As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson

Published by Viking on May 15, 2012

Sheriff Walt Longmire is on a reservation in Montana scouting a potential location for his daughter's wedding when a woman plummets to her death from a nearby cliff. Rather miraculously, a baby she is holding survives the fall. Unless the woman committed suicide (and nobody believes she would take her baby with her), the woman's no-good drunken husband is the obvious murder suspect, but Walt isn't so sure. Longmire is outside of his jurisdiction, so the crime will be investigated either by the tribal Chief of Police, Lolo Long, or the FBI. That doesn't stop Longmire from playing an active role. Another murder removes its victim from his list of suspects, deepening the mystery of the killer's identity.

Despite (or because of) her beauty, Lolo has a seriously large buffalo chip on her shoulder, a fact that contributes about half of the story's considerable comic relief. Longmire takes it upon himself to give Lolo some (mostly unwelcome) professional advice and on-the-job training. At the same time, everything that can go wrong does as Longmire tries to make arrangements for his daughter's wedding, providing another source of amusement. Laughs aside, Craig Johnson writes scenes of family dynamics that are sweet and touching without ever becoming melodramatic.

As the Crow Flies is a better-than-average mystery written in an easy, breezy style that mixes mild intrigue with gentle humor. Johnson doesn't rely on chase scenes or machismo-laden heroes to carry the story. Longmire doesn't provoke confrontations to prove his toughness, nor does he have the mindless "zero tolerance" attitude toward crime that too often characterizes fictional law enforcement officers. He is, in fact, more likely to tell someone to stop being stupid than he is to arrest them for foolish behavior. His self-deprecating remarks and laid-back attitude make him a likable character. The other series regular who plays a large role in As the Crow Flies, Henry Standing Bear, is equally likable. All the characters have unique personalities; even minor characters are believable.

The story's many plot threads all tie together nicely at the end. I wasn't able to identify the killer although a more astute reader might have better luck. Longmire's experiences as he pursues the investigation are as engaging as the mystery itself. The novel's most interesting section involves a Cheyenne religious ceremony in which Longmire is invited to participate. It is rare in a suspense novel for an upright hero to ingest peyote. Johnson's description of Longmire's hallucinatory experience is both respectful and fascinating. Longmire's vision, of course, helps him solve the crime, and if that's a bit farfetched, it is no less entertaining.

In short, As the Crow Flies provides a thoroughly pleasurable reading experience. It isn't necessary to read the earlier books in the Longmire series to appreciate this one, but reading this one might prompt readers to search out the previous installments.

RECOMMENDED

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye by Horace McCoy

First published in 1948; digital edition published by Open Road Media on April 17, 2012

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye begins with an escape from a chain gang and ends with an escape of a different sort. Ralph Cotter's violent departure from the chain gang is orchestrated by a "dame" named Holiday. Freed from his chains, Cotter quickly pulls off a robbery but, thanks to an untrustworthy accomplice and a dishonest cop, ends up penniless. It doesn't take him long to invent a new scheme to take opportunistic advantage of his desperate situation, although his plan doesn't feature the "rich rounded satisfactory nuances" that he prefers. Soon enough Cotter is in a position to take on the whole town without worrying about the police.

One of the characters aptly describes Cotter as "cocky." He's also intelligent, violent, and aloof. In his self-analysis, he is brutally honest. With others, he's merely brutal, although he exudes charm when the situation calls for social grace. Although Cotter is a tough guy killer with a James Cagney attitude, Horace McCoy imbued him with additional dimensions that set Cotter apart from other noir characters of his era. Cotter has a Phi Beta Kappa key, a degree, a "passion for the minor snobberies of life," and -- he explains with some pride -- an impressive "collection of psychoses." Included among the latter are an inferiority complex (when he moves among the elite) combined with a vast sense of superiority (when he moves among the criminal cohorts he regards as "mere passers of food"). At the same time he's capable of sentimental feelings -- not for people, necessarily, but for the cherry phosphate he orders at a soda fountain.

Among the peculiar characters Cotter encounters are a physician who is also a Zen master (he has forsaken the healing of bodies in favor of healing minds), a shady lawyer, a nervous hood named Jinx, and a well-connected, liberated woman named Margaret Dobson who, like Holiday, might be more than he can handle. In sharp, penetrating, insightful paragraphs, McCoy gives life to the novel's characters.

The story follows a course that takes more turns than the Tour de France, but the plot isn't complex. Rather, it follows an aimless life as Cotter reacts to the changing and seemingly arbitrary circumstances that confront him. The novel is as much a psychological profile of Cotter as it is a crime story. Cotter expects the worst from people -- betrayal is the aspect of human nature he always anticipates and he stands ready to betray in return. He regards women with a mixture of awe, jealousy, and contempt. His response to the two women in his life is complicated and contradictory. Much to his displeasure, it is his involvement with women rather than crime that determines his path. Through it all, he remains true to his nature. McCoy makes it clear that Cotter had no choice but to be the man he has become.

McCoy tells the story in mesmerizing prose ("the room was bitter with the feculence of imprisoned air that had been exhausted by a thousand usings"). While steeped in the language of its time ("this babe's full of vinegar"), the narrative incorporates enough literary references to make English majors gleeful. There is a certain poetic justice in the novel's final moments, the kind of irony that the educated Cotter is well-positioned to appreciate.

The story works just as well now as it did when it was first published in 1948. In fact, it may have been ahead of its time. Most modern readers will probably be more accepting of Cotter's social commentary than readers of an earlier generation would have been.

Readers who only desire to read about morally stalwart, likeable heroes should stay away from Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. On the other hand, noir fans who appreciate complicated characters, strong writing, and unorthodox plotting will find much to admire in this nearly forgotten treasure.

RECOMMENDED

The Prisoner's Wife by Gerard Macdonald

Published by Thomas Dunne on May 8, 2012

The Prisoner's Wife is a better novel than the blurbs that promote it, with their trite phrases like "pulse pounding" and "ripped from the headlines." Gerard Macdonald's story is in some respects familiar, but he avoids clichés while building a plausible, politically astute plot that is propelled by strong, troubled characters rather than mindless chase scenes and tired shootouts. Still, there are enough well-written action sequences to heighten tension while moving the story at a steady pace.

Shawn Maguire, an alcoholic and sex addict, on an indefinite suspension from his position with the CIA, is living on the English estate where his wife is buried. Flash back to 2000, when Maguire gets on the wrong side of the CIA's Calvin McCord, whose daddy used to run the Agency. Maguire's boozing, failed marriages, and taste for married women lead to his professional downfall, a fate that McCord promotes. In 2004, Ayub Abbasi, once a liason between the CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, hires the blacklisted Maguire to obtain information about Darius Osmani, an Iranian research scientist who, with a group of Taliban fighters, stole papers from Abbasi's office in Kandahar. Osmani also claims to have discovered a portable nuclear weapon in Afghanistan. Abbasi wants Maguire to find Osmani (who has disappeared) and to learn the location of the weapon. Although Abbasi and Maguire don't know it, about a month earlier two CIA agents captured Osmani in Paris.

Maguire goes to Paris in search of Osmani and finds Danielle, Osmani's wife. Maguire, of course, has a thing for Danielle, although he's still carrying a torch for his dead wife. Together with Danielle, Maguire travels to Morocco and Cairo and Peshawar in search of Osmani. Flashbacks become a regular feature as the story moves forward, supplying the mortar that binds together Maguire's unsteady life.

Like his alcoholism, Maguire's belief that his deceased wife still occupies the house they shared is an old and obvious device to depict the depths of Maguire's tormented soul, but Macdonald doesn't oversell those character traits. Maguire's fretting about his "addiction" to sex, on the other hand, becomes a little silly. Although he participates in too many angst-ridden conversations, Maguire is, for the most part, a well-conceived character, albeit overly reminiscent of the broken figures Graham Greene invented for his spy novels decades ago.

The Prisoner's Wife picks up momentum as it moves toward a surprising climax. Some aspects of the story Macdonald tells are less surprising -- they are, in fact, so familiar that much of the plot seems uninspired. The story is engaging but occasionally stretches the reader's capacity to suspend disbelief. It seems improbable that a blacklisted agent would so easily track a CIA captive as he is rendered from one secret prison to another. It is equally improbable that he would bring the detainee's wife on his dangerous mission, but pairing an aging spy with a young, beautiful woman is a standard feature of espionage stories and Macdonald makes it work despite its implausibility. Besides, she's integral to the story (as beautiful women always are in novels like this).

There are shades of noir in Macdonald's understated prose. Dialog is sharp. Macdonald has a tendency to overuse certain phrases (heavy people move "with surprising speed") but not so often as to become annoying. The plot takes a more accurate view of global politics (as well as inter- and intra-agency politics) than many thrillers manage. Readers who prefer a less jaded view of the American intelligence community, those who don't believe that intelligence analysts were subject to political manipulation post-9/11, those who look for clear distinctions between the good guys and the bad guys, and those who want to believe that the United States never errs, might want to find their reading pleasure in authors who are less grounded in reality. I found it refreshing to read a nuanced novel about terrorism that didn't feature a former Ranger single-handedly saving the nation from cartoonish evildoers.

Macdonald is no Graham Greene, but he is a welcome addition to the ever-expanding field of British spy novelists. The Prisoner's Wife is an intense, entertaining novel in the Greene tradition of dark, morally ambiguous spy stories.

RECOMMENDED

Fountain of Age by Nancy Kress

Published by Small Beer Press on May 8, 2012

Nancy Kress puts the science in science fiction, but more importantly, she tells stories about people. Too many writers of hard sf believe that inventive ideas are enough to carry a story. Kress knows that there is a difference between a science essay dressed up as fiction and an actual story. Beyond her emphasis on realistic characters and human emotions, her stories are defined by graceful, elegant prose. With only one exception, the stories in this collection -- all of which were published between 2007 and 2009 -- are excellent. Six of the nine are outstanding.

Kress blends humor with intrigue in "The Erdmann Nexus" as an elderly physicist and other senior citizens in his retirement home share flashes of memory -- or, as the physicist perceives them, not memories but real-time experiences. Meanwhile an alien ship executes a hasty and unexpected change of course and a ballet dancer's necklace becomes the focus of everyone's attention. How do those storylines intersect with that of the battered woman who acts as the physicist's caretaker? Ingeniously. With its sharp ideas, multi-faceted characters, and elements of mystery shrouded in science, "The Erdmann Nexus" won a well-deserved Hugo. This is short sf at its finest.

A senior citizen also headlines the Nebula-winning title story. "Fountain of Age" deals with tissue regeneration, the history of the Romani people, and creative crime, but it is fundamentally a story of enduring love tempered with sacrifice and regret. Suspense and deft plotting make this a riveting read, but it is again the carefully crafted characters that make the story memorable.

Genetic modification is a recurring theme in these stories. After a biological attack devastated Sichuan Province, a Chinese woman travels to America and becomes pregnant with a child who, unbeknownst to her, has been genetically modified. She returns to China to give birth to a child who needs to ingest a protein inhibitor every week. "First Rites" focuses on the unusual relationship between the hyperactive child and the neuroscientist who created (and illegally administered) his life-saving drug -- and the child's even more unusual response to his genetic modification. This is the cleverest application of the principle that "observation affects outcome" I've encountered. It also highlights another recurring Kress theme -- the danger of treating scientific skepticism as if it were a religion.

Kress takes the concept of children as weapons to another level in "Safeguard," as children genetically enhanced to serve as bioweapons escape from the dome in which they were raised. The story poses a moral question by pitting compassion for innocent children against the safety of a nation. Unfortunately, the potential power that lurks in this story is diluted by an ending that I regard as something of a cop-out.

Aliens visit Earth in two stories. In "The Kindness of Strangers," a woman's life is complicated in mundane ways before aliens cause cities to vanish. Stranded with a group of people inside an invisible dome outside of Rochester, the woman eventually learns why the aliens acted as they did, while at the same time learning something important about herself. Aliens have a less conventional reason for dropping by in 'Laws of Survival," a strange, touching, and wonderfully imaginative post-apocalyptic story about dogs and love.

Also taking place in a post-apocalyptic setting -- one where religious superstition has flourished -- is "By Fools Like Me." The paper books that have survived are sinful; trees are sacred. Still, an elderly woman, rejecting the doctrine that "a little bit of sin is as bad as a big sin," finds comfort in Alice in Wonderland, Jane Eyre, and a field guide to birds that no longer exist.

"End Game" posits that the ability to concentrate intensely on a single subject, blocking out all unrelated thoughts, is less desirable than it may seem -- and it may be contagious. This is an interesting story but not one of Kress' best.

"Images of Anna" answers the question "How much should you change for love?" as a photographer takes pictures of Anna that show individuals other than Anna. More fantasy than sf, the story is, to my mind, the weakest in the collection, the only one I didn't much like.

Still, two-thirds of the stories in this collection struck me as nothing short of brilliant. The stories showcase Kress as one of the premiere writers of science fiction -- and as a remarkably skillful storyteller, regardless of genre.

RECOMMENDED

Trapeze by Simon Mawer

Published in the US by Other Press on May 1, 2012; simultaneously published in the UK under the name The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

The child of an English father and French mother, Marian Sutro speaks both languages like a native. While serving as a WAAC, Marian is recruited to join a secret organization. After receiving commando and espionage training in Scotland and England, she parachutes into France as part of Operation Trapeze. Marian has also been given a second clandestine mission, involving the delivery of a microdot to Clément Pelletier, an older man who was rather fond of her when she was living in Geneva. Pelletier, like her brother Ned, is a physicist doing the kind of work that could have a profound impact upon the course of the war; the British would like to smuggle him out of Paris and put him in a London laboratory.

During Marian's first undercover trip to Paris, it becomes obvious that Britain's clandestine agents have been betrayed. Much of the novel's tension is generated by the mystery of the traitor's identity. A couple of potential romances lurk in the background of Marian's dangerous life, which naturally cause the seasoned reader to wonder whether one of her potential love interests might be working for the wrong side.

Trapeze tells a fast-moving story in better-than-average prose. The characters are well developed and entirely believable. The novel's only drawback is its failure to surprise. The plot contains no unexpected twists and the identity of the traitor is rather obvious. The ending is probably intended to shock, but its abrupt arrival drains it of its force. Given all the tension the story creates, it's a bit disappointing that it doesn't deliver a stronger climax. Still, the ending is true to the story that precedes it; it isn't artificially happy, and to that extent it is satisfying. On the whole, Trapeze is an enjoyable and occasionally fascinating, if conventional, spy story.

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