Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews
Page Two of TwoFlight by Jan Burke
Simon and Schuster, March 2001.Hardcover, 393 pages.
ISBN: 0684855526.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Jan Burke's popular suspense novels usually focus on the
adventures of investigative reporter Irene Kelly. In a break
from the pattern of the previous books in this series, Burke gives us a fascinating
suspense novel told from the point of view of Frank Harriman,
Irene's police detective husband. Harriman has just been assigned
a very unpopular case indeed. Ten years ago, a family is
found brutally murdered on their yacht. Las Piernas Police
Department Detective
Philip Lefebvre rescued the teenaged boy, Seth, the only witness
to the crime. But Seth is murdered in his hospital bed, and
Lefebvre is accused of the crime. Then Lefebvre disappears, which
appears to confirm his guilt. Now Lefebvre's body is found in
a downed plane, and it looks like murder. But if Lefebvre didn't
kill Seth, that means that the Las Piernas Police
Department made a big mistake and destroyed an innocent man's
reputation. When a killer strikes again, it's clear that a serial killer
is still on the loose. And that he will stop at nothing to
stop Frank's investigation -- including murder.
Flight is a compelling thriller. Frank is a tough investigator, and it's quite interesting to see the world (and Irene) through his eyes, for a change. The opening chapters which detail the events of ten years ago are gripping and intense. Burke manages to sustain that level of suspense during Harriman's hunt for a cold-blooded fanatical killer whose obsession with neatness and detail make for gruesomely interesting reading. There are some tricky plot twists and a nice portrait of the local crime boss who claims he was wrongly accused of at least one murder he didn't actually commit. Flight has a harder edge than some of Burke's other books, and it is exceptionally well-written. Highly recommended.
--Claire E. White
Mesmerized by Gayle Lynds
Pocket Books, May 2001.Hardcover, 416 pages.
ISBN: 0671024078.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Brilliant trial attorney Beth Convey is about to
win a big case for a very important client when she
suffers a near-fatal heart attack. When she awakens
in the hospital, her life has totally changed.
She had a heart transplant which will require a year
of rehab, her once-solid job is now hanging by a thread,
and to make it worse she now has a hair-trigger temper,
odd dreams, and a strange affinity for
vodka and karate. When a psychologist tells her about the phenomenon
of "cellular memory" -- where transplant patients often seem
to have memories from the organ donor -- Beth dismisses
the theory as nonsense. But it seems that her donor was an ex-KGB hitman
and that Beth's investigation into his life has suddenly
thrown her right in the middle of the FBI's frantic search for
a mole, as well as a terrorist assassination plot
during President Putin's visit. With the help of Jeff Hammond,
an investigative reporter and ex-FBI agent, Beth must find a way
to stop a terrorist's plans and to stay alive long enough to do it.
Gayle Lynds, author of Masquerade and Mosaic, hits another home run with Mesmerized. Lynds offers up an exciting espionage tale, with an intriguing and entertaining premise: that memories and knowledge can be passed during an organ transplant. Gayle Lynds always adds an interesting twist to the classic spy novel, and Mesmerized is no exception. Beth, the attorney whose life is irrevocably changed in an instant, is an appealing, forceful character, as is Jeff Hammond, the FBI agent who must endure the disdain of his colleagues and his family in order to carry out a deep-cover operation. With non-stop action, intricate plotting and a wealth of interesting historical background about the fall of the USSR and the fate of the KGB, Mesmerized is a top-notch thriller.
--Claire E. White
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