Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews
Page One of ThreeBlack Friday by James Patterson
Warner Books, April 2000Paperback, 450 pages.
ISBN: 0446609323.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
When an unusual and highly secretive
terrorist group targets Wall Street for
an attack, it gives the FBI little warning
or explanation. Oddly, the group makes no
demands.
Wall Street is reluctantly evacuated
and when the bombs do go off, it is
up to federal agent Arch Carroll
and a team of special agents
and investigators to determine the cause and
the next likely action of the terrorist
group known only as the Green Band.
The police and special investigators
are totally in the dark as to the aims and plans
of the Green Band and have
very few leads. The few leads they
do have turn out to be tricks and traps set by
the Green Band. Meanwhile, the
stock market is beginning to
tumble and is threatening to collapse.
Carroll meets up with attractive and
cunning Wall Street attorney Caitlin Dillon and
it's up to the both of them to solve the
puzzle of the Green Band before the
United States economy collapses.
James Patterson, suspense author of Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, is well-known for his regular lead character, forensic detective Alex Cross. However, this April, 2000 release is an update and re-issue of an earlier 1986 novel called Black Market and it is Cross-less. Luckily, the novel still stands up well without Alex Cross, especially with character Arch Carroll, a tough-mannered spy who ignores all the rules when pursuing law breakers. He also has a sensitive side and a romance sparks with attorney Caitlin, but Carroll is most interesting when he is breaking the rules to get the bad guys to spit out the answers. Black Friday is an exciting thriller with an original plot that has plenty of twists and turns. It is not quite in the same class as the Cross novels however, and might leave some fans of the Alex Cross series disappointed.
The Celtic Riddle by Lyn Hamilton
Berkley Prime Crime, Feb., 2000 .Hardcover, 296 pages.
ISBN: 042517235X.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Toronto antiques dealer Lara McClintoch journeys to
County Kerry, Ireland to lend moral support to her friend
Alex Stewart. Alex is a named beneficiary under the will
of the late (and incredibly wealthy) businessman,
Eamon Byrne. Byrne's relatives are an obnoxious lot,
who immediately try to take Alex's legacy, Rose Cottage,
away from him. The eccentric Eamon Byrne left a
series of mysterious clues which he says will lead to
a fabulous treasure. The catch? Each beneficiary has one
clue; to find the treasure, the quarreling relatives
must all work together. When people begin to die off,
one by one, Lara determines not only to find the killer,
but to assist in finding the treasure and to help her
dear friend Alex to keep his much-deserved legacy.
But will the killer allow Lara to poke her nose into
a family affair without knocking her off, as well?
Lyn Hamilton's latest mystery novel has antiques dealer/amateur sleuth Lara hip deep in ancient Celtic lore, dead languages and, of course, murder. The Irish background provides welcome local color, and the puzzle left by the persnickety decedent are quite interesting. As always, Lara is an entertaining heroine and the identity of the murderer is, somehow, quite satisfying.
Mystery Reviews
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Return to the July 2000 issue of The IWJ.
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