The Insider Threat by Brad Taylor

Published by Dutton on June 30, 2015

Brad Taylor builds his Taskforce novels using a reliable formula. Pike's team is sent on a mission. The Oversight Council squabbles about the mission. Pike is ordered not to do something and he ignores the order so that he can complete the mission or he changes the mission to save lives or to save a team member. Pike's team members (particularly Knuckles) are wary of Pike's relationship with Jennifer and Jennifer is wary of their testosterone-laden view of the world. The Insider Threat follows that formula. It is about average for a Taskforce novel, which makes it better than most other thrillers about Americans who save the world from terrorists using their wits, high tech gadgetry, and state-of-the-art weapons.

Although the key bad guys in The Insider Threat are recruits of Islamic State, they are also Americans. Three of them escaped from a Florida reform school and consider their Islamic State recruitment to be joining another gang, albeit one that will give greater meaning to their violence. That's a clever spin that allows Taylor to avoid the obvious plots that burden similar thrillers, but I can't say he ever sold me on this one. Disenfranchised Americans do join radical causes, both foreign and domestic, but the motivation for these particular young men to give their allegiance (and lives) to Islamic State seems a bit thin.

Still, the plot is fun and the Lost Boys' target -- which becomes known to the reader with only a hundred pages remaining -- is not what I expected. Brad Taylor continues to avoid stereotyping when he creates his bad guys. They are always unique individuals with complex and convincing motivations, unlike the terrorist caricatures found in most novels of this nature.

The Insider Threat brings back Mossad's deadly Shoshana, setting up an interesting conflict with Jennifer, who is always the series' moral touchstone. Shoshana believes that slaughtering bad guys makes the world a better place while Jennifer argues that slaughtering bad guys makes you a bad guy. Jennifer never makes the mistake of dismissing innocent human beings as "collateral damage" simply because they aren't Americans. Yet Shoshana shows a bit of her own moral enlightenment as she explains the circumstances under which she refused to kill under Mossad's command. It is that sort of subtle thought that keeps me coming back to Brad Taylor while turning away from writers who see the conflict between good and evil in simplistic terms.

The Insider Threat lacks the imagination displayed in the best novels in this series. The ending reaches a predictable result via a mildly surprising path, but one of the final scenes is a bit hokey (unusual in a Taylor novel). The justification for Pike's team doing all the rescuing instead of swarming the target with police (or moving the target) is slim. Taylor has been cranking these books out at a phenomenal rate and this one seems a bit rushed. Having said that, I enjoyed the novel despite its flaws and I suspect most fans of the series will also have fun reading it.

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The Casualties by Nick Holdstock

Published by Thomas Dunne Books on August 4, 2015

The Casualties is a pre-apocalyptic novel more than it is a post-apocalyptic story. While the story is told from 60 years in the future, it begins in the past (our near future) because history teaches that "everything is determined by what came before." The novel's structure sets The Casualties apart from typical post-apocalyptic novels because, although we are immediately and frequently forewarned that a near-extinction event on three continents is coming, the story focuses on the lives and activities of an eccentric group of people in the Comely Bank neighborhood of Edinburgh during 2016 and 2017, before the apocalypse occurs.

From the narrator of The Casualties (whose identity the reader deduces from hints as the novel progresses), we learn that Sam Clark, manager of a charity bookshop, learned about people from the books they donated and from the ephemera they left in their pages (ticket stubs, pictures, letters). A man named Alasdair who lived under a bridge owned few possessions because possessions make people unhappy -- except a stranger's old photo album that he cherished until he didn't. Caitlin, who had a horrible skin condition that isolated her from the world, had a crush on Sam. Sinead, a goth who has abandoned promiscuity in favor of celibacy coupled with obsessive self-gratification, had sexual fantasies about Sam. Unfortunately for Caitlin and Sinead, Sam was too terrified of reproduction to have sex with anyone.

Other odd characters of Comely Bank include an obese man whose hunger seems to be partially satiated by watching cooking programs, the caretaker who tests that phenomenon experimentally, a woman who writes letters to a dead man, an alcoholic couple, a Filipina prostitute, and a Pakistani shopkeeper who feels unwanted in Comely Bank. No writers do "eccentric" as well as those from the British Isles, and Nick Holdstock is a worthy heir to that tradition.

A part of the plot deals with old black-and-white photographs (reproduced in the book) from the 1920s to the 1950s. If everything is determined by what came before, those pictures tie the past to the present. A challenging amalgamation of past and present in the last pages drives that point home.

The Casualties is about the need to understand others, to avoid judgment of lives we have not lived. It is about living with the past while living in the present. It is about "admitting the faults of the dead without saying that they deserved to die." It is about transformative experiences and how their occurrences are so often unexpected and seemingly random. It is about the relationship between the past and memories of the past. It is about "me" being a succession of selves defined by memories (selves that would be different if lost memories could be restored). It is about moving on when plans and expectations are shattered. It is about how everything that happens is determined by what came before.

Apart from a brief visit to 2047, it is only at the novel's midway point that we learn anything meaningful about the apocalyptic event. Most post-apocalyptic novels assume than an apocalyptic event is a bad thing. This one assumes that it is a bad thing for the 2 billion people who die but ultimately a good thing for the 5 billion who survive. That's a remarkably fresh take on a tired genre that, while not the novel's focal point and thus not fully explored, is yet another fascinating notion that makes The Casualties worth reading.

Since the story deals with contemporary, pre-apocalyptic lives, The Casualties might be a good science fiction novel for readers who don't really like science fiction. On the other hand, it might be a bad novel for readers who think post-apocalyptic fiction should be about zombies chewing on non-zombies or scavengers killing each other as they fight over scrap metal. Setting aside genres and expectations, I would say The Casualties is a worthwhile novel for any reader who enjoys strong characters, provocative thought, and a memorable mixture of humor and drama.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Taking Pity by David Mark

Published by Blue Rider Press on July 7, 2015

As series fans know, DS Aector McAvoy has been through hell. McAvoy is living apart from his wife and daughter to assure their protection from the criminal gang known as the Headhunters, which is fighting a turf war in Hull. McAvoy should be on sick leave, perhaps for the rest of his life, but politicians with clout want him (with the able assistance of his boss, DSI Trish Pharaoh) to investigate the murders of four family members that occurred fifty years earlier. The alleged murderer -- Peter "Daft Pete" Coles -- is finally being released from the mental health institution to which he was committed and the Home Office wants to make sure the case was investigated properly and the right man accused. Or (more likely) they want McAvoy to say that too much time has gone by to secure a conviction so that the case can quietly disappear.

Daft Pete, found near the bodies cradling a shotgun and muttering something about how he didn't mean it, is the obvious suspect. Of course, the reader knows that makes him the least likely culprit.

Meanwhile, DCI Colin Ray takes a break from drinking his way through his own misery to help another series regular, DC Helen Tremberg, who is recovering from injuries sustained when McAvoy's house was bombed in an earlier novel. Like McAvoy and apparently everyone in Hull, Tremberg is having her own problems with the Headhunters. She can't reveal that problem to Ray but she would like to see him put the criminal organization out of business.

Taking Pity is highly dependent on events that occurred in earlier novels. It can be read as a stand-alone, but some of the characters' actions and interactions might be puzzling to readers who are unfamiliar with the first three books in the series. Taking Pity only partially resolves plot threads that have been building throughout the series, leaving room for additional character development in novels to come.

Characters are the strength of these novels but David Mark is no slouch at plotting. The story is complex, believable, and reasonably surprising. This one is darker than the first three and McAvoy is less the center of attention, but Mark's ability to juggle the different plot threads and to bring them to a satisfying conclusion is impressive. British crime novels are always a pleasant departure from American thrillers, largely because so many American authors spend more time describing guns than characters. This is turning into one of my favorite series.

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The Redeemers by Ace Atkins

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on July 21, 2015.

The Redeemers (the fifth entry in the Quinn Colson series) is an intense, character-driven crime novel that features an ensemble redneck cast. Clean shoes are the only thing that separate the rich rednecks from the poor rednecks. Most of them are from Tibbehah County, Mississippi, although a few live in neighboring Alabama. Many are struggling with their lives while rebuilding a county that was torn apart by a tornado. The tornado, however, serves as a symbol for the destruction that the novel's characters have brought upon themselves.

Sheriff Quinn Colson is one of the few exceptions to the redneck mentality that pervades the county. He returned to his home in the pursuit of misplaced love, but he also loves the county ... or at least its natural beauty. Colson has been voted out of office, replaced by a decent but naive guy named Rusty Wise. County Supervisor Johnny Stagg, who owns a truck stop and a strip club and fancies himself the de facto ruler of Tibbehah County, is disappointed that Wise seems to be as incorruptible as Colson. Deputy Lillie Virgil likes Colson and isn't sure whether she wants to work for Wise. Other than unemployment, Colson's problems include a drug addicted sister named Caddy, a formerly estranged but recently resurfacing father, and a messy affair with another man's wife.

Also playing key roles are Mickey Walls, who owns a flooring business, Mickey's third ex-wife, Tonya Cobb, her mother Debbie, and Debbi's husband Larry, who owns the town mill. The relationship between Mickey Walls and Larry Cobb soured after Mickey and Tonya divorced, setting up a large part of the plot.

The story begins with Mickey and his friend Kyle Hazlewood talking about breaking into Larry Cobb's safe. They enlist the help of veteran burglar Peewee Sparks and his apprentice nephew, Chase Clanton (Alabama relatives of Mickey's second ex-wife). All of the characters are created in vivid detail but Peewee and Chase have the reddest necks. Their botched burglary is proof that crime can be funny, but crime can also be deadly, as the novel's second half repeatedly demonstrates.

In fact, The Redeemers is a novel balanced on a fulcrum. The first half is leisurely and amusing. The second half is fast and forceful. Tension builds as the focus moves from dim-witted characters who are good for a laugh to endangered characters Ace Atkins makes the reader care about.

The novel's ending wraps up some threads that earlier novels in the series apparently left dangling. Since this is the first one I've read, that will mean more to readers of the series than it meant to me. I can nevertheless say that The Redeemers worked well for me as a stand-alone novel. This book sets up the next one in Quinn's uncertain future and I look forward to reading it.

RECOMMENDED

Brush Back by Sara Paretsky

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on July 28, 2015

"Romeo would have vanished without a single metaphor if Juliet had appeared on her balcony looking like this." Sentences like that keep me coming back to Sara Paretsky. So do good stories and believable characters. Brush Back is a strong entry in a strong series.

In a story that focuses on Chicago politics, Chicago cops, Chicago's south side neighborhoods, and Chicago sports (Cubs and Blackhawks), Peretsky celebrates and derides the Windy City with love and honesty. The city's history of corruption -- its commingling of crime with politics and law enforcement -- is never whitewashed, yet it's clear that V.I. Warshawski loves no view more than Chicago's skyline as seen from the shores of Lake Michigan.

A high school boyfriend from Chicago's south side wants Warshawski to help his mother, Stella Guzzo, who has just finished a 20 year sentence for killing her daughter Annie. Given that Stella called Warshawski's mother a whore at the mother's funeral, Warshawski has no desire to help Stella. Inevitably, Warshawski returns to South Chicago and pokes her nose into Annie's death. Her investigation quickly changes course after Stella accuses Warshawski's cousin, long-deceased hockey star "Boom Boom" Warshawski, of committing the murder.

Stella was defended twenty years earlier by an easily manipulated young lawyer of marginal competence, but why did he take the case? What secrets is he keeping? Warshawski's investigation takes her to various law offices, to old acquaintances of Stella's lawyer, to Wrigley Field, to a trucking company, to a priest, to a retired judge, and to the police department (involuntarily) when a character who seemed to be on the periphery of the story suddenly turns up dead. That death begins a second murder mystery. There are a handful of suspects who may have killed Annie (including Stella) and maybe a dozen who might have killed the more recent victim. Eventually we learn of a missing person and another murder. Of course, Warshawski's job (and the reader's) is to tie the mysteries together and figure out who did what and why.

The most engaging subplot involves a teenage relative who is staying with Warshawski and who makes her feel old. Plot complications and twists abound but the story is always easy to follow, thanks in part to internal summaries that fit naturally into the narrative.

Paretsky generates credible tension with a good bit of action toward the end. One of the final action scenes pushes the bounds of credibility, but less so than most modern thrillers. Warshawski is a familiar character and she doesn't change significantly in this novel, but not every series entry needs to involve character evolution. Brush Back does, however, shed some new light on Warshawski's past. The solid plot, the clever resolution of the mysteries, and Paretsky's winning prose are easily enough to make me recommend Brush Back.

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