Reviewed by: The Blind Monkey

As many of you know, the Blind Monkey is predisposed to RIP writers with a lack of respect for the english language. Authors like Robin Cook or Clive Cussler, who try to pack punch into flimsy sentence structure by repeatedly going to the Thesaurus for more creative ways to express a point.

The problem is, so few writers truly posses the expanded vocabulary they are trying to pass off as natural in their work. So instead of focusing on gripping plots and believable and well-woven characters, they get caught up in using big fancy words they don’t understand with no regard for context or setting.

Unfortunately, it seems that this strategy of ‘sounding more intelligent than you really are’ is a successful (and obviously lucrative) attempt at impressing the high-paying publishers that promote books to the top of best-seller lists for the simple minded.

I find it depressing. And if you follow the Monkey’s reviews for any length of time, you will find that this is my number ONE complaint with many of the modern writers that we review here at BMR.

—————–

And then we have: Dean R. Koontz. Koontz has such a masterful command of the english language that anyone with an appreciation for how mind-numbingly difficult it is to construct an original sentence will have to periodically put down the pages to gape in awestruck wonder.

I am one of these sorry souls who recognizes that my chosen words never adequately express what I’m trying to say. And when I find a writer that can do this so effortlessly, so cleanly, I have to drop to my knees in a “Waynesque” manner to repeatedly chant “I’M NOT WORTHY!!”

—————–

To prove my point, let’s look at an example from his latest suspense thriller, Seize the Night.

Typical modern writers like Kellerman, Cornwell, or Patterson flagrantly use curse words and obscenities to express everything from anger to excitement to mild interest. Although this is a clear reflection of our times, Koontz achieves the same effect without ever uttering the offense:

“…I heard myself repeating the same four-letter word, as if I had been stricken by a terminal case of Tourette’s syndrome and would spend the rest of my life unable to stop shouting this single obscenity.”

His delivery is so much more clever and subtle that you will read these descriptive phases over and over for sheer entertainment.

Hardcover- 384 pages (December 29, 1998) Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub (Trd); ISBN: 0553106651; Dimensions (in inches): 1.30 x 9.32 x 6.09

Reviewed by: The Blind Monkey

Patricia Cornwell has made a career out of clear language, believeable characters, and intricate descriptions that use location to create a compelling, moving force that transports the reader. Her latest work, Southern Cross, continues this simple-yet-effective strategy, and will engross you from page one.

As a sometimes-hypocritical, but consistently aggressive intellectual snob, I find it hard to admit to my readers how much I enjoy Cornwell’s novels. In fact, the other BMR writers turn up their collective noses whenever I mention her name. But the fact is, I can’t wait to rush to the bookstore or put in that ‘early-release order’ with Amazon each time she comes out with a new one.

I was both delighted and disappointed with her latest police-adventure.

Let’s start with “delighted.” This book introduces a humourous new element to PC’s writing with toungue-in-cheek satire and outlandish sub-characters that are simultaneously stereotypical and unique.

Take Butner “Bubba” Fluck IV, the gun-toting redneck tool freak obsessed with Phillip Morris products and alien conspiracies. Or Weed Gardner, a frighteningly accurate portrayal of a talented youth forced to commit criminal acts by fame-seeking gang members. There’s also Lehlia Ehrlhart, whose command of the english language is so terribly pathetic that every sentence comes out as a joke. And finally, we have the pets: “Popeye” and “Niles” steal the show time and again offering a unique perspective on the misguided actions of their owners.

But the development of the main characters leads us to the “dissapointing” portion of this book.

Cornwell returns to the cast of 1997′s Hornet’s Nest. Set in Richmond, VA, our heros venture north to implement the latest technological advances in criminal mapping on a grant from the NIJ to clean up the beleagered Richmond PD. Chief Judy Hammer, Deputy Virginia West, and Officer Andy Brazil interact in a way that leads the reader to believe that many, many, scenes have been missed since last we saw them. It’s much like reading the FIRST and THIRD book in a trilogy… you keep wondering what happened in-between.

A second, but equally troubling, disappointment is revealed in what seems like a lack of research on the part of the author. Unlike the excruciatingly accurate detail of the Scarpetta novels, Cornwell seems lost in her description of computer viruses and the police procedural. It’s almost as if she took a vacation while writing this book, and decided that the details weren’t as important as before.

But despite these shortcomings, Southern Cross is still a compelling read. It is a true accomplishment when one can make writing seem so completely effortless and encompassing. Although this isn’t one of Cornwell’s best, I still found it a great diversion and recommend it for readers looking for a lighthearted and enjoyable read.

Hardcover – 359 pages (January 11, 1999) Putnam Pub Group; ISBN: 039914465X ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.45 x 9.59 x 6.56

Reviewed by: The Blind Monkey

Many of you already know Jonathan Kellerman as the distinguished child-psychologist and Edgar-Award winning author of the Alex Delaware novels, but with his latest project, Billy Straight, Kellerman tries his hand at a more traditional detective thriller. Featuring new characters Detective Petra Connor and 12-year-old runnaway William Straight, Kellerman puts his psych background to more subtle use.



In Billy Straight, Kellerman puts his knowledge of how children develop in the face of adversity to good use without the aid of a handy child psychologist. After witnessing a brutal murder, our hero is on the run from every money-grubbing would-be investigator out for the $25,000 reward offered by the rich victim’s parents. He’s a runaway whose sharp mind and moral integrity enable him to survive the lurid urban jungle of West Hollywood.

In search of the alleged killers is Detective Petra Connor. A talented and beautiful artist-turned-police detective looking for meaning and direction in life.

This OJ-like case is a real page-turner, following famous suspects and twisted side-kicks into the bowels of the serial killer psyche. But if you’ve recently read Connelly’s Angel’s Flight, I’d take a break from the celebrity murder case and read it in a few months. Connelly does it better, and it will detract from your enjoyment of a good story.

I made this mistake, and although this book greatly surpasses the quality of Kellerman’s last two works (Survival of the Fittest and The Web), I had difficulty mustering the motivation to complete this review. But keep in mind, I have read the entire body of Kellerman’s work — and after Time Bomb and The Butcher’s Theater, he’s had an awful lot to live up to.

Hardcover – 467 pages (Jan 1999) Random House; ISBN: 0679459596 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.38 x 9.49 x 6.57

Reviewed by: The Blind Monkey

Michael Connelly is ruining my life. I’m addicted. A Connelly-addict and I can’t find a support group for my disease. It’s four in the morning on a Monday night and I’m completely engrossed in the latest homicidal adventure of LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, Angels Flight. I can’t put it down.

This Hieromonyous Bosch guy is one bad dude! Imposing, intuitive, and down right intimidating; with a soft fuzzy underbelly that shows whenever he’s pining for his lovely (and emotionally unavailable) wife – former Feebie, former convict, Eleanor.

But I digress into sub-plots.

For those of you who have experienced the other Harry Bosch novels, you already know this about him. And I do mean experienced, because Connelly takes over your being from page one (AHHHH — Invasion of the Body Snatchers!). I actually felt Harry’s desperation as he paced his Los Angeles home at 2 in the morning and grabbed the phone, hoping against all his instincts that it is the call he is waiting for. And I joined his disappointment when the call was the assistant of Deputy Chief Irvin Irving calling in the A team (no, not THAT “A” team) for a grisly murder investigation that is sure to become a major media event.

Here’s the skinny, a lawyer is found murdered at the base of Angels Flight, an inclined railway in downtown Los Angeles on the eve of a landmark case. The lawyer is Howard Elias, a long-time adversary of the LAPD with countless enemies among the men in blue. And when the case is given to Detective Bosch, colleagues and friends become suspects as any misstep threatens to ignite racial tensions in a tumultuous city.

This story continues Connelly’s development of Detective Bosch as the hard-boiled detective and archeotypical loner. It’s a theme you’ll recognize if you’ve ever read works by early writers like Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep, 1939) or Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon, 1930). These literary greats spawned the gumshoe Private Eye with compelling plots based on deception, nail-biting suspense, and human frailty. Connelly has been writing the police detective thriller since 1992, but I think you’ll agree, it wasn’t until Angels Flight that his works became worthy of the genre.

So read it — but be sure you don’t have to go to work the next morning. You won’t be getting much shut-eye tonight!!

Hardcover1 Ed edition (January 1999) Little Brown Company; ISBN: 0316152196; Dimensions (in inches): 1.40 x 9.49 x 6.45