Customer Reviews

Cry Havoc

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

 

 

I have become a fan of Baxter Clare and have read all three of her books and look forward to the next. Although I enjoyed this book very much it seemed to end too soon. In Ms Clare's other two books the plot took a little longer to unfold with much more investigation and back tracking after going in the wrong direction with several different suspects. This story figured out who was the suspect and then the rest of the story was how to nail them. Not a lot of mystery in that. I must say I was happy with the developement of Frank's and Gail's relationship and glad to see Frank's character moving on with her life in the right direction. I look forward to the 4th book and hope we won't have to wait too long.

Cry Havoc by Baxter Clare is a gritty Detective Franco mystery, and follows LAPD's 93rd Homicide Squad's Lieutenant L. A. Franco as he tracks down Mother Love-Jones -- a psychic, drug dealer, and Santeria priestess who is utterly ruthless in her motives and methods. Battling her minions while coming ever closer to her deadly ambush, Cry Havoc offers the reader gritty dialogue and high-strung suspense laced throughout this tautly written and highly recommended novel.

I really liked the mix of police procedures with the occult in this story. Granted, in this particular book, they suspected strongly who committed the murder right from the start, so then it was following up leads and leaning on the suspect to get the desired result. In her first book they figured out who was the killer and then had a hard time getting the evidence. I suspect alot of police work is like that; they have a strong possible perpetrator then they have to prove it.

I've come to enjoy Baxter Clare's books and was pleasantly surprised to find this one out so soon on the heels of Street Rules. I love how Clare uses street slang in her dialogue, it makes the characters really come to life. I agree with the other reviewer who said she wished it was longer. I did too, because I'm a fan of Baxter Clare.

I really enjoyed the previous L.A. Franco mysteries and was excited to find this one. I was so disappointed with it, though. The book deals more with the occult and less with the case. The idea of Frank and Mother fighting lifetime after lifetime is about as cheesy as it gets. (I will defend myself by saying that I enjoy science fiction and fantasy books. Just not in the middle of a mystery.)
On the other hand, I enjoyed the development of Frank and Gail's relationship.

I became an instant fan of Baxter Clare and her character Lieutenant Franco from the very first line of the book. The suspense and drama that keeps you turning the pages until your through was a big plus for me. When I start a book, I like to finish it in one sitting if possible. I also enjoyed the continued relationship between Franco and Gail and would like to see Ms. Clare put those characters together permanently in a future book. I've read each book involving these characters and would purchase again.