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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2021)
BOOKMONGER Creepy thriller satisfi es Halloween cravings ‘Echoes of the Dead’ is both mind-boggling and stomach-churning Here’s a creepy thriller for your pre-Hal- loween reading: “Echoes of the Dead.” This is the fourth in a series by Spencer Kope who, in addition to writing fi ction about crime, also works as a crime analyst for the Whatcom County Sheriff ’s Offi ce in northern- most Washington s tate. In this installment, Magnus “Steps” Craig returns as one-third of an elite Special Track- ing Unit for the FBI. He and his colleagues, Special Agent Jimmy Donovan and intelli- gence analyst Diane Parker, are based at a non- descript hangar at the Bellingham airport, but the trio handles tough-to-crack cases around the country. (Their mordant private motto, “We save the ones we can,” reveals that they don’t always bat a thousand.) The Special Tracking Unit gets a call from the director of the FBI who asks them to assist with a missing persons case in the Sierra Nevada. A California congressman and three of his high profi le friends have disappeared without a trace while on their annual fi shing trip. Diane remains behind her computer in Bellingham to analyze data and feed her part- ners the leads she comes up with, while Steps and Jimmy travel south to do the physical tracking — along with tracking of another sort. After a traumatic incident as a child, Steps acquired a type of synesthesia — he charac- terizes it as “a borderline neurotic relation- ship with colors” — in which he can read the aura of individuals, as well as the “shine” they leave behind. But Steps and Jimmy have barely begun their on-the-ground search at the campsite where the missing men were last known to be, when the fi rst dead body shows up — on a park bench in Bakersfi eld, more than an hour to the south. They travel to the morgue to check it out, and discover that the corpse is not one of the men they are looking for, although it is wear- ing the clothes and carrying the ID of one of the missing men. The mystery doesn’t stop there. The body in the morgue had been dead and already buried by a local mortuary several days before the c ongressman and his buddies left on their fi shing trip. As the team digs deeper, they discover that this is only the beginning of several perplexing turns in the case. The author keeps the plot moving at a sat- isfying clip, but reader beware: “Echoes of the Dead” contains some truly gruesome scenes. The scope of the villainy that takes place is both mind-boggling and stomach-churning. If readers take a step back from the relentless pace, they may have questions as to whether all that transpires could be sustained by the perpetrator the author supplies. That said, the protagonists in this story are marvelous — from orange juice-swilling Steps, to the under sung but super-smart Diane, to the aff able local sheriff . Steps’ inner mus- ings (this story is told in the fi rst person) are thoughtful, and the dialogue among characters is snappy and wry. “Echoes of the Dead” won’t be for every- one, but does fi ll the bill for “ooky” Hallow- een reading. The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMi- chael, who writes this weekly column focus- This week’s book ‘Echoes of the Dead, ’ by Spencer Kope Minotaur Books — 320 pp — $28.99 ing on the books, authors and publishers of the Pacifi c Northwest. Contact her at bar- baraLMcM@gmail.com The Liberty Theatre Presents This show has moved to the outdoor courtyard at: RILEY DOWNING, BART BUDWIG, KASSI VALAZZA Thursday, October 21, 2021, 6:00 PM, Free Admission 14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM Fort George Brewery 1483 Duane Street. FREE from 6-8pm. Worried about getting a table? Make a reservation at www.fortgeorgebrewery.com You may know Riley Downing from his work with acclaimed New Orleans combo the Deslondes, or perhaps from his similarly rootsy and wide-ranging catalog of songs with the Tumbleweeds - indeed, the Missouri-based singer-songwriter’s ability to set gripping, evocative narratives within soundscapes that weave together country, blues, folk, r&b, bluegrass, rock, soul and whatever else catches his ear is something that, once you hear it, is hard to shake free from. Same goes for that voice - deep, dusty and drawling, it’s an instrument that can stop you in your tracks with its character and expressiveness, as well as through Downing’s knack for laying out complex emotions in plainspoken, direct language.
