Detail of an illustration by Neal Cresswell for the print version of this story
Feast Day For Fools By James Lee Burke, Simon & Schuster, 488 pages, $29.99
There is only one James Lee Burke, and he has long since ceased writing simply crime fiction. Feast Day for Fools is a western, with a touch of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men in its style and setting. It's also a crime novel; there are murders. It is also a novel about hope, belief and guilt, themes Burke has worked into all his novels over the past 30 years.
Sheriff Hackberry Holland is nearly 80. He and his deputies work a county on the edge of Texas and Mexico. It's a hot, ruthless spot where coyotes bring illegal immigrants across the border. It's also a place where killers can hide out in the hills, safe from prying eyes and posses. All are welcome at the home of the woman they call La Magdalena, an Indochinese ex-CIA agent who provides food, rest and a place out of the sun.
One of the Magdalena's saves is a man hunted by everyone from the FBI to a ruthless Texas billionaire. Noie Barnum has a head full of government secrets and he's hiding out with Preacher Jack Collins, the most ruthless killer of them all.
This could be the usual good-versus-evil plot line, but Burke believes in guilt and redemption, and his killers, remorseless as they are, can find salvation if they look for it. This is Burke's most autobiographical novel, and his life is on the page for readers to see. I loved this book.
The Boy in the Suitcase By Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis, translated by Lene Kaaberbol, Soho Press, 320 pages, $27
It has become a cliché to announce another new series from Scandinavia, but the books are too good to ignore. The Boy in the Suitcase begins of a new Danish series by Kaaberbol, a bestselling fantasy writer, and Friis, a children's author. They've concocted a terrific central character and a great plot.
The story begins with a woman running, dragging a heavy suitcase. We don't know who she is or what she's doing. Then the tale swings from character to character and place to place. A businessman's trip is stalled because of a seagull. A tired single mother in Vilnius, Lithuania, takes her son to the park. Nina Borg, a nurse, works in Copenhagen for a non-profit organization. A Lithuanian man dreams of life in Krakow with his Polish girlfriend. Drawing all these lives takes time, and readers may be tempted to give up and head to the end. Don't.
As the story builds, each storyline is woven in, and no character, including Nina Borg, is what we think. There are many twists, none gratuitous. This is a great beginning. Nina Borg does owe a bit to Stieg Larsson's iconic Lisbeth Salander, but Kaaberbol and Friis have put their own signatures on The Boy in the Suitcase. A series to watch.
The Sixth Extinction By D. Leonard Freeston, Dundurn, 424 pages, $22.99
I nearly missed out on this very good thriller because it came presold as an "environmental" novel. In my experience, labels usually mean lots of message and not much else. I'm delighted to find that D. Leonard Freeston, of Montreal, has a message, talent and a sense of humour.
Montreal Police Sergeant Irina Drach and her partner, Detective Hudson, have a dead cop and a missing dog.
Their investigation leads them to a raid on a seed bank in Ardingly, England, and a kidnapped thoroughbred horse. That leads to other thefts and deaths. Behind it all is a megalomaniacal billionaire who wants to preserve nature for posterity, by any means necessary.
Freeston makes this plot work with some snappy cop banter, a couple of really good characters and a writing style that harks back to the grand old days of writers like H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. If you, like me, loved King Solomon's Mines and She, you'll love Irina Drach.
Double Dexter By Jeff Lindsay, Random House, 337 pages, $29
Can the books top the spectacularly good TV show? This latest entry shows just how good a writer Jeff Lindsay is. We've already seen a witness to Dexter's avocation and what happens to her on-screen.
Now, Lindsay takes that idea a step further. A witness to Dexter's death scene is watching him, manipulating him. It appears that exposure is imminent, but …
Meanwhile, a serial killer is targeting Miami cops, leaving their bloodless bodies to be found by their compatriots. And there is Dexter's usual wit and charm. This great series just keeps getting better.
The Lost Angel By Javier Sierra, translated by Carlos Frias, Atria, 380 pages, $29.99
Javier Sierra's superb apocalyptic thriller has hot action and arcane information enough for two books, at least. And Sierra is a better writer than Robert Ludlum or Dan Brown ever hoped to be.
What if a Middle Eastern terrorist group announced they were about to end the world? They believe they are the descendents of angels, and they've kidnapped an American scientist with a secret that could End Civilization As We Know It.
The scientist's wife sets out to save him, moving from one centre of religious mystery to another, sorting the clues. All this works perfectly and, at the end, Sierra has included a glossy glossary of his research into the mysteries mentioned.
Into Dust By Jonathan Lewis, Random House, 294 pages, $21
This is the second novel by British filmmaker Jonathan Lewis, and after reading it, I raced to order Into Darkness, his debut. DCI Ned Bale returns seeking a car bomber who killed the minister of defence.
The investigation is dogged by problems from the outset, including interference by the intelligence services. Then a key piece of evidence points directly to Kate Baker, Bale's lover, confidante and ally.