Dirty Diamonds (Hawkman Series)

Rating:
Summary: an easy and fun read
Review: Dirty Diamonds begins with a heart-pounding action scene. The lead character, Jamey absconds with a fortune in diamonds. Jamey is both beautiful and resourceful, a Pam Anderson type with MacGyver-like skills. She manages to elude captors and make her way to a remote town in Oregon. The tension develops as Jamey is unaware that she is being stalked by those who have figured out that she may have the diamonds. When Jamey feels that she is being watched she enlists the help of Tom Casey, alias Hawkman, a hard-boiled private eye, whose past as a federal agent makes him more aware than most in the sleepy little town. Although she decides not to hire Hawkman he ends up being intrigued by the pretty girl with the spitfire temper and decides to conduct his own investigations.

This book offers many of the standard mystery novel features, a beautiful girl in peril, a tough private detective and a set of glittering diamonds that everyone wants to get their hands on. The difference is that it takes place in a small town. While the book could have benefited from more description of the town, author Betty Sullivan La Pierre deserves credit for placing a standard story in a non-traditional setting. Also in the character of Jamey she has taken the step of creating a character who, while not always likable, is compelling to read about. Her greatest creation is Hawkman, an affable, fast-thinking private investigator in the great tradition of others like Robert Parker's Spenser.

The book does suffer from a bit of a pacing problem. The reader often is aware of what will happen next before it does. The set-up for the action scenes can get a bit tedious and there is not enough of a subplot to ensnare readers. Jamey seems to be able to easily stump most of the people she comes across. One wonders why Hawkman would go to the lengths he does to protect her, especially since he is a happily married man and Jamey is involved with another man. But Medford seems to be the type of town where the people look after their own.

Sullivan La Pierre does have a knack for ending a chapter on a tense note. But she often follows up these moments of anticipation with unrelated chapter, which can end up frustrating the reader. Her writing is at its best when she is getting Jamey into and out of tricky situations. The character of Jamey, who usually seems relatively innocuous suddenly turns into a woman capable of fast thinking and daring acts.

This book provides plenty of suspense in its beginning and ending scenes. The reader comes away with a grudging respect for Jamey and a lot of love for Hawkman, the likable investigator who hopefully catches Jamey in the next book in the series!

Rating:
Summary: Great Job
Review: Dirty Diamonds by Betty Sullivan La Pierre is a delightful mix of mystery and romance. Betty has a way of writing that draws you right into the characters. You will love the story of Jamey as she tires to survive until she can be reunited with her lover. Jamey Gray becomes involved with Carl and they plan a diamond heist. Unfortunately Carl is injured and passes of the diamonds to Jamey, who takes off. She has to hide though until she and her real partner/lover can be reunited. She chooses a place hopefully unfamiliar to her friends The adventure begins as Jamey manipulates everyone in the whole story. It is fun to see everyone's reactions the story progresses. You will enjoy the ending. I know it caught me totally by surprise. Have fun reading this one.

Rating:
Summary: Ms. LaPierre Delivers Another One
Review: Jasmine Gray, aka Jamey Schyler, gets herself into deep trouble when she double crosses her thieving boyfriend Carl and runs off with a bag of priceless gems. She believes she's left a cold trail behind her as she flees Oklahoma to a cabin she inherited in the forested area of southern Oregon. She makes a grave mistake, however, when she drops in on Tina, a longtime friend in LA, figuring she can feed her a phony line and divert attention from her real destination. She logs onto a couple of websites while visiting her old classmate, forgetting that a computer user with even minor sophistication can track your online movements and cough up valuable clues as to where you've been - and just maybe where you're going.

Tina's abusive boyfriend discovers these clues and follows Jamey to Medford, where he starts making demands. That's when Jamey turns to PI Tom Casey, nickname Hawkman, rogue good guy sporting an eye patch, for help. With her background, however, she cannot afford to tell him the whole truth, so he tries to help her without having all the facts at his disposal. But Jamey quickly changes her mind, deciding he's too nosey. She tries to disengage him and his attentions, which only makes him more curious. He teams up with his wife Jennifer to tail this peculiar blond looker.

Meanwhile, boyfriend Carl, having recovered from injuries sustained in the jewel heist, takes out after his partner in crime. But Jamey, a veteran dissembler and an incorrigible varlet, manipulates men with a wiggle of her hips. Thereby, she succeeds in enlisting the help of several of the smitten. Hawkman has met a worthy opponent in DIRTY DIAMONDS.

Long-time fans will recognize Richard, the deaf lead character from THE SILENT SCREAM, and of course the falcon Pretty Girl, Hawkman's namesake, and various other citizens of Medford. Reading DIRTY DIAMONDS feels like catching up on the news from home.

As with other of Ms. LaPierre's Hawkman novels, the book is filled with nonstop action. Jamey and her shenanigans will keep you guessing. And there's a nice twist at the end.

© Copyright 2002, Kate Ayers.

Rating:
Summary: Dirty Diamonds
Review: Just how many ways can you say terrific, superb, outstanding, the best, out of this world, etc.? I don't think that the dictionary has enough of these words to describe Ms. LaPierre's Hawkman series. Each and every one of them, from THE ENEMY STALKS up to and including DIRTY DIAMONDS just gets better and better. How is that possible? Especially when they started out even more terrific than you can imagine. But they do, and DIRTY DIAMONDS just proves that.

Every time I open a new Hawkman book, I fall in love with Tom Casey all over again. Tom is known as Hawkman in the beautiful countryside of Oregon where he lives with his wife Jennifer and his falcon, Pretty Girl. Having retired from "the agency" he now keeps busy as a private investigator with offices over a doughnut shop in Medford.

This time Hawkman gets himself involved with a very mixed up, dubious young woman, Jamey Schyler, who has shown up in Medford asking Hawkman to protect her. When Hawkman starts asking questions of her, she freaks out and changes her mind. Soon however it becomes quite evident that something is going on, as her home is broken into, and her kitten almost killed. Still though, she will not come clean with Hawkman, and therefore he becomes very intrigued as to just what in the world is going on with her.

It soon becomes evident that whatever Jamey is involved in, it isn't legal. It is also very dangerous as her ex-boyfriend, Carl Hopkins, who is out to find her, and whatever it is she is hiding. Hawkman is sure that he is not getting the truth out of Jamey, but at the same time feels that if he doesn't keep an eye on her, she is going to end up hurt, or worse yet dead, if Carl does manage to find her.

DIRTY DIAMONDS overflows with action, danger, deceit and a plot that moves so fast that you cannot put it down until you come to that last page. Time fly's as you are reading DIRTY DIAMONDS. You are so engrossed in the story, that you don't even realize it until you read the last sentence and look up and realize the rest of the world has flown by while you were in the world of Hawkman, as he tried to solve yet another puzzle.

Like all of her previous books, Ms. LaPierre has penned another masterpiece. I cannot put into words how absolutely fantastic DIRTY DIAMONDS is. The story is believable, and the characters are very real, with qualities you cannot help but like. You even have to like Jamey, even if she is not quite on the up and up. And then of course there is Hawkman. He is such a wonderful character that you feel like he is a friend. He and Jennifer make a wonderful couple, and you just fall in love with them. They both have personalities that just jump from the pages and grab you. Very real personalities.

I sincerely hope that you get a copy of DIRTY DIAMONDS and find a comfortable place to sit back and relax, because you are not going to believe how caught up in the world of Hawkman you are going to become. As with the previous Hawkman books, Ms. LaPierre has outdone herself again. And I just cannot wait to see what she does with this cast of characters next time. The Hawkman series is that addicting. And so is Hawkman himself.

Rating:
Summary: Dirty Diamonds
Review: Just how many ways can you say terrific, superb, outstanding, the best, out of this world, etc.? I don't think that the dictionary has enough of these words to describe Ms. LaPierre's Hawkman series. Each and every one of them, from THE ENEMY STALKS up to and including DIRTY DIAMONDS just gets better and better. How is that possible? Especially when they started out even more terrific than you can imagine. But they do, and DIRTY DIAMONDS just proves that.

Every time I open a new Hawkman book, I fall in love with Tom Casey all over again. Tom is known as Hawkman in the beautiful countryside of Oregon where he lives with his wife Jennifer and his falcon, Pretty Girl. Having retired from "the agency" he now keeps busy as a private investigator with offices over a doughnut shop in Medford.

This time Hawkman gets himself involved with a very mixed up, dubious young woman, Jamey Schyler, who has shown up in Medford asking Hawkman to protect her. When Hawkman starts asking questions of her, she freaks out and changes her mind. Soon however it becomes quite evident that something is going on, as her home is broken into, and her kitten almost killed. Still though, she will not come clean with Hawkman, and therefore he becomes very intrigued as to just what in the world is going on with her.

It soon becomes evident that whatever Jamey is involved in, it isn't legal. It is also very dangerous as her ex-boyfriend, Carl Hopkins, who is out to find her, and whatever it is she is hiding. Hawkman is sure that he is not getting the truth out of Jamey, but at the same time feels that if he doesn't keep an eye on her, she is going to end up hurt, or worse yet dead, if Carl does manage to find her.

DIRTY DIAMONDS overflows with action, danger, deceit and a plot that moves so fast that you cannot put it down until you come to that last page. Time fly's as you are reading DIRTY DIAMONDS. You are so engrossed in the story, that you don't even realize it until you read the last sentence and look up and realize the rest of the world has flown by while you were in the world of Hawkman, as he tried to solve yet another puzzle.

Like all of her previous books, Ms. LaPierre has penned another masterpiece. I cannot put into words how absolutely fantastic DIRTY DIAMONDS is. The story is believable, and the characters are very real, with qualities you cannot help but like. You even have to like Jamey, even if she is not quite on the up and up. And then of course there is Hawkman. He is such a wonderful character that you feel like he is a friend. He and Jennifer make a wonderful couple, and you just fall in love with them. They both have personalities that just jump from the pages and grab you. Very real personalities.

I sincerely hope that you get a copy of DIRTY DIAMONDS and find a comfortable place to sit back and relax, because you are not going to believe how caught up in the world of Hawkman you are going to become. As with the previous Hawkman books, Ms. LaPierre has outdone herself again. And I just cannot wait to see what she does with this cast of characters next time. The Hawkman series is that addicting. And so is Hawkman himself.

Rating:
Summary: DIRTY DIAMONDS - Wanted
Review: They may be Dirty Diamonds but everyone wants to get their hands on them. So what is it that makes the diamonds so dirty, yet so desirable? In Oklahoma Carl Hopkins learns that a diamond courier is registered in the same hotel in which he and Jamey Cray are staying. Well, what's a respectable thief to do when he knows all those jewels are so close? Naturally, in order to maintain his reputation he's going to rob the courier, in spite of Jamey's trepidations. But things didn't go quite as smoothly as Carl expected. He knew he had given the courier a good, solid hit on the jaw with his brass knuckles, but the courier had a gun and on his way down from the blow managed to get off a shot that ripped through Carl's shoulder. Carl staggers back to his hotel room, shoves the little velvet bags at Jamey and tells her to get out, that he will be alright and will meet her at Rusty's Bar in Amamrillo, Texas, when this all blows over.

Jamey packs up and heads out of Oklahoma. She arrives in Amarillo and checks into a motel with her Visa card. She knows Carl is a computer expert and can track her trip easily on the computer through her use of the card. But wait. The next day she drives through Texas and heads straight for Los Angeles, California, to visit a high-school girl friend, Tina Randolph, with whom she has stayed in touch over the years. Wow, so long Carl, you've been taken, and not for a ride, just left, dropped, with nothing, nada, zilch, and in the hospital with a bullet wound. Jamey is not exactly honest with her lover.

When she arrives at Tina's in Los Angeles, she discovers that things are not all strawberries and cream with Tima either. Tina has a rather nasty tempered boy friend, Nick Albergetti. Jamey didn't stay at Tina's long enough to meet Nick so had no idea what he looked like. But she was there long enough to use his computer to plot out her next travel route. Her next stop is to be Medford, Oregon where she has a little house she inherited from her foster parents, the Schyler's. Mistake one, she should not have planned her route on Nick's computer.

In Medford she quickly becomes Jamey Louise Schyler, a name she knows Carl will not recognize. No one knows about her foster parents, nor does anyone know their name in connection with her. It is not something she talks about, even to her closest friends, nor to her lovers. She finds the house in Medford has been trashed by youths who have left remnants of their pot smoking all over the premises. While she is assessing the damage to the property a man approaches giving his name as Tom Casey, a private investigator who has been keeping an eye on the property. She, of course, informs him in no uncertain terms that he did a lousy job, and shows him all the roach clips and remnants of cigaretter,setc. that the kids had left in the house. Tom is very surprised to hear of the intrusion on her property and gives her his card and tells her to call him if she ever needs help.

After a couple of weeks Jamey is settled in, but is becoming bored, as well as discovering that she need some money. Someone told her about Curly's Bar & Grill. After a talk with Curly she is hired as a waitress, and is happier now that she is becoming acquainted with the town's people. This includes Tom Casey, otherwise known as Hawkman.

Curly has a son named Mark with whom Jamey becomes involved. At least that what Mark thinks.

Jamey is a very clever adversary, and quite adept at using people. And Mark makes a perfect victim and lover for her purposes. But Jamey runs into trouble when she tries to outsmart Nick Albergetti. He is one tough enemy that will not be wooed by her charms.

In this, the fourth Hawkman book of the series, Ms. La Pierre has written a smooth flowing suspense story in which Hawkman meets his cleverest adversary. And to make matters worse for Hawkman's ego it is a woman who seems to be outsmarting everyone. This does not set well with him, but he does hang in there to the end.

This is one of the best thought-out, cleverly-executed plots this reviewer has had the pleasure of reading in a long time. The writing flows perfectly, and the characters are alive and moving. One does associate with them. Ms. La Pierre's talent of coming up with superb plotting is one not to be rivaled. You will miss an excellent suspense story if you pass this one up.