I’ve decided there are two scenarios crime fiction writers need to get out of their system. One is harvesting of body parts. The other, a more recent theme, deals with the trafficking of young boys and girls. In the third Sin City Investigations novel, Body Zoo, J.D. Allen manages to juggle both themes. It’s a fast-paced, character-rich story. But, there’s a comment made at one point, “Everything in this was just off a hair.” I actually felt that way about the book at times. Maybe I would have felt differently if I’d read the earlier books in the series.
PI Jim Bean owns Sin City Investigations. in Las Vegas. His primary corporate client, Transport American Insurance, hires him to investigate when a trailer goes up in flames at a residential trailer park. That’s a normal insurance case, but Bean is bothered by one aspect. No one, not the police, the fire department, the owner of the trailer park, seem concerned by the missing tenant, Emilee Beck.
Emilee has been on the run for years. As a child, she was owned by the Outlaws gang, tattooed as their possession. Ever since the night a woman named Angie freed her, they ran and hid, not keeping the same car or staying in the same location for too long. But, Emilee realizes she grew too comfortable and too close to people in Henderson, outside of Las Vegas. The fire causes her to take off again, but she’s caught on tape killing a gang member who recognized her as property.
One person Emilee grew too comfortable with is A.J. Ward, part of the Ward family that owns Ward’s Outdoor Adventures. A.J.’s uncle, Calvin, worries Emilee knows too much about his sideline businesses of taxidermy and body parts. He wants to eliminate the threat to his livelihood and the family.
Body Zoo turns into a wild hunting trip in the wilderness of Utah, a hunting trip with humans as the prey. Calvin and an employee may seem kind on the surface, but it doesn’t take long for Jim Bean to be aware he can’t really trust anyone except a few eccentric friends.
A friend of mine loved Body Zoo. Readers really need to try the series for themselves. Harvesting of body parts, like the Mexican drug cartels, is a theme that just doesn’t capture my attention anymore. And, as one novelist after another focuses on human trafficking, I’m beginning to feel the same. It’s not that I’m heartless. I just tire of overused themes that no longer offer surprises.
J.D. Allen’s website is https://jdallen-books.com/
Body Zoo by J.D. Allen. Severn River Publishing, 2021. ISBN 9781648750960 (hardcover), 370p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I read a .PDF for a journal.
I’m with you about the overused themes.
I just get so tired of the same themes, Glen.
Amen. Peter Robinson, for one, needs to move past the trafficking story lines. I know it’s a real, serious problem in the world, but to me, it isn’t entertainment and I don’t want to read about it anymore.
AMEN!
There are some themes that work, over and over, just read a few novels by Ross Macdonald. But abuse of children, in any way, is an absolute NO for me, as is the body part thing. I don’t want to put that in my mind, thank you, so won’t read about it. I wouldn’t touch this book with a 100 ft. stick.
Totally agree. I used to be the biggest fan of Scandinavian crime fiction (now referred to as Nordic Noir) but after so many tired re-hashing of the same themes, I’m just bored with the genre. My advice is to start with the best…Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo and read their ten titles. Then, move onto Henning Mankell’s work and follow Wallander’s exploits. These authors offer original plots with developed characters. After them, maybe a little Ake Edwardson and Arnaulder Indridason. After these authors, you’ll find repetitive themes, poor translations, and storylines filled with blood, guts and gore. Enough already.
I read Maj Sjjowall and Per Wahloo years ago when he was still alive. You’re right. They were wonderful. I always wonder about translations, Ed. Are they really as dull as I sometimes find them, or is something missing in translation?
I think translations are sometimes aimed at a different audience. Often times British idioms crop up or I feel an editor has not reviewed the text. I sometimes think “Nobody here in the States speaks like that or uses that phrase”. It doesn’t make sense in “normal” conversation. Are there more readers in the UK into Nordic Noir than in America? I can’t believe it. Maybe the publishers need an American English translation.