Short takes: Crime and thriller books reviewed
Greg Fleming
Broken
Don Winslow (HarperCollins $35)
Winslow continues his late career run with this collection of five novellas and a short story. The project was inspired by Stephen King's
Different Seasons which was made up of short novels that were later made into the films Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me and Apt Pupil. The first story Broken reads like an outtake from 2017's The Force - a dark macho revenge story of a cop gone rogue set in New Orleans. The collection gets better as it goes on with the jewel heist narrative of Crime 101 and a wry, funny story dedicated to Elmore Leonard, which begins when a none-too-bright criminal gets rid of a gun in the chimpanzee enclosure of The San Diego zoo. While never less than entertaining, this is an uneven collection that feels like a mop up of stories Winslow had on his hard drive.
Sarah Jane
James Sallis (No Exit Press $24)
Best known as the author of Drive - adapted by director Nicolas Winding Refn in 2011 - Sallis has long been one of the most intriguing and underrated writers of noir fiction. His narrative is discursive; his characters flawed but exacting observers. "I begin a novel as though I see movement over in the corner of the room," he has said. "But when I look that way, there's nothing. As I write on into the story I start to hear... the breathing gets louder". The character he's brought so vividly to life here is one Sarah Jane Pullman. Much of the first half of the book is a first-person account of her hard fought past which involved an itinerant life of military service, abusive men and petty crime, but when she becomes a sheriff something changes in her. As one character says "... you get down toward the end and you hope your life... had some shape to it... wasn't some glob of stuff slapped on a plate."
A brief, but remarkable, novel that will linger in the memory.
The River
Peter Heller (Hachette $25)
Wynn and Jack, two college friends, leave for a much anticipated kayaking trip down the Maskwa River in northern Canada - both are skilled in the wilderness which they love. Their differences balance them - Wynn is an optimist when it comes to human nature, Jack less forgiving, a trait that Heller foreshadows through flashbacks. There's also a fire a few miles away that they figure they can outrun.
Heller is a lover of the wilderness and adventure - and there's fantastic descriptions of rivers and landscape here (perhaps a few too many). If Jack and Wynn seem too good to be true - both are tough outdoorsmen who can quote poetry at each other - the buddy-fest is soon shattered by the arrival of a dishevelled man who claims his wife is missing. Despite the danger, Jack and Wynn head back to look for her and this is when the book - and fire - kicks into gear. Heller combines crime, nature and adventure into a compelling thriller. My only quibble is the almost cursory ending; still, this tragic ride down the river is highly recommended.
No Bad Deed
Heather Chavez (Headline $35)
First time author Chavez turns in a breathless domestic thriller that begins when veterinarian Cassie sees a woman being attacked and stops to help. While Cassie foils the attack, the man escapes in her car and now has all her contact details. There's also the strange words he says to her, "Your life is already f**ked up. You just don't know it yet." It turns out he wasn't exaggerating as Cassie's life is soon turned upside down. Firstly her husband disappears. Are the two events connected or was this something she should have seen coming? It's an intriguing opening and Chavez puts Cassie through her paces in a book that starts fast and goes supersonic. That's also its weakness, with plot and action coming at the expense of character and a finale that stretches credibility but you'll stay up all night to get there.