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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Benjamin Justice is back, better than ever!, December 25, 2008
This review is from: Spider Season: A Benjamin Justice Novel (Benjamin Justice Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Benjamin Justice is back, looking toward his 50th birthday with a mixture of regret - for actions taken in his life, including loss of a Pulitzer Prize for writing (and along with it his credibility and reputation) when it was discovered he made up sources for his work - and a renewed vigor from his HIV meds, exercise and regular testosterone shots, which have helped his health and energy. With the recent release of his memoirs, Justice hopes to finally give closure to the demons of his past, and perhaps become regarded as a serious writer again. But a reviewer with a reputation for "hatchet jobs" threatens him with new revelations, at a time when he is already being distracted by a seemingly deranged individual who claims to have known him from school, and is setting a web of intimidation and danger to make up for Benjamin's alleged slighting of his crush on him back then. Last but far from least, Benjamin scuffles with a mysterious younger man whom he catches sitting in his car, making him realize he may have overreacted with his reaction, but later finding a connection with the former Iraq vet that he never imagined possible. There is the discovery of a longtime cover-up of a murder, concern for the elderly gay couple who have been Benjamin's best friends and landlords, the return of an interesting man from his past and the strongest temptations yet to a reformed alcoholic.
This is the eighth in Wilson's "Benjamin Justice" series, and I have been a diehard fan from the first book thirteen years ago (which, along with the three books after it - long out of print - have been rereleased this year, and are much recommended to mystery fans.) I have been unable to get any feedback on my feelings that this "memoir" device is meant to be a means to tie up loose ends and conclude the series. But I've had that feeling after reading seemingly insurmountable changes in Benjamin's life in two previous installments in the series, only to see him come back just as strong the next time. Hopefully, that is the case here, as I would hate to say goodbye to this great series. A chorus of "itzy bitzy spider," and five bold stars out of five!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"They say there's sometimes more truth in fiction than in fact", December 10, 2008
This review is from: Spider Season: A Benjamin Justice Novel (Benjamin Justice Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Spider Season, John Morgan Wilson's latest Benjamin Justice thriller, proves that you can never fully escape your past. History that you carry in your blood even when it's in danger of reaching into darker recesses of the human heart. In this tense and engaging novel, the broken down and washed-out Benjamin Justice once again finds his past infusing with his presence, and shaping everything he does. As the poisonous spiders weave their delicate tendrils of evil around Benjamin's life, for the first time he finds himself tackling the strange voices that emanate from his past. Amid the stifling August heat of Los Angeles, Benjamin is celebrating the publication of his first book, a memoir that finally lays out in shameful detail his spectacular fall from grace, the murder of his father and the stripping away of his Pulitzer prize all those years ago. Finally Ben has reached a stage in his life where he has a chance to do some public atonement, make a little money and possibly get back into the writing game, and also finally put to rest some of the issues surrounding his beloved Jacques who died of AIDS eighteen years ago.
But then something is amiss outside the West Hollywood home that he shares with his best-friends, the octogenarians Fred and Maurice. Here is a menacing intruder, a young tattooed man who trashes Ben's prized mustang. The end result is fierce fight and a bloodied young boy is laying face down on the pavement, his battered face the results of Benjamin's seething testosterone-fuelled anger. The publication has certainly stirred up a whole pack of snarling dogs. When hate mail suddenly appears, Ben realizes that his past is littered with all kinds of bad choices and trouble and with all of the people he had abandoned and the challenges he had run away from. Benjamin isn't prepared for the fawning attentions of Jason Holt, now propped up with plastic surgery and his fascination with spiders. Jason's evil seems to encapsulate Ben, and like the spiders that he so loves he's capable of building webs, trapping and killing his prey with venom: "You can finally admit Ben that you were enchanted with me." Determined to unpick this knotted network of dark intentions, Ben is somewhat diverted by another investigation, the long term surveillance of Cathryn Conroy - a tough-minded female reporter.
Then there's the machinations of prestigious artist Charles Wu and his strange and troubling portrait of Jason Holt, a painting that he considers undoubtedly inferior. As Ben traverses the suburbs of a smoggy and suffocating Los Angeles, he becomes desperate to tie together these all of these disparate elements in a mystery that involves murder and cover-ups, poisonings, and a surprising betrayal from someone whom Ben had long considered his best friend. Even his new lover Ismael Aragon, a compassionate Catholic priest, can do little emolliate Ben's feeling that he's made such a mess of things, with time blowing through his life "like a storm wind" breaking and scattering nearly everything and everyone he cared about.
Essentially about Ben's "old debts finally coming due," this installment is also about how Ben must put many of his past mistakes to rest. In a dark and crazy way, Ben's lust and his anger has mixed in with his confusion about who he really is and what his real intentions are. Time and guilt have a way of warping Ben's memory and of blurring his reality. Now nearing fifty, Ben may have lived a troubled life, but he's lost none of his irascibility and remarkable capacities for tenderness. A unique, compelling, and beautifully plotted mystery that is full of noir elements, John Morgan Wilson once again proves that he is on top of his game here, with his beloved protagonist as gutsy and as desire-driven as in any of his previous adventures, yet also riddled with a type of melancholy mixed in with doses of heartache and sorrow. Ironically, it is left up to the kindly Maurice, who in the midst of heartbreak, finally tells Ben what he's always wanted to hear, that he's always looked for the dark side in life even as he tries emotionally to blunt the pain of his failed relationships. Mike Leonard December 08.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A welcome return, January 22, 2009
This review is from: Spider Season: A Benjamin Justice Novel (Benjamin Justice Mysteries) (Hardcover)
It's great to have another Benjamin Justice book on our shelves. This much anticipated eighth outing of disgraced reporter, Benjamin Justice, does not fail to satisfy those of us who are fans.
This has been a strong story from the first book and I'm sure we all hope the somewhat ambiguous ending will lead to another Justice story.
Some have criticised this latest book for being slow or predictable but come on, what do you want? There's nothing I enjoy more than reading a story that takes its time to develop. Spider Season is a very exciting book at times and I, for one, appreciated the occassional slowing down to get my pulse rate down! And reminding us of what went before is always welcome.
John Morgan Wilson has, over eight books, developed an engaging and real character who's a bit sexy too. I thank him for many hours of enjoyable reading and can't wait for the next one.
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