Enjoyable mystery read. Really liked the main character/narrator. ( )

With author Brad Parks now making his name writing domestic thrillers, I've been forcing myself to read his Carter Ross mysteries as slowly as possible because I love them so much. Now that I've read The Player, I've only got one left, and once that's gone, I may go into mourning. This fifth book in the Carter Ross series is fun reading, full of the twists, turns, heart, and humor that I've come to expect from this talented writer.

At the heart of this book is a very real concern: "questioning the wisdom of allowing government to outsource its responsibility to protect the health of its citizens." We live in a world where not only people avoid responsibility for their actions but government, too. And this is all wrapped up in a bit of the history of Newark and its environs and a fast-paced, tightly woven mystery that has a lovely twist at the end. I love being completely bamboozled, especially by Brad Parks.

Since the heart of the mystery is so deadly serious, Parks expertly lightens the mood with his fantastic sense of humor. Neesha (AKA "Pigeon"), the new intern Carter is training, has a tendency to be the comic relief because she's still trying to follow all the rules she learned about journalism in college. Carter tries to tell her that "human beings are too messy for spreadsheets," but it takes Neesha a while to learn the wisdom of that statement.

The one thing that makes this series so entertaining is the fact that Carter Ross is just a normal, red-blooded American smart aleck, a guy who doesn't "know Chanel from chenille." He gets himself into some incredible scrapes, he truly cares about the people he writes about, and when rescuing a litter of kittens from a burning building, all he'd say would be "Aw, shucks." Carter Ross is my kind of guy, and Brad Parks' series is some of my favorite reading. If you haven't, give him a try. The first book in the series is Faces of the Gone. ( )

"The Player" is another well done brisk story by Brad Parks, about NJ newspaper reporter Carter Ross. Carter is now m0one of the senior guys on the papers'staff due to all the cut-backs and early retirements. He is supported by an interesting duo who perform financial analysis and run errands, resulting in a somewhat inebriated cub reporter doing a strip-tease in a neighborhood Jersey bar, with more emphasis on "tease" than on "strip". The story revolves around a construction site that is making neighbors and workers ill, cash scams, and a dead body or two. The characters are all very interesting and the pace is very brisk. The finale is a bit of a stretch but most climaxes are these days. Carter and Boss Tina's relationship becomes incredibly complicated. I have read only 2-3 of this 6 book series. I will likely read the next, I suspect it may be the last (for me, if not the series). ( )