Stephen Mack Jones

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S AUGUST SNOW ABOUT?

"I'm looking into her death—"

“A suicide?” O’Donnell laughed, even though I was beginning to think she thought very little if anything was funny. “Not much to look into there, bucko. Seems the Grosse Pointe police, the State police, the Detroit police and assorted sundry others have quickly concluded she took her own life.”

“They're not as smart as me,” I said, taking a healthy swig of my beer. show more Michigan might be at the forefront of making quality craft beers, but so far none even approached a good Mexican beer, “Nor are they as righteously vigilant.”

August Snow was a Detroit Police Detective until he was targeted by corrupted officials in City Hall as well as in the DPD and was fired. He didn't take that laying down and sued for wrongful termination—and walked away with millions of dollars of city funds. He spent a year drinking his way through Europe to get over that fight—as well as other tragedies.

Now Snow has returned to the home that his African-American father bought for his Mexican-American mother so she could be close to her people, and is using his new wealth to try to help make the neighborhood safe for families again.

A prominent citizen, Eleanore Paget, wants him to do a job for her. Years before, Snow was one of many who investigated the death of her husband and was the only one who impressed her. Now, she's convinced that one of the executives of her bank is up to something and wants him to look into it. Snow turns her down, but can't help wondering...

The next day, she's dead. Supposedly by her own hand, but Snow doesn't believe that. He's just about the only one who doesn't, so he has to look into things on his own—without giving DPD cause for offense, after the lawsuit, he has very little support among them.

We often think of "white collar" crimes as safe, or at least non-violent. And that may have been the case once upon a time, but as Snow looks into odd moves in the bank's finances, it's clear that there are powerful and violent people who are heavily invested in keeping Snow and his suspicions far away from anything to do with the bank.

WE ARE DEFINED BY THOSE WE COULD HAVE HELPED AND CHOSE NOT TO...
Yeah, it's not as pithy as "Everybody counts or nobody counts," but Snow's driven by this idea as much as Harry Bosch is his. Snow's father served as a member of the Detroit Police Department and raised his son to follow in his footsteps, and this was a lesson he drove into his son's psyche. Not just for while on duty, but to shape his life.

Even now, this moves Snow to action. It's seen in the way he's working to revitalize his neighborhood—not so that people with a little money will want to move in and gentrify things, but so that it's better for the people who already live there.

It drives him to help out the rookie drug dealer who just needs a viable legal option to make money.

It even drives him to look into the death of a would-be client.

DETROIT

Neither time nor politics have been kind to Detroit. In Mexicantown, they've been downright cruel.

After one novel, I'm not about to suggest that I'm an expert on Detroit—but Jones writes with such depth and clarity, his reader would be tempted to think they are one—at least on the way to being one.

It's trite to say that "such and such" city or geographic location is "a character" in whatever novel/movie/etc., so I'll try not to. But August Snow is as much about Detroit—specifically, Detroit's Mexicantown—as it is about one ex-cop's investigation into the death of a prominent citizen.

One aspect of Detroit that's discussed a lot is race (economics, police corruption are others). I'm not competent enough to expound about it—I'm also too white and Idahoan to really comment on it. But Jones seems to be writing very honestly, very insightfully about the state of the city. Snow's perspective is a great mix of idealism and realism—with a sprinkling of hope. A lot of people like to dismiss P.I. fiction as escapist, but Jones reminds his readers that the best of it has always carried social commentary along for the ride.

THE FOOD
Jones probably could've made a decent living as a food writer. Snow's not really a gourmet or gourmand, but man, he eats well. Jones isn't really in George R. R. Martin territory ("six page descriptions of every last meal"), but the way he describes food is dangerous to a reader's diet. It reminded me of early Spenser, or any Nero Wolfe.

There's an extended description about a small Mexican restaurant that I had to pause and read a couple of times it was just so good. I could practically smell the place. Honestly, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have liked the food in the restaurant—it's not really my thing. But as I told my wife when reading it—I want to go there, like right now.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT AUGUST SNOW?

Later, sitting on my new forest-green leather sofa, I looked through family photo albums: My mother and father picnicking on Belle Island. Vacationing in Traverse City and Alabama and south of Mexico City. Their wedding. Me as a baby with my dad’s badge pinned to my onesie. Thanksgivings and Christmases. Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexicantown. High school and college graduations. My dad saluting me at my graduation from the academy.

Family albums go better with scotch.

Or a gun.

Readers here know that one of my greatest weaknesses is a good P.I. novel—I cut my teeth on them (in both juvenile and adult fiction), and "discovering" August Snow was just a treat for me. There's something about this book—one of those ineffable things that just sang to me—that reminded me of the first time I read a Dennis Lehane Kenzie and Gennaro book, or Joe Ide's I.Q., or Crais' Elvis Cole. There's something just so right—so absolutely classic P.I. and incredibly fresh about the voice—that I felt at home.

I also spent a lot of time castigating myself for not jumping on this when it came out—because I shouldn't have denied myself this pleasure—or the sequels—for so long.

Snow's just a great character—he's got a lot of baggage, a lot of issues he's still working through—but when the chips are down, he's defined by those he chose not to help as much as those he chooses to help.

This is the beginning of a series, but by the end of this book, you don't know how this is going to keep going. Throughout the book, I kept thinking "oh, so this character is going to play X role" or "this is how he's going to do Y from now on", etc. And in practically every case, by the end of the novel in one way or another, just about every one of those things weren't going to be possible. I have no idea what book 2 will look like—or those that come next. That's a little frustrating because I like to think of myself as a fairly savvy guy who can see what authors are up to. But it's largely a wonderful feeling—I love someone who I can't predict.

From the atypical beginning with the prospective client that ends up without anyone being hired, through the morass of financial crimes and murder, to the explosive ending—with the increasing sense of dread and apprehension of an ensuring emotional gut-punch—August Snow is a fantastic series debut, a practically perfect novel. Stephen Mack Jones has found a home near the top of my must-read list. show less

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S LIVES LAID AWAY ABOUT?
While August Snow is considering how to help out his neighbors in the middle of an ICE crackdown/intimidation campaign, his friend from the coroner's office brings him a case he can't get out of his mind. A young, unidentified, Hispanic woman was tortured, raped, killed, and dumped while dressed as Marie Antoinette. The police can't get anywhere with the case and are ready to move on. Falconi can't do that. show more So he comes to August for help.

Snow's not able to get the photos he's been shown out of his mind, either. So he starts looking into it—knowing the right people to ask, he's able to identify the woman within a day. This gets him looking in the right direction for answers—sadly, that direction is full of organized crime, disorganized crime, human trafficking, and corrupt government officials.

August gets backup in both his brushes with ICE and the murder case from new and unexpected allies. There's a lot going on in Detroit (and in his own past) that August had been previously unaware of, and he's likely going to wish he'd stayed in the dark before all is said and done here.

TOMÁS
We met Tomás Gutierrez, August's godfather, in the previous book and he provided some of the backup August required then. In this book, he's basically August's partner.

He fills the fairly typical modern detective sidekick role (Hawk, Joe Pike, Bubba Rogowski, Nate Romanowski, Nick Petrie's Lewis, etc.)—a little meaner, a little less bound by conscience, a little more prone to violence, has a better personal weapons stash, and so on. The big twist here is that he's so much older than August. I don't know if we're told his age anywhere, but he's no spring chicken—He's his godfather, was good friends with his parents, he has a grandchild. And while his age is mentioned every now and then, he seems too spry to be really believable in this role.

This might be because of the subjects of the book—his wife is being threatened, the dead woman was known to his wife, etc.—and in the next book, he won't be as involved in whatever is happening. If that's the case? I have no problem with it—but if he keeps acting as a partner, it's going to have to be addressed.

I like the character of Tomás and how Jones has been using him so far, I just don't know if he's a viable long-term option.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT PLACES LIKE THIS?
Back in 2019, I posted about M. W. Craven's Black Summer , and discussed how Craven's description of a seedy pub made me feel like I was there. I had a flashback to that moment when Jones described the biker bar Taffy's on the Lake here. It was so crystal clear and detailed that I felt like I was there. I don't know if it's me, and the one or two nasty bars that I've been in have stuck with me so much that when Craven or Jones describes one that I'm taken there, or if they're just so good that I'd feel the same way without personal experience.

I'm going to credit them with this, not just for the sake of my mental health. For example, in August Snow, Jones did a similar job with a small Mexican restaurant. In that case, his writing made me want to feel like I was there.

He's so good at describing places in a way that brings in all of your senses (there are other examples I could cite, but this one paralleled so nicely with Black Summer), that without ever stepping foot in Detroit (or the state of Michigan) that I can really get a strong feel for the settings.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT LIVES LAID AWAY?
Is this as good as August Snow? I don't think so. But that says more about how good it was than about the quality of Lives Laid Away. This was intense and exciting. You're kept on the edge of your seat while being given things to think about.

At the same time, while August Snow had enough action to satisfy any thriller reader, Jones stepped up the violence this time. I don't know if this is the direction of the series in general, or if something about these circumstances brought it out in August, but wow. I can think of Jack Reacher/Peter Ash novels that contain less violence and action—I wouldn't have expected that given the first novel. This is not a criticism, I'm just putting that out there for potential readers—it really worked for me (although I'm not sure I needed all the "enhanced interrogation" scenes).

Along those lines, I'm not sure I really realized how ominous, "I gotta see a guy about a thing," could sound.

This isn't just a novel about a vigilante ex-cop on a crusade—it is that, but it's more—it's also about a city dealing with contemporary pressures, contemporary issues, and a troubled (to be nice about) past. What is Detroit becoming? How is it treating the people who live there? How should it be? These questions loom large while August is trying to figure out who killed these women and why. Lives Laid Away is a solid, action-filled thriller with a social conscience and heart. This is not a combination that you see that much, but I wish we'd see more of. show less

It has been a few months since the events in August Snow and it is dark times in the “Mexicantown” area of Detroit. ICE agents in their blacked out Chevy Suburbans are rolling through the area, especially at night, going after anyone and everyone. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are following the unofficial motto favored by the locals – “If it is brown, lock it down.” (Page 2)

While they go around putting fear in the hearts of everyone by their presence, real crime still show more happens in the city of Detroit. It is June and that means stifling heat and humidity and the climate of fear felt by so many is not helping things. Then there is a recent suicide that was actually way more than the tragic end of a life.

A young woman plunged head first into the Detroit River from the Ambassador Bridge and did not survive the encounter. Snow’s contact in the Wayne County Coroner’s office, Dr. James Robert “Bobby” Falconi is haunted by her case. One that is going to go nowhere as no record of her exists and the authorities, thanks to massive budget cuts, don’t have the personnel or resources to spend the time to find out who she is or what happened to her. Far easier to just call it a suicide by a Jane Doe and close the case.

Simpler, but not right.

The dead woman is Hispanic and Bobbi hopes that somebody August Snow knows, and he knows many folks in all walks of life, will put a name to her. With a name there should be a way to find her family. Loved ones who have no idea where she is at and should be there to lay her down at her final resting place. Bobbi is very upset by the case and August quickly agrees to look into things and try to identify her.

Finding out her name and who she is was the easy part. Dealing with what the young woman was facing in the days and hours until she jumped is a much bigger and far more dangerous problem in Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones.

Using the always present topics of racism, immigration, human trafficking, and more, award winning author Stephen Mack Jones has crafted a superb sequel to his debut mystery, August Snow. One could easily toss around the terms “ripped from the headlines” and “inspired by true events” and one would not be wrong though one would be simplistic. While those concepts and ideas are background in the read, the book is far more complicated than a drama of the week. While dealing with such subjects, Lives Laid Away can’t help but contain a few accurate observations about the current political climate of the country, the positive aspects of immigration, as well as the lives of those who, for whatever reason, live in the shadows providing services while asking nothing more than to be left alone. Those fact driven details, all of which serve to conflict with the conservative point of view regarding immigration and immigration policy, serve as nuanced background to a very complex mystery.

A very complex mystery that is built on a complicated main character, a cast of richly drawn secondary characters, and a multilayered backstory for nearly everyone in the book that continues the series as a whole. Like any good series it is always best to read in order. Such is the case here where Lives Laid Away not only builds on the events in August Snow, such evets are frequently referenced throughout the book.

If I was one of those people who ranked their favorite books of the year, August Snow would have easily made my top five if not the number one spot. Lives Laid Away is right there with the first book.

My review of August Snow from last April can be found here.

Lives Laid Away
Stephen Mack Jones
Soho Press
http://www.sohocrime.com
ISBN# 978-1-61695-959-3
January 2019
Hardback (also available in eBook and audio formats)
312 Pages
$26.95

Copy provided by the good folks of the Lochwood Branch of the Dallas Public Library.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019 show less

I love a book you can instantly fall into, that swallows you up and when you finish you immediately look for other books by that author.
August Snow is just such a book. It tells the story of a half black half Mexican ex Detroit cop who brought the corrupt police department and mayor down and had to disappear for year before coming back to his old neighborhood Mexicantown in Detroit.
An old acquaintance asks for his help, which he turns down and the acquaintance is dead two days later.
Snow show more doesn’t believe it was suicide, and when he starts his own investigation, everything around him explodes.
This is A seriously great book. show less