Tenacity by J.S. Law

First published in Great Britain in 2015; published by Henry Holt and Co. on November 3, 2015

Tenacity is a first novel that reads like a sequel. Danielle “Dan” Lewis was captured by a serial killer four years before the novel begins. The novel frequently refers to that traumatic time in Dan’s life. In fact, so much reliance is placed on the past that I wondered if Tenacity was recounting events that took place in an earlier novel, but that isn’t the case.

Dan now works as a naval investigator for Crimes Involving Loss of Life (known as “Kill”), a division of the Special Investigation Branch. She starts the novel damaged -- both by the serial killer and by another violent incident in her life -- and she isn’t handling her damage very well.

Dan is assigned to look into an apparent suicide of Stewart Walker on the HMS Tenacity, a nuclear submarine. Dan feels pressure from certain naval officers to determine that the death was, in fact, a suicide. She also feels pressure to keep her nose out of a related police investigation into the murder of Walker’s wife. Of course, following a formula familiar to thriller readers, Dan decides that pursuing justice is more important than following orders.

Dan is teamed with John Granger, who assisted her in the Hamilton investigation. That unhappy relationship creates a source of tension that gives the story an added kick.

The story milks some drama from the fact that the submarine sets sail with Dan as the only female on board. The captain and most of his company are offensively sexist. Her investigation is obstructed at every turn. Her naval career is threatened. Can she find a way to make justice prevail?

The book does not paint a flattering portrait of submariners in the British navy but, given the author’s credentials, I suspect it is accurate. In any event, the detailed submarine setting adds a sense of authenticity to the story.

The story is a bit too heavily dependent upon coincidence, but that’s common in modern thrillers. Dan is a sympathetic character. Supporting characters are one-dimensional but that is also common in thrillers. The story develops a reasonable amount of suspense and moves at a reasonable pace. The ending holds some surprises. The story does not resolve every loose end, apparently setting up a sequel, but it does resolve the main storyline in a satisfying way. In short, Tenacity is a reasonably strong and enjoyable debut novel.

RECOMMENDED

An Evil Mind by Chris Carter

First published in Great Britain in 2014; published by Atria/Emily Bestler Books on December 1, 2015

The serial killer in An Evil Mind refers to an FBI study that supposedly claims 500 serial killers are at large in the United States. The FBI statistics I can find put that number at 35 to 50 and many authorities consider even those estimates to be exaggerated. In any event, if you read enough crime novels, you might think a serial killer lurks on every corner. There are so many serial killer novels that it is difficult for writers to find a fresh angle. Chris Carter doesn’t quite do that here. He gives us a Hannibal Lecter clone with a twist, but the twist is not sufficiently innovative to make his villain stand out.

A traffic accident leads to the discovery of severed heads in the trunk of a car in Wyoming. Robert Hunter, an LAPD detective who happens to be one of those gifted, all-knowing criminal profilers who exist only in crime fiction, is called upon to advise the FBI. He’s tapped for assistance not so much because of his profiling skill but because the killer will only speak to Hunter.

The killer is apprehended early and much of the story involves the killer’s descriptions of past murders. Structuring the novel in that way deprives the story of suspense until, well after the midway point, Carter tries to inject some by using a well-worn device (one victim may still be alive, can she be rescued before she dies?). The device is too overused to have any hope of generating the suspense Carter wants to achieve.

The only thing that approaches freshness in An Evil Mind is the killer’s relationship with Hunter. Of course, that relationship leads to a revelation (I won’t spoil it here) that fills Hunter with fury and despair and other emotions that are intended to make the reader sympathize with Hunter. Unfortunately, the revelation is so contrived that it fails to serve its intended purpose.

Carter repeatedly relies on transparent, over-the-top devices to manipulate his readers’ emotions. Really, readers don’t need to have a kidnapping victim work as a volunteer for children with terminal cancer in order to care about her. Readers don’t need to listen to Hunter describe how he learned about his girlfriend’s pregnancy (“We were both…” Hunter paused to catch his breath. “So happy”) the very day she was killed in order to understand why, years later, he is still haunted by his past. None of this feels honest and the lack of honesty kept me from buying into the story.

The story moves at a good pace, thanks to the usual thriller formula (short chapters, lots of dialog). Carter’s prose is well-suited to the story he tells. Characterizations are about average for a modern thriller. The last few chapters hold a surprise and the resolution is better than I expected it to be. Predictability, contrivances, and a lack of originality are the novel’s key flaws. They aren’t necessary fatal -- it is easy to stick with the story until it reaches its climax -- and fans of serial killer fiction who don’t mind reading the same story over and over will find things in this one to enjoy (including a particularly reviling psychopath and some gruesome descriptions of his evil deeds). If you are looking for something new, however, look elsewhere.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Dark Places by Reavis Z. Wortham

Published by Poisoned Pen Press on September 1, 2015

In an introduction to Dark Places, Reavis Wortham mentions that the first two novels (the best in the series) were darker than their successors, and that Dark Places is intended as a return to the darkness. I don’t think Dark Places achieves that goal -- it isn’t dark in the sense of chilling or spooky, as are the first two -- but it is still a good entry in the series.

For some time in these novels, Pepper has been expressing her dissatisfaction with small town life and yearning for the excitement of San Francisco, where (at least according to the radio) all the interesting people live. Pepper hits the road in this novel (much to Top’s displeasure), leading to the first of the novel’s plotlines. The plot branches off, sometimes following Pepper and other times following Ned and Pepper’s dad as they become involved in drama of their own after hooking up with a fellow named Crow, who joins them in their search for Pepper.

Another plot thread involves two young men who (accompanied by a third as an unwilling bystander) commit a murder. That crime occupies Sheriff Ned and his new deputy, Anna, who gives most of the local residents their first exposure to feminism (in the limited sense of a woman doing “a man’s job”).

In addition to larger issues like the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, Reavis Wortham evokes a sense of time by reference to television shows and songs that were popular during the early 1960s. That creates a sense of nostalgia for those of us who are old enough to be nostalgic about that era. Given that his characters range in age from older guys like Ned to kids like Top and Pepper, Wortham’s novels have appeal for readers of every age.

The story moves quickly, the characters are believable, and the intersecting plots hold a fair amount of excitement. None of the Red River Mysteries have met the standard of the first one, but Dark Places provides an entertaining opportunity for series fans to spend time with familiar characters.

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Crucifixion Creek by Barry Maitland

Published in Australia in 2014; published by Minotaur Books on November 10, 2015

This 2014 Australian novel, recently published in the United States, is my first exposure to Barry Maitland. I like the book’s atmosphere. The characters have plausible depth for a fast-moving thriller. The plot has a satisfying number of twists, but the novel doesn’t stand out as an original or exceptional contribution to the “cop turns avenger” genre.

Harry Belltree’s father was the first Aboriginal judge of the New South Wales Supreme Court. Harry is a police detective. His parents died in a traffic accident and Harry is obsessed with the belief that they were the victims of a murder or, at least, a hit-and-run. Part of the novel concerns Harry’s pursuit of those suspicions.

For a time, Harry is investigating murders in a Sydney neighborhood with an unfortunate history that is known as Crucifixion Creek. He is a witness to the first murder. The second victim is his brother-in-law. Also dead are an elderly husband and wife who committed suicide together for reasons that reporter Kelly Pool finds mysterious.

It soon becomes apparent that related, nefarious activity by a biker gang has a political connection. More brutality follows, the body count rises, and Harry, assisted by his blind wife, finds the violence coming uncomfortably close to home -- as does Kelly Pool.

Much of the story will be familiar to thriller readers. As a cop, Harry is told to back off, and so of course he doesn’t. As a man with a sense of justice, Harry doesn’t always play by the rules that the police should follow. Harry isn’t quite Dirty Harry but he does take the law into his own hands, making him about the billionth law enforcement officer in crime fiction to do so. Kelly is the typical intrepid reporter who puts herself at risk while following her nose for a story. The reason underlying the murder turns out to be a crime scheme that thriller writers rely upon too often. None of that is particularly imaginative. The ending, on the other hand, comes as something of a shock, although the shock is weakened in the final paragraphs.

Still, the Sydney setting is a nice departure for American readers who are looking for something different, and there are enough twists here to add intrigue to a familiar plot. Maitland’s prose is crisp and the pace is appropriate for a crime thriller. Unanswered questions set up the next book. While I might hope for more creativity in the second novel, this one made me want to read it.

RECOMMENDED

Beatlebone by Kevin Barry

Published by Doubleday on November 17, 2015

It’s quite a conceit when a writer puts himself into the mind of a famous subject, particularly one who is as complex as John Lennon. “This is the story of his strangest trip,” we are told. The result is an intimate psychological portrait of Lennon at a particular point in his life, with snippets of a biographical portrait of the man and his era.

The story takes place in May 1978. Lennon is 37. He has fame, wealth, children, and a small island off the coast of Ireland that he visits now and then so he will have a secluded place to scream, a place he can be “so fucking lonely that I’ll want to fucking die.” To help him get to the island without being noticed, he hires a fellow named Cornelius O’Grady who often seems to be pursuing an agenda that does not include transporting Lennon to the island.

Cornelius is a blend of philosopher, advisor, and father-confessor. He is a representative of Temptation and Absolution. His wisdom, based on experience and common sense, is deeper than that of the well paid therapist who has advised Lennon to scream his troubles away.

Blending history with fiction, Lennon’s journey with Cornelius takes him to pubs and various other locations, including the Amethyst Hotel, where the Beatles had stayed nine years earlier. Other guests at the Amethyst draw Lennon into one of those confrontational circles where people rant at each other but Lennon has been there, done that. Lennon has learned that “the examined life” is “a pain in the stones.” That segment of the book, however, gives Kevin Barry a chance to dig more deeply into Lennon’s history and psyche.

When about two-thirds of the novel has passed, the author intervenes and, from a first-person perspective, begins to explain his methods of seeking inspiration for the novel. The narrative turns into the history of western Ireland weirdness in the 1970s with bits of literary criticism of Lennon’s writing, details of Lennon’s life, snapshots of Liverpool, the author’s own experience on the island, and the author’s contemplation of the connection between Lennon’s Irish ancestors and his attempt to find a place in the world.

And then, just as jarringly, we’re back to Cornelius and the world of fiction. The setting changes again as the novel nears its conclusion, when we see Lennon in a recording studio. Lennon rambles about his island experiences during a less-than-successful recording session as he tries to capture something new or true, something meaningful in a world where separating meaning from background noise is a daunting challenge.

Barry’s writing style put me off before it drew me in. The opening pages seem aggressively experimental, as if composed on acid, before the prose settles into a purposeful rhythm. I was particularly taken by the dialog, which often delivers low-key hilarity. Most of the novel is written in short paragraphs, save for the ending ramble and occasional extended paragraphs that impart the details of Lennon’s isolated home life, his paranoia, and his inability to write new songs.

I’m not sure that everything works perfectly in Beatlebone (the author’s intrusion struck me as self-indulgent), but most of the novel works quite well. It is a convincing examination of a gifted but troubled mind, a romp through psychology and philosophy, and an astonishing collection of unexpected sentences. The abundant humor (like Lennon) is wry but the novel (like Lennon) suggests that despite past and present struggles, there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow. Of course, as Barry must have intended, we read the novel with Lennon's fate in mind. Hope and reality, the novel reminds us, do not always coincide.

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