Review: Character Assassination
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 1, 2014
Jake Scarne and Alton Rhode are the headline acts in Two Toxic. Interesting to see how these two detectives are evolving in De Maria’s telling of Siren’s Tears and The Viron Conspiracy. Jake holds back in considering a case, but when he accepts it he pushes through to the end, eliminating anyone who gets in his way. Alton is more laid back, very slow to catch on and dependent on an extremely wide group of contacts to help him solve his case. Note to Hollywood: Siren’s Tears, with lots of subplots, is going to be expensive to produce. While combined into one book, these two tales are best read at separate intervals and perhaps with others starring the same detective. De Maria is so prolific, a reader will have many chances to get to know either Jake Scarne or Alton Rhode well and anticipate what cases De Maria will toss their way next