The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens

First Line: I raise the ax handle for the third time and my arm disobeys me.

Homicide detective Max Rupert has never stopped grieving for his wife. He's never accepted her death, even when he believed she was the victim of a hit-and-run driver. When Max learns that Jenni was murdered, he goes off the rails. 

Now he's got to balance his workload and tap dance around an impossible superior officer while he devotes himself to hunting down the people responsible for killing his wife. All this leads him to a frozen lake on the border of Minnesota and Canada where he will make decisions that will change his life.

I've been a fan of Allen Eskens' mysteries since the very first one, The Life We Bury. The four books so far are all loosely gathered around the character of Max Rupert. Readers have seen what a decent, dedicated, hard-working man he is from one book to the next, and now in The Deep Dark Descending, we all have front-row seats to watch what grief and rage can do to such a good man. 

The mystery is solid. Why on earth would anyone want to kill a woman who dedicated herself to helping endangered children? The official case Rupert is involved in deals with catching a man who killed a woman, put her body in a minivan, and then set the vehicle on fire. The two cases are a study in contrasts because the minivan murderer could easily be eligible for a Darwin Award. 

As with all of Eskens' mysteries so far, these books are about much more than merely figuring out whodunit. They are rich character studies. In The Deep Dark Descending, Max Rupert's descent into uncontrollable vengeance is told in two converging, clearly marked storylines. We see Max on that frozen lake at the Canadian border, and we watch Max in Minneapolis during the days leading up to his journey north. This is compelling storytelling that often elicits strong emotional responses. 

I look forward to Allen Eskins' next book with a great deal of anticipation. This man can write.

The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens

ISBN: 9781633883550

Seventh Street Books © 2017

Paperback, 285 pages

Police Procedural, #4 Max Rupert mystery

Rating: A

Source: the publisher

The Heavens May Fall by Allen Eskens

First Line: The courtroom had fallen quiet, the judge's words lost behind a low hum that droned in Max Rupert's ears.

Minneapolis Detective Max Rupert is convinced that Jennavieve Pruitt was killed by her husband Ben. His longtime friend, attorney Boady Sanders, is convinced that Ben is innocent-- so much so that he is now Ben's lawyer. As both the case and the trial unfold, Max and Boady find themselves being put through a wringer.

For Max, this case is stirring up memories of the death of his beloved wife. For Boady, it's the first time he's taken on a defense case since the death of an innocent client. With student Lila Nash's help, Boady is determined to redeem himself for his past failure.

Told from two differing points of view, author Allen Eskens takes characters from his previous two novels (The Life We Bury, The Guise of Another) and weaves some literary magic. The title is from a Latin phrase: Fiat justitia ruat caelum-- Do justice though the heavens may fall. Max and Boady are both men who are committed to justice. When Boady explains the phrase ("If a person is ever presented with the choice, that person must always do what is right even though it may bring on great personal loss"), I got chills. Both men are capable of putting it all on the line to do the right thing, and they're on opposite sides in this case. What is going to happen?

I like Eskens' approach to writing a series. It's not exactly linear. Instead, he takes characters from previous books and puts them in different pairings and different scenarios in each successive book. It works. The writing is elegant, tightly woven, and swift moving. Moreover, if you're a character-driven reader, you're going to love him. Eskens' characters are flawed yet strong, and their emotional turmoil can be as visceral as a punch in the gut. It's altogether too easy for me to put myself in Max and Boady's shoes and feel everything that they do. I become lost in the world the author has created.

The story is brilliantly told. The two points of view do double duty: letting readers know what Max and Boady are doing while keeping us off-balance. And the ending? You're just not quite sure how things are going to turn out until they actually do.  Allen Eskens is a lawyer who knows how to write, and he has the awards to prove it. (With more to come if I'm not mistaken!) Do yourself a favor and read him!
  

The Heavens May Fall by Allen Eskens

ISBN: 9781633882058

Seventh Street Books © 2016

Paperback, 297 pages

Legal Thriller, #3 Max Rupert

Rating: A+

Source: Amazon Vine   


 

The Guise of Another by Allen Eskens

First Line: That night, there were a few things that the man knew to a religious certainty.

How the mighty have fallen. Alexander Rupert, a decorated Minnesota police detective, is under suspicion of corruption and has been transferred to the Fraud Unit where everyone shuns him. To top it all off, he suspects that his wife is having an affair. 

When a lawyer brings him evidence of identity theft, Alex latches onto it as an opportunity to redeem his battered reputation. What he doesn't realize is that he's just put himself into the path of a trained assassin, and even his big brother Max may not be able to save him.

The only thing that ties The Guise of Another to Allen Eskens' first book The Life We Bury is the presence of Max Rupert, but this book is younger brother Alex's show-- and it's a scary one. A dead man happens to have used a stolen identity. When Alex starts looking for the man's true identity, up pops an assassin, a veteran of the Balkan wars, who will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals. 

The pace is swift, and readers' minds will fill with questions: Who's doing what? Why are they doing it? Who can be believed? Eskens ties all these questions to another masterful characterization. The more readers learn about Alex Rupert, the more they will wonder what, precisely, is going on. Because Alex is a master of revealing very little. Once everyone treats you with suspicion, you learn to keep things to yourself. But being one man against the world isn't a good thing when an assassin is headed your way.

I enjoy the way Eskens writes. The pacing, the setting, and the action are all vivid, and he has a way of getting into his characters' heads that draws the readers right in, too. I'm looking forward to his next book.
    

The Guise of Another by Allen Eskens

ISBN: 9781633880764

Seventh Street Books © 2015

Paperback, 269 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Max Rupert mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet