Mystery Book Review: G. I. Bones by Martin Limón

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of G. I. Bones by Martin Limón. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

G. I. Bones by Martin Limón
A George Sueno and Ernie Bascom Mystery

Soho Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-603-9 (1569476039)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-603-1 (9781569476031)
Publication Date: November 2009
List Price: $24.00

Review: Military police sergeants George Sueno and Ernie Bascom investigate a number of unrelated criminal incidents in the Seoul city district of Itaewon in G. I. Bones, the sixth mystery in this series set in 1970s Korea.

A fortune teller insists Sueno and Bascom arrest one of their soldiers, who has been harassing her by waking her every night, forcing her to light sticks of incense, and speak to her. He even interrupts her when she is working with clients, confusing her readings. The problem for the sergeants is that the soldier, Flo Moretti, has been dead for over 20 years, killed during the peace talks between North and South Korea in July 1953. She insists they find him -- his bones -- so he can be properly buried and find peace. Sueno and Bascom find themselves searching in the red-light district of Seoul, into the hangouts of gangs and mobsters, the brothels where young Korean girls are forced to work for the pleasure of both Koreans and American soldiers. Itaewon, with its neon-lit night clubs and the best musicians, is in striking opposition to the crime that simmers just below the surface. The Seven Dragons criminal organization provides order for the area, but does so at the expense of lawfulness. Now the 17-year-old daughter of one of 8th Army Division's officers has been reported missing (together with $1000 from a locked safe) but who the sergeants discover has taken refuge in the area and wants to be left alone. Before Moretti's bones are located or the young American returned to her family, four people are murdered ... including the fortune teller who brought them there in the first place.

G. I. Bones is a fascinating study of contrasts. Alternating between the present and the past, Sueno and Bascom are convinced that their murder investigation depends on events that took place during the Korean War. Who was Flo Moretti and why was he killed? To balance the horrors of war -- any war -- wry humor is often introduced, as it is here, so that the scenes are more easily read. The underlying themes are war and peace, law and order, crime and punishment. But that's not the only contrast: Sueno and Bascom are buddies whose strengths play well off each other, with Sueno being a bit too hot-tempered at times and Bascom being more reserved. And finally there are the two mysteries the sergeants are investigating: How are they related, if they are related, and does the resolution of one help solve the other?

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of G. I. Bones and to Soho Press for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

If you are interested in purchasing G. I. Bones from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. G. I. Bones (Kindle edition) is also available. Learn more about the Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device.

Synopsis (from the publisher): A Korean fortune-teller is being bothered by a dead American soldier who wants his bones found and buried. An underage officer's daughter is missing together with a Latino soldier. Several of the leading Korean gangsters who own the bars in the ville have been killed. Sueno and Bascom of Military Intelligence must go back to the founding of Itaewon, Seoul's red-light district, in order to learn who killed the soldier, who's taking revenge on the gang lords, and where to find the missing girl.

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Games of Mystery: The Search for Amelia Earhart, New at Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed board, electronic and video games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today. You can find out more about these games by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

You take on the role of psychic Christine Barker, a fictional contemporary of Amelia Earhart, who draws inspiration from the exploits of the aviator. She has established herself with the Chicago police department as an expert at finding things. Using this ability you must follow Amelia Earhart’s life through space and time and tackle the mystery of her disappearance. Only you can discover the truth of what really happened on that long flight so many years ago.

The game features multiple levels, including a tutorial level, in which you are tasked with finding objects hidden both in plain site as well as others that are layered in the gameplay environment. The game also contains a robust hint system, in-game activities sometimes necessary to find objects, as well as mini-games, including puzzles, jigsaws and a coordinate plotting game which reveals geographical positions as objects are found, used or combined using the inventory system. you can choose from either a timed or untimed gameplay mode and are awarded a series of trophies depending on your level of success throughout the game.

The Search for Amelia Earhart may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (112.52 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card!

Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy (Review), Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! (Review), The Hardy Boys: The Perfect Crime (Review), Enlightenus (Review), and Nick Chase: A Detective Story (Review).

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

And don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all kinds of mysterious fun!

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Paramount Moving Forward with Film Adaptation of Robert Ludlum's The Chancellor Manuscript

Variety is reporting that Paramount has tapped Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace) to direct the Peter O'Brien (Unlocked) adaptation of Robert Ludlum's 1977 political thriller The Chancellor Manuscript.

The project, which has been in limbo since the studio acquired the rights in 2005, is reportedly being developed for Leonardo DiCaprio.

Ludlum's novels (with dates of original publication) have been the basis for a large number of both theatrical and made-for-television films, including all three Bourne movies, The Osterman Weekend (1972), The Holcroft Covenant (1978), and The Apocalypse Watch (1995). Titles that are in various stages of development include The Sigma Protocol (2001), The Matarese Circle (1979), and The Parsifal Mosaic (1982).

About The Chancellor Manuscript: Did J. Edgar Hoover die a natural death? Or was he murdered? Inver Brass -- a group of high-minded and high-placed intellectuals -- see a monstrous threat to the country in Hoover's unethical use of his scandal-ridden private files. They decide to do away with him -- quietly, efficiently, with no hint of impropriety. Until best-selling thriller writer Peter Chancellor stumbles onto information that makes his precious books like harmless fairy tales. Now Chancellor and Inver Brass are on a deadly collision course, spiraling across the globe in an ever-widening arc of violence and terror. Hurtling toward a showdown that will rip Washington's intelligence community apart -- leaving only one damning document to survive ...

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Games of Mystery: The Mysterious City Vegas, New at Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed board, electronic and video games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today. You can find out more about these games by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

Pack your bags and head for the dazzling lights of the Las Vegas Strip in The Mysterious City: Vegas. Your VIP suite awaits, but with unsolved crimes around every corner, you're here with a mission: Use your detective skills to uncover hidden objects and apprehend a casino thief! Clues abound as you stake out casino tables and opulent Vegas locations. Just be careful who you trust -- the thief could be closer than you think!

See also the first two games in this series, The Mysterious City: Golden Prague and The Mysterious City: Cairo.

The Mysterious City: Vegas may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (52.21 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card!

Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy (Review), Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! (Review), The Hardy Boys: The Perfect Crime (Review), Enlightenus (Review), and Nick Chase: A Detective Story (Review).

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

And don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all kinds of mysterious fun!

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Mystery Bestsellers for January 15, 2010

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending January 15, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Though there's still no change in the top 4 mystery bestsellers from last week, there is activity a bit lower on the list with two new titles debuting this week.

Published early in January but only this week entering the top ten is Thereby Hangs a Tail, the second mystery in the Chet and Bernie series by Spencer Quinn.

"We run a detective agency, me and Bernie, called the Little Detective Agency on account of Little being Bernie's last name. My name's Chet, pure and simple. Headquarters is our house on Mesquite Road, a nice place with a big tree out front, perfect for napping under, and the whole canyon easily accessible out back, if it just so happens someone left the gate open. And then, up in the canyon -- well, say no more."

Bernie and Chet are called on to investigate threats made against an unlikely target -- a pretty, pampered show dog named Princess. What seems like a joke turns into a serious case when Princess and her owner are abducted. To make matters worse, Bernie's on-again, off-again girlfriend, reporter Susie Sanchez, disappears too. When Chet is separated from Bernie, he's on his own to put the pieces together, find his way home, and save the day.

Coming in 11th position is the second Joe Pike thriller, The First Rule by Robert Crais.

The organized criminal gangs of the former Soviet Union are bound by what they call the thieves' code. The first rule is this: A thief must forsake his mother, father, brothers, and sisters. He must have no family -- no wife, no children. We are his family. If any of the rules are broken, it is punishable by death.

Frank Meyer had the American dream-until the day a professional crew invaded his home and murdered everyone inside. The only thing out of the ordinary about Meyer was that- before the family and the business and the normal life-a younger Frank Meyer had worked as a professional mercenary, with a man named Joe Pike. The police think Meyer was hiding something very bad, but Pike does not. With the help of Cole, he sets out on a hunt of his own-an investigation that quickly entangles them both in a web of ancient grudges, blood ties, blackmail, vengeance, double crosses, and cutthroat criminal­ity, and at the heart of it, an act so terrible even Pike and Cole have no way to measure it. Sometimes, the past is never dead. It's not even past.

The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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The Lovely Bones, adapted from the novel by Alice Sebold, Opens January 15th

Tomorrow, Friday January 15th, the film adaptation of Alice Sebold's debut novel The Lovely Bones opens in theaters.

The film stars Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as the parents of a murdered child (played by Saoirse Ronan), who watches over her family and her killer from heaven as she weighs her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal. Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings) directed.

The official website has more information about the film including character biographies; the book synopsis and film trailer are provided below.

About The Lovely Bones: "My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, The Lovely Bones succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.

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Mystery Book Review: Staccato by Deborah J. Ledford

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Staccato by Deborah J. Ledford. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Staccato by Deborah J. Ledford
A Steven Hawk Mystery

Second Wind Publishing (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-935171-17-8 (1935171178)
ISBN-13: 978-1-935171-17-1 (9781935171171)
Publication Date: September 2009
List Price: $15.95

Review: Deborah J. Ledford's debut thriller introduces North Carolina county deputy sheriff Steven Hawk investigating the circumstances surrounding a missing woman and a severely injured John Doe who may be involved in Staccato.

The "John Doe" is quickly identified as Nicholas Kalman, a 20-year-old world-class pianist who studies under the reclusive Alexander Kalman, the young man's uncle. The missing woman is Alexander Kalman's niece. Nicholas sustained life-threatening injuries one night when his car left the road at high speed and landed in a river. Though he survived, he has amnesia and claims no knowledge of his recent past. But his accident occurred on the same day his cousin, Elaine Kalman, disappeared. Deputy Hawk believes there is a connection between the two cases, but there's no evidence to link them. When a deadly fire claims the lives of a young man and woman, initially identified as Nicholas and Elaine, Hawk knows someone else is involved ... someone who will kill to keep the truth from coming out.

Staccato is not only this book's title, but also describes how the plot evolves and the way in which the book is written. It's fast, to be sure, but also choppy, with frequent shifts in style and tone, even changes in plot, sometimes as often as between successive paragraphs. Virtually every character shares a point-of-view at some point, contributing to uneven narrative.

There are also many passages that make seemingly inconsistent, if not contradictory, statements. Consider the following:

When Alexander stormed into the music room after returning from the hospital, Timothy knew at once the visit did not go well.

Timothy took pleasure in Alexander's fury. One more step into the fire, Nicholas. Bad for you. Very good for me.

Now Timothy cowered as Alexander stripped books out of their shelves, and crashed yet another crystal vase.

It's entirely possible that in this particular case the author had intended to reveal some sort of confusion for the Timothy character here, but it doesn't come across that way -- pleasure and cowering seem to be incompatible states -- and stylistically it's a mess.

Music is an important element to the story and particular classical pieces are frequently mentioned, but the author rarely provides context for them. Are they intended to impart fear, calm, excitement, affection, domination, submission at the time of their inclusion in the story? Probably all of the above at one point or another, but unless the reader is an expert in the field, the specific titles are likely to go all but unnoticed and unappreciated.

Staccato is the first in a trilogy featuring Deputy Hawk, who plays a relatively minor role here and is probably the most "normal" character in the book, though one who doesn't exhibit much confidence or convey much authority. (He holstered his weapon and called out, "Jessica, wait, I've got backup coming." Ignoring him, she started pulling herself up the rungs as if she'd conquered the challenge a thousand times. Hawk felt dizzy as he watched her fade into the shadows.) Maybe his next case will prove different.

Special thanks to Deborah J. Ledford for providing a copy of Staccato for this review.

Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

If you are interested in purchasing Staccato from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. Staccato (Kindle edition) is also available. Learn more about the Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device.

Synopsis (from the publisher): Three world-class pianists. Two possible killers. One dead woman. Who is her murderer? Who will be next?

When acclaimed pianist Nicholas Kalman discovers his lover’s dead body, he sets out alone to find her killer. During his journey, he meets an unwitting female accomplice who soon becomes determined to help Nicholas wield his retaliation. Following a parallel path for justice, Steven Hawk, the deputy of a sleepy Southern county, is assigned to the case. Pursuing the investigation, Hawk finds himself entangled in a world of vengeance, greed and manipulation.

Performed against the backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, Staccato transports readers to a behind-the-scenes glimpse of professional musicians, the psychological twists and turns of its characters, and in the end, retribution that crashes in a crescendo of notes played at the literary pace of a maestro’s staccato.

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International Trailer for The Ghost Writer, based on the novel by Robert Harris

Last December we reported that Summit Entertainment had picked up the North American distribution rights for The Ghost Writer, based on the 2007 thriller The Ghost by Robert Harris. But first, the film will open in Germany on February 11th and the a new trailer has been released.

The Ghost Writer stars Pierce Brosnan as a former British Prime Minister and Ewan McGregor as his ghostwriter, who uncovers secrets from the past; see more in the book synopsis below.

About The Ghost: Adam Lang has been Britain's longest serving and most controversial prime minister of the last half century. And now that he's left office, he's accepted one of history's largest cash advances to compose a tell-all (or at least, tell-some) memoir of his life and years of power. As pressure mounts for Lang to complete this magnum opus, he hires a professional ghostwriter to finish the book. As he sets to work, the ghostwriter discovers many more secrets than Lang intends to reveal, secrets with the power to alter world politics, secrets with the power to kill.

The international trailer can be viewed below (in English with French subtitles):

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Kerry Williamson to Pen Script for Film Adaptation of Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta Novels

Last April, we reported that Fox 2000 had acquired the rights to Patricia Cornwell's series of mysteries featuring forensic consultant Kay Scarpetta as a potential franchise starring Angelina Jolie. Now The Hollywood Reporter's Risky Business blog is reporting that Kerry Williamson (Fork in the Road, Breaking the Bank) has been tapped to write the screenplay.

Though there are 17 thrillers in the series (plus one behind-the-scenes novella set in Scarpetta's kitchen), the film is not expected to be based on any single novel but "will draw from the world and characters Cornwell has created."

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Games of Mystery: Penny Dreadfuls Sweeney Todd Collector's Edition, New from Big Fish Games

Games of Mystery, your source for mystery-themed board, electronic and video games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations, is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today. You can find out more about these games by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

A new evil haunts the streets of 18th Century London. People are going missing but their bodies aren’t being found. Adventure with the watchmen as you search for clues and solve diabolical puzzles in your quest for the truth. Discover the grim secrets of the murderous barber of Fleet Street, Sweeney Todd.

The Collector's Edition of this game includes exclusive hidden object scenes, original puzzles to challenge and confound you, an interactive strategy guide with spoiler-free hints, a "theater mode" to replay cut scenes and movies, and a spectacular full orchestral soundtrack.

Penny Dreadfuls Sweeney Todd Collector's Edition may be downloaded and purchased for $19.95 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (151.33 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour. (The standard edition, without the game extras, is expected to be released in 2-3 weeks.)

Watch a preview video below:

Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card!

Read our new game reviews by Ms. Terri: Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy (Review), Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! (Review), The Hardy Boys: The Perfect Crime (Review), Enlightenus (Review), and Nick Chase: A Detective Story (Review).

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

And don't forget to visit Games of Mystery for all kinds of mysterious fun!

Return to Mystery Books News ...