Crime Fiction Dossier: Reviews

Latest Daily Beast review: Janet Evanovich's "Finger Lickin' Fifteen"

Back again so soon! My new review is up on The Daily Beast: Janet Evanovich's Finger Lickin' Fifteen.

This was a fun one to write. Fun book, too.

June 26, 2009 in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

Latest Daily Beast review: Gregg Hurwitz' "Trust No One"

My latest review is up on The Daily Beast. The book is Gregg Hurwitz' Trust No One, one of the best thrillers I've read in a long time.

I first read this a year ago in an early galley form -- and was blown away by it. I then re-read it recently in order to write this review and was impressed by it again. It's a very entertaining, suspenseful book with a great main character and an interesting plot. What more could you ask for?

June 24, 2009 in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

Review of Michael Connelly's "The Scarecrow"

I forgot to check the Sun-Times' website last weekend and it turns out my review of Michael Connelly's The Scarecrow finally ran. It seems like the book section has been having some space problems recently, thus the delay in this review running.

If you haven't picked it up yet, The Scarecrow is an entertaining book and worth reading. I like the Harry Bosch series more, but I'd read anything that Connelly wrote.

Edited to add: The URL for the review changed and it's now dated today. So maybe it ran in this morning's paper. I don't know.

June 21, 2009 in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)

Latest Daily Beast review: Lisa Gardner's "The Neighbor"

My weekly column is up at The Daily Beast: a review of Lisa Gardner's The Neighbor, in stores on Tuesday (6/16).

Gardner is a great example of an author who has improved significantly over time. I didn't care much for some of her early books, but I've really enjoyed her last few. It's nice to see when an author gets better as the years go by -- because so often it's the opposite.

June 11, 2009 in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Welcome to The Daily Beast

I have some exciting news to share with you all...I have joined The Daily Beast, Tina Brown's web magazine, as a critic and will be writing a weekly column about thriller/mystery fiction.

I will still be contributing to the Chicago Sun-Times on occasion, but have given up the monthly roundup column I wrote for the paper for the past six years. I enjoyed writing that column and was a little sad to say goodbye to it. However, I decided it was time to move on to new things and when this opportunity came to me, I jumped at it.

My first column -- a roundup of "5 Hot Summer Thrillers" -- is now live over on The Daily Beast. It contains short reviews of the following books:

Michael Connelly - The Scarecrow
Lee Child - Gone Tomorrow
John Sandford - Wicked Prey
Lisa Scottoline - Look Again
Jeffery Deaver - Roadside Crosses

I hope you'll stop by to take a look. And please leave a comment once you're there.

June 05, 2009 in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

Latest Chicago Sun-Times column

My latest round-up column ran in the Chicago Sun-Times over the weekend. It contained mini-reviews of:

Harlan Coben - Long Lost
Nevada Barr - Borderline
Jack Kilborn - Afraid
Paul Levine - Illegal
Alan Bradley - The Sweetness at the Bottom off the Pie

Enjoy!

May 05, 2009 in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Latest Chicago Sun-Times mystery/thriller roundup

This morning's Chicago Sun-Times carries my latest round-up column, featuring short reviews of the following books:

Carol O'Connell - Bone by Bone
Nick Stone - The King of Swords
Charles Cumming - The Spanish Game
Patricia Cornwell - Scarpetta
Dean Koontz - Your Heart Belongs to Me

Note: In the review, Charles Cumming's name is mistakenly written as "Cummings" -- there shouldn't be an "s" on the end. I wish I could blame it on someone else, but the fault is all my own.

January 04, 2009 in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)