The Adventures of Jack Lime

February 1, 2013
More high school noir, centered on a humorless amateur gumshoe for whom a punch in the nose is all in a day's work. Jack's face is still damaged after the capers in the previous casebook (The Adventures of Jack Lime, 2010). It takes further poundings as he tails the boyfriend of a slinky classmate to a forbidden dodgeball game run by local gangbangers and shortly afterward is pressed into service to recover a stolen comic by a punk collector with a violent temper. Being slower on the uptake than he should be, he is also repeatedly framed by a smooth operator--to the point that the school's football team is treating him like a pinball in the halls and Principal Snit is on the verge of expelling him for good. Surrounded by a typical teen crowd of molls, geeks, plug uglies and people who are smarter than he is, Jack nonetheless manages to hold his own thanks to relentless focus, a sharp eye for clues and the occasional flash of insight. By the end, more than one murky scheme has been exposed, though a wild twist signals that Jack's labors aren't over yet. Jack's advanced age notwithstanding, this is just the ticket for upper-elementary and middle school mystery lovers. A winning formula, replete with wince-worthy contretemps reported in properly poker-faced prose. (Mystery. 10-12)

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March 1, 2010
Gr 8 Up-High school student Jack Lime investigates crimes involving a stolen bicycle, pets held hostage for homework coercion, and missing students. These three intertwined stories are told in a nonlinear manner, with some events being related out of order to increase dramatic detail. All three are peppered with noir-fiction references and dialogue reminiscent of hard-boiled detectives like Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade, a technique unlikely to be recognized or appreciated by teens. The noir styling is at times forced, resulting in contrived situations, and characters are generally flat and one-dimensional, most notably the femme fatales who are uniformly meaningful only for their attractiveness and propensity for betrayal. The mysteries are filled with the interesting red herrings befitting any noir homage, and their brevity could appeal to younger teens looking for a quick read, but frequent references to physical attacks, extortion, and student-run gambling rings appear to target an older audience. In terms of appeal, they are comparable to Alan Gratz's "Horatio Wilkes" series (Dial)."Natasha Forrester, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2010
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* At Iona High, Jack Lime is the guy you come to if youve got a problem: Detective, private eye, gumshoe, last resortyou can call me whatever you like. For a small price (he collects favors, never money) hell find out what needs finding out, even if his weakness for pretty faces often leads to some serious bruising of his own mug. This slim volume contains three cases. In the first, Jack susses out the whereabouts of a missing bike. In the second, he shakes down a hamster-napping and blackmail scheme. And in the final, he recounts his first case on the job, in which a magnificently dastardly plan teaches him a formative lesson in humility. All the touchstones that make for great noir are translated for kids: root beer floats instead of double bourbons, getting daddy to replace lost items instead of insurance scams, and a rigged quiz bowl instead of a fixed bout. The lingo that makes hard-boiled reading so much fun is here, but never schticky, and Leck knows that a great hero needs a great debilitating flaw: for Jack, its his narcolepsy that kicks in at the worst possible times. The cases are original where they need to be, and derivative when they should be. You dont need to reinvent the wheel for a great detective story, but you do need a terrific sense of style. Jack Limes got it in spades. While set in high school, this kinda-campy book reads a little young, so middle-graders are the best bet.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)