ARmy Rumour SErvice

.
I don't think I've ever read a 'Western' before, and not one set in the 'Old West' anyway. I didn't have any pre-conceived ideas, thoughts or expectations prior to picking up this novel either. The name Robert B Parker didn't mean anything to me, so I Googled it prior to starting the book. Apparently, he died a few years ago, wrote a huge number of books in his time, and was responsible for the 'Spenser' series – which were made into the successful T.V. Show 'Spenser for hire' starring Robert Urich (also dead). I had heard of the show, but it came out whilst I was still in School, so again it was unfamiliar territory.

Resolution is the name of the town where the tale is set. The story starts in a saloon, with the narrator and co – main character/gunfighter Everett Hitch being offered a job by the town's headman, Amos Wolfson. Seems he needs a bouncer, and what with there being no law in town, things have gotten a little hairy recently. Hitch finds himself at a loose end and takes the job, and quickly stamps his authority on the town. It soon becomes clear though that Wolfson has grander plans. As well as the saloon, he owns the only hotel, the general store, and is the official U.S. Army land broker. He holds most of the Resolutions' residents in his debt, and he wants to own the town outright. He's got enemies though, and what started as doorman work for Hitch soon becomes unwilling enforcement of Wolfson's desire to take complete control of Resolution. Things start to change though when Virgin Cole, the enigmatic and lightning fast 'gun hand', turns up to visit his good friend Hitch. We quickly move into classic 'Western' mode and the clichés fly thick and fast, but trust me, with this book this is not a bad thing!

...

Rebus is back!!

And back running with a full scale murder enquiry involving missing girls which he is determined to solve, regardless of the number of senior officers he upsets. John Rebus retired several years ago from Lothian & Borders Police as he reached the age when detectives are sent to the pub and not expected back in the office. However, a recently formed group looking at ‘Cold Cases’ is tasked to dig out the files from dormant cases and try to bring them to a solution. Rebus has been invited onto this group and is enjoying being, almost, back in the fold. He is enjoying it so much he is thinking of applying to rejoin Lothian & Borders Police, but has the small task of passing a medical first. As ever, the person in charge of the Cold Case Unit is not the type of person to get along with Rebus and vice versa. The boss is a young, ambitious detective who feels that his talents should be utilised elsewhere. Just the sort of material Rebus loves to rub up the wrong way, as a pastime.

One day a call comes from the front desk saying that a woman is asking for a former head of the Cold Cases Unit; that person has retired so Rebus goes down to meet her. She tells him of the tale of her daughter going missing while travelling in the north of Scotland. Apart from being tidy and someone Rebus takes a fancy to, he is intrigued and digs out the files. It soon becomes apparent to Rebus that this girl’s disappearance was not the first and that a serial murderer may be on the loose. Then another young girl goes missing and Rebus gets himself on to the investigating team from another station in Edinburgh – just another senior officer to piss off! This brings him back into contact with his former sidekick Siobhan Clarke who is now a Detective Inspector. So the investigation begins – the victims all apparently disappearing whilst travelling on the A90 road to north of Scotland. Rebus fits himself into the team now situated in Gayfield Square police station in Edinburgh, close to many pubs where he does his best thinking!

...

Jake Needham is an author I discovered through following other authors I like on Twitter. He lives between the United States and Thailand, and according to his profile information, his novels are set in Asia. I have travelled a lot in Thailand, and when Jake told me that ‘The Big Mango’ was considered somewhat of a ‘bible’ or guidebook for Thai visitors, I was intrigued. So I contacted him and he was more than happy to provide a couple of his books for review.

In April 1975, the President of South Vietnam resigned. He and his cabinet fled their doomed country to start anew in the United States as the Communist North closed in on Saigon. A few days before this an American C-118 plane left Saigon, crammed with Government archives and personal effects of President Thieu. Rumours had it that the plane’s true cargo were in fact the contents of the of Bank of Vietnam’s vaults.
...