Headcase by Jack Heath
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A Chinese astronaut is found dead in a NASA training environment in Houston, Texas. No one can explain how he got there. Amid fears of a diplomatic catastrophe, the CIA dispatches Timothy ‘Hangman’ Blake to investigate a convicted kidnapper who works in the facility – someone Blake put away seven years ago.

Blake is deeply insane, afflicted by terrible urges he can barely control – but he’s also brilliant. Zara, his beautiful and deadly CIA handler, suspects a secret Chinese spacecraft is surveilling the United States, but Blake can see something much more sinister is going on. Something connected to the kidnapping seven years ago, to the technologies being developed at NASA, and to the serial killer known as the Texas Reaper.

Will Blake survive long enough to uncover the truth? And if he does, will anyone even believe him?

When a Chinese astronaut is found dead at a NASA training environment no one understands how he got there. When it’s found a convicted kidnapper works at the facility the CIA decide to send in Timothy Blake to investigate – since Timothy was the one who caught the kidnapper years ago during his work for the FBI. The case quickly gets more complicated as it becomes clear a number of different sinister factors are at work inside the NASA facility. Can Timothy uncover what’s really going on?

I was lucky enough to stumble on the first book in this series shortly after it was published. I have been hooked ever since. While the first three stories are very closely linked and really should be read in order, I was pleased to find this fourth (and so far, seemingly last) book stands a bit better by itself. If possible, I’d still recommend reading these books in order – but if any of the books were picked up by itself, I’d suggest this would be the one to grab as I think it might be possible to read this without the others and still be thoroughly enjoyed.

Timothy is somewhat of an anti-hero character. He has a few (fairly serious) quirks and within those quirks he’s quite happy to try and do the right thing, but he’s by no means a hero or usual positive protagonist. I find him different and refreshing and really interesting to read. I was also quite impressed by the multi facets of the plotline of this book. There were three or four subplots all interlinked together and when you then add in the main characters, Timothy, his CIA handler Zara and his ex-FBI partner Thistle there is a whole lot going on within this story and I found it more than enough to maintain my interest.

I also enjoyed that for this book (unlike the others in the series) there are three main time periods the story jumps between, the present, a few weeks ago and a few months ago, so it’s quite clear from the first page that a few different things are going on and while I usually don’t like jumping forward and backwards throughout a story for this case it actually worked really well and helped me understand and link together the whole picture a lot more easily than I would have had it just started at the beginning and worked forward. Once I had a good idea of how the story was unfolding, I thought it was an excellent choice on the author’s behalf, and I completely agree with how the story is set up despite my usual resistance to jumping back and forth.

Readers who enjoy a layered plot and slightly complicated characters should really enjoy this mystery/suspense story. I can highly recommend the entire series and feel readers who are looking for something a little different and slightly offbeat should absolutely give this author and this series a try. A series well worth the investment.

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Back when Harry Bosch was just a rookie homicide detective, he had an inspiring mentor who taught him to take the work personally and light the fire of relentlessness for every case. Now that mentor, John Jack Thompson, is dead, and his widow gives Bosch a murder book, one that Thompson took with him when he left the LAPD twenty years before — the unsolved killing of a troubled young man.

Bosch takes the murder book to Detective Renée Ballard and asks her to help him discover what about this crime lit Thompson’s fire all those years ago. As she begins her inqueries — while still working her own cases on the midnight shift — Ballad finds aspects of the initial investigation that just don’t add up.

The bond between Bosch and Ballard tightens as they become a formidable investigation team. And they soon arrive at a disturbing question: Did Thompson steal the murder book to work the case in retirement, or to make sure it never got solved?

Harry Bosch might be recovering from knee surgery, but his life is as busy as ever. After attending the memorial service for his mentor as a Detective in the LAPD, his mentor’s widow gave Harry a murder book she found while cleaning up. Harry brings it to Detective Renee Ballard and together they agree to look into the cold case. With far more questions than answers Ballard and Bosch keep at it, determined to find the truth.

I have really enjoyed watching Harry evolve over the last decade or so. Even though the character has aged – Harry is now retired (again) from the police force – much of his fire, insight and dedication is as strong as ever. I also enjoy watching Harry and Ballard work together. They are each quite independent characters, so there is a little conflict occasionally between them, but it doesn’t feel forced or like it’s used as a plot device, it feels like two headstrong people who respect each other trying to work together comfortably.

I also really enjoyed how in this book it wasn’t simply about the one case, Renee picked up a few other cases as she continued her night shift work and her regular police roster, and Harry also kept busy and decided to solve a case when his actions caused the police to stop investigating. There is plenty going on in this book to keep the reader strongly invested and I feel Connelly has absolutely grown over the years and is a masterful storyteller.

Readers should absolutely feel able to pick this book up. While there are plenty of Harry Bosch novels out there, I strongly feel this can be read by itself. Even the still developing working partnership between Bosch and Ballard can easily be understood without having read any of the previous books. This is a gripping and layered murder mystery and an interesting cross between a police procedural and a PI style of detective novel. I have really loved this series for ages now and feel this is an excellent addition and great book.