#BlogTour – #BookReview of #Calico by @LeeGoldberg @severnhouse @RandomTTours #RandomThingsTours

By calturner on July 17, 2024

I'm thrilled to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for genre-bending police procedural and Science Fiction crime novel Calico by Lee Goldberg. Thank you to Anne Cater and Severn House for giving me the opportunity to read and review this fabulous book.

About the book:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg, comes an explosive, page-turning investigative thriller – with a mind-blowing twist.
There's a saying in Barstow, California, a decaying city in the scorching Mojave desert . . .

The Interstate here only goes in one direction: Away. But it's the only place where ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade, after a staggering fall from grace, could get another badge . . . and a shot at redemption.

Over a century ago, and just a few miles further into the bleak landscape, a desperate stranger ended up in Calico, a struggling mining town, also hoping for a second chance.

His fate, all those years ago, and hers today are linked when Beth investigates an old skeleton dug up in a shallow, sandy grave . . . and also tries to identify a vagrant run-over by a distracted motorhome driver during a lightning storm.

Every disturbing clue she finds, every shocking discovery she makes, force Beth to confront her own troubled past . . . and a past that's not her own . . . until it all smashes together in a revelation that could change the world.

About the author:

Lee Goldberg is a two-time Edgar Award and two-time Shamus Award nominee and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including Lost Hills, the Ian Ludlow trilogy, fifteen Monk mysteries, and five internationally bestselling Fox & O'Hare books co-written with Janet Evanovich. He has also written and/or produced many TV shows, including Diagnosis Murder, SeaQuest, and Monk, and is the co-creator of the hit Hallmark movie series Mystery 101.

My Review:

Calico by Lee Goldberg is a genre-bending mix of contemporary police procedural and science fiction. A crime novel unlike anything I've ever read before this is a bone chilling and gripping tale that, as a fan of both science fiction and crime novels, really did blow me away. Brilliantly written, it is a tense and compelling mystery with the kind of jaw dropping twists and turns that will keep you guessing throughout.

Split between two timelines, Calico is a combination of contemporary thriller, police procedural and western adventure, with the added element of science fiction thrown in for good measure - and it really does work, making for an exciting, page turner of a read that once started I did not want to put down!

The book begins with what appears to be a straightforward case of a vagrant who has been knocked over and killed by a distracted motorhome driver during a lightning storm. But it turns out to be anything but straightforward and Beth McDade soon finds herself caught up in a case that will take her beyond anything she could ever have imagined…

Lee Goldberg's writing is intense as Beth begins to make discoveries that force her to confront not only her own past…but also a past that's not her own. I don't want to say too much more for fear of spoilers but make no mistake, this is a gripping read that really did have me in its thrall from beginning to end.

A compulsive and atmospheric thriller that doesn't pull its punches, Calico is a multilayered thriller that keeps the shocks and surprises coming as the story moves forward towards a conclusion that is as thrilling as it is satisfying.

A gripping combination of the genres that appeal to me the most, Calico is a book that captured my imagination and refused to let go. Powerful and intense, it is a book that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

Calico by Lee Goldberg is available to purchase now: