Never Fear

I loved this book. Fast paced, great characters, well written. I loved the interaction between the two main characters Alex Dililloi and Harrison. I loved the way it moved and the storyline. This was along the lines of Jonathon Kellerman for me in terms of style and pace. I can't wait to track down some more books from this author.

Thomas Manning is remembered by his daughter Alex as a collage of television images. Her disturbing father never scaled any great career heights, though many said it was something the arresting actor could and should have achieved. Alex was a little girl when he walked out on her and her mother, and the rest of his life is one big unknown to her. She only finds out about the existence of her half-brother with his death. John Manning had tried to contact her on the last day of his life by sending a fax to her office, two pages, only one ever received. As a Lieutenant supervisor of Homicides in Pasadena, the L.A. police owe no favours to Alex and don't budge from their opinion that John committed suicide. John Manning's life, as Alex find out, in many ways ran parallel to her own. He was a private investigator and led a largely solitary life. That last day and the running of a barefoot man down to the banks of the Los Angeles river, to his death, is a mystery Alex needs to be unravel. Seventeen years ago the bodies of three young women were dumped in the very same spot. The press at the time dubbed the killer the "river killer" and it was the one case that the investigating police officer of the time could never let go of. Detective Hazzard is retired now and his prime suspect of the time went on the run, re-surfacing occasionally in the theatre world to disappear again swiftly upon discovery. Alex's father had a history of problems with women, but was he a murderer? Is he murdering still? No doubt used to this method of operation from his career history as a screenwriter, Frost keeps a lot of balls juggling in the air with NEVER FEAR. There is a heck of a lot going on with the summer fires burning down L.A. a residual threat from a killer previously encountered (see the first novel in this series), Alex's dark family history, the serial killings etc. This is very smooth writing and economically presented, considering the novel's complexity. The city of Los Angeles herself plays a very large role in setting the distracted, often melancholic and regretful tone to this read. The ever present threat of mother nature is always out there, simmering away in the background as do the childhood memories Alex as she struggles to sort out their relevance to the current investigation. Even with the large cast of characters, NEVER FEAR is very much a solo woman's effort to exorcise old demons that have driven her life and shaped who she has become. There's a few large plot holes it is best to not to look to deeply into; the everyday doesn't really intrude on Alex Delillo as she investigates down roads already traveled upon by police in previous years. Throw in a possible new relationship, shoddy police work, cover-ups etc and you have one character that is being fired on from all directions. Best thing about NEVER FEAR is that it all never lets up, and it all has relevance. NEVER FEAR is the author's second novel; the first novel,

I've always found Los Angeles the perfect setting for crime novels: the sprawling city of contrasting seediness and glitz, mean streets and the meaner people living in them, plastic Hollywood sleaze mixing with the grit of rundown residential hotels, suntanned surfers and sunburned loners of the eastern high desert. Raymond Chandler started it all and is still the master, Robert Crais does LA best today (though some - not me - would argue Michael Connolly), but give Scott Frost credit - "Never Fear" stacks right in there with the best of LA noir. Alex Delillo is a Pasadena homicide detective who is told that a body found in the LA River is that of her brother. Problem is, Delillo doesn't have a brother - or at least she didn't think so - leading her down a path uncovering the shady past of her long-estranged father, a serial killer of nearly two decades ago, and the obligatory crooked cops of the LAPD. This is an intelligent and complex novel, which, if there is a problem with Scott Frost's second novel, it is the sheer volume of subs, subplots, and distractions. Poor Alex, who's only recently recovering from a psycho's failed attempt to blow up her daughter, must now deal with a dead brother she's never met, a dad who may have been a serial killer, a neurotic mother, while facing down what feels at time like the entire Los Angeles police force. And somebody's trying to kill her - again. Meanwhile, the hills of LA are burning, threatening to take the entire city down. Got all that? So yeah, this is ambitious, but it works, and kept me pretty much glued to the pages to the flaming end. Frost is a screenwriter, and it shows in the rapid pace that doesn't tolerate boredom, delivered in the hip, comfortable style you'd expect from LA. This was my first Scott Frost, but it's good enough for me to go back and check out his well-received debut, "Run the Risk".

The author, Scott Frost, paints a dismal picture of his home town Los Angeles, with the whole novel taking place during one of its notorious outlying fires spurned on by the Santa Ana winds. With this background he writes a credible thriller/mystery that should please most fans of this genre. I didn't feel this deserved a starred review, though it was well written. It just seemed like a good story but with nothing truly exceptional.

Pasadena, California Homicide Chief Detective Alex Delillo remains haunted from when she was five years old and her father, two bit actor Thomas Manning left her mother, brother and her. Her memories of him come more from Nickelodeon reruns though she still has sinister memories just out of focus pertaining to him. Still she has managed to move on burying the baggage. That is until now when she learns that a person she never heard of, John Manning, who just committed suicide, was her half-brother. He apparently shot himself in the head at a spot by the Los Angeles River where almost two decades ago three young women were murdered; the case was remains unsolved. Apparently LAPD interviewed Manning, who was a prime suspect in the River Killings cold case homicides of the three females. When more corpses ate found and her early childhood memories begin to lucidly focus on her abusive father, Alex concludes that he is back with a vengeance. NEVER FEAR is an exhilarating complex crime tale that effortlessly merges a psychological thriller within a powerful police procedural. Alex is terrific as the center holding the complex action-paced story line together. Her memories and fears leave her wondering if she is strong enough to face her worst nightmare. Fans will want to read what will be considered by most readers one of the top suspense novels of the year. Readers are recommended to peruse Alex's first appearance too in RUN THE RISK Harriet Klausner