Review ~ Two Evils by P J Tracy

Michael Joseph (17 Jan 2013)
Monkeewrench #6

Two Evils

by

P J Tracy

In Two Evils, when Native American girls are kidnapped from the reservation on which they live, there seems to be no correlation between them and Grace McBride, a maverick computer analyst, and John Smith a retired FBI agent, who are on board a small boat in the Florida Keys, but with great skill the authors, successfully merge all the various strands of this crime story into a believable and tense narrative. Gino and Magozzi, are the two Minneapolis homicide detectives who feature strongly in the Monkeewrench series, and it is clear that their relationship is a big part of the story and their interaction with each other is one of brotherhood forged by adversity. When they are faced with a series of unexplained execution like killings in a  Minneapolis area known as ‘Little Mogadishu’, they discover that a complicated and malevolent conspiracy is in progress. 

Despite Two Evils being the sixth book in the progressive series of crime thrillers known as ‘Monkeewrench’, it is remarkably easy to follow, although I guess that some of the finer points of the continuing story are missed, if like me you are a newcomer to this mother and daughter writing combination. Without giving away any elements of the plot which is rich and varied, there is a degree of spirituality from the Native American characters which I found interesting, as was the scenic background around Elbow Lake where some of the later action takes place. If I have any criticism of the book it is that the show down finale, when it came seemed more of a damp squib, rather that the trumpet blast I had been expecting, but overall, I thought that the book was well worth reading, and I am now inspired to start at the beginning of the series to see where Monkeewrench began and how it has evolved over time.

4****

My thanks to Real Readers for a review copy of this book.

P.J. Tracy is the pseudonym for the hugely popular mother and daughter writing team P.J. and Traci Lambrecht. 

Monkeewrench aka Want to Play? (2003)

Live Bait (2004)

Dead Run(2005)

Snow Blind(2006)

Shoot to Kill aka Play to Kill (2009)

Two Evils aka Off The Grid (2012/2013)