Military Bookshelf: More Winter Chills & Thrills
Military.com - Tom Miller
Feb 02, 2009
It's Feb. 2. Groundhog Day. And, the early word from Pennsylvania is that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning and Ol' Man Winter's going to stick around for six more weeks. While we wait for the eventual thaw, why not throw another log on the fire and curl up with a good book?
************************************************************
The Renegades, by T. Jefferson Parker. Dutton, $26.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-525-95095-0
Best-seller Parker brings back Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy Charlie Hood (from 2007's L.A. Outlaws) in this atmospheric thriller.
This time out, Hood is plunged into an investigation of cop corruption when the popular deputy he's partnered with, Terry Laws, is gunned down in front of him.
Known as "Mr. Wonderful," Laws seems like an unlikely target for a hit, and Internal Affairs recruits Hood to get to the bottom of the case.
The clues all point to Londell Dwayne, a local gang banger. Laws and Dwayne had a history: Laws arrested Dwayne. Dwayne's dog ran away. Dwayne threatened to retaliate. Payback is hell. Or, maybe not.
Hood isn't convinced though and begins digging. And, he discovers that Laws had some secrets--the most significant being that he was quietly living large on a cop's pay. In addition to a new wife, Laws had recently acquired a $900,000 home and three vehicles (a Range Rover, a Mercedes, and an F-250 truck).
Digging even deeper, Hood uncovers evidence that Laws and his sometime partner, a volunteer reserve deputy named Coleman Draper, had been working as couriers for a Mexican drug cartel. When Draper discovers that the dogged, incorruptible Hood is on his trail, he hatches a plan to eliminate him.
Parker is very good at evoking the barren milieu of his setting--the expansive desert beyond L.A.--and crafting a mystery with plenty of twists and turns. He's less apt at creating believable, likable characters. There's the brooding Hood, whose favorite pastime is driving alone for hours, and Hood's love interest, prosecutor Ariel Reed. Reed is brilliant, beautiful, and a third-generation drag racer. So, why's she interested in a lowly sheriff's deputy? But, his most extreme creation is anti-hero Bradley Jones. Jones, the son of outlaw Allison Murrieta (who met her untimely end in L.A. Outlaws), is ripped from the pages of a comic book.
Jones is only 17-years-old but he has the IQ of Einstein, the fighting skills of Bruce Lee, the panache of Bogart, and the poise under pressure of a Navy SEAL. So far, the reader doesn't know if Jones will use his considerable talents for good or ill. Stay tuned.
************************************************************
A Darker Place, by Jack Higgins. Putnam's, $26.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-399-15550-5
A prolific master of the spy novel, Higgins (The Eagle Has Landed, Eye of the Storm) brings back protagonist Sean Dillon for a sixteenth time in this provocative thriller that asks if the Cold War ever really ended. This time out though, Dillon takes a back seat to girlfriend Lady Monica Starling (a Cambridge don and along with Dillon a member of an elite security force dubbed the "Prime Minister's private army") and wheelchair-bound computer wizard Giles Roper (also a colleague of Dillon's).
The suspense begins when Alexander Kurbsky, Russian war hero (Afghanistan and Chechnya) and acclaimed author, approaches Lady Starling at a literary event in his honor in New York and drops a bomb. He wants to defect.
Back in London, Lady Starling and her colleagues agree to help Kurbsky defect to England. The plan is to spirit him away from his handlers while he's in Paris to receive a literary award.
But, it's all a Russian ruse. A reluctant Kurbsky has been recruited by the GRU (Russian security service) and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to fake a defection in order to infiltrate the "Prime Minister's private army." Kurbsky agrees to cooperate in return for the promised release of his sister from a Siberian prison. What Kurbsky doesn't know is that his sister is already dead: a victim of typhoid while in captivity.
Meanwhile, the Russians enlist assassin and drug smuggler Ali Selim to blow up a London summit negotiating a Palestinian settlement.
The Russians are playing a dangerous game of deceit and deadly mischief. It's up to Roper and his computer to uncover the deception and, hopefully, save the day.
At an age when most people are comfortably retired, Higgins shows no sign of slowing down. And as long as he continues to deliver fast-paced and intelligent espionage thrillers, let's hope he keeps on going . . . and going . . . and going . . .
----
Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion
Copyright 2009 by Tom Miller
A former history professor, Tom Miller is a novelist and essayist. His most recent novel, Freshman Sensation (2007), is available from the publisher at http://www.ccjournal.com/. His reviews and essays have appeared in numerous books, journals, and newspapers, including The Encyclopedia of Southern History, American History Illustrated, the Chicago Tribune, and the Des Moines Register. He also is a former Army Officer and Vietnam Veteran.
