|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
This is author Jan Burke's fourth in the Irene series. While it is not as strong as the first three, REMEMBER ME is a worthy addition to this excellent series. As in the previous books, the writing is intelligent. A chance encounter with a homeless black in a poor section of mythical Las Piernas, is the first step on a twisted path that draws reporter Irene Kelly into a web of civic chicanery, murder and corruption. Then it develops that the local college harbored a particular nasty piece of work in the person of sociology professor, Andre Selman. It's a little hard to believe that a single faculty member could have seduced quite so many strong-minded women, even over a considerable period of time without incurring some kind of sanctions. A meeting of this group of women, supporters of a local battered women's shelter, and, not incidentally survivors of a Selman seduction, does give readers the opportunity to meet several key and minor players in the drama. Irene encounters the suicide of a local banker in a particularly effective scene and from them on continues to screw up the tension, notch by notch. After encounters and courtship in previous books in the series, local homicide detective Frank Harriman and Irene Kelly are married and their scenes are likewise effective. Burke's handling of the relationship between the pair with the built-in antipathy and tension between reporter and cop are well handled. It will be interesting to follow this pair in future books. When Irene discovers that the black man who approached her at the bus stop was the unrecognized former, and her favorite, professor at college, she sets out to discover what caused his disintegration. Her focus on the homeless Lucas draws the ire of her editor who wants a story on the abrupt resignation of the long time City Manager of Las Piernas. All of this is related, of course, and the clues are there to follow. The ending is a surprise but logical, and while I would have preferred to see reporter Kelly a bit more assertive in her probing of the principals in the main story, the book held my interest. Several of the minor characters are interesting and Burke separates the voices well.
Reviewed by Carl Brookins, August 2002
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
