Review: The Border

The Border by Don Winslow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. So maybe America should start questioning its ‘war on drugs’ which is almost 50 years old now?

Nah. Let’s just keep doing the same thing we always have. It’s gotta work eventually.

Art Keller’s story began in The Power of the Dog when he was a young DEA agent dispatched to Mexico in the ‘70s. There he got into a feud with Adán Barrera who becomes one of the most powerful cartel kingpins, and their bloody fight would go on for years. Keller’s efforts to bring him to justice were complicated by the US’s covert support of the drug trade to fund anti-communist operations in Central and South America. The war between Keller and Barrera goes on past the turn of the century in The Cartel when a power struggle in Mexico leads to stunning levels of violence and corruption.

Now America’s dependence on opioids has created an expanding market for heroin and fentanyl, and Keller has been appointed head of the DEA to try and stem the tide. Keller’s strategy is to adopt a more tolerant attitude to low-level users and dealers while going after the high level money men profiting from the trade. Unfortunately, a loud-mouthed presidential candidate accuses him of being soft on crime while pointing the finger at illegal immigration and Mexican government corruption, and Keller has to beware of right wingers in his own agency trying to sabotage him.

Then Keller gets evidence indicating that the candidate’s son-in-law is about to launder hundreds of millions of dollars in cartel money under the guise of a real estate deal, but just trying to investigate it will mean being smeared by the alt-right even as he fears that the cartels have just bought the White House. Meanwhile, there’s another vicious war for control of the drug trade going on in Mexico, and host of people like a small time junkie, an undercover cop, the son of a slain DEA agent, a young boy fleeing gang violence in his own country, and a retired hit man are all caught up in the chaos in various ways.

Don Winslow has been researching and writing about the Mexican drug trade for years now, and he’s got a lot to say about the ultimate futility of trying to stop it with cops. He’s also not shy about pointing out the hypocrisy of how America is the biggest customer of this trade while blaming other countries like Mexico for it. Winslow’s trilogy makes these social and political points while also delivering an epic crime tale with Art Keller at its center. These aren’t just entertaining books, they feel like important books.

Unfortunately, this one was a little hard for me to read because it all too accurately mirrors current events with the character of John Dennison, a liar/ racist/ fraud/ criminal/ asshole who somehow becomes president of the United States that was obviously created as a stand-in for the real thing. For the purposes of this book Winslow has shifted the dirty dealings from Russian oligarchs to Mexican drug lords, but honestly, if we found out that the orange shitbag had taken cartel money, would anyone really be surprised?

Since reality is such a bummer these days it made reading this even more depressing than the other books. It’s relevant and good, but it is tough to read a fictional version of America destroying itself in ways that are really happening.

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Review: Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, by Brian Michael Bendis, Volume 4

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, by Brian Michael Bendis, Volume 4 by Brian Michael Bendis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh, good. Venom is here...*sigh*

Yeah, I know so many people love the symbiote that a movie featuring just him can be a huge hit so this was inevitable, but he's never done all that much for me. Plus, the version here seems kind of flat with so little done with the host that he's pretty bland and boring as far as murderous creatures go. Plus, I'm not super thrilled with Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy showing up as part of Miles' support staff. It makes sense to have them there to help pass the torch, but they did that already. Having them still in the book ties Miles into Peter Parker's story even more, and I'm itching for more Miles, less Parker legacy now. Which is another reason that I don't much like having Venom here at all. How about a brand new arch enemy for Miles not based on Peter's time as Spider-Man?

Still, I continue to love the stuff with Miles struggling to be Spider-Man, and I enjoyed Detective Maria Hill's role in this one. It does end on a huge moment, too. That stuff is keeping me engaged fully even while I'm nitpicking.

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Review: Captain Marvel, Volume 3: Alis Volat Propriis

Captain Marvel, Volume 3: Alis Volat Propriis by Kelly Sue DeConnick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The adventures of Captain Marvel in SPAAAAACCCEEE continue… At least for a while.

After returning to her ship Carol finds that it's been trashed and that her friend Tic and beloved cat flerken have been taken by pirates. Getting them back requires a dangerous journey across a wonky patch of space. Then there’s some crap about that Black Vortex crossover that I could care less about. And then we get the big finale with Carol returning to Earth, but her homecoming is bittersweet.

The first part of this with Carol chasing the pirates was pretty good and had kind of a Star Trek feel to it. (In fact, there’s an idea in there that makes me wonder if some of the creators on Star Trek: Discovery hadn’t read this and *ahem* borrowed it.) The crossover storyline issue is pure trash. It makes no sense if you hadn’t read the rest of it. Hell, I read some of the Black Vortex stuff, and I still don’t know or care what was going on here with it. Finally, Carol’s return home had some good emotional heft and provides a fitting ending to this particular run of the title. (Seriously, Marvel, do we have to change the volumes every 15 minutes?)

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Review: Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, by Brian Michael Bendis, Volume 3

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, by Brian Michael Bendis, Volume 3 by Brian Michael Bendis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A Marvel comic book is in the middle of an excellent run of stories only to be sidetracked by a huge crossover? Who could have seen that coming? Other than anyone who has read Marvel since the first Secret Wars, I mean…

The first part of this is excellent as young Miles is being blackmailed by his Uncle Aaron (a/k/a The Prowler) into helping him take out the Scorpion so that he can take control of New York’s super underworld. Peter Parker was certainly a lot luckier in the uncle department. Then the crossover kicks in, and the next thing you know Miles is going off to war with the Ultimates to try and save the United States from Hydra.

The crazy thing of it is that I didn’t entirely hate the big war storyline. The Miles character arc is so strong and well done that even when he’s dragged into some other huge happenings it still feels very much like a continuation of his on-going efforts to be Spider-Man. And he’s getting pretty good at it.

So 3 stars for an excellent first half and a second part that wasn’t nearly as awful as it could have been.


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Review: Neon Prey

Neon Prey by John Sandford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a free advance copy of this from NetGalley for review.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. And if what happens is that you get eaten by a cannibal while there you'll definitely be staying in Vegas.

Clayton Deese was an enforcer/hired killer for a loan shark in New Orleans who gets arrested after one of his jobs go wrong. Since Deese has a lot of skeletons in his closet he jumps bail and disappears. Actually, the skeletons are in graves behind his house, and Deese had a habit of cutting prime cuts off his victims and throwing them on the grill. Once that grisly discovery has been made Deese is the country’s most notorious fugitive, and US Marshal Lucas Davenport is brought in to help track him down.

Deese has hooked up with his brother who is running a nasty home invasion crew that Lucas tracks from Los Angeles to Las Vegas as the trail keeps getting bloodier. There’s also a complication that Deese’s old boss is worried that he’ll flip on him if caught so he’s trying to either kill him or make sure he gets out of the country.

This is the 29th book of the Prey series, and it’s got all the usual stuff. The plotting is tight with multiple characters all working their own agendas, the tension builds nicely to some big moments, and we get to hang out with Davenport as he uses a mix of deduction, manipulation, and intimidation to find the bad guys. Sandford even throws a pretty wicked curve ball at the reader about a quarter of the way into the book that literally made me sit up and curse aloud in shock when it happened. Lucas’ new role as a marshal continues to be interesting, and the Vegas setting is used well as the kind of place where trying to follow a suspect through the maze of a casino is a challenge.

However, it doesn’t quite hit the peaks of the series at its best. There’s some great set-up of Deese as a people-eatin’ leg-breaker, but more time is actually spent with other members of the home invasion crew so that he doesn’t come across as the best of the Prey bad guys. It’s a little disappointing that more isn’t done with the cannibal angle. (What? If I read a book where I’m told the villain eats people then I expect somebody to get eaten. Don’t look at me like that. I’m not the only person who watched Hannibal.) In fact, it’s more used for shock factor and almost a running gag than anything. The twist that we get early on doesn’t really amount to much either at the end of the day and is kind of quickly forgotten.

Still, it’s John Sandford so it’s a pretty satisfying thriller that will keep you turning pages even if it isn’t Lucas’s most memorable case.

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Review: A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free advance copy from NetGalley for review.

A mob widow, her granddaughter, and a retired porn star go on the run with two bags of cash, and a hammer wielding psychopath hot on their trail.

If that sentence doesn’t sell you on this book then I don’t know what would.

Rena Ruggiero has been living a quiet, lonely life ever since her mobster husband was murdered in front of their house in Brooklyn. After an elderly neighbor gets too aggressive in making an advance on her, Rena clocks him with an ashtray and takes his car. In a panic, Rena goes to see her estranged daughter, Adrienne, thinking that she can finally reconnect with her and the granddaughter, Lucia, she hasn’t seen in years. When her hopes of a reconciliation are instantly crushed Rena meets Adrienne's neighbor, Lacey Wolfstein. Wolfstein starred in a lot of porn movies back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and then she moved on to hustling old men for cash. Now she has a sack of money stashed in the wall of her house as she spends her golden years drinking vodka and watching old movies.

Things go sideways after Adrienne's mobbed up boyfriend and an old victim of Wolfstein’s both show up at the same time with their own agendas, and Rena, Wolfstein, and Lucia have to flee with Wolfstein’s retirement fund. Their stolen Cadillac also has a briefcase full of stolen mob money and a machine gun in the trunk.

William Boyle’s two novels, Gravesend and The Lonely Witness, quickly made me a fan of his, and this one is an early contender for my favorite of 2019. While the other two are loosely connected and focus heavily on the their Brooklyn setting, this is more of a plot based crime novel with incredibly well developed and offbeat characters. It reminded me a lot of Elmore Leonard at his best, and that’s just about the highest praise I can give a book.

Boyle’s characters frequently act irrationally which makes sense because they do really seem like people instead of characters. However, since this one is more plot heavy that came across as a bit more frustrating because those actions continue to drive the plot. Lucia, in particular, was irritating as hell at times, but on the other hand, she’s a teenager. So it makes sense.

That’s a relatively minor nitpick in an otherwise great book. Wolfstein, in particular, was incredibly fun as this pragmatic woman with a wild history who is also incredibly compassionate and empathetic. I’d love to read an entire novel that was about her younger days as a porn star and grifter. His portrayal of Rene is also very well done as a woman whose whole world was her marriage, her kitchen, and her church, and who know finds herself struggling to figure out who she wants to be from now on. Their odd couple friendship is at the heart of this story, and it’s compelling reading.

A friend may be the gift you give yourself, but you could also give yourself the gift of reading this book.

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Review: The Sweet Forever

The Sweet Forever by George Pelecanos
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s the spring of ’86 in Washington D.C. and while Reagan may technically be in charge of the country, cocaine is ruling the streets.

Marcus Clay is trying to run the record stores he owns and catch as many of the college basketball tournament games as possible on TV. Unfortunately, the record business could be better, he and his wife are separated, and his best friend and employee Dimitri Karras has a growing coke habit. When a drug runner wrecks his car right outside one of Marcus’ shops somebody snatches the money out of the car before the cops show up, and that kicks off a series of events that eventually find Marcus and Dimitri mixed up with drug dealers and dirty cops.

This is set 10 years after King Suckerman which also featured Marcus and Dimitri, but much like that one this isn’t just their story. In fact, they’re almost supporting players in this although much of it is filtered to us through their experiences. As always, Pelecanos manages to create an authentic sense of time and place by constantly working in the music, clothes, cars, and television shows of the time, but those are just the details. Where he really shines in telling us what it’s life is like for these characters whether it’s Dimitri going out for a drug fueled night of partying or a dirty cop struggling to deal with his wife’s mental health issues.

The story of the money is the connective thread that makes this a crime novel, but what Pelecanos is really doing is telling us the story of D.C. at a certain time and place. There’s a sense of impending doom over this one with many characters noting how the drugs and street crime are taking over the city, and crack was on the horizon. Pelecanos has characters casually mention rumors that the mayor is a drug addict as well as a local basketball star which are hints at how much worse things will get if you’re familiar with their true stories.

This is Pelecanos following his usual template, and he was already very good at using that to write compelling stories.

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