Showing posts with label December 2019. Show all posts
Showing posts with label December 2019. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Beneath the Stains of Time: Framed in Guilt (1947) by John Russell Fearn
Beneath the Stains of Time: Framed in Guilt (1947) by John Russell Fearn: John Russell Fearn unexpectedly passed away in 1960, aged 52, when he suffered a heart attack. A fate he unfortunately had to share with...
Mystery Fanfare: CHAMPAGNE IN CRIME FICTION//MYSTERIES: National Ch...
Mystery Fanfare: CHAMPAGNE IN CRIME FICTION//MYSTERIES: National Ch...: If you follow this blog or if you know me in real time, you know that I'm a list maker . And, since today is National Champagne...
Review: Purgatory Bay by Bryan Gruley
Purgatory Bay: A Novel by Bryan Gruley continues what began in Bleak Harbor. While not a
straight sequel to the prior book, it features the local area and some of the same
characters. There are also numerous references, some far more detailed than
others, to the prior book and those events. For that reason, those who have
read the prior book will get far more out of this read than those who have not.
Jubilee
Rathman lives a life of wealth and splendid isolation in her home on Purgatory
Bay near Black Harbor. It has been twelve years since the night her family was
wiped out by murders. She knew who was responsible as did law enforcement, but
when the wealthy and connected are involved, the fight to hold those accountable
is often impossible. Long ago she gave up on the legal system and those within
it that had so utterly failed her. Those that believe she moved on and managed
to put the past behind her would be sadly mistaken.
Instead,
she is financing her own very personal quest for justice. She sees it as
holding those involved, no matter how far removed, as accountable for their
roles in her personal tragedy. Others would see her plan, if they knew of it
before things commenced, as nothing more than a revenge list and that many of
her targets would be misplaced targets of her rage.
One of
the not so obvious targets is a local resident, Ophelia. A renowned artist and
a contributor by way of various sculptures around the area, she lost her sight
during her teen years. Removing her from the home and making her vanish is a
key part of Jubilee Rathman’s plan. She must vanish so that former reporter
Michaela “Mikey” Deming can experience just a small beginning taste of what Jubilee
Rathman has in store for her and many other folks.
Purgatory Bay: A Novel by Bryan Gruley is very much like the preceding book, Bleak
Harbor: A Novel, in that it is another very complicated read filled with
multiple storylines, family tragedies, and acts of violence, betrayal, and
vengeance. All of the characters involved in the read are flawed and very realistic.
While the overall tone is dark for much of the book, there are the occasional flashes
of subtle humor which tend to lighten the mood at various times throughout the
book. Several of the characters in the read, evolve, and work out their own ways
to redemption by way of the violence that is unleashed across the area.
An
intense and powerful read, Purgatory Bay: A Novel by Bryan Gruley is one
of those book that most likely will be nominated for a slew of awards and
collect at least a couple. Simply put, it is very much worth your time.
The read is currently scheduled to be released
by Thomas & Mercer in eBook, audio, and print formats on January 14, 2020.
You can read my review of the first book, Bleak
Harbor, here.
My reading copy came by way of the
author with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2019
Monday, December 30, 2019
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Eternal Life by Dara Horn
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Eternal Life by Dara Horn: Reviewed by Ambrea Rachel Azaria cannot die. Since she made a deal to save her firstborn child more than two thousand yea...
Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: The Last Act by Brad Parks
The Last
Act
by Brad Parks (Dutton, 2019) is a stand-alone thriller from the author of the
Carter Ross investigative reporter series. Tommy Jump’s acting career is
winding down after a promising start as a child actor. He has aged out of
juvenile parts, is too young for character parts, and is too short for dramatic
leads. His long-time agent has died and no one else is willing to take him on.
His girlfriend on the other hand is a talented painter and has generated a
great deal of interest in her work. She seems poised for a huge leap upward in
the art world. Tommy is determined to give her enough financial stability to
allow her to focus on her work, if he can just figure out how.
While he’s
wrestling with this economic quandary, a friend from high school, whom he has
not seen for years, approaches him with a request. The friend is with the FBI
now and the FBI is looking for an actor to infiltrate a minimum-security prison
in West Virginia to become friends with a new inmate, a former accountant to a
Mexican drug cartel who holds evidence on money laundering that would
effectively shut the cartel down. The FBI is offering $75,000 for Tommy to
agree to enter the prison under a fake identity and the same amount again if
Tommy learns where the evidence is hidden.
Despite his
girlfriend’s and his mother’s reservations, Tommy sees this opportunity as a
lifeline to financial security. He memorizes the details of the persona that
the FBI has created for him, signs a confession to a bank robbery under the new
name, and appears before a judge for sentencing. Before he knows it, he’s
actually in prison. While it’s minimum security, it’s still a prison. The food
is horrible, he is assigned to work in the prison laundry, and the prison
social worker keeps trying to make him sign up for classes. His cellmate is so
huge the standard cell bed had to be modified to fit him. He never speaks but
Tommy is still terrified of him.
The
characters are wonderful. An actor with a family as protagonist is a refreshing
change from alcoholic police detectives, military veterans with PTSD, and loner
private investigators. Tommy’s girlfriend and his mother are as fully developed
as he is; all of them exude ordinariness and normalcy. There are still
incredibly violent bits in the scenes with the cartel but Tommy could be the
neighbor down the street.
One of the
fun details in the book is the prison currency, which is foil packets of tuna,
not the usual cigarettes or other contraband. Bribes and favors are paid in
tuna. Tommy has to bribe his way into the poker game where the accountant plays
every week, so he asks his FBI contacts to provide several cases of tuna. They
are mystified but they do. The carefully developed plot has one twist after
another. Even the last few pages hold surprises. An excellent read!
Starred
review from Library Journal.
·
Hardcover: 384 pages
·
Publisher: Dutton (March 12, 2019)
·
Language: English
·
ISBN-10: 1524743534
·
ISBN-13: 978-1524743536
Aubrey Hamilton ©2019
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It
projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Cowboys 2019
The Eagles win today meant they clinched the NFC East regardless of what the Cowboys did today. Dallas beat the Redskins, which is always a good thing, and finish 8-8.
This was not the season we expected here as Dallas just never did get things going at a consistent rate. I never bought into the Super Bowl hype, but did think they would make a run in the playoffs.
While the news coverage and speculating pundits are sure Jason Garret will be out as Cowboys coach, I am not so sure. I also don't see the point of bringing in another coach unless Jerry is going to step down from his position as GM and constant meddler. That is not going to happen so changing coaches won't mean much.
Mystery Fanfare: NEW YEAR'S MYSTERIES, CRIME FICTION, THRILLERS, AN...
Mystery Fanfare: NEW YEAR'S MYSTERIES, CRIME FICTION, THRILLERS, AN...: New Year's Mysteries! Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Thrillers and Movies that take place at the New Year. I wish you a safe, health...
Sweet Freedom: FRIDAY'S "FORGOTTEN" BOOKS AND MORE: the links to ...
Sweet Freedom: FRIDAY'S "FORGOTTEN" BOOKS AND MORE: the links to ...: This week's books and more, unfairly (or sometimes fairly) neglected, or simply those the reviewers below think you might find of som...
Review: At Their Own Game: A SpoCompton Crime Novel by Frank Zafiro
At Their Own Game: A SpoCompton Crime Novel by Frank Zafiro revolves around former police officer Jacob Stankovic. He runs a small criminal enterprise using Matt for short range stuff and Brent for long haul gigs. Though he is now on the other side from his former fellow officers of the law, he has worked to keep things relatively clean these past seven years and kept things small time to stay off the radar of everyone. Especially one Detective who got seriously upset over the fact that Jacob, when he was still a cop, spent a lot of time between the sheets with the Detective’s wife.
Who would have thought he would take
things so personally?
He has
been running things small and tight with no issues. His number one rule was no
drugs. Thanks to desperate circumstances, Jacob Stankovic broke that rule and
now things are blowing up. The drug deal went sideways though it might still be
salvageable. That is one problem. Another one is the fact that minutes after the
drug deal went haywire, Matt got picked up by the cops and is in jail with that
same Detective leaning on him.
Jacob
Stankovic has never had to kill anyone before. If things keep going wrong, he
may have to rethink his rule against murders.
At Their Own Game:
A SpoCompton Crime Novel is another intense read from the mind of Frank Zafiro. A former
officer himself, Frank Zafiro brings a gritty realism to all his characters. These
are not super hero cops like you read in other books where the cops are perfect,
or nearly perfect, at home and at work. The officers and former officers in
Frank Zafiro’s tales are flawed human
beings. Some are just way more flawed than others. Under pressure, those circumstances
coupled with inner flaws, can and often do become major issues.
Issues
that drive action and result in very intense read. Such is the case here in At Their
Own Game: A SpoCompton Crime Novel. Another strong read from author
Frank Zafiro and like his other books, very much worth your time.
I purchased my eBook copy to read and review back in the middle of October.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2019
Saturday, December 28, 2019
Friday, December 27, 2019
Barry's Sale At Smashwords
The ebook site Smashwords is running its year-end sale between now and January 1st. Barry Ergang is among the many participants, and is offering his titles at reduced prices (not that they're pricey to begin with), and some of them are freebies. Take advantage of this opportunity to read his work and that of thousands of others. Barry's offerings include but aren't limited to:
Barry also hopes that readers who acquire any of his ebooks will, after reading them, post ratings and their honest comments on their site pages.
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 43 Writing Contests in January 2020 - No entry fee...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 43 Writing Contests in January 2020 - No entry fee...: Wikipedia January is a wonderful month for writing contests. This month there are more than three dozen contests calling for every genre...
FFB Review: The Empty Manger by Bill Crider
Back a number of years
ago, I first heard about The Empty
Manager by Bill Crider when Ben Boulden mentioned his 2008 review of the
same over on his Gravetapping Blog. It wasn’t available via eBook or at my
local library so Bill Crider sent me a copy from his own personal library. I
reviewed it here on the blog late December 2014. I mentioned in here again in
December 2016. I had planned to read the other novellas in the book and still
have not managed to do that. Life tended to laugh and interefer with my plans
on this and quite a number of other things. So it goes. Though I have not
managed to get the job done, my advice remains the same as it was then—if you
can get your hands on the book do so.
For this final Friday in 2019, head over
to Todd Mason ‘s Sweet Freedom
Blog for the full list of reading suggestions.
Sheriff
Dan Rhodes can’t remember it ever snowing in Blacklin County on Christmas. It
certainly didn’t look like it would happen this year with daytime temperatures
in the upper 60’s and low 40’s at night. Typical weather for the area residents
of the county located in East Texas, but not conducive to the postcard winter
wonderland so many long for at this time of year.
Like
a lot of small Texan towns-- and elsewhere for that matter-- the downtown area
of Clearview has a number of vacant buildings in various states of disrepair.
Some of the vacant buildings are in very bad shape. Shoppers were drawn away to
the nearby Wal-Mart or one of the big new grocery stores and local businesses
closed leaving the buildings to decay and rot. City council member Jerri Laxton
had been pushing plans to restore the grandeur of the downtown area.
One
of her ideas was to get some of the local high school students to paint a mural
on one of the walls of a downtown building. Some of the local religious leaders
convinced all that in the spirit of the season the mural should be of a manger
with a brilliant star hanging over it. Somebody else came up with the plan to
have members of the local Baptist congregation play the parts of Joseph, Mary,
wise men, and the shepherds with a doll standing in for the baby Jesus. After
all, the risk with a real baby as part of the outside scene would be too high.
It
was a very good thing that a doll was used because, according to Francis Blair,
somebody stole baby Jesus. She is very upset that somebody would do that. She
might be more upset if she knew there was a dead body in the alley behind the
building.
While
Rhodes never drinks a Dr Pepper----though he does talk about it---- and he
never eats any crackers, he does actively work the cases. Any Rhodes story is a
good one and this one is no exception. The novella The Empty Manger by Bill
Crider is well worth the effort to get your hands on the book, Murder,
Mayhem, And Mistletoe. Crider’s story is one of four novellas in the
book that also contains works from Terence Faherty, Aileen Schumacher, and
Wendi Lee.
Material supplied by the author so that I could read and review.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2014, 2016, 2019
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Mystery Fanfare: BOXING DAY MYSTERIES // BOXING DAY CRIME FICTION
Mystery Fanfare: BOXING DAY MYSTERIES // BOXING DAY CRIME FICTION: December 26 is Boxing Day . I've put together a list of over 1400 mysteries that take place at Christmas , and although I'm s...
Review: The Lost Are The Last To Die: A Sonny Burton Novel by Larry D. Sweazy
Sometimes
a short story takes on a life of its own and becomes a full sized novel. Such is
the case with The Lost Are The Last To Die: A Sonny Burton Novel. This read
is a sequel to the very good, A Thousand Falling Crows.
It is October 1934 as this novel
begins and Sunny Burton is no longer a Texas Ranger. Drought and the depression
have Texas in their two handed grip and men and the land are being crushed
alike. Sonny Burton, thanks to the gunshot that ultimately took his right arm,
will never be able to do a two handed grip again. His new prosthesis allows him
to work the stick on his old model A Ford pickup truck and that makes
driving a little easier than it was for a while there though he prefers to stay
close to home.
That isn’t to be.
Collingsworth County Sheriff Layton
Jones, known to all the locals as “Jonesy” brings word that Billy Bunson has
escaped from Huntsville. When Burton was working for the Texas Rangers, he had
several encounters with Bunson over the years. The first time was back when
Billy was a small child. The last one got the adult Billy put away in
Huntsville. Not only is he out, but he took the warden’s pregnant wife with him
as a hostage when he left the legendary Texas prison.
Billy He
took her because the police grabbed his girlfriend. Donna Del Rey was helping
in the escape and now is sitting in the county jail for her efforts. He wants
to make a trade-- the warden’s wife for his girlfriend. To make sure he got his
point across, he sent a piece of one finger. Everyone understands that if he
does not get what he wants, he will keep taking pieces off of her until she is
dead as is the baby. The Rangers want Sonny to find him. Billy knows that the
Texas Rangers would get Sonny to help as nobody knows Billy better than Sonny.
Sonny coming to Hunstville to lead the search would be expected and another
piece of Billy’s plan.
Sonny does not have a choice and he
knows it. He is going to have to go to Huntsville and find out all he can so
that he can stop Billy if at all possible. A man who was passing his days
waiting for the end is given a reason to do what he does best. Even if he does
not want to admit it to himself that being back on the chase and needed makes
him feel alive in ways he has not felt in a very long time.
What
follows is a highly atmospheric mystery with a lot going on. Author Larry D.
Sweazy uses a current storyline in 1934 as well as numerous flashbacks across
various other storylines primarily to weave a complicated tale in terms of
Billy and Sonny’s relationship. Those various storylines and flashbacks also
serve to illustrate the complicated relationship Sonny had with everyone including
his late wife, Martha, his son, Jesse, and the Texas Rangers, and others. More
than once these storylines also touch on Billy and illustrate his childhood
years and more and how, in some ways, his destiny was always pre-ordained as
was the destiny of Sonny to this point. Multiple storylines are at work through
the book as is the overarching idea of a sort of new beginning for Sonny who
has suffered so much over the years. There is a lot going on in this very
complicated read and far more than what is described here in this review.
The Lost Are The
Last To Die: A Sonny Burton Novel is one of those rare reads in fiction that make you think long
after the book is closed. I suspect author Larry. D. Sweazy and this book will
be up for a slew of awards next year. No doubt he will collect more than one
for this intense and very good read.
Lesa Holstine very graciously sent me
the ARC she had of this for my reading pleasure after she completed her review.
You can, and should, read that review here.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2019
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