The Ville Rat
By Martin Limon
Soho Crime. $26.95
George Sueno and his partner Ernie Basom are investigators with the U.S. 8th Army CID. Stationed in South Korea in the 1970s, the two men have had some interesting cases, but this one tops the charts since they will find that there will be no cooperation coming from members of the 2nd Infantry Division who may be involved in the death of a local woman.
When a Korean woman is found strangled on the banks of the Sonya River, the authorities call in the two Army investigators to work on the case it appears that an American serviceman may be involved.
Receiving no cooperation from the military division officers whose unit is stationed in a nearby village, Sueno and Basom will have to locate and interview a mysterious a local smuggler, known as “the Ville Rat”, since he may have key information that will help solve the case.
A challenging case with some interesting nuances, this is one assignment the two investigators will need to pool all their resources on if they hope to see justice done.
With plenty of local color, this military police procedural series has stretched to nine titles. It has attracted readers who look for something a little different and appreciate the unusual setting.
Golden Lion
By Wilber Smith and Giles Kristian
William Morrow. $28.99
Wilbur Smith resumes his very popular Courtney family series set in East Africa in the 17th century with this latest swashbuckling, action packed adventure.
Set in the three decades between “Birds of Prey” and “Monsoon”, two earlier novels that chart Henry “Hal” Courtney’s progress from a young seaman under his father’s tutelage to an accomplish mariner, “Golden Lion” finds Hal the captain of his own ship.
Having seen his father executed during the Anglo-Dutch naval conflict, Hal has spent his young life, thus far, avenging his father’s death. Now with his own family to provide for the young man captains his ship, “The Golden Bough,” through the still precarious waters that stretch from the slave markets of Zanzibar to the pirate invested waters on the Indian Ocean.
Of more immediate concern for Hal, though, is saving his wife and unborn child who have been kidnapped by an old nemesis. The stakes have never been higher but the intrepid adventurer is up to the challenge and will do whatever it takes to save his loved ones.
The first time he has worked with a co-author, Smith explains this was necessary to answer to the pressure to revisit his family of characters, which was so great that he couldn’t keep up with the demand; hence, a little assistance was deemed necessary.
Smith notes that his co-author, “Writes with imagination and has helped me bring some of my beloved characters back to life.”
Real Tigers
By Mick Herron
Soho. $26.95
Admittedly this third installment of the Slough House series featuring a group of misfit and disgraced MI5 operatives takes a while to get into, but once the story does take hold, it does become an entertaining read.
Dubbed the “slow horses” by their colleagues in the spy business, the folks at Slough House find that when one of their own is kidnapped they still have enough giddy-up left to launch an effort to find the missing woman and get her back to safety.
This is rather a convoluted and multi-layered plot that demands a bit of patience at the outset as you sift through the various characters and relationships to try to understand the nature of the conspiracy that is unfolding here.
Although they are a rather motley crew with plenty of idiosyncrasies, the agents banished to this unit can still function professionally and even with their sardonic leader, they can be a force to be reckoned with.
It appears that Mark Herron with his MI5 eccentrics has taken a page from Christopher Fowler’s popular series featuring the maverick Peculiar Crimes Unit that handles bizarre crimes in London. Although I think Fowler’s characters are more likeable and his plots more interesting, Herron is also able to mine the character eccentricities that make both series so enticing.
The British Lion
By Tony Schumacher
William Morrow. $25.99
This alternative thriller imagines that Nazi Germany won the Second World War. London police detective John Henry Rossett now reports to Ernest Koehler, his German boss, and his recovering from a gunshot wound when the SS officer approaches him with a serious personal problem.
The American spies have kidnapped Koehler’s wife and daughter and the Nazi needs Rossett’s assistance to get them back. Caught in a ticklish situation where he is willing to assist his boss to save two innocent lives, the British detective finds himself walking a tightrope between the violent resistance and the Nazi SS.
Complicating matters is Rossett’s search for a Jewish scientist whose life has been spared as long as she works on assisting in the development of an atomic bomb.
In “The Darkest Hour” Schumacher sets up the scenario of this “what-might-have-been” situation and introduces the central characters. This post war look at London had the war had a different outcome was so successful that this sequel followed. Given his early success Schumacher will now probably turn this into a series featuring Rossett.
Sidney Sheldon’s Reckless: A Tracy Whitney Novel
By Tilly Bagshawe
William Morrow. $26.99
Tracy Whitney is back again in this latest installment of the series featuring the enduring heroine created by Sidney Sheldon. There are plenty of surprising twists and gut-wrenching action in this new novel in which Tracy has ostensibly left her past life as a con artist and jewel thief to raise her son.
A personal tragedy and the threat posed by a group of global hackers intent on destroying the world economy sets Tracy off on a quest to uncover the elusive “Althea”, who is at the heart of the insidious plot.
Determined to help the CIA uncover Althea’s true identity and because she has a personal score to now settle with this adversary, Tracy is determined to do whatever it takes to bring the master criminal down.
From the Rocky Mountains to Europe’s grand old cities, this espionage novel provides the memorable characters and special thrills that have made this series a staple for decades.