Alan Cook (1)

Who is killing off the Jasons? In this, the second book of the Carol Golden series, Carol, whose real name is Cynthia Akai, has regained her identity if not her full memory. With her identity, she also has a grandmother much to her delight. As far as she knows, this is her only living relative and she is living with her grandmother who is in early dementia. But her grandmother has a cousin, Jason, in California where much of this adventure takes place.

Somewhat confusing at times with all the show more Jasons, this book delves into such things as genealogy, Ponzi schemes and murder. Family members are dying off as fast as Carol finds them. She is working with a forensic genealogist and the tension builds as the family dwindles. Are the two seemingly unrelated plot-lines really related? Will she be able to save her Irish cousins? And who is Tom Kelly? The action picks up speed as more cousins come to light, bringing with it a surprise ending

What I like about Alan Cook's books is what are obviously personal interests of his, making the stories read with authenticity. Descriptions of cities and countryside ring true as do his scenarios involving walking and hiking. Logic and mathematics problems, even code-breaking often come into play. I love learning something new from the stories I read and this one ran true to form. show less

An interesting mystery at a retirement community. Give a senior a mystery to solve and some will surely sink their teeth into it--or it may come back and bite them! When a very popular man collapses and dies in the first hand of a bridge game, all are devastated, especially the women. The death is blamed on anaphylactic shock by a severe allergy to shellfish. Not everyone assumes the death is accidental. Bring on Lillian and her friend Tess, who are determined to prove it was murder.

Alan show more Cook has done a lot of unusual research to bring us this murder mystery. Mental games, a "perfect" bridge hand, friends and suitors all combine to solve the mystery...or to confuse it. Complicated connections in Lillian's own life adds both to the mystery and to her stress and her peace of mind. Several missteps along the way make the story more enjoyable. This is a quick, easy and entertaining read. I love the puzzle-solving aspect of the book, and I always enjoy learning something new. A touch of romance, a different way of looking at the lives of retirees, this is not a nursing home--this is a vibrant retirement community with individual apartments and individual interests all of which play a part in this quirky yet human book. show less

This book starts off with a bang, a car crash that is an obvious deliberate hit sending the car flying and landing in a field. Quick action is needed for the driver and Drake to escape before the car blows up, but both are groggy. The car is seriously damaged with doors jammed. Drake suddenly notices that the driver is now next to him in the back seat, semi-conscious and must get him out. The only way out is the broken rear window. Pushing the driver out head-first with great effort, he gets show more the driver fully through when he rolls off the truncated trunk, followed by Drake. With supreme effort Drake drags the driver away, narrowly escaping the fireball as the car blew up, just on the edge of safety where they feel the heat but are not endangered more.

Strangely, as memory reinstates itself, he recalls the driver of the truck suddenly hesitated, backed off just at impact so the crash was not as hard as it would have been, as though it was not meant to kill anyone. What a start to a book about a marathon, a foot race Drake is scheduled to start running the next day! And as we will soon learn, the sponsor will insist he run this race, even providing chiropractic sessions. Obviously, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Who would be looking for Drake at this late date of 1969? Though his past was covert, it was a long time ago and he can't make any sense of who might want him dead. The marathon is invitation only, and as he meets with the sponsors from Giganticorp, he learns that the driver's expenses will be taken care of and Drake himself has already been patched up as much as possible with a very colourful face and broken nose. It is at this point he learns that his old partner Melody Jefferson from his undercover agent days is his running partner. Suspicion looms as he thinks about the possible reasons for this. Who would even know about that partnership? What is so important that Giganticorp insists on Drake running the marathon in his condition? The whole idea is crazy and someone obviously knows too much confidential information!

I found Alan Cook's technique for each chapter very interesting as a background for the race. Each chapter is another day in the race and begins with the marathon runners, competing in pairs, given very descriptive daily directions for the route. As a Canadian recognizing some of the routes from driving vacations in California in 1959 and 1961, I really enjoyed these tantalizing chapter settings. Soon the iceberg goes deeper when a sudden attack from the ocean onto the beach results in one runner dead, one injured and several homes destroyed.

The daily route and the pacing of the runners provides interest and background to the story, but at what price? Outside threats are keeping Drake and Melody in the race. There seems to be a political agenda to this oddly fast-paced yet sometimes calm story, but is that what it really is? This book was definitely different in its storyline and layout, with as many hills and troughs as throughout the run of the marathon. Thwarted romance, misguided alliances, and a deliberate political red-herring makes for a well-written attention-getting novel, leading right up to a unique ending to one man's tyranny. Alan Cook is a diverse author and has written several novels, two of them winning the American Author's Association Silver Quill Award and chosen as Best Pacific West Book by Reader Views. show less

A very intriguing and entertaining mystery, the first I've read by this author, though he has written several books. Alan Cook knows how to engage his readers and keep them guessing.

The plot opens with the discovery by a restaurant kitchen worker of a naked bloody body of a female in a dumpster behind the restaurant. There is a slight pulse and she is transported to the hospital. Once she comes back to consciousness, she has amnesia, no memory of either her past or what happened to her. And show more so the mystery begins.

Rigo, who found the girl, feels a need to become her protector and feels responsible for taking care of her once she is released from the hospital. Because he lives with his parents, they invite her to stay with them, she has nowhere else to go and no identity. In fact, because she has amnesia and no one has reported a girl missing, no ID was found at the scene, she has become a non-person. This is significant because as a non-person she can not become a "person", not a citizen of anywhere, no fingerprints on file, she can not get proof of birth, driver's licence, can not travel anywhere, and literally has no record of ever existing. This particular subject of the plot made me wonder how many people in the world are "non-persons" for whatever reason.

She decides to go by the name of Carol Golden for the time being. Little by little she comes up with a thought that makes her wonder if it's a memory. Playing a game with Rigo she finds herself thinking in binary and realizes she must have been proficient at math. California doesn't feel right as where she lived, she feels more drawn to the east. I was fascinated with this process in the book. I think Alan Cook was very diligent in dealing with this process. I don't think I found any anachronisms overlooked as hidden memories, that is to say I don't think anything was said or thought of out of context.

A few searches for missing people do not turn up any leads, but a friend of Rigo's family has more connections and ideas and locates a possibility in North Carolina. The lawyer for that case sends Carol papers so she can fly out east. However, the missing girl's grandmother says no, this is not Cynthia. A dead end. But she now has a feeling she was recently in England. Especially when she rents a car and finds herself looking for a standard gear shift on her left, and feels she should be driving on the right. Carol is determined to follow her feelings, and follow them she does. With the papers and money the lawyer has supplied her with, she heads to England.

Memories begin to become more cohesive though the mystery deepens as she struggles with the fact that her attack was not a one-time thing and she is still very much in danger. Will she find out the truth of her identity? Will she find her attacker or worse, will he find her? Or is he stalking her even now.

This book has a lot of interesting detail, the unraveling of the mystery of Carol's identity and the final outcome bring the book to a fast-paced, exciting and surprising conclusion. A well plotted story I really enjoyed. show less