I-Team series by Pamela Clare

    By Kate Phillips

 

            As a reader, I always love finding books that appeal to me. As a writer, I am twice as pleased when the authors also provide Masterclasses for me within their books.

            Masterclasses take place when performance artists and musicians work one-on-one with students. Writers don't generally have this option, but I have found some books to be Masterclasses for characters, dialogue, backstories, plots, settings, voice and/or creativity.

 

           

            Pamela Clare writes historical and contemporary novels including the I-Team series which follows the lives of the reporters writing for the Denver Independent.

 

 

            The I-Team started in the story Heaven Can't Wait published in the book Catch of the Day. Five books are now in the series (Extreme Exposure, Hard Evidence, Unlawful Contact, Naked Edge, and Breaking Point) each highlighting one main character, and an e-book, Skin Deep, following up on a secondary character, but the whole cast appears in every book.
 

While the newspaper office is their base, the characters drive throughout Denver, live in different apartments, and visit political offices, the police station, a jail, a museum, cabins in the surrounding mountains, an Indian reservation, and Mexico. Clare uses not only visual descriptions, but distinctive sounds, fragrances, foods, and ambiance to create you-are-there settings.
 

The dialogue is terrific. Work discussions are professional—usually. The dialogue changes when the female characters are talking amongst themselves or the male characters are bonding with each other. Conversations between the romantic leads are intense, sometimes outrageous, and often funny.
 

Backstories are key to the success of these books. Each character lives according to her reactions to her deep backstory that is revealed throughout "her" book. The plots are tight and provide a lot of suspense as the investigations lead the reporters into danger. The men they meet, also shaped by their own in-depth backstories and jobs, are often in conflict with the reporters. Happy endings are in realistic doubt due to circumstances and the characters' outlooks on life.  

 

(PLEASE NOTE: There are adult situations and violence in these books. Also, an excerpt of book six in the series was posted on the author's blog. It is more graphic and violent than the books I reviewed here.)