The Mystery Starts Here

The title is “The Echelon Vendetta” by David Stone. It’s a first novel and I have to say, it’s terrific. The story starts in Italy with a very grisly murder. The protagonist, Micah Dalton is a cleaner for the CIA and the dead man is a fellow CIA operative and a friend. Micah follows clues and finally solves the murder. Part of the story is told from other points of view which help the reader to understand the story. This is the kind of book I love – it sucked me in on the first page and wouldn’t let me go. This is a long book, over 500 pages, but I could NOT put it down! So often with long books, I get bored because the author is basically babbling and I find myself skipping pages to get to the end. Not so with “The Echelon Vendetta.” I read every word and savored them all.

There’s plenty of action and, although it’s pretty gruesome in spots, the violence is not gratuitous, it make sense for the plot. The author bio states that Stone served in the military and has worked both as an intelligence officer and as an investigator for a law enforcement agency – and it shows in his story – he brings authenticity to the work. The writing is crisp, clean and draws you right into the story.  All the disparate threads are explained at the end and Stone nicely sets us up for his next book, “The Orpheus Deception” again starring Micah Dalton. I can’t wait to read it!

I’m trying folks, honestly, I’m trying to find a GOOD mystery novel to review, but it ain’t easy.

I just finished Jonathan Kellerman’s latest opus, “Bones.” The book started with a great premise. Someone finds a dead body in a protected marsh area in L.A. Cadaver dogs are brought in and…you guessed it, more bodies are unearthed. Unfortunately, the book goes down hill from there - rapidly. I have to wonder what happened to psychologist Alex Delaware? He used to treat patients in interesting subplots and only help Milo and the police out occasionally. Now he’s riding with Milo full time just like another cop. And what is with Kellerman’s weird penchant for describing what everyone is wearing? A character shows up – we get a full description of what he/she is wearing. Why?

The resolution of the book is…well, stupid. SPOILER ALERT. All the women in the swamp were killed over the period of a YEAR as a set up to kill one person – and then that person isn’t killed. HUH? Also, the connection between all the characters is so outrageous it’s laughable. I’ve read all of Jonathan Kellerman’s books and have noticed a rapid decline in the last few years. It’s sad because he used to be able to tell a good story. Now Jonathon, his wife Faye (also a book writer – I won’t say novelist) have managed to get their son Jesse into the business! Ah nepotism. I picked up Jesse’s first book, read about ten pages and threw it – with great force - against the wall.

So, mystery lovers out there in cyberspace, if you’ve read a good mystery lately, please let me know. I’m getting desperate!