The evil one does lives long after him. Or does it? That is the gist of this extraordinary tale about Giorgio, a young man studying to be a lawyer in a small Italian city who is drawn into a relationship with a person with few or no morals.

That person, Francesco, teaches him various card tricks and together they begin to play poker as a team, winning substantial sums. Consequently, Giorgio begins to lose interest in his studies as large amount of sums begin to accumulate and he has the wherewithal to buy luxuries, including a BMW automobile. Then little by little, Francesco lures him into other nefarious schemes.

Meanwhile, a serial rapist is active in the town, and the police and other law enforcement agencies are baffled and without a clue. In the end, both elements of the plot come together to provide a moral. While the insights into Giorgio's character and reactions are less than penetrating, the writing is smooth and on the whole this is a fascinating story, and one which is recommended.

In case you don't speak Italian, the title of the book means redhead. It also is the surname of the protagonist, a Los Angeles homicide detective by way of Brooklyn and a somewhat ambiguous NYPD background. His father also was a New York cop, which always is in the background, introducing each chapter of the novel.

The plot is a relatively standard detective story, embellished with a love angle to provide an insight into Testarossa's mind and psyche. The main investigation involves the use of steroids by college and professional athletes and those who sell them. It is a pretty good police procedural and gives the reader a good look into how a case progresses and the frustrations of the detectives along the way.

On the whole, for a first effort, the story is well-written and proceeds at a fairly steady pace. There is some schmaltz in depicting the detective's relationship with the love of his life, but, I suppose, that can be forgiven for the dramatic effect intended. Recommended.

There is always the element of the supernatural in a Charlie Parker novel. And "The Whisperers" is no exception. However, reality plays an important part in the theme, giving the author the opportunity to reflect on the horrors of war and its effects - especially combat stress - on the lives of those who fought them.

There are veiled references to the condition in the Iliad; during the Civil War it was known as "irritable heart;" "shellshock" was the term used during World War I and its aftermath; for World War II it became known as "battle fatigue" and "war neurosis;" then "post-Vietnam syndrome"; and today "post-traumatic stress disorder."

The plot involves a group of Iraqi veterans (all from Maine, Parker's bailiwick), who return home to set up a smuggling operation. One by one they commit suicide, and Parker is retained by the father of one of them to learn the reason for his son's death. This leads Parker to travel an unexpected path

As a result, we meet some old friends, Angel and Louis, who always manage to cover Parker's back. But more important, Parker has to work with an old nemesis, The Collector. And the eerie Herod, a man with strange tastes, and his shadow, the Captain. The characters and the plot interweave on various levels, with prose that mesmerizes the reader. The book is highly recommended.

In the newest entry in one of the better contemporary spy series, highlighting the activities of Liz Carlyle and her co-workers at Britain's MI5, "Dead Line" focuses on the Mideast situation. A conference is scheduled in Scotland for talks between the heads of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran and Israel. And naturally, intelligence information indicates there will be an attempt at a violent disruption of the conference, blame to be placed on Syria.

And once again it is Liz to the rescue, chasing after all sorts of clues, both*- false and true, relying more on her own instinct than on real intelligence-gathering. That is not to say that a real look at the intelligence apparatus is not provided by the author, who was the first woman to serve as Director General of MI5. MI5, MI6, and the CIA are all involved, along with various security forces, including the Secret Service, and local police guarding the Scottish resort where the meeting is to be held.

Written with a sure knowledge of the subject, the plot is a lot different from the standard spy story, all to the good. The characterizations are vivid, and the prose flows, and it is recommended.

Three subplots run through this Joe Donovan novel, the fourth in the series. The main theme involves a book Joe is to ghostwrite based on interviews with a woman, Ann Marie, who murdered a young boy when she was eleven years old. As the interviews continue, further information concerning additional murders of children over the years after her release from prison raise the possibility that she continues to kill. Meanwhile Joe and his team are attempting to recover his lost son, David.

Intertwined with information about Ann Marie's past and present are current-day occurrences, which tend to complicate and frighten her, so she withholds memories from Joe, especially regarding her son, Jack. While she is attempting to come to terms with her evil deeds, it becomes more and more difficult for her, and finally she has to depend on him for help.

The characters are formidable, the prose penetrating, the pace incessant. Highly recommended.

As far as British mysteries are concerned, this novel is as far out as they go. An 18-year-old case is combined with contemporary mysteries to befuddle the best of detectives, giving DI Peter Shaw and DS George Valentine plenty to chew on, as well as keeping the reader intrigued.

That eighteen-year-old case involved a pregnant 15-year-old girl who disappeared and whose body was never found. However, her twin brother "feels" her death. Two suspects still live on the street where she had lived with her family. Now the charred remains of the brother are found in a hospital incinerator where he was employed to feed waste. The ensuing investigation uncovers other discrepancies at the hospital and it is up to the two detectives to solve the crimes before any more deaths occur.

It is a complex puzzle that faces the police team, one that requires a combination of insight and forensic science. At the same time, Shaw and Valentine are haunted by the botched murder investigation of the young girl, following which Peter's father was virtually drummed off the force. Written with power and a profundity that keeps the reader guessing, the novel is rcommended.

Fourth Day is the name of a once subversive organization formed in the 1960's and known for its cult-like origins, but claiming to work wonders especially with vulnerable adolescents [and others] with delinquency and drug addiction problems. It has more recently been headed by one Randall Bane, its new and charismatic leader suspected of having more sinister ambitions.

This newest in the series brings back Charlotte ("Charlie") Fox and her lover, Sean Meyer, a junior partner in Armstrong-Meyer, a "close-protection" [read "bodyguard"] organization, now tasked with retrieving a man who has been living within Fourth Day's grounds on its large real-estate holdings in Southern California. Their 'target,' Thomas Witney, had initially infiltrated the organization five years prior to get proof that Fourth Day was responsible for the death of his son, but for some reason never left. There is some question as to whether or not he will come willingly, but they are told that that is not to be an obstacle. When things go awry, Charlie volunteers to herself infiltrate the organization, with appropriate back-up. What she finds is unexpected, to Charlie and the reader.

This is a fast-paced and suspenseful novel, as Charlie, now 29 years old, is going through some difficult times, personally and professionally. She is nonetheless at the top of her game, and that is very good indeed. The plot races through to a stunning conclusion, which left me more anxious than ever to read the next installment in the series. Highly recommended. [The title, btw, is a Biblical reference - Genesis to be precise - as well as having a double meaning in the final pages.]

Paul Madriani is a criminal lawyer, but in this installment of the series, there are no legal angles, courtroom scenes, office consultations, briefs or other indication of his profession, other than a reference or two to the closing of his office. Instead, we have a thrill-a-page saga in which he becomes the embodiment of Superman.

The plot involves a couple of mercenaries, one engaged in preparing to bomb a national landmark, the other an assassin known as the Liquida or the Mexicutioner. Paul, his daughter, partner and investigator are all targets of the assassin, and have to go into hiding. Yet Paul and his investigator must chase the mercenary to discover how to find the assassin to remove the threat, and then to unveil the bombing plot.

All in all, the story moves at a rapid clip, albeit with plenty of detail on advanced weaponry. And finally, there is a little sex play for Paul, 15 years after the death of his wife. All in good fun.

Recommended.

This novel deals with life in a small Swedish town, and events a quarter of a century earlier which ended in at least two deaths. A woman, her wrists slashed, bleeds to death in her bathtub, covered with ice, preserving her body until it is discovered. Subsequently, an outcast ne'er-do-well artist, her boyhood friend and possible lover, is found hanging in his flat. Both apparent suicides are subsequently determined to be murders, and therein lies the beginning of a tale.

The book is nominally a murder mystery. However, so many extraneous sub-plots and characters clutter it up that the reader becomes bogged down in unnecessary verbiage and unrelated information, slowing down the reading and detracting from the otherwise excellent story. If only a sharper pencil or even a re-write had been applied to the novel, it would have been far superior to the book as published. Nevertheless, it is still worth reading because the main plot and the unfolding of the investigation are well-done. Which is more than can be said for the character development.

Writer Erica Falck seems merely a foil in place of the author, and her new boyfriend, Patrick Hedstrom, is more wooden than alive. As for the police superintendent, he's not even funny, as it appears he is supposed to be. Most of the other characters merely fill in blanks. Given the fact that Lackberg has written seven books that have dominated Stockholm bestseller lists, these observations surely are surprising. That said, the novel is recommended.

There are plenty of protagonists who are ex-cops turned PIs. On the other hand, there is but one former handler of police dogs who was forced off the force and now drives a truck delivering animal feed. Throw in a horsey atmosphere, a la Dick Francis, and you have the makings of a first-rate British mystery, which
"No Going Back" certainly is.

Daniel Whelan, a ten-year veteran of the police force, was frozen out by his fellow workers after he disclosed detrimental information about the loss of evidence. He not only lost his job, but his marriage as well, and is also separated from his eight-year-old son. His only constant companion is Taz, a German shepherd retired as a police dog after being injured. Sort of a Rin Tin Tin and Lassie all rolled up into one, Taz is a super-dog in the grand tradition, and of course plays a major role in the novel.

Daniel is called one day by a distraught "father" who asks him to bring his dog to locate his missing daughters, lost on the moor. Reluctantly, he helps, finding the younger of the two sisters before giving up the hunt. Not satisfied, Daniel returns the next day, locating the other missing girl, but, frightened, she runs off. Somehow, they ultimately reconnect, and gradually Dan gets some information from the girl leading to a thrilling plot, with lots of danger to all.

A very enjoyable read, and recommended.