The Mailman

 Welsh-Huggins, Andrewt. The Mailman. New York : Mysterious Press, 2025. Print.

 

First Sentences:

Rachel Stanfield paused, not sure she heard her husband correctly, but wanting as always to give him the benefit of the doubt. Grateful for the distraction of a sound outside, she peered through the kitchen window but saw nothing.  


Description:

But the sound Rachel Stanfield thought she heard in these opening sentences was not an animal nor any other natural cause. It was four thuggish men who break into her house, tie up her and her husband, and demand information from her, Unfortunately, she has no idea what the answers they want are. When one of the men pulls out some special tools to "help her remember," things look completely bleak.

 

Then her doorbell rings. 

 

Thus starts the new thriller by Andrew Welsh-Huggins, The Mailman. It is a whirlwind ride of twists and turns, threatening situations with narrow escapes, mysterious data which good guys and bad guys alike are seeking for differing reasons. And then there is an questionable sum of $20 million that seems to play a part in the adventure.

 

Welsh-Huggins introduces into this environment Mercury ("call me Merc") Carter, an independent delivery man with a packet he wants to deliver to the story's narrator, Rachel. He says he has never missed a delivery before to a client and, despite all obstacles, doggedly does not want Rachel's package to be his first failure. 

So after ringing Rachel's doorbell, he finds himself entering into the aforementioned delicate hostage situation. But Merc conducts himself unexpectedly well despite the dangers to everyone in the room, and the adventure begins.

 

I cannot reveal any more of the plot, but will say that it involves kidnapping, lottery payoffs, some very nasty people, mysteries galore, secret numbers, and some nifty MacGyver-like extractions of various people from some very tight situations. 

There is an overwhelming sense of urgency throughout the book, a foreboding threat of violence and crimes, and touched with a bit of ironic humor as well. But after all, it is a thriller, so if you are not into that kind of scenario, give this novel a pass.

 

But for those of us who enjoy tense encounters, good vs. evil face-offs, impending dire consequences, and impossible last-second escapes, this is definitely the book for you. A great read that will keep you flipping pages long into the night as it did me. It's now in my top 5 thrillers of all time, and that's saying a lot! 

 

Best of all, this is the first book in a new Mercury Carter series, with the next edition to come out later in 2026. Cannot wait to dive into that one as well. 

 

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

Andrew Welsh-Huggins. Fourth Down and Out.

Former Ohio State University quarterback, now turned private investigator, needs to recover a friend's laptop and erase a file. Easy enough, but the trail leads him throughout Columbus, Ohio and eventually Ohio State itself where the people there still won't forget the huge mistake he made decades ago in an important football game.

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 500 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

Hotel Lucky Seven

Isaka, Kotaro. Hotel Lucky Seven. New York: Overlook 2024. Print.

First Sentences:

 

"It's Room 415 right?" Blanket is talking to Pillow, who's walking ahead of her. They're both wearing the beige tops and brown bottoms that constitute the uniforms worn by the cleaning staff at the Hotel Vivaldi, Tokyo.

 

"Exactly. 415. Rhymes with For One Life." 

Description:

Ever since I read Kotaro Isaka's Bullet Train, I have been addicted to his four-book series about quirky Japanese assassins. His newest thriller, Hotel Lucky Seven, continues the dark humor mis-adventures of Nanao, code-named "Ladybug." He is tasked by his superior to perform a simple task: deliver a birthday painting from his daughter to a man in Room 2016 located in the elegant Winton Palace Hotel. What could be easier for the self-described unluckiest assassin in the world? Well, everything.

 

First, the man in the room seems suspicious as to why he is receiving a portrait that is not of him. Nanao also is wary in general due to his profession as a hit man, and thinks this delivery may possibly be some sort of trap to harm him. Sure enough, when Nanao is leaving the room, the hotel man rushes at him with arms outstretched as if to strangle him from behind. But the hotel man trips, falls, and hits his head on a table, killing him. 

 

Was this man another "professional" tasked to kill Nanao or merely surprised by Nanao, and decided to end any possible threat to himself? Ladybug realizes he mis-read the blurry room number on the package as "2010" when it was actually "2016" where the true recipient of the portrait probably awaits. Nanao/Ladybug sees it as just another of his simple tasks unluckily complicated by circumstances, just like on the Bullet Train.

 

And so it starts. Ladybug's mistake and resulting accident occur in the first few pages, but set in motion circumstances that just keep building. While beating a hasty retreat to the elevator and escape, Ladybug rescues a young woman, Kamino, from nefarious pursuers. He learns from her that her pursuers' mission is to kidnap her and then tap into secrets held in her perfect memory that forgets nothing. Especially passwords which someone would rather not have unleashed into the world.

 

Soon the hotel is crawling with assassins on different missions. Many have rather silly nickname, such as the teams of Blanket and Pillow who clean up criminal scenes, and Soda and Cola, the explosive devices experts. Others are more straightforward in their identities: the blowgun-wielding Six and the elderly woman, Koko, who can erase your past and set a person up with a completely untraceable new life. 

 

All these deadly strangers chase after or try to escape each other, like an old film where corridor doors open and shut as occupants look for friends or enemies. While there is certainly some killing and always the threat of death, Hotel Lucky Seven  has a rather dry sense of humor about it, much like a Keystone Kops film as characters miss each other by seconds or are captured, only to reverse fortunes on their antagonists.

 

I admit this kind of scenario is not for everyone. But for anyone who enjoy a thriller with oddball characters with uniquely deadly skills who are trapped in unusual situations, Isaka and his Assassins series of books are definitely for you. Well-written, gripping, unexpected, and overall satisfying, Hotel Lucky Seven is the right kind of read for the adventurous reader.

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:] 

  

Isaka, Kotaro. Bullet Train.   

Unlucky Nanao/Ladybug is tasked with another simple job where absolutely nothing could go wrong. Just board a specific Bullet Train, pick up a suitcase from the rack, and get off at the next station. But unbeknownst to him, that particular suitcase has great value to many people, including a trainload of other assassins who encounter and try to deal with each other and the suitcase without other passengers being alerted. Fascinating. (Previously reviewed here.)

Happy reading.

Fred

 

Click here to browse over 435 more book recommendations by subject or title

(and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader).

 

Locked In

[**Note: Although this book, Locked In, is great on its own. I strongly suggest you first read the first Department Q book, The Keeper of Lost Causes (previously reviewed here) as there are spoilers here which involve characters, situations, clues, and references from previous cases. If not, no problem. Locked In stands on its own very well.  FR]

Adler-Olsen, Jussi. Locked In. New York: Dutton. 2024. Print.

First Sentences:

The predicament in which Carl now found himself reminded him of childhood, of the moment when its haze of innocence had been cruelly and definitively lifted. When, for the first time, he had come to see everything a little too clearly, to feel the sting of lies. It was the experience of injustice burning itself into his cheek after an unearned slap.

 

Description:

In the opening chapter of Jussi Adler-Olsen's Locked In, Danish homicide detective Carl Morck finds himself in handcuffs while being driven to the "bleak, mammoth" Vestre Prison. He and his Department Q team, assigned to work on a cold murder case, had just successfully investigated and stopped the person responsible for a brutal crime spree involving nail guns, kidnapping, and other atrocities. 

But instead of congratulations, Morck is heading to prison. His crime? A long-forgotten suitcase was found in his attic containing copious amounts of drugs and cash, with Morck's fingerprints on the bills. Years ago, Morck had agreed to hold that suitcase for his partner who was relocating his residence. Unfortunately, this partner was killed and Morck eventually forgot about the suitcase. Morck never had any knowledge of what was in the case, assuming it to be clothing and personal property of his partner.

Now, he is thrown into a prison full of men whom he had been instrumental in solving their crimes and putting them behind those same bars. Worse, for some unknown reason, Morck is not put into a protective solitary area, making his life vulnerable to any attack. Communication with his department, family, and friends is completely cut off.

Survival is key. Will he be able to fight off any attackers inside the prison? Can his team figure out what is going on, and who is behind the program to imprison and potentially kill him? And why, after his years of dedicated service on the Danish police force, is Morck accused of corruption?

This plotline revisits several ancient Department Q cases, especially the nail gun murder spree that left one of Mork's partners dead (the man with the suitcase) and one partner paralyzed by a bullet in a police raid gone wrong. Morck has carried the guilt from that raid and the results because he hadn't pulled his gun out in time to stop the criminals from shooting his friends.

Slowly, painstakingly the Danish police, Department Q, and others work on Carl Morck's situation, some trying to free him and others seeking to hold him responsible for corruption, drug-dealing, and other criminal activities. All the time, Morck sits locked in to his prison cell, unable to defend himself much less get to the bottom of the accusations.

It's a gripping, thrilling, and twisty-turny police procedural, one that is unusual because the Danish force is investigating one of their own stars. I loved it as one of those novels not easily put down, grabbing a few pages to read during any moments of free time.

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

  

Adler-Olsen, Jussi. The Keeper of Lost Causes.   

Carl Morck, the crusty Danish police homicide detective, is banished downstairs to form a one-man, unsolved crime division, Department Q, where he will be buried in impossible cases. He is immediately involved in a missing woman case. This is the first in the Department Q series. Clever, powerful, sometimes violent, and always totally engrossing. 

Happy reading. 

Fred

Click here to browse over 490 more book recommendations by subject or title

(and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader).

Safe Enough

Child, Lee. Safe Enough. New York: Mysterious Press. 2024. Print.

First Sentences:

 

Like everything else, the world of bodyguarding is split between the real and the phony. Phony bodyguards are just glorified drivers, big men in suits chosen for their size and shape and appearance, not paid very much, not very useful when push comes to shove, Real bodyguards are technicians, thinkers, trained men with experience....I am a real bodyguard. Or at least, I was. 

Description:

If ever an author epitomized my First Sentence Reader philosophy, it is Lee Child, creater of the twenty-nine books in the Jack Reacher series. His writings, from the first sentence on, pull readers inexorably onward from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph, page to page right up to the end. His ear for dialogue and inner thoughts are smooth and realistic, lending a believable persona to each of the people who populate his books. While some readers may not be fans of violence, Child handles these tricky encounters with straightforward descriptions that, while they never dwell on the overly-graphic, are descriptive enough to paint a picture that plants readers right smack dab in the middle of the mind and emotions of the protagonista.

His newest book, Safe Enough, is a collection of his published short stories, and not a one is about Jack Reacher. But no matter. Each story is riveting right from the start and up to the end. You simply cannot put them down until they are finished. Child finishes each tale with an unexpected (for me) twist, giving these tales the air of a Saki-Hitchcock-Spillane collaboration.

His stories were told by characters such as:

• A bodyguard who himself needs a protector;
• An assassin who likes to double-dip his protection fees by offering his target the opportunity to knock off the person who wants them killed;
• An investigator working on a crime on Baker Street near Sherlock Holmes fictional lodgings;
• A courier carrying a briefcase possibly full of money, but unable to be arrested in case he is innovent;
• A Black jazz piano player with a mysterious past;

I simply ate them up, every one of them, in two short sittings. Great characters, enticing stories, smooth writing, and unexpected twists and turns. Who could want more in a book perfect for passing short periods of time in the world of crime and mystery? Highly recommended.

 

 [If this book interests you, be sure to check out:] 

  

Child, Lee. The Killing Floor.   

Introduction to the Jack Reacher character: loner, ex-Military Police, 6' 6' of muscle, wandering the country with just a toothbrush and a desire to find the truth. Each one in the series is tremendous although contains some violence: brilliant read s for character, dialogue, and story.

Happy reading.

Fred

 

Click here to browse over 435 more book recommendations by subject or title

(and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader).

 

The Fix

 Baldacci, David. The Fix. New York: Grand Central Publishing. 2017. Print.

First Sentences:

It was normally one of the safest places on earth. But not today.

Description:

OK, I admit it. I am a huge fan of David Baldacci's Amos Decker character, the ex-policeman/football player with the perfect memory. Having nothing to read that could quite match the intensity of the brilliant 787-page The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes that I had just finished, I returned to my old reliable crime-solver, Amos Decker in Baldacci's The Fix. This is the third book in the 7-book Amos Decker detective series, the crime-solver introduced in Memory Man, the first (and in my mind the best in the series), and then the second book, The Last Mile. The Fix, I found, was a fine chaser to my Amos Decker thriller binge reading.

In the first four pages of The Fix, Decker is walking in front of the J Edgar Hoover building, home to the FBI, heading to a meeting. Several yards ahead, he notices a well-dressed man, Walter Dabney, walk up to a woman, Anne Berkshire, pull out a gun and shoot her in the head. Then, before Decker could intervene, Dabney put his gun under his chin and shoot himself.

Wow, what a start. Two deaths, sudden, intentional, in front of the FBI Headquarters, and  with memory-perfect Decker as an eye-witness.  Seems an easy case. But the only question is who were these two people? Why did Dabney kill Berkshire? And why did he choose the very public FBI building for this action?

Not much to go on, but Decker is roped into the investigation of these questions mainly due to one other minor point. The FBI has intercepted messages that very soon there will be a terrorist act on the magnitude of 9/11. And it is scheduled to take place sometime very soon. Where, when, how, and by whom are a new set of questions. Could these recent shootings and terrorist threat somehow be linked?

Slowly, slowly, Decker and his partners on the FBI investigation team, uncover tiny nuggets of interesting information that may or may not contribute to these investigations. As they peel back layers based on new discoveries, the two cases become more and more unclear. Rather

than getting closer to a solution, Decker and his team feel increasingly confused with the disjointed information.

And the day of the terrorist event is rapidly approaching.

Highly recommended for readers who love to watch detailed crime procedure, grapple with tiny clues, and then try to puzzle out for themselves who is telling the truth and who is involved in these events up to their necks. The Fix, through Baldacci's terse writing and dialogue, encourages readers to immerse themselves and binge read until their eyes droop. But what a pleasant way to stimulate your mind and wear out your eyes.

 

P.S. If you are new to the Decker series, start with the first and second books, Memory Man and The Last Mile to get some background on Decker and his partners, The Fix can clear up their backstories on its own, but it is more satisfying to start at the series' beginning and read the first two equally complex and brilliant Amos Decker books, then dive into The Fix as a dessert.

 

Happy reading. 

 

Fred

 

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Baldacci, David. Memory Man.   

The first book in the Amos Decker mystery/thriller series. Decker, due to a football accident, cannot forget anything: words, pictures, faces, events. After his wife and child are brutally murdered, and even though someone has confessed to the crime, Decker takes on his own personal investigation and uses his perfect memory to identify key clues to unravel the event and find the true killer(s). Highest recommendation. (previously reviewed here)