Customer Reviews

Live Bait

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While I would have liked to see the original gang of four from
Monkeewrench more prominantly involved, this book held my interest. Two deaths of elderly people, one gruesome and one seemingly normal, have Magozzi and Rolseth perplexed. When Grace
McBride uses the Monkeewrench computer program, a pattern begins to form...the Holocaust. The premise is quite unbelievable, but I have to admit to shedding a few tears by the end. I'm looking forward to something a bit better from mother/daughter on their next jaunt. More computer geekishness please. However, I do enjoy the Magozzi/McBride relationship.

After leaving Tracy's debut novel, Monkeewrench, sitting in my to-be-read pile for over a year (accumulating the next two books in the series in the meantime, before I've read any of them), I finally picked it up and read it last week. I loved it so much that I moved on to the next two books in the series as soon as I finished the first!

Live Bait opens with a mystery as intriguing as the serial killer in Monkeewrench. This time the bodies belong to elderly people in Minneapolis, living quiet lives and as far as anyone can tell, well-loved by those around them. The one thing they have in common is that they are Jewish concentration camp survivors. All have been shot. There's also the odd murder in the mix--an equally elderly man who was not a camp survivor, killed not by gunfire but by being tied to a railroad track with wire and essentially frightened into a heart attack by the train bearing down on him.

The detective team of Magozzi and Rolseth take the center stage in this book, and we also get to know the rest of their squad a little better as the story unfolds. The Monkeewrench gang of programmers reappears but aren't as prominent in this story as the first, but their appearances in the plot are always memorable. Magozzi and Rolseth are both achingly human as they struggle with their own changing emotions toward the victims and their suspects, including the victims' seemingly blameless family members. As the plot moves along rapidly more and more secrets are revealed. I again enjoyed the "double twist"--more of a triple twist--in the final revelations in the story--I could partially anticipate "who dunnit" but not completely.

I like the way that Tracy takes a storyline that seems wildly outlandish (and it is) and grounds it in characters who are so well developed that it all becomes terribly believable. And once again, I finished the book and dove headlong into the next one in order to spend more time with characters I'm becoming very attached to!

Highly recommended, and make sure you read this series in order--check out Monkeewrench before you read Live Bait!

I began this book without having read the first one, "Monkeewrench." There were times when explanations hinted at previous events, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the action in this one. The dialogue between the cops was so entertaining! Was it real? I haven't a clue because I've never met a real homicide cop. Does it matter? Not a bit; this is fiction, after all! Having lived through WWII, I found the subject matter still pertinent, still interesting, still emotionally touching. The authors wrote of believable people to me, each a blend of some good, some bad -- sadly real. And as in life, you're torn between hating people's actions and weeping for the people themselves. Other reviewers have given specific criticisms, both thoughtful and valid; and I don't disagree. This is not a darkly deep book. But I recommend it to anyone who enjoys sharp, entertaining dialogue; clever plotting; smart, interesting police procedures; and flawed people who are still appealing (some of whom I've met as neighbors!) and human. Kudos to the authors.....

I read the first PJTracy book, "Monkeewrench" & thought it was quite good, but IMHO, this book outranks it. I loved the premise, the snappy dialog, the developed relationships, the ongoing suspense & unpredictability; it was simply an extremely enjoyable read all the way around. I am anxiously awaiting the next installment from PJ Tracy! They are definitely on to something with this series!

Although this is a sequel to the two authors' novel Monkeewrench, Live Bait could easily be read as a stand alone novel. Monkeewrench is also a great book though, and the outcome and some key events of that novel are given away in Live Bait so I would highly recommend reading Monkeewrench first because once you've read this book you'll want to check out the authors' previous work and you'll enjoy Monkeewrench so much more without knowing the outcome.

In Livebait, Minneaolis homicide detectives Magozzi and Rolseth have their boredom relived by a serial killer who is murdering the elderly night after night. These sweet old people seem to have no enemies and are loved by the community, either have a cat, love baking for the grandkids, gardening or other typical retired generation activities. Most of these victims also have survived concentration camps in World War II Germany meaning the killer seems to have no heart at all. Minneapolis police want this murderer bad and enlist the help of grace MacBride and her Monkeewrench computer invention to find a motive and help catch the killer.

This novel is extremely well written and full of great plot developments. I liked Monkeewrench, but this novel is an even higher literacy league. I can easily seeing this becoming a box office smash movie down the track, of course a movie will never be as good as your imagination reading it in this book. This novel could have probably been written as a stand alone novel outright not including the Monkeewrench element and giving away the plot of that book for people who have not read would be my only criticism. But they'll probably sell more copies of this book being that it is a sequel which means more people will get to read this literacy masterpiece which is maybe for the greater good.

P. J. Tracy (the pseudonym for a mother-daughter writing duo) gained a lot of fans with their first novel, MONKEEWRENCH, a word-of-mouth favorite. Now MONKEEWRENCH's unforgettable characters, lively pacing and eccentric humor return in the sequel, LIVE BAIT.

A year after the Monkeewrench killing spree paralyzed the city, Minneapolis's finest are still reeling. It's been a slow few months in the homicide department, but on a rainy April night, two murders are called in. At first, the two crimes seem unrelated --- the only connection is that both victims are senior citizens. As Detective Magozzi and his team investigate, though, it soon becomes clear that the two murders are connected, but not in a way that anyone would have imagined.

The surprising connection between two seemingly unrelated murders is just one of LIVE BAIT's plot twists that will keep readers hooked. In addition to the compelling mystery story, Tracy's clever, sharp-tongued prose and wry observations add depth to the novel. One detective, for instance, describes the muggy spring day by saying, "I feel like Frosty the Snowman when he got locked in the greenhouse with all the poinsettias." The weather is, in fact, a major force in the novel, as a tornado bears down on the city just as the Minneapolis police bear down on their suspect.

Most of the favorite characters from MONKEEWRENCH are back for this second installment. Many of them are still bruised from their earlier adventures, none more so than Marty Pullman, the cop whose wife was murdered by the Monkeewrench killer. Unable to work, haunted by memories of his wife and his own dark secrets, Marty is a tragic character, consumed by loss and alcoholism. Beautiful but fragile Grace MacBride is also back, trying hard to live a normal life now that she's no longer in mortal danger.

Grace's motley band of software developers --- the central characters of MONKEEWRENCH --- are here, too, but in LIVE BAIT, they serve primarily as comic relief rather than as fully developed characters. Their connection to the plot is tenuous at best, although the author does seem to be setting up a larger role for this quirky crew in the next installment of this winning mystery series. Stay tuned!

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

I recently read the first novel in this series, Monkeewrench, and was thrilled to see this new book, by the great mother-daughter writing team. I adore the characters and couldn't wait to get involved with another story that involved them.
I am not going to explain the plot, Amazon always does that, but I will tell you I couldn't figure out who did what and why, until the authors wanted me too, and it made for a great ride. Really interesting premise....and I am again looking forward to the next book in this series. I think the author was setting up a situation that will bring some of the characters from the first book that were not around much in this one, back, and I can't wait. Read this book, but read Monkeewrench first if you havn't read it. It is out in paper and well worth the read, plus it will really help to know the background.

After finding "Monkeewrench" to be a very inventive novel, I eagerly anticipated reading "Live Bait" and I was not disappointed. After the Monkeewrench case, Detectives Rolseth and Magozzi find things very slow in Minneapolis area. When an elderly nursery owner is found murdered, the detectives are assigned to the case. Loved by everyone, the murder is a puzzle. When other murders follow, the detectives begin to look for connections. Using the Monkeewrench crew to find not-so-obvious leads, the case quickly proves to be much more complicated than at first it seemed. Excellent ending with some twists!

The author(s) of Monkeewrench ride again with another Minneapolis mystery. In this episode, Detective Magozzi is puzzled when it turns out that senior citizens are being horribly killed for no apparent reason. It is only when Grace McBride and her hacking skills are called into play that it becomes apparent that the murders they know about are only the tip of the iceberg...

P.J. Tracy is known to most by now as actually being a mother-daughter writing team. The two of them are clearly doing something right because Live Bait is a taut fast read. I actually liked that it focused on Magozzi and the police rather than the all-too-colorful Monkeewrenchers. They do a good job of capturing the setting and the people with a minimum of waste and fuss.

I would have given it more than three stars if it were not for the entirely contrived ending-- it was not necessary and it did not heighten the dramatic tension. I was actually pretty entertained by the book, and it is too bad that it ended with a dull clunk instead of a high note.

If you are trying to figure out whether you will enjoy Live Bait, compare P.J. Tracy to Karen Slaughter or Val McDermid in terms of style and tone. Tracy likes her violence, so this is definitely not a cozy detective novel. I would recommend beginning with Monkeewrench, if you have not read it already, as I think that it is the better book. If you already read and enjoyed Monkeewrench, you should be aware that Grace is a very marginal character in this book and that it is much closer to a typical police procedural.

It has been more than a year since the Monkeewrench murders, and the story opens with Detective Leo Magozzi & Gino Rolthseth having a quiet patch in the homicide section. The peace is soon shattered when three elderly pensioners die suspiciously within hours of each other - two, Morey Gilbert and Rose Kleber, are executed by gun and the other, Arlen Fischer, is tortured then frightened to death by being tied to a train track. There are no apparent connections between any of the elderly people, other than they all live in Minneapolis, no evidence they know each other. One is greatly loved and considered almost a saint by the local neighbourhood, another is such a sweet old lady that she still had the home baked cookies on the kitchen table to take to her grandchildren the next day. The last is virtually a hermit - with no relations and only an elderly housekeeper. Magozzi and Gino don't know where to begin, but with the help of Grace McBride, one of the Monkeewrench software company owners, links are established. As more murders occur, and secrets are gradually discovered, the two detectives need to bait a trap to lure the killer in.

This is a brilliant book; I was worried because often after a great first book, often an author can lose their way in a second. This has not happened. The story picked up pace from page one, and I was not let down until the end - it was unputdownable. All the old favourites are here, and their characters have grown since the events in the first book. Grace has made the most progress, and although she is not seen much in the story her part is crucial. Magozzi and Gino are perfect partners - and the sassy chat between each other breaks the tension and portrays the closeness between the two men.
New characters introduced are Lily, the dry-eyed widow of Gilbert, and the drunken bum of an estranged son of Gilbert. I was disappointed that the Monkeewrench crew are not as prominent, but I did get the impression that maybe they will play a bigger part in the next book. This book can be read as a stand alone - the previous story is referred to, but you don't need to know essential information to follow the plot in this story. This version also has a bit of biography at the end about the two authors who make up P.J. Tracy, and a mother and daughter interview at the end - was very good - the two women have a wicked sense of humour.

If you liked Monkeewrench/Want to Play then read this.