Bibliography: Patterson, James. (1976). The Thomas Berryman Number. New York: Little, Brown. ISBN: 978-0446600453

Plot Summary:  The story of the investigation of Nashville reporter Ochs Jones into the murder of Jimmie Lee Horn, one of Nashville’s first black mayors. Jones meets with friends and family of an assassin named Thomas Berryman and discovers everything people thought they knew about Horn’s murder is wrong.

Critical Analysis:  This was Patterson’s first novel, and it won the Edgar for best first crime novel.  It is quite different from his later work, literary, complex, and full of layers and subtly.  Interestingly enough, his current fans probably won’t enjoy it while readers who would appreciate his craft won’t pick up.  That’s too bad, as there is a lot to recommend about this short title.  Too bad Patterson has become a novel writing machine, he is so much better than some of his work demonstrates.

Review Excerpts: “…complex plot…complexity of the characters. Patterson’s observations are masterfully transformed into critical insights with Patton’s skillful pacing.”–Audio File

Reviewed from public library audio book.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  Aspiring journalist and high school senior Mitch True almost quits the school paper when Alyssa is chosen as editor over him and she assigns him to the sports beat.  But sports photographer Kim is beautiful and bright and interesting and they soon discover a potential football scandal that might make both their careers before they even finish high school–if it doesn’t get them killed first.

Critical Analysis:  For me, the strongest parts of this book are in the main character, Mitch and the sports scenes.  Mitch is an every man kind of guy, with a wry sense of humor and a unique perspective on the world.  I really like that Deuker has portrayed him as struggling with his weight but it is not the focus of Mitch’s character or the novel.  I have to say it was genius on Deuker’s part to make Mitch a sports reporter.  That gives the reader a viewpoint of taking in all the action, as well as background, behind the scenes and sideline perspectives.  Some of the football games are so well described, you feel like you are there watching, cheering, sitting on the edge of your seat.

However, while some of that same immediacy and suspense are present in the mystery, I find parts of it to be extremely far fetched.  I don’t want to spoil the book, so I won’t go into details, but the set up and especially Mitch and Kim’s involvement seem far fetched and unrealistic at times.   It probably doesn’t matter much to your average teen boy who will love the football scenes and the idea that a teen could uncover a thrilling mystery.

Review Excerpts:  ”…[A] compelling combination of sports novel and mystery….Deuker provides a strong football story with nail-biting action and intrigue and a strong, appealing protagonist.”–VOYA

“The game action alone is riveting even for readers who don’t know a naked bootleg from a hook-and-ladder play, but Deuker enriches the tale with several well-tuned subplots and a memorable narrator/protagonist who turns a corner on his own self-image while weathering brutal tests of his courage and determination. Definitely one for the top shelf.”–Booklist

“This is, at heart, a football story with a somewhat predictable mystery thrown in for good measure. Well-drawn characters, convincing teen dynamics, and play-by-play game coverage should hook male readers and/or football fans.”–Children’s Literature

“Deuker has crafted another entertaining and readable football story. The game descriptions are well done and will appeal to players and fans. Many teens who dreamed of being a star as children but don’t make the team in high school will identify with Mitch..”–School Library Journal

“Told in the first person, the story is initially funny, but the humor is soon eclipsed by the suspenseful plot and the copious play-by-play football action. These elements work together to create a rousing climax, which is then followed by a softer and more reflective denouement. Nicely played..”–Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary: With every fiber of her being protesting, newspaper reporter Camille Preaker returns home to Wind Gap, Missouri to get the scoop for her third rate newspaper on the kidnapping and murder of two little girls.  Not exactly the return of the prodigal daughter, her mother doesn’t welcome her, the police don’t want to share, most locals don’t want to talk and her half sister Amma blows hot and cold.  Being in her childhood home reminds her of the death of her other half sister years earlier.  As Camille gets closer to the murderer of the girls, she starts to uncover secrets from her own past  Can she confront the ghosts of the pasts to stop the horrors of the present?  Her survival may depend on it.

Critical Analysis: I had picked this book up before and never made it past the first couple of pages.  Hence the power of an audio book–I found myself thinking about listening to this book even when I was not in my car.  I considered driving around the block a few times just to get to the end of the story.

What made this title so compelling?  I think it is the combination of characters and the slow building and layering of the plot.  Camille is someone that many of us recognize–she was suffocated by her upbringing and her small town life but she managed to make it out.  She has literal and figurative scars to show for it, but she survived.  Going back to that place, her family is like a test–is she strong enough to survive now?  As for the plot, this book starts like a run of the mill mystery but becomes a Southern gothic with one of the most awful terrible and fascinating mother-daughter relationships I’ve ever encountered in contemporary fiction.  The slow discovery of current facts combined with the memory of past events lead to a train wreck of an ending from which you won’t be able to turn away.

Real people doing awful things to one another have always scared me more than monsters or men in hockey masks carrying chainsaws, and that is the case here.  You want Camille to leave and yet you want her to stay, thinking that she can uncover the real truth unlike the outsider policeman.  You want her to be strong enough to stand up for herself and you want her to leave and never come back.  Flynn has created a unique set of characters in a story so unbelievable at times that it must be true.  Older teen girls will love this title and come back to ask for more.

Readalikes:  This title reminds me a little of The Heat of the Moon by Sandra Parshall, another twisted gothic triangle of mothers, daughters, sisters and an unremembered past.

Review Excerpts: “Fans of psychological thrillers will welcome narrator/Chicago Daily Post reporter Camille Preaker with open arms….reminiscent of the works of Shirley Jackson….confidently recommend this title to readers of the genre, who will, no doubt, return asking for more. Highly recommended for all public libraries.”–Library Journal

“A savage debut thriller that renders the Electra complex electric, the mother/daughter bond a psychopathic stranglehold….a great whodunit, replete with hinting details, telling dialogue, dissembling clues….appalling, heartbreaking insight into the darkness of her women’s lives: the Stepford polish of desperate housewives, the backstabbing viciousness of drug-gobbling, sex-for-favors Mean Girls, the simmering rage bound to boil over. Piercingly effective and genuinely terrifying.”–Kirkus Reviews

“[G] ives new meaning to the term “dysfunctional family” in her chilling debut thriller.  The horror creeps up slowly, with Flynn misdirecting the reader until the shocking, dreadful and memorable double ending.”–Publisher’s Weekly

Reviewed from public library audio book copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary: Riley Spartz, television news reporter  in Minneapolis, just knows she has  a ratings winner when a former homicide detective hands her two cold case files–two women named Susan murdered on the same day but different years.  Riley knows they are connected and thinks perhaps there might be more, but how to prove it?  Her boss wants her to focus on a fraud investigation featuring cremated pets, a local city politician thinks she is only out for ratings, and could her source be hiding information about the crimes?

Critical Analysis:  I picked up this book at the public library because I had won a copy of the second in the series, Missing Mark, from the publisher.   I am one of those readers who prefers for the most part, to read series in order.  I like to see how the characters and relationships develop from the start.

I really enjoyed this title, and I would be lying if I didn’t tell you it was in part because my name is Susan, and it is not the most common name in the world, so that fact that the author choose it to be the center of this mystery appealed to me.  (Not because I want to be murdered or anything, I just appreciated it, is all).

Riley Spartz is a great character, someone you’d like to go to lunch or shopping with, or to a movie, except you’d have to worry about whether you were off the record or not, or whether she might be secretly filming that same resturant or shopping mall or movie theater for a future story.  Throughout the story, Kramer gives us just enough information about Riley’s past to explain some of her current outlook on work, life and love.

The main mystery is handled well, with twists, turns, and red herrings to keep things interesting.  I didn’t see the end coming but wasn’t surprised by the reveal either, a sign of a job well done in my book.  I also really enjoyed the secondary story line about the fraud investigation into pet cremation, as much because of how serious a story it turned out to be as because of all the details of how a news story like that works.  (And the sanctification when the villain gets what is coming to him.)  I think that is one of the strengths of this book, that all the details around the mystery are so well done.  I now know a little more about the local news scene, and was glad that both Malik the camera man and Toby the pet lover and a few of his dogs make appearances in the second book.

Readalikes:  While not a match in tone or appeal, I was reminded of Chelsea Cain’s series about a serial killer that features Susan Ward as a newspaper reporter for the local paper.  The series gives glimpses into how a larger newspaper really runs.  The first book in the series is Heartsick.

Review Excerpts:   “Kramer writes with heart and pizzazz, and her believable heroine makes the well-worn concept feel fresh. Kramer’s past as a TV producer lends authority to an entertaining story.”–Kirkus Reviews

“…a fast-paced and nicely characterized debut that will appeal to fans of Linda Fairstein and Laura Lippman.”–Library Journal

“Readers will look forward to seeing a lot more of the appealing Riley, who cares about justice as much as snagging at least a 40 audience share.”–Publisher’s Weekly

Reviewed from public library audio book copy. Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.