Published in 1998
Ann
Rule, a master of the true crime genre, tackles the case of a woman
who has it all, then ends up doing two consecutive hard forties--forty
years in prison for a capital offense in place of the death penalty--for
the murders of two of her children and attempted murder of her third
child and husband.
Debora
Green and Mike Farrar seemed to have a perfect life. Both doctors, they
had three active children and an affluent lifestyle. But beneath her
devoted wife and mother facade, Debora concealed a volatile
personality--she was subject to debilitating insecurities, extreme
jealousy and violent rages.
After
more than a decade, Mike had had enough and moved out. When their house
burned to the ground, Debora and the children moved in with him. They
bought a far grander house and Mike promised to make things work with
his family. Life improved. For a while.
Once
more reaching his limit with Debora, Mike again spoke of moving out and
getting a divorce. This time the situation was different as he had met
another woman.
Despite
recurring bouts of ill health that brought him near death and the
growing suspicion he was being poisoned, Mike moved out. Debora turned
the children against their father with vile and untrue accusations, then
began to drink heavily and take medication for depression. Mike often
found her incoherent.
A
stint in a psychiatric facility seemed to improve Debora's outlook and
all seemed calm until one night Mike received a frantic phone call from a
neighbor. His house was on fire! Debora was outside and one of their
children managed to escape, but the other two died.
As
the police and fire departments investigated it became apparent the
fire was arson and the prime suspect with motive and means was Debora
Green.
Rule
gives us in meticulous detail facts of the investigation, who said/did
what, dates, places, pictures. Involved doctors, investigators, lawyers,
prosecutors, neighbors and friends add pertinent facts to the book.
Questions
raised: Is Debora Green truly the monster who poisoned her husband,
then plotted to kill her children by setting a fire that would trap them
in their rooms? Is she a brilliant doctor who can't relate to people
and, as some psychiatrists said, has the emotional intellect of a child?
Can she reasonably claim she didn't know what she had done?
I pitied her at times. At others couldn't wait for her to be locked away.
I
certainly pitied Mike for what he had to go through, yet wondered more
than once why, knowing how unstable she was, he left the children in
her care. Wishful thinking? Hoping for the best? I suppose his motives
are another story, another book.
My
greatest pity was for the children, two innocent lives lost, one
changed forever. Though Rule assures us their lives were fairly normal I
can't imagine this myself. They knew what was going on, however their
love for their mother kept them fiercely loyal.
Conclusion: Like an episode of Law And Order,
we see events unfold and lead toward a horrific crime, then the
thorough work of prosecutors building their case. I found much of the
book a suspenseful page turner.
--Cat first posted in 2010
Sunday 14 January 2024
Quick Review BITTER HARVEST
Sunday 17 December 2023
Quick Review – The Apprentice
Published in 2002
Boston Detective Jane Rizzoli hunts for a serial killer whose gruesome method is disturbingly similar to that of imprisoned murderer The Surgeon. (pub'd 2001)
Rizzoli
works hard to act as tough as her male colleagues, despite being
haunted by the terror-filled moments she spent at the hands of the
Surgeon before she captured him. Showing the weakness and vulnerability
she often feels is not an option.
Complications
arise when Rizzoli must work with FBI agent Gabriel Dean, and she
battles both her belief he will usurp her role in the investigation as
well as her burgeoning attraction to him.
A
further complication-- and horror-- occurs when the crafty Surgeon
escapes prison and it becomes apparent the two serial killers have
become a team
When Rizzoli is captured by the unholy duo, I confess I almost expected the white knight (Gabriel Dean) to save her.
I'm
so glad I was wrong. Rizzoli is the hero of her deadly predicament and
she disposes of the vermin in a beautiful manner. I cheered!
Gerritsen
is a superb writer. She has created a complex, easy-to-identify-with
character in Jane Rizzoli. Forensic methods, investigative instruments,
medical exams, are realistically presented in a thorough and interesting
manner.
Conclusion: Compelling characters, a well-executed taut, suspenseful thriller
--Cat
Thursday 16 November 2023
Quick Review – Unspeakable
Published in 1999
The Players:
Two convicts, one E-V-I-L personified, the other a sad mental deficient, break out of prison and go on a vicious crime spree.
The slightly smarter brother of E-V-I-L, who joins in on the crimefest.
A small-town sheriff forced to retire, obsessed with the case he couldn't solve thirty years ago.
A gruff rancher who harbors a secret love for his widowed daughter-in-law.
Said
daughter-in-law, a beautiful deaf woman, accomplished and
self-sufficient, who has put her ambitions on hold and with her five
year old son remains at the ranch from a sense of duty.
A rugged drifter with painful secrets
A slick banker who covets the rancher's land
Stereotypical
characters aside, this is a suspenseful thriller with graphic violence
and sex, remorseless cruelty and murder aplenty. Amidst the mayhem a
tender love story emerges.
I
had a slight problem with Brown's tendency to insert comprehensive past
histories of minor characters, and the two-steps-forward-one-back
approach as movement halts to detail a character's morning. Did some
skimming, which is a shame as the book is well written.
And I can't define why, but I felt the drifter's big secret was, for want of a better word, bogus.
Conclusion: Not for the gentle reader. Stock characters in stock situations, redeemed by Brown's powerful writing.
Tuesday 17 October 2023
Quick Review HONEYMOON
Chosen 2005 International Thriller of the Year by the International Thriller Writers
The same organization named Patterson Thriller Master of 2007.
HONEYMOON follows an oft used plot, the beautiful Black Widow who marries rich then offs the husbands for their millions. An equally common plot addition is the handsome FBI agent who, while investigating the Widow, falls in lust with her, placing both his job and his life in jeopardy.
There's also an unidentified female character following the Black Widow. My first guess as to her identity proved correct.
I expected a big showdown at the end between the agent and the widow, perhaps on a sailboat (per the cover). No such showdown. No sailboat, either. Sure, the widow is dispatched in the same gruesome manner she killed her men. But the end was a wee bit anticlimactic for me.
Conclusion: a good quick summer read. All's well that ends well.
--Cat
Thursday 28 September 2023
Quick Review – Daddy
-
Daddy
by Loup Durand
1987
Translated from French by J. Maxwell Brownjohn
This nifty, complex thriller is a true cat and mouse chase through
France, Switzerland, and Germany in 1942. The cat, recruited by
Nazis, is Gregor Laemmle, a brilliant, somewhat dissipated,
philosopher, who has the German army and the French police at his
disposal. The mouse is eleven year old multilingual genius Thomas
von Gall. He has memorized bank codes that access 350 million
dollars in gold hidden by Jews at the start of the war, money now
coveted by the Germans. Laemmle is to do anything he must to find
the boy.
Thomas uses his superior brain to outwit Laemmle, a difficult task
given the latter’s vast resources and his knack for foreseeing
Thomas’s every move. Likening the hunt to a challenging chess game,
with moves and countermoves, Laemmle bears a grudging respect for
the talented boy, even grows to love him. After his beloved mother
is killed in a trap, Thomas hates Laemmle with a fury he has never
known
Enter a third party with a vested interest in the situation:
American David Quartermain, who received a letter from Thomas’s
mother, informing him that the boy is his son and he may be the only
one to save him. One of a large family, said to be America’s
wealthiest, Quartermain has led the idle life of a rich, carefree
playboy, and now must get involved in a serious quest that may kill
him. He does an admirable job, as does Thomas, whose distrust of the
American grows into respect, and finally love. Suspenseful twists
and turns throughout lead to a satisfying ending.
~ Loup Durand, 1933-1995, first published at the age of forty-two.
He wrote several French adventure novels under a pseudonym. Daddy
became an instant bestseller in France.
~ A 1989 review in The New York Times took exception to the Indiana
Jones/James Bond heroics David Quartermain displays. Some readers no
doubt agree. Millions, however, loved this book. I count myself
among the latter.
~ In 2003 a TV movie based on Daddy--Entrusted--was produced
(UK/France).
~ Other Novels:
The Angkor Massacre - 1983
Jaguar - 1990
The Grand Silence - 1994
Friday 31 December 2021
Monday 23 December 2019
Quick review - Graveyard Shift
The seventh book of the Hope Sze medical mystery series is the first I read. I was hooked on page 1, an action packed scene in which the young resident doctor is nearly strangled by a psychotic drug addict screaming for her next fix.
The night gets wilder in the ER with an array of patients, some with simple ailments, some more complicated. Dr. Sze is nearly kidnapped, an ER doctor is murdered, threats are received.
Dr. Sze believes someone has it in for the busy Montréal hospital ER, and between working her diverse emergency cases she tries to determine this person's identity. Complicating matters is her frustration at the disappearance of a man she loves, and her uncertainty about other staff members.
I enjoyed the deep first person POV--the interior monologues gave me a "you are there" feeling. And I liked her explanation of the terms used for various ailments. There's humor among the pathos.
A definite page turner with a likable, complex main character. I'm going to start with the first book and read them all!
--Cat