I picked this up in a small book store on Pender Island in British Columbia while looking for a vacation read. I didn't know what the Arthur Ellis award was, but I figured it couldn't hurt to read a pulp novel that had won an award of some sort.This isn't a traditional mystery novel and the prot...
Not a bad start, but definitely a quirky book.It's only a mystery in the desperate eyes of the publisher's marketing department who were trying to find a category that would make the book sell. In reality, it's a travelogue about a young woman who goes from country to country and underworld to un...
I enjoyed this story about Ava Lee's adventure.I knew right away who what and where this was going and I didn't have to wonder what it was about. I like that. Simple. I did find it annoying near the end how she left the BVI and a few of the situations she managed to "get involved in".Overall it w...
The front door led into a foyer. To its right were a dining room and kitchen and to its left a living room and the den. A stairway to the far left ran at an angle to the second floor, where an open mezzanine overlooked the lower level. Lok probably hired someone to do feng shui, she thought. Ther...
She called the Captain’s office and was put directly through to Robbins.“Ava, do you have some good news for me?”“The wire went through last night. I have a copy of the confirmation. Can I bring it to you?”“Is Patrick there?”“I don’t know. I haven’t been downstairs yet.”“He should be there. Give ...
Two men stood poised, staring her down. They were both of medium height, dressed in black running shoes, pants, and cotton turtleneck sweaters that showed off muscular shoulders and arms. One had a pair of handcuffs looped through one side of his belt and a nightstick on the other. His partner ha...
He had argued with her quite forcibly when she said she wanted to walk, but she was even more insistent. Her desire to clear her head was now more intense than when she had first told Xu she needed to take a walk. His parting words had shaken her. In her mind, Uncle was fo...
She checked in, cleared security, and walked to the business-class lounge that Cathay Pacific shared with British Airways. She poured herself a glass of Pinot Grigio and found a quiet corner to sit. There was no way, she decided, she was getting on the plane without talking to May Ling and withou...
Ava sat in the front. The driver swung away from the curb as soon as the last door closed. “You should know I’m being kidnapped,” Kung yelled at the driver. “If you go to the nearest police station, I’ll make it worth your while.” “Fuck off,” the dr...
Every few seconds I would sit up and try to annoy Alan by urging him on to greater speed, but he was honed to a fineness and would not be annoyed. Then I would fret and peer in all directions, looking for a suitable hiding place for the Stone. Suddenly I noticed that I was cold and clammy. The bl...
So when she heard “This is Glen Hughes,” she was taken aback, and stumbled before saying, “This is Ava Lee.”“I didn’t expect to hear from you quite so soon,” he said.There wasn’t a hint of tension in his voice. If anything, he seemed disinterested, bored. Maybe that’s the impression he’s trying t...
By July 1968 he was talking of the “long poem” he had almost finished—“I want this book to hit with a single impact: the parts are not meant to stand by themselves”1—but it was in October 1968 that he decided that the movement of his Notebook’s plot should be from summer 1967 through the fall of ...
Ava cleared Immigration and Customs in less than twenty minutes, then phoned Lily Simmons from the station platform while she waited for the express train to Victoria. Simmons’s mobile went directly to voicemail. Ava hung up and then tried the office line, expecting to get an automated receptioni...