The Collaborators by Michael Idov

Published by ‎ Scribner on November 19, 2024

Ari Falk is a CIA operative. His job as a media investor is a cover for his covert assignment — “helping Russian opposition journalists find and run stories damaging to the Kremlin.” Ari’s biggest success is funding a popular and openly gay Russian blogger named Anton Besmanny. Anton exposes corruption but “the unspoken compact between the Russian people and their masters has always been that each looked away while the other stole whatever wasn’t bolted down.”

When Anton humiliates a deputy minister of defense, Falk knows he needs to keep Anton safe. He gets Anton a ticket for a flight to Riga, but the flight is diverted to Minsk by Russian military jets. Anton is convinced that the plane is being grounded because of him and gives a speech that apologizes to the other passengers for the trouble that he’s caused.

At the airport, Anton is placed in a room with a man and woman. Shortly after they are removed from the room, Anton hears two gunshots. To save himself from a similar fate, Anton makes a video in which he apologizes for “glorifying descriptions of a degenerate lifestyle.” The plane returns to the air, bound for Riga, but Anton is swept off to Istanbul.

Falk knows the plane made an unscheduled stop but he expects to see Anton at the airport in Riga. Instead, he sees a Russian bagman. Falk forces the bagman to reveal that Anton is now in Turkey. Falk promptly flies to Istanbul, where he nearly meets his death.

Having established its setup, the story shifts to Maya Olbrecht, who at 22 has tried to kill herself twice and completed two stints in rehab. Maya’s father has just committed suicide by jumping over the side of a yacht at night near Portugal. Paul Olbrecht is a billionaire whose wife is disturbed to learn that much of the money he had been managing for wealthy investors is missing from the investment fund. Paul leaves behind a makeshift will that gives Maya a house in Portugal, where she goes to get away from her mother.

The two storylines converge after Russian shooters kill Falk’s co-workers at the media company he established as a cover. Falk investigates the shooting while Maya investigates her father’s death. When the two investigations link, Falk becomes sexually (albeit casually) involved with Maya because he expects to never see her again. Fate, of course, has other ideas. Saving Maya will eventually become Falk’s mission, although he takes on a bigger mission when he learns why the money that Paul Olbrecht was managing disappeared.

Russians have always made the best spy novel villains. I'm always happy to encounter a story that forces western spies to match wits with their easten counterparts. While this isn’t a novel of tradecraft and double agents, Falk makes use of his skills and clandestine contacts to get to the bottom of the triple mysteries — why did Russian spies go to so much trouble to capture Anton, who were the man and woman that the Russians removed from the plane, and what did Paul Olbrecht do with the money? The mysteries have credible solutions that most readers will not easily guess (at least I didn’t).

Given her troubled childhood and struggles with addiction, Maya is a sympathetic character. Falk’s personality is developed in sufficient detail to make him an interesting character, if not a memorable one. The pace is steady and Eastern European locations give the novel a credible atmosphere (no doubt assisted by Michael Idov's familiarity with Riga, the city of his birth). Idov’s prose has no rough edges. My recommendation, however, was won by clever plotting and surprising plot twists. The world of spy fiction is hungry for new practitioners. I happily welcome Idov to its ranks.

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Lazarus Man by Richard Price

Published by ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux on November 12, 2024

Richard Price brings a unique and compelling voice to crime fiction. Lazarus Man doesn’t fit neatly into that genre, but crime is always in the background. Price chronicles Harlem life with the keen eye and vivid prose of Colson Whitehead even if he hasn’t yet won a Pulitzer. Lazarus Man is Richard Price in strong form.

The story takes place in Harlem, where residents are inured to violence. Calvin Ray, an ex-con, is now a community activist, having dedicated himself to teaching young men to find a nonviolent path. He organizes teaching events at sites of shootings.

The violence is never graphic but its presence is a constant undercurrent, leaving parents in fear for their children — including Anne Collins, a postal carrier whose son was shot (probably by accident) in the calf. Anne confronts the shooter because she knows that going to the police would invite retribution.

The incident that sparks the plot in Lazarus Man is violent but not a crime. A collapsed building in Harlem is not caused by a terrorist attack but by subway construction gone awry. The building falls on Anthony Carter, a mixed-race unemployed teacher and recovering addict whose wife left him, taking their daughter with her. Anthony is buried for a couple of days before being rescued.

In the days that follow, Anthony is pressed to give inspirational speeches — for Calvin and others — that amount to “whatever doesn’t kill you makes your stronger,” a message that he later refines. Some people who listen to him know better. Sometimes, the things that don’t kill you leave you in a world of pain and poverty. Lazarus Man isn’t a pollyannish novel, but Anthony genuinely believes that something in his message is true.

Anthony is the glue that holds the plot together, but the story has an ensemble cast. Mary Roe is a Harlem police detective who spends much of the novel trying to track down a missing man whose wife died in the building collapse. Her investigation leads to a poignant explanation of the man’s disappearance.

Royal Davis owns a funeral home that isn’t paying its bills. Felix Pearl is a 24-year-old with a video camera who aspires to be a filmmaker but earns money by filming playgrounds for the Parks Department, much to the chagrin of the parents of children he films and of cops who respond to their complaints.

Every character seems embroiled in a domestic drama. Anthony is separated from his wife Clare and his 13-year-old stepdaughter, with whom he is “increasingly reluctant to seriously engage.” He knows the time will come when Clare will ask for a divorce but he hopes to repair the rift with his stepdaughter. In the meantime, after making “sneaky eyes” at Anne Collins during one of Calvin’s events, Anthony dances around the possibility of dating her. They have difficult but honest conversations that middle-aged people should probably have more often before they decide to date. Mary's domestic drama includes a separation (she switches residences with her husband every three days so their children will have a stable residence) and an occasional unfulfilling motel shag with another detective.

Price’s character development is exceptional. Characters recall but do not dwell upon the events that shaped their lives, allowing the reader to understand the origin and development of their personality without bogging down the story. The characters have experienced varying kinds of pain. How people deal with pain is one of the novel’s themes.

Some characters change, as people sometimes do; one character’s transformation is stunning. Another concludes: “All I know for sure is that I have to make a life that I can live with.” One of the novel’s lessons is that “people are so much more” than we understand them to be.

Readers who dislike departures from genre formulas might complain that Lazarus Man doesn’t have much of a plot. How the lives of a half dozen characters in Harlem intersect for a few days is the plot. It isn’t clear that any one storyline is more important than the others — the characters all struggle to do their best — so maybe the point is that every life is important.

Still, the plot gains clarity as the novel nears its end. A fact the reader will assume to be true is proven false by something Felix captured on his camera. The revelation links back to an earlier scene that takes on new meaning, inviting the reader to view a central character in a different light. I imagine readers will have different reactions to the revelation, which might make Lazarus Man a good choice for book clubs.

In any event, the plot twist brings a message about the importance of hope. The ability to give hope to others, or at least to lift spirits, is a gift that merits appreciation. As does Price’s gift for storytelling.

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Double Barrel Bluff by Lou Berney

Published by William Morrow on November 5, 2024

Bjorn has a half-baked plan to kidnap a pretty American woman in Cambodia and hold her for ransom. Bjorn persuades French to carry out the kidnapping for half the $4 million ransom. French once wrote a successful novel and scored a gig as a professor of literature, but he was fired for engaging in sexual harassment. Now he complains that he lost the thread of his life, making it easy for Bjorn to convince him that he needs a new direction.

Bjorn tells French that the woman — Veronica Wagenseller — is wealthy. She is, but she isn’t a hedge fund manager, as French believes. Her real name is Alexandra “Lexy” Ilandryan and she is the boss of the Armenian Mafia in Los Angeles. She has a lifelong friend from Armenia named Dikran who is like a brother to her.

French enlists Ramos to assist in the kidnapping for half French’s share, although he claims his share will only be $1 million. French and Ramos pull off the kidnapping, although there is always a tension between them that Lexy exploits.

The novel’s protagonist is Charles Samuel “Shake” Bouchon. Shake is a former mob wheelman who has appeared in a couple of earlier novels. Shake also happens to be a reasonably good friend of Lexy, having proved his loyalty by doing three years in prison rather than diming her out.

When Lexy begins to miss her daily calls to Dikran, he decides to travel to Cambodia to search for her. Dikran insists that Shake accompany him to Cambodia. Shake’s loyalty to Lexy overcomes his good sense and he agrees.

Shake’s wife Gina is less enthused about Shake’s agreement, but unbeknownst to Shake, she’s pissed that he doesn’t invite her along. Shake and his wife decided to tone down the excitement in their lives by moving to Indiana, but maybe some excitement is what Gina needs.

Most of the story follows Shake’s adventures in Cambodia. He meets a half-Cambodian hippy chick named Mitch who critiques his aura, hooks up with a contact named Ouch who helps him search for Lexy, and enlists the uncertain support of Babikian, Lexy’s number two. Shake, Dikran, Ouch, and Babikian engage in a complicated dance that leaves the reader wondering where their loyalties really lie.

Lively prose keeps the plot moving, occasionally assisted by fights and killings, but Shake isn’t a boring action hero. He relies on wits rather than fists, as does Gina, who proves to be formidable when she makes an unexpected appearance in Cambodia. All the characters have rich personalities. Readers who appreciate strong female characters will like Gina, Lexy, and Mitch.

The plot turns and twists but never becomes confusing. Lou Berney seasons the story with humor, creating a nice balance that keeps the story from becoming too dark. Not every character survives, which adds realism to the story. The ending satisfies. I haven’t read the first two novels in the series, but I suspect they are worth checking out. Double Barrel Bluff certainly is.

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An Insignificant Case by Phillip Margolin

Published by Minotaur Books on November 5, 2024

The background of An Insignificant Case features a sex trafficking ring that benefits powerful men. Think Epstein. No, think Epstein combined with Harvey Weinstein, because the man behind the sex trafficking is a movie producer. And then add a snuff film so the reader will know that the bad guys are really, really bad. Sex trafficking of the sort described in the novel is rare in the US and snuff films are urban myths, but they show up regularly in thrillers.

Fortunately, An Insignificant Case is not another pedestrian story about a heroic character saving imprisoned women before they can be raped and killed. Sensitive readers need not shirk away from the subject matter. The sex trafficking has ended and nothing that happened is described in graphic imagery. This is, in fact, a remarkably light novel, given its dark background.

Leon Golden is the producer. He promises naïve young women a part in a movie. Then his goons show the women a snuff film, promise them that they’ll be the next victim if they don’t cooperate, and force them to service the usual array of powerful men. The victim who died in the snuff film was one of the women to whom Golden promised an audition.

The novel’s action begins when Guido Sabatini breaks into a safe in the office of a restaurant and steals a flash drive. The circumstances that persuade Guido to steal the drive are silly and fun. So is Guido. His real name is Lawrence Weiss, but he believes himself to be a reincarnated Italian Renaissance painter who studied under Michaelangelo.

Guido gave a painting to a restaurant owner, Grethen Hall, but became miffed when she hung it in her office rather than a place where patrons could view it. He stole the painting and took the flash drive for insurance, thinking he could exchange it for a promise to display the painting properly. When he’s caught, Charlie Webb is assigned to represent him.

Unlike most fictional lawyers, Charlie Webb isn’t wealthy and wildly successful. He muddled his way through college with middling grades, was accepted at a bottom-tier law school where he earned middling grades, and hung out his shingle in a low-rent office in Portland. Like a lot of younger lawyers, Charlie accepts public defender overflow cases even though they don’t pay well because he needs the money. He lacks self-esteem, but he has the kind of insights into people that trial lawyers need.

When Hall’s dead body is found covered by Guido’s painting, Guido is arrested for murder. He wants Charlie to represent him, but Charlie isn’t equipped to handle a murder. To his surprise, the judge appoints the best criminal defense attorney in Oregon to second chair the case. Charlie promptly promotes the guy to first chair, but only Charlie has a rapport with Guido.

The story that springs forth from these background facts is clever and entertaining. Several people are shot to death. Guido is a suspect, but the identity of the shooter or shooters is meant to be a surprise. Seasoned thriller readers will probably piece it together before the reveal, but this isn’t a whodunit. Just as it seems that the plot has come to an end, it gives birth to a new storyline, giving Charlie another opportunity to hone his trial skills.

I want legal thrillers to captivate me with cross-examinations. The courtroom scenes in An Insignicant Case are enjoyable, if not  quite captivating. The novel asks familiar questions about the difference between vengeance and justice but the plot doesn’t bog down in heavy discussions. The tone is light and, in occasional moments, reads like an intelligent romcom.

While the plot moves crisply, the story is more character driven than most thrillers. Charlie is an easy character to like. He’s a bit hapless with women when the novel begins, flirts (or considers flirting) with two or three as he gains confidence in himself, and is batting above his average by the novel’s end. The shooter is also reasonably likable (a view the shooting victims might not have shared). A couple of motorcycle gang members add extra comic spice to the story. The ending offers a satisfying balance between vengeance and justice. All of that makes An Insignificant Case a fun choice for readers in search of a smart winter beach read.

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Ushers by Joe Hill

Published by Amazon Original Stories on November 1, 2024

“Ushers” is a short story that Amazon is marketing to Kindle users. Non-Kindle readers might find it in an anthology at some point. With its supernatural focus, the story might fit broadly into the horror genre, although by that standard, the same might be said of the Bible. Unlike horror fiction of the slasher/monster variety, the story sends a message about life rather than encouraging readers to be frightened of death.

Martin Lorenson doesn’t see dead people, but his parents ran a hospice so he has seen many people die. Just before they die, he sees something else. The clue to what he sees is in the story’s title.

Marin has been fortunate to avoid his own death. In high school, he was home with diarrhea when a school shooter killed his classmates. At least, that’s the story he tells.

As the story begins, two police detectives want to know why Martin purchased a ticket for a passenger train that he didn’t board. The train derailed and killed a bunch of people. The detectives (Duvall and Oates, not to be confused with the 1970s singing duo who gained fame by performing insipid music) think Martin’s avoidance of death is suspicious, so they interview him.

Although the story is too short to permit much character development, Duvall is more interesting than your average fictional police detective. He has an adult daughter who, in the age of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, feels conflicted about being a Black woman whose father works in law enforcement. Duvall’s position is that cops can’t all be white or the nation would descend into apartheid. God knows there are Americans who would welcome that outcome.

Anyway, how is Martin so lucky that he twice avoided catastrophe? Joe Hill channels the creepy gene that he must have inherited from his father to provide an explanation that will appeal to fans of the supernatural.

The story’s ending has an unexpected twist, although its message — appreciate being alive while you still can — is far from original. As a short story (and this one is shorter than most of those in the Amazon Original Stories series), the story’s focus is tight, but Hill balances its focus on death with moments of humor and a message suggesting that something better awaits us on the other side. Religious readers (or those who believe in an afterlife for nonreligious reasons) might find the story comforting. I found it entertaining.

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