“The sadness was inside him always. A dull pressure against the front of his chest, a bitter taste in his mouth, a hovering sigh, just beyond his next breath. Most of the time he could pretend it wasn’t there, he’d grown so used to it over the years, but the second he felt his focus shift from the immediate on to the important there it was again, like the creature lurking beneath the bed. Deep, unchanging sadness.”

Lost
by S.J. Bolton

While that paragraph describes the feelings of 10-year old Barney, it could very well be a description for what some of the other characters in Lost are facing, in particular police detective Lacey Flint. After her last case undercover, Lacey is in a fragile state and doesn’t know if she’ll return to the police force so mainly keeps to herself but when the bodies of two boys are found she is will inevitably be drawn into the investigation.

Barney is Lacey’s next door neighbor. He’s a very smart young boy but he’s also very lonely. His mother left him and his father when he was a toddler and his father is so busy with work that Barney spends most of his nights alone. With all the spare time he has, he is drawn into the mystery of the boys’ disappearance and he’s following clues on Facebook and others until he has his own very scary idea of who the killer is.

Lacey is really trying very hard not to get involved but she won’t be able to resist especially when Detective Mark Joesbury needs her help. If you haven’t read the first two books in the series it is helpful to know that Mark and Lacey have worked before and the two are drawn to each other but their relationship is complicated, of course.

I found myself wanting to yell at Lacey for being less than honest and cooperative with her therapist. And, not to mention that she seemed to be just turning away those who can and want to help her but I have hopes that Lacey’s situation will have improved in the next book.

What I loved about this book, and maybe all of the S.J. Bolton books I’ve read, is that I am always surprised by the endings. I had no idea who the killer was and was starting to doubt everyone in this story. A very entertaining read but I do recommend that if you want to read this one you start off with the first in the series, Now You See Me.

Source: Library copy

“Visiting people in the hospital was a pain in the ass; I knew going in that they wouldn’t let me smoke, and I always worried a little that they wouldn’t let me leave. I was eighty-seven years old and still buying Lucky Strikes by the carton, so everyone figured I was ripe to keel over.”

Don’t Ever Get Old
by Daniel Friedman

Buck Schatz is a retired Memphis cop but when he hears from a dying friend that their torturer from when they were in a Nazi prison camp might still be alive and may have gotten away with a fortune in gold then he is going to have to put his detective skills to use. Granted, now he needs a bit of help to navigate modern police work.

Buck doesn’t quite believe his friend but it looks like they’ve now attracted attention from others who want a piece of the treasure. Reluctantly, Buck starts investigating but will need the help of his grandson Billy, or Tequila as he keeps telling his grandfather to call him, and the two set off on an adventure.

In between some chapters are “notes” that Buck writes in his memory book of things he doesn’t want to forget and through them and we learn about the horrors he went through in the concentration camp, his relationship with his son and thoughts on getting old and losing his independence.

I found myself laughing quite a bit through this novel. One of the story’s strengths is the dialogue which sounds natural and comes across as genuine, especially with regards to Buck. He is gruff and no-nonsense and will tell you exactly what he thinks.

In the midst of the guns and fights there are also some poignant touches about getting older and a husband and wife not wanting to lose their independence but also being realistic. So all that is good but my disappointments were mainly with the mystery aspect of the book. I found the resolution implausible and finding the identity of the killer felt almost like a letdown. Overall I felt a bit like I wasn’t reading this so much for the mystery but for the characters.

Source: Library copy