Summer Crime Spree
When the days are lazy and hot with sunshine searing away all hints of shadow, I know there's only one type of book that will hold my attention--a good, fast-paced thriller. In the cold darkness of winter it is all too easy to imagine a serial killer lying in wait, ready to torture me with a shot of Windex in my veins. As much as I like a thrill, I always have to wait for the bright days of summer before I dare to immerse myself in the worlds of modern white knights fighting the foulest of evils.
This summer I quickly downed three very different thrillers by three of my favorite summertime authors: Dean Koontz, Jeffery Deaver and Michael Connelly.
Dean Koontz has long held the honor of "favorite author" in my sentimental heart despite his clearly declining ability to tell a richly layered tale. His latest work, The Husband finally knocked him off his pedestal and left me with an ache of disappointment. The story itself is typical Koontz. An average Joe is thrust into the dangerous and unforgiving world of crime. Though he is an honest and upstanding man, he must outsmart the nastiest of predators if he is to save his family. The big surprise here was the absence of an overly intelligent dog or a friendly cop, Koontz's trademarks. The story could have been salvaged. There were nail-biting moments as the protagonist, a very likeable character, learns the people closest to him are not at all what they seem. The problem was the same problem that's plagued the last several Koontz novels--there simply wasn't enough. Koontz is producing two to three novels a year which means he doesn't have time to develop the intricate stories that made him a bestselling author. In past novels, Koontz thoroughly developed both the hero and villain. The Husband teases us with a potentially terrifying bad guy, but there's never any follow-through. The story was too brief to build up the kind of thrill I desire from my summer reading. Though I've been buying Koontz's hardbacks for the past ten years, I think he's just been relegated to my "wait for paperback list."
Jeffery Deaver's The Twelfth Card gave me much more of what I was looking for in the thrill department. Lincoln Rhyme, the paralyzed forensic scientist made famous by Denzel Washington, once again is pitted against a criminal mastermind who doesn't hesitate to kill anyone in his path. Though Deaver's plots could become repetitive they never do. Instead, I'm always clinging to the edge of my seat, slack-jawed as he hits me upside the head with totally unpredictable plot twists that take my breath away over and over again. This particular story features a teenaged Harlem girl, a 140-year-old mystery, and an emotionally frozen killer. Rhyme and his team of wonder criminalists must use every trick up their sleeves to save the teenaged Gen from a hired killer whose boss seems to have no motive for wanting her dead. The pace of the story is relentless, something that caused me to lose a good chunk of much needed sleep. If you're looking for a page-turner, The Twelfth Card won't disappoint. I do have one small problem with the book. By the fourth or fifth twist I was ready to throw up my hands and say "enough already!" I'm all for surprises, but the surprises here just seemed to go on and on. Frankly, the book could have ended a hundred pages sooner and nothing would have been lost.
My surprise thrill of the summer came from an author I'm usually pretty luke-warm about: Michael Connelly. Connelly departs from his usual police thriller and focuses on an unlikely crime-thriller protagonist, a defense attorney. I've read many a crime book in my day and I can't recall ever reading a story told from the first person point of view of a defense lawyer. Most crime thrillers hammer home the point that crime doesn't pay because the police will get you, but The Lincoln Lawyer shows the flipside of the story. The police may get you, but a good defense attorney can minimize your time in the slammer. Unfortunately, this particular defense attorney quickly realizes his role as reptilian defender of slime balls has finally put the innocent in harm's way while allowing pure evil to wreak havoc upon the world at large. Connelly has tight control of his plot, using twists and turns to keep the reader's pulse pounding. I appreciated the detailed explanation of legal proceedings and very much enjoyed all the characters who populated this wonderful piece of summer reading. If you like crime stories this is the one "can't miss" read of the summer.