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Minneapolis detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are bored--ever since they solved the Monkeewrench case, the Twin Cities have been in a murder-free dry spell, as people no longer seem interested in killing one another. But with two brutal homicides taking place in one awful night, the crime drought ends--not with a trickle, but with an eventual torrent. Who would kill Morey Gilbert, a man without an enemy, a man who might as well have been a saint? His tiny, cranky little wife, Lily, is no help, and may even be a suspect; his estranged son, Jack, an infamous ambulance-chasing lawyer, has his own enemies; and his son-in-law, former cop Marty Pullman, is so depressed over his wife's death a year ago that he's ready to kill himself, but not Morey. The number of victims--all elderly--grows, and the city is fearful once again.

The detectives' investigation threatens to uncover a series of horrendous secrets, some buried within the heart of the police department itself, blurring the lines between heroes and villains. Grace MacBride's cold-case-solving software may find the missing link--but at a terrible price.

Filled with intelligent, well-drawn characters; sparkling, snappy dialogue; and razor-sharp plotting, P.J. Tracy's stylish, high-voltage new nail-biter will have readers on the edge of their seats.

I want to get this disclaimer out of the way. This was a good book. I did like it. I have listed it as "Don't Read" instead of "Read" because I think though it was good, you might want to read something else.

P.J. Tracy is the pen name for a mother-daughter writing team. Live Bait is their second novel. One time awhile back I happened to be perusing this internet I've heard so much about and came across a recommendation. It read something to the affect of: If you have read all of Jeffery Deaver's books and want something along the same lines to keep you entertained until he releases another, try Monkeewrench by P.J. Tracy. I will try to dig up that review for you as it was written sometime in 2004 B.B. (Before Blog). Monkeewrench, though better than Live Bait, is still not as good as Deaver F.Y.I.

Live Bait, as the description states is surely "filled with intelligent, well-drawn characters"; so much so that there is just too much to juggle. Maybe I had too much on my mind due to the holidays, but I feel that the author(s) tried to track too many characters. You are not only introduced to, but also get at least a quasi-intimate knowledge of detectives Magozzi and Rolseth, the entire Monkeewrench software team (4 people), Marty Pullman and Jack Gilbert. This happens while you try to follow the story of 4 local murders and potentially dozens more world-wide.

Many authors write a book or two, establish themselves in the industry and then develop their serial character (Patterson - Alex Cross, Sanford - Lucas Davenport, Evanovich - Stephanie Plum, Connelly - Harry Bosch, Cussler - Dirk Pitt to name a few), Tracy has made the choice to begin with said character, or in this case characters. From Monkeewrench to Live Bait we see the continuation of 6 different people. Live Bait ends as the 6 characters are established further, readers know there will be a third book and the third book will follow the same 6 people.

The book is 340 pages long. I very much enjoyed the final 70 pages of the book. The first 270 seemed to be more of a jumbled mess than anything else. It was a unique story, another plus; however back to the "Don't Read" stamp on this book, it just took too long to get rolling for me to recommend it to you. If you are more patient than I (I don't set the bar too high) maybe you could enjoy this book more than I did.

Buy Live Bait $16.29

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