Customer Reviews

The Boys from Santa Cruz: A Thriller (E. L. Pender)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, I must say that I don't go for "thrillers" and would have passed this up had I not been raised in Santa Cruz. So I thought I'd give it a spin to see how my hometown figured into the story. I wasn't suspecting a goulash of snuff films, drug dealing, pre-op transsexuals, sex addiction and demon worship. "The Boys from Santa Cruz" got my attention. At first the story seems like a heap of bad luck has roosted upon teenager Luke Sweet. He is raised in appalling circumstances devoid of affection and in the midst of places that no adult, let alone a child, should be. He has to make do for himself and ends up in the most bizarre and dangerous situations, which he often does not handle well. As the less-than-perfect FBI agent Pender attempts to bring Luke under control, the story takes a more sinister turn.

I found it to be an engaging story with just enough twists to keep me interested. There were also plenty of Santa Cruz settings to make me feel that Nasaw had actually spent time in my hometown, unconventional as it is.

This is the fifth E. L. Pender book in the series. I have read all of Nasaw's books and I think it is better to read these in order, starting with "The Girls He Adored."
E. L. Pender is a retired FBI agent who was never your typical agent. Noted for his mismatched and colorful clothes, Pender reminds me of a giant teddy bear.
In this novel, the story shifts back to 1985 when Pender was an active agent on a case involving snuff films. During this case, Pender's investigation connects him with a teen, Luke Sweet, whose father was the one linked to the snuff film ring. Luke appears to also be connected with his father's business and eventually ends up in a rehab camp.
The story then brings the reader to 1995. Pender comes across names from the past that remind him of his prior case of Luke Sweet, which brings him back to California to pursue his gut intuition that his older case was never resolved.
Nasaw writes a solid thriller which is fast paced with twists that make this novel hard to put down. I love his Pender character because of his humor, wacky dress code, and his ability to catch the bad guy.
I look forward to reading the next Pender book.

I have to admit that the fact that I lived in Santa Cruz all but a couple of the years from the late 1960's until 2007 was what attracted me to this particular title. On the other hand, maybe having been there during the "murder capital of the world" era has kept me from being a huge fan of the psycho killer genre, but I have read a few over the years.

I enjoyed The Boys from Santa Cruz: A Thriller. I found it well-paced easy reading with the requisite number of gruesome images and false leads. There is a major plot twist in the second half that I did not see coming, which is always a nice surprise (assuming it makes sense, which it does here). The local geography seems correct, but I did note one minor anachronism: in 1972, the Santa Cruz Town Clock was in storage; it was installed at the current location in time for a bicentennial dedication in 1976 and restoration was finished in 1977.

I thought the development of Pender was a little light, but this made sense when I discovered that Pender had appeared in four previous novels by Nasaw. I expect to go back at some point and read some of the earlier novels and would recommend The Boys from Santa Cruz: A Thriller to any fan of the genre.

In his new novel, "The Boys from Santa Cruz," Jonathan Nasaw weaves a very chilling and plausible tale about the development of a serial killer in the tradition of Hannibal Lecter.

The ironically named protagonist, Luke Sweet is a kid who just can't catch a break. Orphaned and homeless and betrayed by his grandparents, he is locked up and kept docile by way of "chemical restraint." He plots his escape and weans himself off of the drugs by learning to imitate the movements and affect of the zombies that surround him. Wherever he turns, death follows in his wake, so he finally gives in to the inevitable and begins planning the murders that seem necessary for both survival and revenge.

The action is set in California. The fault lines that run through the hearts of some of the characters echo the unstable tectonic plates that lead to frequent seismic activity in and around Santa Cruz, home to Sweet's grandparents and another character whose importance grows as the story develops

The clues that explain the skein of violence are put together by FBI agent E.L. Pender. Sweet manages to stay one step ahead of the law throughout much of the book, until a surprising and fascinating plot twist shows everything in a new light.

Nasaw knows how to tell a taut and gripping cautionary tale.

Enjoy.

Al

This is a wonderful book. It's full of twisted characters, clever writing, plot turns that this reader didn't see coming and a unique point of view that makes it completely refreshing.

Luke Sweet Jr. is the son of a snuff movie producer and killer. After his father is taken out by the FBI and his stepwhatever (a large pre-op transvestite) kills herself, Luke is taken into custody and put into a mental institution as a deranged pathalogical killer. Several years later he escapes and goes on a spree.

Enter Agent Pender. Originally part of the team that arrested Luke he gets involved in the chase. Warning-nothing develops exactly as you would expect.

This is a great read. Pick it up yesterday

Jonathan Nasaw never fails to entertain or surprise. Since switching tracks from a supernatural series dealing with vampires, he has concentrated on E. L. Pender, a retired FBI agent who eschews the stereotype of his former employer in almost every conceivable way. THE BOYS FROM SANTA CRUZ is the fifth installment in the series and harkens back to Pender's career days when he was truly a round peg in an agency that seemingly tolerated nothing other than squared-away right angles.

The book is roughly divided into two time periods. In 1985, Pender is a morbidly obese, hard-drinking agent whose wardrobe decisions scream for an adult line of Garanimals. He is on assignment in the Santa Cruz, California area, investigating a snuff film ring. The investigation brings him into contact with Luke Sweet, a troubled teen who seems to have a bull's-eye painted on his back. Sweet has two talents: the abilities to consistently be in the wrong place at the wrong time and to travel from bad to worse at 90 miles per hour. Sweet's problems are understandable: his father was involved in the snuff film ring and may or may not have dragged the teenaged Sweet into the manufacturing of the movies. Sweet is turned over to a therapy camp, promptly escapes and seemingly disappears...at least off of Pender's radar. For Pender, it's back to Washington and his work.

The second half of the novel is set in 1995. The world has changed, but Pender has not. Still overweight and drinking, his day is interrupted and ruined while perusing an FBI-generated list of homicides believed to have been committed by a person or persons unknown to the victim. Sweet's grandparents are on that list, and when Pender learns that Sweet has been "presumed dead" in a fire that took place at a California mental hospital some two weeks before, he is convinced that Sweet not only is still among the living but also is responsible for his grandparents' deaths. Pender is compelled to insert himself into the investigation even as more murders occur, with all the victims linked to Sweet's past.

With a private investigator in tow, Pender doggedly tracks down potential victims, hoping to intercept Sweet along the way. What Pender discovers, however, is shocking. As a final climax plays out in a mountain retreat, Pender finds himself inadvertently hamstrung by one of the victims he is sworn to protect, placing them both in mortal jeopardy as a relentless killer closes in.

THE BOYS FROM SANTA CRUZ is a character-driven novel, with Pender being the character in every sense of the word. A true fish out of water, he is good at what he does --- catching people --- but, as this tale reveals, he can be very wrong as well. There is a gallows humor that informs his dialogue, which is hysterically funny in spots, but there is a tragic pathos that lies just beneath the surface of every scene, threatening to break through. If you're unfamiliar with Pender or with Nasaw's work in general, THE BOYS FROM SANTA CRUZ is a dark and fabulous place to start.

When Luke Sweet Senior takes a few bullets and dies in a robbery attempt, his teenaged son, Luke Junior, is left to the mercy of the courts--and the misnomer that justice prevails. It does not prevail, in many cases, and the wheels of justice do grind slowly, not always in the right direction. The youngster is treated to the horrors of survival in a world of indifferent and often vicious adults. What this does to his life will appall you, I am sure. A bit of fiction that runs closer to reality than we'd care to examine, I'm certain. Fiction imitating life.

Jonathan Nasaw has written a great thriller. The characters are colorful, right down to the FBI agent's rather bizarre dress code, and their motives are clear. The story has a winding, twisting plot that kept this reader turning the pages. With the last crumb of mystery unveiled, a sense of sadness prevailed, along with the troubling thought that many people slip through the cracks of society and it appears it cannot be helped.

This story takes you on a thrill ride that spans judicial indifference and human error that will chill you and keep you on the edge of your seat. If you are like me, you will experience anger and frustration, as well as the pain of the character, Luke Sweet Junior, whose life is in the hands of strangers. Strangers who jump to conclusions, compounded by delusions and miscalculations.

Highly Recommended.

In 1985, FBI special agent E.L. Pender was working a serial killer case in Marshall City, California when he and others went after Luke Sweet, maker of snuff films and his Trannie significant other, Teddy Swantzer. Neither Luke nor Teddy survived the police assault.

However, Sweet's teenage son at the time Little Luke lived knowing he will always be ostracized as the son of a serial killer as he is locked away in an asylum. Now a decade later, twenty-five years old Little Luke has a list of those who he blames for his misfortunate life; they must die. When the asylum explodes, everyone assumes Little Luke is dead except Pender, who fears the son is following the father with the recent murder of his grandparents. Pender returns to Santa Cruz, but a serial killer Asmador is following Little Luke's list, murdering people on it; Pender knows he is on it.

The newest Pender FBI thriller (see Twenty-seven Bones, The Girl He Adored and When She Was Bad) is a super tale that grips the audience from the opening act when Luke calls Little Luke to tell him sh*t is coming as the FBI was closing in on him. From there the tale never misses a beat as a decade later the apparent retaliatory murders begin. The suspense is incredible making it nearly impossible to put down The Boys from Santa Cruz as Pender stalks his stalker.

Harriet Klausner

It's hard to get behind a book when you actively dislike the "hero" of the story and end up feeling like the so-called serial killer was actually just a poor kid created through a series of injustices. In the end I was left with pity for both Luke & Charles and disgust for Agent Pender.

For me it was not a thriller but merely a sad commentary on life, the inadequacies of the justice system and the breakdown of family structure.

Nasaw has created some great characters in this book. I rooted for Luke Sweet all the way through and really wanted to spend more time with him. The beginning of the book is great with madness and mayhem in the first few pages. But the rest of the book didn't grab me the same way. It's not bad, overall this is a good book, but I feel it could have maybe been a bit more of a thriller than it actually is. Maybe it would be a better movie than a book?