The Hard Way by Lee Child

I may have to reconsider my love for this series soon, after the progressively greater disappointment of the last three outings. Most of the issue in this novel is plot-related. I find kidnap plots to be dreadfully dull. There are only a couple of motivations and a couple of possible outcomes, and they've all been done a million times. Or maybe it's just this specific plot (abduction in mid-town Manhattan at daytime, escalating ransom demands, questionable good-guys, etc.) that feels like it's been done before and has nothing new to say about the experience. Reacher's mutable moral compass and tendency to fall into the sack with whatever healthy chickadee is on hand is also becoming tiresome, as is his noble ride off into the sunset at the end. I'm concerned that Lee Child loves Reacher more than I do at this point, which doesn't bode well for the future.

The Poet by Michael Connelly

This ostensibly stand-alone novel actually ties in quite closely with other events and characters in Connelly's "Bosch-verse", as I learned when I was spoiled for the novel's outcome by reading another of Connelly's "stand-alones" out of publication order. Oh well. It's the journey, not the destination, right? I'm not sure the plot and the ease with which this reporter continually negotiates his access to an on-going investigation is believable, but I really don't care. I liked Jack McEvoy a lot, just as much as Terry McCaleb before him. I found his motivations and actions to be totally understandable and relatable. I found the plot - particularly the last-minute twist and twist and twist - to be a bit absurd, but the writing and characterization carried it off.

Blood Work by Michael Connelly

I learned the hard way with this one that Michael Connelley's non-Bosch titles need to be read in the order published, as they all seem to take place in the Bosch universe even when the characters are one-shots. I know this because I actually started in on A Darkness More Than Night (Bosch, published in 2001) before Blood Work (ostensibly stand-alone, published in 1998), and managed to get myself spoiled for both Blood Work and The Poet before figuring it out and backing up. Terry McCaleb is a great character, and I'm glad that he'll be making a re-appearance in A Darkness More Than Night. He's far too well-rounded and complex and interesting to let go after just one book. I definitely want to see more. It was nice to see a hero whose specialty is paperwork rather than action, and still have him feel heroic. Blood Work was full of plot-twisty goodness. Though some of the twists were a bit too ridiculous for my taste, it certainly stayed interesting and wasn't like every other murder mystery on the planet. Nice balance of action and domestic goodness, as well as internal and external drivers for the story. All around, nicely done.

The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory

I'm sort of sorry that I launched myself into this book so soon after the others, because I started to get Historical Fiction Fatigue about halfway through and my interest waned despite how good it was. I needed something set in the modern day, but it was too late to go back. I appreciated the return to first-person narrative, but also enjoyed the the telling of the story from the perspective of a nobody. I'm a little bit skeptical about how trusted Hannah became, and how perfectly she was placed to observe and be swept up in epic events, but I'll overlook it because she is a great character. It's hard to find a good OC that can hold her own against larger-than-life historical figures, but Hannah's the girl for the job. She's steadfast and true and completely believable in her otherwise anachronistic ideas and behaviors. And when her heart breaks, mine bursts into pieces right along with it. I would happily tune in for the Hannah and Danny show, which makes me re-evaluate my previous decision not to read Philippa Gregory's non-Tudor historical fiction. Back to the bookstore for me.