NewMexiKen read both of the above these past few days. Both are from series, Blood of Victory (2002), from Furst’s succession of World War II espionage books, and Tularosa (1996), the first of McGarrity’s Kevin Kerney mysteries. It’s the third of Furst’s books I’ve read; the first of McGarrity’s.
Furst’s books describe the kind of world we know from the back story of Casablanca — individuals in small groups, possibly with some sort of “official” sanction or support, doing what they can to thwart the Nazis from one end of Europe to the other. They ride trains, have love affairs, smoke cigarettes, and blow up stuff. All in black in white, too.
McGarrity’s Kerney is the detective novel’s typical ex-cop, wounded in duty, loner, but respected. In Kerney’s case he’s an ex-Santa Fe cop, raised in the Tularosa basin (site of today’s missile range). He drives a pickup, rides horses, wins fights, loses fights, saves the girl, gets the bad guys. Good reading, if somewhat predictable. I expect to try another in the series soon. And another.
My husband and I have been reading McGarrity since 1996 (Tularosa) and we are both of the same opinion that his latest novel seems to be the best so far. Yes, they are predictable but we always love to read about New Mexico.