Live Wire by Harlan Coben

Dutton, 2011. 978-0-525-95206-0. 375 pages.
I received this book as a review copy.

Myron Bolitar is the principal partner of MB Reps representing athletes, actors, and writers. Suzze Trevantino, a former tennis star and one of Myron's first clients, has a problem and she turns to him. She is pregnant and someone has posted on facebook that the child is not her husband's. Suzze fears that the suspicion will kill her marriage to the rock legend Lex, who Myron also represents. Myron agrees to help and with the assistance of his partner, Esperanza Diaz,  Windsor Horne Lockwood III, his silent partner/investor(?) begins an investigation that will drop into his dark past and put him into physical, personal danger, and threaten his career.

I was aware of Harlan Coben's books but had shied away because of the sports theme. I have low sports awareness and when confronted by sports enthusiasts I generally tell people that I follow cricket  because there is a very slim chance in the U.S. that I'll have to explain. I took the review copy because Coben is a popular author, a friend of mine at the public library likes him, and I was curious. This is an example of why a reader should be careful not to allow preconceptions to get in the way of a good read; I thoroughly enjoyed the book and plan to go back to the beginning of the series.

As a person who is compulsive about reading a series in order, how do I feel about starting with the latest book in the series? Pretty good. Obviously there is much backstory about the characters I don't know but I didn't feel confused. The plot hold up well on its own and Coben's skill at presenting his characters engaged me without having had to grow up with them.

Though Myron's profession is agent to the stars, Live Wire is essentially a straight-up detective story on the edge of hardboiled. Myron certainly has the wisecracking part down and, like a true hardboiled detective, he is going to crack-wise even if it means it will get him beaten up. He also made me laugh quite a few times. Also like the classic hardboiled detective, he skirts the law, if not outright breaks it, and assists in some extra-legal justice. The plot, like many detective stories, starts out simple but gets complicated the deeper Myron investigates and the more new details of the character's lives emerge. Finally, Myron does have his personal conflicts and demons. Here an incident from his past involving family surfaces forcing Myron to examine his feelings and motivations and look for redemption.

I enjoyed the set of core characters Coben created. Myron Bolitar, basketball star turned sports agent after he blew out his knee. Esperanza Diaz, beautiful, a former wrestler, and ex-bisexual party girl who is Myron's business partner and now married with a son.  Windsor Horne Lockwood III (Win), very rich and very dangerous despite his somewhat effete appearance. People who misjudge Win regret it, often from a hospital bed. Big Cyndi, receptionist at MB Reps, six-five, former wrestler, with an interesting fashion sense and a smile that makes children screen. Think Janet Evanovich's Lula but more extreme. Coben has a lot of fun with Big Cyndi.

The ending left me stunned in that Live Wire could could serve as the end of the series. I haven't read any interviews with the author so I can't say for sure but it doesn't feel like the end. Still, I'm intensely interested how Coben resolves the issues left at the conclusion.

Live Wire is an excellent read and I recommend it to people who enjoy a good detective story.

The Summoner by Layton Green

My review of Layton Green's thriller, The Summoner, is posted on my AfricaScreams blog.

The Summoner is set in present day Zimbabwe and follows the efforts of Dominic Grey from the diplomatic security unit of the U.S. Embassy to find out what happened to a retired diplomat who disappeared during a religious ceremony. He is aided by Nya Mashumba from the Zim government and a professor of religious phenomenology, Viktor Radic. It is a good read made all the more pleasurable by the cultural, academic, and geographical details the author works in.

The Summoner by Layton Green

The author provided me a review copy of The Summoner. It is available as a paperback and e-book from Amazon and as an e-book from Barnes & Noble.

Summary: Dominic Grey's future in diplomatic security is uncertain. He has the career killing compulsion to follow his conscience not to mention a white knight impulse to right wrongs. His "...moral compass guides him far more that partisan dictates."

Now stationed in Harare Zimbabwe (Zim), Dominic gets an assignment that could save him from "protecting spoiled diplomatic kids from mountain gorillas." William Addison, close friend to the ambassador, disappeared from a Yoruba religious ceremony out in the bush. Sensitive diplomatic issues between the US and Zimbabwe mean that Grey can't act alone and he is paired with Nya Mashumba, a beauriful and emotionally distant representative of the Zimbabwe government.

At the ambassador's request, Viktor Radic is brought into the investigation. Radic is a professor of religious phenomology and expert in cults. Apparently Addison isn't the only one to have disappeared recently. Ten others have disappeared under similar circumstances and all within eight months since a babalayo (Juju priest) arrived from Nigeria.

Soon Dominic, Nya, and Viktor are facing off against the owner of a dodgy night club, the Nigerian Cultural Ataché who has an unhealthy interest in Nya, and a mysterious religious leader who's powers seem to defy reason.

Analysis: This is not a supernatural thriller so readers who dislike that genre should not be put off. Viktor Radik sets the approach to the subject when says of his field of expertise:

I observe the practitioner as he's experiencing the alleged phenomena, and analyze the effects. I'm concerned with how the experience impacts the devotee, not the veracity of the event itself.

At the same time, readers of supernatural thrillers will find much to interest them in the details about how a charismatic leader can affect followers perceptions and Radic's discussions on superstition and religion. It isn't difficult to find actual examples of the effects of such phenomena on people. In May, there was a story from Zimbabwe about a man accused of supernatural rape. A search of witchcraft in Zimbabwe also pulls up stories of curses and demonic possession.

I enjoyed The Sumoner and recommend it to readers who enjoy an intelligent thriller. It has the ingredients that make a thriller enjoyable to me: story, characters, action, and location.

The plot, a disappearance under mysterious circumstances, is interesting and moved forward by nicely placed and executed scenes of action and tension building.

The characters have backstories and personalities that engaged me and are plausible within the context of the story. I can believe that they can exist. I wouldn't have minded if Nya hadn't been stunningly beautiful which can be an overworked thriller trope (eg the Bond girls) but it is an important plot element and motivator for some of the action so it isn't a negative here. Viktor Radic reminds me of a 19th Century scholar/adventurer/man of action like Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger and he is a nice balance with the other characters.

I don't want to give away details of the action scenes but I will say that they were well spaced, not overdone, and contributed to the story by establishing the abilities of the characters and giving them realistic obstacles to overcome. The big finale was a excellent payoff for everything leading up to it.

This is the first story I've read set in Zimbabwe. While the author isn't from Zim, his wife is and he has lived there. He doesn't make overt political statements about the state of the country but still conveys the atmosphere of living there. Green's empathy is for the Zimbabwean people, the government and diplomates in residence...not so much. One of Nya's jobs with the government is to assess areas of Harare eligible for urban cleanup and that a government could do that to its people is sobering.

Geographically, I learned about the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe from 1100 to 1450 AD. The cover of the book is based on an area of the Hill Complex (see links below). According to Wikipedia, the ruins were a source of controversy because it was inconvenient for the government of Rhodesia for native Zimbabweans to have created such a city that might have housed as many as 18,000 people.
Wikipedia article on Great Zimbabwe Ruins
Google search for images of Great Zimbabwe Hill Complex

The next Dominic Grey novel may not be set in Africa but I am curious where the author takes the theme. Prior to reading The Summoner I didn't realize that I was interested in phenomenology and I'm looking forward to the next book.