Customer Reviews

Hades

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

 

 

Justin Westwood is the police chief of East End Harbor, a small town in the Hamptons of Long Island that has little crime and fewer criminals.

That changes one evening with the brutal murder of Evan Harmon, a incredibly wealthy resident whose millions fail to insulate him from an unseen enemy that abuses Harmon's body so viciously his wife can only identify him by his wedding ring.

Larry Silverbush, the self-serving DA, focuses on Abby Harmon, the semi-estranged wife of the deceased, as his prime suspect. When her alibi turns out to be Westwood who she an affair, Silverbush drags Westwood into his net where Westwood will be forced to face the beasts of his past that have haunted his subconscious since the death of his wife.

To make matters worse, Westwood's brother-in-law vanishes and is soon found murdered. This event draws him back to his roots in Providence, Rhode Island and into a world he has been trying to leave behind ever since his days on the police force there.

Westwood tries to connect with his parents and his wife's grieving sister, with the promise to use his skills to discover whom the murderer is and see justice served. However, before he can get on the case, another past demon surfaces in the form of FBI agent Wanda Chinkle, who warns him off pursuing the case in Rhode Island. True to his rogue personality, Westwood carries on and shortly is called by his old friend and ex-boss, Providence's Chief of Police, to a vacant lot in Providence where Chinkle lies brutally murdered. At the scene Westwood is given his first real clue, written in blood by Chinkle before she died: "Hades."

As yet undeterred, Westwood uncovers an intricate international financial scheme that is lining the pockets of a New York financial manager's pockets, has ties to organized crime in Rhode Island, and has unleashed a sadistic pair of Chinese assassins.

Saying that Hades has more fine layers than French pastry would be putting it lightly. The writing is superb; the characters are flawlessly constructed; and the final solution to the puzzle facing Westwood is one you won't guess until you read it.

Armchair Interviews says: This one is a true thriller reader's thriller.

Russell Andrews' thrillers have developed into reliable reads for those looking for smart and, at times, sassy entertainment. This is no small achievement in a market where it's become fashionable to see how far-out one can make a conspiracy. Though not quite as good as "Midas" (and with a "surprise twist" that can be seen several hundred pages before it's revealed), this third Justin Westwood thriller is a worthy addition to the canon and does the most important thing a series book can; make one look forward to the next one.

Pros:
Easy to read, well written. Andrews appears to be a intelligent writer, you can tell he's an intelligent author by the way he describes peoples, actions or events in the book. What I'm saying is that most authors populate their books with pretty simple characters, you have your basic good and bad guys, your comedians, your tough guy with a good heart etc. Andrews' book has more complex characters, and you have to be aware of such characters before you can write about them.

Cons: Plot talks too much about older books in the series. Since I never read the other books, this was very annoying to me. Each book should stand on it's own! And if the book refers to other events, it should describe them so the reader doesn't have to read the other books!

And a few parts didn't make a lot of sense, for example

(Spoiler here -------------------------------------- How Justin defeats Togo by forcing his face into the burner just isn't realistic. Anyone who is as good in martial arts as Togo would know 100 ways to get out of a hold like that. Platinum deal didn't make a lot of sense to me. - Spoiler ends)

One plot device I really hate is the assistant Superman, in this case Bruno. Assistant Superman is the supporting character/friend who is basically a level gazillion fighter and the easy way to write out of any problem. You got a tough enemy? No problem, send your unkillable assistant Superman in and he takes care of the enemy and the writing.

All in all, I'll give Russell Andrews another chance. Good writing, easy to read, but could have a better plot.

In my estimation, he has not written a great book since Gideon and Icarus. I keep hoping that he will find the groove. I read a lot of books and realized once I read all these reviews that this was the third Westwood book and now I know why it felt like same old same old. Very forgettable.

I've read all of Russell Andrew's books. I love the lead character, Justin Westwood, who's appeared in the last 3 books. When I read Midas I wondered what could happen next for Jay, and Hades seems to answer some of those questions. Now I wonder if Regina will return in the next book, if there is one.

East End Harbor, Long Island Police Chief Justin Westwood is sharing a bed with married Abigail Harmon when he receives the call that his tryst mate's wealthy stock market investor was brutally murdered. Justin is stunned as he is the widow's alibi and when he thinks about how they first got together she was the pursuer.

Local District Attorney Larry Silverbush sees a great opportunity to use this case as a major stepping stone to Albany as he covets becoming the state governor. He does not believe that the suspended police chief killed the victim, but does not care as he uses the affair to further his ambition even while tearing apart Justin's reputation. Complicating matters for the besieged cop is back in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island another murder involving his family has occurred. Needing to be in two places at the same time to clear his name, Justin begins his own unofficial inquiry only to find powerful international enemies wanting secrets to remain hidden.

The third Westwood police procedural (see MIDAS and APHRODITE) is a terrific investigative thriller that ultimately goes over the top though is fun while doing so. The story line is at its best when the focus is on Long Island and Albany as a besieged Justin struggles with being the center of a homicide investigation made worse by ruthless political hacks uncaringly taking advantage of a tragedy. When the tale morphs to New England and beyond the story line remains fascinating but does slow down a bit by the complex magnitude of what the hero confronts beyond his personnel troubles. Still Westwood is in top form as he tries to solve two murders with hopes of getting back his job.

Harriet Klausner

Russell Andrews has written a couple of police procedurals before this and, unfortunately, refers to them a bit too often for comfort. Too bad, for the references tarnish this otherwise stellar thriller.

Justin Westwood is police chief in a sleepy Hamptons town. His current bedmate is a married woman. Too bad Justin gets a call one evening from one of his cops and has to turn to his lover and tell her that her husband has just been found murdered.

The wife is immediately labelled a suspect by an aggressive district attorney as is a local contractor, who was also having an affair with the woman. Justin is suspended from his job and a finger of suspicion points at him as well.

With that we are off and running on one heck of a thriller. Mysterious Chinese assasins are murdering people, though we don't know why. Titans of high finance are involved as is the Chinese People's Republic. The FBI shows up as does the Mafia.

Justin Westwood carries a lot of baggage. His wife and child were murdered. His relationship with his wealthy parents is strained. His one-time sister-in-law doesn't like him either. Neither do the two female FBI agents Justin has to deal with. He is not a popular guy.

But Justin is a determined man. He is going to get to the bottom of the first murder and the second and the third and . . . well, all of them.

Author Andrews takes us on a fun ride filled with plenty of plot puzzles. And the plotting is tight. No big holes and lots of suspense as the action and tension build. Justin Westwood is a belivable character though he doesn't attain the level of Jack Reacher or the pre-wimp John Rain. He's a bright guy, a diligent detective and frequently doesn't have much use for the rules.

Some of the devices are unintentionally hilarious, such as the use of the handy teenage computer "genius", but such episodes are few and don't rob anything from the story.

Russell Andrews is just plain good. He delivers one unexpected surprise after another. "Hades" truly merits the description "page-turner". It is.

Jerry

As always, Russell Andrews has written a gem. This was a really good one to read and I love the way he keeps you guessing right up to the end.

I read the author's previous Justin Westwood (the East End Sheriff) novel (Midas), and was not terribly interested in reading another one as that book was disappointing. Having read the rave reviews on this book I decided to see if I could stomach more of the unorthodox Mr. Westwood. This book is a little bit better than its predecessor but not much. Westwood again drinks up a storm, gets branded a criminal by the legal authorities, chases after anything in a skirt (or if she is wearing pants), uses his mob connection (Bruno) to do illegal activity, makes lists of all the info he knows and tries to draw patterns, and finally needs to call in his father and his father's friend Roger to sort through the complicated business world that seems to be the root of the bad people in the story.

In this one there are a pair of Asian assassins lurking that seem to have no problem disposing of any of their victims but get real sloppy when it comes to Westwood. The book also dredges up FBI agent Wanda Chinkel (who now is working on her own "renegade" operation) and his former turncoat partner Jessie. If you read into all of the Westwood novels you would think that every big money white collar criminal operation will end up in the quiet Suffolk town of East End, like nothing could ever be focused in Manhattan.

It will take an awful lot of positive reviewer responses to get me to read another Justin Westwood novel. I give this one 3 and a half stars.

Just when you let your breath out, another suspenseful episode unfolds. Not one boring page in this thriller.