• Extreme Measures (1991)
  For a young resident, the price of promotion could be the supplying of breathing bodies for medical experimentation, unless he can get to the bottom of the problem before he is made a pariah in the medical community. Other books:
• Silent Treatment (1995)
  Dr. Harry Corbett's wife dies after being admitted to the hospital for surgery but not of natural causes. Dr. Corbett's search for the killer reveals how little he knew about her, and about some others who were also leading double lives,
• The Sisterhood
• Side Effects
• Flashback
• Natural Causes.

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Hard Time
Sara Paretsky
1999
U.S. Edition: Delacorte Press Hardcover
U.K. Edition: Hamish Hamilton Hardcover

V.I. Warshawski almost runs over a young woman left beaten and bleeding in the street. The woman had been reported as an escapee from prison. When police try to pin V.I. for a hit and run homicide, she has to investigate what brought the woman to her tragic end.

Friend and reporter Murray Ryerson has gone big time with a new TV show for Global Entertainment and doesn't have time to help her except to help get a plum of a job dropped at her feet--and a suspicious job, as well, since during investigation prior to taking the job, she finds out her potential clients may be attempting to redirect her attention from the inquiries she's been making.

When her office is ransacked, and her friends and associates are threatened, V.I.'s pursuits become attempts to preserve her own hide.

Great plot, and a page turner to the end. This book has made me want to go back and read the earlier books, which I don't remember being as good! (Reviewed 2/16/00.)

Author as Editor

A Woman's Eye
Short stories involving female sleuths.

Related Links

• Interview

• Interview and review of "Ghost Country"

• See also
  Sisters in Crime, Internet Chapter

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Suspicion of Betrayal
1999

A stalker is one of the creepiest things I can imagine, and the author here paints a good picture of the kind of dread a person experiences when threatening phone calls and "gifts" arrive from an unknown person. The main character, Gail Connor, is a divorced attorney living in Miami who is engaged to marry a man of Cuban descent. As the book progresses, suspects appear in all these facets of her life. While she is the recipient of the threats, it is her young daughter who is in danger.

Some authors sabotage their female characters. First they give them drive and guts enough to jump through all the hoops necessary to become lawyers, doctors, or other professionals, then portray them doing and saying things that just make you ask yourself, "How could she be so stupid?" This book contained some of these elements, in my opinion, and the main character seemed to lack depth as a result. I remember another of her books as being really good, so I may try this author again.

The other book:

• Blood Relations
  A 17 year old model's claim that she was raped opens up a can of worms for Detective Sam Hagen. Good.

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God Save the Child
1974

I recently read someone’s comments that they had really enjoyed reading Robert Parker’s earlier books, so I picked this one up at the bookstore in a moment of weakness, along with $25 of other books at full price. Stop me before I buy again!

Early in the book I was able to see, I thought, what had happened when a teenaged boy disappeared and his parents sought Spenser’s help in locating him. I was right, but still thoroughly enjoyed reading this Spenser opus. It’s early in his P.I. career, and his doubts about his ability to solve the “crime” are endearing. His descriptions of the seventies fashions adopted by one of the characters who hired him are hilarious, in retrospect. In this book, Spenser meets Susan, and it’s worth reading for this alone. I’ve always wondered how they got together.

In any event, if you’ve enjoyed other Spenser books, you will certainly like this one. If you’ve never dipped your toe, you should still appreciate his acerbic wit and nonchalance. I held off for a long time before reading any of these books, equating relationship with a tv series to be a kind of death knell, but I’ve found I’ve never begrudged the time I’ve spent with a Robert Parker book. Reviewed 10/30/99.

• Hush Money (1999)
  As a favor to Hawk, Spenser looks into the circumstances surrounding denial of tenure to a black man and finds more than he bargained for. At the same time, as a favor to Susan, he attempts to find out who is stalking a friend of hers.
• Thin Air

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Protect and Defend

Legal Thriller

"Protect and Defend" is a brilliant juxtaposition of political shenanigans and their effects on real people.

A pregnant teenaged girl, daughter of two actively pro-life parents, seeks a late term abortion when she finds out that her baby is hydrocephalic. Part of the reason for her decision is that the procedure she will have to have to deliver a baby with an enlarged head, a Caesarean section, might impair her ability to have children in the future. In addition, the likelihood of the baby's living for long after birth is poor.

When she seeks advice at an abortion clinic, the counselor tells her that it is not legal her to take that step on her own. In order for her to obtain the procedure, it is necessary for one or both of her parents to sign indicating their permission and for a doctor to state that the pregnancy constitutes a substantial risk to life or health. Barring that, under the author's fictional "Protection of Life Act" which stated these requirements, the girl would have to go to court for a judgment on the matter.

As time advances and the girl's preganancy comes nearer and nearer to term, the procedure proposed is what many critics call "partial birth abortion", a phrase which is intended to bring to mind murder of a child as it emerges through the birth canal.

Of course, the teenager's parents refuse to sign and she decides that she must face them in court. One of the points brought up in the story is the potential damage to a family when its members are made adversaries before the bar. One of the questions brought up as the law is considered is whether danger to mental health is a valid reason for a doctor's consent.

The book's U.S. Supreme Court is split 50:50 on the issue and appointment of a new justice would swing the balance to one side or the other. It is assumed that the case will advance to the Supreme Court because it is unlikely that the lower court will make a ruling that a Federal law is invalid since the judge will not want a reversal of his decision on his record. The candidate put forth by the president is a woman. The presumption is that her vote would give the Court a pro-choice bias; she has not, however, rendered any decisions in cases which will serve as a guide to her views, nor will she comment on the issue. In fact, she has a secret which might seem to bias her opinion and she is adamant that she will not seek the appointment if there is a threat that it will be revealed.

Patterson brings to life behind the scenes scuffling as representatives of each side of the issue marshall their resources to influence the outcome of the court appointment as time for a decision runs short. The lengths to which some will go to insure that their side prevails are truly frightening.

Conclusion

Some books really stick to your ribs. I've found myself thinking about this book, and talking about it to a number of people. The author has taken on the task of trying to bring to light a number of facts and statistics currently available for consideration regarding these emotionally charged issues.

This is, I believe, Richard North Patterson's best book to date. He masterfully brings the issues to life using well-drawn, realistic characters, and shows that "pro-life" and "pro-choice" decisions by individuals are not made in a vacuum. This is a book that I found hard to put down!

For some comments from the author on the issues in the book, check out:

http://64.81.195.15/article.cfm/dyn/aid/371/context/archive

Buy the hardcover Or the paperback.

Copyright 2002, fiatgirl.com

Other books by this author:

• The Final Judgment (1995)
  While her Federal Judgeship appointment is pending, Caroline Masters gets entangled in the problems of her estranged family when one member is accused of murder. Other books:
• Eyes of a Child
• Escape the Night
• Degree of Guilt
• Private Screening
• The Outside Man
• The Lasko Tangent
• Dark Lady

See also San Francisco.

See also publisher's author page.

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Pearson, Ridley

Middle of Nowhere

This second release in a year by the author of the excellent "The First Victim" has Lou Boldt coping with an increased workload caused by a case of the "Blue Flu", and focuses on the investigation on a brutal attack of a female police officer which has left her paralyzed. What's even worse is that the perpetrator may be one of her co-workers.

Buy from Amazon.com U.S.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

• The First Victim
  1999

  This is a fast-paced tale of the clash of Seattle police, the press and the INS over the case of a number of Chinese women found screaming in a sealed container in Puget sound-and a few more who are dead. People who are about to be interviewed in the investigation are killed, and it's possible that a local Chinese organized crime figure is involved. When a reporter on the trail of the smugglers disappears, more pressure is on to solve the case quickly.

  The book is a look at the tragic circumstances that lead people to subject themselves to be transported to the U.S. in such a fashion. It's a fascinating premise, good story, and a great read featuring recurring characters Lou Boldt & John LaMoia of the Seattle PD. If you have never read a Ridley Pearson book before, once you've read this one, you'll have 11 more wonderful books you can add to your "to read" list.

  Buy from Amazon.com U.S.
  Buy from Amazon.co.uk

• Chain of Evidence

  Hi-tech police procedures assist Detective Joe Dartelli in solving the problem of some "assisted suicides" which were apparently executed by his former mentor.

  Buy from Amazon.com U.S.

See also author's site at http://www.ridleypearson.com

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To Catch A Cook

Avon Books Paperback
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Summary

Next thing we know, Paavo's apartment is also tossed, and his elderly father, Aulis, is shot in the head and left in a coma. The jeweler to whom Angie has taken the brooch is killed, and the brooch has disappeared. Circumstances lead Angie and Paavo to information about what happened to his mother years ago when she left him and his sister in the care of Aulis, her neighbor. All this might be relatively unremarkable if it were not for people following Angie and some who seem fearful of the questions being asked. While Paavo was seeking some sense of his identity by conducting the search for information, he's not feeling very good about what's being discovered.

His mother seems to have presented different faces to different people and he remains unable to piece together the reasons for her abandonment of her children. Thirty years following her disappearance and presumed death, not too many people remain who knew her or why she left.

All of the threads come together in a suspenseful and surprising ending.

Commentary

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book; I just thought of it, and most probably its companion books, as light diversions rather than serious mysteries. Given this background, "To Catch A Cook" represents a great leap forward in complexity and character development. Angie retains a basic wackiness that makes her endearing, but here the author has made her more intuitive and well-rounded.

Here Pence delivers greed, murder, and international intrigue at the same time she fleshes out the character of Paavo. She also gives Angie a chance to show her more serious side as she assists her boyfriend with his investigation. While Angie does engage in one rather ill-advised "business venture" in the course of the book, she demonstrates a greater degree of intelligence, good sense, and perseverance with regard to the investigation.

For those readers who have categorized the Angie Amalfi mysteries as I did after reading just one, you owe it to yourself to read this one. I guarantee that once you do, you will drool with anticipation for the next one!

A Cook in Time
1999
Paperback, Harpercollins

This charming and frequently funny book has food columnist Angie Amalfi planning a "Fantasy Dinner" to launch a book for head of a group of "UFOlogists" in San Francisco. At the same time, Angie's boyfriend, homicide inspector Paavo Smith, is investigating the gruesome work of a serial killer who is leaving some kind of cryptic message carved onto his victims.

Angie doesn't know much about UFOs and, during her research on what aliens might eat so that she can plan her menu, finds out more than she bargained for when two factions of UFO enthusiasts perhaps go to extremes to eliminate the competition.

The only weakness in this book was lack of background material on Angie & Paavo, as well as the stories of some of the supporting characters. This can be easily resolved, I'm sure, by reading the preceding books, which I plan to do.

Enclosed with the book was a pamphlet containing recipes published in the preceding books with summaries of their plots. Each book contains a couple of these recipes used by Angie to warm her boyfriend's heart.

For more information on these books, please visit the author's site.
http://members.aol.com/jopence/index.htm

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The Face Changers

Perry's character Jane McKinnon, nee Whitefield, was a Native American guide whose practice it was to act as an unofficial witness protection program of sorts for those pursued out of their identities. She did this without charging a fee but was rewarded monetarily, sometimes years later, by those who survived their transitions. In the previous book, Jane had given up this work coincident with her marriage to a local doctor.

In this book, the husband's relationship with a framed colleague launches Jane back into the business, while pitting her against some unsavory characters who have unofficially capitalized on her absence from the service to the fugitive market in a manner designed to make them money but not to encourage repeat business.

While this book stands alone, I recommend reading the earlier books first:

• Vanishing Act
  Jane Whitefield helps a man to disappear, only to have to find him again because he ws actually following her to find--and kill--one of her previous clients.
• Dance for the Dead
  Page turner about part American Indian fugitive "guide" Jane Whitefield's realization that two of her cases are related: one "client" is an eight-year-old boy, and the other an S&L scammer.
• Shadow Woman.

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• The Chosen
• The Promise

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Taking Lives
1999
Knopf Hardcover

Phoenix Press Paperback

In this disturbing book, a serial killer takes on the identities of each of his victims and is sought after by a museum investigator, John Costa, looking for items taken by one of them.

While the killer's deadly work provides the framework for the story, the book is also about Costa, normally a nine-to-fiver at the museum, whose journey gives him time to ponder his own life as he reflects on the choices made by the killer.

Very well written and engaging. Reviewed 1-9-00.

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