Review: Castle Danger - Woman on Ice by Anthony Neil Smith

Publisher Bastei Entertainment
Length 305 pages
Format ebook
Published 2017
Series The Duluth Files #1
My Copy provided by the author

My Review

Castle Danger - Woman on Ice starts off much like any typical mainstream crime book would; a mystery, a hint of murder, a tragedy, and a dead cop, all in the span of a handful of pages. Sure it's a decent enough opening but its nothing compared to what awaits the reader further in. 

When Manny looks into the case of a drowning victim who fell through ice, he had no idea that the circumstances surrounding this event would lead him down a painful path of self discovery, putting his career and life in jeopardy while uncovering deeply rooted political and police corruption.   

Castle Danger - Woman on Ice is a book that grows on you. It went from a 3, to 4, to 5 star read by the time I finished it. This is not at all what I was expecting; characters straight from James Ellroy, topics hot in modern day society, and (what I did expect) damn fine story telling from an author whose catalog continues to diversify (I strongly recommend checking out All The Young Warriors and the Billy Lafitte series). 

My rating: 5/5 stars. Pick it up and be patient - the payoff is well worth it. 

Review: FOREVER AND A DEATH by Donald Westlake

Publisher Hardcase Crime
Length 464 pages
Format ebook
Published 2017
Series standalone
My Copy I bought it

My Review

Forever and a Death is an ok action book set in Australia, Singapore and Honk Kong that thematically resembles a plot lifted straight from James Bond, complete with Westalke’s own Bond Girl in the form of Kim, a fearless diver with ties to an environmental activist group.

Engineer George Manville is the hero and he largely plays the part but reads too clever and tough at times; easily dispatching bay guys without breaking much of a sweat.

The main element of the story is revolves around a business tycoon wanting to destroy a major city, but before that, steal as much gold as possible from banks using an underground tunnel network; it’s a pretty elaborate set-up but it sure entertains.

After starting off well, the book meandered a little before ramping up again towards the end. The cast of characters each added their own side story and I enjoyed some of the scheming, wheeling and dealing. The ending is pure Hollywood and befitting of a Bond script, which was originally.

My rating: 3/5 stars. Forever and a Death is a ‘safe’ read – it didn't blow me away nor did I walk away disappointed. The story was good and a couple of characters were particularly well written. On a personal note, I loved the Australian setting, being my home country. 

Pick Up A Pulp [22]: KISS ME, DEADLY by Mickey Spillane

Mike Hammer runs into trouble when a sanatorium escapee throws herself into harm’s way in the middle of a road. Narrowly avoiding a collision which surely would've left the escapee a blood red smear on the road, Hammer gathers his bearings only to be confronted with the beautiful and curvaceous blond Viking of a woman begging for his help.

Hammer, not one to shy away from a dame in distress, invites her into his car and they set off, only to run into some hardened thugs with a hard-on for murder. Fast forward and Mike’s in the hospital with Velda, secretary and budding PI in her own right, at his side with the crazy dame long dead; so begins a one man war on the mafia.

Kiss Me, Deadly (published in 1952) is a violent book even by today’s more accepting standards in crime fiction. What is said on the page is just as brutal as the implied, particularly regarding the opening stanza when Hammer is left for dead and his recently distressed damsel deceased. Whilst the one man war machine is hard to stomach at times, I mean, Hammer isn't super human but he’s damn near indestructible here, it is an entertaining ride which shines a spotlight on Hammer's inner and outer hatred for the underworld; something which is exemplified more-so when Velda becomes involved.

On the surface, Kiss Me Deadly, is a murder mystery that feels like it tries to do too much; there’s government corruption, murder, drug smuggling, mafia ties, and hired assassins. Had this been a straight mafia murder cover-up, I think the book would've flowed better and bumped up the star rating.  

The plot structure is linear so there’s nothing too complex about the book but the various suspects are hard to follow with a number of characters popping up here and there, murdered one at a time until the deadly process of elimination reveals the killer. Hammer reads almost too smart and the braggadocio and chauvinistic ways are cringe worthy but you know you’re bound to get that with these books.

Spillane didn't write high end literature, he wrote tough guy books set in the black of night about beautiful women in ugly situations accompanied by a protagonist with a penchant for murder and revenge without remorse; this pretty much sums up Kiss Me, Deadly.

My rating: 3/5 stars, reads perfectly well as a standalone Hammer book as well as a continuation of the series (this is the sixth installment in the still running Mike Hammer series).