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American Crow
'American Crow' is a fast-paced thriller, following street-hardened London tracer, Sibelius Blake. In this, the first inaugural thriller of the new 'Missing Series' Blake must head to the mountains of Kentucky to find a missing teenager, must undertake a road trip of redemption if he's going to come out the other side and bring the girl back alive! For more details check out jacklacey.blogspot.com or www.jacklacey.co.uk
322 pages, ebook
First published September 10, 2013
19 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
Jack Lacey
3 books126 followersI worked as a freelance journalist in the 90's in London writing about alternative health & the environment, then embraced fiction just over 12 years ago and haven't looked back!
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 14, 2013
brilliant, loved Blake, great character, felt for him all the way through, love it when a book transports you into the story and this one certainly did, you must read it!
October 11, 2013
Move over Rebus, here comes Blake…
Detective fiction is a little like drinking wine: there is a lot around and everyone has their favourite. When something new comes on the market, the drinker or the reader, looks longingly to their favourite brand or book and says, "I hope the new one is like the old one..." It's not an exact science of course: there is a chemistry to it. The reader can like a new detective story, and then the reader can love a new detective story.
I am a fan of detective stories. I began with Agatha Christie back when I was eleven. I read Sherlock Holmes and moved onto the feminist detectives in the early eighties. It's a little hard to define what I like: sometimes I think that reading anything is really a love story and so is undefinable, but....
I picked up American Crow by Jack Lacey and was hooked. I love American Crow. The character of Sibelius Blake is strongly written and interesting. Blake’s back story comes out through the novel. The plot ending ties beautifully with the beginning: it is very well structured.
When we first meet Blake, he has just quit his job as a tracer after having suffered a tragedy. He is alone. Sibelius Blake comes from a long line of detectives who have issues: Dalziel of Dalziel and Pascoe, and Inspector Morse from Colin Dexter, are recent versions. We like these wounded detectives for their peculiarities (their cryptic crosswords, their drinking, and their morose moods) because they fight for the truth. They are right, despite the odds, and they are good at heart. Blake is cast in this mould: despite telling “everyone he'd quit for good”, Lenny, his boss, can still track him down and know that Blake will find Olivia Deacon, or if he can't, do his darnedest.
This is search and find detective fiction: we aren't looking at bodies as in the Cornwell/Scarpetta type of novel. Rather, we are searching for something lost, in this case a person. This search serves as an introduction to a Private Investigator with a great back story. It also gives Lacey scope to show us Blake's ability as a detective. Lenny tells Blake that he can "mix it with the worst, blend in with the riffraff... You know what I mean? You're not some stiff Columbo type in a mackintosh.... That' why you gets results."
Like a large number of his kind (Millhone and Dalziel) Blake is alone, without family. The reasons for this makes a really interesting plot line which is well structured and kept me reading. It resolved itself well at the end and, along the way we are introduced to an interesting mix of minor characters: the cafe owner, Blake's boss Lenny, Lenny's family members, and an odd, and occasionally, scary bikie and truck driver. I felt that, not only were these minor characters well drawn, but also that a number of they had good scope for further stories. I'd be interested to know what happens to them, to see what other meals Blake has at Sheila's cafe.
Place is important in detective fiction: Sherlock Holmes's London, Agatha Christie's drawing rooms. In the modern stories the city is the backdrop: Ian Rankin's Rebus novels are set in Edinburgh, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone drives the streets of Santa Theresa in California. Blake is an English PI, based in London, but American Crow, as its name suggests, takes Blake to various parts of the US. The novel sends Blake from place to place, searching. This is an excellent metaphor for the personal search that Blake is on. He doesn't like England; he doesn't like himself. The various locations in American Crow make interesting backdrops: Essex is wet, with rain hammering down, St James's Park in London has inquisitive ducks, Cedar Avenue is a dilapidated tower block. These places reflect the journey that Blake is going on to find Olivia Deacon. As the locality changes, so does the mood of the novel.
Travel to the US allows Lacey to explore another aspect of the detective novel: the reason, the meaning, the social issue. This is an interesting aspect of the modern detective novel: the awareness of social issues: feminism, the environment, class. Unlike modern fiction, modern detective novels often declare their vision. In the U.S., both Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky are feminist detective writers. Their characters are feminist and the stories are seen through an avowedly political prism. American Crow does not tackle gender, but it does discuss the environment, environmental activism and various concerns including the role of the company, political activism, individual and corporate responsibility. This environmental theme isn't done in any high handed way: it is integral to the plot and the action follows.
Although American Crow's primary focus is not gender, the female characters in the novel are interestingly drawn and there is a varied range of roles and actions for various women. The women are activists, scientists, researchers, victims, agents, and some play different roles at different times.
Detective fiction requires certain constraints: there's usually a baddie as well as a goodie. The male characters in American Crow are less inclined to be good, excepting of course, our hero and a couple of his friends. Overall, though, I found the characters compelling and believable.
The setting of this novel is terrific. Who will Blake meet? Where will he go? Will he use his contacts or his wits? I couldn't wait to turn the pages and to find out what Blake would do in order to find Olivia Deacon. The characters are intriguing, and the social issue of environmentalism adds depth. Like many great detective novels, I finished it really quickly and I can't wait for Jack Lacey to write the next instalment. American Crow is very highly recommended and I am happy to rate it as 5 out of 5 stars!
Detective fiction is a little like drinking wine: there is a lot around and everyone has their favourite. When something new comes on the market, the drinker or the reader, looks longingly to their favourite brand or book and says, "I hope the new one is like the old one..." It's not an exact science of course: there is a chemistry to it. The reader can like a new detective story, and then the reader can love a new detective story.
I am a fan of detective stories. I began with Agatha Christie back when I was eleven. I read Sherlock Holmes and moved onto the feminist detectives in the early eighties. It's a little hard to define what I like: sometimes I think that reading anything is really a love story and so is undefinable, but....
I picked up American Crow by Jack Lacey and was hooked. I love American Crow. The character of Sibelius Blake is strongly written and interesting. Blake’s back story comes out through the novel. The plot ending ties beautifully with the beginning: it is very well structured.
When we first meet Blake, he has just quit his job as a tracer after having suffered a tragedy. He is alone. Sibelius Blake comes from a long line of detectives who have issues: Dalziel of Dalziel and Pascoe, and Inspector Morse from Colin Dexter, are recent versions. We like these wounded detectives for their peculiarities (their cryptic crosswords, their drinking, and their morose moods) because they fight for the truth. They are right, despite the odds, and they are good at heart. Blake is cast in this mould: despite telling “everyone he'd quit for good”, Lenny, his boss, can still track him down and know that Blake will find Olivia Deacon, or if he can't, do his darnedest.
This is search and find detective fiction: we aren't looking at bodies as in the Cornwell/Scarpetta type of novel. Rather, we are searching for something lost, in this case a person. This search serves as an introduction to a Private Investigator with a great back story. It also gives Lacey scope to show us Blake's ability as a detective. Lenny tells Blake that he can "mix it with the worst, blend in with the riffraff... You know what I mean? You're not some stiff Columbo type in a mackintosh.... That' why you gets results."
Like a large number of his kind (Millhone and Dalziel) Blake is alone, without family. The reasons for this makes a really interesting plot line which is well structured and kept me reading. It resolved itself well at the end and, along the way we are introduced to an interesting mix of minor characters: the cafe owner, Blake's boss Lenny, Lenny's family members, and an odd, and occasionally, scary bikie and truck driver. I felt that, not only were these minor characters well drawn, but also that a number of they had good scope for further stories. I'd be interested to know what happens to them, to see what other meals Blake has at Sheila's cafe.
Place is important in detective fiction: Sherlock Holmes's London, Agatha Christie's drawing rooms. In the modern stories the city is the backdrop: Ian Rankin's Rebus novels are set in Edinburgh, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone drives the streets of Santa Theresa in California. Blake is an English PI, based in London, but American Crow, as its name suggests, takes Blake to various parts of the US. The novel sends Blake from place to place, searching. This is an excellent metaphor for the personal search that Blake is on. He doesn't like England; he doesn't like himself. The various locations in American Crow make interesting backdrops: Essex is wet, with rain hammering down, St James's Park in London has inquisitive ducks, Cedar Avenue is a dilapidated tower block. These places reflect the journey that Blake is going on to find Olivia Deacon. As the locality changes, so does the mood of the novel.
Travel to the US allows Lacey to explore another aspect of the detective novel: the reason, the meaning, the social issue. This is an interesting aspect of the modern detective novel: the awareness of social issues: feminism, the environment, class. Unlike modern fiction, modern detective novels often declare their vision. In the U.S., both Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky are feminist detective writers. Their characters are feminist and the stories are seen through an avowedly political prism. American Crow does not tackle gender, but it does discuss the environment, environmental activism and various concerns including the role of the company, political activism, individual and corporate responsibility. This environmental theme isn't done in any high handed way: it is integral to the plot and the action follows.
Although American Crow's primary focus is not gender, the female characters in the novel are interestingly drawn and there is a varied range of roles and actions for various women. The women are activists, scientists, researchers, victims, agents, and some play different roles at different times.
Detective fiction requires certain constraints: there's usually a baddie as well as a goodie. The male characters in American Crow are less inclined to be good, excepting of course, our hero and a couple of his friends. Overall, though, I found the characters compelling and believable.
The setting of this novel is terrific. Who will Blake meet? Where will he go? Will he use his contacts or his wits? I couldn't wait to turn the pages and to find out what Blake would do in order to find Olivia Deacon. The characters are intriguing, and the social issue of environmentalism adds depth. Like many great detective novels, I finished it really quickly and I can't wait for Jack Lacey to write the next instalment. American Crow is very highly recommended and I am happy to rate it as 5 out of 5 stars!
November 8, 2013
This is no ordinary thriller, I was captivated from the beginning, loved the style, the pace, the main character and his escapades along his road-trip case. I was thoroughly engaged throughout, then there was a part of the book that hit me hard, there was a part I was not expecting and it really grabbed me, so much so that I couldn't stop thinking about it all day at work, like what I had read was completely real, I was so hit by what happened I kept having to remind myself that it wasn't real!
A truly enjoyable read and really refreshing too. Refreshing because there were some very cool unexpected turns, and I kept thinking throughout that this could easily be converted into a great film... a film unlike other thrillers whereby the protagonist does thing that you don't ordinarily see in similar films, American Crow really has somethinng different/unique, something with real charm.
Hugely recommend if you are looking a read that captivates, draws you in deep, and then leaves you very satisfied at the end, happy with the conclusion, but still wanting just that little bit more.
A truly enjoyable read and really refreshing too. Refreshing because there were some very cool unexpected turns, and I kept thinking throughout that this could easily be converted into a great film... a film unlike other thrillers whereby the protagonist does thing that you don't ordinarily see in similar films, American Crow really has somethinng different/unique, something with real charm.
Hugely recommend if you are looking a read that captivates, draws you in deep, and then leaves you very satisfied at the end, happy with the conclusion, but still wanting just that little bit more.
November 30, 2013
‘American Crow’ is a roller coaster adventure into the unknown… Well written, with an ebb & flow that rivals ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. Blake, a finder of missing persons, finds himself across the pond and up a creek while trying to locate a missing young woman. Clue after clue twists and turns the story as he unravels her whereabouts, all the while battling his own demons. Blake is a complex character with a past searching for redemption in a world that seems to always leave him in the proverbial dust. ‘American Crow’ hooked me in the beginning, charging through the middle, and teary-eyed at the last page wanting to know where Blake was going to end up next. Expect the unexpected from writer Jack Lacey in his first book in ‘The Missing’ series. Hopefully he writes many more. Lacey is destined to become crime/thriller novel royalty.
February 6, 2015
This story is about a weary British P.I. tracking a London teen who's gone missing in the Appalachian mountains of America. Our P.I. is a tragic guy with one name, Blake. I like him. Even though Lacey doesn't let us get too close. It's all about the mission to Blake, and he is exceptional at rescuing kids. He painfully considers that likely since he couldn't rescue his own. Lacey's use of over mining, a serious ecological controversy in our eastern mountain ranges, is sensitive and compelling. The London girl who Blake seeks has fallen for an eco-activist and they've gotten too close to nefarious corporate secrets… Lacey is an emerging fiction talent and he spins a great story. Enjoy the superior entertainment and get acquainted with a new P.I. in town.
December 7, 2013
Blake is a 'tracer' - someone who makes his living looking for missing people who may not want to be found. At the start of this novel - hopefully the first in a series - he suffers a personal loss which leads him to turn his back on his chosen career. Not for long, though - the chance to trace a missing girl who reminds him of his daughter and take his mind off his own problems is just too good to resist: Within a few chapters we're with Blake as he's smuggled back into America (where there's a warrant out for his arrest from one of his previous cases) for a fast-paced and often surprising adventure I really enjoyed reading.
December 30, 2015
I'm all for a good crime/thriller/suspense story, but I'm finding this one a bit tough to complete. No, it has nothing to do with this being a man' novel. I've read and do own some of them. Ignoring the fact that it seems the editor didn't do their job or the author might not have used one, I can't quite put my finger on why I'm having trouble finishing this book. If I do manage to finish it, I'll add to this review. But for the time being, I'm marking it as completed to get it out of my reading list.
April 17, 2014
Really enjoyed this first book in the Missing series. Straight away I loved the lead character and the trouble that just seemed to find him. I couldn't help but keep turning page after page long after my eyes had tired.
So looking forward to the next book in the series, think I have found myself another anti-hero to follow in the steps of Harry Hole and Jack Reacher.
So looking forward to the next book in the series, think I have found myself another anti-hero to follow in the steps of Harry Hole and Jack Reacher.
February 28, 2014
American Crow was very well written. This book kept my attention and drew you into the story about a runaway that went terribly wrong. Truly brings to light how bad the mining is in the south and how it really can hurt the mountains and beautiful life around it.
November 1, 2013
Great book! This is a must read. I am really hoping this is going to be a series. I want more Blake.
January 21, 2015
Great story, was a bit taken aback with all the spelling/grammatical errors...Maybe the kindle version isn't edited?
December 13, 2013
Good book - sometimes the American characters spoke with British words and phrases = distracting but I suppose if I wrote a book situated in England the limeys might say "y'all" ! ! !
March 10, 2017
Gripping and pacey from start to finish. Characters, settings and motivations all top-notch, and I'd love to see more from this author. Buy it!
August 9, 2015
Really enjoyed it and will be looking for other books by this author.
February 8, 2020
I decided to try this because it was free - But thought it held its own against some of the big names (Lee Child/Dean Koontz etc) pretty well. The story maintained interest throughout though i didn't feel any great sympathy with any of the main characters. It was reasonably well edited for an independent but there are a few typos (or rather sentences with the odd word missing) which could do with sorting out. So overall - not bad, I might read something else by this author
July 19, 2015
Good Story, good characters, But,....
I enjoyed the plot, and liked the characters well enough, but, I felt like the writer was trying a bit too hard to make the protagonist's language adhere to British slang. For example, every time he (the Hero), could have said, "looked", "glanced", "spotted", "noticed", he instead used the word "Clocked", which I've never heard a British,Australian, or any Commonwealth personage in that context. I found that more annoying than informative. Aside from that, I really liked the pathos, the environmental urgency of Strip mining in the Appalachian Mountains, and the character's toughness in the face of impossible odds against him.
I enjoyed the plot, and liked the characters well enough, but, I felt like the writer was trying a bit too hard to make the protagonist's language adhere to British slang. For example, every time he (the Hero), could have said, "looked", "glanced", "spotted", "noticed", he instead used the word "Clocked", which I've never heard a British,Australian, or any Commonwealth personage in that context. I found that more annoying than informative. Aside from that, I really liked the pathos, the environmental urgency of Strip mining in the Appalachian Mountains, and the character's toughness in the face of impossible odds against him.
May 26, 2014
What makes me really crazy, other than poor proof-reading/editing, is when a British author takes a character to the States and everyone is still speaking Brit-speak. NOT.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews