For some reason, my last Chicago Sun-Times column (which ran 1/21) never showed up on the Books page of the paper's website. This morning I was checking around, though, and found it in the archives. (Good thing, too, or else I'd never know that it ran. It was already wayyy behind schedule, thus the older books it contains.)
In order to save you from having to hunt it down -- in case you're interested -- I'll copy it in below.
------
Latest thrillers place intrigue all over the
map
Publication: Chicago Sun-Times
Date: January 21, 2007
Author: David J. Montgomery Special to The Chicago
Sun-Times
Section: Books
Page: B8
One of the things that makes the crime fiction genre so rich and vibrant is the wide variety of stories, characters and settings that it includes. From thriller to mystery, cops to crooks and Chinatown to Omaha, there's a book out there for every reader.
No one demonstrates that better than I.J. Parker, a writer who has flown
under the radar the past several years with her excellent series set in ancient
Japan. Her detective is a true original, a nobleman in the emperor's court with
a penchant for solving mysteries.
In Black Arrow (Penguin, 368 pages, $14), Sugawara Akitada has been sent
to the north of Japan to serve as governor of a rebellious province. He
encounters resistance and outright contempt from the locals who are used to
doing things their own way.
Sugawara is used to difficult situations, however, and with a deft combination
of intelligence, cunning and bravery, he and his men are able to overcome that
resistance and bring order to the troubled province -- and solve a series of
murders in the process.
In Parker's hands, 11th century Japan comes alive in radiant fashion. Black
Arrow is an exquisite book, suspenseful and action-packed, but also beautiful in
its evocative descriptions and loving rendering of its subject.
Henry Chang's Chinatown Beat (Soho Crime, 204 pages, $22) is another
Asian-themed crime novel, a worthy debut that introduces Chinese-American
Detective Jack Yu. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of him in the future.
Yu works Chinatown for the NYPD, protecting and policing the people he's known
all his life. Although he was born and raised in Chinatown, he's an outsider
now; isolated to the fringes of the community by the gun and badge he carries.
Chang writes with stark power and authority, covering the territory as only an
insider can. He evokes the spirit, sights, smells and language of his setting in
compelling and original fashion. Although there is little action or suspense in
Chinatown Beat, there is still much that thrills.
Sean Doolittle, today's finest writer of Midwestern noir, returns with The
Cleanup (Dell, 336 pages, $6.99), another standout effort from this
relatively unknown author.
Matt Worth is just an ordinary schlub, an average guy working as a cop in Omaha.
He's smart enough, but he doesn't use very good judgment. His rash actions have
seen him busted down to the lowest post on the force: guarding an all-night
supermarket.
There he meets an attractive woman with an abusive boyfriend. He likes her, but
he tries not to get involved. That changes when she calls to tell him that she's
just killed her boyfriend and needs help disposing of the body.
Doolittle doesn't get the attention that many of the bigger names in the crime
genre do, but he should. His understated novels are real gems, fine examples of
timeless crime writing that hold up the rich traditions of the genre while also
breaking new ground.
Mark Arsenault's Gravewriter (St. Martin's Minotaur, 288 pages, $23.95)
is another mystery with a noir edge, but also a touch of dark humor. Billy
Povich used to be a hotshot reporter on the crime beat in Providence, R.I.,
until his ex-wife died and he found himself up to his ears in debt to the local
shylocks.
Now he's been busted down to writing obituaries. He's still gambling and
regularly gets beat up for not paying his debts. But when Billy is called to
serve on the jury in a murder case, his old investigative instincts are awoken,
and he can't help but poke around in the case.
Gravewriter is a little slow-moving at times, but the well-drawn
characters and the touching relationship between Billy and his son overcome the
limited suspense. The off-the-beaten path setting of Rhode Island is also used
to good effect.
Barbara Parker takes a break from her popular series to bring readers a mostly
satisfying stand-alone thriller, The Perfect Fake (Dutton, 352 pages,
$25.95). Tom Fairchild, an ex-con trying to get his life back together (aren't
they all?), is hired to duplicate a rare old map that was destroyed when its
owner was murdered.
It seems unlikely that Fairchild would be able to pull off this feat, but Parker
does a halfway convincing job of explaining how he might. Along the way,
Fairchild rushes from Miami to London and on to Florence, usually in the company
of the alluring daughter of the man who hired him.
Although the characters and the story's improbable twists seem more like fodder
from a daytime soap opera than a thriller novel, The Perfect Fake still
does a reasonable job of keeping the reader's interest, due mostly to the
subplot involving cartography.
THRILLERS WRITERS CONTEST
International Thriller Writers is giving one lucky winner autographed copies of
150 novels by some of the biggest and best thriller authors in the business,
including Joseph Finder, Tess Gerritsen, John Lescroart, Gayle Lynds and David
Baldacci.
To enter the contest, visit
www.150Thrillers.com before Feb. 15 and sign up to get the free ITW
newsletter. Apparently, that's all there is to it.
David J. Montgomery is the editor of Mystery Ink (www.mysteryinkonline.com).
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