The Best Lousy Choice: An Ed Earl Burch
Novel begins with Ed Earl Burch hurting in more ways than
one. Demons haunt his dreams and are a specter barely unseen during his waking
hours. Narcotics and lots of whisky keep things a little bit at bay, though
working is what works best for the private investigator that was once many
years ago, a Dallas Homicide Detective, who believed in the law and that
justice would rule the day. Burch knows better now and has the many physical
and mental scars to show for it.
The year is 1989 and the legendary Dallas Cowboys
barely exist in name only thanks to that shyster owner out of Arkansas. The
Oklahoma Sooners suck and will always suck, as any true Texan knows, and
Louie’s Bar is the best place for booze and Campisi’s on Mockingbird is the
best for pizza. One often finds Ed Earl Burch in one place or the other, more
often Louie’s, and that means those that know Burch know where to find him. One
such person is Fat Willie Nofzinger, his lawyer, and a man that can’t be ignored.
Nofzinger holds the note on Burch’s business and has the cards that, for now,
have kept Burch out of the county jail. So, Burch has to listen to Nofzinger
and do what he wants, but he doesn’t have to like it or make it easy on him
The last thing Burch wants to do is to go out to
West Texas. He barely survived events out there last time and some folks would
love it if he came back so they could settle scores. The fact that it is a
divorce case, the type of case Burch absolutely hates, does not improve the
situation.
Fat Willie Nozfinger has a rich female client by the
name of Nita Rodriguez Wyatt. The very wealthy woman has heard of Burch, wants
him hired, and knows enough to go through Nozfinger to get him on the case. A
case from a while back and a talkative former client who was very grateful for
the help means Wyatt wants him and won’t take no for an answer. Not that
Nozfinger is going to allow Burch to say no as Nozfinger also stands to make
buck off of Burch working the case. Refusal to take the job means severe consequences
for Burch and ones he can’t accept.
Hating every second of it, all Burch can do is pack
up and head out to West Texas. Plan is to do his five days of supposedly easy
money and pocket his cash, while also separately slashing a bit of his debt to
Nozfinger, and get back to Dallas without anyone being the wiser. That was
before the gun play, public and not so public carnage, a possibly bent sheriff,
an obvious and very bitter family feud, and more come into play. Ed Earl Burch
is in a world of trouble before he hits the sun-baked wilds of West Texas and
things are only going to go downhill in an escalating violent way.
The Best Lousy Choice: An Ed Earl Burch
Novel is the third in the series that began with The
Last Second Chance followed by The
Right Wrong Number. One expects before one opens the book that
there will be plenty of action, carnal adventures, frequent carnage, along with
plenty of observations about Texas history and some sarcastic comments about
life in the great state of Texas. Things will be graphic and detailed in terms
of settings, language, and violence. Author Jim Nesbitt meets and exceeds those
expectations in The Best Lousy Choice: An Ed Earl Burch Novel.
This review is a mere West Texas mirage glimpsed on
the distant horizon down a crooked two-lane macadam roadway. The review just
does not do the book justice and the read is an intense and a violent crime
fiction read. A book that, like the series itself, is highly recommended. It
would be best to read in order, but do what you will.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/42WbDhT
Material in the form of an ARC was provided with no
expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2019, 2025
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