Customer Reviews

Emerald Flash (John Caine Mysteries)

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

 

 

I've read all 3 John Caine titles, as well as all 21 Travis McGee books, and I see close similarities. I'm going beyond the obvious--the fact that both characters live on boats and do "favors" for friends. Specifically, I'm drawn to Knief's combination of action and introspection, so typical of John D. MacDonald. An illustration can be found early in the first Caine book, Diamond Head, when the older Caine must defend himself against two young attackers. Caine carries the day, but he gives close examination to his reactions and to his motives, once the dust clears. This is typical McGee. And this is the thread which runs through all 3 Caine books. This writer is very, very good, and he's just getting started. I can't wait to see where he'll go next!

Emerald Flash is a recommended read. Make sure you first read the first two books in the series, since there are a lot of references to these in this third book. Out of the three books I think Sand Dollar is the best one. If you like these books you will problaby also like the books by Richard Barre, Steve Hamilton, and William Kent Kreuger.

Great suspense, unextected plot twists, vibrant characters, and beautiful Hawaiian locales.
John Caine, is a modern knight righting wrongs and helping those in trouble. An honorable man who as experience so much death and pain that that he is become deeply wounded and seeks to put his life back in order. Unfortunately he meets Margo, and more pain and death are sure to follow.
Charles Knief, brings the Hawaiian islands to life in all of their brilliant color and majesty. The settings in this book and his others capture the real Hawaii that few really get to know.
OVERALL SCORE: (A)
PLOT: (A-), CHARATERS: (A+), DIALOGUE: (B), SETTING: (A+), ACTION/COMBAT: (A-), ANTAGONISTS: (B+), ROMANCE: (A-), SEX:(Adult Content), AGE LEVEL: (R)

Let's face it--no one reads a Charles Knief mystery for the excellence of the writing or the tautness of the plot. It's the Hawaiian setting, with its local Polynesian/Hawaiian characters, which is so alluring, and even the violence instigated by its underworld cannot dim that allure. From a marina in Pearl Harbor, to a chase at sea on the way to Kauai, to the top of the Waimea Canyon, with its 500 inches of rain a year, Hawaii sings its siren song, and the reader follows along, not really caring how plausible or tightly controlled the plot may be.

In this novel John Caine, private eye and friend alike to Honolulu racketeer Chawlie Choy and Police Lieutenant Kimo Kahanamoku, a relative of the famed surfer, Duke Kahanamoku, saves a naked woman from her enraged husband, who later turns up dead. Fleeing from the Colombian emerald smugglers from whom she has stolen $20M of emeralds, she wants Caine to save her. Between the boat chases and the flights through Kauai's Waimea Canyon rain forest and the Na Pali coast, horrendous mayhem takes place, ranging from grenade attacks to firefights and stabbings along wild pig trails, with perennial hero Caine emerging, of course, very bloody but unbowed. Not the best of the John Caine series, Emerald Flash is still lots of fun, whether you read it to escape into an imaginary Hawaii or to revisit your favorite parts of Paradise. Mary Whipple

Charles Knief's John Caine is back in Emerald Flash, and, if it can be believed, better than ever. There may be no shortage of dignified knights errant on the action-book scene today, but few of them can truly rise above mind candy. Even the better authors -- and there are very good ones out there -- tend to resort to the deus ex machina (although I'm wild about Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels, let's face it: Hawk is a deus ex machina). As an ex-SEAL, Caine can do everything Mr. Knief says he can. Otherwise, he benefits from nothing more than a bit of luck. The plotting of Emerald Flash is very crafty, with side roads and sudden hairpins. Then there are the people: Caine himself, who grows with each book (Emerald Flash is Mr. Knief's third Caine novel); the gangster (for want of a better word) Chawlie, to whom all roads seem to lead; Margo Halliday, who reveals herself to the reader gradually through the book. Mr. Knief's language is exquisite. Never "literary" but always extremely literate (and he avoids making Cain a poor man's Marlowe, tucking into Proust, perhaps, when he's not rescuing damsels). There is also a painstaking clarity to his narration. In many other books of action, for instance, the reader is often forced to gloss over complex descriptions of, say, a physical confrontation. Not so in the Caine books. Mr. Knief puts you in the middle and keeps you there. Finally, Mr. Knief knows how to end a book. There are many accomplished writers of thrillers out there, but there is something unsatisfying about the abrupt endings in some, or, in others, the protagonist's dutiful closing speech neatly tying up loose ends. Not with Emerald Flash, or with either of the other two Caine books. Caine has not just completed a caper; a period in his life has ended, and you feel that closure as you finish. In short, great stuff, beautifully written. Encore!

Another splendid book from Chuck Knief. Like my experience in reading SAND DOLLARS and DIAMOND HEAD, I could not put this book down. It is a gripping, fast-paced thriller. I enjoyed the first third of the book which is set on Oahu, but when we made the virtual run to Kauai, Knief really got cooking. Kauai is the one island (other than Niihau) that I have never been to, but I have now through the magic of EMERALD FLASH. So reading this wonderful book is really a vacation, albeit an exhausting one, in Hawaii. Highly recommended, and I can't wait for the fourth book. Join the fun of reading Chuck Knief's masterful writing in this splendid thriller.

I thought this was the best of the three John Caine mysteries I've read so far. However, I seem to remember reading another novel which also used the emerald flash phenomenon for the same purpose of resolution and philosophic acceptance. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the novel. Can anyone out there help me. I know it also took place in Hawaii.
Any information will be more than welcome.

True adventure like we have come to expect from John D. MacDonald and Ian Fleming is hard to find in today's writers. Charles Knief is on his way to reviving that type of writing with his John Caine Adventure Series. I've read all three of the books in the Caine series, and think that each gets better as Knief developes his hero's character and personality. Caine is a man for our times and my hat's off to Charles Knief for giving us a hero that we can feel good about.

as a bookseller who takes his job to heart, it is always fun for me to be able to recommend an author to my clients......charles kneif is such an author......the kite flying ex-seal puts one in mind of a paladin from the days of old.....his use of the language...his characters fairly jump off the pages as you get deeper and deeper into the book........great job..........thanks...

Chuck Knief has a winner again with Emarald Flash. Great suspense, plot twists, believable characters, and beautiful Hawaiian locales. I read an advance copy and couldn't put it down until I finished it. I have been to many of the locations described in Knief's three books and his descriptions made me feel I was right back at the various locations. I can't wait for the next book by Chuck Knief.