BookLog: Two Action Novels

Majestic Descending by Mitchell Graham is one of those “can’t-put-it-down” novels. I found myself staying up late just to see what happens next. It’s a fast-paced thriller about a smart Atlanta lawyer, Katherine Adams, who finds herself caught up in a web of murder, intrigue, and betrayal – as well as being a passenger on a sinking cruise ship. Majestic Descending has the plot twists and action you’d expect from a novel like this, but it also has intelligent dialogue from adult characters who are believable and well-developed, not just caricatures for the action scenes. I hope Mitchell Graham writes more novels about Katherine.

A Diet of Treacle by Lawrence Block is another great novel from Hard Case Crime. It’s not a mystery; it’s more like a psychological portrait of three misfit characters on the fringes of “beat” culture in Greenwich Village in the late 1950’s. The novel was originally published in 1961, so it has the ring of authenticity from that era. The story shows how ordinary, misguided people can get caught up in their own webs of confusion and aimlessness and make one bad choice after another, leading to acts of crime and betrayal. This is a good story with compelling characters.