A PERFECT SPY by John leCarre

This book sat around for years on my shelf. I have picked it up and read a dozen pages or so at least a dozen times, and just never "got into it" as the saying goes. But this time around, it clicked. leCarre laces his narrative with interlocking cat and mouse scenarios, interlocking voices and points of view, first and third person narratives - often within the same paragraph. A young British man is recruited for work as a spy in Eastern Europe in the 1950's and 60's, and finds parallels to his own relationship with his father in the subterfuge and deception of his work.

THE BLADE ITSELF by Marcus Sakey

A construction supervisor in Chicago has a past life as a hoodlum. He is confident those days are completely behind him, when a former partner in crime shows up, with a set of demands that will lead to trouble, big trouble.

THE LEMUR by Benjamin Black

A free lance writer is hired by his wealthy father-in-law to write a biography. Thinking that he can save time and a lot of energy by foisting the work on to someone else, the writer hires a researcher. The arrangement is supposed to remain a secret, but when the researcher is found stabbed, the writer's troubles begin. This is not a book which wraps up every little detail. Our book discussion group had a lively evening going over the enigmatic ending.

TRIGGER CITY by Sean Chercover

Private investigator Ray Dudgeon returns, this time working for a bereaved father who wants to understand the events behind his daughter's death. But Ray's bad habit of asking too many questions of too many people widens the scope of the inquiry, and eventually national security is part of the problem.

THREE WEEKS TO SAY GOODBYE by C J Box.

The latest stand alone from the author of the Joe Pickett series is a disappointment. An adoptive father fights off a legal challenge from the natural father of his young daughter. I found the rationale of many of the characters very far fetched, and the turns in the plot anything but believable.

WINTER AND NIGHT by S J Rozan

Rozan's popular characters Bill Smith and Lydia Chin try to help Bill's teenaged nephew - who promptly disappears. The answers lie in a long ago rape and cover-up, and a disturbing present day alienation of a bitter and troubled boy. In his attempt to help, Bill's nephew becomes part of the problem.

THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT by Jeffrey Deaver, et.al.

This is one of those "round robin" stories in which each of 16 or 17 authors writes a chapter. It all hangs together quite believably, and made for an entertaining companion on audio in the car as I drove around on errands and what not. The Nazi's in the closing days of WWII, may or may not have hidden important chemical secrets in a stash of old musical manuscripts. A present day group of international crooks is attempting to utilize the chemical compound as a weapon. The hunt to uncover the plot and disarm it moves from Europe to Africa, and then to the US.

THE CITY'S EDGE by Marcus Sakey

A volunteer organizer who lives and works in a depressed part of Chicago is found dead in the ashes of his burned out business. His surviving brother must struggle with his own demons as he searches for the killer.

GOOD PEOPLE by Marcus Sakey

A young professional couple are startled out of sleep one night by the smoke alarm in their tenant's apartment. When they go to investigate, they find money. A LOT of money, and their tenant's dead body in the bedroom. Turns out the tenant died of an overdose, but the money is a different issue altogether. Without stopping to ponder the consequences, they keep the stash of money a secret from the police, intending to fund their hopes for a more secure future. Not surprisingly, things turn sour pretty quickly, as two groups of bad guys begin to pressure and threaten them.