FFB Review: Apocalypse Soon (Kyler Knightly and Damon Cole Volume 2) by Garnett Elliot

Timelines are tricky things as readers were reminded in Carnosaur Weekend. Agents Kyler Knightly and Damon Cole are back in Apocalypse Soon. The work of protecting the timelines by Continuity Inc. is ongoing,  difficult, and relies on everyone sharing the same common goal and following the rules.

 

 

In the signature story of this second volume of the series one Continuity Inc. technician by the name of Paul Dirac has gone rouge. His ongoing obsession with Pre-Apocalypse North America and vintage cars was thought to be a quirk one expected from a genius. The company shrink had perceived his obsessive interest as nothing to be concerned about and cleared him to work. Proving the shrink wrong, Dirac has gone rogue and jumped back in time to “Old Vegas” in the year 2035. He took a lot of supplies with him which means he is not coming back. What he plans to do there is unknown, but he can’t be allowed to do more damage than he has already done simply by going back then. Kyler and Damo have to go after him as fast as possible and bring him back alive. Easier said than done.

  

“Babylon Heist” comes next where Kyler Knightly is sent back approximately 3000 years to prevent a theft. Continuity Inc. got a tip that another time traveler had been sent back to collect a priceless artifact for a collector in the 23rd century. Kyler knows what they are after, but has no idea of the identity of the time traveler. So, he is working undercover in the Babylonian underworld trying to make contacts and gather information. 770 B.C. is a dangerous place and he has no idea whom he can trust.

  

Billed as a “Bonus Story” the final tale “Strontium Dreams” has nothing to do with Kyler and Damon or Continuity Inc. for that matter. Time travel may or may not be involved. What is clear is that it is a future world and one so decimated that survival means doing anything you have to survive.  Having the stamp of “genetic undesirable” on your forehead helps keep you away from the collectors looking to salvage organs for the wealthy and keeps the rest of you out of the taco meat sold by vendors in the Jetsam Flats. One does not want to become taco meat.

 

Like the past, the future is not always pretty, and certainly not here in these short stories written by Garnett Elliot. Whether it is Red Venus or Dragon By The Bay, Scorched Noir, or his efforts in the Drifter Detective Series, or the aforementioned Carnosaur Weekend, a hint of hard edged noir prevails no matter the setting. It doesn’t matter if one is vicariously on Venus fighting humans and alien life, running from dinosaurs, or shooting it out to bring back the rogue employee, that dark nourish edge of crime fiction is always there in the works of Garnett Elliot. One could easily make the argument that these are primarily crime fiction tales in a science fiction setting. Those works are also very good reads that tell complex tales with plenty of action and adventure.

Apocalypse Soon is yet another example of Mr. Elliott’s steadily increasing body of work. If you have not read him yet you really should. The only question is where and when you wish to start. 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4d7WfCx

 

 

Material was supplied in paperback format by the publisher three months ago in exchange for my objective review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016, 2024

FFB Review: Carnosaur Weekend by Garnett Elliott

 

Imagine, if you will, a world where it is possible to go back in time to play golf in relative safety while dinosaurs move around you. That idea is just a small part of the three highly entertaining tales in Carnosaur Weekend. The three tales in the book are all good ones and highly entertaining.

 

“Carnosaur Weekend” opens the book where pterodactyls fly above the golf course and an allosaurus and a carnosaur are on the fairways. A RPG is a most helpful weapon in times like this where the super-rich are being courted by real estate developers selling time shares in the late cretaceous period. Those running this deal somehow got their hands on a “Zygma Projector” making their very questionable venture in the timeline possible. Damon Cole is already working the case in the far distant past and is under deep cover. Kyler Knightly is being sent in to assist because the deal has to be shut down before they screw up the past and cause irreversible changes in the present.

 

“The Zygma Gambit” comes next and was also published in the very good The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform and Other Stories. Set a bit before the preceding story, Kyler Knightly is one of those very special people known as “dreamers” and is employed by Continuity Inc. Through their dreams the dreamers have the ability to foresee the future. Kyler has been awakened by a dream in his own bed in the early morning hours of April 14, 2223. For this to happen outside of the Precog bays where he normally works means that this dream was very powerful and definitely coming true. Kyler has to get to his Uncle Damon Cole and tell him about the dream before Cole goes on his mission.

 

The final story title “The Worms of Terpsichore” is very good and highly reminiscent of the classic type of science fiction many of us grew up on. The spaceship Sallust sent off a one word message via their orbital beacon and then went radio silent. No further transmission has come from where they landed on the surface. The one word message also does not make sense. Clearly, something has happened.  Raj and Thea will go down to the site by way of a lander from their spaceship known as the Astarte. This type of search and rescue mission is just part of what they do as members of “Frontier Swift Response.” While this isn’t at time travel story and Damon Cole and Kyler Knightly are not involved at all, it is still a very good tale. After all, any story that uses a flame-gun is automatically pretty good.

 

Author Garnett Elliot’s bio and ads for other books from Beat To A Pulp including installments of the excellent Jack Laramie Drifter Detective series finish out the book.

 

The three science fiction tales in Carnosaur Weekend quickly yank readers to a very different time and place. The multiple characters involved have considerable depth that never gets in the way of the science fiction adventure. These are adventures when anything is possible as the dangers are many and one has to stay alive by one’s wits. The tales of Carnosaur Weekend are all very good ones very much worth your time.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3xShuYR

 

Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014, 2020, 2024

FFB Review: Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales by Garnet Elliott

We kick off the month of December here with my July 2015 review of Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales by Garnet Elliott. Like my dead Kindle which I cannot use these days, the book seems to be out of print and is not available in eBook format. So, if you have it in your TBR pile, you might want to shuffle the stacks. Also make sure you head over to Patti Abbot’s blog as well as Aubrey Hamilton’s blog to see their reading suggestions.

 

Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales features eight previously published tales by Yuma, Arizona native Garnett Elliott. That harsh desert landscape with limited opportunities is the setting for these tales. These short stories are set in Yuma, Arizona or towns like it contain a couple of consistent themes that become clear as one reads through the book.

 

It opens with “Trailer de Fuegeo.” Corrections Officers need somewhere to go to blow off some steam after work. They tend to go out to a certain spot in the nearby desert to drink, smoke, and trade stories. One guard stands out in the battle to keep the inmates in line. His name is Tench and he has done fifteen years of guard duty in a lot of bad places from Texas to Arizona. He has always done what needed to be done and tonight will be no exception.

 

“Somerton Sangre” features a man named Jesus Vega. Known to do some questionable things when necessary, Mrs. Sandoval wants him to find out who killed her brother. Her brother was killed and dismembered just after he illegally crossed the border. While the way he was killed would indicate drug runners, his sister is sure he was not into that.  She has the money to pay for Vega to look into things and find out who killed him. To do that Vega is going to have to cross into Mexico and try to find the people who transported her brother across.

 

Jesus Vega is also very much involved in the next story titled “Jesus Contra las Brujas Plasticas” or “Jesus Versus the Plastic Witches. “ While working for a witch lady, Dona Cruz, he is assigned the task of checking out a new and nearby competitor. He needs the money and is used to doing dirty deed for her. Not because of her supposed powers, but the fact that he needs the money she is willing to spend. He does not fear the alleged power of those who claim to see the future, cast spells, and the like. Maybe he should.

 

The landscape and everything on and in it cooks under the summer sun in Arizona. That certainly is true of those storage places scattered around the area. It was brutally hot when Motorcycle Officer Ray Satoshi and Robert Opp wheeled into a storage lot run by Joe Pender. They are looking for a guy who shot and killed a bouncer at the nearby gentleman’s club before getting away with forty three grand.

 

People are going out into the desert to commit suicide at a certain rock landmark .Why they are doing that and whether they can be stopped are just two of the issues Shari faces in “Bad Night at Burning Rock.”

 

In “Snowflake” he has been waiting for the stripper to show up for food at the IHOP when she got off work down the street. Dwayne knows by the way she dances just how class Lisa is. He also figures he can do something to help her career as he is a social media specialist.

 

“The Greatest Generation” are the targets of Vonda and her partner. They pose as home health care workers and steal everything they can to fund their travel and drugs. They figure it is their right because the seniors took everything with no though to the future. With their next score in sight it is time for Vonda and her partner to to clean up as fast as they can and do what needs to be done to claim their latest prize.

 

The three women, all with the first name of Debbie, work the ER at the local hospital. “The Darkest of the Debbies” works the job to do what has to be done to keep home together. Way easier said than done.

 

The eight short stories of Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales feature complicated reads of multifaceted characters often doing what has to be done to survive. Nothing is right or wrong when one is doing what has to be done to survive. Drugs and crime, like the sun and the desert, are always present in these tales of people coping with what they have and what they can do each day. Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales by Garnett Elliott may not make you feel better about yourself, but it might make you feel more appreciative of your working air conditioning as well as some of the life choices you had to make along the way.

 

 

Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

  

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015, 2020

FFB Review: The Girls of Bunker Pines (The Drifter Detective Book 3) by Garnett Elliott

Back in September I reminded you of The Drifter Detective. Last month I reminded you of the second book in the series, Hell Up In Houston. Today I remind you of the third book in the series, The Girls of Bunker Pines.  It appears that the eBook is no longer available and the print is only available via third parties at an insane price. 

After you read the reviews, make sure you head over to Patti Abbott’s blog as well as Aubrey Nye Hamilton’s Happiness Is A Warm Book blog and see what they suggest today. Todd Mason is back collecting links so you will have even more suggestions on his Sweet Freedom blog later.

 

 

It began with The Drifter Detective and continued on with Hell Up In Houston and now traveling private investigator Jack Laramie is back in The Girls of Bunker Pines. It is 1956 in Kilgore, Texas as a hail storm pulls Jack Laramie from an intense dream of his B-17 being shot down over Germany during the war. While he is back home and has pretty much adjusted to civilian life by wandering across Texas in his Desoto hitched to a horse trailer while working as a private investigator, the nightmares of war persist from time to time. His normal solution of downing a couple of shots won’t work this night as he is on a surveillance job outside a traveling church revival led by pastor Dalton Byrnes.

 

He may have fallen asleep, but it is clear that nothing much is going on.  The pastor may be a lot of things, but he isn’t having sex with his client’s wife. Though she does seem very interested even if the attention is not reciprocated. While one case seems to be drawing to a close, Jack’s being there has led him to meeting Joe Crewes. One look at Joe and Jack knows he sees a fellow veteran with his own demons.  Joe Crewes served in Korea and has a very complicated case for Jack Laramie if he is interested.

 

What follows is a complicated tale set in 1956 interspersed with Jack’s memories of flying in a B-17, being shot down over Germany, and the aftermath. Those flashback sections are intense and are skillfully woven into the main storyline of a client who may or may not be helped by Jack. The Girls of Bunker Pines: The Drifter Detective Series is another solidly good read that works on all levels all the way to the end. While it would obviously be best to read the series in order, one could read this as a standalone before going back and picking up the other installments of so desired. Author Garnett Elliott puts you in the moment with Jack and does not let go till the very end.

 

Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014, 2020

FFB Review: Hell Up In Houston by Garnett Elliott

Back in September I reminded you of The Drifter Detective. Today I remind you of the second book in the series, Hell Up In Houston. It appears that the eBook is no longer available and the print is only available via third parties at an insane price.

After you read the reviews, make sure you head over to Patti Abbott’s blog as well as Aubrey Nye Hamilton’s Happiness Is A Warm Book blog and see what they suggest today. Todd Mason is back collecting links so you will have even more suggestions om his Sweet Freedom blog later. 

Private Detective, Jack Laramie, is back in another gritty fast moving tale that is also very good. First seen in The Drifter Detective Jack makes his money by drifting from city to city across Texas doing work as a private detective while living out of the horse trailer he tows with his Desoto. Having wrapped up the current case after discovering the real truth of the matter the grandson of legendary US Marshal Cash Laramie is headed to Galveston to deal with a client as Hell Up in Houston opens. That mission is temporarily stopped thanks to mechanical problems with the old Desoto requiring him to stay for at least a few nights at “The Fulton” in Houston.

 

Jack had no desire to be back in Houston as the last time he was in Houston things did not go well. He also didn’t want to stay at “The Fulton” either. However, it is clear the Desoto is going to be at the garage awhile, the horse trailer is miles back on the side of the road awaiting its own tow truck pickup, and he really has no choice. “The Fulton” has a bit of a less than stellar reputation as well, but Jack doesn't care as the place has air conditioning. In 1946 Houston, Texas as now air conditioning is all that truly matters.

 

He also soon learns the place also has a house detective by the name of Frank Grogan. Frank wants him to do some work for him and will pay him a decent amount of money for a few days of work. Considering the repair bill for the Desoto, Jack doesn't really have a choice. Besides, Frank said the work should be easy. If Jack keeps his head down and goes about his business quietly with no one wiser that he is in town everything should be easy.

 

Frank lied.

 

This latest installment in the series is another good one. Reminiscent of the hard boiled pulp of yesteryear, Jack Laramie is a man's man who gets his hands and boots dirty which fighting the good fight. As in the preceding book, the read here has plenty of action, deceitful characters, and a twisting storyline to keep readers very entertained. You certainly don't have to read the very good The Drifter Detective before reading Hell Up in Houston but, I recommend doing so. You won’t regret it. 

 

Material supplied long ago by David Cranmer in exchange for my objective review. 

 

Kevin R Tipple ©2013, 2020

FFB Review: Dragon By The Bay by Garnett Elliott

 As we begin October 2020 and the world seems to be double downing on chaos, some pulpy goodness might be the ticket to get away from the world. After you read my 2015 review, make sure you check out the new reading suggestion on Patti Abbott’s blog as well as Aubrey Nye Hamilton’s Happiness Is A Warm Book blog. Todd Mason is collecting links so you will have even more suggestions om his Sweet Freedom blog. 

A tale by Garnet Elliott is always a good one full of pulpy goodness as Garnet Elliot never disappoints. Such is the case with Dragon By The Bay, his latest novelette set in San Francisco in 1866. The Civil War is over, the Gold Rush is very much on, and people are active above and below ground with many of them pawns in various nefarious schemes. This is not a genteel San Francisco, but a city of criminal chaos where anything goes and often does.

Carson Lowe is newly arrived in San Francisco having come over on the ferry from Oakland with very little money in his pockets. He has plans and dreams, but they suffered a nearly fatal setback recently when he was in Nevada where he nearly lost all of his money and his life. The current plan is stay low and be careful. That was the plan before he saw the men of very hard appearance roaming the streets, members of some sort of vigilance committee, clearly looking for somebody to take their frustrations out on as soon as possible. Carson determines it is a good idea to get off the streets as quickly as possible and goes into a nearby tavern.

Once inside he spots a poker game underway. That game just might be the place to run his time tested scam regarding a mine of sliver just waiting to be excavated. The problem with time tested scam is that others may be aware of the scam and not take kindly to your attempt to scam them. They may inflict heavy violence upon you before making sure you wind up in the local jail.

That is exactly what happens to Carson Lowe in short order. Once in the local jail he is witness to the rescue of a fellow prisoner by the name of Nine Serpens Hsien. A legendary figure in San Francisco and a man that is said to be immortal with inconceivable powers.

What follows is a kung fu adventure style story that is a fast moving tale of deceit, alliances, and martial arts in a time tested tale of the battle between evil and those who oppose evil. Frequently the flying fists are as fast as lightning, as are the feet and a few other things as the action moves around and below the city of San Francisco. Paying homage to the movie Big Trouble in Little China, author Garnett Elliott has penned a complex novelette that is a sheer blast to read. No matter how you label it if you call it a western, a kung fu adventure, or something else, Dragon By The Bay, is packed top to bottom in pulpy goodness and delivers an excellent read.

Dragon By The Bay

Garnett Elliott

Beat To A Pulp

http://www.beattoapulp.com

September 2015

ISBN# 978-1943035113

Paperback (also available as an e-book)

122 Pages

Paperback was supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015,2020

FFB Review: Carnosaur Weekend by Garnett Elliott

Last week Barry and I reminded you of  The Drifter Detective, the first gook in a great series that has a new installment coming soon. For something completely different and seriously cool, I remind you of this one also by Garnett Elliott. It will blow your mind. 

After you read the reviews, make sure you head over to Patti Abbott’s blog as well as Aubrey Nye Hamilton’s Happiness Is A Warm Book blog and see what they suggest today. Todd Mason is back collecting links so you will have even more suggestions om his Sweet Freedom blog later. 

Have a good weekend! 

Imagine, if you will, a world where it is possible to go back in time to play golf in relative safety while dinosaurs move around you. That idea is just a small part of the three highly entertaining tales in Carnosaur Weekend. The three tales in the book are all good ones and highly entertaining.

“Carnosaur Weekend” opens the book where pterodactyls fly above the golf course and an allosaurus and a carnosaur are on the fairways. A RPG is a most helpful weapon in times like this where the super-rich are being courted by real estate developers selling time shares in the late cretaceous period. Those running this deal somehow got their hands on a “Zygma Projector” making their very questionable venture in the timeline possible. Damon Cole is already working the case in the far distant past and is under deep cover. Kyler Knightly is being sent in to assist because the deal has to be shut down before they screw up the past and cause irreversible changes in the present. 

“The Zygma Gambit” comes next and was also published in the very good The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform and Other Stories. Set a bit before the preceding story, Kyler Knightly is one of those very special people known as “dreamers” and is employed by Continuity Inc. Through their dreams the dreamers have the ability to foresee the future. Kyler has been awakened by a dream in his own bed in the early morning hours of April 14, 2223. For this to happen outside of the Precog bays where he normally works means that this dream was very powerful and definitely coming true. Kyler has to get to his Uncle Damon Cole and tell him about the dream before Cole goes on his mission.

The final story title “The Worms of Terpsichore” is very good and highly reminiscent of the classic type of science fiction many of us grew up on. The spaceship Sallust sent off a one word message via their orbital beacon and then went radio silent. No further transmission has come from where they landed on the surface. The one word message also does not make sense. Clearly, something has happened.  Raj and Thea will go down to the site by way of a lander from their spaceship known as the Astarte. This type of search and rescue mission is just part of what they do as members of “Frontier Swift Response.” While this isn’t at time travel story and Damon Cole and Kyler Knightly are not involved at all, it is still a very good tale. After all, any story that uses a flame-gun is automatically pretty good.

Author Garnett Elliot’s bio and ads for other books from Beat To A Pulp including installments of the excellent Jack LaramieDrifter Detective series finish out the book.

The three science fiction tales in Carnosaur Weekend quickly yank readers to a very different time and place. The multiple characters involved have considerable depth that never gets in the way of the science fiction adventure. These are adventures when anything is possible as the dangers are many and one has to stay alive by one’s wits. The tales of Carnosaur Weekend are all very good ones very much worth your time.

Carnosaur Weekend (Kyler Knightly and Damon Cole Book 1)

Garnett Elliot

Beat To A Pulp Press

http://www.beattoapulp.com

October 2014

ASIN: B00OTT7UN8

E-Book (also available in print)

65 Pages

Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014, 2020

FFB Double Take Review: The Drifter Detective by Garnett Elliott

Back in March and April of 2013, Barry and I in separate reviews gave our thoughts on The Drifter Detective. With news in recent days that a new installment of the series is coming, it seemed fitting to again remind everyone of this excellent series. Therefore, as a FFB Double Take Review, Barry and then I offer thoughts on the first book of the series. Please note that when we reviewed the book it was available as an eBook and did not contain the additional short story “Fighting Chance.” It also had a far different cover design that I very much liked and briefly referred to in my review. It appears that the eBook is no longer available and the print is only available via third parties at an insane price.

After you read the reviews, make sure you head over to Patti Abbott’s blog as well as Aubrey Nye Hamilton’s Happiness Is A Warm Book blog and see what they suggest today. Todd Mason is back collecting links so you will have even more suggestions om his Sweet Freedom blog later.

Have a good weekend! Go COWBOYS!!!!

"The Drifter Detective" (2013) by Garnett Elliott

Reviewed by Barry Ergang

In Texas just after World War II, investigative jobs in cities like Dallas and Houston are hard to come by for one-man operations because big firms like the Pinkertons and others tend to get them, so ex-G.I.-turned-P.I. Jack Laramie tools around rural areas in search of business, hoping to eventually amass enough money to open an office in San Antonio or Austin. Towing a horse trailer, which he sleeps in, behind his DeSoto coupe, he's on his way to Abilene where there is a "hint of a job" when the car begins to act up. He manages to get it to the small town of Clyde and to a service garage. The proprietor assures him that because it's late afternoon, the car's problem won't be diagnosed until the next day at the earliest.

The man gives Laramie directions to the local saloon, and tells him the widow Talbot runs a boarding house where he might get a room for the night. (Laramie figures it wouldn't be a good idea to sneak back to the garage to sleep in the horse trailer.) Soon after he meets Sheriff Gideon Hawes, who says he can throw some work Laramie's way. The job, he learns the next morning, entails keeping an eye on the estate of a prominent local citizen, Thomas McFaull, who might be engaged in some illicit activities. Laramie agrees to do it, and quickly finds himself entangled with McFaull's promiscuous wife, a surly sheriff's deputy, a railroad worker, and the flirtatious widow Talbot. It isn't long before matters turn dangerous, and Laramie finds himself wondering if things are really as they seem and whether he'll survive so he can get back on the road to Abilene again. 

A neatly-paced, action-packed long short story, "The Drifter Detective" is written in a colorful but not overwrought style and populated with characters the author imparts life to. For fans of hardboiled fiction with pulpy flavor and texture, this one is well worth Amazon's 99¢ asking price.

Barry Ergang ©2013, 2020

Former Managing Editor of Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine and First Senior Editor of Mysterical-E, Derringer winner Barry Ergang's work has appeared in numerous publications, print and electronic. His website is http://writetrack.yolasite.com/.

For my take on the book…

The Drifter Detective: A Jack Laramie Beat by Garnett Elliott is the latest release from Beat To A Pulp and is a very good one. The striking and well done cover only hints at the powerful tale inside as the read takes readers to West Texas and the world of private investigator Jack Laramie. After a clash with a local ranch hand as he closes a case, Jack is happy to get back in his Desoto and head out of Cross Plains, Texas. He doesn’t make it very far down the road before mechanical issues cause him to have to find a garage. His quest for a place to drink and a bed for the night in Clyde, Texas will create new problems in unexpected ways.

Grandson of the legendary US Marshall, Cash Laramie, Jack is a tough WWII vet who has seen the worst the world has to offer. These days he lives out of an empty horse trailer attached to his old Desoto and does the best he can to survive. This novelette of approximately 9k words is a hard hitting read that is excellent and very much well worth your time.

Material supplied by David Cranmer in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R Tipple ©2013, 2020

Review: Two-Trick Pony: The Drifter Detective Series No. 8 by Garnett Elliott

The eighth book of The Drifter Detective Series is split into two parts. As Two-Trick Pony by Garnett Elliot opens, it is 1948 in the Texas panhandle. Jack Laramie has to listen to nonsense from some trucker as the miles of Route 66 pass by. The Desoto broke down on his way to Amarillo so he was forced to hitchhike and that resulted in his riding with the trucker who sees Commies everywhere. Jack Laramie saw far worse than Commies when he served during WWII and is well aware this guy is an idiot. Using the gun he has with him that was once carried by his legendary grandfather would be a bad idea and not just because to do so would disrespect the weapon.

Newly minted private detective Jack Laramie is on the way to Amarillo on behalf of his boss, Hobart Jones, an insurance investigator down in Dallas. All he knows is he is supposed to see a Mr. Adair about a horse. It isn’t a case Laramie is going to want either after he hears the man out, but he has been paid and the job has to be done.

Part Two picks up 11 years later in Dallas where Jack Laramie has given up the lure of the open road for a shabby office in the Wilson Building near Commerce Street. Despite what had happened with members of the local mob three years earlier, Laramie had come back and opened his office. At least the Montmartre Club is within walking distance.

He has become a regular. One of the entertainer’s tonight is new in town. She is also a woman he knew in another time and in another place. She was trouble then over in Longview. No doubt she is trouble now. He has unfinished business with her. He isn’t the only one.

The grandson of legendary US Marshal Cash Laramie first appeared in The Drifter Detective. He continues on here in Two-Trick Pony. Every installment gives readers a strong taste of noir style crime fiction and this two-part read is no exception. Drive by nightmares from his past, Jack Laramie is a loner looking for peace in a bottle and justice at the end of a gun. Whether he finally found it is open to interpretation. This reader hopes the search is not over.

The series: 

The Drifter Detective (Reviewed March 2013)

Hell Up In Houston (Reviewed September 2013)

The Girls Of Bunker Pines (Reviewed March 2014)

Wide Spot In The Road (Reviewed June 2014)

Dinero Del Mar (Reviewed August 2014)

Between Juarez and El Paso (Reviewed September 2015)

Torn And Frayed (Reviewed June 2016)

Two-Trick Pony: The Drifter Detective Series No. 8

Garnett Elliott

Beat To A Pulp

http://www.beattoapulp.com

October 2016

ASIN: B01M8I5H4J

eBook (also available in paperback)

99 Pages

$1.99

According to Amazon, I purchased this back last December. While it does not say how I made the purchase, I took advantage of a free read promotion or I used funds in my Amazon Associate account.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2017

FFB Double Take Review: The Drifter Detective by Garnett Elliot

Back in March and April of 2013, Barry and I in separate reviews gave our thoughts on The Drifter Detective. It seemed fitting more than three years later and with seven books more in the series at this point that for FFB today I run those reviews again. Therefore, as an FFB Double Take Review, Barry and then I offer thoughts on the first book of the series. Please note that when we reviewed the earlier edition of the book it did not contain the additional short story “Fighting Chance.” It also had a far different cover design that I very much liked and briefly referred to in my review.

For other reading suggestions today, head over to Patti Abbott’s blog. And, yes, you should read her books too. I have told you that before as well.

"The Drifter Detective" (2013) by Garnett Elliott

Reviewed by Barry Ergang

In Texas just after World War II, investigative jobs in cities like Dallas and Houston are hard to come by for one-man operations because big firms like the Pinkertons and others tend to get them, so ex-G.I.-turned-P.I. Jack Laramie tools around rural areas in search of business, hoping to eventually amass enough money to open an office in San Antonio or Austin. Towing a horse trailer, which he sleeps in, behind his DeSoto coupe, he's on his way to Abilene where there is a "hint of a job" when the car begins to act up. He manages to get it to the small town of Clyde and to a service garage. The proprietor assures him that because it's late afternoon, the car's problem won't be diagnosed until the next day at the earliest.

The man gives Laramie directions to the local saloon, and tells him the widow Talbot runs a boarding house where he might get a room for the night. (Laramie figures it wouldn't be a good idea to sneak back to the garage to sleep in the horse trailer.) Soon after he meets Sheriff Gideon Hawes, who says he can throw some work Laramie's way. The job, he learns the next morning, entails keeping an eye on the estate of a prominent local citizen, Thomas McFaull, who might be engaged in some illicit activities. Laramie agrees to do it, and quickly finds himself entangled with McFaull's promiscuous wife, a surly sheriff's deputy, a railroad worker, and the flirtatious widow Talbot. It isn't long before matters turn dangerous, and Laramie finds himself wondering if things are really as they seem and whether he'll survive so he can get back on the road to Abilene again. 

A neatly-paced, action-packed long short story, "The Drifter Detective" is written in a colorful but not overwrought style and populated with characters the author imparts life to. For fans of hardboiled fiction with pulpy flavor and texture, this one is well worth Amazon's 99¢ asking price. 

Barry Ergang ©2013, 2016

Former Managing Editor of Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine and First Senior Editor of Mysterical-E, Derringer winner Barry Ergang's work has appeared in numerous publications, print and electronic. His website is http://writetrack.yolasite.com/.

For my take on the book…

The Drifter Detective: A Jack Laramie Beat by Garnett Elliott is the latest release from Beat To A Pulp and is a very good one. The striking and well done cover only hints at the powerful tale inside as the read takes readers to West Texas and the world of private investigator Jack Laramie. After a clash with a local ranch hand as he closes a case, Jack is happy to get back in his Desoto and head out of Cross Plains, Texas. He doesn’t make it very far down the road before mechanical issues cause him to have to find a garage. His quest for a place to drink and a bed for the night in Clyde, Texas will create new problems in unexpected ways.

Grandson of the legendary US Marshall, Cash Laramie, Jack is a tough WWII vet who has seen the worst the world has to offer. These days he lives out of an empty horse trailer attached to his old Desoto and does the best he can to survive. This novelette of approximately 9k words is a hard hitting read that is excellent and very much well worth your time.

The Drifter Detective

Garnett Elliott

Beat To A Pulp

http://www.beattoapulp.com

March 2013

ASIN: B00BVRQWMQ

Kindle E-Book

106 Pages

$0.99

Material supplied by David Cranmer in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R Tipple ©2013, 2016