Wednesday 23 May 2012

P.J. Tracy: Live Bait Reviewed

The second crime novel from the mother/daughter partnership and it echoes the pace of the first, Want To Play?. Maury, a man in his eighties, a community saint, shot by a pro in his plant nursery. Another old man shot at home, then dragged to a train track and bound in place, to die of a heart attack before a train could finish the job.

Two more bodies follow, man and woman, very old, both shot to death. Now there's a link, three of the four have the awful tattoo of Auschwitz on their wrists.

Sunday 20 May 2012

The Meal Is The Message

McDonalds, purveyors of fat and salt to the world, are "sponsoring" bloggers. Write nice things about chicken nuggets and they invite you to all-expenses-paid parties and give you free gifts. This is happening in the States and is apparently on its way to the UK.

They've obviously learned some lessons from their sad essay into Twitter land - "#McDStories When u make something w/pride, people can taste it". That got a wonderful reception, with many people pointing out all the things you can taste in a McMeal - including a finger if you're lucky. Better to get some seasoned bloggers (spot the joke) to step up to the plate as Jamie Oliver delivers another stinging pitch. Alas, many people will believe an unknown blogger before they'll credit an expert like Oliver, and so the dumbing-down and fattening-up can continue unchecked.

Monday 14 May 2012

P.J. Tracy Want To Play? Review

An elderly pair of religious bigots shot and mutilated in a church in rural Wisconsin. Two murders in Minneapolis. A motley crew of software developers feels an icy wind and wonders how to tell the police that they wrote the blueprint for the Minneapolis killings. Especially as it seems they've been running from the police for a decade.

In the meantime, the body count rises...

Thursday 10 May 2012

P.J. Tracy

I've been told I don't write about women authors so here we have two for the price of one: PJ Tracy is actually a mother/daughter partnership and a jolly good one too.

Mother Patricia (P.J.) and daughter Traci Lambrecht have produced a set of crime novels which are way better than I'd have expected. Given they claim to have only some freelance writing and a little romantic fiction behind them, their writing is assured, their characters are good and their plotting is of a similarly high standard.

Thursday 3 May 2012

Robert Crais: Indigo Slam Review

A rain-drenched nightime evacuation: man and children being moved by US Marshals. Ambush, Marshal down, van escapes in panic.

Three years on. Find a missing man - nothing unusual for Cole and Pike, except that the clients are the man's children, the eldest Teri at fifteen. Cole has turned down the job but girlfriend Lucy's maternal instincts persuade him to change his mind. With some annoyance at Craig Haines' behaviour but no great expectations, Elvis begins the hunt.