Review: The Late Show

The Late Show by Michael Connelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Renee Ballard is a new character in a new (hopefully) series by one of my favourite authors, Michael Connelly. Ballard is a tough cop who is working on the night shift with her partner Jenkins. This is not her choice of assignments because her goal was to become a detective, but due to a sexual harassment case she is being punished.

One night Renee is called to two cases; one where a transgender person has been confined (Renee believes) and a shooting at a nightclub of a waitress. She doesn't want to hand these cases over to the crime division and so she works them during the day and keeps up with her night shift work.

Personally, we don't have a lot to go by with Renee. Her father was a surfer in Hawaii who was lost during a surfing expedition and subsequently her mother abandons her. After a year of being on her own as a young teenager, Renee's grandmother went to find her and take her back to the US. She doesn't seem to actually have a home now and I am hoping that we will learn more about her in the future.

A thoroughly satisfying read and I am looking forward to the next in the series.

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Review: First Comes Love

First Comes Love by Emily Giffin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This will be a hard book to review and to remain "civil". By that I mean that for starters there was not one single character that I liked or that I thought had any intelligence or even morals. At first I thought it was because I am an older person, but then realized that these people are not that young. They are nearing their forties and IMO should have had more sense.

Josie and Meredith are sisters who fifteen years earlier had lost their brother in an accident. This terrible accident defined their family from that day on and it seemed that family and friends never actually moved on, and I actually got the feeling that they blamed their actions and bad decisions on that terrible night.

Jodie, the eldest sister is a teacher but makes decisions rashly and Meredith is a lawyer and has always made wrong decisions.

If there was one word that I could use to describe this story I would say ENTITLEMENT. This generation has everything, nice homes, good family, good education, nice lives. Now they think they can have absolutely everything immediately whenever they want it. Like Josie wanting a baby and, on the spur of the moment, deciding to use a sperm bank. And Meredith accepting a proposal of marriage just because she thought that her dead brother would like it.

It was a mixed up story.

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Review: The Affair

The Affair by Lee Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jack Reacher, a Major in the Military Police is sent undercover to a small town that is located near an army base. There have been murders committed and the army wants to know if the crimes are civilian or army related.

Reacher breezes into town in his under cover mode but is immediately "made" by the chief of police, a woman named Elizabeth Devereau. She is former army herself and recognizes the fact that the army will be investigating the murders, therefore a stranger in town is very suspicious.

Not to give the story away, but there are some interesting scenes involving the midnight train. It reminded me of the song, Midnight Train to Georgia.

A great story and I will be looking for more Jack Reacher novels.

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Review: Heart of the City

Heart of the City by Robert Rotenberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Touchstone for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

This is my fifth Robert Rotenberg book and they just keep getting better all the time. Since he writes about Toronto, and I am a Torontonian, I find it comforting to read about the places where I actually "walk" and his truly "Canadian Speak" voice.

Ari Greene is back after an extended visit to England and he has brought back a surprise. He is finished with the police detective business and has a job on a construction site. But that seems about to change when he discovers the body of the project owner who has been murdered on the job site.

It looks like Ari is back on the job and I suspect that he will be partnering with Kennicott again. Now I am looking forward to the next in the series and I am still hoping that the killer of Kennicott's brother will be discovered, or at least we get some information on the killer's identity.

A great read and Mr. Rotenberg has become my favourite crime author.

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Review: My Husband's Wife

My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is truly a story that peels like an onion, layer by layer. Just when you think you know what its about, they bring in another element. I wouldn't say that it was necessarily a thriller but is was a dark story of psychological intrigue.

Lily a new lawyer marries Ed, who shortly after their marriage loses his job. His passion is art and he wants to do it full time. The marriage is not a passionate one and you get the impression that Lily has just "settled" as she considers herself unlovely.

In the same building lives a single mother with a little girl name Karla. Lily and Ed do some babysitting for Karla and the story begins, bit by bit. Each character is examined carefully and we learn things about each of them that are the parts of ourselves that we don't show to others.

It was a very good story and it kept me reading. I couldn't get close to any of the characters in the book and it is rare that a story can be so full of unlikeable people.

All in all a good read.

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Review: The Silent Wife

The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jodie has been Todd's common law wife for twenty years where she took excellent care of him in every way, almost to the point of a Stepford Wife. They do seem to love each other even though Todd does have the odd meaningless indiscretion.

All goes well until Todd encounters his best friend's daughter and they begin an affair.

Jodie is a therapist and really quite "different" to the point of being unlikeable. At the end of the story we get a hint of what may have been some of the cause for her strangeness.

An enjoyable read.

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