The Railway Conspiracy

 

If the sequel isn’t a story continuation, what makes it work? For me, it’s the feeling that I’ve been reunited with old friends. That was definitely the vibe I got reading The Railway Conspiracy, the second installment in the Dee & Lao mysteries. Set in 1920s England, these are straight Sherlock Holmes-inspired adventures interspersed with Hollywood-worthy action sequences.

 

Judge Dee is an agent of the Chinese government who does most of his work in Europe, especially in England, as of late. Lao is a Chinese language professor and the Watson of the tale. Plot synopses for these types of character-driven mysteries won’t really tell you whether or not to read them. You might not even remember the story in a month! What sticks with you is the cast of characters, and authors John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan have created a fantastic group of people you want to spend time with.

 

If I had a complaint, it might be that this one took a little longer than its predecessor to get going. I thought to myself at one point, is anyone getting murdered in this murder mystery? Once the first body falls, it’s 100mph to the finish. The mystery and its conclusion are satisfying, and Dee and Lao even have a little character growth, which is rare in these kinds of series in my experience.

 

If you know one of the authors (wink wink), let them know I’ll be in line to buy a new installment next year! Five outta five corpses, I mean stars!

All System Red

In Martha Wells ' novel All Systems Red, a security robot goes rogue in the laziest way possible. This one’s being adapted into an Apple television show debuting next month, so I thought I’d check out the source material first. Our robot, who somewhat ironically calls himself Murderbot, has been assigned to protect the members of a research team on an alien world. Human interaction makes him uncomfortable, and in the beginning, they don’t need much protection. Instead, he spends his time watching TV shows he’s downloaded, most notably soap operas.

Of course, complications ensue, and he is forced to protect his humans and even attempt to bond with them on some level. I’ll leave the recap there in case you decide to read it or check out the show. Did I like it? Well, I would say I loved the character and liked the story. The resolution to the main conflict seemed a little murky to me, and I actually re-read a section to make sure I didn’t miss something. I’ll definitely check out the show, and I suspect I’ll be back for the next book in the series. It’s a quick read and makes a great palate cleanser if you are in the middle of something longer. Four outta five stars.

A Drop of Corruption

Possibly insane genius detective Ana Dolabra and her apprentice assistant Dinios Kol are back on the job in A Drop of Corruption, the follow-up to Robert Jackson Bennett’s excellent novel The Tainted Cup. Ana and Din work for the Iudex, the investigative arm of the mostly benevolent Empire. The Empire’s primary focus is preparing for the annual emergence from the ocean of giant Titans that try to come ashore and wreak havoc.

 

Many years ago, the Empire learned not only how to kill the Titans but also how to harvest their blood and organs to make enhancements to people to help them better serve society. Some serious research is happening near the port city of Yarrowdale, which is part of a still independent kingdom allied with the Empire. A seemingly mid-level treasury bureaucrat disappears from a locked room and is later found dead, necessitating a visit from Ana and Din.

 

If Ana Dolabra is our Holmes stand-in, her opponent is played up as a Moriarty this time out. He seems to be several steps ahead, and it seems in several places that our detectives might fall just short of complete victory. As it was in the first book, most of the story belongs to Din, a great POV character for the reader. Think Watson, but a much more skilled investigator in his own right. Despite the fantasy setting, this is very much a straight ahead detective novel. The mystery is solid, the clues are well placed, and the ending is very satisfying.

 

I hope Bennett plans to continue the series because I’d definitely be up for a new one of these every year. Five outta five stars.

 Sunrise on the Reaping

May the odds be ever in your favor, or more accurately, may the Kleenex be ever in reach if you decide to read Sunrise on the Reaping, the latest Hunger Games prequel from Suzanne Collins. Let me preface this by saying I liked the previous prequel, The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes, and actually thought it was better written than Mockingjay, which wraps up the original trilogy. This one tops even that installment and, in some ways, might be my favorite of the series.

 

This one is about Haymitch’s triumph in the 50^th Hunger Games. If you ever wondered why he’s actively drinking himself to death in the original books, you sure won’t after reading this one! I think it’s tricky telling a story where your audience knows the general ending, but Collins does a great job creating and maintaining narrative suspense. Fair warning: this book is brutal. It all services the story and character development for Haymitch, President Snow, and a few other returning faces, but it is a relentless tear jerker. She also pulls no punches with the themes and how they are reflected in our current society. Collins is leaving no more room for misinterpretation, as if there was ever really any to begin with. She does provide a bittersweet epilogue that will take away a tiny bit of the sting of the ending, and I appreciated it, although I’m sure some will label it fan service.

 

If you enjoyed the original trilogy, I think you will like this one. It feels like it should be our last trip to Panem though. I can’t see where there is room for another story. Collins is a great author, though, and I’ll be in line for whatever she decides to write next. Solid 5 outta 5 stars.