Rogue Prey: the hunters hunted

Despite the title, this is NOT part of the American Lucas Davenport ‘prey’ series, penned by John Sandford. Think instead of a contemporary version of the Hunger Games. But more deadly. With adults. Chained together in pairs. Being chased by bad guys with sniper rifles. Set in the Spanish hinterlands. Plus snakes. OK, so nothing…

Ten Acre Rock: powerful prairie dogs

It takes real talent to find something fresh in the ‘American police procedural’ genre, but that’s just what author Kris Lackey does in Ten Acre Rock. County Deputy Hannah and First Nation police officer Maytubby share overlapping jurisdictions and a powerful sense of moral indignation. When the rulebook says they should look the other way…

Full Tilt Boogie: no holds barred

From the blurb – female FBI agent takes over a new field office in Ohio, discovers a new designer drug, bumps heads with her boss, sizes up a jailbird snitch, people get dead all around her – you’d think this is a run-of-the-murder-mill, modern American crime thriller. Think again. Seldom do you find such unspeakable…

Liquid Shades of Blue: another colour noir

Top marks for that ingenious title, which effortlessly evokes the hazy shades of the sultry Floridian Keys where this murder (maybe?) mystery takes place. At the same time, that clever phrase rings big bells with readers of my era who cut our crime fiction fangs on pulp-fiction detective stories like the John D MacDonald novels…

Short Stories For Thinkers: thinking allowed

Despite the title, most of the nine stories in this collection are better if you don’t over-think them. They are modern morality tales which consider some of the more challenging aspects of 21st century life in the light of long-established ethical principles. The majority are short and sweet and fairly straightforward; few contained any great…

Not The Ones Dead: Alaskan intrigue

Some stories are as much about place and people as they are about plot. This is one such story: a love-letter to the Alaskan wilderness and to the people who comprise its variegated population. There’s a genuine threat prowling the backwoods, of course there is, but the author devotes many more words to exploring the…

And Put Away Childish Things: whither Aslan?

There were a few good things to come out of the pandemic, and this delightful confection is one of them. Anyone nostalgic for Narnia’s warm cosy glow should be suitably charmed by the author’s deft juxtaposition of sentimental childhood touchstones and the cripplingly ridiculous mid-life crisis of a third-rate actor. A thoroughly unlikeable fellow, protagonist…

Quantum Radio: everything everywhere

I really should know what to expect when I pick up a sci-fi thriller by AG Riddle. After all, I’ve read half a dozen of them and they share a comfortable formula. Half geek: half boy’s own adventure. This means you get thoughtful speculative extrapolation based around solid contemporary scientific concepts – something of a…

No Plan B: next-gen Jack Reacher

Who needs a plan anyway? Everyone on the planet must already be aware of the vast line of Jack Reacher novels, from the very first – Killing Floor – right up to the present day, with authorship duties split between Lee Child (not his real name) and his brother Andrew Child (possibly not his real…