The Conspirators by G.W. Shaw

 

First Line: The rich were careless about their wealth.

 

Jacob Meaney's girlfriend has a life plan, and the pittance Jacob earns as a translator does not fit in with her expectations. When an Australian digital marketer named Eloise offers him a lot of money for a couple of weeks' work, he has to take it or risk losing the woman he loves... even though he suspects that this job is too good to be true.

 

Jacob is taken to a villa in Austria. For the next two weeks, living in the lap of luxury, he is to interpret between Hindi, Russian, and English during Zoom calls with an Indian criminal named Nazim who's taken over the manufacture and distribution of a drug villa owner Bondarenko has been selling on the internet.

 

Yes, Jacob has unwillingly become part of an organized crime conspiracy, and he is being held captive by armed guards along with a trafficked worker named Vlada. It soon becomes apparent to Jacob that his boss Bondarenko is in far deeper and more dangerously than he realizes. Jacob's focus should no longer be on translation; it should be on getting out of that villa alive.

 

~

 

I may be hooked on William Shaw's Alexandra Cupidi mysteries (The Birdwatcher, Salt Lane, Deadland, etc.), but after reading his Dead Rich last year written under the name G.W. Shaw, I learned that the man writes a mean thriller, too, so I wasn't about to pass The Conspirators by.

One of the things this book points out is the importance of language and words in Jacob Meaney's job as a translator. I enjoyed my time experiencing life in a decadent villa; however, I wish I could've enjoyed the people I was staying with as much. I found none of the characters particularly likable. Yes, Jacob has a good heart and always tries to do the right thing, but his being under the thumb of his money-grubbing girlfriend Carla and his willingness to jump at something he knows is too good to be true make him a bit spineless. My favorite character, the Ukrainian maid Vlada, is made more sympathetic by the letters she writes to her young son, but her life has made her so angry that she's hard to like, too. 

If I didn't like the good guys, what did I think of the bad guys? They were proper bad guys. They made me nervous. They made me angry, and it was a pleasure to want an ill wind to blow them off the page.

Even though the cast wasn't all that typical in the emotions they evoked, I did find the story compelling. I simply had to know if Jacob and Vlada would escape. How would they escape? Would they be all right? Would Vlada be reunited with her little boy? Would Jacob realize what a loser Carla was? 

It takes skill to make a reader care about unlikable characters, and G.W. (William) Shaw has that skill in spades. His books are must-reads for me.

The Conspirators by G.W. Shaw

ISBN: 9781529420074

riverrun © 2023

Hardcover, 400 pages

 

Thriller, Standalone

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon UK.

Loot by Aaron Elkins

 

First Line: Altaussee Salt Mine, Altaussee, Austria, April 19, 1945, 11:35 A.M.   Madness.

 

The Third Reich is crumbling to dust, and the Nazis are working frantically to hide the huge store of art treasures that they looted from Europe. With the Allies closing in, the vaunted efficiency of the Nazis has broken down, and in the confusion of endless convoys loaded with treasure, a single truck, its driver, and its priceless load of masterpieces vanish into an alpine snowstorm.

Fifty years later in a Boston pawnshop, art historian and ex-curator Ben Revere makes a stunning discovery-- a Velazquez painting from the legendary Lost Truck. Revere finds himself traveling to the grand cities of Europe to unravel the Lost Truck's history and its treasures-- and running for his life as a result.

~

Sometimes I just need to read a fun little thriller about lost treasure set in exotic locales, and Aaron Elkins' Loot was perfect-- especially since I've read books about the incredible work done by the Monuments Men during World War II. I've often wondered just how many stolen treasures are still hiding deep in mines and other hideaways, but I digress.

This isn't the first book I've read written by Elkins. He seems to have a knack for choosing topics that I'm deeply interested in, but I can't say that I'm a fan of his writing. Loot suffers from an unnecessary love interest and a hero who's more than a little dense when it comes to the safety of himself and others, but the book's fast pace and interesting premise kept me reading happily until the end.

Loot by Aaron Elkins

eISBN: 9781497610095

Open Road Integrated Media © 2014

Originally published 1999.

eBook, 312 pages

 

Thriller, Standalone

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The Enigma Affair by Charlie Lovett

 

First Line: It wasn't just the bullet passing by Patton's left ear that concerned her.

 

When small-town librarian Patton Harcourt's early morning baking is rudely interrupted by bullets whizzing past her ear and thudding into her brand-new refrigerator, she has little choice but to trust the mysterious assassin who shows up in her kitchen. 

 

While evading two German killers, Patton and the assassin, Nemo, form an alliance that takes them to Bletchley Park in England and then on a white-knuckle chase through Europe. There is something deathly important about an undecrypted message sent on one of the Third Reich's Enigma machines, and Nemo, Patton, and Patton's former lover, Ruthie Drinkwater, must find out what it says before white supremacist Ingrid Weiss does.

 

What does a message about Heinrich Himmler's research into alchemy have to do with the balance of world power? That's what Patton and Nemo must risk everything to find out.

 

~

 

I've read all of Charlie Lovett's books (except his earliest) and enjoyed them all. He became a must-read author for me when I finished his The Lost Book of the Grail. Lovett is a master of the literary mystery; however, The Enigma Affair is a departure for him-- an out-and-out thriller with whizzing bullets, edge-of-the-seat chases, witty repartee, and loathsome villains. I enjoyed every second of it.

The ensemble cast is excellent. It's soon apparent that Patton Harcourt is not your usual small-town North Carolina librarian, and Nemo (once you get a bit of his backstory) is one of the most sympathetic assassins you'll come across. Then there's Ruthie Drinkwater, who works at Bletchley Park; Alex Lansdowne, the owner of a very large collection of Nazi memorabilia; and Jean Simpson, a librarian who finds herself joining this motley crew after she becomes incensed over some stolen library books. As the cast grows-- each member adding an important element to the group's chances for success-- the witty dialogue between them provides laughs and lightens the darkness of the overall quest... because learning about Himmler's brand of alchemy has the power to suck all the light from a room. (On a personal note, if I thought any of the characters to be unnecessary, it was Ruthie Drinkwater, but your mileage may vary.)

If you're in the mood for a chase across Europe to save the world from chaos, hop aboard The Enigma Affair. It's too much fun to miss, and I certainly look forward to what Charlie Lovett will come up with next!

The Enigma Affair by Charlie Lovett

eISBN: 9781665047098

 Blackstone Publishing © 2022

eBook, 367 pages

Standalone Thriller

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Five by Ursula Archer

First Line: The place where his left ear used to be was throbbing to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Detective Inspector Beatrice Kaspary has so many personal problems that they hang from her neck like a millstone. Her woman-hating boss loves to browbeat her with them when he's not covering her computer monitor with Post-It notes. An abusive ex-husband. Guilt over her parenting skills. An almost all-consuming dedication to her job. A small son who's begun acting out. Those comprise just the tip of the iceberg. When the body of a woman is discovered in a meadow outside Salzburg, Austria, all those problems are going to have to be shoved aside. Crudely tattooed on the soles of the dead woman's feet are GPS coordinates to yet another grisly discovery-- and it won't be the last. Kaspary and her partner Florin Wenninger are going to have to learn all they can about geocaching as quickly as possible because a killer has set a five-stage plot in motion. How on earth are they going to be able to get ahead of the killer when they have no idea what his motivations are?

Two things about Five attracted me immediately: the geocaching angle which I had never come across before, and the setting of Salzburg, Austria. I knew a little about putting map coordinates into a cell phone in order to go on "treasure hunts" so I knew that this could certainly add a cat-and-mouse quality to the investigation, and it does. The pitfalls of following the coordinates? The police can become so focused on the search that they forget to try to get ahead of the killer in order to stop the murders. Kaspary is aware of this danger, but the clues are few and far between.

Yes, I did like this investigation. A lot. Not just the geocaching, but watching how Kaspary and Wenninger work to find the killer-- all the way to the final reveal of the killer's identity. I haven't been so surprised over learning whodunnit in a long time, although hindsight proved that I should not have been. From time to time Archer gets bogged down in the details and it slows down the story, but it's still an enthralling read.

If you're the type of reader who prefers police procedurals that focus on the investigation and have little to do with the private lives of the detectives, you may want to give Five a miss. Kaspary's background is integral to the story, and it's revealed slowly. The subplot involving her abusive ex-husband-- although crucial in showing us Beatice's character and what she has to deal with-- was the least palatable of them all, and it should be dealt with swiftly so it won't become detrimental to the health of the series. (Yes, I'm hoping to read more.)

Of the two main characters, I preferred Wenninger and would have loved to learn more about him, but Five is Beatrice's show, and we rightfully get to learn about her first. There's an attraction between the two that will be very interesting to follow in any future books.

Ursula Archer is a science journalist and an award-winning author of books for children and young adults. Five is her first adult mystery, and I am definitely looking forward to more.
 

Five by Ursula Archer
Translated from the German by Jamie Lee Searle

ISBN:  9781250037411

Minotaur Books © 2014

Hardcover, 336 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Beatrice Kaspary

Rating: A

Source: Amazon Vine 

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Title: People of the Book
Author: Geraldine Brooks
ISBN: 9780143115007
Publisher: Penguin, 2009
Paperback, 400 pages
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A+
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.


First Line: I might as well say, right from the jump: it wasn't my usual kind of job.


Australian rare book expert Hanna Heath has been asked to conserve the beautifully illuminated fifteenth-century Sarajevo Haggadah, a priceless Hebrew manuscript thought to have been destroyed during the fighting in Bosnia.

As many times as I've worked on rare, beautiful things, that first touch is always a strange and powerful sensation. It's a combination between brushing a live wire and stroking the back of a newborn baby's head.

As Hanna examines each page with great care and wonder, she discovers a series of tiny artifacts left behind in the manuscript: a fragment of an insect's wing, wine stains, salt crystals, and a white hair. These microscopic bits are the keys to unlocking the centuries' old mysteries of the Sarajevo Haggadah and the catalysts that will change Hanna's life forever.

As the insect's wing, then the wine stains, then the salt and hair are analyzed, we learn the history of the ancient book and the lives of the people who had it in their care. Anyone who has ever picked up a book, caressed its cover, and ruffled through its pages wondering about the identities of previous owners or all the places that book has been will absolutely love People of the Book. As Brooks takes us through the centuries, each time period and each caretaker comes to vivid, aching life.

I was deaf and blind to everything around me as I read this book. It's not the first time author Geraldine Brooks has done this to me, and since her latest book (Caleb's Crossing) is on its way to my door, I don't think it will be the last. She is one of the supreme storytellers of her time.

What Hanna does the last time she's with the Haggadah made me cry and made me smile. It also made me think. Around the world today books are under attack from technology, economy, ignorance and indifference. How many of us would be willing to do whatever it takes to ensure their survival?

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