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Rating: 
Summary: A great beginning...
Review: As a lifelong Arizonan, I am quite naturally biased towards this book. The protagonist, David Mapstone, is an intriguing character, perched as he is between academia and action. Too literal to be a college professor, he is also too intellectual to remain a mere beat cop. The other main character in this novel is the city of Phoenix, Arizona. In many ways, this book reminds me of the Spencer novels by Robert B. Parker. As Parker has done so well with Boston, Jon Talton's description of Phoenix and its history brings to life a community unknown to most readers. Much as I feel that I know Boston after reading the Spencer novels, I feel that readers will have the same feel about Phoenix after reading this book. The plot twist of tying a historical murder to a current one is well done, although some of the loose ends are not tied together as well as could be and the relationship between the murders is not completely explained. All in all though, this is well done book and from the subtitle, hopefully, just the first of a planned series.
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting police procedural
Review: Because he was politically incorrect, Professor David Mapstone failed to attain tenure at San Diego State or obtain a job at his alma mater Arizona State. He return to his hometown of Phoenix to accept a job at the sheriff's office working cold but open cases. He also teaches an American History course at the local college.Maricopa County Chief Deputy Mike Perralta, David's former partner when he worked as a cop, assigns the professor with the 1959 Rebecca Stokes murder. At the same time, David's first girlfriend Julie Riding, who dumped him twenty years, ago asks for his help in finding her missing sister Phaedra. On the Stokes case, David links the murder with four similar killings. When the police find the corpse of Phaedra, David sees the same pattern as he found in the Stokes inquiry. David wonders if the killer is a three-decade old copycat, the original "Creeper" back on line, or an attempt to hide the homicide within a serial investigation? CONCRETE DESERT is an exciting, very entertaining police procedural with a slight twist in that the main character is not a law enforcement official. The story line is fun as the complex David feels genuine and the law enforcement side of the cast provides further depth to his character. Though Julie and the suspects seem two-dimensional, they do not take away from a wonderful investigative tale. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Arid Read Whets your appetite for more...
Review: David Mapstone is a history professor, acting as a deputy sheriff. Or is he a Deputy sheriff acting as a history professor? His old college sweetheart asks him to find her sister. He is working for the Sheriff's department to find the solution to a 40 year old crime. In the dark heat of the night, the two searches merge into a search for David's self. How is personal history measured?
This mystery novel is about questions... unasked, unanswerable and unwritten. Or it could be just a good story with a great character and good sense of place. Keep writing, John!!
Rating:
Summary: A Very Strong Debut--Hope To See More Mapstone Mysteries!
Review: I read a couple of books over the weekend and had a good time with both, but the real find, for me, was Jon Talton's _Concrete Desert_, the debut of his character David Mapstone. Mapstone holds a PhD in history and is in-between academic jobs, working part-time as a deputy for the sheriff's department in Phoenix. His job is to pull old, unsolved cases from the files and see if he can't put together some new leads. At the same time, he's approached by an old girlfriend, to pull some strings and see if he can find a lead on her missing sister. When his search for the sister begins to entangle itself with a 40-year-old unsolved murder, which might have been the work of a serial killer called "the Creeper," Mapstone begins to receive threats on his life. Talton does a great job with setting here, bringing Phoenix and the 100+ degree summer heat to convincing life. Also, the historical research that his detective must do adds a fascinating touch to the novel and allows for quite a bit of comparison between the old city and the new one, which is growing at the rate of an acre of desert being taken over by development every hour. This historical digging into old cases is a neat idea for a fictional detective/mystery series and should lead to many more interesting future novels. Talton also does a good job of creating some background characters, such as Mapstone's boss/mentor, Chief Deputy Mike Peralta, and a love interest, Lindsay Adams, who works in the records department. Both are characters we want to know more about and will, I hope, feature in future David Mapstone mysteries. A very promising debut!
Rating:
Summary: Summer surprise
Review: It's hard to believe Jon Talton is a first-time novelist after sailing through this can't-put-it-down mystery. He handles characterizations of a jobless history professor and a law enforcement professional beautifully, then stirs in his setting in Phoenix and Arizona with equal loving care. The unusual plot, people and place are blended into a winner that, perhaps, can develop into a book series. One easily recognizes that somewhere back in his past Talton had expert tutoring in use of the English language. It shows here in Concrete Desert.
Rating:
Summary: Phoenix - Crime Clouds a Sunbelt City
Review: Not bad for a first novel. Granted, this book will be a shock for innocent Easterners who think of Phoenix (and other Southwestern cities) as clean modern places free of the drugs and street crime that plague old cities of the Rust Belt and East Coast. Fact: most "East Coast" drugs are imported, much through cities such as Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque and El Paso. Fact: along with the smuggling of illegal aliens, drug's are a bloody and heartless business. Fact: Crime in Phoenix is almost double the rate for New York city, and property crime is more than double. Fact: culturally, Phoenix is still a cow town, but now it is also a high crime town. Talton bases his story on these facts, presenting a hard-boiled story of crime and corruption in Phoenix. It is a story that is almost ignored by the daily press, which provides Talton with his day job; Talton is one of the first writers to fictionalize the reality of "the good life" in the sunshine of the Southwest. If you want a up-to-date factual account of the drug business along the US-Mexico border, look up Tucson author Charles Bowden. Supposedly a fourth generation Arizonan, he's sometimes sloppy on easy to check facts, such as asserting Arizona had about 50,000 people when it became a state in 1912. The fact is closer to 200,000 by 1910. He offers a common theme that explosive growth has destroyed the old time atmosphere, apparently unaware that Arizona almost doubled in population in the decade preceding statehood. Yet, this whining about the passing of the "good ol' days" is a prevalent theme, the excuse used by long time residents to justify doing little or nothing about current problems. It's an ideal setting for Talton's fictional investigator, failed history professor David Mapstone who's returned to Phoenix and been hired on a free-lance basis by an old friend in the Sheriff's Office. His job? Investigate old unsolved crimes, and see if he can come up with something new. It provides him with a job as a sworn sheriff's deputy and a license to do pretty much as he wants, including hot-dogging as a lone-wolf investigator of recent murders. The principle villains, of course, are an Iranian immigrant and a corrupt politician. It's a nice bit of politically correct typecasting. The politician is vanquished, of course, but the Iranian villain lives on to generate villainy for future novels. If this sounds strange, keep in mind that of the last four elected governors of Arizona one was impeached and removed from office, another resigned after being indicted for criminal fraud and eventually pardoned by President Bill Clinton, whom he had never failed to denounce while in office. Although the book is fiction, nothing Talton writes about is implausible in Phoenix or Arizona. That's what makes it so interesting; he's a wide-eyed innocent in pursuit of a good story, largely unaware of the cynicism of crime, politics and opportunism in Arizona. After all, too much of a good thing -- or bad thing, as the case may be -- tends to make fiction unreal. Talton manages a nice enough balance to create a fast-paced story. All in all, it's a good introduction to the real Phoenix. The Chamber of Commerce isn't going to like his books; but then, the Chamber and its blindness to problems is one reason the crime rate is so high. Perhaps if Talton can make a series out of these books, he'll generate enough heat and controversy that the police and sheriff's office will make an effort to clean up some of the persistent crime. But then, in Phoenix old timers always found it easier to ignore or cover-up rather than confront problems. Talton, or his alter ego Mapstone, is an exception to that old habit. It provides the foundation for what should be a good series of books, and an intriguing unraveling of the social problems of the area. This book is a good start on what could become a fascinating series. His second book, "Camelback Falls," is even better. Let's hope he continues improving, and that he finds a growing audience interesting in learning about the real Phoenix behind the stucco and red-tile roofed facade of precocious respectability.
Rating:
Summary: Phoenix - Crime Clouds a Sunbelt City
Review: Not bad for a first novel. Granted, this book will be a shock for innocent Easterners who think of Phoenix (and other Southwestern cities) as clean modern places free of the drugs and street crime that plague old cities of the Rust Belt and East Coast. Fact: most "East Coast" drugs are imported, much through cities such as Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque and El Paso. Fact: along with the smuggling of illegal aliens, drug's are a bloody and heartless business. Fact: Crime in Phoenix is almost double the rate for New York city, and property crime is more than double. Fact: culturally, Phoenix is still a cow town, but now it is also a high crime town. Talton bases his story on these facts, presenting a hard-boiled story of crime and corruption in Phoenix. It is a story that is almost ignored by the daily press, which provides Talton with his day job; Talton is one of the first writers to fictionalize the reality of "the good life" in the sunshine of the Southwest. If you want a up-to-date factual account of the drug business along the US-Mexico border, look up Tucson author Charles Bowden. Supposedly a fourth generation Arizonan, he's sometimes sloppy on easy to check facts, such as asserting Arizona had about 50,000 people when it became a state in 1912. The fact is closer to 200,000 by 1910. He offers a common theme that explosive growth has destroyed the old time atmosphere, apparently unaware that Arizona almost doubled in population in the decade preceding statehood. Yet, this whining about the passing of the "good ol' days" is a prevalent theme, the excuse used by long time residents to justify doing little or nothing about current problems. It's an ideal setting for Talton's fictional investigator, failed history professor David Mapstone who's returned to Phoenix and been hired on a free-lance basis by an old friend in the Sheriff's Office. His job? Investigate old unsolved crimes, and see if he can come up with something new. It provides him with a job as a sworn sheriff's deputy and a license to do pretty much as he wants, including hot-dogging as a lone-wolf investigator of recent murders. The principle villains, of course, are an Iranian immigrant and a corrupt politician. It's a nice bit of politically correct typecasting. The politician is vanquished, of course, but the Iranian villain lives on to generate villainy for future novels. If this sounds strange, keep in mind that of the last four elected governors of Arizona one was impeached and removed from office, another resigned after being indicted for criminal fraud and eventually pardoned by President Bill Clinton, whom he had never failed to denounce while in office. Although the book is fiction, nothing Talton writes about is implausible in Phoenix or Arizona. That's what makes it so interesting; he's a wide-eyed innocent in pursuit of a good story, largely unaware of the cynicism of crime, politics and opportunism in Arizona. After all, too much of a good thing -- or bad thing, as the case may be -- tends to make fiction unreal. Talton manages a nice enough balance to create a fast-paced story. All in all, it's a good introduction to the real Phoenix. The Chamber of Commerce isn't going to like his books; but then, the Chamber and its blindness to problems is one reason the crime rate is so high. Perhaps if Talton can make a series out of these books, he'll generate enough heat and controversy that the police and sheriff's office will make an effort to clean up some of the persistent crime. But then, in Phoenix old timers always found it easier to ignore or cover-up rather than confront problems. Talton, or his alter ego Mapstone, is an exception to that old habit. It provides the foundation for what should be a good series of books, and an intriguing unraveling of the social problems of the area. This book is a good start on what could become a fascinating series. His second book, "Camelback Falls," is even better. Let's hope he continues improving, and that he finds a growing audience interesting in learning about the real Phoenix behind the stucco and red-tile roofed facade of precocious respectability.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been a lot better.
Review: Take Los Angeles, take away the beaches, the interesting places and the diversity, but keep the smog, sprawl, and gridlock, the vast barrios and ghettos and the stunning extremes of wealth and poverty, and you've got Phoenix. All the above characteristics have made Los Angeles the setting for many gritty and compelling detective novels. Phoenix has the additional feature of a smaller and much more colorful power elite, including a cadre of hard-right craw-thumping state government politicians, a self-aggrandizing buffoon as a sheriff, and a handful of billionaires who monopolize the narrow, limited local economy. The city has been waiting for a detective mystery that capitalizes on all this material. Sadly, after Talton's novel, it's still waiting. Jon Talton is one of the few moderate journalists at the arch-conservative Arizona Republic, or "Repulsive" as it's affectionately known. He writes passionately about the right-wing ideologues who think government is the source of all evil - even though they are the government - and whose irresponsible tax-slashing and corporate welfare for their business friends, and apathy towards the most basic needs of ordinary people, has left Arizona the Mississippi of the West. Some of these themes make it into "Concrete Desert", but as a detective thriller it just isn't up to scratch. The characters are stick figures, the dialog is frequently thudding, and the story never really comes together or makes sense - it just plods along until it runs out of steam, long after the reader has stopped caring. Much as I like Talton's newspaper columns, I fear the detective thriller is not his genre. I just hope things improve in his second novel.
Rating:
Summary: Universal Issues
Review: Talton's first book is a mystery set in Phoenix, AZ but it is of universal interest in the questions it raises in an underlying theme about the place we are rasied, leave and them return to, only to find it changed. It is an intriguing read, both as a mystery and for the larger questions artfully woven into it.
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