Friday, March 29, 2024

Join our email blast

Book Review

‘Faceoff’

6/11/2014

bookCourtesy of Beaverdale Books

Review by Jim Norman

Simon and Schuster

June 3, 2014

$26.99

CNA - Stop HIV Iowa

384 pages

I confess that I love thrillers, but usually avoid short stories and anthologies. I prefer to have plots and characters fully developed over 300-400 pages. I also enjoy becoming familiar with characters and have recently started reading series, beginning with the first book and reading the rest in order.

“Faceoff” is a compilation of 11 short stories written by 22 of today’s most successful thriller writers. The book was conceived as a charitable fundraiser by members of International Thriller Writers Inc. and masterfully edited by David Baldacci. Each story brings together two writers who figure out how bring their characters together and, well, do what they do.

So, we get to watch Jack Reacher and Nick Heller rescue an accountant from an Albanian mobster they encountered while watching a Red Sox game in a Boston bar. And Lincoln Rhyme and Lucas Davenport solve a series of New York murders, seemingly unfazed by the fact that their prime suspect also became a victim. And Wyatt Hunt and Joe Trona take on a Mexican drug cartel thug while on a fishing trip in La Paz. Action in other stories is set in New Orleans, Los Angeles, rural New England, Edinburgh, Scotland, Brighton, England and even the Amazon River.

“Faceoff” was both a good read and a preview of future reading. It introduced me to some new (to me) authors and characters, like Repairman Jack, Nick Heller, Glen Garber and Gray Pierce, whose adventures I’m looking forward to reading. It also reacquainted me with some old favorites, like Cotton Malone, Sean Reilly and Harry Bosch, who I have neglected recently.  CV

Jim Norman is a retired attorney and lifelong thriller reader. He lives in Windsor Heights.

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*