Anthony Rainone

(Editor’s note: This review comes from Anthony Rainone, a contributing editor to January Magazine and a (too-infrequent) contributor to The Rap Sheet. He lives in Brooklyn, where he writes screenplays, novels and stories.) Los Angeles is a city in the midst of rapid change. Hotels are being renovated and renamed. Detectives are wearing expensive tasseled shoes instead of the traditional gum-soled footwear. Firmly entrenched in this neo-City of Angels, old-school LAPD Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch […]

Today in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Anthony Rainone reviews The Reversal by Michael Connelly. Says Rainone: In crime fiction, it’s often the journey taken that has as much significance as the outcome of the story, and that’s even more true in a series. In Michael Connelly’s The Reversal, the multi-novel journey of Los Angeles police detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch has presently come to rest at a turning point. He is the über-sleuth […]

Today in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Anthony Rainone reviews The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly. Says Rainone: Los Angeles Times cop beat reporter Jack McEvoy becomes another victim of downsizing when the paper gives him his Reduction in Force notice — aka “pink slip.” But that doesn’t take the charge out of McEvoy’s instincts for a good story, especially if it means he can go out with a bang and leave some egg […]

Today in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Anthony Rainone reviews Trust No One by Gregg Hurwitz. Says Rainone: Nick Horrigan is a man running from his past. He has few friends he can trust. His relationship with his family is in tatters. His employment history is mediocre. Horrigan is on a linear path to obscurity. Then, things change in a heartbeat. Horrigan is taken from his Santa Monica apartment in the early morning […]

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Anthony Rainone reviews Sins of the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno. Says Rainone: Three years have now passed in the Islamic States of America, since it was first introduced to readers in Prayers for the Assassin 2006), Book One of Robert Ferrigno’s Assassin Trilogy. In the sequel, Sins of the Assassin, things are looking decidedly gloomy. For starters, former Fedayeen shadow warrior Rakkim Epps, the single most […]

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Anthony Rainone reviews Songs of Innocence by Richard Aleas (aka Hard Case Crime’s Charles Ardai). Says Rainone: Private investigator John Blake is suffering from an existential breakdown in Songs of Innocence, the second book in the Blake series, by author Richard Aleas. Much of his moral dilemma stems from events he suffered during his debut outing, in the Edgar and Shamus award nominated Little Girl Lost […]

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Anthony Rainone reviews Safe and Sound by J.D. Rhoades. Says Rainone: The title of J.D. Rhoades’ third Jackson Keller novel, Safe and Sound, conveys a state of being that runs counter to what really lies at it’s core: the horrible, dark acts that human beings — especially the central characters here — are capable of perpetrating. While Keller’s main goal is to rescue and protect those […]

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Anthony Rainone reviews Whitewash by Alex Kava. Says Rainone: With rising gasoline prices in the United States and the volatile political situation in the Middle East, attention to developing and using alternative fuels is increasing significantly. It’s hard not to see an ethanol plant if you drive through America’s Midwest, for example, and Nebraska author Alex Kava has tapped into this topical theme in her newest […]

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Anthony Rainone reviews Ladykiller by Meredith Anthony and Lawrence Light. Rainone says: Given the sophistication of the material, the dark humor, complex characters and the chockfull-of-crime happenings in Ladykiller, Meredith and Light could become the crime-fiction-writing equivalent of Nick and Nora Charles. This is a confident and accomplished debut. The complete review is here.