Friday 25th of July 2008

Robert Fate: A "worthless character" succeeds in a life of crime.
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BOOKLIST

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption
Fate, Robert (author)

May 2008. 287p. Capital Crime, paperback, $14.95 (9780979996023).
REVIEW. First published May 1, 2008 (Booklist).

Set in the 1950s, this hard-boiled private-eye yarn cranks right up with guns blazing and fists flying. All the traditional elements of old-school pulp fiction are here, but Fate goes beyond homage, blending innovation and skillful writing to transport the reader to a time when cigarettes were good for us and Packards owned the road. In this outing, Kristin Van Dijk, known as Baby Shark, and her PI partner, Otis Millett, find themselves knee-deep in rival bootleggers, kidnappers, and hit men. Baby Shark manages to squeeze in a recreational round of pool hustling with a shotgun-toting thug, but the two spend most of their time dodging a hail of bullets and trying to live long enough to collect their fees and make it home to Fort Worth. Two other books in this too-little-known series are Baby Shark and Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues. For those who love the no-frills, first person, hard-boiled style, this series is a delight.

- Elliott Swanson

ALLBOOKS REVIEWS

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption
Reviewed by Jan Evan Whitford

Robert Fate is the author's pen name and he has a colorful past, which includes being a student in Paris, an ex-Marine, oilfield roughneck in Oklahoma, TV cameraman, fashion model, sales executive, chef, wannabe playwright, airbrush artist, soap opera script writer, producer of an indy film, plus an Academy Award Winner as a special effects technician. And, if that wasn't enough, he's a pretty damn good mystery writer.

Sure, the plot and characters of High Plains Redemption were totally engaging, but I was particularly impressed with the author's snappy, give-and-take dialogue, which is so essential to a good hardboiled mystery. The dialogue meshes perfectly with his precise descriptions and ability to speak volumes with few words; sentences like: "He was handsome, but not as good-looking as he thought he was." And the icing on the cake? That'd be the nostalgic background, laced with scenes set around the "Friday Night Fights", Route 66, Teresa Brewer, Frankie Laine, and an old windmill with one of those cement tanks. I remember them well.

Highly recommended.

STRAND MAGAZINE
July 2008

BABY SHARK'S HIGH PlAINS REDEMPTION by Robert Fate
Fort Collins, CO: Capital Crime Press, 2008. $14.95

Latest in the Baby Shark series, Robert Fate's High Plains Redemption hits the road running and doesn't stop till the final page. It's a tough, hard-boiled action-adventure that reads like the best of the 1930s pulps.

In this installment, Fates pool-shark private investigator heroine, Kristin Van Dijk, and her partner Otis Millett, take on what they believe is a simple assignment. They must find the kidnapped girlfriend of bootlegger Travis Horner, pay a ransom, and bring her back. But the exchange is compromised and soon guns are blazing, tires are squealing, and bodies are falling. Van Dijk and Millett suspect they've been set up and return Savannah Smike to her family instead of to Horner.

Between hired killers and avenging family members, the two private eyes have to dodge bullets, blades, and bombs. Millett's luck runs out and he takes one in the chest, leaving an anxious Van Dijk to puzzle out the mystery and clean up the mess, which she does admirably. After a particularly bloody showdown, she wonders how she's able to do the things she does, and weeps bitterly. Readers----especially those who know Van Dijk's back story from the first book-will find themselves rooting for this sympathetic heroine.

Fate's Baby Shark series is set during the 1950s in Oklahoma and Texas, which explains the bootlegged liquor, profusion of firearms, and the chauvinist attitude towards women. But the storyline could have been set in any time period and been just as gratifying. Although the authorial voice doesn't totally nail the feminine persona, Van Dijk's first-person narrative keeps readers in the immediate action, as if they were viewing each scene through a camera lens perched on her shoulder. Indeed, the non-stop action, vivid descriptions, and cunning plot shifts are as dramatic as a big-screen adventure.

The violence is graphic, but Fate's matter-of-fact style moves readers through the fights, chases, and beatings so quickly and cleverly that only the most sensitive will object. Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption is a high-speed, tremendously satisfying tale that's hard to put down.

--Jackie Houchin

Front Street Reviews
Your Road To Great Books

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption
Robert Fate

Reviewed by Barb Radmore

I admit it- I have been on the Robert Fate bandwagon since I first read Baby Shark. From the beginning it was the strength of the characters that grabbed my interest. The star of the show is always Kristin Van Dijk, the fast shooting, beating taking, pool hustling girl we first met when her father was killed in Baby Shark. Strong female characters are not unique in literary history, but Robert Fate has been able to imbue Kristin with a personality not seen before. Her personal history, well laid out in the first book, has led her to be able to accept a level of violence and blood shedding not usually seen with female lead characters, especially nineteen years old ones. And the fact that it is not only perfectly acceptable and enjoyed by the reader is the achievement of the author.

In High Plains Redemption Robert Fate has shown that he is able to maintain the role of puppet master. He manipulates his characters as carefully as Gepetto and they respond to his finesse. He has built them well-Kristin, Otis and Henry are all fully developed at this point. The fun comes in their performance as they play to Fate's melodious script. The battaglia-like script is punctuated with the percussion of pistol shots, the bright burble of blood, and the vibration of violence that builds to a crescendo of murder and mayhem. They join together to form a consonance that will resonate with the reader until the next Baby Shark book arrives.

That last paragraph may capture the elegance of the writing of High Plains but does not express the down and dirty fun the reader experiences with this book. Kristin is growing up. She has a boyfriend and a conscience-which are both causing her grief. She is questioning the violence that follows her, but what is a girl to do when the bad guys shoot at her, beat on her, and are generally very bad bad guys. She and the ever-reliable Otis find themselves trapped in the middle of bootleggers, and outlaws, handsome scoundrels, and literate bookies. Just another case of saving a victim in the hot Texan sun.

The Baby Shark series is becoming a pace setter in the modern, literate, noir narrative. It has all the classic motifs: the protagonist is both victim and aggressor, the normal is unusual and the plots never have simple solutions. Robert Fate has perfectly captured the hallmark black humor that relaxes the unease at the ceaseless violence.

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption is a do not miss book. Trite but true. I have tried to give you all the fancy reviewer reasons to read this. But if you like a well written, action packed novel that will keep your interest from beginning to end, one that you will actually enjoy for the story and the characters (not just because someone said it is THE book to read) (which it is) - read this. Now, go... off to your favorite indy book store...go now...no now...I still see you-leave now...buy this book.

Baby Shark, Robert Fate

This debut book, Baby Shark, starts off fast - one night of violence and murder that ultimately leads to the birth (creation is probably a better word) of Baby Shark, a teenage girl who survives the chaos.

As a reader, you know what the book will be about. You know that the 17-year old girl who walked into the pool hall with her dad will eventually take not just the name Baby Shark but revenge on the men who left her scarred and fatherless. It's not necessarily the destination that keeps you reading, but the road you travel with her to get there.

And by the end of the book, you're anxious to see where she'll go next.

--Helen Ginger

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption
Reviewed by J.B. Thompson

When Kristin Van Dijk (aka Baby Shark) and Otis Millett are hired to deliver the ransom for redheaded Savannah Smike, the mysterious piano-playing girlfriend of an Oklahoma bootlegger, they find themselves involved in more trouble than they bargained for. It is kill or be killed from day one.

Who wants Savannah so badly they are willing to murder anyone who gets in the way? That is the mystery Kristin and Otis confront in what becomes a no-holds-barred struggle between two feuding outlaw clans.

Robert Fate continues his outstanding series with this third installment, which is by far the best yet. It is hard-driving, fast paced and bloody - the embodiment of Baby Shark - and yet in this segment of her story, nearly five years out from the brutal attack that shaped her character, we get a much deeper look into Kristin's psyche, an emotional exploration of what she has become and how she sees herself. It's a bit disquieting to watch a person trained to kill begin to reflect about how easy the killing has become, but it's this hard-edged introspection that compels us to love Baby Shark all the more. Even in the face of more danger than she's ever dealt with, Kristin remains cool and competent, and fiercely protective of those she loves. Fate's captivating storytelling style is in top form. He introduces us to new characters and reacquaints us with old friends while maintaining the now-familiar taut suspense that drives us to keep those pages turning.

J.B. Thompson, Let's Do Lunch

Hershel Parker on the Baby Shark series:

Robert Fate is setting his mystery series in Texas in the Eisenhower years? Ha! Ten pages before the anachronisms drive me off! After all, starting in 1952 I was a railroad telegrapher down the Sabine parishes and in post-Audrey Port Arthur. Wrong! Baby Shark was a triumph. In the third book the toughening Baby Shark is still endearing herself to readers, the supporting characters are folks fit to grow older with, gasoline has stayed cheap, and Robert Fate is still master of the most ferociously convincing laconic Texas talk since James Hime's The Night of the Dance. In #4 will Robert Fate stop teasing us with "Beaumont Blues" (as he did in #2) and give us some scenes in the Golden Triangle? A series set in Texas in the 1950s has no business being so very good, but the secret is out.

-Hershel Parker, award-winning Melville biographer

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption Robert Fate. Capital Crime (www.capitalcrimepress.com), $14.95 paper (287p) ISBN 978-0-9799960-2-3

Pool shark-turned-PI Kristin Van Dijk, the heroine of Fate's third hard-boiled 1950s mystery (after 2007's Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues), could give Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer a run for his money in the toughness department. At the behest of a Texas client, Travis Horner, Van Dijk and her partner, Otis Millett, travel to Oklahoma to track down Savannah Smike, Horner's girlfriend, who ís being held for ransom. The assignment proves trickier than advertised, leaving the detectives doubtful of Horner's integrity. After the pair successfully reunite Smike with her family, Millett is seriously wounded by gunfire, possibly from one of the thugs involved in Smike's kidnapping. Vowing revenge, Van Dijk stealthily and skillfully knocks down doors and twists arms in her effort to identify the triggerman as well as uncover the true motive behind all the bloodshed. Van Dijk's resourcefulness makes her a winning series character who merits a long run.

Fans of Sara Paretsky and Robert B. Parker will find much to enjoy. (May)

Bloodstained Book Reviews

This is the third installment of the Baby Shark novels and is by far the best of the series. Kristin Van Dijk ( Baby Shark) and her partner Otis Millet are hired to deliver a ransom for Savannah Smike the girlfriend of an Oklahoma bootlegger. Before they know it they find their mission to be a set up that is designed to leave no one left alive. As Otis and Kirstin try to find out why someone wants to kill them and Savannah they find themselves caught between two feuding outlaw clans.

Once again Robert Fate has continued to produce a fine fast paced novel. The dialogue is witty and the characters are more fully developed and colorful. I particularly enjoyed seeing Baby Shark playing pool again. Kristin continues deal with conflict by shooting her way out of trouble but she is beginning to reflect upon how easy it has become for her to kill and has a deeper recognition of how much her past has contributed to who she presently is. I found that this hard edged introspection made her more endearing. Robert Fate's captivating style of story telling kept me reading well into the night. I highly recommend this book and I look forward to reading the next one in this series.

Lillian Porter

BABY SHARK'S HIGH PLAINS REDEMPTION

Reviewed by JT Ellison

"Reading Robert Fate is like savoring the finest chocolate you've ever tasted. Smooth, silky and oh so slick, Fate weaves his tales with a deft hand. Breathless and satisfying, populated with one-of-a-kind characters and effortless prose, Fate is a writer's writer, and a reader's dream. Kristin "Baby Shark" Van Dijk gets stronger, tougher and more appealing with each entry, Otis Millet takes on more subtlety and shine, and the bad guys become more outrageous, but never without a purpose. And visiting with Henry and the Kristin's German shepherd Jim again felt like coming home. Fate's endless imagination makes him a master worthy of your time. He's one of my all-time favorite writers, and BABY SHARK'S HIGH PLAINS REDEMPTION is his finest effort yet. Do yourself a favor. Clear your schedule, settle into your favorite chair, start at the beginning of the series and lose yourself in Fate's world. You won't be disappointed."

JT Ellison, author of All The Pretty Girls and 14

Crimespree Mag / January 18, 2008

Robert Fate has been showing up on a lot of people's favorite book lists. With his latest, HIGH PLAINS REDEMPTION from Capitol Crime Press, he has yet another great book proving that all the praise is well deserved. Feuding outlaws, kidnapping, and non-stop action keep Kristin and Otis on their toes. The cover describes it as action-crime-adventure and that sums it up quite nicely. Calling this fast paced doesn't really do this book justice; it's faster than that. It's kind of like trying to keep track of a bullet after it leaves the barrel. Wonderfully memorable characters make this a ride you'll want to take again. This is a May release so keep your eyes open and ask your bookstore to pre order for you.
—Crimespree Magazine

LESA'A BOOK CRITIQUES

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption

Robert Fate's first book, Baby Shark, has been optioned for a film. That film company better find the right actress soon, because Fate's third book, Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption, is another action-packed, page turner. His fast moving crime novel is as vivid and colorful as any movie.

In the third book in his hard-hitting series, Fate dumps Kristin Van Dijk (Baby Shark), and her partner, Otis Millett, into the middle of a bootleggers' fight. As usual, the two private investigators accepted a simple job that escalated into disaster.

Otis accepted a job to rescue Savannah Smike, a redheaded piano player who had been kidnapped from her boss and boyfriend, a bootlegger named Travis Horner. When Kristin interrupted at the tavern, she found a beat-up Otis, and a young woman who didn't seem to be all there mentally. Suddenly, everything falls apart as one group of gunmen after another appear. It takes everything she has for Kristin to rescue Savannah and Otis. When they finally get Savannah home, they discover she's the daughter of Bull Smike, a powerful bootlegger in his own right. Otis and Kristin are suddenly targets, although they're not quite sure why someone is out to get them. The two detectives earn every penny, as they fend off hired killers.

Kristin knows she has a brutal, vicious job, one that most other women couldn't handle. However, after the murder of her pool hustler father, and her own rape, she had vowed she would never be a victim again. She has a hard time resolving her feelings for a police officer with her job. She says, "We work on the edge of the law...It gets blurry out there where Otis and I deal with things." Kristin Van Dijk is a killer with a conscience. She's a strong young woman, who kills a man who beat her up, and then examines her ruined suede purse. "I didn't know why I ever thought I could have anything nice." There's always a sly humor in Kristin's world, despite its cruel nature.

In 1957, Oklahoma is a dry state, where bootleggers pay off the "three P's," police, politicians and preachers. It's a violent time, one that comes to life as a visual treat. Fate vividly describes the Friday Night Fights, with its crowds, sexy women and well-dressed men, and smoke filled room. His descriptions of the cars, the roads, and the people, paints a picture of Texas and Oklahoma in the 1950s. And, Baby Shark's return to the pool halls to deal with the killers on her own turf, is a riveting account.

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption marks Kristin's welcome return, along with her "family," Otis, Henry and her dog, Jim. It's a powerful story that examines a vicious part of American history. Baby Shark continues the fight against dangerous men, in an intense novel that never lets up its blistering pace.

Robert Fate's website is www.RobertFate.com

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption by Robert Fate. Capital Crime Press, ©2008. ISBN 978-0- 9799960-2-3 (paperback), 288p.

KIRKUS STARRED REVIEWS

Fate, Robert BABY SHARK'S HIGH PLAINS REDEMPTION Capital Crime Press (Adult FICTION) May 1, 2008 ISBN: 978-0-9799960-2-3

Kirkus Starred Reviews 6/89 (And Ongoing)

Baby Shark's in a sea of troubles involving bootleggers, racketeers, crooked politicians, a wounded partner, a cooling romance and hordes of hit men out to do her in.

Kristin Van Dijk and Otis Millett, partners in a Fort Worth private investigation agency, don't much like the gig because neither of them much likes their client Travis Horner. But when big Otis indicates that he has a reason for taking it on, Kristin, aka Baby Shark-a renowned pool hustler from a young age-stifles her protests. Otis's reason, she soon learns, is gorgeous Savannah Smike, who might not be all there mentally but is fully present from the neck down. She hasn't exactly been kidnapped, Horner tells Otis while handing him a bag of ransom money, but the bad guys are keeping her in her underwear. It turns out, of course, that Horner is a lying scalawag and that Otis and Baby Shark have been set up. After Otis goes down with bullets in his chest, Baby Shark's outnumbered by a whole mess of murderers. Not that there's ever any real doubt that this smart, tough, endlessly cool platinum blonde will be able to cope. Love her or hate her, everyone knows Baby Shark is lethal.

A lively addition to a highly diverting series (Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues, 2007, etc.).

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption

Baby Shark, tough but lovable
By Pat Browning

Baby Shark walks into Curly's Tavern where two guys are pounding Otis Millett. Her Colts are drawn and cocked. When she says, "Pay attention," it's the best advice those two pounders will ever get.

Endearing may be the wrong word to describe a young woman who wields a blackjack,wears a .38 under her arm and a .32 at her ankle, and has commando knives stuck in her boots. I make allowances for the high body count when it comes to Kristen Van Dijk.I almost hate to see her grow up.

But time doesn't stand still even for a favorite fictional character. In this third book of Robert Fate's series, it's 1957, four years since the massacre in Henry Chin's pool hall. Kristen has settled that score and joined Otis Millett's detective agency in Fort Worth. She and Otis rack up the miles between Texas and Oklahoma to retrieve a young woman being held against her will, more or less.

Savannah Smike is the daughter of one powerful bootlegger and the plaything of another. She has flaming red hair and is a competent lounge pianist. Otherwise, she's a couple of steps behind everyone else. As her daddy puts it, some say she didn't get all the gifts that God promised her.

The Smike family is the most colorful set of characters I've met in a long time. Bootlegger Bull Smike minds his manners like a proper gentleman, reminding his sons that there are ladies present, and they promptly remove their hats. Bronagh Smike, Bull's wild Irish wife, slaps the boys around but is gentle and loving with her daughter.

The boys are the strong silent type. They wear big hats and carry big guns and not much gets past them. I like Kristen's detective lover, Lee, but "bad boy" Buford Smike could be a real contender.

Bull Smike is one of two big-time Oklahoma bootleggers. The other is Travis Horner, who employs some truly nasty thugs. The way Baby Shark sets them up in a pool match is a perfect payback.

I liked everything about this book.

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption
By Kevin Tipple

The third in the action crime Baby Shark series opens in May 1957. Kristin, aka Baby Shark, is still wielding guns and pool sticks with deadly accuracy. She is still working with Otis and the latest case and resulting plan of action were supposed to be relatively simple. Travis Horner has a girlfriend who got into some sort of trouble and is currently up in Oklahoma. She isn't kidnapped exactly, but she isn't free to leave either. In exchange for some money, Otis gets to bring the girlfriend back to Travis Horner. Kristin is supposed to lurk, provide support, and deal with anything unexpected that comes up.

Something she does very well and normally she is on time. However, as usual in May in Oklahoma, the weather is atrocious. A tornado that traveled through the vicinity has delayed her arrival by some two hours making the drive up from Fort Worth, Texas even harder.

Plenty of time for things to have gone badly and they have. Kristin never wanted any part of rescuing the girlfriend of a bootlegger, no matter how pretty or how well she can play the piano. Now, she has to rescue Otis also which will require violence. Violence is something Kristin has become very comfortable with the few years since her father died in front of her and she was brutally assaulted. Nobody does violence better than Kristin, aka Baby Shark, and there are serious consequences for those stupid enough to get in her way.

Featuring the same occasionally funny one liners, plenty of violence, and more break neck adventure, Robert Fate has penned another winner. Morality, always present in this series, plays a bigger role as Kristin in considers two major problems. One is the ease she steps into and out of violent actions which often leaves others dead in the chaos and wreckage. Truth be told, she likes it when circumstances force her into acting violently because she no longer knows any other way. Violence to those who interfere is simple while relationships and love are far more complicated. If violence is the answer, where does that leave the romance between herself and Lee, a detective with the Dallas PD?

Questions that have no easy answers much like what to do with the gorgeous redhead bootlegger's girlfriend, who is responsible for the waves of bad guys coming after them, and the major question as to the why of everything. Like the other books in the series, the motives of others, beside shooting at them is vague and unstated and Otis and Kristen have to survive long enough to get any answers at all. What is clear from the chaotic opening under an Oklahoma sky pulsing with jagged lighting to the final chaotic shoot out in a hospital in Fort Worth, Robert Fate's latest novel in the series easily is equal to the first two books. Another clear winner and one sure to please his growing legions of fans while recruiting new ones.

MYSTERY MORGUE

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption
by Robert Fate
Reviewed by Jeffrey Cohen

Kristin "Baby Shark" Van Dijk has come a long way since the beginning of the first book in this series (the current volume is the third). Now an established P.I. in the 1950s, Kristin and her partner Otis Millett are involved in "rescuing" a young woman of questionable mental ability taken from her family in Oklahoma.

In the course of taking Savannah Smike back from her captors, Kristin and Otis do their best to annoy Travis Horner, who is responsible for her being lured away. And annoying Travis can be a bad idea, given that he tends to have the people he doesn't care for killed without thinking twice about it.

As with the rest of the series, what ensues is a series of action scenes, often involving Kristin defending herself or Otis against very nasty foes, and usually coming out ahead. Car chases, gun battles, fistfights and more play into the mix.

It's a fast-paced ride with just enough character development to keep the series from getting stale. Baby Shark, having earned her name by hustling pool from the time she was a child, even manages to get Travis into a serious game of nine-ball.

The series continues to be entertaining without being trivial. Kristin feels like a real person, and we care about her and the people she likes. That's no small accomplishment. Readers might want to start with the first in the series, simply titled Baby Shark, but it isn't a must. Fate manages to get us up to speed-literally-with a minimum of fuss.

BABY SHARK'S HIGH PLAINS REDEMPTION
by Robert Fate

Travis Horner is a bootlegger in Texas whose girlfriend, Savannah Smike, is being held for ransom in Oklahoma. He hires Kristin Van Dijk ("Baby Shark") and her partner, Otis Millett, to track her down. As it turns out, things aren't that simple. Horner hasn't exactly told the truth about the situation; things rapidly go from bad to worse. In fact, the whole thing is a set-up meant to leave no one standing, including our intrepid PI team.

Savannah appears to have some mental limitations, but she also has some surprisingly cogent moments. In addition to being the girlfriend of a bootlegger, she is the daughter of one. You don't grow up in a family like that without becoming very crafty.

Whenever there is any conflict along the way, Kristin pulls out her guns and shoots her way out of the situation. When Otis is gunned down in a violent showdown, Kristin turns into a one-woman killing machine. Actually, that is my main gripe about the book, the fact that the only way that she knows to solve a problem is to shoot someone. She does appear to be developing a bit of a conscience and wonders at her own propensity to kill. However, over the course of the book, it began to feel that she was playing an arcade game, shooting down a bunch of ducks. I do wish there had been a few more pool hall scenes, with Kristin shooting eight balls instead of bullets.

Other than that, I found HIGH PLAINS REDEMPTION to be the most satisfying book in the series so far. The characters and plotting are becoming more complex from book to book. And Fate does a nice job of portraying Oklahoma in the 1950s.

-Maddy Van Hertbruggen

Library Journal Reviews

March 15, 2008

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption
Pulp fiction makes a comeback with this series featuring Kristin Van Dijk, better known as Baby Shark, the pool-hustling, butt-kicking18-year-old heroine of Baby Shark and Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues. Kristin is comfortable in her job as a private eye at the Millett Agency in 1950s Texas. Her latest case seems simple enough: pick up bootlegger Travis Horner's girlfriend and return her to him. Horner is one of the biggest bootleggers in Oklahoma, and his girlfriend happens to be the daughter of his biggest rival, Bull Smike. But someone doesn't want Baby Shark and her partner, Otis, to succeed, as Otis is set up and Baby Shark walks into a fight and a shoot-out. For readers new to the series, these books must be read in order, as there is no background regarding what came before or how and why all these relationships were formed. The language is rough and the body count high in this fast-paced shoot-'em-up.

Recommended for larger mystery collections.

Stacy Alesi, Boca Raton, FL
Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Baby Shark 3
Reviewer: Ursula Hoffmann

We ought to worry about Baby Shark. Even though no longer quite a teenager, she definitely does not get enough sleep, she does not eat properly, the bad men use her body as a shooting target and a punching bag almost daily in the fast-paced setting of the narrative. But whenever the bad men, two or three at a time, come to kill her either at the pool table or literally, she prevails, with a gun or knife in each hand, defeating or killing them before they can do her any more harm. She is beautiful, she is smart, she is fit, at least some of the time. But she is also insecure about her love life and her lifestyle: should she be killing all these people coolly, without remorse or even regret? Robert Fate's outrageous story telling, however, keeps us from worrying about his heroine. It is so enjoyable that we can only cry "Baby Shark, go, girl" and "Mr. Fate, go man!"

GENREFLUENT

www.genrefluent.com

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption by Robert Fate

Kristin is taking names and kicking ass in this follow-up to Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues. Five years have passed since she was brutalized in Baby Shark. The detective agency she and her business partner Otis Millet run has proven to be successful but maybe even more than ever they are running across people who are willing to shoot first and ask questions later. Sent to Oklahoma to ransom a bootlegger's girl friend, they find they've been set up to be killed. As always they escape but not unscathed. Returning the young woman to her own bootlegging family they find they aren't out of the woods when people keep trying to kill them. On a stake out Otis ends up delivering a baby girl in the hallway of a residential hotel and when the bad guys come out of the room he is critically injured leaving Kristin on her own. Kristin has honed her skills and grown up a lot since her debut in Baby Shark. Fate's dialog and descriptions make the 1950s come to life as the body count rises and we even get to see Kristin do what it is that earned her the name Baby Shark in this series that always satisfies.

-Diana Tixier Herald

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption by Robert Fate

If you haven't yet read any of Robert Fate's Baby Shark series, let me recommend that you go out right now and find it. This series kicks ass, as does Baby Shark. It's exciting, funny, and dangerous - as is Baby Shark. In short, it's everything you could possibly want in a mystery series.

Baby Shark, as Kristin is known, works as a private investigator with her partner Otis. Their relationship has developed into the now third book of the series, from Otis being hired to help her find her father's murderer, to now the two of them working side by side.

At the beginning of this book, it's May 1957, and Kristin and Otis have been hired to deliver the ransom for Travis Horner's girlfriend. Horner is a not-so-legal Texan, and he says his girlfriend hasn't exactly been kidnapped, but she is being held against her will.

So Otis and Kristin are to deliver the money and get her back. Of course the deal is sour from the moment they get involved, and soon enough Kristin and Otis find themselves being shot at by men on both sides of the damn thing. That can only mean that nothing is what it seems, and that Otis and Baby Shark are going to have to be doing some fancy footwork to stay alive.

As always, the language and the tone of Fate's book is pitch perfect for the time and the story. When Otis is wounded and Baby Shark finds herself on her own, we have no doubt that she will handle herself well. She's tough and smart, and more than resilient.

There is much to love in these books. Kristin, Baby Shark, and Otis have a true partnership. Kristin's relationships are always complex, including with her on again off again boyfriend who is a police detective.

There's guns, guns, more guns, and then a few knives.

There's conniving and conning and all manner of double crossing.

There's also wit, strong plotting, and very human beings on every page.

Get thee to a bookstore, or Amazon, or your local library and put your hands on Baby Shark. She will kick your ass, for real.

-Sarah Bewley

GUMSHOE, A literary investigastion

Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption by Robert Fate

Baby is back and she's just getting better! Kristin (Baby Shark) and Otis are on the job, and they are doin' it like they been taught! This is our third round with Kristin and Otis, and we open with Kristin coming in as backup for Otis, but a couple hours late because of a tornado. The job is to pick up a kidnapped (stray?) girlfriend and a suitcase of money and return it to an acquaintance of Otis' as a favor. What Kristin comes into is Otis tied up and bloody with the redheaded girlfriend practically naked playing the piano without a hitch during the fist and gunfight.

After being taken by surprise by the redhead's brother, Kristin and Otis wind up following and rescuing the redhead again after her brother is killed by another group of gunslingers. Kristin takes the lead with Otis and Savannah (redhead) miles behind when Kristin spots more gunslingers who think that Kristin has the girl. Kristin manages to setup a showdown in an oasis, but with only her shotgun and her wits against two heavily armed men, will she live to tell about it?

By the time Otis and Savannah arrive on the scene, Kristin is alive but out of ammo, and the other two have taken off for parts unknown. But what Otis has discovered is far more important: Savannah does not want to go back to Travis Horner, the bootlegger who hired Otis to find her. This, of course, makes the job a lot more difficult, but Otis is the type of man who will look after a woman - and respect her wishes. The change in plan is to return Savannah to her daddy - Bull Smike. Turns out Bull Smike is the other bootlegger in the area. And Otis and Kristin just stepped in it big.

Fate has got it all, though -- he's got Henry, Jim (needs more Jim, though), Lee, some flirting with Kristin, and he was able to get more billiards in with Baby Shark, which was great. There is definite character development but not anything overwhelming and plenty left for a lot more books. More time out with Henry would be cool. I liked Cooty and Edna and the side touch -- the personal touch in the middle of the terror.

But these books aren't for people who can't take blood or violence - there is plenty of both in them. The slight historical aspect is always on the edge - in the description of the cars or the guns, bringing you to their world - or in the fan that always runs in their office. I highly recommend these books. All of them.

-Beth Slater

---

Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues

Reviewed by Henry W. Wagner

A sassy angel of vengeance, July 15, 2007

Fate's follow up to his hard hitting 2006 debut opens as his heroine, PI Kristin Van Dijk, maneuvers herself into being hired as a driver by a couple of thugs who are, unknowingly, leading her to a kidnapping victim she's been hired to recover. Minutes after they arrive at the site where young oil heiress Sherry Beasley is being held, all hell breaks loose, and Kristin finds herself fighting for her and Sherry's life.

It's not really spoiling anything to say that Kristin gets out of that mess, especially since that opening scene only provides a small taste of the mayhem and outright craziness to follow as Kristin and her partner/father figure Otis Millett navigate their way through the treacherous terrain created by the quirky last will and testament of Texas oilman Hiram Beasley. In their travels, they'll encounter many dangers, including numerous gunfights, mobsters, assorted thugs, and (shudder) lawyers.

Reflecting back on the action of this novel, one can only conclude that much of it is way over the top, but that can certainly be forgiven in light of how much fun Fate is to read. Probably the best way to go about describing the book would be to say what you'll be reminded of as it progresses, namely films like Blood Simple and Kill Bill, comics like Max Allan Collins' Ms. Tree, and books like Joe R. Lansdale's Hap and Leonard novels--if you enjoyed those, you'll have a great time with Robert Fate's Texas noir and his sassy angel of vengeance.

---

A Turn of Fate, February 17, 2008
By Ben F. Small

Baby Shark, a teenage girl, doesn't have the normal teenage evenings. Baby's are spent in pool halls, where she watches her father shark for a living. But one night, Baby's father bucks the wrong gang. He's murdered, along with the son of the proprietor, and Baby Shark is raped, beaten and left for dead. Most young girls, if they recovered at all, would be traumatized by this for the rest of their lives, probably hover in the shadows, stay close to walls, and avoid the eyes of oncoming people.

Not our Baby Shark. She heals and vows revenge. Housed by the proprietor of the bar that was trashed and burned, the man who lost his son, he secures martial arts and guns experts to mentor his protégé, while she seeks out the best pool training in the land. Meanwhile, a sleazy private eye friend of the bar owner has been tracking down the gang.

When she's ready, Baby Shark swoops out of the deep and delivers fatal bites tailored to each participant in the crime.

This is no normal book of revenge. This book seethes; it burns. The reader revels in the cold revenge Baby Shark dispenses. I couldn't put this book down.

Baby Shark
by Robert Fate

In the hands of a lesser writer, this could have been a pulp novel of stereotypes and super heroes. Instead, Bob Fate has created a well-paced story of developed, believable characters at a time and place the reader can taste and smell. Set aside a weekend and let Baby, Henry, Otis, Doc and Jim the dog take you on a wild ride through the pool halls and back roads of Texas in the 50s.

Reviewed by Julie Campbell at Amazon.com

BABY SHARK
by Robert Fate

There are very few books that I read these days that take my breath away. But Robert Fate's BABY SHARK is one of them. It's certainly the best book I've read this year, and possibly one of the best I've ever read. That may sound like overblown hype, but believe me, this is an amazing debut.

Kristin Van Dijk is a 17-year-old nomad -- on the road of life with her father, Marvin Van Dijk. He is an existential hero to his daughter, a philosopher, a grifter, a pool shark. He takes Kristin with him from pool hall to pool hall, covering Texas, making money bilking others.

One night in Henry Chin's pool hall, it all goes terribly wrong. A biker gang erupts in violence, killing Kristin's father and Henry's son. Kristin is horrifically raped and beaten, and the bikers leave both Henry and Kristin for dead, burning down the hall around them.

Kristin and Henry recover, both scarred for life in visible and invisible ways. Henry, a Chinese American, takes Kristin into his home, where they plan their revenge and heal. She re-emerges as Baby Shark, a talented pool hustler, trained in the ways of death.

This is a story of love and revenge, of acceptance and deceit. The setting of this story is Texas in the 50s, a time when young women who run into 'trouble' are outcast or shamed into silence. As Baby Shark so eloquently and painfully puts it, "Not so many years ago I would have been called Soiled Dove instead of Baby Shark." Instead, Baby Shark finds herself, buried in the rubble of her soul.

The desolate beauty of Texas is a character unto itself. The people who populate Fate's book are so finely drawn they leap off the page. Add to that Fate's command of spare, devastating language -- all combine to make BABY SHARK a must read. To say much more would ruin this amazing title.

Reviewed by J. T. Ellison

September 2006
ReviewingtheEvidence.com
 

"After finishing BABY SHARK… I got a feeling of deja vu: I had felt quite a bit the same way after reading Dennis Lehane's A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR about ten years ago. Like Lehane, Robert Fate is a very, very good writer. His skills are far deeper than that of most first-time mystery authors I have read. If he keeps on writing, reviewers are likely to accuse him of transcending the genre." (See review below)

 

"It could easily be made into a movie by Quentin Tarantino or Sam Peckinpah."

 

"Wonder how long it will take movie producers to get a hold of these rights?"

Baby Shark, a review by Lesa Holstine

Robert Fate's first novel is a made for the movies page-turner. It's violent with a stark world, and a gritty heroine. Baby Shark was meant to be a film, so moviegoers can stand and cheer when Kristin Van Dijk faces down her opponents.

Kristin was only seventeen when her father, a pool hustler, was killed by a motorcycle gang. She herself was dragged back into the pool hall, beaten, repeatedly raped, and left for dead when the bikers torched the place. If it hadn't been for Henry Chin, the Chinese owner of the pool hall, who dragged her out, she would not have survived. Henry was also responsible for her emotional survival. He took her home, gave her a dog and trainers to teach her self-defense, survival and shooting. She and Henry prepared for the day they could avenge themselves against the gang. When they found out the cops were looking the other way about the deaths and fire, they knew they were on their own. They hired a private investigator, Otis Millett, to find the gang members, while they waited.

In the months they waited, Kristin turned herself into Baby Shark, a pool hustler who drew a great deal of attention in Texas in 1952. Texas was a cruel place in 1952, a place of motorcycle gangs and crooked cops. It was a world where a Chinese man and a white woman living on the same property would not be accepted. It was a world where female pool hustlers were rare, and violence was common. Kristin became Baby Shark, a denizen of this world.

Robert Fate has created a fascinating world inhabited by intriguing characters. Baby, Henry and Otis have to become cold-blooded killers to seek vengeance. Readers will find themselves cheering for Baby Shark in her fight against evil.

"A compelling tale with well-developed characters that drew me into their world."

 

"I took BABY SHARK, by Robert Fate, into the bath. Big mistake. When I came up for air, the water was frigid, my skin resembled a chicken, and I'm stuck reading this until I finish it tonight. AMAZING book!"

"Baby Shark's Kristin is my kind of woman, a combination of Uma Thurman and Jennifer Garner. High-energy entertainment. Great fun!"

 

"Not the typical mystery revenge, Baby Shark reels you in and keeps you in its jaws.  A grabber from page two with a killer ending.  A great read and highly recommended."

 

From:    Diana Bane
Subject: New mystery author to watch: Robert Fate

Robert Fate, how great a name is that for a writer of mystery and suspense? His first novel, as many here already know, is BABY SHARK. I read an arc because he sent it to me, but I was intrigued enough by the blurb on his publisher's website that I would have ordered the book if he hadn't.

To be perfectly frank, what attracted me was the time frame in which the book is set, the 1950s. Nobody, but nobody, writes about the 50s anymore. I would have been Baby Shark's exact age in the year the book was set. I might have been going to an upscale school (before we had the term "upscale") in California when Baby Shark the high school drop-out was hitting the pool halls in Texas with her dad, but the prevailing attitudes of men toward females were not that different in her milieu and mine. Not at all, not at all. So I was most impressed by the decisions Mr. Fate's main character makes. What, after all, is a mystery novel for if not to make a point by heightening a situation, and to right the wrongs vicariously?

OK, that said, the book's violence was for me at times hard to take. Yet I kept on reading, and reading and reading, and was sorry when it came to an end. I also had a problem with the character Henry in that his Chinese-ness seemed stereotypical to me, so that grated a bit. Yet the problems were trivial even as I was encountering them. Somehow there's more going on in this book than just what is on the page. The novel resonates. We live in times that are increasingly violent, and to keep one's head in the sand is not the way to deal with it -- at least not for me. I learned early on to face my fears, and in that way Baby Shark and I are alike, so as hard as it was, I could relate. I made the connection, and I think a lot of people, probably both male and female, will.

After finishing BABY SHARK, while thinking about what to write for DorothyL (Mr. Fate was careful to say his arc came with no strings), I got a feeling of deja vu -- which I eventually tracked down: I had felt quite a bit the same way after reading Dennis Lehane's A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR about ten years ago. Like Lehane, Robert Fate is a very, very good writer. His skills are far deeper than that of most first-time mystery authors I have read. If he keeps on writing, reviewers are likely to accuse him of transcending the genre. (I, of course, would do no such thing. <grin>)

I wish Robert Fate a quick and deserved success.




From:  Sarah Bewley
Baby Shark by Robert Fate - link to my review.

I just finished BABY SHARK last night, and I'm stunned.  This book was so good, I quite literally stayed up WAY past my normal bedtime to finish it. I have posted a review to my blog:  www.myspace.com/wpadmirer. I highly recommend this book.  I don't normally read dark stories, and yeah, this one is definitely dark - but it's also wonderful.



From:    Nikki Strandskov
Subject: Baby Shark by Robert Fate

Stories of private eyes, especially female ones, occasionally give us a bit of back-story explaining how the protagonist got where she is. (For example, Charlaine Harris's Lily Bard series does this in flashbacks and allusions to her rape and assault.) Mr. Fate's protagonist, Kristin Van Dijk aka "Baby Shark," has something in common with Lily, as we learn in the first chapter. She has been brutally gang-raped by a motorcycle gang in an attack that also killed her father (her mother has died before the book opens). However, she also suffers from living in Texas in the early 1950's, meaning that she must contend with all the prejudices of the time and place about rape victims and women in general. The other survivor of the attack, who becomes a good friend to her, is a Chinese-American and has a whole other set of prejudices to deal with. In addition, the police don't seem very interested at all in tracking down the killers. What ís a girl to do? This book, the first of a series of which at least two more are to come, is apparently setting the stage by giving us the whole story of how Kristin Van Dijk became Baby Shark.

If you do not like scenes of extreme violence, you should not read this book. It could easily be made into a movie by Quentin Tarantino or Sam Peckinpah (in which case I wouldn't go-I can read it, I just can't watch it).

Kristin or Baby Shark (her dad was a pool player and she becomes an even better one) is an exceptionally strong character, yet I found her believable (and yes, Robert Fate really is a man, and writes from a female point of view very well). Although she performs many acts that I would consider highly reprehensible in real life, I found her a sympathetic character. The book is full of action, but there is more to it than just a shoot-em-up. Baby Shark creates a new family for herself with the few people she ís able to trust, and they are all intriguing characters. She also thinks about her own motivations and feelings in a very intelligent way.

I don't normally like noir all that much, and in some ways this is a noir story. I also am heartily sick of coming-of-age stories, and in its way, this is one. Yet I could hardly put it down and finished it in one day. I'm eager to read the next two books in the series. If you can stand the heat, take a chance on Baby Shark when it comes out.



 BABY SHARK by Robert Fate

        "Forgot to mention another FANTASTIC book I just finished - Baby Shark by Robert Fate. I loved this book and could not put it down until I finished it. Please, please, please tell me you're going to have the SECOND Baby Shark book out soon!"



From:    Cathy Strasser
Subject: Book Review, Baby Shark

As I was packing for vacation (my husband and my 25th anniversary and our first real vacation without kids in the last 18 years) I put out a pile of books to bring. Among them was the book Baby Shark, by Robert Fate. I'd read a review earlier this week, talking about the amount of violence in the book and, since I'm not a fan, I decided to just read the first few pages to make sure I really wanted to bring it. That was yesterday morning, and today I'm reviewing the book. It pulled me right in and I kept going back between packing and laundry just to see what happened next.

The main character, Kristin, is a 17 YO girl who is traveling around
the country with her father, a pool hustler, in the early 1950's. One
night in Texas, a motorcycle gang catches up with them and kills Kristin's father, beats and rapes Kristin, and kills the pool hall owner's son. The violence in this scene is real, but handled well in an almost dream-like sequence, and is easy to skim (as I did) without losing anything from the story. After the gang is done killing, they burn the place to the ground. The pool hall owner, Henry, rescues Kristin and they make a pact for revenge.

One of the things I liked best about this book is the characters do
things that make sense, given what has happened to them, and there are no super heroes. After the attack, Kristin spends several months in retreating from reality, sleeping as much as she can, given the nightmares she's having, and escaping into books and music. Finally, she's willing to start facing the world again, and she and Henry, along with a quirky cast of characters, work to turn her into an expert in self-defense, shooting, and pool. Her reasons for doing this "so I never have to be afraid again" really resonated with me.

Kristin, transformed into the Baby Shark of the title, hunts down the
members of the motorcycle gang, one by one, but again, in a believable fashion, complete with unexpected screw-ups and falling asleep on surveillance. The story is fast paced and draws you forward throughout the book. I highly recommend it.

 

BABY SHARK by Robert Fate

        "Robert Fate sent me an ARC of BABY SHARK, which I told him I'd be delighted to read, and would be happy to post a good review if I liked it. I did. Many other people have already described it, so I won't spend a lot of time on plot details. He asked me especially to think about how well the teenage female viewpoint worked for me, coming from him. My daughters are 15 and 22, not to mention once being a teenage girl myself, so I really thought about that. The protagonist, the daughter of a traveling pool player, is raped and her father is murdered by bikers at the beginning of the book. The rest of the story is about recovery and revenge and a search for answers.  At first the narrator didn't feel particularly feminine to me; I kept asking myself if the voice could have equally well been male. But as she began to heal from her experiences, she became more comfortably female, as if she were regaining that part of herself, and that worked very convincingly for me. More generally, this book is very well written, suspensefully plotted and carried out and I was really entertained. I'm trying to figure out why I only rated it A- instead of A in my book log, and I think it's because the main character is lacking that seasoning of warmth or humor that tends to draw me in completely. And that's not a fair criticism of the book, because this is a dark book with a character who has little cause for warmth or humor (though she is capable of forming emotional connection, and does). The book itself is written with a certain dryness that I enjoyed, and I will definitely watch for the sequel."

 

Caryn St. Clair
Baby Shark by Robert Fate

The thing about this book is that when I read the reviews and the promo blurb, I thought, "no way am I going to like this book." It's about a girl who watched her dad be killed and then she was raped repeatedly by a motorcycle gang. She then goes about plotting revenge. How gruesome is that! I was positive that I was not going to like this book. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to read it. Well, the thing is, although the plot is truly gruesome, the writing is not all that violent. Yes, the reader knows all of those things happen, but its not graphically described and is over quickly.

What the book is really about is Kristin Van Dijk's ability to heal, put the past behind her, and move on with life. It's about a young woman with incredible inner strength. The way she systematically went about training to fight, shoot, and play pool is inspiring. Time after time, things go wrong for Kristin, but she always picks herself up and moves on. This book is not for the cozy reader however. The subject matter is hard to read about and scenes are definitely gritty, but in its own way, it is a heart-warming story of recovery and revenge.

Baby Shark by Robert Fate

Review by Andrea Maloney

Set in the 1950's, Baby Shark is the story of Kristin Van Dijk a young girl who travels from town to town in Texas with her pool hustling father. Living out of her father's car she spends her time reading books and listening to Jazz. Life is good until one horrible night in a local pool hall when a local motorcycle gang turns her life upside down. Kristin is assaulted and left for dead. Her father is murdered along with the son of the pool hall's owner.  Henry Chin, the owner, is also beaten and left for dead but he manages to pull himself and Kristin out of the pool hall before it burns to the ground.

In the 1950's girls didn't admit to being raped and they certainly didn't seek revenge for wrongs committed against them and their family.  The local police don't seem interested in finding the perpetrators so Kristin sets out with Henry Chin to find the killers and make sure justice is done.

She sets out to learn how to defend herself while also learning to shoot pool even better than her father. With the help of a local private detective, Kristin and Henry set out to find the members of the motorcycle gang responsible and exact their revenge.

Robert Fate's first novel, Baby Shark, is a dynamite read.  It pulls you in from the very first page with non-stop action, violence, and characters that live and breathe.  Straightforward writing tells the story of a tough heroine who refuses to take life lying down.  She refuses to play by the rules and she refuses to let the criminals responsible go unpunished. Fate has written characters who are full of life, tough yet tender.  Characters you will find yourself jumping up and cheering for in this dark, almost noiresque novel. The tightly written plot will have your pulse racing, your heart pounding, and leave you breathless until the very end.

 

Baby Shark by Robert Fate

My bookmark has just left "Baby Shark" which the author so generously sent to me since my local library wasn't cooperating. Everyone, and I do mean everyone should run out and beg, borrow, or steal this book. There's no other way to describe how great this book is and we should be hearing a lot more from Robert Fate. The characters, the setting, the plot-all just seem to flow so smoothly that it's hard to believe this is his first book. Trust me, there will be no "sophomore jinx" with this author. I'd like Kristin to be my friend-never mind that she can kick some serious booty. I just shake my head over how great it is. Not many authors, at least for me, come out of the chute with a winner on the first try. Steven Havill, Steve Hamilton, and William Kent Krueger sure did and now we can add Robert Fate's name to that list.

Epinion.com

A teen-aged pool shark cues up revenge in this new series.

The occupants of the pool hall knew trouble was brewing when four bikers from the Lost Demons gang walked in. They just didn't realize how bad it was going to get. Seventeen-year-old Kristin Van Dijk did as most others and left, going out to her dad's Cadillac to wait. Besides the gang members, only Kristin's pool shark dad, the owner Henry Chin, and his son remained. Until a hand smashed through the glass of the car and pulled Kristin out by her pony tail, dragging her back inside.

What followed happened quickly, but was all too real. Kristin found herself in the middle of a bloodbath which resulted in the death of three men, including her dad. When the bikers were done with the adults, they turned their attention toward Kristin. She was brutally beaten, raped and left for dead. Thankfully, Henry Chin survived and pulled her to safety.

Somehow the police detective doesn't seem too interested in the case. It's almost as though he figures those dead and wounded had it coming. Bikers, hustlers, a couple of Chinese men, and a young girl in a pool hall? Oh well. Henry and Kristin aren't so willing to let it go, though. The police might have mysteriously mislaid the files, but Henry knows people. He knows how to get justice when the law fails.

Henry takes Kristin in and introduces her to a couple of vets who train her how to use both her own strength and weapons to get the job done. Together, the two survivors work to turn their home into a stronghold while waiting for news from their PI. The bikers they're after have split off, but cold revenge is just as good as any.

During down times, Kristin also practices pool and follows in her father's hustling footsteps. She makes a name for herself as "Baby Shark." When becoming good puts her in the spotlight, her hiding out days may be over. She could just find she will share the same fate as her father only this time the Lost Demons don't plan to leave survivors.

When I first heard about Baby Shark by Robert Fate, I wrote it down on my list of books to check out thinking it had an interesting premise. I figured I would pick it up someday when nothing else looked enticing. That day came, and I'm so glad (and, at the same time, so frustrated) that I checked it out of the library sooner than I had expected to.

Rarely does a debut novel succeed in drawing a person in so completely as this one did. There is usually some struggle with character development or pacing, but I found none of that here. What makes it more amazing is that this is the first book of a series. While many suffer from the fate of boring the reader through the set-up process, Baby Shark was a book I had difficulty putting down.

One of the aspects that may have helped in impressing me was the author's way of making the timeline of Kristin's training believable. She had just suffered terrible injuries that were going to take time to heal. Robert Fate not only gave her that time, but he also gave her a sufficient amount of the same in order to prepare her for fighting. In other words, she didnÕt become an overnight super girl. Perhaps she was a bit more deft than she should have been during her first encounters, but that could easily be explained away as the adrenaline rush of revenge. Either way, I was surprised to find that I remained interested during the months of healing and preparation.

The characters were so well done. While one may feel some emotion toward what happened to Kristin, it's difficult to feel sympathy for her. That's not a bad thing, though. She wants none of that and is portrayed in such a way that the reader can care for her without pitying her. Henry Chin was very easy to like with his broken English and his habit of quoting others. He loved Kristin as his own yet always maintained the distance required of their differences in age, gender, and race during that era.

Which brings me to the only thing I could find flaw with. The setting of Baby Shark is 1950s Texas. I just didn't get the feel for it, though. Outside of a few references toward vehicles, music and movies, the backdrop just didn't scream 50s. Then again, when the events revolve around poolrooms and biker thugs, it's not exactly the sock hop and letter jacket thing we're used to, is it? It's quite possible that my mind had a problem grasping it via my first impression based on the cover art. Nothing about the girl's clothing or hair seemed to fit the time she was living in. Acid-washed jeans and a halter-top? Just a little off. Not that it's even that big of a deal. I really only thought about it when I came across a heading that made a notation of the month and year. This story could have happened at any time, and I would have enjoyed it the same.

The frustration I felt toward having chosen to grab up this book now was timing. I am not used to being introduced to a series when it's not yet finished, hence my not having begun either the Lemony Snicket or Harry Potter books until now. I am an impatient person when it comes to seeing how the characters I've come to know are getting along, and I prefer being able to go from one book to the next. What I didn't realize was that acquiring the second installation would require that missing patience of mine because it's still new enough that I cannot put a hold on it. Not to mention, the third installment has not yet been released. Don't let that stop you, though, join in the wait right along with me. Unless you shy away from brutality, go pick up Baby Shark now. Then you'll want to pick up a copy of Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues. At that point, we should be on equal ground, and we can wait together.

By the way, the name of the third volume has apparently gone through some changes, so I cannot tell you what exactly to look for. It had begun as Baby Shark's Sooner Weekends but I recently saw that it's now said to be Baby Shark's Panhandle Caravan. I would suggest that you periodically check out the author's website at www.robertfate.com for any upcoming details.

Recommended:
Yes

Danielle Reid, Epinion.com

BookPleasures.com
BABY SHARK by Robert Fate

From the first chapter of Baby Shark, Robert Fate delivers all the satisfactions of the traditional crime page-turner, as he exposes to his readers the merciless activities of a gang of vicious brutes.
Our plot unfolds in Henry Chin's Poolroom where a young woman of seventeen witnesses her father being murdered with a cue stick by a member of a biker's gang, Henry Chin, the Chinese owner of the hall being badly pummeled, while his son is murdered, several members of the gang being killed, the pool hall being set ablaze and the young woman being beaten, raped and left for dead by four of the gang's beasts, who manage to escape.

Quite an opening and if you managed to survive all of this, as the woman, Kristin Van Dijk also known as Baby Shark did along with Henry Chin, what would you do? Probably, your first reaction would be to leave it to the law authorities, however, what happens when you discover that there is some rotten business going on with the police, as they don't seem to be too eager in pursuing the case. What is more, there seems to be a cover up, as some influential person is protecting the gang, known as the Lost Demons, and as a result, the file is conveniently and mysteriously lost.

Kristin and Henry unshakably agree that they must avenge these atrocious crimes and consequently they choose to take the law into their own hands, seeing that, according to Henry, "no police justice. Henry know more ways one skin cat." Consequently, as Kristin exhibits a great deal of doggedness, she decides that it will be necessary to financially support herself and she calls upon a friend of her late father to teach her to become a pool hustler, something her father pursued before his untimely death. She also engages two instructors, one to show her how to become a sharp shooter and the other to teach her self-defense. Although, Kristin considers herself to be a good person, she has arrived at a place where she could easily justify killing without remorse, notwithstanding that she would be driven to a level of barbarism in the process. To aid them in hunting down the killers and avenge the murders of a father and son, Henry, engages a private detective friend of his, Otis Millett who does a masterful job in coming to their assistance.

Although, Fate inserts several characters into his narrative, they are all well defined. The pace of the story and the chase to track down the killers moves along steadily, picking up in intensity when the author permits his readers to learn more about who is trying to protect the gang and in particular its leader, nicknamed "blue eyes." Moreover, readers are given a realistic opportunity to solve the mystery along with Kristin and Henry before the rewarding finale. All the clues are on hand and conveyed without the surprising coincidences that sometimes ruin crime novels.

This one is a winner!