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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2063 KP) rated Demolition Angel in Books

Mar 9, 2018

Three years ago, Carol Starkey lost her partner and lover when a bomb exploded. Heck, she almost lost her life herself, and she has lived with the scars, real and emotional, from it ever since. Now she is tasked with solving the murder of another LAPD bomb squad member killed by a bomb. The ATF thinks it was the work of Mr. Red, a serial bomber. Can Carol catch him?

The mystery itself in this book is strong, and I enjoyed the twists and turns as we went along. However, I had a real problem with Carol. She was a walking cliché of the hard-boiled mystery genre right down to her chain smoking, secret drinking, and hard to like personality. Her character arc was a cliché as well, but I finally did find myself caring about her toward the end of the book.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/07/book-review-demolition-angel-by-robert.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.

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David McK (3180 KP) rated The Royalist (William Falkland #1) in Books

Apr 18, 2022

Set during the period of the English Civil Wars, I have to say that I found this to be rather unusual in that it is not about (per se) the wars themselves: rather, it is set in the New Model Army camp over a winter period, between hostilities, with William Falkland (the Royalist of the title) plucked from his prison cell by none other than Oliver Cromwell himself and sent to investigate reports of suicides/disturbances in the camp.

Reading very much like a ECW version of a whodunnit, with the author - in the afterword - not at all shy to point out the influences of the hard-boiled detective hero/film noir of the 40s (think Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler) on this work.