The Curve of the Earth by Simon Morden

Published by Orbit on March 19, 2013 

Samuil Petrovich is back. A rather quiet decade has passed since the events described in Degrees of Freedom. The evil Americans are still ruled by religious fanatics, but the Freezone is cooking along with a proto-democracy. Major decisions are made by a consensus of individuals chosen by computer who serve on small committees organized on an ad hoc basis -- a nifty idea. Despite the abilities Petrovich has gained by virtue of his cybernetic components and his connection to the Artificial Intelligence named Michael, Petrovich follows the Freezone rules -- as he should, since the Freezone is pretty much his creation.

Petrovich's adopted daughter Lucy has lost contact with the Freezone. Petrovich nominates himself to find her. Since Lucy was doing research in Alaska when she disappeared, a hapless FBI agent named Joseph Newcomen is assigned the frustrating task of assisting Petrovich -- a man who requires little assistance and desires even less. Petrovich and Newcomen spend the first half of the novel sparring until, at about the novel's midpoint, Petrovich begins to get a handle on the reason for Lucy's disappearance. She's seen something, or learned something, that involves the apparent destruction of a satellite that was blown out of the sky. Just what Lucy found is the mystery that drives the novel. Are the Chinese and/or the Americans up to something nefarious? The answer is interesting, a little surprising, and a clear set-up to more Petrovich novels.

Petrovich hasn't exactly mellowed as he's aged, but what fun would a mellow Petrovich be? He spends much of the novel berating Newcomen who, in Petrovich's view, doesn't think or fend for himself and has committed the unpardonable sin of being an American. At times Petrovich becomes wearisome in his bullying self-righteousness. He's often having a tantrum. That's amusing for awhile but it wears thin by the end of the book, particularly since he has the same tantrum over and over and over. Apparently near-omnipotence has made it difficult for Petrovich to get over himself. At other times he's surprisingly insecure about being a science geek (apparently the kids at school picked on him) and takes it out on others by belittling anyone whose knowledge base consists of subjects that require more subtlety than the rote memorization of "the value of the gravitational constant." It was good to see Petrovich growing up a bit in the trilogy that introduced him. Clearly the dude needs to grow a bit more, starting with a lesson in humility. I'm hoping that happens in future novels.

The dystopian America Simon Morden envisions, a government controlled by the religious right, also wears a bit thin, only because it is an underdeveloped, one-note song. The novel's premise that Americans would willingly give up their right to curse suggests that Morden has never visited Texas ... or Chicago ... or the East or West Coasts. On the other hand, his satirical look at American excesses when it comes to airport security and immigration queues are spot on, and Evil America serves as a counterpoint for Freezone values -- openness, governance by consensus -- that make the Freezone seem like an appealing place to live.

Morden peppers the swiftly moving story with high energy action scenes, some of which are impressively original. To the extent that The Curve of the Earth feels like an extended set-up for the next novel in the series, it at least whets my appetite for whatever might be coming next. There are passing references to earlier events that might befuddle a reader who hasn't read The Petrovitch Trilogy, but The Curve of the Earth should be enjoyable for readers who haven't read the earlier novels.

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The Andalucian Friend by Alexander Söderberg

First published in Swedish in 2012; published in translation by Crown on March 12, 2013

Jens Vall is an arms dealer in Stockholm. While trying to deliver a shipment of weapons, he's thrust into the middle of a turf war between two organizations of drug dealers. One is headed by Ralph Hanke and the other by Hector Guzman. While Hector is in hospitalized, he forms a bond with a nurse, Sophie Brinkmann, and invites her on a date. Gunilla Strandberg, who runs a unit of misfit police officers, notable only for their loyalty to her, is after Hector and wants to use Sophie to spy on him. The police use threats and blackmail to make Sophie and others cooperate with their investigation. In fact, it's difficult to find a difference between the police and the criminals. If anything, the police are more brutal. Readers who are looking for a clear distinction between the good guys and the bad guys should give this novel a pass.

In addition to the crime family showdown and the arms delivery gone wrong, the plot features a blackmail scheme involving a midlevel manager at Ericsson. The plot never crosses the line from complex to confusing, but with so many characters entering and leaving the story, concentration is required to keep it all straight. Sophie remains the novel's focus, a strong, relatively innocent widow caught in a nightmare.

The plot is interesting but the characters make the story worth reading. They are authentic, filled with contradictions, nagging doubts and hidden emotions. Sophie comes from a background of family discord. (As you might expect in a Scandanavian novel, the family members view Sophie's sister, Jane, with suspicion because she's happy.) Sophie is transformed by her experiences with Hector and the police but, at the same time, remains grounded in her relationship with her son. Gunilla is ambitious, ruthless, and as much a criminal as the thugs she pursues. Hector, on the other hand, is capable of gentleness and sensitivity, at least in his interaction with Sophie. One of the officers Gunilla recruits, Lars Vinge, a man with some serious pharmaceutical issues, is unhappy with the limited role Gunilla has given him and decides to do something about it. If there's anyone in the novel worth cheering for other than Sophie, it's Lars, despite his problems, which include an unhealthy obsession with Sophie. Unlike the other police officers, Lars has a conscience. His motives are never purely altruistic, but he's not evil, as are the novel's most thuggish characters.

The Andalucian Friend blends action (and blood) with intrigue and suspense. It moves at a steady pace, not so quickly as to short-change character development, but not so leisurely that the reader's attention wanders. Alexander Söderberg doesn't invite the reader to make a deep emotional investment in any of his characters; readers who have that desire will probably find the novel unappealing. Some might also be displeased with the novel's ending -- it leaves lives unsettled -- but I thought it was satisfying. It isn't exactly a happy ending, but the unexpected karmic twists are true to the story that precedes it.

As the first novel in a trilogy, I have to expect the next story to go in a different direction, since not many of the characters introduced in this one are alive when the novel ends. I look forward to seeing where the next installment takes the survivors.

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The Savage Boy by Nick Cole

Published by Harper Voyager on February 26, 2013

The Savage Boy is set in the same post-apocalyptic future as The Old Man and the Wasteland. We learn a bit more about the cause of the apocalypse than the first novel reveals, but that's secondary to the very personal stories that occupy the heart of these novels.

Before he died from radiation poisoning, Staff Sergeant Presley told Boy to go west, to find the Army, to tell them there's nothing left. But it's been more than twenty years since Presley set out from Oakland to search for the remnants of a government in Washington, D.C. Boy carries Presley's map, the word "Gone" written next to many cities, others marked with "slavers" and "plague" and "white supremacists." San Francisco and Reno belong to the Chinese. As Boy makes his way west, he hears Presley's advising voice as if accompanied by a ghost. Presley was his teacher, his mentor, the closest thing he had to a father.

During his journey, Boy meets a gang led by Rock Star and an army of salvagers led by MacRaven. Both leaders want Boy to help them fight the Chinese. Boy's own agenda is to carry out Presley's mission, although he wonders whether anything could be left of the American Army.

Boy's past, his life before Presley, is cloudy. The journey he takes is largely a search for his own identity, a search for meaning. The war that destroyed the country is long over and Presley is gone. It's time for Boy to pick his own battles, to choose his own allies, to make a life that is his own. It might even be time for Boy to think for himself, to reject some of Presley's teachings.

Although The Savage Boy lacks the degree of pathos that makes The Old Man and the Wasteland so compelling, in part because it is easier to relate to the Old Man than to the mostly silent Boy, the story is not without emotion. The last third of the novel develops an odd love story that isn't entirely convincing (although after an apocalypse, an exchange of glances might be all it takes to fall in love). I did, however, like the theme: to find his identity, the disabled Boy needs to find someone who makes him complete. The last several chapters send the story in an entirely different direction as Boy's life again changes course. Although I didn't feel the same affection for Boy that I felt for the Old Man, the unpredictable plot consistently held my attention.

The Savage Boy is written in the same stark, straightforward, fast moving style that characterizes The Old Man and the Wasteland. Like the first novel, this one blends action and philosophy. I think the first novel delivers a stronger message, but The Savage Boy has enough depth to set it apart from most post-apocalyptic fiction. Although it works nicely as a stand-alone story, the ending ties the second novel in with the first. The last few paragraphs will therefore be more meaningful to readers who are familiar with the first novel.

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Bear is Broken by Lachlan Smith

Published by Mysterious Press on February 5, 2013 

Bear is Broken opens with Leo Maxwell describing the scene as someone shoots Leo's brother, Teddy, in the back of the head. Teddy is a successful criminal defense attorney in San Francisco and Leo, having recently passed the bar, hopes to follow in his footsteps. True to form, the police make clear their hatred of criminal lawyers -- particularly Teddy, who successfully defended a man who killed a police officer -- and show little sympathy for Leo. Fed up with the police (and wondering whether they have something to do with his shooting) and with self-righteous prosecutors, Leo decides to conduct his own investigation of his brother's death. He also has the chance to step into Teddy's shoes, to be a "real lawyer" for the first time. As much as Bear is Broken is a legal thriller, it is also the story of Leo's evolution, his entry into adulthood, his transition from student to practitioner.

The unexplained shooting of Teddy may or may not be related to Leo's father, who is serving a sentence for killing Leo's mother, a crime that Teddy always insisted their father didn't commit. Leo's reaction to the shooting is further complicated by his feelings about Teddy, a mixture of love and resentment, and by his growing fear that Teddy was a supremely unethical lawyer. Teddy may have wronged a former client, providing a motive for murder. But there's no shortage of suspects, including the mysterious young woman who shoots Leo with a Taser and her mysterious brother and her mysterious father, and Teddy's mysterious investigator and his mysterious secretary, and a mysterious hooker ....

The plot isn't so much complex or convoluted as it is filled with red herrings, multiple suspects who may or may not have had anything to do with Teddy's shooting. Leo changes his mind about who shot his brother more often than most people change their underwear. In the end, although a couple of plot threads are left dangling, the story works its way to a satisfying conclusion.

Leo finds himself with multiple conflicts of interest as he (1) sleeps with a woman who might have shot his brother and (2) represents a man charged with shooting his brother (although only at an arraignment), even though (3) the principle witness against the charged assailant is Leo's father. I'm not sure I bought any of that, and I'm confident I wouldn't want to hire a lawyer who demonstrates such poor judgment, but it makes for a reasonably good story.

Lachlan Smith has a clear understanding of the dynamics of criminal trials and of the psychology of lawyers and juries. The trial scenes (of which there are few) are some of the best in the novel. At times the writing style is a little trashy ("I gave a cry of pain and astonishment. ... This cannot be. This simply cannot be."), indicative of a first time novelist. For the most part, however, Smith is a capable writer. The novel's pace is steady and his characters are believable. Bear is Broken is a reasonably good second-tier legal thriller from a writer who shows promise.

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Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes

Published by Harper Paperbacks on March 12, 2013 

Having quit her jobs in software sales and pole dancing, Genevieve Shipley lives on a barge in a marina on the River Medway, a lifestyle that is more sedate than the one she left behind in London. She throws a party on her barge to show off the current stage of its renovation and wonders why her friend Caddy doesn't make it. Later that night, she finds Caddy's body in the water, bumping up against her boat. Genevieve calls her former lover, Dylan, who has been absent for months, leaving Genevieve in charge of a mysterious package that he promised to reclaim. The contents of the package and the reason for Caddy's death supply the twin mysteries that are meant to supply the novel's suspense.

While we're waiting for the main story to advance, Genevieve fills us in on her backstory, her relationships, and her part-time work in the lucrative field of exotic dance. Genevieve's background is constructed carefully and credibly. The buildup is, in fact, the best part of the novel.

Suspense, however, is in short supply. Genevieve is threatened from time to time, but never in a way that suggests her life is actually at risk. She interacts with characters who may be not be what they seem -- a helpful neighbor, a police officer she takes to bed -- but the story lacks the element of surprise.

Although Genevieve is blindingly naïve for a woman who is often described as smart, it's easy to feel sympathy for her predicament. (Some readers might have difficulty feeling sympathy for an exotic dancer; if you're one of those, this probably isn't the book for you.) While it's easy to sympathize with Genevieve, it's less easy to care about her. She spends most of the novel in a gloomy fog, doing nothing to make her situation better. When she's not mooning over Dylan she's mooning over the police officer who becomes bedroom Dylan's substitute. Instead of being proactive, Genevieve makes unanswered phone calls and waits for a man to come along and rescue her.

In the end, a sentence that begins "Eventually his hand between my thighs made me forget everything ..." tells you everything you need to know about Genevieve. She forgets her common sense. She forgets to question obvious lies. She forgets to be smart. She forgets to be resourceful. She spends most of the novel longing for a hand between her thighs. In that sense, Dark Tide tries to be a romance as much as a suspense novel, and doesn't fully succeed at being either one.

The resolution of the mysteries is anticlimactic. There isn't much of a mystery at all, which makes the story, after a strong start, disappointingly dull. Genevieve finally shows some initiative toward the novel's end in a reasonably tense action scene. Unfortunately, a romantic triangle, rather than suspense, remains the novel's focus. Perhaps the triangle is meant to be suspenseful -- will Genevieve end up with Dylan or the cop? -- but I just didn't care. In the end, although I liked the setup, the suspense fizzles out. Fans of chick lit might like it more than I did.

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