Rating: 
Summary: Excellent new series
Review: At one time, the media respected former New York Times reporter Frank Corso until he wrote a fraudulent piece. Frank lost his job, the esteem of his peers, and his fiancée. He was fortunate that Natalie Van Der, owner of the Seattle Sun, took a chance on him by giving Frank a job. Even after mishandling another story, she kept him on as a columnist and his name drew readers and advertisers and more money. Frank became a recluse, writing a book and turning in his columns twice a week. His world changes again when his employer calls in her marker and sends Frank on an investigative job. A man awaits state execution for murder, but the star witness recants her testimony. To keep an innocent person from receiving lethal injection, Frank has four days to find the truth. G.M. Ford, famous for his Leo Waterman mysteries, takes a turn and starts a new series starring a fresh antihero. Leo makes a cameo appearance, which serves as a catalyst to move the story line forward. Fran is an enigma who is hard to understand, but readers will like that he takes responsibility for his actions even those that go wrong. The buck stops with him, which makes FURY a mesmerizing tale that is finished in one sitting. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: A Damn Good Adventure Genre Read
Review: Author Ford is one of those rare and gifted writers who pen books that have you looking forward to his subsequent works. Ford is a genuine wit who makes me smile and laugh out loud without sacrificing a bit of plot, suspense, or character delination. This book is not one of his wittier efforts; the hero is a new one for Ford, who usually writes private eye novels told in the first person by "Leo Waterman, Private Eye." But this novel, like all of Ford's is worth your time if you like books in this genre and maybe even if you don't.
Rating:
Summary: Great change of pace for G.M. Ford
Review: Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Ford and his Leo Waterman books but this was a great change of pace.
Ford's new hero is Frank Corso - he's hard to get a read on, he's a loner (with friends), he's difficult (but is smooth when he interviews), he's trustworthy and, most importantly, he loves to put his nose into other people's business, especially when he smells a good story.
Ford introduces a variety of characters to fill out Corso's world and I think it works very well. The pacing of the book is excellent and I oftentimes found myself having to force myself to put it down so I could go on with the rest of my day. This book is darker and more serious than the Waterman books, mostly because there isn't the comic relief supplied by the homeless crowd from the neighborhood bar, the Zoo.
For those fans of Leo Waterman, he makes a cameo appearance at the beginning.
Rating:
Summary: A tough journalist looks into a death penalty case.
Review: Frank Corso is a journalist who tells it like it is, and his honesty has repeatedly landed him in trouble. After becoming a successful author with a bestselling book to his credit, Corso decides to give up journalism and live a reclusive and peaceful life on his houseboat. However, when a key witness decides to recant her testimony in a death penalty case, she insists on telling her story to Corso. He is back in the game. Along with Meg Dougherty, a gifted photographer and a decent investigator in her own right, Corso reviews the case of Walter Leroy Himes. Himes is about to be executed for murdering women across Seattle and leaving their bodies in dumpsters. Although Himes claims that he never killed anyone, most of the victims' family members, the police, and a large segment of the public want Himes executed. Although Himes is a thoroughly nasty individual, Corso believes him to be innocent of these particular crimes, and he decides to explore and analyze the evidence himself. Reopening the case will make a good newspaper story, and it will also give Corso an opportunity to avert a possible miscarriage of justice. Corso is a terrific character. Sharp-tongued, intelligent, brusque, and tough as nails, he is defensive when anyone tries to penetrate the shell that he has built around himself. Dougherty has also had her share of hard knocks in life, and she is a good match for Corso. "Fury" is fast-paced and Ford's writing is often colorful and amusing. The only flaw in "Fury" is the hackneyed plot. How many times have we read about murder cases being reopened because the wrong man may be on death row? There are dozens of books out there with this same plot, and it has been done once too often. In addition, some of the story's twists and turns are a bit too contrived. However, Frank Corso redeems "Fury" with his strength, integrity, and compassion. He is one cool dude, and his character is one of the best protagonists in any detective thriller around. If you can overlook the warmed-over plot, you will get a big kick out of this perceptive, straight-talking, and world-weary journalist.
Rating:
Summary: A tough journalist looks into a death penalty case.
Review: Frank Corso is a journalist who tells it like it is, and his honesty has repeatedly landed him in trouble. After becoming a successful author with a bestselling book to his credit, Corso decides to give up journalism and live a reclusive and peaceful life on his houseboat. However, when a key witness decides to recant her testimony in a death penalty case, she insists on telling her story to Corso. He is back in the game. Along with Meg Dougherty, a gifted photographer and a decent investigator in her own right, Corso reviews the case of Walter Leroy Himes. Himes is about to be executed for murdering women across Seattle and leaving their bodies in dumpsters. Although Himes claims that he never killed anyone, most of the victims' family members, the police, and a large segment of the public want Himes executed. Although Himes is a thoroughly nasty individual, Corso believes him to be innocent of these particular crimes, and he decides to explore and analyze the evidence himself. Reopening the case will make a good newspaper story, and it will also give Corso an opportunity to avert a possible miscarriage of justice. Corso is a terrific character. Sharp-tongued, intelligent, brusque, and tough as nails, he is defensive when anyone tries to penetrate the shell that he has built around himself. Dougherty has also had her share of hard knocks in life, and she is a good match for Corso. "Fury" is fast-paced and Ford's writing is often colorful and amusing. The only flaw in "Fury" is the hackneyed plot. How many times have we read about murder cases being reopened because the wrong man may be on death row? There are dozens of books out there with this same plot, and it has been done once too often. In addition, some of the story's twists and turns are a bit too contrived. However, Frank Corso redeems "Fury" with his strength, integrity, and compassion. He is one cool dude, and his character is one of the best protagonists in any detective thriller around. If you can overlook the warmed-over plot, you will get a big kick out of this perceptive, straight-talking, and world-weary journalist.
Rating:
Summary: G.M. Ford a welcome find
Review: FURY is the first G.M. Ford novel I've read, so I have no comparisons to make between his Leo Waterman series and this first Frank Corso, although my enjoyment of FURY may send me hustling to check out Ford's earlier works. Excellent scene-setting, an engrossing plot, and a six-foot, Amazon-like sidekick covered in tattoos make this anything but your standard tale of murder and mayhem in the big city. Ford has an easy, yet literate style, and his main characters ring true in every respect. The venal cops and politicians may have been a bit overdrawn, but the final twist made it all worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT NEW FACES ON THE SEATTLE CRIME FIGHTING SCENE
Review: FURY
by
G. M. Ford For six books I have read and enjoyed G. M. Ford's exploits of Seattle private investigator, Leo Waterman. Leo wasn't your ordinary breed of PI; he was unique and totally original. And so were his adventures. When FURY was released, I probably put off reading it because I felt Ford had abandoned one of my fictional heroes by creating a new character. Boy, was I wrong! This first book of a new series is even better than Ford's first six books. Actually, Leo Waterman hasn't been abandoned totally; he makes a cameo appearance at the beginning of this book. He's been hired by the publisher of the Seattle Sun to locate the recluse best selling author, "defrocked" journalist and occasional syndicated columnist for the tabloid, Frank Corso. Something has come up and the paper needs him now. That "something" just happens to the pending execution of Walter Leroy Himes, the convicted "trashman" serial killer. Six days before he's scheduled to get the needle, the prosecution's key witness it trying to tell everyone that she lied at the trial. Unfortunately, no one wants to listen to her; it seems as if everyone from the victims' families to most of the citizens of Seattle, the police and even the mayor would rather have Himes dead. Corso is the only person who thinks Himes is innocent, but he has less than six days to prove it and find the real "trashman" killer. With the help of his highly "illustrated" assistant and photographer Meg Dougherty, Corso begins racing against the clock only to discover more lies, cover-ups, corruption and even murder. FURY is a virtual race to the deadline that will leave you breathless, because in this case deadline really does mean DEAD! Ford has created a great new pair of crime solvers, as well as an outstanding new series. I can't wait for the next book in the series that is now in the works. I'll bet you won't be able to wait either.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Sure I Really Like Frank Corso
Review: G. M. Ford's _Fury_ is the first in a new series featuring disgraced journalist Frank Corso. Corso has relocated to Seattle and is writing a column for a third-rate paper, the _Sun_, following some sort of scandal at a paper in New York--there's mention of a libel suit, as well as Corso having made up a story, but the real trouble is never that clear. Regardless,
Corso has fallen a few rungs on the ladder, lost his CNN reporter-girlfriend, and now is content to hide out on his boat, writing the occasional book and turning in his columns, whose syndication fees help keep the paper afloat.
At the beginning of the book, Leanne Samples, a somewhat simple though good-hearted girl, comes to the _Sun's_ offices to recant her testimony in the trial of Leroy Himes, the prime suspect in a series of "Trashman" rape/murders three years previously. Leanne had thought at the time to accuse Himes of rape and save herself the embarrassment of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy and the hassle of confronting her overprotective parents. She insists on talking only to Corso, because he was one of the few people to treat her kindly during the trial.
Corso himself had had his doubts about Himes' guilt and written a column to that effect, but it seems as if everyone else in Seattle is content to move forward with Himes' execution, only a few days away at this point. When he gets involved, Corso suddenly has an exclusive and people start buying the _Sun_ again. As he digs further, in the company of his partner, freelance photographer Meg Dougherty, an unfortunate woman who was tattooed all over her body by a vengeful boyfriend, Corso discovers that the police are trying to cover-up a pair of new murders that fit the MO of the previous string and which, coupled with Leanne's recantation, pretty much guarantee Himes' innocence.
I enjoyed the book, though it was hard to warm up to Frank Corso. He's got a rough, hard-edged exterior, although he's always got a kind word and a ready ear for life's losers, like Leanne or Himes. He's just a bit too prickly and unfriendly to the other people in his life for him to be an attractive character. He's especially mean to Meg, which makes the scene where the two of them fall into each others' arms that much harder to believe.
This was the first Ford book I've read since his debut Leo Waterman mystery _Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca?_ and Waterman makes a brief appearance in this book, tying the two series together. Ford draws a great picture of Seattle, though I'm still trying to decide if I want to spend any more time in Frank Corso's company. I guess I'd have to give this one a rather mixed recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Not Sure I Really Like Frank Corso
Review: G. M. Ford's _Fury_ is the first in a new series featuring disgraced journalist Frank Corso. Corso has relocated to Seattle and is writing a column for a third-rate paper, the _Sun_, following some sort of scandal at a paper in New York--there's mention of a libel suit, as well as Corso having made up a story, but the real trouble is never that clear. Regardless,
Corso has fallen a few rungs on the ladder, lost his CNN reporter-girlfriend, and now is content to hide out on his boat, writing the occasional book and turning in his columns, whose syndication fees help keep the paper afloat.
At the beginning of the book, Leanne Samples, a somewhat simple though good-hearted girl, comes to the _Sun's_ offices to recant her testimony in the trial of Leroy Himes, the prime suspect in a series of "Trashman" rape/murders three years previously. Leanne had thought at the time to accuse Himes of rape and save herself the embarrassment of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy and the hassle of confronting her overprotective parents. She insists on talking only to Corso, because he was one of the few people to treat her kindly during the trial.
Corso himself had had his doubts about Himes' guilt and written a column to that effect, but it seems as if everyone else in Seattle is content to move forward with Himes' execution, only a few days away at this point. When he gets involved, Corso suddenly has an exclusive and people start buying the _Sun_ again. As he digs further, in the company of his partner, freelance photographer Meg Dougherty, an unfortunate woman who was tattooed all over her body by a vengeful boyfriend, Corso discovers that the police are trying to cover-up a pair of new murders that fit the MO of the previous string and which, coupled with Leanne's recantation, pretty much guarantee Himes' innocence.
I enjoyed the book, though it was hard to warm up to Frank Corso. He's got a rough, hard-edged exterior, although he's always got a kind word and a ready ear for life's losers, like Leanne or Himes. He's just a bit too prickly and unfriendly to the other people in his life for him to be an attractive character. He's especially mean to Meg, which makes the scene where the two of them fall into each others' arms that much harder to believe.
This was the first Ford book I've read since his debut Leo Waterman mystery _Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca?_ and Waterman makes a brief appearance in this book, tying the two series together. Ford draws a great picture of Seattle, though I'm still trying to decide if I want to spend any more time in Frank Corso's company. I guess I'd have to give this one a rather mixed recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: The start of another great series for G.M. Ford.
Review: G.M. Ford's "Fury" is an attention getting noirish ticking clock mystery---from page one I was hooked.
Newspaperman/true crime author Frank Corso is the protagonist in Mr. Ford's second series. He's a hard boiled, cynical anti-hero who prefers his solitude. He is a clever, resourceful and relentless archangel type---undaunted in his quest for justice as defined by his sense of right and wrong. Fiercely loyal to his friends, he is a commanding presence. Mr. Ford's atmospheric writing places the reader right in Seattle as Corso and his allies have six days to clear a venal death row inmate. It is a riveting plot that moves at a breakneck pace, told from multiple points of view. Mr. Ford has created another series peopled with characters you care about. "Fury" is the initial entry---highly recommended.
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