The purpose of this page is to post, from time to time, my reviews of books by other well-known contemporary thriller writers in hopes that if you haven't read them, you might consider it. Enjoy!
First up is James Lee Burke’s Robicheaux series, currently at more than 20 books and counting.
Burke is as articulate and eloquent a writer as our time has produced. While his novels are bestsellers and clearly dominate the mass market, they also are excellent examples of contemporary literary writing at its finest. Some have criticized Burke for being too poetic, going too far afield in describing every scene in meticulous detail rife with colors, scents, sounds, and surroundings. Other readers enjoy it.
Dave Robicheaux is a Cajun, sometime cop, and recovering alcoholic who is haunted by memories of his combat experiences in Vietnam and dreams of his dead parents and various former wives and adversaries. He’s a complex character who has both a conscience and a penchant for violence in dealing with people he considers evil. Less complex, but equally as fascinating is his best friend Clete Purcel, a huge, heavy drinking, ill-tempered, ass-kicking private eye in the Big Sleazy (Purcel’s words). Most of the books are set in and around New Iberia and New Orleans, Louisiana.
All in all, the novels have plausible and intertwining storylines, well-developed and interesting characters, realistic dialog, conflict, and page-turning, ever-escalating tension. His heavy use of the several South Louisiana/Cajun/Creole patois can be difficult to read for some. Like many of today’s thrillers, the stories are laced with violence that may upset the faint of heart.
Dave Robicheaux seems to see a clear, unalterable dichotomy in humanity as if there are two separate gene pools—good people vs. bad ones; you’re either one or the other, and no one ever changes. In these books, the wealthy or famous are eternally corrupt and oppressive, while the financially or socially disadvantaged are kindly and deserving. Yet his protagonists, Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcel, all the while professing righteousness and humility, never pass up a chance to savagely beat and often kill those whom they deem unworthy of due process.
Burke sees leftists, with whom he appears to sympathize, as the kindly, good-hearted people who are trying to save the world from everyone else who, by his definition are incorrigibly evil. Nevertheless, his political agenda is not an overt, in-your-face factor in his Robicheaux novels. Politics aside, you’d be hard pressed to find more engaging stories than Burke’s Robicheaux series.
C. J. Box has published thirty+ novels so far in his career as a bestselling American author. More than 20 of those books are in the Joe Pickett series. That's what I'll focus my comments on.
Pickett is a Wyoming game warden who seems normal enough—quiet, somewhat introverted, a good family man with no ambitions other than to carry out the letter of the law. It's that persistence that inevitable puts him, and often his family members, in danger. Left to his own devices, Pickett is a little too bland and colorless to carry a thriller on his own. Fortunately, the spice is added in the author's prose and the descriptions of the stunning countryside Pickett travels, along with the cast of clever, evil villains, and especially the presence of Pickett's best pal, Nate Romanowski. Frankly, Romanowski is the principal reason I follow the Pickett series. He's a true bad ass and a former member of a mysterious special ops unit. Romanowski reminds me of my own Sleeping Dogs. He lives off the grid, training and hunting with raptors while dodging federal agents who want to arrest him for some undisclosed acts from a past life. Almost invariably, Pickett gets into situations where he and his family's lives are in danger, then Romanowski shows up and bad guys begin to meet grisly deaths. Definitely my kind of thrillers.
If you decide to give the series a try, I strongly suggest starting at the beginning of the series and moving through the books chronologically. So far, the only book in the series that didn't seem to meet the usual standards of excellence is, Shadows Reel. The roles are reversed and Pickett is the strong lead while Romanowski is physically ineffective. These new characterizations are unexpected and jarring. I hope CJ quickly returns to the formula that worked for him through the first 20-some novels in the Pickett series.
John Sandford is a prolific best-selling writer who bears a strong physical resemblance to the actor/comedian Chevy Chase, but writes some of the best page-turners you will ever read. A former newspaper journalist and avid sportsman, he has published over fifty novels. Most are in the Lucas Davenport series and the Virgil Flowers series. These two Minnesota lawmen are tough and shrewd—think of more loquacious versions of Jack Reacher. In some of the books, they work together such as in the Florida-based Ocean Prey tale. The books are well-thought-out, cleverly-plotted, and peppered with unusually interesting characters. Sandford has been at this for so long that, a few years ago, he created a new series featuring Lettie Davenport. She's Lucas' oldest daughter and has literally grown up on the pages of the Prey series.
Sandford is one of the few authors whose new releases I eagerly await. They are that compelling and fascinating.
For a change of pace from noir thrillers to more lighthearted fare, I like to read D.P. Lyle's Jake Longly series. They're short on politics and long on great characterizations, snappy dialogue, and plot twists. Jake Longly is a former Big League baseball pitcher with a Gulf-front bar and restaurant (Captain Rocky's) in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and the hottest girlfriend in the solar system. Oh, and a totally insane ex-wife that aggravates him no end. Jake's idea of the good life is hanging out at Captain Rocky's with a bottomless pitcher of margaritas during the day and shredding the sheets at night with Nicole, his beautiful girlfriend. Nicole is more than just gorgeous. She's an actress and script writer at the top of her game. And loves a good mystery.
But poor Jake's idyllic life is interrupted frequently by his father Ray, a hardcore former federal agent turned P.I. Ray's cohort is Jake's best friend from childhood, an enormous, tech savvy man nicknamed Pancake for his football talent in leveling opponents. Just when things seem to be settling into Jake's desired lifestyle, Ray and Pancake intrude. It always seems to start with some relatively minor task they ask Jake to do for them. He invariably refuses, but Nicole loves action and accepts for the two of them. Very shortly murder and mayhem arrive on the scene.
There are no dull moments in Doug's books. The dialogue is clever, fast-paced, and usually funny. It fits the characters perfectly. I suggest starting with the first book in the series, Deep Six. Besides the Jake Longly series, Doug Lyle has written close to 20 thrillers, plus short stories and novellas. In addition, with his background as a cardiologist, he's written a number of non-fiction books on forensics. I know Doug through ITW—the International Thriller Writers. He's outgoing and approachable, as well as kind and generous with his time. Always willing to help other writers. And he writes terrific mysteries and thrillers.
Robert Crais is one of the most talented thriller writers today. He also is an accomplished scriptwriter—Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, among others—and the author of detective fiction novels, particularly the Elvis Cole series (20 and counting). Crais has won a bushel of awards for his novels including Best Novel on multiple occasions. I've read all his Elvis Cole novels and definitely am a fan. His writing is smooth, witty, and moves at a fast, but enjoyable pace. What distinguishes individual writers is their unique "voice" as it comes through their writing. Crais is one of the best. It's difficult not to try to read his books in a single sitting. Think of a smoother version of the late Robert B. Parker's books. As is the case with James Lee Burke and CJ Box, among others, Crais uses two protagonists in his Elvis Cole series. Cole is a shrewd, tough PI who never let a statute or ordinance stand between him and getting justice for his clients. His partner in crime is one of the badest badasses in modern fiction, Joe Pike, another former Special Ops vet. Pike only has too modes—dangerous and deadly.
I find it interesting how many popular fiction writers have incorporated a protagonist who is a tough guy in his own right, but has a pal who makes Attila the Hun look like a sissy. Some who quickly come to mind are: Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcel (see James Lee Burke, above), C.J. Box's Joe Pickett and the ever dangerous Nate Romanowski (see above), and Robert B. Parker's Spenser and Hawk. Crais blends private eye Elvis Cole with the deadly Joe Pike. These pairings match a tough but mostly by-the-book protagonist with an anti-hero (usually former covert operator) who has never met an evildoer he didn't want to kill. Come to think of it, my Sleeping Dogs series has that in spades. Brendan Whelan has six other guys watching his six—the other members of the Sleeping Dogs unit.