Chat (Hardcover)

by Archer Mayor (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Relationships always drive Mayor's plots, but never more so than in this intricate, suspense-filled 18th Joe Gunther novel (after 2006's The Second Mouse). When Gunther's mother and brother are almost killed in a suspicious car accident, he helps Deputy Sheriff Rob Barrows narrow in on a local, lawless family with a grievance against the Gunthers. Meanwhile, the investigation of two similar but seemingly unrelated deaths leads Gunther's colleagues at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation to online chat rooms where older men pick up teen girls. Gunther's former lover, Gail Zigman, makes an appearance, but Lyn Silva, last seen in 2004's The Surrogate Thief, takes center stage as his new love interest. This book takes Gunther all over Vermont, offering occasional breaks from the tension with evocative descriptions of mountains and snow. Though Mayor is considered a regional writer, his books intelligently deal with subjects of national concern, and Gunther's crime-solving skills and personal charisma have broad appeal. (Oct.)
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Review
"The writing is strong, with sharp social observations throughout. Gunther grows on you from novel to novel." (Washington Post Book World )

"The strength of this durable series has always been its insularity: local settings; sharp small-town characterizations; home-grown police procedures." (Kirkus Reviews )

HIGH PRAISE FOR MAYOR AND THE JOE GUNTHER SERIES

"Archer Mayor's unassuming voice and down-to-earth style stamp his regional crime novels with a sense of integrity." (The New York Times Book Review )

"Mayor's skills are equal to the vigor of his imagination, and we take his word for every twist, every turn, every thunderbolt." (The New Yorker )

"Mayor's Joe Gunther novels are among the best cop stories being written today." (Booklist ) --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446582581
• ISBN-13: 978-0446582582
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #591,301 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yeah, Joe Gunther is back-solving crimes , October 24, 2007

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

It is a picture perfect night when Leo Gunther and his mother leave the movies and head home after a brief ride around the green. Leo, a butcher, lives at home with his mother. However, home is not on the agenda for those two on this night. Leo suddenly loses control and the car goes down an embankment.

At the time of Leo's accident, his brother Joe is a police officer, working for the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, investigating a possible murder. When Joe learns of his brother's accident, he rushes to the hospital to find both his brother and his mother in critical condition. Joe cannot understand what caused the accident and when he begins checking into the facts, he finds that it might be more than just an accident.

The local police agree to help Joe in discovering what really happened to the car and who might have caused the wreck.

This book is several stories in one that are all tied together. Joe has gone his own way while Leo has stayed at home with their mother who is in a wheelchair. Now Joe has to step in and take a stronger role in the family. Joe's ex-girlfriend appears on the scene to be with the family in this emergency but she has moved on and her life is going in a different direction and away from Joe. A new woman suddenly makes an appearance in Joe's life and he has to decide if he is ready for another commitment.

The body that Joe was checking out when his brother's wreck happened is still an open case, yet another body has now been found, and clues indicate the two murders might be connected.

The investigation into Leo's accident uncovers a scheme that might be in part drugs and in another part Internet porn. How can all of these things be connected? It just does not seem possible, but the author manages to draw all the lines together and keep the reader guessing from start to finish.

Chat is a great book that I enjoyed very much.

Armchair Interviews says: The characters were realistic and the story believable.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Newest Joe Gunther Novels Strikes Close To Home, November 22, 2007

By	Mel Odom (Moore, OK USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

During the last year, I've become a fan of Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther novels. Set in Vermont, the novels are an intelligent and emotional blend of mystery and slow-boil thriller. When you open one of the Gunther books, you get pulled into a world that is sharply realized and filled with real characters with real histories.

Archer Mayor writes about material he's familiar with. He's a death inspector for the state of Vermont's Chief Medical Examiner, is a deputy sheriff, and has been a fireman and EMT for 25 years. His crime scenes are worked right, and his technology is up-to-date and not somewhere in the ranks of science fiction.

Agent Joe Gunther works for the recently formed Vermont Bureau of Investigation. He's got a military background and a history with the state police. I like Joe a lot because he's the kind of guy I grew up around and still know. They're easy-going but hard-driven, the kind of guys who can talk with you all day and never take their eyes off the prize.

The latest novel, CHAT, brings the reader in close to Joe's family. Although his age is now permanently frozen in his mid-fifties by the author, Joe's been in law enforcement long enough to become something of a legend. He's been married once to a woman who died young of cancer. His family consists of a brother and invalid mother who still share their lives. I loved the way that Mayor introduces his characters and reveals how they relate to each other. Leo and his mother's relationship, and their relationships to Joe, are sparsely portrayed, but entirely believable.

I knew something was going to happen when I started turning pages in the book. Things always do. And when they start, you'd best sit up and start paying attention. Mayor works quickly, and he isn't afraid to juggle several different plot elements and expect you to keep up. When Joe and his mom nearly get killed in the opening chapter, I was keenly aware that I was reading a book that was going to further define Joe Gunther.

CHAT focuses on the threat to Joe's family. An old enemy reaches out of the past to even a score Joe doesn't even know about. It doesn't take Joe long to figure out that Leo's car was sabotaged, ending in a traffic accident that nearly killed him and their mother.

While Joe is digging into that, a naked dead man is found. Then another. In short order, his team is tracking what is evidently a multiple killer, but they have no idea what the motive behind the killings might be.

In the meantime, Joe is still dealing with the fallout from his breakup with longtime lover Gail. But a new woman has moved into town and isn't shy about letting Joe know she's interested in him.

I enjoy reading these books a lot. I always look forward to a lazy weekend I can spend dogging Joe's tracks as he hunts down the bad guys. The prose is light and easy to read, but due to the multi-layered plots, I often find myself reading so quickly to find out what happens next that I miss things and have to go back.

Archer Mayor is a great read, and a fantastic addition to the ranks of mystery sleuths on the shelves. If you haven't read a Joe Gunther novel, feel free to dive into the series anywhere. Even when you find out things about the characters that were revealed in earlier books, it's not really a big deal. You'll still enjoy Mayor's conversational writing and the well-plotted mysteries.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great Vermont police procedural, October 31, 2007

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Les Gunther and his mother are driving home after seeing a movie when all of a sudden the car isn't operating the way it should; they crash leaving both of them badly injured. The next of kin Joe Gunther, a commander in the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, is notified and he passes a John Doe corpse case he is working on to his team while he returns home.

Before his brother lapses into a coma he says something was wrong with the car. When they discover what is wrong with the car, Joe is immediately suspicious because the vehicle was too new to have thrown a rod. When they find the cotton pin that held the rod in place they have probable cause to confiscate the computer at the Griffis Garage where the vehicle was serviced. The father E.T. and son Dan blame Joe for putting away the youngest brother Andy who was probably innocent and took the fall for Dan. If Dan was convicted of another crime he would have been put away for life under the state's three strike rule. While in jail Andy was raped and when he gets out he committed suicide. Ironically there is nothing on the computer to implicate Dan with his crashing the vehicle but there are a series of chat logs connected to the case Joe was working on before his family emergency.

This regional mystery gives a vivid picture of the Vermont countryside and the colorful inhabitants who populate it. Joe's love for his family is so real that readers expect to do what he can and more for them. The mystery is well plotted and has so many suspects besides the obvious avenging father and son team that readers will never guess who the killer is. Archie Mayor has written another great Vermont police procedural.

Harriet Klausner