Review: The Mirror’s Edge by Steven Sidor

Today in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, David Thayer reviews The Mirror’s Edge by Steven Sidor. Says Thayer:

Steven Sidor’s latest novel, The Mirror’s Edge, slips the reader more than a few Mickey Finns before its final scenes unfold. Chicago freelance writer Jase Deering is the ideal protagonist for this jarring story; his sweating palms and trembling fingers mask an inner toughness as he embarks on a prolonged and horrifying search for the truth about a mysterious kidnapping. Twin boys vanished in broad daylight from their suburban home. Were they kidnapped or murdered? In either case, Jase understands this kind of loss from personal experience: his older brother vanished in the woods long ago.

The full review is here.

Review: The Prince of Bagram Prison by Alex Carr

Today in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor David Thayer reviews The Prince of Bagram Prison by Alex Carr. Says Thayer:

Atmosphere is one of the hallmarks of the classic thriller, an aspect of suspense that is all too often sacrificed from the recipe for modern-day thrillers. Alex Carr -- a pseudonym used by Virginia novelist Jenny Siler (Flashback, Shot) -- wants to remind her readers that mystery can be found in the most ordinary places, where her characters suddenly find themselves prisoners of circumstance.

In the opening scene of The Prince of Bagram Prison, a Moroccan woman named Manar gives birth. The baby is removed and Manar is sent to a camp in the desert, having been judged guilty of joining an anti-government demonstration. Manar is a victim of the Years of Lead, a 1960s-1980s pogrom under Morocco’s King Hassan II that targeted democracy activists.

Now flash ahead to the present. A young Moroccan boy known as Jamal is working for American Intelligence in Madrid, Spain. Jamal is an orphan from Casablanca, who wants his handlers to believe he has information vital to American interests. In most ways, Jamal is an ordinary teenage boy, eager for a better life. However, he was formerly held at the U.S.-operated Bagram internment facility outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, and released only when he mentioned the name of a wanted terrorist. The boy puts himself in play until his American contact retires. A scandal is about to envelope Jamal in a deadly effort to cover up the torture of prisoners interred at Bagram.

The full review is here.

Review: Hidden in Havana by José Latour

Today in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, David Thayer looks at Hidden in Havana by José Latour. Says Thayer:

A blind expatriate named Carlos Consuegra dispatches two people, Marina Leucci and Sean Abercorn, to Havana. Marina is Argentine, while Sean is American, a Vietnam vet with a Special Ops background. Their mission is to meet a brother and sister who’ve lived their entire lives in the same apartment in the Cuban capital. Posing as a married couple, they win the confidence of Elena Miranda and her brother, Pablo. Elena is a teacher, her brother a low-life. To further complicate this family’s strange dynamic, Elena and Pablo are the children of a legendary Cuban general who’s serving time for murder in their country’s special prison for fallen heroes.

The full review is here.

Review: At the City’s Edge by Marcus Sakey

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor David Thayer reviews At the City’s Edge by Marcus Sakey. Says Thayer:

Chicago is the City of the Big Shoulders, the City That Works, America’s Second City, and home to the Cubs, the Chisox and a raft of crime writers who grew up reading Mike Royko and Studs Terkel, and listening to broadcaster Harry Caray sing during the seventh-inning stretch. Chicago is a state of mind.

At the City’s Edge is Marcus Sakey’s second novel, after last year’s The Blade Itself. In it, he set out to re-create the magic of his debut work, but with mixed results.

The full review is here.

Review: Who Is Conrad Hirst? by Kevin Wignall

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor David Thayer reviews Who Is Conrad Hirst? by Kevin Wignall. Says Thayer:

Who Is Conrad Hirst? is the third Kevin Wignall novel released in the United States, following People Die and For the Dogs, two books I enjoyed and admired for their stark directness and elegant storytelling. Now that I’ve confessed to being a Kevin Wignall fan, and I am, we come to the question of the latest novel and its somewhat vexing structure.

Who Is Conrad Hirst? tells the back-story of the hired assassin from the earlier books. Letters to Anneke, a dead girlfriend, frame Conrad’s bleak present along with the genesis of his career, an ill-fated decision to fight in the Balkans during the disintegration of Yugoslavia.

The full review is here.

Review: The Cruel Stars of the Night by Kjell Eriksson

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor David Thayer reviews The Cruel Stars of the Night by Kjell Eriksson. Says Thayer:

The Cruel Stars of the Night is the second English-translated work from Kjell Eriksson, author of the much-lauded novel The Princess of Burundi (released in the United States just last year, but winner of the Swedish Crime Academy Award for Best Crime Novel back in 1992). Once more, Eriksson’s large cast of cops is assigned to keep Uppsala (Sweden’s fourth-largest city) safe and secure. I haven’t seen this many Swedish names since the closing credits of an Ingmar Bergman film. Eriksson gives even his minor characters full names, plus a job title, and when the police get together for meetings the entire roster occupies slivers of the spotlight. Readers inclined to put books aside and pick them up later may feel as though their party has been crashed by a phenomenal assortment of Swedes, all of them interesting, if hard to place.

The full review is here.

Review: On the Wrong Track by Steve Hockensmith

Today in January’s crime fiction section, contributing editor David Thayer reviews Steve Hockensmith’s follow-up novel to 2006’s very successful Holmes on the Range. As much as Thayer liked that book, he likes this one better, enjoying the history as much as the mystery.

When not inciting guffaws, California writer Steve Hockensmith manages to establish enough of a plot -- complete with red herrings, gunplay and bad guys -- to keep his story on the straight and narrow, and chugging full steam ahead.

The full review is here.

Review: The Echelon Vendetta by David Stone

Today in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor David Thayer examines The Echelon Vendetta, a debut novel by the pseudonymous David Stone, reportedly a former soldier and intelligence officer.

“The Echelon Vendetta is an intelligent, sophisticated thriller,” writes Thayer, “an impressive debut and a strong entry in the espionage genre.”

Read Thayer’s review here.