Rating: 
Summary: I must be missing something.
Review: This one was a struggle for me. I never felt like I got to know any of the characters, and thought there were too many of them. The whodoneit was never clearly defined for me. I could not assuredly decide what crime was being solved. It just failed to explode for me. Since it won both an Anthony and Shamus award in 1997 I will give his "Widower's Two Step" a shot later this summer. It got nominated for an Anthony and Shamus and won an Edgar. The setting of the scenes and the Texas atmosphere were well done, but the dialog and characters escaped me. I would rather read James Lee Burke or Robert Crais.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful, Enjoyable, Entertaining, LOVED IT
Review: This was the first mystery book that wasn't just about a brutal murderer or sick person. This was a murder, that wasn't a serial killer, not the kind of thing that would give you nightmares. It was just a normal guy's life mixed in with the capture of his ex-girlfriend. I loved every word of the story, and Robert Johnson was an incredibly clever character! I recommend this book to anyone who has half a sense of humor and the need to read a cleverly put together story that feels like it's coming right from the person's mouth!
Rating: 
Summary: Rick Riordan's new P.I. is a keeper
Review: Tres Navarre, back in San Antonio after ten years in San Fransisco solves his first mystery which begins with the disappearance of his former girlfriend and ends with the solution to the ten year old murder of his father. In the process we get a great tour of San Antonio, lots of action and a pretty good story that keeps you guessing to the end. As a master of tai chi, fluent in spanish and with a PHD in English lit, Tres is a great new character. Riordan's writing, especially the dialogue, is crisp and clean. The characters are well developed and hopefully some, like his mother and friend Ralph, will return in future books. All in all a fast-paced page turner and a lot of fun to read.
Rating:
Summary: This Texan loved it!
Review: What a hoot this was to read. As a Texan, I especially appreciated the "laid back" flavor of this charming and "out there" book. Tres Navarre has enough cowboy in him to be charming and enough intellectual ability to be much more than a cartoonish hero! Imagine a PhD in English who loves cats with peculiar eating habits and spikes his Big Red with good tequila...hard to fathom but tons of fun. Tres gets himself in so much trouble trying to figure out who killed his sheriff-father ten years earlier, but he has a tremendous support system including his aging but gorgeous beatnik mother and his savvy lawyer ex-girlfriend from California. Tres is a complicated man. As soon as I finished this book, I grabbed up The Widower's Two-Step and devoured it as well. Can't wait to read the Last King of Texas. I only noticed a couple of things that didn't ring true, like the mis-spelling of the name of a prominent Texas family from the King Ranch. The Klaybergs referred were actually the Kleburgs, but then maybe Riordan changed the spelling intentionally--don't know--and it doesn't change anything of significance in the story. This was a good read. I recommend Tres Navarre and his friends to everyone with a taste for fun and adventure.
Rating:
Summary: This Texan loved it!
Review: What a hoot this was to read. As a Texan, I especially appreciated the "laid back" flavor of this charming and "out there" book. Tres Navarre has enough cowboy in him to be charming and enough intellectual ability to be much more than a cartoonish hero! Imagine a PhD in English who loves cats with peculiar eating habits and spikes his Big Red with good tequila...hard to fathom but tons of fun. Tres gets himself in so much trouble trying to figure out who killed his sheriff-father ten years earlier, but he has a tremendous support system including his aging but gorgeous beatnik mother and his savvy lawyer ex-girlfriend from California. Tres is a complicated man. As soon as I finished this book, I grabbed up The Widower's Two-Step and devoured it as well. Can't wait to read the Last King of Texas. I only noticed a couple of things that didn't ring true, like the mis-spelling of the name of a prominent Texas family from the King Ranch. The Klaybergs referred were actually the Kleburgs, but then maybe Riordan changed the spelling intentionally--don't know--and it doesn't change anything of significance in the story. This was a good read. I recommend Tres Navarre and his friends to everyone with a taste for fun and adventure.
Rating: 
Summary: Tedious at best
Review: What is all the fuss about? This guy is lame. I was sick of the cliched characters about halfway through the first chapter. Mysteries should make you care whodunit. I didn't care if the cat did it. And that's another thing-the stupid cat.The guy leaves his classy lawyer girlfriend in San Francisco to return to plastic San Antonio for his high school sweetheart. Sure. Then she gets kidnapped by the bad guys and lives. Sure again. Oh yeah. The part about the showdown in the outdoor cantina. I just didn't believe it. There isn't a barrio in the country where this would have happened without about a legion of cops there on-the-double. Believe me. I have been there. A real waste of time. The only thing mysterious is why did I finish this infantile fable? Anyone interested in a real story about a man living in the shadow of his deceased Sheriff father should rent the movie Lone Star. That's a real trip.
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