Review of "World Gone By: A Joe Coughlin Thriller" by Dennis Lehane

In this 3rd book in the 'Joe Coughlin' series, the gangster/businessman is in the midst of deadly mob rivals. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

As the book opens World War II is raging. Joe Coughlin, a former crime boss in the Tampa area, is now more of a businessman gangster......



......living a (more or less) respectable life with his 9-year-old son Tomas. 



Joe is an advisor to current Florida crime boss Dino Bartolo and friends with top lieutenant Rico DiGiacomo, whom he's known since childhood. He's also on good terms with other gang bosses because he makes lots of money for everyone and doesn't skim or cheat.



So Joe is surprised when a hit-woman needing his help tells Joe that a hit on him is scheduled for Ash Wednesday.



Meanwhile Bartolo's gang is short on personnel because so many men have been drafted. This opens lieutenant spots for some ambitious but less than brilliant criminals, like Rico's brother Freddy DiGiacomo. Freddy wants to push out Montooth Dix who rules 'Brown Town', the neighborhood where African-Americans and Cubans live.



Freddy tries to kill Montooth but fails, losing two men in the skirmish. Freddy then insists that Montooth be murdered because he killed two white men - though Freddy started the trouble. Joe, who likes Montooth, is ordered to set him up. Joe's life is further complicated by his torrid affair with the mayor's wife......

......and by the ghost of a young boy who seems to be related to him. 



The author does an excellent job creating a dangerous atmosphere as Joe hobnobs with various gangsters who might be about to kill him. It's clear that being a gang boss is a tricky business, as there's always someone ready to bump you off and take your place.

The dramatic climax of the book takes place on a luxury yacht.



The book should have ended right after this but the story drags on for a bit to a somewhat surprising ending. All in all this is a good story with vivid, interesting characters - recommended for fans of mystery/thriller or gangster books.

Rating: 4 stars

Review of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: A Screenplay" byJohn Tiffany and Jack Thorne (based on books by J.K. Rowling)

This eighth book in the Harry Potter series is the script of a play that originally opened in London's West End in 2016. The play harks back to occurrences in the original series so the reader needs to be familiar with those books to fully appreciate the story.

"Cursed Child" opens 19 years after Lord Voldemort's defeat. By now, Hermione is Minister for Magic; Ron runs Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes; Harry is Head of Magical Law Enforcement; and Ginny is a sports writer for The Daily Prophet.



Harry and Ginny's middle child, Albus Severus Potter, is starting his first year at Hogwarts and - against all odds - is put into Slytherin. Albus becomes best friends with his fellow Slytherin, Scorpius Malfoy - the son of Draco and his wife Astoria.



Ron and Hermione's daughter, Rose Granger-Weasley is also a first year student at Hogwarts, placed into Gryffindor. Rose disapproves of her cousin Albus hanging out with Scorpius because she associates Scorpius with death eaters, and thinks he's a sketchy guy.



Jump ahead three years and Albus, Scorpius, and Rose are about to begin their third year at Hogwarts. Rose fits in very well at the school, where she's popular and a good Quidditch player. Albus and Scorpius, however, are having a rough time: Albus because he feels pressured by being the son of 'famous Harry Potter', with whom he has a very fractious relationship; and Scorpius because rumors abound that he's really the son of Lord Voldemort. In addition, Scorpius is grieving from the recent loss of his mother. Albus and Scorpius are on the edge of rebellion and have a strong desire to prove themselves - and Albus knows just what to do.

While he was home for the previous summer break, Albus overheard some things. First, contrary to the belief that all the Time-Turners were destroyed during the 'Battle of the Department of Mysteries', Harry recently confiscated an illegal one.....and Hermione hid it at the Ministry of Magic. Second, Amos Diggory - having heard a rumor about the Time-Turner - dropped in on the Potters. He implored Harry to go back in time and save his son Cedric, who was killed by Lord Voldemort after he was a co-winner (with Harrry) of the Triwizard Tournament. Harry strongly denied he had a Time-Turner and Amos went away mad, accompanied by his niece/caretaker Delphi.



So.....Albus and Scorpius hatch a plan while they're traveling to school on the Hogwarts Express. They jump off the train, team up with Delphi, and steal the Time-Turner from Hermione's office via clever use of polyjuice potion.



The boys then go back in time to make sure Cedric doesn't win the Triwizard Tournament - which presumably will save his life. Of course any diddling with the past reverberates through the future, and the boys' machinations have massive - and unfortunate - results. The boys try to go back and fix things - several times - but end up making everything worse.



Meanwhile, Harry, Ginny, and Draco are informed that their sons aren't at school, and form an uneasy alliance to find the boys - assisted by Ron and Hermione. This is a very 'grown-up' development considering the previous animosity (to put it mildly) between Draco and Harry.



The play is realistic in its depiction of difficult family dynamics: Harry (try as he might) can't seem to connect with Albus, who feels like odd man out in his famous/gifted family.



 And Draco, though he's a loving father, appears to be on a different wavelength from his boy Scorpius - who's a gentle, unassuming lad. (He should probably be a Hufflepuff.... LOL.) Scorpius even has a crush on Rose, which is a sweet, amusing touch.



And that's about all I can say about the plot without spoilers.

Many characters from the original series make an appearance - including dementors - and it was fun to see them. (Well.....the dementors aren't that much fun .....)

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and I enjoyed the play. The plot is clever, the characters are smart, and there's a nice surprise twist. That said, the story, which was conceived by J.K. Rowling and written by Jack Thorne, lacks the depth, breadth, an ingenuity of the original books. Partly, this is because a play is less detailed than a novel, but also because it doesn't have Rowling's 'touch' (IMO).

Also, the characters' repeated trips to the past give the play a repetitious vibe. When I compare this work to the screenplay 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', which Rowling wrote herself, I find that 'Fantastic Beasts' is more artful and entertaining.

Still, I highly recommend 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' to fans of the series. If you're a Potterphile, it's a must read! ❤

(Note: I just love the name 'Scorpius'.....It's inspired!)

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Truly Madly Guilty: A Novel" by Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty is a popular best-selling author and her latest book, Truly Madly Guilty, garnered a lot of hype and many good reviews. That said, the book was just okay for me.

Set in Sydney, Australia, the story is about an unfortunate incident that occurs during a backyard barbeque. The cookout's hosts are Vid and Tiffany - a rich sociable couple that live in a luxurious home.....



.....with their 10-year-old daughter Dakota.



The guests include the hosts' next-door neighbors Erika and Oliver and their friends Clementine and Sam......



.....who bring their two little girls Holly (5) and Ruby (2).



The story skips back and forth in time, depicting events before the barbeque, on the day of the barbeque, and after the barbeque.

As the story unfolds we learn the backstories of some of the characters. Erika had a difficult shame-filled childhood with her mother Sylvia, a narcissistic and delusional hoarder.



Feeling bad for Erika, Clementine's mother Pam took the girl under her wing and pushed Clementine to be friends with her - which Clementine resented.

Erika's husband Oliver also had a dysfunctional childhood, with two alcoholic parents.



Thus Erika and Oliver - both damaged - understand each other and have a quiet successful marriage.

Clementine, by contrast, had a happy childhood.....aside from being irritated by Erika's constant presence. Clementine had loving parents, a nice home, and musical talent that was nurtured by her family.



Clementine is now a professional cellist, happily married to public relations honcho Sam. Though Clementine and Sam's lives are somewhat fraught - with two small kids, two careers, and Clementine's constant fretting about auditions - the couple meanders along quite happily.

Vid is an electrician who resembles 'Tony Soprano' and Tiffany is a successful property developer with an eye-catching sexy figure. Tiffany unashamedly admits she once worked as a pole dancer to make money for school. The couple enjoy throwing parties and Vid loves to cook - so he serves tasty dishes from recipes he finds on the internet. (I got a yen to try some of his dishes....ha ha ha.)



On the day of the barbeque tension arises early because Erika and Oliver make a request of Clementine and Sam that throws the couple off-kilter. So it's not surprising that there's a little too much drinking and hilarity at the cookout, leading to an unfortunate occurrence.



A good part of the book drops hints about the incident at the barbeque, details the emotions and actions of the characters, and relates consequences after the cookout. I have to say - after the HUGE build-up - I found the 'barbeque incident' rather predictable and mundane, and the consequences overblown and unrealistic.

That said there are things I like about the story. It has some clever surprises and twists, and some memorable characters and scenes. For example, Sylvia the hoarder (Erika's mom) is sly, phony, funny....and VERY irritating.



And social worker Pam (Clementine's mom) is overly self-righteous in her do-gooding, interfering zeal. At one point Pam gives a dinner party speech that made me (and the book's characters) quite uncomfortable.



These behaviors - though squirm inducing - add interest to the story. On the other hand, 5-year-old Holly is a hoot when she sprinkles her conversation with "air quotes" on random words.

The first two-thirds of the book held my attention, after which I was slightly bored. And the story's final scenes didn't ring true to me. I would mildly recommend this book to fans of Liane Moriarty but it's not as good as her earlier work (IMO).

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Stay Close: A Novel of Suspense" by Harlan Coben

Seventeen years ago, in Atlantic City, Stewart Green disappeared, an event which profoundly affected the lives of several people: Green's wife was devastated and the lead cop in the investigation, Detective Broom - who befriended Mrs. Green - is still obsessed with the case; Cassie, an entertainer at a club named La Crème who was involved with Green, gave up her old life, changed her name to Megan, and became a suburban wife and mother; and Ray Levine, Cassie's boyfriend at the time, became an alcoholic with a shameful (in his eyes) job as a fake paparazzi.

Now, seventeen years later another man, Carlton Flynn, disappears from Atlantic City in similar circumstances. Unfortunately for Megan she chooses this time to revisit her old haunt, La Crème, where she's recognized by a former friend, the bartender Lorraine. As events unfold this pulls Megan into the police investigation of Carlton's disappearance - and as it turns out - the disappearance of several other men. This upsets Megan life since she's desperate to hide her former identity from her husband.

Meanwhile, Carlton's father, a wealthy developer who distrusts the cops, hires a pair of psychopaths - blonde and beautiful Ken and Barbie - to find out what happened to Carlton. This horrific pair love inflicting pain and go on a torture spree to get information, an endeavor aided by a corrupt cop.

Eventually, using information provided by Megan, Ray, and others, the police are able to figure out what's going on, but the solution is not satisfying or believable. Moreover, it was difficult (for me) to reconcile what happened to Green with the very profound changes in the lives of the main characters. Green was an abusive and unpleasant guy and it seemed to me that everyone was better off with him gone.

I'm a Harlan Coben fan but I was disappointed with this book. Ken and Barbie are so over-the-top that they seem like cartoons. Other characters, like Ray and Megan, are so self-involved that they're hard to care about. And the story is overly convoluted and doesn't quite gel. I was actually wondering if Coben had a co-writer since this book seemed so different from his usual style and quality.  

Rating: 2 stars

Review of "Caught: A Novel of Suspense" by Harlan Coben

WARNING: THIS REVIEW MIGHT CONTAIN (WHAT YOU CONSIDER) SPOILERS

Wendy Tynes is a television journalist for the program 'Caught in the Act', a show that lures in and exposes child predators. Dan Mercer, a divorced Princeton graduate who coaches troubled kids, is ensnared by Wendy's machinations and accused of targeting a young girl. However, the evidence is compromised and a judge lets Mercer off.



This infuriates Ed Grayson - whose son was abused - and he shoots and kills Mercer right in front of Wendy.



However Grayson is a former U.S. Marshall - and a very clever guy - who gets rid of the body, obfuscates the evidence, and hires top-notch criminal defense attorney Hester Crimstein. Thus, it looks like Grayson can't even be brought to trial. And even if he could be, the jury would more likely congratulate him than convict him.

Meanwhile, a 17-year-old high school girl named Haley McWaid has been missing for three months.....and new evidence points to Mercer (now dead) as the possible abductor.



There's a problem though. Wendy's been re-examining the evidence that Mercer was a pedophile and - in retrospect - it looks inconclusive. Hence, Wendy fears she may have 'outed' an innocent man.....and indirectly got him killed. Moreover, Wendy's not positive Mercer was involved in Haley's disappearance either.



Wendy's guilty conscience leads her to delve into Mercer's life, going all the way back to his years at Princeton. And lo and behold, Wendy discovers that something bad happened at the Ivy League University a couple of decades back.....something that might be connected to what's occurring now.



As Wendy's trying to uncover the truth she interviews Mercer's family and friends, some of whom have lost lucrative jobs because of the economy. One of Mercer's unemployed buddies - who's fashioned himself into a rapper called Tenafly - provides some comic relief from the darker parts of the story.



Wendy's investigation, helped by playboy/tycoon Windsor Horne Lockwood III (Win)- eventually leads her to the truth.....which is quite twisty and surprising.

Two themes in the book are revenge and forgiveness. Terrible wrongs have been done to some characters, and the issue of whether to forgive or not arises several times. To me the forgiveness motif didn't meld smoothly into the story and felt awkward.



All in all I liked the book pretty well, and it was fun to see Hester Crimstein and Win - who are recurring characters in Coben's books. I think most mystery fans would enjoy 'Caught' and recommend the book to them.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Resistant: A Dr. Lou Welcome Thriller" by Michael Palmer

In this 3rd book in the 'Dr. Lou Welcome' series, Dr. Welcome is in a race against time to find a cure for a horrific man-made microbe. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

An organization called the "Society of One Hundred Neighbors", which has exactly 100 members, wants to control the U.S government so they can get rid of policies they don't like - especially entitlement programs. The society has secret members across the country including politicians, cops, judges, doctors, scientists, business people, and so on - all of whom are dedicated to achieving their goal.



As the story opens the society has created and unleashed a 'Doomsday Germ' called Janus - an antibiotic-resistant, flesh-eating bacteria that breaks down a victim's body from the inside out.



As the disease spreads through the body, the unfortunate victim has their infected limbs amputated, one at a time, until they succumb to death.



The society is blackmailing the government, saying it will provide a cure for the Janus germ if policies are changed to suit their goals. There's a huge problem however. Janus has mutated and the society's cure no longer works. Desperate to continue to extort the government, the society hatches a plan to kidnap scientists, install them in a secret lab, and force them to find a new antibiotic.



The government, of course, wants to thwart the society. Thus, it has it has its own people working on a cure.

Dr. Lou Welcome, a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, is an ER doctor and assistant director of the Physicians Wellness Office. Due to some bad luck Lou's best friend, Cap Duncan, sustains a horrific compound fracture of his leg and - while in the hospital - gets infected with the Janus bacteria. Lou is determined to help his friend and gets pulled into an underground scheme to find a cure.



I had hoped the author would talk more about the actual Janus bacteria but the book is essentially a thriller. The society ruthlessly tortures and kills people to achieve its goal while Lou and an FBI agent try to free the kidnapped scientists and destroy the society.



The story is violent, suspenseful, and fast-moving with an interesting array of repellant bad guys and heroic good guys. I have a reservation that applies to most fictional stories with a 'deadly germ' theme, including this one. The fictional scientists find a cure in a few days that - in real life - would literally take years or decades. I'll accept authors' license however.

I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to fans of thrillers.

Rating: 3.5 stars