To make up for all the rainy days that we had in June, July has given us mostly sunny, really hot and humid days (although we have had some extreme Thunder Storms which have caused some serious local flooding). I've been going out early to run errands so I'd be home before it got really bad. This has cut down on my Library visits. I did manage, however, to pick up a few books at the Main Library in Woodbridge early in the month.
Series
Polar Star - Martin Cruz Smith ($5.95/$.50, copyright 1989, 366 pages, Paperback)
I read Smith's 1st entry in this series - "Gorky Park" - years ago and I remember enjoying it. When I saw this, I had to pick it up. In that book, Moscow detective Arkady Renko the first major case of his career -"Gorky Park" - Moscow detective Arkady Renko solved a complicated case but annoyed a lot of powerful people. As a result, he lost his job. 8 years later, he's working on a Russian factory fishing ship in the Bering Sea. An American trawler drops a load of fish on the deck and out drops the body of a young woman named Zina. The ship's Captain knows about Renko's past and asks him to investigate. The Captain is hoping for something accidental but Renko suspects murder. Things get complicated once he starts his investigation.Smith has created some great characters here and the confined situation makes things interesting I enjoyed it.
In The Moon of Red Ponies - James Lee Burke ($7.99/$.50, copyright 2004, 402 pages, Paperback)
I've been a big fan of Burke's Dave Robicheax series which is set in Lousiana so, when I came across this book featuring a new character and setting, I picked it up. The Protagonist is Billy Bob Thornton, a former Texas Ranger who's now a Defense Attorney. He's hired to defend Johnny American Horse
who's trying to keep an oil company off of his native land. At the same time the guy who tried to kill Billy Bob's wife is released from prison. Burke moves us back and forth between these characters but the ending does leave some questions open. It was OK.
Damage - John Lescroat ($9.99/$.50, copyright 2011, 445 pages, Paperback)
This is another entry in Lescroart's long-running series featuring San Francisco attorney Dismas Hardy and the head of the city PD's homicide squad, Abe Glitsky ( although in this book, Hardy makes only a couple of token appearances). The book focuses instead on Glitsky and on Wes Farrell, another member of the cast who has been a partner in Hardy's law practice. Farrell has just been elected District Attorney with the backing of the super-wealthy Curtlee family, owners and publishers of one of the city's major newspapers. Ten years earlier, their son Ro was convicted of some major crimes but his conviction is overturned. While awaiting a retrial, one of the principal witnesses is murdered and Farrell and Glitsky need to prove what they believe is right versus what the newspaper says is wrong. Lescroart, as always, creates some great characters and gives some insight into "Fake News". I enjoyed it.
I have a few things coming up next month and a stack of books to get through. Until then …
Keep reading.
