interestingly, there is a minor plot point here – that helps build into something that could become much larger – that those familiar with Bratt’s postings on social media from just a few months ago will be all too familiar with. To be clear, while the character here pursues the more criminal method that Bratt was *tempted* to do in real life, in real life Bratt did in fact pursue numerous *legal* methods of achieving the same result. Her socials are worth perusing for that story alone, for those that also come to enjoy her fictional work. 🙂 Overall another solid tale that expands the world while also keeping the “freak of the week” episodic nature of the series intact. Very much recommended.

This review of In My Life by Kay Bratt was originally written on March 13, 2023.

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#BookReview: The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham

Needs More Showing And Less Telling. This is almost “Novel Writing 101” these days, but a classic and oft repeated bit of advice for new writers is that they should *show* the actions of their characters rather than *tell* the readers about it. Here, Grisham – a normally masterful storyteller and legend in the business – somehow manages to miss that, to the detriment of the overall tale here. The tale itself, a multi-generational saga tracing two families through 60 or so years of Coastal Mississippi history, is actually quite good. I was 15% into the tale before I even realized it, and not much had happened at that point. The back quarter to third or so could *really* have been quite legendary in its own right with more showing and less telling, but even in this format it was still a compelling tale. The ending is a bit abrupt and perhaps too open-ended for some readers, but other than the abruptness I thought it actually worked reasonably well. But getting there, across nearly 500 pages that other readers have compared to investigative nonfiction rather than an legal fictional thriller, can in fact be a bit of a slog. Still, other than the “show don’t tell” aspect, there really isn’t anything here to actually say “this is particularly bad” about. Thus, only the single star reduction. Still, this really is a great tale for those who can bear with it, and for that reason it is very much recommended.

This review of The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham was originally written on October 17, 2022.

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Featured New Release Of The Week: Twisted by James Beltz

This week we’re looking at a book that manages to combine the crime thriller and paranormal genres in ways I’ve never seen done before, giving us a killer in many ways more terrifying than even Kilgrave from the MCU’s Jessica Jones. This week we’re looking at Twisted by James Beltz.

Chilling Combination of Crime Thriller and Paranormal. For a book on the shorter end of the spectrum = roughly 220 pages or so – Beltz manages to pack quite a bit of action into this one, and along the way gives us some truly memorable sequences of various psychic abilities. The murderer is chilling and brutal, the mystery is taut, and the final battle is ultimately a refreshing blend of near slapstick humor (needed, as heavy as other elements immediately around it can get), psychic badassery normally seen only in comic books, and shocking action that not even Stephen King has managed to pull together in Carrie or Firestarter. In the end, you’ll be glad that Beltz wrote this trilogy at one time before releasing each book just a month apart – because you’re going to be wanting the next book in your hand immediately. Very much recommended.

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#BlogTour: The Crying House by BR Spangler

For this blog tour, we’re looking at one hell of a creepy murder mystery that is semi-deep in a series and contains near immediate spoilers for the previous book. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Crying House by BR Spangler.

Here’s what I had to say on Goodreads:

You’ll Never Look At Ye Olden Ways The Same Again. This was my first book from Spangler, and is the 4th book in this particular series. It picks up seemingly some period of time after the events of Book 3, and immediately spoils some of the ending there. So if you have particular cares about such… start at Book 1 here and work your way here. As a police procedural / murder mystery of the book type series, this one actually works quite well and features a technique (used in a variety of ways) that will both creep you out and cause you to think twice about certain olden ways of doing certain things. What were y’all *really* up to, humanity of old???? Several different deaths drive the action here, and there is indeed quite a bit of action along with the mystery, including a pulse pounding race to… well, not quite the finale, but the effective end (+ some exposition) of that particular thread. And then another bit of action to resolve the other main thread before ending on a series explosion big enough that you’re going to want the next book in your hands immediately. Very much recommended.

Below the jump, the various publisher details of the book, including a description, author bio, and links to social media and to buy the book. 🙂
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Featured New Release Of the Week: Perfectly Good Crime by Dete Meserve

This week we look at a book chat continues to build its world while using a legendary tale in a modern setting to ask questions about the modern world. This week, we’re looking at Perfectly Good Crime by Dete Meserve.

It is difficult to speak about this book without spoilers, particularly since the biggest thing that resonated with me was the biggest spoiler of the entire book. But I’m not going to do that. I try to avoid spoilers as much as possible on this site, and I’m not going to start spoiling books now. So all I’ll say about what I really want to talk about is that there is a singular book I’ve read more than twice in my eReader exclusive era of the past 7 yrs or so. I love this particular book and what it stands for so much that I literally have a version of the heading of one of the parts of this book tattooed on my left wrist. And this particular book’s take on the spoiler subject of Perfectly Good Crime is pretty well diametrically opposed to the presentation Ms. Meserve gives the topic. Which is not to say that her presentation isn’t stellar, it is. And if you subscribe to the dominant beliefs of our era, Ms. Meserve actually presents this topic in a very balanced fashion and brings out some very interesting points about it in the process. But my own feelings there are simply… atypical may be a gentle way of putting it. 😉

All of that said, this is a great crime/ reporter mystery that continues with solid world building and tells an excellent tale of a reporter struggling to find just what she wants for herself. The personal aspects of Kate Bradshaw’s life are interwoven with the professional in a very satisfying manner and continue to show local journalists even in large markets such as LA as the true professionals yet also “normal people” they are. Truly an excellent work, and I look forward to more from this author and this series.

As always, we end with the Goodreads/ Amazon review:
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