Fear Will Do It

Cooper MacLeish #2

by Sam Reaves

Vietnam vet and Chicago cabbie Cooper MacLeish is drawn, along with his girlfriend, into a deadly blackmail scheme against a brutal pornography czar, and the two find themselves the targets of a cold-blooded enforcer and his sadistic sidekick.

320 pages, Paperback

Published March 15, 1993

About the author

Aka Dominic Martell.

Sam Reaves has written ten novels, most set in Chicago, and co-authored the true crime memoir Mob Cop. Under the name Dominic Martell he writes a European-based suspense series featuring Pascual Rose, and ex-terrorist trying to go straight. Reaves has traveled widely in Europe and the Middle East but has lived in the Chicago area most of his life. He has worked as a teacher and a translator.

Reviews

[James Thane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cooper MacLeish is a Vietnam vet who is now content driving a cab in Chicago. He's in love with a woman named Diana Froelich and, all in all, life is good. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, an old friend of Diana's named Tommy Thorne shows up on her doorstep. The two were lovers a few years earlier when they both worked on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Diana hasn't been completely straight with Cooper when it comes to Tommy and when the two encounter him as they come back to Diana's after a date, Diana simply introduces Tommy as an "old friend."

Tommy insists that he's tired of the island life and wants to try his luck as a musician in Chicago. He'd like to bunk at Diana's just long enough to find a place of his own. Diana agrees and Cooper believes her when she insists that this amounts to nothing more.

But it soon becomes apparent that Tommy has much bolder ambitions than playing the blues in Chicago. He's concocted a scheme to blackmail a Chicago skin mag publisher named Moss Wetzel who apparently committed some sort of indiscretion while visiting the islands. He wants Diana to aid in the scheme, promising to split the payoff with her.

When Diana says thanks but no thanks, Tommy coerces her into helping him by holding over her head evidence of her own youthful indiscretions which neither the cops nor Cooper MacLeish would be very happy to see. But in the end, the whole scheme blows up and Diana and Cooper are now in the crosshairs of some very unpleasant characters.

This is an excellent, fast-paced suspense novel. Reaves has created a number of memorable characters and turned them loose into a very gritty, down-and-dirty story that will keep readers turning the pages well into the proverbial night. This book was first published in 1992, and copies can be a bit hard to find these days, but the search will be well worth the effort.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The blurb on the from from Robert B. Parker said that Reaves worried him leaving the impression that he is that good. I normally pay no attention to such blurbs, but in this case it is correct. Reaves is a better writer than Parker, IMO. I didn't read the first in this series & never felt the lack, but will try to find it now.

The plot was a bit twisty, but I was well enough informed of what was going on & things played out logically, albeit not how I thought they would. Very well done as was all the action. The hero certainly wasn't a wimp, but he wasn't superman, either. He did pretty well & I really enjoyed his thought processes even when I knew they were wrong because I, the reader, had information that he didn't. Reaves did that exceptionally well.

I'll definitely read more by this author.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fifteen or more years ago I read Reaves' "Long Cold Fall" and was surprised at how good it was. I mostly read non-fiction so its been a while since I've delved into this genre but when I ran into Reaves again earlier this year I decided to order all of his books and was impressed to find out how many he has published. I did order all of them and this is the first that I've sat down with as I begin plowing though some lighter fare for a change. The book is good, with appropriate plot twists and a lovely little final skew at the end that filled in what I had earlier considered a hole in the story. It's a potboiler, but its creative and clever with just a slight hint in its references of Reaves' erudite background. If I were not measuring it in my head against my ancient impression of his first novel I may even have rated it higher. But if you enjoy detective novels you should enjoy this one.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars. Written in the early nineties, I really enjoyed the absence of mobile phones and the Internet in both the storyline and the setting. It feels closer to Chandler than anything written (and set) in the last ten years, and in realising it's exactly the kind of thing I was reading the first time round I discover that I am old.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another entry in the Cooper MacLeish mystery series. In this one, Cooper must deal with Diana's old boyfriend coming into to town. Cooper knows he shouldn't be jealous, but the guy is sleeping on his girlfriend's couch, taking up a lot of her time, and Diana is being a little too evasive about things.

Diana has a secret from her past that she'd like to remain secret, and the boyfriend knows it. He's trying to blackmail a local villain and has forced Diana to help him do it.

The problem for everyone is that the villain, a pornographer with his own secrets, would rather eliminate the blackmailers than pay them.

Luckily, Cooper is around to sort things out.

This was an entertaining read. Sam Reaves does a good job of evoking the streets and alleys of Chicago. More important, his cab driving, philosophy reading protagonist is a guy I like hanging around with. Plus, the bad guys are really bad.

All and all, very satisfying.

[Toesnorth's mom]

excellent