The Mask by Taylor Stevens

Published by Crown on June 30, 2015

Arriving in Osaka, Vanessa Michael Munroe thinks she is finally home. She is back with Bradford, the only man who can tame her savage instincts. From nearly the first page, however, the reader is forewarned that Vanessa will soon be troubled about a choice that Bradford makes.

Bradford has taken an assignment as a security consultant for a Japanese firm that believes trade secrets are being stolen by one of its employees. He is soon accused of murder. Although Michael knows that the accusation is false, she is upset with Bradford for reasons that make her seem uncharacteristically like a drama queen. In any event, getting to the bottom of why Bradford has been framed becomes Michael's mission.

The Mask presents a grim view of Japanese business culture. Its portrayal of the Japanese system of criminal justice is even darker. Whether the perspective is accurate I couldn't say, but it is at the heart of the novel's plot. Had this story been set in the United States I would have found the plot unconvincing, given fairly obvious evidence (revealed early in the novel) that Bradford has been set up. Perhaps exculpatory evidence has less value in Japan. In any event, my unfamiliarity with the culture allowed me to suspend my disbelief, which allowed me to buy into the plot.

The story doesn't have the power or drama of some earlier Michael Munroe novels, but the intricate plot is satisfying, action scenes are fun, and the pace is swift. The Mask adds little to Munroe's character development but it does add a worthy opponent to her growing list of adversaries (described as two tigers meeting by chance in the forest). I would have enjoyed seeing that character developed more fully but perhaps Taylor Stevens has plans for her in a future novel. I would like that, but whatever the plan might be, I look forward to reading the next installment in Munroe's effort to find a balanced life.

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The Bill of Rights by Carol Berkin

Published by Simon & Schuster on May 5, 2015

Carol Berkin's The Bill of Rights must be read in the context of its subtitle: The Fight to Secure America's Liberties. It is not so much a book about the Bill of Rights as it is a concise history of the adoption of the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. It is not a legal treatise. The rights themselves are not explored in depth, nor is there a discussion of how courts interpreted those rights after they were adopted. That is not a fault, merely a caution that if you are looking for a book that explains the Bill of Rights, you should look elsewhere.

Berkin's thesis is that the Bill of Rights was "more a political strategy than a statement of America's most cherished values." She argues that the Federalists (primarily James "Jemmy" Madison) wanted to enact a Bill of Rights not so much to protect individual rights (although that was certainly a secondary motivation) as to thwart the Antifederalists who criticized the broad powers that the Constitution gave to the federal government. By limiting the federal government's ability to use its power oppressively or tyrannically through the Bill of Rights, Madison hoped to syphon support from the Antifederalists who wanted to amend the Constitution in ways that would weaken the federal government's power.

Early chapters in The Bill of Rights explore the origins of the tension between federal power and state's rights, an ideological divide that produced notable differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Berkin argues that the need for a strong federal government became apparent after the Revolutionary War, as cooperation among states turned into competitive squabbling that threatened to destroy national unity. Although the Antifederalists lost steam after the first congressional elections gave them minority status in the legislature, Berkin's book traces their attempt to refight the battles they lost at the Constitutional Convention by supporting constitutional amendments that would shift federal power to the states (primarily by limiting the federal power to raise revenues and regulate trade).

Berkin explores the historical context that motivated Madison to urge the protection of rights that had been denied or limited by the British. She also discusses the contentious issue of the limit of federal power, exploding the modern myth that the federal government has only those powers that are expressly enumerated in the Constitution (a proposed Antifederalist amendment containing that exact language was firmly defeated).

After discussing the Articles of Confederation and the adoption of the Constitution as its replacement, Berkin's story moves to the first Congress and to Madison's championship of the constitutional amendments that later became the Bill of Rights. Madison's proposed amendments were less a Bill of Rights than a series of specific changes to the language of the Constitution, including some that had nothing to do with individual rights. Berkin recounts in detail the fascinating evolution of Madison's document until it became the Bill of Rights that the states ratified.

It is interesting to read about the vigorous debates that affected the wording of rights that are now so familiar, including freedom of religion and its supposed relationship to the right to bear arms. Particularly amusing was the objection that a prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments might put an end to the "necessary" punishments of whipping and dismemberment. Also interesting are the so-called "obstructionist tactics" used by the Antifederalists, an accusatory phrase that both political parties wield (with some justification) today.

The story follows the Bill of Rights from the House of Representative to the Senate, which simplified some of Madison's turgid language. Berkin then discusses state ratification of the amendments. Two of the twelve passed by Congress (addressing congressional salaries and the size of the House of Representatives) were rejected by the states, leaving the ten amendments that have become the backbone of America's commitment to individual rights (albeit a commitment that in practice has too often been unsteady). An appendix includes Madison's proposed amendments, the Bill of Rights as adopted, and brief biographies of the first elected senators and representatives.

Berkin suggests that supporters of the Bill of Rights, including Madison, did not envision the crucial role it would play over the course of history in protecting individual rights. Supporters of the Constitution as it was drafted argued that the political process, as controlled by the Constitution's scheme of checks and balances, would be sufficient to prevent the new American government from violating the basic rights of the governed. History shows just how wrong they were. Fortunately, the public understood that "social and cultural majorities" were just as likely to be oppressive as a monarchy. Their fear of majoritarian tyranny translated into reservations about a Constitution that did not protect their fundamental rights. Madison exploited that fear as a means of undercutting the Antifederalists, but regardless of his motivation, the fight Madison waged is a defining moment in American history.

Berkin's book is amply sourced and (although I am no historian) her research seems to be accurate and unbiased. She avoids the dull prose of academia and tells the story in a lively voice. While the mission of this brief book is limited, I think Berkin proves her thesis, making this an insightful contribution to the history of one of the nation's most important founding documents.

RECOMMENDED

Green Hell by Ken Bruen

Published by Mysterious Press on July 7, 2015

I'm a fan of Ken Bruen's no-frills writing style, with its frequent references to pop culture, its creative use of foul language, and its striking visual arrangement of words on the page. Some pages consist of quotations from excellent crime novels and American television shows, broken into lines that reveal their poetry. Bruen takes on critics who complain that his books are for "people who don't read" by having a bartender opine, "How [censored] insulting is that to readers?"

Bruen knows that good writing can be found in movies and television shows and popular crime novels, not just in Nobel Prize winning fiction. Bruen's own crime fiction is a prime example. Descriptions of people and places are vivid, pointed, and mercifully short. Dialog is snappy. (My favorite snatch of dialog in Green Hell is this:

"I have a Kindle."
"And may God forgive you.")

The bartender suggests that the pop culture references "ground the story in stuff I know" but there's really no need for Bruen to defend himself. The quotations and lists are necessary amusements. They balance the pervasive darkness to which his characters are exposed, the unfairness that they were born to endure.

In Green Hell, an American named Boru Kennedy puts aside his dissertation on Beckett to write about Jack Taylor, the man who saved him from young thugs who were about to "kick the [censored] be-Jaysus out of this bollix." Taylor is well known to Bruen's fans as the former Guard who tries to steer his way through a crime-filled Galway that he typically perceives through an alcoholic and pill induced haze. Kennedy, fascinated with Taylor's combination of roguish charm and full throttle violence, decides to interview the people who know Taylor best, none of whom hold him in high regard. A former colleague who describes Taylor as "a spit in the Face" once thought that the light shone stronger in Taylor than the darkness. That person now thinks that Taylor has embraced the ugliness and brutality of life. Others are less kind.

Part I, which covers more than the first half of Green Hell, is Boru's take on Jack. In Part II ("Jack's Back"), Jack is again the narrative voice. But since the voice is always Bruen's, the change is one of perspective rather than style. Taylor's perspective is bleak. That the story takes place at Christmas only contributes to Taylor's grim mood. Part II also introduces a character who is even more messed up than is normal for the series. I suspect she will resurface in later installments.

Apart from its biographical content -- the latest installment in the story of Jack -- a plot occasionally surfaces, having to do with a woman Boru starts dating and an academic who physically abuses his female students. The plot takes a sharp turn and finally comes into focus in Part II. It soon becomes clear why the story's perspective has changed.

Green Hell didn't pick me up and throw me down a flight of stairs like some of Bruen's novels, although it delivered Bruen's characteristic knockout punch at the end. This is a worthy installment in Jack Taylor's life. The greatest joy in reading these novels lies in knowing (knock on wood) that my life will never be as bad as Jack's.

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The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango

Published in Germany in 2014; published in translation by Atria Books on June 23, 2015

Henry Hayden engages in "sporadic acts of goodness" that he regards "as mere interruptions to human wickedness, and that inescapably lead to punishment." He is driven to destroy the things he loves, but only those things, and not entirely without regret. His complexity is the best thing about The Truth and Other Lies.

For the first quarter of the novel, I wasn't sure what kind of story I was reading. Then, in a pivotal and quite unexpected scene, it became clear why this is billed as a crime novel. The crime initially seems to be one of impulse but also one of mistake -- a crime gone wrong. Later, with about a quarter of the novel remaining, the story's true nature comes into focus. The Truth and Other Lies is less a crime novel and more a slow unveiling of a criminal.

But what kind of criminal is Henry? Known to the world as a bestselling author, Henry has been having a longstanding affair with Betty, his editor. Henry has kept the affair a secret from his wife, Martha, although Betty's pregnancy is making secrecy a problem. Henry has also kept a secret from Betty that is known only to Martha. Henry's trouble's mount as the story progresses but Henry tends to shape his own fate, so it isn't surprising that (as he observes late in the novel) fate is inevitably kind to him.

Henry has a secretive past in which he made an enemy, although Henry is oblivious to the enemy's existence for most of the novel. That character, like others in The Truth and Other Lies, is dangled before the reader in a tantalizing tease, then disappears as the story's focus returns to Henry. Seemingly forgotten characters return at key moments as the plot follows its carefully charted course. The mystery of Henry's past begins to play a critical role about midway through the story.

While The Truth and Other Lies is an engaging crime story, it is also a well-crafted psychological portrait of a self-centered man who suffers from a lack of empathy. Is he a psychopath or merely an opportunist? Does he have no conscience or does he simply lack impulse control? Is he detached from reality? What forces have shaped him? The police detective who hunts Henry wants to learn the truth about him but that, according to Henry, is the detective's fundamental mistake. "There's no truth in me," Henry says. "The truth has been eaten up by the fish, the truth has been burnt up in the furnace, the truth is ashes."

It is just as difficult for the reader to know Henry as it is for the detective. That isn't surprising because Henry has concealed his true self from everyone, just as Sascha Arango hides it from the reader. "We have to love Henry without knowing him" laments one of the women in Henry's life. No reader will love Henry but his complexity makes him a fascinating protagonist.

The story is good, if less interesting than Henry. It generates suspense but this isn't "edge of my seat" reading. Arango's prose is fluid, the ending is clever, and the entire novel is infused with dark wry wit.

RECOMMENDED

Snow Wolf by Glenn Meade

First published in 1995; published in trade paperback by Howard Books (Simon & Shuster) on May 19, 2015

Jakob Massey died in 1953 while working for the CIA. His son William was told that Jakob committed suicide. Decades later, William finds hidden documents referring to an operation called Snow Wolf that cast doubt on the date, place, and circumstances of his father's death. William travels to Russia in the hope of learning the truth. He hears the story from Anna Khorev, a woman who blamed Stalin for her father's execution, her mother's suicide, and the ugly turns her life took as she entered adulthood.

Without giving anything away, I can safely say that Snow Wolf incorporates the ingredients of a fast-moving thriller. A fellow named Alex Slanski (a former OSS assassin who used the code name Wolf) is dropped into Russia by parachute. He has a mission. Anna goes along as his cover but is not told the details of his mission. Of course, half the Russian army chases Slanski and Anna through Estonia and Russia as they try to evade capture and carry out their mission. Those scenes are all fast-moving and credible.

A key player in the novel's second half is a KGB major named Lukin, personally charged by Lavrentiy Beria with finding Slanski and Anna. Lukin is a surprisingly admirable character, given the nature of his employment. Beria keeps a secret from Lukin that Lukin and reader discover late in the story. Another plot twist involves a decision by President Eisenhower to abort Slanski's mission after it is already underway. That decision sends Jakob Massey to Russia.

Snow Wolf is all about plot. The characterizations are nothing special. The writing is surprisingly tight given the novel's length. Although we learn the ultimate fates of Massey and Anna (as well as the mission's outcome) in the novel's early pages, Snow Wolf manages to generate a satisfying amount of suspense. Most of the intrigue involves Slanski and Lukin as they work toward their respective goals.

Some aspects of the story are not entirely convincing but I found it easy to suspend disbelief for the sake of enjoying a good story. The novel's core surprises are plausible and its internal logic is consistent. The ending -- Slanski's completion of his mission -- is a bit too easy, which is the novel's greatest weakness. This is nevertheless a strong, fast-moving thriller.

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