Customer Reviews

Concourse: A Bill Smith Lydia Chin Mystery

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has interesting characters and plot, and is extremely well-written. I read it first, then found China Trade, the first novel in the series, in the library. As a (real) man, I can say that Rozan's Bill Smith is realistic; I would not have guessed that the author was female if I hadn't already known it. Smith reminds me of J.P. Beaumont, Jance's Seattle detective, and I can't think of a better compliment. It was a pleasant surprise to find that China Trade was written from the viewpoint of Lydia Chin. I hope that the viewpoint continues to alternate between the main characters in the later novels. If the quality continues, Rozan will join J.A. Jance, Minette Walters, Dick Francis, Robert Crais, and Ed McBain on my A-list of mystery writers whose new books I will buy in hardcover. On to Mandarin Plaid!

P.S. Jonathan Kellerman is borderline for my A-list. Sue Grafton, Robert Parker, and James Lee Burke are former A-listers.

CONCOURSE, by S.J. Rozan is the second novel of the Lydia Chin - Bill Smith series started in CHINA TRADE. CONCOURSE is an even stronger entry.

Bill Smith, despite his ordinary name, is anything but ordinary, even though he would be the last person to admit it. Rozan gives us a few clues to his less than ideal past, and that alone makes the reader want to learn more. As far as his relationship with Lydia -- their tenuous romance is gentle, wistful and at the same time, built on a deeply felt trust.

The plot of CONCOURSE takes Bill and Lydia into the world of non-profit organizations that are anything but, and leads Bill into the savage world of Bronx street gangs that live by their own rules and are governed by codes of honor written in blood. In the end, the ultimate brutality is the evil wrought by money and power -- a struggle that nearly costs Bill his life.

CONCOURSE is not for the faint of heart; the language is strong, the violence harsh and realistic, but the characters and plot are involving and exciting. A highly recommended series.

This book has everything a good mystery needs - a great plot, engaging characters, snappy dialogue, suspense and humor. China Trade was good but this book is better for three reasons: 1) Bill Smith's character is much better developed, 2) it has a tougher, more realistic edge to it and 3) the interaction between Bill and Lydia is more interesting. In sum, highly entertaining. I plan to read all her books.

Unlike her first book, "China Trade", this edition of the series deals with Bill Smith (with Lydia playing a supporting role). He is both the narrator and the protagonist in this well build and well thought out mystery. Each occurance in the book, whether a murder or someone following him on the streets, leads to another revelation that takes us deeper into the story and helps to explain prior occurances.

The story begins with Bill getting a call from the man who trained him to be a PI. One of his workers (a nephew) has been murdered while doing security work at a nursing home in the Bronx. He wants Bill to go undercover to find out what happened and who is the murderer. As Bill digs deeper into the people who work at the Home and the gang that controls the area around it, he peels away layer-like problems that can't survive the light of day.

In the end, we are left with a mystery of our own to ponder:

Does the ability to do good, outway our knowledge of bad things that are happening because or parallel to what we are doing? Talk among yourselves.

I'm so glad I found this author. Wonderful writing--clear, fresh images and strong, dark scenes. The characters were terrific. Even the minor characters were believable, whole people, complex and disturbing. If you want to discover a great detective novelist, read S. J. Rozan now.

If you are an avid mystery/thriller reader like myself, you probably have one or two series' that stand out above the rest. A series in which every book adds to a whole. I would say that Rozan's Bill Smith/Lydia Chin is one of those and if you have not read any of them before, you are in for several great reads in the near future.

One aspect of this series that I really like a lot is that it switches from one book to the next in its characater point of view. By that I mean, one book will have Lydia as the main character and another will have Bill Smith. Both are very fleshed out and engaging characters. What is really charming is that when you are reading a Smith book you will feel like you are in a 50's MGM noir classic film. It's usually hard boiled and dark. On the other hand, when you are reading a Chin book, I feel like this is more like reading a classic Agatha Christie with a modern twist. You can definitly feel the male/female differences between the two and it really adds to the over all ambiance of the series.

OK, with all of that glowing aside, every single one of Rozan's books that I have thus far read falls a little below the "5 star" whole that I would give this series as a whole. Each one has some quirky aside that takes away a little from perfection. Concourse is one of her better books in the series, but it lacks a sweeping drive that will keep you turning the pages. The end is really worth getting to here because it will unfold in an amazingly broad scope. Some of the periphreal characters are not very well fleshed out, and the banter between Chin and Smith is as thin as it gets between the two in comparison to other books.

What I would like to say is that I started out with 'Reflecting Sky' and thought that it was pretty good but no great shakes. And in retrospect, it probably is equal to 'Concourse' in its over all depth. But once again, it is the series here that is just knock down great. You can take a single one of Patricia Cornwell's earlier books and say that it is better than any one of Rozan's and I will agree with you. But where Cornwell keeps repeating herself and gets mired in the tediousness of her characters and refuses to let them grow, Rozan is not afraid to do so. I would compare this series to the first ten or so Lawrence Block titles of his seminol series featuring Matt Scudder. And in my book their is no higher praise than that.

I thought this was a well plotted and hard hitting PI novel. It is a fast paced, well-written page-turner with a dramatic and satisfying conclusion. Smith and Chin are interesting and likeable characters, but possibly a bit underdeveloped. (But I'll attribute this minor complaint to the fact that I did not read the first Rozan book.) The Smith/Chin relationship seems a little familiar, and the relationship with the burned out detective also seems overdone, but overall, Rozan creates a believable and original story that blends big-city corruption and inner city violence.

The minor complaints mentioned above notwithstanding, I give this a strong recommendation and I am looking forward to the next installment.

Rozan is a favorite of mine, but the other books I had read by her were focused on Lydia Chin. This book shifts the focus to Bill Smith (who sometimes partners with Lydia Chin). I missed Lydia and I found this book a little too "Humphrey Bogart" for my taste. I would not describe this book as a real page-turner, at least for me. Still, Rozan is a very skilled writer, particularly good at plotting and creating believable characters, people you care what happens to. This book would particularly appeal to people who like tough, gritty detective mysteries.

At first, I had my doubts about the mundane setting of a Bronx nursing home, but S.J. Rozan surprised me in the end. His old mentor has asked Bill Smith for a favor--to look into the murder of a security guard at the home. After including his partner, Lydia Chin, and some poking around, another murder occurs, much like the first one, with the victim being beaten to death. The characters that Bill Smith meets in his investigation of two murders are well-written and play an instrumental role in the solution of the case. The plot is well honed, and Rozan's dialogue is equally compelling. But it is the ending of this mystery where Rozan shines. She not only neatly wraps up the case but also the fragments of Bill Smith's life that have unraveled since the start of the investigation.

A wonderfully written and richly textured novel. Very well plotted and it makes sense thru-out.

Some passages were so well written I found myself reading them three or four times just to appreciate their beauty.

It is at least semi-dark and not the fastest read, but well worth the time and effort. It needs to be savored.

The protagonists are well drawn and this should be a strong series. The supporting cast is most intriguing.