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May 02, 2011

Sons and Princes by James LePore

Like all true believers, he saw his point of view as the morally correct one. He was perfectly justified in returning hurt for hurt, death for death. – Ed Dolan

Ed Dolan is a man on a mission, and that’s bad news for Chris Massi. Friends for a time when they were teenagers, the two boys’ lives were forever altered when Chris’ father killed Ed’s. The fact Chris’ father, Joe Black Massi, was a mafia hitman and Ed’s was acting as hired muscle trying to protect the target of Joe Black’s mission would seem to complicate the matter a bit. Not for fifteen-year-old Ed, who swore revenge against the Massi family, no matter how long it took.

Fast-forward 25 years and both Chris and Ed have become successful attorneys, Chris working at a prestigious defense firm, Ed as a United States Attorney. Despite having married the daughter of a powerful mob kingpin, Chris has managed to steer clear of “the life” otherwise. Even that association was short lived, when Chris and his wife divorced after only 5 years.

Things start seriously falling apart for Chris when he’s falsely indicted for securities fraud. The prosecuting attorney? Ed Dolan, of course. When that trial ends in acquittal Dolan pursues an ethics complaint with the New York State Bar, succeeding in having Chris disbarred for his alleged “mob ties.” His life already on the ropes, the knock-out punch comes in the form of the murder of his father, not so surprisingly as a result of a mob hit. When his former father-in-law tells Chris he knows who killed his father, Chris has a soul-searching choice to make: try to rebuild his normal life, or embrace the one he’s spent his whole life trying to avoid? →

April 29, 2011

Sergeant Zero by Anthony Schiavino

Sergeant Zero by Anthony Schiavino When you face down the devil, there’s always a price to pay. – Joe Sinclair

OK, I’m going to do something a little different today, a comic book review. Once upon a time I did a fair amount of comic reading, though I must admit at this point once upon a time was many years ago. I’ve purchased the odd comic or graphic novel here or there over the years since my serious reading days, but for the most part it’s not something I keep up with anymore.

Then Anthony “PulpTone” Schiavino mentioned he had something he thought I may be interested in, a comic he’d created called Sergeant Zero. I’ve gotten to know Anthony a little bit on Twitter, have read some of his short stories, and figured I’d give it a look-see. Damn, am I glad I did!

Sergeant Zero: Reigning Fire introduces the story of Sergeant Zero/Joe Sinclair, a soldier who has a near superhuman memory for everything…except his past. Initially seeming to be a straightforward scenario of G.I.s fighting Nazis in WWII Germany, things take a turn for the weird when Sinclair and the rest of Zero Company encounter an abandoned village littered with corpses ravaged by radiation. Things go from bad to worse, and before you know it Zero Company is decimated by mutated werewolf-like creatures, Sinclair is captured, a mysterious tentacled creature makes a brief appearance, and the reader is left with one hell of a cliffhanger. →

April 29, 2011

Death by Sarcasm by Dani Amore

There were people who got her. And there were people who didn’t. She’d long since given up trying to figure out who was who. – Mary Cooper

Los Angeles private investigator Mary Cooper is armed and dangerous. She also carries a gun. Her primary weapon, however, is her quick wit and razor sharp sarcasm. Be it family, her on-again-off-again boyfriend, a Police Sergeant who’s brought her in for questioning, or even witnesses she’s trying to get information from, no one is safe from Cooper’s withering quips.

Lest you get the idea Cooper’s a total bitch, however, it soon becomes clear that sarcasm is the shield she wields to keep people from getting too close, and that she actually cares very deeply about her family. It’s that family bond which gets the ball rolling in Death by Sarcasm when Cooper is informed that her uncle, a has-been comedian, was murdered in an alley behind the comedy club where he was working.

Despite specifically being warned off the investigation by the Police Sergeant in change, there’s no way Cooper is going to sit back and wait to see if they get results. And when she’s approached by a group of her uncle’s old running buddies, also comedians, and learns that another member of their comedic fraternity has also been killed Cooper realizes there’s something bigger than just her uncle’s murder going on. As her investigation deepens, Cooper begins unearthing skeletons that someone would rather stay buried, someone who’s willing to bury Cooper to keep her from getting too close to the truth. →

April 29, 2011

The Bone Trail by Nell Walton

The Bone Trail by Nell Walton “You have my word, that I will do my very best to see if I can shine a light on what happened, or why they haven’t found out what happened.” – Kate Wyndham

When wild horse advocates Lindy Abraham and Julia Evans tire of the runaround they keep getting from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the organization that is supposed to be there to assist with the women’s efforts at conservation, the two decide to launch their own investigation to discover why the BLM seems to be dragging its heels.

What they discover is shocking. Instead of working as an advocate for the horses, the BLM appears to have gotten into bed with mining companies, forcing the wild horses off land the companies want to use for mining purposes. Instead of running free, the horses have been penned into an enclosure where they are apparently being neglected, or worse, and left to die.

Horrified, the women film what they find, intending to turn the film over to the press and expose the BLM’s unethical, and perhaps criminal, behavior. Before they are able to release the tape, however, the women disappear.

Enter investigative journalist Kate Wyndham, herself an avid horsewoman. Sent to discover what happened to the two women, her efforts are stonewalled by local authorities, with the F.B.I. not offering much more by way of assistance. Determined not to be brushed aside, Kate turns to Jim Ludlow, a Shoshone Indian and local rancher with a reputation as a horse “whisperer.” Together they launch an investigation, and every step closer to the truth also brings them one step closer to death. →

April 27, 2011

Sick by Brett Battles

“It’s a war that should have started a lot earlier than it did. All we’re doing is damage control and catch up.” – Matt Hamilton

There’s a war brewing in America, one simmering just below the surface but ready to explode. Captain Daniel Ash, his family, and the other 56 residents of Baker Flats military base find themselves at ground zero of that war one horrible night when hell descends upon their little corner of the world.

Awakened by a cry from his daughter, Ash goes to her room expecting to find her upset from a nightmare. Instead, he finds the girl burning with a dangerously high fever. As he struggles to get her into a cold tub he calls out to his wife for assistance, but gets no response.

Leaving his daughter in the slowly filling tub he returns to his bedroom and finds his wife still in bed. Dead. Panic now flooding in, Ash races to his son’s room and finds him apparently unaffected by whatever killed his wife and has made his daughter dangerously ill.

As he huddles in the bathroom with his two children Ash makes a frantic call to 911 pleading for help, but when it finally arrives it is not what Ash had expected, and his life will never be the same again. →

April 27, 2011

Dancing with Gravity by Anene Tressler

“Whether we love – or fail to love – there is always a cost.” – Nikolai

I’m not exactly a religious person, and almost never read books that could be labeled “Christian Fiction,” but there was something about the description of Dancing with Gravity, the debut novel from Anene Tressler, that made me think this one was somehow a little different than the typical genre offering.

Dancing with Gravity tells the story of Father Samuel Whiting, a Catholic priest who finds himself approaching middle age only to discover he’s not entirely sure how he got to where he is in life, nor is he sure he wants to be there anymore.

Already constantly questioning his ability to adequately handle his role as head of Pastoral Care at a teaching hospital in St. Louis, Father Whiting returns from an extended trip to Italy for a conference only to find another large, and unusual, responsibility foisted upon him… to minister to the spiritual needs of a group of circus performers who have set up shop at the nearby Missionary Sisters of the Little Flower’s motherhouse.

As Father Whiting gets to know the colorful members of the troup he strikes up a friendship with Nikolai, one of the trapeze artists. As their unlikely friendship deepens, Father Whiting comes to realize he’s been sleepwalking through life, not fully experiencing all it has to offer. →

April 26, 2011

Dear Mr. Holmes: Seven Holmes on the Range Mysteries by Steve Hockensmith

“I think we need to ask ourselves a very important question: What would Sherlock Holmes do in this situation?” – Gustav Amlingmeyer

Though now a full blown series of novels that recently saw its fifth entry, World’s Greatest Sleuth!, author Steve Hockensmith’s Holmes on the Range series got its start as short stories appearing in magazines such as Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Now for the first time all seven stories which have featured the Amlingmeyer brothers, cowboys turned detectives in late 1890’s America, are available in one collection: Dear Mr. Holmes: Seven Holmes on the Range Mysteries.

The opening story of the collection, Dear Mr. Holmes, introduces readers to brothers Otto “Big Red” and Gustav “Old Red” Amlingmeyer. While out on a cattle drive, Otto entertains his fellow cowboys in the evenings by telling stories or reading from magazines. The Amlingmeyers lives change forever the night Otto reads a story called “The Red-Headed League” to the group.

Gustav is immediately captivated by the story’s lead character, some English bloke named Sherlock Holmes, and becomes obsessed with the idea of “detectin’ and deducifyin'” (“Some folks get religion. Gustav got Sherlock Holmes.”). When two of their fellow cowboys are murdered one night Gustav gets to put the lessons he’s learned from Mr. Holmes to the test sooner than anticipated as the Amlingmeyers attempt to solve the killings. And with that, Gustav “Holmes of the Range” Amlingmeyer is born. →

April 25, 2011

Mayhem & Thuggery by Josh Stallings

Last week I reviewed Josh Stallings’ powerful debut, Beautiful, Naked & Dead. Today I am pleased to welcome Josh for a guest post that shows sometimes inspiration strikes pretty close to home.

Beautiful, Naked & Dead by Josh Stallings Petty thieves, women who take their clothes off for money, small time criminals, big time mobsters, these are the characters I embrace. I write hard-boiled crime fiction. But the why of the matter is a mystery.

Fact: my grandfather sold bootlegged whisky on the Pike in Long Beach California. In the sixth grade his teacher said, “Harold Stallings, you will spend your life behind bars.” He did, he became cop, spent his later life as Chief of Corrections, behind bars. He also spent his first forty years at bars as often as possible. He was long time sober when he passed.

What does this have to do with my writing? Wait. My father stole his first car at 16. It was a Ford coupe. Black. Sexy. He did it to impress a girl who sold lemonade on the boardwalk. As he tells it, the keys were in the ignition. The car was in the driveway. The owner could be seen washing dishes. Pop took off the brake and let it roll down to the street. He then drove to the beach and parked in plain view of the boardwalk. It was important the girl saw him get out. He knew this would cinch the deal with her. He walked down an incline and was almost to her. She was smiling. He swallowed and started to speak, “Hi I saw-”

“Hal, you best come up here.” His father stood between the patrol car and the stolen Ford coupe. Busted. →

April 20, 2011

Boca Mournings by Steven M. Forman

Boca Mournings by Steven M. Forman “The old you was a young slugger. Now you’re a veteran counterpuncher. You win by decisions instead of knockouts.” – Claudette Permice

When we last saw Eddie Perlmutter he had been dubbed the “Boca Knight” by the Boca Raton press for his successful handling of some messy matters involving both the Russian mafia and a group of neo-nazis. Former decorated Boston police officer or not, it was a pretty nifty showing for a 60 year old retiree with arthritic knuckles and two bum knees.

Boca Mournings, the second book in the Eddie Perlmutter series following Boca Knights, finds Eddie having capitalized on his minor celebrity by getting licensed and officially going into business as a private investigator. And while his phone has been ringing off the hook, the majority of the callers want Eddie to investigate spouses suspected of having affairs. Not exactly what the 34 year Boston PD vet had in mind.

Things soon heat up, however, and before Eddie knows it he’s juggling cases ranging from the merely curious (Who’s sabotaging the elevator at the Delray Vista condos?), to a personal mission (Why can’t his friend Sylvia remember anything before her twentieth birthday?), to the life-altering (What happened to the gay couple who disappeared from their tight-knit community?). Along the way he manages to shut down a cyber-criminal – and pick him up as an unofficial sidekick – and parlay the results of one investigation into a project to tackle the lack of adequate health care for a nearby low income community. Oh yeah, his prostate is also acting up. →

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