Review: A Woman Underground by Andrew Klavan

Author: Andrew Klavan
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Publication Date:  October 2024

Cameron Winter can’t stop thinking about the first girl he ever loved, Charlotte. His unresolved feelings for her have prevented him from truly moving forward with anyone new even all of these decades later. In an effort to distract himself—and his therapist—from his romantic struggles, Cameron instead begins to recount a story from his time as a CIA operative when he was sent on a mission to find a missing colleague last seen at the villa of a notorious Turkish sex trafficker. It has been years since he traveled the world for the government, but he is still troubled by this particular case. Now working as an English professor, Winter seeks a quiet life—except when his “strange habit of mind,” his penchant for sleuthing, leads him to investigate crimes whose complexity excites his curiosity.

When a mysterious visitor turns Winter’s attention to a book that appears to detail what happened to Charlotte he realizes he might be able to find and save her. The dark tale, filled with White Nationalist rhetoric, disturbing characters, and cold-blooded murder has him worried for her life. But how much of this story is true? Why does someone want him to investigate? And what is it about this current investigation that has him thinking about that missing spy those many years ago? In his most personal case yet, Winter must delve deep into his past to confront a dangerous threat lurking in his present.

I have been a huge fan of this series.  I love Cameron Winter as a character. I was really looking forward to reading this one.  This time around, his attention is brought to a book that seems to lead to the answer of what happened to the first girl he ever loved.  He also spends time relaying one of his cases from his time as a spy in order to distract himself from the mystery.  

I have to be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of this installment.  I was disappointed.  The story took a while to get going and overall it felt largely unfocused. Winter didn't seem to have the same voice that he has had in the past.  I did find that it picked up about 2/3 of the way in.  There were a couple of twists that I didn't call, but they weren't really enough to save the book for me.  I'm hoping this isn't the last book with this character.  I would love to read more books with him in it in the future.  This one just missed the mark.

Review: The House of Love and Death by Andrew Klavan

Author: Andrew Klavan
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Publication Date: October 2023

When a family is murdered in a wealthy Chicago suburb, English professor Cameron Winters asks the questions that the police aren’t willing to.

Professor Cameron Winters is well known for having a sense about crime. His background as a former spy and his current work investigating themes and motives in literature give him unique insight into why a crime might have occurred and who had the reason to commit it. Which is why he can’t resist getting involved after reading a puzzling news story about a wealthy family killed in the small town of Maidenvale. Three members of the family, along with their live-in nanny, were pulled from their burning mansion, already dead from gunshot wounds. The only survivor is a young boy whose memory of the event raises more questions than answers. The police seem to have settled on a simple explanation and the most obvious suspect, but something isn’t adding up.

While Winters’s investigation is welcomed by many who knew the victims, Inspector Roland Strange makes it clear he not only wants Winters to stop looking for answers, but to stay out of his town altogether. Winters begins to understand why as he slowly uncovers crimes and unsavory behavior that had been ignored long before the killings. But this only makes him more determined to find the real killer and expose the rot that is hiding behind the town’s sanitized façade.

The House of Love and Death is the third book featuring Cameron Winter. He is a college professor and a former spy who has a knack for solving mysteries  This time around he reads about a wealthy family who were murdered.  Something about the case keeps bothering him.  He can't let it go, so he decides to investigate.

As with the first two, I really enjoyed Winter's adventure.  The msytery was solid with twists. That's about all I will give away about the plot.  I don't want to spoil anything. More than the mysteries in these book, I like spending time in Winter's world..  He is such an intriguing character.  With each book, more of his past and personality is revealed.  At the end of each, I'm kept wanting more. Have you spent time with Cameron Winter yet?  I highly recommend this one as well as the series as a whole.  I can't wait for the next one. 

Review: A Strange Habit of Mind by Andrew Klavan

Author: Andrew Klavan
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Publication Date: October 2022 

The world of Big Tech is full of eccentric characters, but shamanic billionaire Gerald Byrne may be the strangest of the bunch. The founder of Byrner, a global social media platform, Byrne is known for speaking with vague profundity and for dabbling in esoteric spiritual practices; he wears his hair in a long black ponytail to reveal a large flower tattooed on his neck; he’s universally admired as a visionary, a philanthropist, and a devoted husband and father. And every person who gets in the way of his good work seems to die.

When a former student commits suicide, English professor and ex-spy Cameron Winter takes it upon himself to understand why. The young man was expelled from the university in an unfortunate episode that left Winter sympathetic to his plight; after a prolonged silence, he reached out to his teacher with two words just before taking the fatal plunge from the roof of his San Francisco apartment: “Help me.”

Winter has what he calls “a strange habit of mind”—the ability to imagine himself into a crime scene, to reconstruct it mentally and play through various possible causes and outcomes to understand exactly what took place. When he applies this exercise to Adam Kemp’s desperate final moments, he discovers a troubling inconsistency. And when he learns that Kemp was in a tumultuous relationship with Gerald Byrne’s niece, he begins to suspect that the suicide was the result of a carefully-engineered plot, put in motion by the powerful businessman. 

 A Strange Habit of Mind the second book featuring English professor Cameron Winter.  This time, he is back and investigating the death of a former student.  The police say it's suicide, but Winter isn't so sure.  I am happy to report, I enjoyed this one as much as the first one.

I was really looking forward to visiting with Winter again. He is such a complex character.  To outsiders he seems to be a mild mannered and very good looking college professor.  But the "behind the scenes" man is much more intense and dangerous.  One of the things I wanted from the first book was to know more about Winter's past.  This time around, through his therapy sessions, we are given so much more insight into his background and the person he is hiding from his peers.  His past definitely comes into play in this mystery.   There were a couple of twists that were unexpected.  I highly recommend this one as well as the first.  I can't wait for the next book.

Review: Mindwar by Andrew Klavan

Author: Andrew Klavan
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Date of publication: July 2014

Rick Dial has the potential to be a hero. He just doesn't know it yet.

Rick's high school football team couldn't be stopped when he was leading them as their quarterback. He was going to Syracuse on a scholarship. But then his dad abandoned them and a terrible accident left him crippled.

Certain his old life is completely lost, Rick spends months hiding away in his room playing video games. He achieves the highest scores on so many games that he's approached by a government agency who claims to be trying to thwart a cyber attack on America that would destroy the technological infrastructure of the entire country. The agents say that the quick-thinking of a quarterback coupled with Nick's gaming experience make him perfect for this assignment. The problem is that there are no extra lives and this isn't just a game . . . but Rick doesn't have many other options at the moment.

Entering "The Realm" gives Rick the one thing he thought he'd never have again: a body that's as fast and as strong as he ever was before the accident. But the more time he spends in The Realm, the more questions he has. What secrets are these agents keeping from him? What really happened to his father? How many others have gone into The Realm already . . . and failed? And perhaps most important, is he the hero they think he is?

In Mindwar, Rick, who has seen his life take a turn when he is injured in a car accident, ending his chances of playing football in college.  His father has left the family and the bills are piling up.  Drowning in pity, he spends the summer playing video games.  His high scores cause him to come up on the radar of a a secret government agency.  He is recruited to try to stop an evil man bent on destroying the US.  

I find myself having a hard time deciding what I thought about the book.  On one hand, I thought it was a decent and fun sci-fi adventure story with a good YA male lead.  We need more of those in YA literature.  I liked Rick.  His struggle to cope with this new future after the accident came across as genuine.  I also liked how he made the conscious effort not to be a jerk to his little brother.  He clearly recognized that the kid looked up to him and didn't want to make him upset.  He also struggled to find the confidence within himself to believe he could be a hero.

The thing that I am so-so on was the Realm.  I'm not sure I completely understood how it was structured and why it was set up like a fantasy video game. If you were an evil mastermind intent on destroying the US using your mind, why make it like a video game?  I also was unclear on who the two helpers were that appeared in the realm.  Were they other users who were lost?  Or were they just computer creations?  I wasn't a fan of Rick beginning to fall for the female helper in the game when he hadn't yet resolved things with is real life girlfriend, Molly.  That part could have been left out.

There are some subtle Christian undertones in the book.  But they in no way overpower the story and aren't too preachy.  I would recommend this one to YA fantasy or sci-fi fans.