THE KILL CODE COLLECTIVE

 THE KILL CODE COLLECTIVE

by Brian Lutterman, John Baird Rogers, Julie Holmes,

Chris Norbury and Rob Jung 

A Midwest Mystery Works Thriller  

A VERY up-to-date crime novel! Five excellent  Midwestern mystery authors have combined their talents, and their leading characters, into a story with almost frightful real implications. How much control and protection do certain patients have? When an electronic device is implanted, let's say a pacemaker, and the device is designed to send certain kinds of electronic signals to a monitoring physician, what are the vulnerabilities, if any? And should a corrupt corporate raider decide to go after the manufacturer of the device, what kind of defense is needed? Five Minnesota mystery authors decided to combine their considerable talents to explore those questions. The five carefully and judiciously brought their characters together in one story to defend a corporation and save certain key patients. Why are some patients targeted? Read this excellent novel to discover the answers. From every perspective of this kind of plotting, the authors have blended their talents and inserted established characters into new uncertain circumstances that will test their wit and intellects and provide readers with a satisfying and intensely interesting novel.

MUSIC IN THE PARK SERIES

Not a crime book series, this is a many-years-old music series established in the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood of Saint Paul. Because I attend and support such an excellent series, I occasionally review  concerts, even though this is not a crime novel. The music series takes place five Sunday afternoons each year in the sanctuary of the United Church of Christ, formerly a Congregational Church. This was the final concert of the current season. The Miro quartet is a world-recognized groupof string musicians. Their collaborator for this program included virtuoso saxophone artist Steven Banks. He plays soprano and tenor instruments in the concert, including the fine original piece, he composed. It's title, "Come What May."  The rest of the concert included an ancient piece by Hildigard of Birgen, two delightful works by Caroline Shaw, sweet, joyful, precise and moving, then part of Beethoven's String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132. Throughout, the concert, including the final suburbly moving piece, a 1994 suite from Osvaldo Golijov titled "The Dreams and Prayers  of Isaac the Blind," Throughout, the musicians performed  with precision, complex coordination, and considerable emotion over a wide range of musicianship. It was a very moving concert, enhanced by the significant architecture and sound characteristics of the venue. As a concert venue for smaller groups and solo performers, this place is surely one of the finest in the Twin Cities.

 

THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS - Review

THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS--Review

 by Colin Norman

 ISBN: 9781687325815

 A 2019 UK Release by the author

 The novel purports to be a blend of spy catcher, thriller and love story. What it turn out to be is a short,casual, almost cozy, beach romance, set on the English coast. A man on a rare vacation meets an attracive young woman. They spend a lot of time together, sunbathing and chatting. It turns out she has defected from Russia with her brother and may be the target of of a pretty incompetent Russian hit team. The plot wanders between romance and hiding in sight, the chraacters chat, avoid one another or connect. They also dine and travel here and there. The romance between the woman and the vacationer rises swiftly from handshakes to cheek kisses. The conclusion of this short novel is abrupt, relatively unemotional and leaves character and readers to wonder about the future. The manuscript should have been more carefully line edited. This is a story that never was quite completed.

STARLESS MIDNIGHT--A Review

 

STARLESS MIDNIGHT

By Lynn Garthwaite

ISBN:9781952976025

Released by

Kirk House Publishers, 2020 

Fourteen years ago, Jadey Evans and her white mother left the small Wisconsin town of Twin Station, in part, due to feelings of mounting racial pressure. Now, years later and a published author, Jadey is back in town. Her grandmother, the one family member she remembers with any real fondness has willed Jadey the family home. Twin Station has grown substantially, but some of the foundation problems have apparently never been resolved.

Jadey is focused on renovating the house, then either settling into a new residence or selling and moving back to the Twin Cities of Minnesota nearer her mother. Jadey is described as a tough young woman, used to the slings and arrows of modern society but she also has many positive and fond memories of her teen years growing up in a small town. And that’s in spite of a few unsettling and unanswered questions about her grandparents. 

The narrative evolves slowly and carefully, from fun-filled homecoming to unsettling clues and events of a darker color all of which coalesce into important questions that lead Jadey to wonder about unexplained events in the past. The author has carefully layered questions, events and partial answers into a revelatory story and eventual exploding action that come together in a well-blended way that entangles a reader. The town, its principal characters and all the events, present and past, raise and maintain growing attention. The author’s ability to present precisely designed and ultimately resolved questions for Jadey and for readers will linger long after the story concludes. Starless Midnight is a fine, intense and satisfying modern novel.

 

MORTAL FLIP

 

REVIEW--MORTAL FLIP

By M.E. Bakos

ISBN: 979-8-9867889-3-7

A 2004 release 

Frequently a house in a nice neighborhood that has a bad reputation is not a desirable asset. For home renovator Katelyn Baxter, who bills herself as a successful Home Rehabber, learning that the place she just acquired in Minneapolis has been the target of a suspected serial killer, is a real set-back. But, she’s committed. Katelyn is stubborn, a real optimist and she has friends. This is book 5 in Katelyn’s varied and unusual adventures in homes she never really lives in. She buys places, rehabs, then flips them over for a profit. It’s not an easy business. Every house has its strengths and weaknesses. Every neighborhood has its recluses and nosy neighbors. In this case the former owner, prominent businessman Arthur Cook was found murdered in a field and rumor links him to several possible targets in the area.  Not helpful for a sale, especially since the murderer is unknown.

Nevertheless, Ms Baxter has purchased the property, battles the reputation and works up the place for resale. She’s engaged to be married to the local sheriff, another complication of her current life, as is a persistent nosy neighbor. The novel skates along with contract egocentric workers, friends, her fiancé and the occasional legal bump. The author knows her area and gives readers an engaging, often fun look inside the rehab business connected to talent, smarts, and mystery. A fun, light-hearted cozy mystery with a careful, well-executed narrative that will satisfy any reader of crime fiction. Accuracy of process, thoughtfulness of character and good dialogue are all foundations of this cozy mystery novel.