Jim Michael Hansen Reviews

Page Four

Added June 6, 2008

Ancient Laws

A Bryson Coventry Thriller

Author: Jim Michael Hansen
Publisher: Dark Sky Publishing
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: Fall 2009
Genre: Fiction: Crime/Thriller
Format: Trade Paper
Price: Pending
ISBN-13: 987-0-9769243-2-6
Author Email/Website: www.JimHansenBooks.com
Reviewer: Kathy Martin
Rating: 9 Gargoyles

There are a lot of ways to describe Jim Michael Hansen's 'Laws' series, but the best one is intriguing. "Ancient Laws" is the 7th book in the series. None of the luster from the earlier editions has been lost.

As always, the story revolves around Denver Homicide Detective Bryson Coventry. He is chasing down a killer who had eluded him in Denver. Coventry does not like loose ends. So much so, he puts himself on a plane to Paris. A similar type of murder has occurred there recently. (Coventry hates flying as much as he loves coffee - he can't survive without coffee.) Arriving at the Paris Police Department, he meets Detective Fallon Le Rue. Lucky for the Denver cop, Le Rue does not mind bending the rules a bit - especially if it solves a case.

As the two search for clues to find Coventry's killer, it comes to light that the Paris victim was the witness in the Denver case. Not only that, but the victim's roommate is missing. Now the two Detectives head into a complicated quagmire that leads them all the way to Cairo and back.

This has to be one of the best novels in Hansen's Bryson Coventry series. The intrigue starts at page one, then twists and turns to the end. So much so, that for most of the book, I thought that the author had changed his style a bit, and I was actually reading three individual thrillers. There were of course times I would tell myself that that is just not the way Hansen works, but then reading on a for a few pages, again I would think that none of the situations playing out before me were connected.

In keeping with past novels, Hansen's characters and dialogue are very real. There is one difference, though. In this story, we find that Conventry has to take a backseat to another detective. He gets to plan strategy, but he cannot take the lead. Well, not at first, anyway.

Overall, this is another great crime thriller. All I can say is...just keep em' coming!

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Added December 17, 2007

Voodoo Laws

A Bryson Coventry Thriller

Author: Jim Michael Hansen
Publisher: Dark Sky Publishing
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: March 15, 2009
Genre: Fiction: Crime/Thriller
Format: Trade Paper
Price: $13.95
ISBN-10: 0976924374
ISBN-13: 9780976924371
Author Email/Website: www.JimHansenBooks.com
Reviewer: Kathy Martin
Rating: 8 Gargoyles

Through all of the "Laws" series, Denver homicide detective, Bryson Coventry, seemed almost "bullet-proof." He was always savvy enough to out-smart the bad guys and be able to anticipate what they would do. But this time, Coventry has to face the supernatural in the form of voodoo. There had been a curse put on the detective by a very powerful voodoo priestess. Will Coventry be able to dodge the curse the same way he as dodged bullets in the past?

The path to the curse started with the murder of attorney Ryan Ripley. He was found in an area of town known for $20 blowjobs. What was strange was that he certainly had more than enough money to pay for an escort to provide a little privacy for this kind of "entertainment." At the victim's house is found a voodoo doll with a needle stuck in the left eye. When questioned, no one at Ripley's firm knew if he had been interested in voodoo or not. Or if they did know, they weren't willing to talk about it.

Next, while Coventry sits in his prized 1967 Corvette in an open garage with his girlfriend, someone fires a gun at the car, shattering the windshield. Even though Coventry's girlfriend, Ta'Venza Oceana, is well known in Denver, his gut tells him that the bullet was meant for him.

While all this is going on in Coventry's world, an independent attorney, Mackenzie Lee, takes on a case to find out who is stalking her new client, Erin Asher. This same man was the number one suspect in a murder of one young woman, and the abduction of another - Lindsay Vail. Erin claims that the man the police are looking for could not have committed any crime because that man was stalking her at the time the crimes were taking place.

What neither Mackenzie or Coventry know is that both their investigations will lead them back to one person - Ryan Ripley.

This is the seventh book in Jim Michael Hansen's "Laws" series featuring homicide detective Bryson Coventry. An all-around good guy with two weaknesses: coffee and beautiful women.

I have read all seven books, and enjoyed them all. Like all the others, "Voodoo Laws" caught my attention at the first page, and left me with a question right from the beginning as to whether Coventry would actually survive this one. Not that the author would want to kill off such a good character, but the thought that Coventry might actually die had not crossed my mind previously.

I will say that in this book, I felt that there were too many people/characters listed in this book to keep track of. There were a couple of occasions where I had to go back in the book to remind myself of who that particular person was and what their significance was in the story.

Regardless of this, the story took many exciting twists and turns. Usually I have in mind one or two people who could have committed the crime, but this time, there was one incident that I REALLY was surprised by "who dunnit."

Whether you have read all the books in the "Laws" series, or just want to pick this one up, rest assured that "Voodoo Laws" will be a fun read.

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This page was last updated on June 6, 2008

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