Customer Reviews

A Garden of Vipers

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We should all send a note of appreciation to Elaine Kerley of Newport, Kentucky. In the acknowledgments at the close of A GARDEN OF VIPERS, Jack Kerley's latest and greatest installment in his series featuring Mobile police investigators Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus, Kerley thanks his wife for urging him to leave the advertising industry and begin writing. If not for such encouragement, we might not have one of the finest thriller series currently being written.

Kerley has demonstrated a talent that runs deep and true. Ryder and Nautilus are an unlikely team of police investigators whose professional relationship and personal friendship rings with a real world authenticity.

A GARDEN OF VIPERS initially centers on the investigation by Ryder and Nautilus of the brutal murder of a radio newswoman who, interestingly enough, has some ties to Dani Danbury, Ryder's significant other. Some additional incidents, including another horrendous murder, indicate the presence of a homicidal maniac in Mobile. Both Ryder and Nautilus are distracted by the revelations of personal betrayals --- Nautilus from the past, Ryder from the present --- that have a common source in Buck Kincannon, eldest son of a rich and powerful local family whose influence extends beyond the local environs.

The trail of the murders lead not only to the murky background of Kincannon family secrets but also to previously unknown and untold incidents in the past that threaten to be revealed by Nautilus and Ryder's investigation. As the two men come inexorably closer to the truth, they find themselves in danger from separate sources with a common origin.

With regard to the latter point, the always masterful Kerley utilizes an interesting plot device at the book's conclusion. By putting his detectives in separate dilemmas in which each is unable to assist the other, he provides two surprise conclusions with multiple revelations. This is not smoke and mirrors, either. Kerley's literary style remains first-rate, with his descriptions --- whether of scenery or of heartbreak --- so sharp and clear as to be almost painful in their beauty.

While the focus of A GARDEN OF VIPERS is primarily on Ryder, the equal billing that Ryder and Nautilus receive remains applicable. Nautilus arguably is the more interesting of the two at this point, being a bit more enigmatic, and further exploration of his personal life in the next volume of this most worthy series certainly would not be cause for complaint. With respect to Ryder, A GARDEN OF VIPERS certainly provides more grist for Kerley to grind in a future book. If you haven't jumped on this series yet, this is the novel and now is the time.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

In "A Garden of Vipers," by Jack Kerley, Alabama detectives Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus are hunting the psychopath who tortured and murdered a young radio reporter named Taneesha Franklin. Ryder is a hard-boiled and wisecracking narrator who, along with his partner, is a member of a special unit known as the Psychopathological and Sociopathological Investigative Team. They are experts on the workings of disturbed minds.

During their investigation, Carson and Harry begin to suspect that the Franklin case is just one of several related crimes that have been committed over a period of years. After digging a little deeper, they find evidence of police misconduct and a cover-up involving the phenomenally wealthy Kincannons, a duplicitous and dysfunctional family with some ugly secrets. Adding to Carson's woes, his girlfriend, reporter Danielle Danbury, has become romantically involved with the handsome and influential Buck Kincannon, who promises to use his considerable clout to further her broadcasting career.

Jack Kerley has a fluid writing style, and his lively dialogue, dark humor, and vivid cast of characters add to the story's considerable appeal. The author effectively depicts the tedious and demanding lives of homicide detectives, who routinely work long hours with little to show for their efforts.

Frustrated by their slow progress in the Franklin case, Nautilus and Ryder decide to pull out all the stops. Not only do the detectives interview every witness who may have relevant information, but they also make good use of such varied resources as a talented sketch artist, a "digital cowboy" who can enhance videotapes and trace e-mails, a forensic expert, and a sleazy street informant.

This intelligently constructed novel is like an intricate jigsaw puzzle with many oddly shaped pieces. Subtle clues and misdirection keep the reader off-balance until the entire picture is revealed. In addition, there is a poignant subplot about Carson's emotional involvement with the sensitive Clair Peltier, a forensic pathologist who is eleven years his senior. "A Garden of Vipers" is a suspenseful and engrossing thriller about the pernicious and corrupting influence of money and power.

Detectives Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus pick up a call from dispatch and beat another pair of detectives to the scene of a reporter found murdered in her car. The reporter is a friend of Carson's girlfriend, Dani Danbury. The trail soon leads to other murders, a police cover-up and to the very wealthy, influential Kincannon family, including Buck who is counting Carson's girlfriend.

This book lacked the spark of the previous two novels by Kerley. I found the plot implausible and imminently forgettable. Even to write this review, one week after reading the book, I had to go back and leaf through it to remember the plot. The best part of the book was the relationship between the two detectives, although even that didn't have quite the impact of previous books, and the growing relationship between Carson and Claire Peltier, a forensic pathologist 11 years his senior. There is a suspenseful scene toward the end that does make the book exciting. It's still a good series, but this wasn't Kerley's best effort.

Jack Kerley has come a long way from The Hundredth Man in terms of his style and his ability to draw the reader in and tell an excellent story that is also well crafted. Ryder and Nautilus are dealing with a case that centers around a wealthy Mobile family, the Kincannons, who have a great deal of influence. Influence aside, Ryder has a separate problem with a member of the Kincannon family as he is sleeping with his girlfriend DeeDee. As the mystery deepens and the murders mount Ryder and Nautilus try to figure out a way to deal with a family whose influence makes them hard to touch.

As a reader, when I started the series I was a little doubtful because the first book had some technical issues that rankled me, but as he as progressed his pacing and plotting and gotten so much better. The Death Collectors was a serious step up from The Hundredth Man and with this novel to the improvement is just as noticeable so I am looking forward to seeing what happens to Ryder and Nautilus. Plus, since Ryder gets dumped on average of once a novel, the poor guy, you just have to keep reading them to hope that he'll get a relationship that will stick.

Mobile, Alabama Police Detectives Carson Ryder and harry Nautilus get the strange cases and they've thrown away the rule book, as far as investigating is concerned. They do it their way. However, they're going to need all their skills to solve the Franklin Case. Taneesha Franklin had been a young reporter who had been horribly murdered.

The pair of cops follow a trail that seems to make no sense, however they begin to connect the dots and they lead all seem to lead to the wealthy Kincannon family. But way before they can put paid to their investigation, there will be more bodies for them to deal with, and each one seems to have been dispatched with more brutality than the one before. And, son of a gun, if they don't all seem to be connected to that same Kincannon family, a family that just oozes wealth and power.

There are plenty of twist and turns and each turn seems to put our dynamic duo in even more danger. This is a thriller that will grip you in a fist tighter than any vise and it won't let you go, not even after you turn that last page. Jack Kerley has really arrived with this, his third, top notch, gut grabbing, gut wrenching, spine-tingling thriller.

As a resident of Mobile and a big fan of mystery novels, I looked forward to reading Jack Kerley's Garden of Vipers. While the book is not bad, there are much better mysteries.

There are some good things about Garden. Kerley has a gift for creating characters. In particular, the police officers he creates are interesting, complex human beings. (There were some less-believable characters, but I thought that most of the characters in the book "rang true"). Kerley also surprises his readers; he manages to throw the reader a few curveballs that he or she cannot see coming. Finally, I give Kerley credit for keeping the book interesting; you rarely bog down because Kerley does a good job of pushing his narrative forward.

Why don't I give Garden a higher rating? Garden fails where so many mystery novels fail - it simply isn't believable. Even by the forgiving standards by which we judge mysteries, Garden is completely unrealistic. The reader enjoys Garden, but knows that he or she is reading something that could never happen in a billion years. Another quibble would be that Kerley does not do as much with the Mobile setting as he might; there are some good scenes, but he does not make Mobile "come alive" in the same manner that Martin Hegwood did in Massacre Island.

In the end, Garden of Vipers is a decent book, but I recommend that readers look elsewhere for the best in mysteries.

Kerley has written another suspenseful police novel starring Mobile's ace detectives. This time they are up against a nest of rather evil bad guys. Ryder continues to battle problems in his love life and Nautilaus is as laid back as ever. This is a good series set in the deep, old south. The ending left a plot line open that should create an interesting twist to Kerley's next adventure with these interesting characters. I highly recommend this book and the others in the series.

I guess it is kind of difficult to conjure up a new main character/sidekick combination, but Jack Kerley has done a good job of it. I actually like carson Ryder and care what happens to him in the book. I read this one quickly and enjoyed every page, even if the incarcerated psycho-brother was a bit of stretch (you KNOW we'll see him on the loose someday!)

Book was in good condition, as described. Shipping was not as prompt as I had hoped, but timely. Overall a good transaction

The Carson Ryder Series is very different from other police/mystery novels and quite engrossing. I can't imagine why Kerley doesn't have an American publisher, especially since the books are set in Mobile. Highly recommended.