The Deep Dark Descending

July 17, 2017
In Edgar-finalist Eskens’s engrossing fourth Max Rupert mystery (after 2016’s The Heavens May Fall), the Minneapolis police detective has yet to recover from the death five years earlier of his wife, Jenni—struck by a hit-and-run driver, who was never identified, as she was leaving her administrative job at the Hennepin County Medical Center. Drinking too much and running afoul of his higher-ups, Rupert is close to losing his job, the only thing that gives his life meaning. Then D.A. Boady Sanden, a former friend, presents Rupert with evidence that Jenni’s death was no accident. When a case sends Rupert to Hennepin County Medical to interrogate a murder suspect, Rupert takes the opportunity to visit a coworker of Jenni’s, who sets him on a trail toward identifying his wife’s killer. In the end, Rupert must decide what he’s ready to do to obtain his goal: vengeance for Jenni. Eskens relies too heavily on coincidence, but a well-constructed plot and a sympathetic lead will keep readers turning the pages. Agent: Amy Cloughley, Kimberley Cameron Agency.

November 27, 2017
Eskens’s latest novel featuring detective Max Rupert begins with the Minneapolis homicide cop on a frozen lake in Superior National Forest, facing the killer of his pregnant wife. The big question: is he there as lawman or vigilante? Max continues to ask himself that for nearly the whole novel, which recounts his surprising discovery that his beloved wife Jenni’s death was not a hit-and-run accident but a planned assassination. What follows is his fury-driven solo struggle to find the killer. If Eskens’s tense, fast-paced thriller weren’t hard-boiled enough, actor Bray’s hoarse narration, simmering with anger, carries it to into truly suspenseful territory. His Rupert isn’t just a cop gone rogue, he’s almost uncontrollable. There aren’t many notable women in the novel other than Max’s very understanding partner and a pistol-toting Russian who provides assistance. Bray indicates a change in gender with a slight alteration in delivery (and in the latter case, accent) without slowing the novel’s pell-mell progress or softening its hard mood. It’s a lively performance by Bray, who manages to keep the energy up through to the very end. A Seventh Street paperback.