THE SENTINEL - Book review

 

The Sentinel (2020) is the first Jack Reacher novel co-written by Lee Child and his brother Andrew.

Some readers have voiced their disappointment; and I can understand that to a certain degree. Yet I cannot see the join. How much is Lee, how much is Andrew? I couldn’t even guess. There are the usual scenes one comes to expect in a Reacher novel; some many pages long, where it’s talk-talk to reason everything out and tell us what’s what, interspersed infrequently with explosive action. The one-word sentences are still there. The repetitions. Even people who are named are referred to by their role, job or other aspect rather than their name, which can become tedious. Maybe there’s not so much wit or dry humour. But in the final analysis none of that matters: the style and the story inevitably suck the reader in yet again.

The book begins in Nashville where Reacher comes to the aid of a band of musicians who are denied their earnings by a nasty club owner. We know how that’s going to play out… This seems like pure Reacher even if the incident has no relevance to the main story.

Hitching a lift, Reacher ends up in a town where he prevents a civilian being kidnapped – in daylight. The town is suffering computer outage and the guy he rescues, Rusty Rutherford, is being blamed for it and has been sacked from his IT job. Of course there’s more to it than that. Is it just a simple case of computer blackmail? You get your systems back if you pay the ransom. Or is it something more? Some of the plot seems overly contrived and even confusing, with ludicrous misdirection pertaining to the Second World War.

The Macguffin this time is the The Sentinel, a computer application, the country’s last line of defence against computer terrorism – illuminatingly explained on p265 with regard to ‘stolen elections’ etc; which is nice and topical. And yet it isn’t mentioned until p195, over half-way through the book. Like so many Reacher titles, this one is not memorable; after a short while it will blend in with all the others.

Rusty’s helper is an ex-FBI agent (that’s useful!) called Sands. Behind the scenes is a guy called Speranski who is calling the shots, pulling the strings, and trying to track down Rutherford. There’s mention of the Center, whatever that is. Possibly I missed something, but the Speranski guy seems to vanish from the story at some point; I might have blinked. Maybe the Childs ran out of space or time so left it to the FBI to sweep up the bad guys, one of whom is presumably Speranski. Perhaps less description of furniture and buildings that have no relevance might have allowed for more space to bring alive the Speranski anomaly. I blame the editor. Unless Speranski is going to figure in the next book, of course...

Reacher’s charisma must be slipping, too. There was no sex though an invitation was implied…

Not one of ‘his’ best efforts, alas. Not a ‘keeper’. In my view.

THE DEVIL'S TEARDROP - Book review

Jeffery Deaver’s 1999 novel The Devil’s Teardrop is yet another fast-paced race against time thriller which he does so well.

It’s the last day of the year. Washington DC. Parker Kincaid is a top expert on document analysis, ex-FBI, now working privately so he can look after his son and daughter. Joan, his ex-wife has remarried and is making waves about getting custody – something Parker definitely does not want.  Joan had been an irresponsible mess, a drunk – and that’s why he’d been awarded custody. This fraught relationship is relevant and has a king of resolution in an amusing manner towards the end.

In a nearby mall there’s a shooting, many shoppers killed by The Digger, who has left Mayor Kennedy a note: pay $200,000 by noon or similar shootings will take place at 4pm, 8pm and midnight. 

FBI agents Cage and Lukas drop by Parker’s house with a copy of the ransom note. Can he discern from it any helpful clues? They’re working against the clock here. Parker has worked with Cage before, but Margaret Lukas, the agent in charge, is new to him. Inevitably, there is friction between them – until they gradually appreciate each other’s strengths in moments of intense drama.

So begins a battle of wills: Parker against the anonymous writer.  One clue is useful – the tail of the dot of the lower case I went straight up so it resembled a drop of water. Parker had encountered this unusual feature before – and he’d christened it ‘the devil’s teardrop’. However, the perpetrator in that case had long since been apprehended, tried and executed…

We encounter The Digger, a damaged individual – always narrated in the present (thus immediate) tense. 

Deaver’s done his research into document analysis – whether that’s the type of paper, the ink’s composition, or the writing style; all intriguingly and interestingly conveyed.

Interestingly, there is a scene – via a telephone conversation - between Parker and Lincoln Rhyme. The motivation of the perp in this book has echoes of the guy in The Bone Collector (1997), Rhyme’s first appearance. Yes, indeed, the reader is being expertly manipulated. 

Inevitably, there’s a twist or two before the denouement.

As this is a standalone novel, any reader new to Deaver could start here and become addicted. [I got hooked by his A Maiden’s Grave (1995) which was made into a riveting TV movie Deadly Silence (1997) starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, which is hard to get hold of as a DVD]. 

This book was made into a TV movie of the same name in 2010 and is available on DVD in the US.

Old scores being settled

The Linford Western Library large print version of my 2012 book Old Guns is now published, with a particularly striking cover. I love the cover of the hardback by Tony Masero, however the publishers L.A. Thorpe never use the Hale covers but rather different ones.

The blurb: Sam Ransom, broadsided by the death of his old partner Abner, learns of a note left by the dead man – warning that the infamous Meak twins are after Ransom’s life because of what happened at Bur Oak Springs over two decades ago. Ransom knows he must alert the rest of his gang, who were there at the time. His family is in jeopardy and their only hope of salvation is the gang’s return to confront the Meak brothers…

The old guns find themselves up against young guns. It’s a classic situation, where the past returns to not only haunt the hero, but to threaten disaster and death. While the story is set in July 1892 and spans a period of twenty-one days, it harks back to 1859 and also 1866.

This excerpt is early on, when the twins Gideon and Justus Meak have been let out under custody of the deputy sheriff to visit their dying mother.

‘Ma, don’t go on so.’ Gideon resembled his brother in many ways, though his dark brown hair was cut short and his eyes were the colour of shadow – umber. His thin pallid lips and receding chin were inherited from her late husband, God rest his damnable soul. ‘He was only saying–’

            ‘Now you both gang up against your poor mother, do you?’ She scowled and eyed their handcuffs. ‘What a sorry pair you’ve become. I only wish your poor father was here!’
            ‘Shucks, we know, Ma,’ said Gideon.
            She let out a harsh laugh. ‘Know? You know nothing!’
            Justus moved nearer and sat on the side of her bed. He reached out a hand for hers, but she pulled away. ‘Ma, we remember what you told us, about Pa being murdered an’ all.’
            ‘That wasn’t the half of it, son,’ she whispered bitterly.
            Leaning closer, Justus said, ‘What d’you mean, Ma?’
            ‘Where’s that lawman you brung with you?’ she whispered.
            ‘Out on the porch rolling a smoke,’ Gideon said softly. He moved to the other side of the bed. ‘Why’re we whispering?’
            ‘I don’t want that lowdown skunk of a lawman to listen in, that’s why.’
            ‘I’ll go check.’ Gideon moved to the door, cracked it open a little. He nodded, pushed the door to and silently returned to her bedside. ‘He’s dozing in the rocker.’
            ‘My chair,’ she said in a raised tone then caught herself. She looked around at the poorly furnished room and her heart lurched when she glimpsed her reflection in the dressing table mirror. Her once auburn hair was now grey and thin, while her hazel eyes seemed dull, as if diluted pigment. Her thin lips pursed. The family nose was prominent, however, and both her sons took after her there. She tore her eyes away as flames of anger and frustration burned afresh in her breast. Now she must tell her boys and set them on their road of vengeance. ‘There were six men in your father’s gang,’ she said, clearing her throat. She closed her eyes and recited, ‘Carter, Ransom, Tylor, Baines and Nolan.’
            ‘That’s five,’ Justus said.
            Her eyes sprang open and impaled him. ‘Your pa made up the six, idiot!’
            ‘Oh, right.’
            ‘What happened?’ asked Gideon.
            Her lower lip trembled. ‘They decided to share their loot between five, that’s what, and so your pa was shot in the back.’ Tears blurred her vision. She glanced down at her hands, thin and worn like an old woman’s and here she was only fifty-five. Going before her time. ‘Those no-goods not only killed your pa, they ruined my life and yours as well.’
            ‘We know that, Ma,’ said Gideon. ‘You’ve said it often enough, we could’ve ridden a straighter trail if we’d had pa to guide us.’
            ‘Well, it bears retelling.’
            ‘Sure, Ma.’
            Justus said, ‘This is the first time you told us their names – the killers’ names.’
            ‘Well, I tried to bring you up right, but you still went down a crooked path. I didn’t want you going out after them, claiming justice – though the Lord knows, your pa deserves it!’
            ‘So why are you telling us now?’ Gideon asked.
            ‘Yeah, after all these years. We were about six when pa was killed, right, Gideon?’
            ‘So Ma says.’
            ‘I had to bring you up, fend for you and feed and clothe you.’
            ‘We know, and we’re grateful…’
            ‘Grateful!’
            ‘You still haven’t answered my question,’ Gideon said. ‘Why tell us now?’
            She nodded and glanced down at her trembling thin hands. ‘My conscience, I suppose. They left your pa for dead but he managed to get home and told me everything, how he’d been double-crossed and dry-gulched. They ran off with his share of the loot. A lot of money, it was. Money that should’ve been ours – now it could be yours.’ She wiped tears away with the heel of her hand. ‘I nursed him till he died.’
            ‘But why now, Ma?’ Gideon persisted.
            She raised her head and eyed her sons. ‘Because now you’re men and you’ll soon be free – free to exact revenge.’
            ‘We still have four years left to serve,’ said Gideon.
            ‘Maybe two, if we get parole,’ added Justus.
            ‘Is that so? Well, the doctor tells me I have maybe two weeks left to serve in this life, so I needed to speak to you both before my time was up.’ Her hands reached out to each side, fingers interlacing with theirs. ‘Don’t fail me, boys. Do it for your father.’
            Gideon looked across his mother at Justus.
            She watched them, warm contentment in her chest, and smiled as Gideon said, ‘We’ve got to get rid of Deputy Stone.’
            Justus pursed his lips then nodded.
            Gideon was the strong one, she knew. He’d do her bidding. And Justus, the weaker one, would follow.
            She let go of their hands and twisted her thin right arm behind her, under the pillow and pulled out a Colt Model P .45. She was surprised how heavy it felt; when she’d put it there, its weight had barely signified. ‘I thought you might need this,’ she said. ‘It’s loaded.’
            Blood drained from Justus’s face.
            Gideon nodded then took the weapon, hefted it, his handcuffs chinking.
            As Gideon moved towards the door, she wanted to call to him, but that might alert the deputy. She’d dearly love to watch blood being spilled but consoled herself that she’d listen instead.

Hardback version still available:

Cover my Tony Masero

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Guns-Black-Horse-Western/dp/0709093802/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1383661764&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=old+guns+morton

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Guns-Ross-Morton/dp/0709093802/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1383661816&sr=8-3&keywords=old+guns+morton

OLD GUNS - cover artwork

Old Guns can be pre-ordered now from Robert Hale or Amazon or postfree anywhere in the world from thebookdepository. You can also get a glimpse of how the cover was designed by Tony Masero. Check out his website
http://www.artnillustration.com/featurepage1.html

July, 1892.

Sam Ransom, 62, learns of the death of Abner, his old partner. Abner left a warning note – the Meak twins were out to get Ransom and the rest ‘because of what happened at Bur Oak Springs’. Ransom sets out to alert his old friends, Jubal, Rory and Derby.
Bur Oak Springs happened over two decades ago. The place was a ghost town even then. Ransom’s family is put in jeopardy and they can only be saved by Ransom and his friends returning to the ghost town, to confront the Meak brothers and their gang. There’s a sense of déjà vu about this; yet, there are fresh revelations too. It’s a showdown: young guns against old guns.

Old Guns

Just sold my fifth Black Horse Western to Robert Hale, Old Guns. A tale with a difference, as it moves from 1892 to 1859 to 1866 as the past catches up with a number of ageing ex-lawmen...

July, 1892.
Sam Ransom’s looking forward to his 62nd birthday with his wife and two children. Then he gets a telegram from the Bethesda Falls sheriff. His old partner Abner was mortally wounded, but before he died Abner left a note – the Meak twins were out to get Ransom and the others ‘because of what happened at Bur Oak Springs’. Their families weren’t safe, either. Ransom sets out to warn his old friends, Jubal, Rory and Derby. But he’s too late to prevent another brutal death.

Bur Oak Springs happened over two decades ago. The place was a ghost town even then. The Meak twins seem set on a crusade of vengeance, but why?

Ransom’s family is put in jeopardy and the ultimatum is clear. He and his friends must return to the ghost town again, to confront the Meak brothers and their gang. There’s a sense of déjà vu about this; yet, there are fresh revelations too.

It’s a showdown. The young guns against the old guns.