Power Play Played Well for a Thriller TSS

Joseph Finder has written a number of thrillers, with the most recent focused on corporate settings. In Power Play, a group of top executives of an aerospace company are at an secluded lodge for an off site meeting to build team playing when they find themselves under attack by hunters with a criminal intention. Of course, all is not what it seems. This is especially true of the central character whose background is gradually revealed throughout the book.

Is it a gripping read? Well, I guess so! On Saturday night I picked up at around page 70 and could *not* stop reading until I finished at about 3:30 am Sunday morning. So it sure held my interest.

But I felt that there were a few loose threads that did not get resolved as well as I would have liked. And what held my attention so well? It was more the mini-plots - the constant minor new developments that causes one to say - "oh-oh - now what?" The big picture was the weak part; that did not contribute to the gripping feel of the book. I feel that there was room for editorial comment here, a development on a theme, yet little to none was offered. The overall plot was fairly predictable; it was easy to see, in general where this was going. But probably Paranoia, another Finder book, spoiled me as that was much stronger on surprise twist and ending. So I guess I kept waiting for the twist and never got one.

I recently read and commented on Finder's The Zero Hour. I feel Power Play is a much better book. It is way more plausible and the characters largely more believable than the Zero Hour. I still like Paranoia best.

I'll be reading a Michael Palmer book next.

Mysteries, Racism, and MLK Day

Do any mysteries revolve around a theme suitable for MLK Day? I'm not sure.

Chiefs (Stuart Woods) traces a crime through 3 generations of police chiefs in a small Georgia town. One factor is the evolving race relations. By the end of the book, An African-American chief solves the series of murders that goes back some forty years.

I have always enjoyed the Easy Rawlins character created by Walter Moseley. There are many things that come together to make the Moseley books a great series: plot, characterization, great dialog. But it's hard to find a lot of books that provide insight into the challenges of urban African Americans in the Civil Rights era (1945-1970ish) as you get from following the life of Rawlins and his friends.

Like many, I never read John Ball's In the Heat of the Night (1965) but remember the movie. The book one an Edgar for first mystery, and was strong on theme of racial tension.

A ten year old article describes "a crowded list of black protagonists who solve crimes in detective stories and novels penned by African-American writers." I am not familiar with these books. This should be a good start into some new and different writers.

As usual, the "Stop You're Killing Me" site is great for lists: For example all of the African-American sleuths featured in mystery fiction.

I found an interesting study of both positive and negative stereotyping in mysteries of the 1940s and earlier.

I do not believe that every black author necessarily will result in a book with insights into the issues of racism and civil rights in our society; however I'm not well read enough to say for sure. In looking up various books, I found one for my "must read" list: A Rage in Harlem, (1957) by Chester Himes. You can get the idea from Amazon readers and others.

The Zero Hour Quite Predictable

Imagine - a terrorist will set off a bomb in New York City, disrupting banking communications around the world. Imagine - the hero is single Mom and Boston based FBI agent who is put in charge of a task force to find the terrorist and stop him before the bomb goes off. The thing is, it is easy to imagine mainly because the plot line is so familiar. It just seemed all too predictable. I'm not sure whether the The Zero Hour (Joseph Finder, 1996) failed - or whether I'm starting to fail to appreciate such stories.

Here are some of the things that bothered me. The terrorist is a former member of the South Africa's spy agency. He was so successful that he was given the designation "zero" -- remind you of "007" at all? Anyway, at the start of the book, he cleverly escapes from a South African prison, killing two people with his bare hands. Very cold. Yet somehow the tension is not there. He is just not believable. Telling me that he is known in the trade as the Prince of Darkness doesn't build the character, it makes a joke of the character. Tension evolves in a thriller like this when the reader is brought to a state of sustained belief, even if the plot is incredible. But that does not happen with this character. Baumann, the real name of the terrorist, is master of everything. He seems to be able to be in more than one place at a time as the plot evolves from Washington DC to New York City. He seems to know many details about American culture, specific places in Washington and New York, and yet there seems no basis for his ability to know these things. He is portrayed as a convincing actor, able to take on accents and personae at whim. He can actually cause Sarah Cronin -the Terrorist Task Force leader- to let down her guard and believe that he is a benign architect. No - it's way too much. Either that or Finder cannot make me believe it.

In the midst of great personal stress, Sarah is relieved when a stranger saves her son from nasty hoodlums in NY Central Park. For several chapters, Finder has this architect insinuate himself into the life of Sarah and her son. There was absolutely not the slightest surprise when the reader is told that the nice guy is actually the Prince of Darkness. Come on! So predictable.

Then there is the whole idea that Sarah would receive the kind of career treatment granted to her by the FBI in the book. The FBI seems way too accommodating to her personal requirement to live in Boston, since her divorce decree required her to live near her ex-husband. Then, she is suddenly brought to Washington and made Task Force leader! Just, not believable.

Finally, Finder goes out of his way to introduce and then explain high tech stuff. But it just gets in the way. Do mystery readers really need to get so much information about the well-known fingerprint classification system? Does anyone not know what a local area network (LAN) is? Well Finder takes a few paragraphs to explain the way the computer network is set up in the Task Force office in New York. But it has no bearing on the story, the characters, or really even the setting.

I read it all the way (but I rarely give up on a book). But it was largely a forgettable story. The Zero Hour by Joseph Finder is not at all up to the quality of some of Finder's more recent books, such as Paranoia. Maybe Finder is stronger with these more recent stories because they are largely new ground - there are not so many "corporate thrillers" as international bomb and terrorist stories. But it's really more than that. I was much more completely drawn into the characters in Paranoia. And the ending of Paranoia is anything BUT predictable.

Michael Palmer's New Book

Michael Palmer is one of my favorite authors - not only can he deliver an awesome medical thriller plot, but he does so with concern and often a bit of a message.

He announced today that his newest book, The Second Opinion, is out in mid-February. A conspiracy surrounds the hit and run accident that puts Dr Thea Sperelakis' father into a coma. But beyond the tension and plot, there is the character of Thea. She has Asperger syndrome, which gives her an obsession with details, a near-encyclopedic memory, and a rather charming awkwardness in social settings. The novel is not merely a thriller but also an exploration of its central character’s unique gifts and her determination to communicate with her comatose father despite overwhelming odds. I am looking forward to reading this one!

He will launch his new book at a fundraiser for the Asperger’s Association of New England. Palmer writes: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 from 7-9:30 we will be having a party to celebrate the book and to raise money to benefit the Aspergers Association of New England (AANE). Venue will be the utterly funky Scout House; 74 Walden Street, Concord, MA. Admission of $20 will go entirely to AANE, as well as a portion of all booksales. There will be music, piles of pastries and some great guests including New York Times best selling authors Tess Gerritsen, Joe Finder, and Mark Vonnegut, who will be signing their books. Featured speaker will be John Elder Robison, author of the best selling Asperger memoir, LOOK ME IN THE EYE.

To Reserve a spot or just make a donation to AANE, send a check to: Asperger’s Association of New England; 85 Main Street; Suite 101; Watertown, MA 02472-4409. You are welcome to come even if you haven't reserved a spot, but reservations will be admitted first, and if the Scout House fills up, you will have to wait until there is room. So register early!

The mother of all mystery fans

I was thinking today, "I'm just a mystery groupie, a wannabee, and a fair-weather fan of thrillers and mystery." WAIT! There's got to be somebody at the top, a sort of "mother of all mystery fans." Sure enough there is. This is someone recognized as Fan Guest of Honor at Malice Domestic in Washington, D.C. She was given an Athony Award in 2006 for "Special Service to the Field" of mystery fiction. For crying out loud - she's scheduled to be the fan guest of honor in 2010 at the "Left Coast Crime, Booked in LA" Conference! Who can compete when she's got the fan field booked two years ahead?

First of all, Janet A. Rudolph probably has one of the best blogs on mystery writing in existence. She is director of Mystery Readers International - the premier mystery books fan organization, editor of the Mystery Readers Journal - the premier mystery books fan publication.

She has more memberships in crime groups than Parker has books: She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, the British Crime Writers Association, Sisters in Crime, and the American Crime Writers League. She has been on panels at Bouchercon (the World Mystery Convention), Left Coast Crime, and several other mystery conventions. I was invited to a birthday party last year - does that count?

I suppose I should delete my blog right now.

Hah! I don't think so!

Corporate Retreats - AIG Comes to Mind

When I think about all the ways the corporate elite collect the many perks of their position, it is mind-boggling. Sure, GM finally agreed to cut back on two of their corporate jets after all the bad PR at the first auto bailout hearings. Then we learn that they have five more that they were planning to continue using. Then their is the myth of the $1 annual salary - meaningless given 5 to 30 million in stock benefits.

I remember the first story out after the big AIG bailout -- that AIG would continue with plans for a lavish executive level retreat in California including massage and spa treatment and a lot more. Again, after the publicity, they changed the location to something less plush. I wonder.

So I am looking forward to reading Power Play by Joe Finder this month. I understand the gist of the plot is that high level executives from Hammond Aeronautics go to an off-site retreat in a secluded house in the woods. Cut off from normal business communication links, they suddenly find themselves under siege from unknown terrorists.

Truly a thriller for a day in which corporate ethics - if they ever existed - are blurred by the pressures of competition and internal political positioning. Finder has written several other books that focus on this theme, including Paranoia.

Not only am I looking forward to reading the book for our Mystery Book Club, but I am looking forward to discussing the book with the author, Joe Finder, live at our Mystery Book Club meeting on January 30!! Awesome!!

Manchester Public Library, 15 Union Street, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, USA\
978-526-7711
Friday January 30, 10:30 am (to discuss the book)
11:30 am to meet the author if you did not come for the book discussion

Tell No One - Great Film based on Coben's Book

Our Mystery Book Club had a great discussion in the end of October concerning Harlan Coben's book, Hold Tight.

During the discussion I mentioned the film that came out in USA theaters in July based on his 2002 novel, Tell No One. I read the book several years back. It was a strong, well written, gripping thriller. The story centers on Dr. David Beck, a New York pediatrician whose wife was murdered eight years before. Now there is an email that purports to come from her and it ends with, "Tell no one."

I saw the movie last July when it came out - the only movie I saw in 2008. I have to say that it captured the mood, the characters, and the plot of the book extremely well. What makes the film adaptation of Tell No One so amazing is that it was produced in France, it is in the French language, and the setting is changed to France. There is a minor plot change to make the story believable in a French setting. Other than that, it is accurate to the book.

The film will be out in DVD format on March 9, 2009.

See the film trailer by clicking here.

To me, the fact that the film was so well done is nothing short of amazing. It is way beyond the norm of mystery books rewritten for the silver screen. Among the many terrible mystery book adaptations for film was "V. I Warshawski" - particularly annoying to me because I love Paretsky's character.