Parallel Lies

Rating:
Summary: Riding the rails with Parallel Lies by Ridley Pearson
Review: In this recent novel, Ridley Pearson deals with the American railroad system and a search for vengeance. Umberto Alvarez lost his family to death when a train crushed their car at a gated crossing. He knows the Northern Union Railroad is covering up the truth and he wants a public apology for the deaths they caused. Systematically, he has managed to derail freight trains of Northern Union's every six weeks or so as he works to the ultimate destruction of a test of a high-speed passenger carrying train.

Peter Tyler is the investigator for the National Transportation Board and has his own inner demons to deal with. After a long and distinguished police career, Peter met up with a child molester as the creep was bashing the bay's head against the wall. Something snapped deep inside him and Peter began to beat the molester's head against the wall, just like he had done to the baby. While understandable, Peter's actions became part of a media firestorm since the molester was black and Peter was white. In the aftermath, Peter with his reputation savaged in the media, lost his job, his career, his family and is days away from eviction. So, when tossed temporary work to investigate a current derailment, he leaps at the chance and he has to make it work.

The trail will lead him cross country as he discovers the clash between corporate greed, politics and the quest of one man to find vengeance from those who have wronged him. While these are fairly stock characters and Mr. Pearson does not plow new ground that has not been covered better in his other novels, this is still a fairly good read. The action is fast paced and the premise is all too plausible today. For more information on this book as well as his many other books visit his website at www.ridleypearson.com.

Rating:
Summary: This railroad thriller derails coming into the station.
Review: The Northern Union Railroad, one of the largest railroad companies in the country, has suffered from a streak of back luck that would make a statistician's hair stand on end. In the past eighteen months, no fewer than a half dozen of their freight trains have mysteriously derailed. When one of their boxcars is found covered in blood, though, they know that something other than luck is involved.

The Northern Union calls in Peter Tyler, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), to find out just what's going on. It's the first assignment for the former Washington DC homicide detective, and Tyler eagerly jumps on board the investigation, anxious to start over from the premature end of his police career.   

This is not one of Ridley Pearson's finer works.  I have read and enjoyed Pearson's Lou Boldt series in the past, but cannot say the same for this book.  The writing is nothing special, the plot is predictable (thus eliminating any suspense), and the characters are underdeveloped. If you are interested in trains, it's worth a read. Otherwise, I'd pass on buying a ticket for this ride.

--David Montgomery, Mystery Ink

Rating:
Summary: Take the A train
Review: What would you do if your world were torn apart? If everything that had meaning were lost? These are questions dealt with by two very different characters in Ridley Pearson's Parallel Lies.

Umberto Alvarez lost his family. His wife and twins were killed when a train hit their van at a crossing. Peter Tyler lost his job. He lost control and beat a suspect he saw severely abusing a baby. As a free-lance investigator for the NTSB, ex-cop Tyler finds himself chasing Alvarez to solve what he believes is a murder. In the course of the chase Tyler discovers a cover-up by the railroads, leading him to an understanding of Alvarez's desperation. Is Alvarez the 'bad guy' or a victim? Will Tyler become a victim again?

As suspense builds towards the trial run of a new high-speed train, F-A-S-T Track all of the players come together for a heart stopping race against time across the tracks.

It's a stand alone story with real characters that are neither all good nor all bad. If you haven't read Pearson's other books this is a good place to start. If you have read him then you know that you're in for an exciting read.

A great book to read if you're flying, but you might not want to take the train for a while!