Panel Discussion
I’m looking forward to this! Here’s the link to register and get more information. I hope to see you there!
Arrow’s Fall by Joel Scott
I once read Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream aloud in a tent, by flashlight, to a friend. There is something about Scott’s long poetically complex sentences, lyrical phrasing, and island scenes that cast me back there as I read this book. There’s a mess of sailing jargon, but a reader can get the gist even if you don’t know your “winged out mizzen” from your “foresail” or your “genoa” (81). There is also a good deal of alcohol consumed by our intrepid captain, Jared Kane and his Haida sidekick, Danny Maclean.
Perhaps, years of rocking through white-crested waves as a sailor and navigating literature as a librarian, combined to produce this effect. Scott’s writing is, at times, intoxicating. He’s been compared to Joseph Conrad, and I’ll go one further. I flashed on William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, not just in the language, but in the brutal events that befall the captain and crew of Arrow.
The plot is simple. Kane and Maclean are lounging around the North Island in New Zealand with their ugly dog — tanning, drinking, fishing, and tending to chores — when Laura Kennedy asks to charter Arrow. The reluctant hero declines. But then his sailboat is rifled by ex-marine, Lord Barclay Summers. When Jared meets Laura again, she admits that Summers is searching for journals that point to treasure — five million pounds in gold. It seems, the Boussole left France in 1787 containing three treasure chests, Laperouse’s share of the family estate. The Count may have escaped the French Revolution, but his ship floundered somewhere near Fiji and was never seen again. And so the quest begins.
Joseph, a one-hundred-year-old Haida elder, lends a touch of mysticism to the story when he joins the party of adventurers. His dreams of sixteen-foot sharks and poisonous sea snakes buffet the Arrow to her eventual destination. Pursued by Summers in Captain Robin Waverly’s Golden Dragon, the Arrow sails for Fiji. The crew’s feast in traditional Fijian villages and the dive scenes are vivid. Using a hookah — air tubes connected to a raft — rather than tanks, Kane and Kennedy explore the more shallow reefs: “… tiny triggerfish and wrasse near the surface, the ubiquitous parrotfish farther down, and on the bottom, coral trout and groupers, edging out from beneath the reefs for a quick look before vanishing again with a flick of the tail” (202). But what seems like paradise quickly turns lethal.
A subplot is the mad love story played out by two tragically-flawed characters. Their love reef is beautiful, and nothing like the lagoon they wind up in, which is something from another planet. An evil planet. Waverly, Summers, and their band of mercenaries are sadistic villains, whose lust for treasure and violence drives the back half of the book.
Though a sequel to Arrow’s Flight (2018), this was my first dive into Joel Scott’s nautical thrillers. I will definitely go back and read the adventures of Jared Kane and Danny Maclean. I once thought I might like to learn to sail, but now I’m not so sure.
As reviewed in The Ottawa Review of Books, September 2019
The Dark Angel, Elly Griffiths
In book nine, Elly Griffiths set up a wicked scenario. Ruth thought she might finally get her man. But then his pretty wife announced that she was pregnant, and DCI Nelson, being the man that he is, chose to support his family. While they’re awaiting the arrival of this new baby—and wondering who the father really is—Ruth gets a call from an old Italian lover and a working holiday offer in a mountain village in Italy. Dr. Angelo Morelli is a handsome archaeologist with a TV show, so of course, there are bones. And then, another murder.
Ruth takes along Kate, who is now a precocious six-year-old; as well as, her friend Shona and little Louis. The town is a shrine of historical drama and hidden secrets. It takes an earthquake to wrench Harry away from Michelle, but he comes to ensure his daughter and her mother (I’m still not sure he loves Ruth) are all right.
Ruth and Harry’s relationship doesn’t do much of anything in this book—it’s stuck and quite boring. Even if the baby doesn’t turn out to be Harry’s, I don’t see him marrying Ruth. There are no real sparks or sizzles, just dying embers. The Italian backdrop is intriguing though, the history interesting, and the writing cozy as always. This is a good bedtime reading book.
Cainsville by Kelley Armstrong
I haven’t posted much lately because I’ve been binge-reading Kelley Armstrong’s Cainsville series. I’m impressed. I decided to try it, as I love her Rockton series and I had the chance to meet her at Creative Ink in March. This series is exciting and devilish and very clever. It’s also the closest series I’ve read to my own Hollystone Mysteries. Elements are similar. We’re definitely in the realm of sexy urban fantasy with a twist of murder. It’s also mythic and arises from Celtic folklore. Faeries. Where I write of the Irish Sidhe (shee), Kelley writes of the Welsh Tylwyth Teg, the Cŵn Annwn, and something called the Sluagh. Same powerful and mysterious Celtic beings. Two different islands.
Right off the top, let me say that the one thing lacking is a Pronunciation Guide. It’s frustrating having to guess at the proper way to say a Gaelic word, even in your mind. Welsh is as tricksy as the fae. The author mentions that Cŵn Annwn is sounded as Coon Anoon, but as for the others, I know my inner voice is mispronouncing. In Book 5, when the Sluagh appear, I thought it could have been pronounced slow or slew with a silent gh, but no. The word is apparently spoken as sloo-ah. (I had to google it.) I’ve been pronouncing Tylwyth Teg as till-oo-ith teg. I know that w creates an oo sound. But that might be wrong too. Thus, the need for a guide.
Two of these fae factions have their own kings. For the Cŵn Annwn, it’s Arawn, King of the Underworld. He presides over spectral hounds and directs The Wild Hunt. Gwynn ap Nudd is King of the Tylwyth Teg AKA King of Faerie. These are creatures associated with the Welsh Mabinogion tales and early Arthurian legends.
The spooky town is brilliant. Cainsville. Located just outside Chicago, Illinois, it’s in seemingly sleepy small town America. Most people know the biblical story of Cain and Abel, who were the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain, the farmer, and Abel, the shepherd, both made sacrifices. God favored Abel’s and rejected Cain’s. Jealous and bitter, Cain killed his brother and was then cast out. Apparently, he made it as far as Cainsville. If you’ve read Beowulf, you’ll know that Cain is the father of all monsters, including Grendel, the beast our Anglo-Saxon superhero comes to slay. Since the Beowulf poet was Christian, those monsters involved anything pagan, including faeries. In Irish myth, the fey have been called “fallen angels”—they who fell from God’s grace along with Satan. Knowing this, opens up the series and the town to all kinds of shenanigans.
In Book 1 (Omens) we are introduced to Olivia Taylor-Jones (born as Eden Larsen.) She’s a heroic misfit like all of Kelley Armstrong’s leads. A strong woman with mystical skills because, of course, she has fey blood. Almost all the characters are fey in some way. Liv sees and interprets omens. As Liv, it’s hard to sympathize with her. She’s grown up pampered and proud in a wealthy Chicago family, studied Ivy League Victorian literature, specializing in Sherlock Holmes, and has a mansion and a mother to return to when she’s done slumming it in Cainsville. The twist is, Olivia began life as Eden Larsen. When her serial-killer parents were convicted for ritually murdering four couples, little Eden was adopted by the Taylor-Jones. In Omens, Liv’s secret is exposed and she becomes fixated on learning the truth. Are my parents really serial killers or were they framed? This thread weaves through all five books.
To uncover the truth, Liv connects with the handsome attorney who defended her parents. If he wasn’t so emotionally stunted, she’d be sleeping with him in Book 1. Like his namesake, Gabriel Walsh, is indeed Olivia’s angel. And, one can only hope, her someday lover. Walsh (which is Irish for those fellas from Wales) is an intellectual white-collar bad boy and self-made man, whose mother was an abusive drug addict.
Just to stir the pot, in Omens, Kelley throws in two other potential mates for Olivia. Young Ricky Gallagher, heir to the Satan’s Saints motorcycle gang, and James Morgan. James is a man of Olivia’s class, a politician who has her life as a senate wife all mapped out. Fortunately, she’s far too edgy for that life and knows it. She’s more interested in the blond, leathered biker.
Omens is tame. In Visions, Olivia takes a ride on Ricky’s motorcycle and … Well, it’s “grass, gas, or ass.” The sex scenes are inventive. When I met Kelley Armstrong, I thought, “Wow. She wrote those sex scenes!” Then I look at myself and wonder how many people think the same thing about me. Sex is an expectation of the Urban Fantasy genre and Kelley writes it well. Very well.
I liked the story in Book 2 (Visions) but I’ll be honest. I skimmed the descriptions of Olivia’s visions. Not because the writing was bad. It’s not. Kelley Armstrong is a fantastic writer. But the visions are so horrific and vivid—reminiscent of Stephen King—I didn’t want them in my head, especially at bedtime.
In Book 3 (Deceptions) the story deepens as the old Welsh rivalry between raven-haired Gwynn ap Nudd and the golden boy Arawn is revealed. They both love Mathilda. But who will she choose? This question forms one of the major series questions. Arawn is Ricky Gallagher, thundering the highways on his motorcycle rather than through the fields on his horse. Still he’s on the hunt. Naturally, Gabriel is Gwynn—dark, mysterious, grave. Both are willing to do anything for Mathilda, our Olivia. The author clearly explains that these characters are not reincarnations. They do not follow a fated pattern, and they have free will.
SPOILER: In the myth, Mathilda chooses Gwynn and the couple betray Arawn. But not so here. In Visions, Olivia chooses Ricky Gallagher and by Deceptions, she is officially his girlfriend, having been to the clubhouse and been somewhat accepted by Ricky’s father. Still, she has moments where she dreams of being with Gabriel. Ah, the old love triangle arises.
A second major story question revolves around Olivia’s birth parents: Todd and Pamela Larsen. Did they really ritually kill four couples, and if so, why? In Omens, Gabriel and Olivia solve one of the crimes. So that leaves six murders still unaccounted for. In Deceptions, we discover more about Todd and Pamela, possible motives, triggers, and liaisons, and a new story emerges about Eden Larsen AKA Olivia Taylor-Jones.
This series is addictive because of all the unanswered questions. Kelley Armstrong is clever with the cliffhangers and even more clever at weaving action and emotion.
The fourth book is Betrayals. This one really stopped me in my tracks. More horrific visions involving the savage murder of young fae girls. I couldn’t handle it. I wanted to read every word but I just couldn’t do it. I’m very visual and I found it too graphic. I ended up skimming most of this book because I just wanted to know who Olivia chose … Ricky or Gabriel? Because by then I’d decided who I wanted her to choose. It’s a hard choice for the reader. Ricky and Gabriel are two very different men from two very different worlds, but both are handsome knights who’d give their life for their beloved.
I read every word of Book 5 (Rituals). Kelley does an amazing job of tying everything up in this, the final book. The addition of the third fey strain—the horrid unforgiveable Sluagh, who steal souls and turn them into blood-crazed birds—really ups the stakes.
Was I satisfied with the ending? Yes. Was everything explained? Yes. This is an epic series: part horror, part romance, and all thriller. I hope it gets optioned for the screen.
Mahoney’s Camaro
Cross-genre novels present the best of diverse worlds. In Mahoney’s Camaro, Michael J. Clark offers a tongue-in-cheek paranormal mystery guaranteed to make you smile.
To begin with, the story is set in 1985 Winnipeg. Laced with street-talk, the odd bit of casual sex, and the necessary obscenities, it comes with an Eighties soundtrack that will have you humming along with the car radio. Time travel back to the days of video store rentals, Beta and VHS cassettes, Consumer’s Distributing outlets, answering machines, and Sony Walkmans.
Clark also offers readers a window into the genesis of crack-cocaine which is just blowing in from the United States and is hitting the Winnipeg streets. It’s killing people who are unprepared for the shift in quality and turning recreational users into addicts. At the same time, business people who’ve been using pagers are being romanced by the notion of a cellular phone. How amazing would it be if you could make a sale on the go, rather than wait till you’re back at the office to make that callback?
But Clark’s real niche lies in his intricate knowledge of the automotive industry. He began his career by winning national awards for writing and photography in automotive journalism. Mahoney’s Camaro is a book that car guys and gals will adore. Well-peppered with allusions to makes, models, and years, any vintage enthusiast will be able to cruise along beside Mahoney with visions of cars in their head.
The book is plot-driven. There’s no complex character development—just a pack of car hounds who’ll keep you smiling.
Steve Mahoney is a nice guy—the kind of guy who’ll help you out and be glad to do it—a mechanic and tow-truck driver who pulls night shifts in “Unit 36 . . . the oldest member of the Hook Me Up Towing company fleet . . . a ’73 Chevrolet C30 chassis cab.” He lives on fast food and little sleep and finds his girlfriend while picking up a lock-out.
When he’s called out to the Red River to retrieve a submerged Camaro, Mahoney discovers a body inside—a woman handcuffed to the wheel. The police assume it’s a suicide so our hero takes the car off to be cleaned. Later, he discovers the story might not be so simple. You see, Mahoney needs spare parts to rebuild his damaged ’67 Camaro and this haul is perfect. He outbids another buyer at a salvage auction, pays $1200 for the cleaned-up purple Camaro, and gets his vehicle back on the street. The only problem is, his new Hot Rod comes with its own ghost. Heather Price.
Paranormal writers all present ghosts in their own unique way. Heather knows she’s deceased, though she’s sketchy on the why and how of it. She can make the Camaro do things. Communicate through the radio. Inspire terrifying visions. Appear in several guises including a shimmering spectre with kaleidoscope eyes and floating hair and, conversely, the corpse Mahoney pulled out of the Red River. Our hero’s not the only person who can see her, and her appearances incite mixed reactions. The woman just wants to go home. If Mahoney can solve the riddle behind her untimely demise and see justice served, perhaps he’ll get his car back. Then his girlfriend won’t be so jealous.
Mahoney’s Camaro is a quick, fun read, perfect for summer travel. You might find yourself vehicle-gazing on the highway, or hitting a vintage car rally. Fans who enjoy reading Dietrich Kalteis, A.J. Devlin, and Ron Corbett will want to join the joyride.
As published in the Ottawa Review of Books, June 2019