Blood Oranges

Blood Oranges is J. M. Cannon's second novel. She writes crime thrillers and she is a fantastic writer. I was surprised at how complex the plot was given that this is just the author's second book. I loved Blood Oranges immensely.

The publisher's summary:

Money.

Power.

God.

Catherine Cross is the most successful female televangelist in the country. Her congregation in the western suburbs of Orlando one of the wealthiest. She's comfortable and charismatic in front of a camera, but when her youngest daughter goes missing not even she is ready for the media firestorm that follows.

With her mother more concerned about the family's public image than bringing her daughter home, it's up to Emily, the oldest child and black sheep of their christian family, to try to discover the truth.

But when a strange series of deaths on an orange orchard outside of town seems to be connected to her missing sister, the case is turned on its head, and Emily must face the shocking family secrets it took to build her mother's empire.

This book took me on a thrilling ride. I watched closely for any mention of blood oranges  because of the title. There was a little about them mentioned randomly until the final third of the book when it became apparent why they were integral to the story. 

As the summary says, Catherine Cross' daughter went missing. No one knew if her disappearance was related to the other murders but law enforcement believed it was related. I was stunned by Cross's reaction to her favorite child going missing. Since she was a televangelist, her church raised over ten million dollars in just a week. People across the country sent her money for no apparent reason and she refused to return the funds. Not only were the police suspicious but so was oldest daughter Emily.

The story was written from Emily's point of view and she was in most of the scenes. Emily was not loved by her mother which I thought was odd since her mom was a religious figure. I have that expectation that families of faith leaders would be close. Emily loved her sister and was heavily involved in the search for her youngest sister.  

The story is more of a whodunnit than a howdunnit although the how was rather interesting. It has a lightening fast pace and the short chapters created suspense that kept me reading until I had finished the book.

Blood Oranges is a must read. 5 out of 5 stars.

Red Queen

Red Queen was written by the author in 2018 in his native Spanish language. It was translated into English by Nick Caistor in 2023. Gomez-Jurado is one of my favorite authors. In Red Queen he has moved away from his usual religious thrillers to a political thriller. While I loved his religious thrillers and wish he would continue to write them, Red Queen was a fabulous read.

The publisher's summary:  

Antonia Scott―the daughter of a British diplomat and a Spanish mother―has a gifted forensic mind, whose ability to reconstruct crimes and solve baffling murders is legendary. But after a personal trauma, she's refused to continue her work or even leave her apartment.

Jon Gutierrez, a police officer in Bilbao―disgraced, suspended, and about to face criminal charges―is offered a chance to salvage his career by a secretive organization that works in the shadows to direct criminal investigations of a highly sensitive nature. All he has to do is succeed where many others have failed: Convince a recalcitrant Antonia to come out of her self-imposed retirement, protecting her and helping her investigate a new, terrifying case.

The case is a macabre, ritualistic murder―a teen-aged boy from a wealthy family whose body was found without a drop of blood left in it. But the murder is just the start. A high-ranking executive and daughter of one of the richest men in Spain is kidnapped, a crime which is tied to the previous murder. Behind them both is a hidden mastermind with even more sinister plans. And the only person with a chance to see the connections, solve the crimes and successfully match wits with the killer before tragedy strikes again...is Antonia Scott.

Antonia Scott is a lovable investigator regardless of her personality quirks. She has been chosen to be Spain's red queen, a titled bestowed on one brilliant investigator in each European country. Antonia relies on pills that her Mentor gives her to help her filter outside stimuli so that she can focus on what she is seeing at a scene. The pills only work for an hour so she has to be selective about when she takes them. Red Queen is a crime fighting organization in Europe, similar to Interpol. Her sidekick Jon Gutierrez had been seriously wronged by a former employer and I couldn't help but root for him. This team of crime fighters work amazingly well together which is a good thing as Red Queen is the beginning of the Antonia Scott series. 

Despite Antonia and Jon's differences they quickly begin working on tracking down a criminal named Ezekiel who has slowly drained the blood from a man's carotid artery.  There was no blood at the scene nor was there any blood in the victim's body. Ezekiel then kidnaps Carla Ortiz, the daughter of the richest man in the world. I saw shades of Bill Gates here.  Ezekiel is an interesting character. He frequently tells himself "I am a good person." He also uses a line from Psalm 23 to add his signature to each crime scene:  annointing the dead person's head with oil.

The story had a super fast pace and was unputdownable. If you decide to read this book, make sure that you have time to finish it in one sitting. You won't be able to stop reading. It seemed that each chapter had a new twist to add to the story and this created alot of suspense. The short chapters also helped me keep reading because what's a few more pages before taking a break. Right?  

The Red Queen is a must read. 5 out of 5 stars.

Someone Else's Life

Annie Lin’s life crumbles. Her dance studio goes bankrupt. Her mother and beloved dog are gone the same year. Then a terrible accident leaves her young son traumatized. It’s time for a change. Palm trees, mai tais, peace and quiet―Annie should be at ease, safe in her new Kauai home with her husband and son. She hopes proximity to her family can provide them all with a sense of belonging and calm. But soon items from her past start turning up―her dog’s collar, a bracelet that disappeared years ago―and she has the unnerving sensation she’s being watched. Reality begins to fracture, and Annie’s panic attacks return. When, during a brewing storm, a woman appears on her doorstep looking for shelter, Annie is relieved to have the company and feels an unexplainable bond with her visitor. As the night progresses, Annie realizes the woman is no stranger. Their lives are inextricably intertwined―and Annie might just lose everything.

Atmospheric and Hitchcockian. Both of these descriptions of the book are accurate. I couldn't put the book down and was extremely interested in figuring out what was happening. I couldn't believe that Annie let Serena into her home and knew that Serena was going to be the villain. However, some of the red flags that Annie ignored were unbelievable. While Annie knew what was happening was questionable she continued to let it happen. Annie should have trusted her instincts and made her leave. Of course, we wouldn't have a great story if she had and this is a fantastic story. It's always amazing to me when an author's debut novel is so good.  I expect nothing but suspenseful stories from her in the future. She has two more novels ready to be published in the next year.  Check this book out.

5 out of 5 stars.

Lockdown

Peter May is one of my favorite authors. He wrote this book fifteen years ago and couldn't get it published. Publishers told him the idea of a worldwide lockdown due to a pandemic was unrealistic. I will bet that they regret their decision today. Lockdown was recently published by Quercus on June 13, 2020.

The story opens with Detective Inspector Jack MacNeil investigating the discovery of human bones in Lambeth, approximately five months after a flu pandemic hits London killing 80% of the infected. A thumbprint found on a public transportation ticket near the bones gives the first clues.  MacNeil's girlfriend, forensic scientist Dr. Amy Wu, determines that the bones belonged to a ten year old asian female. Wu begins to build a facial reconstruction of the female from her skull and later believes that she could be the source of the pandemic. MacNeil is followed throughout his investigation by a killer named Pinkie. Pinkie has been hired by a Mr. Smith to watch the police investigation unfold and ensure that the bones don't lead the police anywhere.  

The Lockdown plot was not what I expected.  It was mainly about the relationship between MacNeil and Wu instead of about the pandemic.  Since we are currently in a coronavirus pandemic, following the story's pandemic seemed to me to be more significant than MacNeil and Wu's relationship. It may be that a pacing problem resulted in the plot becoming more about the relationship than the action needed to resolve the pandemic.  Did the author spend too much time with character interaction, thereby slowing down the action?

Lockdown was not Peter May's best work nor was it his worst. The characters marginally kept me interested in continuing to read. The main reason that I kept reading was the fact that Peter May was the author. When he is at his best, his books are a dream to read. 

This suspense thriller had no suspense or thrills. 3 out of 5 stars. 

Old Bones

Old Bones is the first book in a new series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It is the Nora Kelly Book 1 with character Nora Kelly being the curator at the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute. Nora is approached by historian Clive Benton for help in putting together an archeological expedition to locate the Lost Camp of the ill-fated Donner Party. The Donner Party were headed west in 1847 to California but got lost and starved to death. They killed and ate their horses, dogs and then each other. Benton has just found a diary of one of the victims that has clues to the location of the Lost Camp.  He needs the assistance of Nora and her team of explorers and scientists to find the camp as well as a possible treasure grove of gold coins worth twenty million dollars. Nora agrees to lead the expedition. Her team soon discovers that finding the camp and uncovering what the Donners experienced has modern-day repercussions.

Old Bones was an enjoyable read. The pace was steady and the intricate plot gradually unveiled its mysteries. What I find exceptional is that there are two strong female characters that will most likely be working together in future novels.  They make a great pair. Nora Kelly is an archeologist and Corrie Swanson is a rookie FBI agent. Both characters have been in previous Preston and Child books but not together. These two worked side by side in Old Bones after one of Nora's team died unexpectedly. What is unusual is that two male authors are writing about two female protagonists. Usually women write about women and vice versa. It's exciting to see two intelligent women in authoritative positions working in tandem on cases.

While the wild west setting of the book is not something I care for, Old Bones had enough archeology, history and crime to keep me happy. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

The Malta Exchange

I haven't read a Steve Berry book in a few years because I got tired of political and spy novels. His books have always been more treasure hunts than any other mystery sub-genre so I thought I would give Berry another try.

In the Malta Exchange former Magellan Billet member Cotton Malone has been hired by the British to locate a satchel of letters written by Winston Churchill to Benito Mussolini during WWII. However, as soon as he finds them in Lake Como, Italy, Malone is knocked unconscious and the satchel is gone when he regains consciousness. Meanwhile, Roman Catholic Cardinal Kastor Gallo is on the Island of Malta trying to find the Nostra Trinita, a secret document of the Knights of Malta that could propel him to the papacy if he finds it. The Secreti, a secret section of the Knights, Malone and the Billet's Luke Daniels all work against each other to find it first. With a papal conclave due to begin in days there is urgency.

History is supreme here. The reader learns about Mussolini's last days and the aftermath of his killing. Churchill's reasons for writing him, a British secret for decades, is revealed. In addition, the entire history of the Knights of Malta is given, from their formation to the present. This is a rich history lesson. I learned much here and had fun reading about the Knights. The inner workings of the Catholic Church is also on display here.

What was interesting to me was how much writing was spent on individual church member inner motives.  The author explores how several characters became the way they were from their childhood. I don't recall reading anything like that before in a Berry novel.  As for Cardinal Gallo, he was a thief and liar since he was in a church orphanage but his behavior was never challenged because the Mother Superior wanted to see how far he would go with his treachery. When he declared an intent to become a priest it was too late for her to take action. However, being a liar and a thief helped him fit in when he ascended to jobs inside the Vatican.

The Malta Exchange was an entertaining read. The pace was fast and the plot action packed. The characters from the Knights and the Catholic church were interesting. The usual Magellan Billet characters were not as compelling which is unfortunate as the Berry novels are a series.  Now I am wondering what Steve Berry books I missed reading that need to be placed on the TBR list.

5 out of 5 stars!

The Obsidian Chamber

The inside cover blurb summarizes the book as follows:

"After a harrowing, otherworldly confrontation in Exmouth, Massachusetts, Special Agent A. X. L. Prendergast is missing, presumed dead. Sick with grief, Pendergast's ward, Constance, retreats to her chambers beneath the family mansion at 891 Riverside Drive-only to be taken captive by a shadowy figure from the past. Proctor, Pendergast's longtime bodyguard, springs to action, chasing Constance's kidnappers through cities, across oceans and into wastelands unknown.  And by the time Proctor discovers the truth, a terrifying engine has stirred-and it may already be too late."

The Obsidian Chamber is the 16th Special Agent Pendergast mystery.  I have only read one other book in the series, Blue Labyrinth and my lack of knowledge about the series definitely affected how I felt about the book. I felt that it was a little slow.  There is alot of back story written into the novel which I needed to know to understand what was happening, but it made the reading less suspenseful for me.  The book is described as a thriller by the publisher but I did not feel any thrill.  The plot was definitely interesting but because half of the book was back story, it fell a little flat to me.