Picks of the Week

VICTORY SQUARE, by Olen Steinhauer

(originally posted on June 26, 2007)

Steinhauer closes his five-book series of espionage-tinged novels set in Eastern Europe with a flourish, circling back to Emil Brod (the earnest protagonist of the Edgar-nominated THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS) now sixty-four and very much feeling his age, the impending collapse of Cold War tactics and incoming change both professionally and personally. Of course there are loose strands dangling but here, as before, Steinhauer demonstrates why he's one of the smartest, most thoughtful crime novelists to emerge in recent years.

BLOODSHOT, by Stuart MacBride

(originally posted on June 26, 2007)

I kind of like the UK title, BROKEN SKIN, better but the contents are the same no matter what edition you pick up. Once again, DS Logan Macrae has several cases on the go at the same time, ranging from a brutal sex murderer, a soccer star who can't quite be arrested for several rapes and an eight-year-old killer whose evasion makes our boy a laughingstock. Most writers would be daunted by the number of storylines in play but MacBride keeps things moving and spinning in this superior procedural.

THE LAST NIGHTINGALE, by Anthony Flacco

(originally posted on June 26, 2007)

Historical suspense set in the immediate aftermath of the 1906 Earthquake? Of course I'm going to read it. What results is a fast-moving tale of serial killing when almost no one is looking, caught as they are in the midst of a seeming apocalyptic nightmare. Where Flacco especially shines in his depiction of the two children, newly orphaned Shane Nightingale and the plucky girl who calls herself Vignette in order to give herself a more mysterious air. I haven't been hearing much about this book at all and that's a shame - it's clearly deserving of a very wide audience.

THE MARK, by Jason Pinter

(originally posted on June 26, 2007)

There are many reasons to read this book: the trials and tribulations of neophyte journalist Henry Parker; the developing chemistry between Parker and his forged-in-fire friend, Amanda Davies; the visceral writing style and sly knocks on a world where celebrity of any kind gives you credibility. But most of all, read it because if you do, you won't be able to stop. At least, I couldn't.