Dogged, likable detectives and a crafty reporter skillfully deliver justice in this dense but engaging thriller.
A vicious killer terrorizes a Southern California housing project in Celley’s crime novel.
Set in Los Angeles on dry, desolate Sultan Road,the author’s third suspense tale begins at a nightclub where an assault involving three women escalates into a homicide case when a mangled corpse of one of the participants turns up in a nearby parking lot. Rugged, former middleweight boxer–turned–Los Angeles police detective Sgt. Carlos Aguilar, and his partner, Harry Lee, quickly spring into action to investigate the crime, initially suspecting the involvement of rival gangs nearby. The detectives soon learn that the victim, Lisa Nguyen, was an accountant employed by a property management firm in charge of several local housing projects; the structures provide residences for lower-income artists, elderly people, and families who are receiving government-aid subsidies. After some digging, however, the cops discover that some of that government funding has suspiciously gone missing. It turns out that there’s another factor at play, which surfaces after Aguilar and Jay Phillips, a neophyte newspaper reporter looking for a scoop, realize the significance of the housing project’s location. It turns out that Sultan Road occupies a stretch of highly coveted land, and it’s considered to be a potentially lucrative spot for residential high-rises—or, just maybe, a mayor-supported sports stadium. However, as the sleuths continue their work, they face a very real threat from a man who’s known throughout Mexico as “El Puma.” Aguilar and Jay believe the man was hired away from Mexican drug cartels by a real estate developer to scare off locals with a campaign of terror and violence, the likes of which the area has never seen before.
A shady security service, corporate corruption, more grisly murders, and some dogged spadework by the detectives and the indefatigable newsman result in a breathless tale of crime, corruption, and, ultimately, justice. With its attention-grabbing premise and clean, readable prose, the story becomes increasingly compelling as the main characters dig up bits and pieces of the truth. One of the novel’s best attributes is its brisk momentum; from the very first page, Celley’s story wastes no time getting right to the heart of the crimes and the motivations behind them. The author effectively sweeps readers into a tangled mess of white-collar deceit, embezzlement, crooked politics, and organized crime. The two cops are appealing enough on their own, but Jay, as a skateboard-riding millennial reporter, has enough brio to command a murder mystery of his very own. Celley is based in Los Angeles himself, and he draws from contemporary headlines as he crafts this twisty but believable yarn; in doing so, he taps into the reality of greedy developers sandbagging property owners to vacate the land that they desire. The story is perhaps a bit more expository than is strictly necessary for a thriller due to the complexity of the plot. However, readers likely won’t mind the circuitous path that this absorbing story takes.
Dogged, likable detectives and a crafty reporter skillfully deliver justice in this dense but engaging thriller.Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64718-695-1
Page Count: 406
Publisher: Booklocker.com
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.
The feds must protect an accused criminal and an orphaned girl.
Maybe you’ve met him before as protagonist of The 6:20 Man (2022): Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine, who’d had the dubious fortune to tangle with “the girl on the train,” is now assigned by his homeland security boss to protect Danny Glass, who's awaiting trial on multiple RICO charges in Washington state. Devine has what it takes: He “was a closer, snooper, fixer, investigator,” and, when necessary, a killer. These skills are on full display as the deaths of three key witnesses grind justice to a temporary halt. Glass has a 12-year-old niece, Betsy Odom, and each is the other’s only living relative—her parents recently died of an apparent drug overdose. The FBI has temporary guardianship of Betsy, who's a handful. She tells Travis that though she’s not yet 13, she's 28 in “life-shit years.” The financially well-heeled Glass wants to be her legal guardian with an eye to eventual adoption, but what are his real motives? And what happens to her if he's convicted? Meanwhile, Betsy insists that her parents never touched drugs, and she begs Travis to find out how they really died. This becomes part of a mission that oozes danger. The small town of Ricketts has a woman mayor who’s full of charm on the surface, but deeply corrupt and deadly when crossed. She may be linked to a subversive group called "12/24/65," as in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan beast was born. Blood flows, bombs explode, and people perish, both good guys and not-so-good guys. Readers might ponder why in fiction as well as in life, it sometimes seems necessary for many to die so one may live. And what about the girl on the train? She's not necessary to the plot, but she's a fun addition as she pops in and out of the pages, occasionally leaving notes for Travis. Maybe she still wants him dead.
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781538757901
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
