Two Quick Book Reviews
New releases from Michael Connelly and Jason Powell
Had the good fortune to plow through two new books this week. One as an audiobook, the other on my Kindle. (I also got Craig Johnson’s newest jaunt around Absaroka County, Return to Sender, but haven’t had a chance to start on it, yet.)
First up: Michael Connelly’s new series-starter, Nightshade.
I am a big Connelly guy. I have read every novel he’s written. I’ve watched all 11 seasons of Bosch/Bosch: Legacy, and I’ve plowed through most, if not all of his short stories and novellas. (It’s hard to keep track of them.)
Connelly’s style is nothing to write home about. He’s not Elmore Leonard. He writes a tight, journalistic mystery with a brisk pace. No complaints here. It’s what I endeavor to do myself.
Nightshade is centered on Connelly’s newest fictional hero: LA County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell. Connelly opts to roll the Columbo/Inspector Morse route and give this new hero no first name. (At least not one that anyone mentions in this book1.) Everyone just calls him Stilwell.
Stilwell shares many traits with Harry Bosch. He does things right. He stands up for the truth. He doesn’t take the easy way, nor does he truck much with those who do.
After an incident at his previous post on the mainland, department politics have exiled him to the beautiful locale of Catalina Island.
—for the record, I would like a job that would have me exiled to Catalina, too.
People who screw up in the LACSD are more or less benched on the low-crime, dull confines of Catalina for a year or two until their situation on the mainland blows over, and they’re allowed back into the good graces of the “real” work.
Stilwell has been on Catalina for a year or so, and he stumbles into the first murder on the island in years.
Enter the usual Connelly chaos, policework, and twists.
While I have enjoyed everything the master has written, Mike isn’t breaking new ground with this one. The setting and unusual locale of Catalina do the bulk of the work in making the story work. (No motorized cars on the island. Golf cart squad cars, anyone?)
Stilwell lacks some of the charm of Harry Bosch, Mickey Haller, and Renee Ballard, but he’s a good dude, and the world needs more of those sorts of those guys.
I’ll definitely read the second book in this series, should we get one. Which, I have to imagine, we will. Someday. Connelly’s always got his keyboard full, between Haller, Bosch, and Ballard, so another adventure with Stilwell doesn’t need to be a priority for him.
No Man’s Ghost
I had No Man’s Ghost pre-ordered since Jason Powell announced the pre-order on his Instagram feed last November. I had the good fortune to meet Jason last August at Bouchercon in Nashville, and even shared a table with him and a few other people during an awards show. He was extremely kind, very tall, and a good dude.
Powell is also an active-duty NYC firefighter, and his debut novel features a young probie fresh out of the academy joining his first firehouse.
Charles Davids is another good dude. He’s young. He’s eager. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He joins Engine 99 in Harlem, and there he meets a bunch of guys dedicated to the job and each other, as is typical in the brotherhood of fire.
While Davids is learning the ropes, an unstable man who has been calling in fake fires to upset his soon-to-be-ex-wife finally snaps and decides false reports aren’t enough. He escalates to the next logical step.
Now, since Powell is a firefighter, the book truly shines in his highlights of what it’s like for a rookie to join his first house, to learn the ropes from guys who have been doing it for years, and he really does an admirable job in showing the nerves, the worry, and (eventually) the growing confidence a young firefighter has while learning on the job. He also lovingly describes the ins and outs of the world of firefighters, life in the station houses, and the bonds those men forge with each other.
The parts in the fire station with Davids interacting with the other firefighters are the heart of the books. And those parts are so good, I found myself getting annoyed when the actual plot of the book (Alan Johnson’s deteriorating mental health and eventual fire-starting) popped back into the story. Give more of life in the house!
Stephen King mentions in his book On Writing that people love to read about other people’s jobs. He doesn’t understand why, but they do.
No Man’s Ghost is the proof of King’s hypothesis. I would have read a whole book just about Davids joining a firehouse and been happy when it ended. I didn’t even need the B-story.
This book was a promising career start for Jason Powell. There were some rough edges, but for a debut go-round, it was a fun and riveting book and a very fast read.
I hope he writes another book with the guys from Engine 99 soon. He’s onto something.
Bring the Heat
I can’t review two books without plugging my upcoming Abe & Duff Misadventure.
Bring the Heat is out June 24, 2025.
Pre-order the eBook by clicking the underlined link above.
If you care to pre-order a personalized copy of the paperback (which should be out before the eBook), you can do that by clicking on the cover below.
It should be noted that paperback pre-orders will get a few other bonus treats in the envelopes, including coasters, bookmarks, and stickers for your laptops. (Because laptop stickers are how you tell other people you’re a serious writer.)
Thanks for reading.
Colin Dexter did not name his famous detective, Inspector Morse, until book #12 in Morse’s 13-novel literary run. For several books, whenever anyone asked for Morse’s first name, he would dryly respond, “Inspector.” Morse’s reluctance to use his Christian name earned him the nickname Pagan when he was a boy. In book #8, The Wench is Dead, we learned his first initial was “E.” However, in book #12, Death Is Now My Neighbour, we learn about Morse’s Quaker upbringing, and like Quakers often do, Morse’s parents named their child by giving him a name that was also a virtue. His mother named him after the HMS Endeavour, and thus—Endeavour Morse finally had a full name.