Let's start with John Sandford's newest Lucas Davenport novel, "Stolen Prey". Regular readers know what a big fan I am of this series, and this latest entry doesn't disappoint. It seems that soldiers from the Mexican Drug cartels have found their way to the Twin Cities, and are involved with the theft of vast sums of money via money laundering and leaving a path of horrible, violent death and destruction in their path. It is up to Lucas and his BCA to work with both federal and Mexican law enforcement agencies to bring these people to justice, and, in the process, recover some $22 million in stolen, laundered money.
There is also a smaller, secondary crime under investigation and Lucas enlists his man Virgil Flowers to resolve it. While this is a personal matter to Lucas, he is too busy with Mexican drug case, so from time to time, we hear, via Lucas' and Virgil's phone conversations, how this case is being investigated and eventually resolved.
If I have one beef with this book, it is that Sandford spends an inordinate amount of time discussing the mechanics of money laundering. I know what money laundering is, but, even though I consider myself a reasonably intelligent fellow, I get lost when someone tries to explain how money laundering gets done. Just tell me "these people are laundering money" and spare me the pages and pages of how-to details.
The next book was Robert Crais' "The First Rule". Crais writes about a Los Angeles private eye named Elvis Cole and Cole's sidekick, Joe Pike. Some of the books have Cole as the featured character, while others have Pike. As you can see from the cover, this was a "Joe Pike Novel" with Cole being the secondary character. While it was an eminently readable story - i finished it in two days - I can't say that I'm crazy about the characters. Cole seems reasonable enough, but Pike is so unbelievably smart, tough, indestructible, and unbeatable, that he is also unbelievable. He is Steve McGarrett on steroids, and, in fact, he makes McGarrett look like a world class wuss. So, if I try Crais again, it may be one of his novels wherein Cole, and not Pike, is the star of the show.
However, the most interesting book that I read last week may have been this one:
This is an old book, published in 1999 that I found in the second hand book store when I was looking for beach reading before we left for the Outer Banks. The story itself was nothing special - a serial killer is on the loose in New York City and one determined NYPD detective is determined to track him down and bring him to justice. It was entertaining and quick reading, another that I read in just two days, and it did have a surprise twist at the very end that was a bit of a "wow", but the real intriguing part of this book is the author himself. Something made me Google Robert J. Randisi when I finished the book, and what I found was a revelation.
Randisi is 61 years old, has been writing since he was in high school and was first published when he was 23. Since that time he has written, and written, and written some more. He has had over 500 novels published in his life, and short stories too numerous to even count. There have been years when he has had as many as 27 novels published. He founded a professional organization called the Private Eye Writers of America, but he also has written over 300 westerns. He has written a series of a half-dozen or so books called "Rat Pack Mysteries" where, yes, Frank, Dean, and Sammy, solve crimes. There was even a period back in the '70's where he wrote a series of short stories for an adult publication called "Beaver Magazine". Yes, he created a Porn Private Eye! As he put it, they enabled him to make the mortgage payments for those months back then.
He has been called the "last of the great pulp writers", and he has been called a hack. However you want to label him, I am in awe of someone with the ability to churn out, if not great literature, then at least entertaining fiction, at such an astounding rate. Amazing!
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