Duane Swierczynski writes crime fiction
and comic books and has also written several works of nonfiction. His Charlie
Hardie trilogy follows the former cop as he tries to recover from the death of
his former partner and the partner’s family while hiding in fear of meeting the
same fate. He decided moving around reduces the likelihood anyone can find him and
he’s fallen accidentally into a plush house-sitting job which lets him drink himself
senseless and watch movies all day while getting a free place to sleep with a
salary.
His last gig
in southern California ended when the wind changed direction with little notice
and swept a wildfire toward the home he was in, giving him minutes to gather
everything he could that he thought the writer owner of the house would value –
manuscripts, laptops, folders of research. He bolted as ash was pouring onto
his car. After that narrow escape, he worked on the East Coast for awhile.
The new
assignment in LA for a sound track composer traveling to Russia seemed
straightforward enough. He arrived at the house tucked away in the Hollywood
Hills however and found no key waiting for him. Instead he found a minor
actress hiding in the house, insisting that a group of people was trying to
kill her. He assumed she was whacked out on drugs or alcohol until the same
group made it plain that they had expanded their plans to include his demise.
Hardie’s
defense against the putative killers is great, it reminded me of the old
MacGyver show. Swierczynski’s expertise
in comic books and action heroes shows clearly, as Hardie resists every attempt
to subdue him. A stab in the chest with a microphone stand doesn’t stop him and
a taser merely stuns him for a minute or two. The hysterical babbling of the
actress about a murder
for hire outfit sounds outlandish at first but it becomes so realistic that the
story could easily trigger conspiracy-minded folks.
A fast-moving action-packed thriller with an original premise. Starred review from Publishers Weekly.
·
Publisher: Mulholland Books; 1st
edition (June 20, 2011)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 286 pages
·
ISBN-10: 0316133280
·
ISBN-13: 978-0316133289
The Amazon Associate Link: https://amzn.to/3OfqJI0
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works
on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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