FFB Review: Still River: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery by Harry Hunsicker

 

For what seems like a month now, several times a week, I have seen ads for the "Oswald Three Pack" which features this great series by Harry Hunsicker. Constantly seeing those ads finally reminded me that it has been quite awhile since I reminded you of the very first book in the series, STILL RIVER: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery. This great series is the real Dallas, warts and all. My review that first ran over twenty years ago... 

 

 

Lee Henry “Hank” Oswald is a private investigator who walks the mean streets of Dallas, Texas. It begins as a favor for a former fellow high school classmate in the form of Vera Drinkwater. Crying in his office, she tells Hank that her brother Charles (Charlie to one and all) Wesson (two years behind both Vera and Hank in school) is missing and has been for a little less than twenty-four hours. She knows something is wrong. Hank knows at this point, Charlie hasn’t been gone long enough to raise an eyebrow or anything else at the Dallas Police Department. The fact that he is a former addict, allegedly clean and sober now, won’t speed anyone to look for him as in all likelihood, he is off on a binge.

 

Charlie had been a victim all through school both by bullies at school and a stepfather at home determined to make a man out of him one way or another. Hank has memories of those times as well as some guilt as he wasn’t in a position to really help but witnessed enough to have some idea of what Charlie endured. Those memories trigger his need to help and he agrees to make some calls and look for Charlie. It should have been easy enough.

 

But, one thing life has taught him with a name like his in Dallas, nothing is easy and this certainly isn’t. Before long, it turns into a huge mess involving crooked real estate developers, urban renewal in the form of yet another Trinity River project, the Russian mafia, drugs, guns, and wayward relatives. Through it all, Hank keeps going as he digs through the muck of Dallas whether they are rich and famous or the nobodies on the wrong side of the river.

Author Harry Hunsicker’s portrayal of Dallas has absolutely nothing to do with the chamber of commerce ads for the city. This is a hard-edged noirish style Dallas that serves as a backdrop for all sorts of things that no doubt happen on a routine basis and that no one ever talks about. While Still River stumbles at first in terms of clichés, the book builds a steady momentum and before long carries the reader violently along for a very enjoyable read.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4twTe6F

 

Or go wild and get the entire three book series. Three books at this price is almost like getting one free. https://amzn.to/4szQnbu



Kevin R. Tipple © 2005, 2012, 2019, 2026

 

FFB Review: Still River: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery by Harry Hunsicker

Having just read the latest from Dallas author Harry Hunsicker, Texas Sicario, it seemed a good time to remind you of the first book in another series of his. So, for this Friday in February, I offer you my reminder review of STILL RIVER: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery. Make sure you check out the full list of reading suggestions over at Todd Mason's blog. 

Hardback

Lee Henry “Hank” Oswald is a private investigator who walks the mean streets of Dallas, Texas. It begins as a favor for a former fellow high school classmate in the form of Vera Drinkwater. Crying in his office, she tells Hank that her brother Charles (Charlie to one and all) Wesson (two years behind both Vera and Hank in school) is missing and has been for a little less than twenty-four hours. She knows something is wrong. Hank knows at this point, Charlie hasn’t been gone long enough to raise an eyebrow or anything else at the Dallas Police Department. The fact that he is a former addict, allegedly clean and sober now, won’t speed anyone to look for him as in all likelihood, he is off on a binge.

Paperback

Charlie had been a victim all through school both by bullies at school and a stepfather at home determined to make a man out of him one way or another. Hank has memories of those times as well as some guilt as he wasn’t in a position to really help but witnessed enough to have some idea of what Charlie endured. Those memories trigger his need to help and he agrees to make some calls and look for Charlie. It should have been easy enough. But, one thing life has taught him with a name like his in Dallas, nothing is easy and this certainly isn’t. Before long, it turns into a huge mess involving crooked real estate developers, urban renewal in the form of yet another Trinity River project, the Russian mafia, drugs, guns, and wayward relatives. Through it all, Hank keeps going as he digs through the muck of Dallas whether they are rich and famous or the nobodies on the wrong side of the river.

Author Harry Hunsicker’s portrayal of Dallas has absolutely nothing to do with the chamber of commerce ads for the city. This is a hard-edged noirish style Dallas that serves as a backdrop for all sorts of things that no doubt happen on a routine basis and that no one ever talks about. While Still River stumbles at first in terms of clichés, the book builds a steady momentum and before long carries the reader violently along for a very enjoyable read.

Still River: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery
Harry Hunsicker
Thomas Dunne Books
ISBN # 0-312-33787-6
2005
Hardback (also now available in paperback and e-book)
277 pages


Kevin R. Tipple © 2005, 2012, 2019

Review: "Shadow Boys (A Jon Cantrell Thriller Book 2)" by Harry Hunsicker

Author Harry Hunsicker spins tales of Dallas that don’t fit the glitzy image advocated by the Chamber of Commerce. His Dallas is one of dope dens, backstabbing in the barrios as well as city hall, a river and a roadway system that was deliberately constructed to divide the rich and poor, where the ends justify the means in you are on the winning side of the deal. Where the streets are paved with broken dreams amidst the cracked asphalt and where babies are born with no hope and no chance to get out. This view was part of the backbone of his very good Lee Henry Oswald Mystery Series (begin with Still River) and is also present in the Jon Cantrell Thriller Series. The second book in the series, Shadow Boys, picks up a few months after, The Contractors and leads readers on a history lesson while dealing with a violence fueled here and now though not all of the violence comes by way a weapon.

When he isn’t messing with the tourists at the Grassy Knoll by tossing around empty rifle cartridges, Jon Cantrell works for a law firm out of Washington, D. C. He is paid well to discreetly handle situations that arise when government shipments of important cargo are not returned or fall into the wrong hands. While the law firm prefers that he not moonlight, in this case, his boss has granted Jon Cantrell permission to meet with someone that they would like to have a relationship with going forward.

That someone is Deputy Chief Raul Delgado of the Dallas Police Department who is a rising star in the DPD despite, or maybe inspite, of his violent background. The movers and shakers have begun grooming Delgado and offering advice as they believe that he is a person who someday might be sitting in the governor’s mansion down in Austin or occupying a legislative seat in Washington. The same drive that got Delgado to where is now is the same drive that in some ways is preventing him from rising further. While aware of that dichotomy, Delgado is more focused on a mission of a personal nature. Delgado wants a certain 13 year old autistic boy who lives with his elderly grandmother in West Dallas found. The child has been possibly missing for a few days now and the details of his living situation are very sketchy. Delgado can’t use the vast resources of the DPD and needs a man with the proper skills as well as being sufficiently motivated to get the job done. Considering the boy’s name is Tremont Washington Jon Cantrell is most definitely the man on both counts. Not only does he have the skill set, Jon Cantrell owes a debt to Tremont’s father that he can never repay. Cantrell is also seriously annoyed that despite what he had been told by the Texas Department of Public Safety ten years ago the family was never relocated to California and has remained in a very bad situation in West Dallas.

Tremont Washington has to be found. That storyline is the primary storyline for the book which features several other storylines all interconnected in various ways to the primary hunt for the child. Throw in a missing government weapons shipment, an out of control SWAT officer, city politics, and a series of vigilante murders, among other items, and things get very interesting in the Texas heat.

Shadow Boys is a fast moving and intense read that surpasses the first book, The Contractors. Interspaced with the action and the mystery are small flashes of cynical and often sarcastic humor. Violence comes in many forms in this thriller as does political expediency and deceit. As in the first book of the series, there is some hard edged sarcasm about the city along the Trinity River that has no real reason for being other than sheer force of will. While the Chamber of Commerce may hate Hunsicker’s non photo shopped version of Big D, the author showcases yet again that he has a very good understanding of makes the city and its residents tick in various ways. Along the way he delivers a complex thriller that crisscrosses time and space all across the city proving that Shadow Boys is one book to make sure and read. 

Book Three in the series is titled THE GRID and was released August, 2015. The book is in my tbr pile and will be read and reviewed soon.

Shadow Boys (A Jon Cantrell Thriller Book 2)

Harry Hunsicker

http://www.harryhunsicker.com

Thomas & Mercer

http://www.apub.com

December 2014

ISBN#: 978-1477825754

Paperback (also available in e-book and audio forms)

384 Pages

$8.99

Material was supplied by the author quite some time ago in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015

Lee Henry Works Again In "Crosshairs" by Harry Hunsicker

I find myself in the role of having to confess another full and fair disclosure here. I first met Harry Hunsicker at the recent HHCC conference where I found him to be eminently approachable. Actually, he found me first as he reads my work. Just how cool is that? He graciously offered an ARC of his soon to be released novel and like the salivating dog that I am, I happily said yes. I'm glad I did though I do wish I had been a bit more witty and intelligent in his presence.


Crosshairs: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery
By Harry Hunsicker
http://www.harryhunsicker.com
Thomas Dunne Books
http://www.thomasdunnebooks.com
ISBN #978-0-312-34851-9
ARC

This third novel in the series (Still River and The Next Time You Die) finds Lee Henry Oswald and Dallas at the dawn of the new millennium. Lee Henry Oswald is no longer a private investigator; his home is gone, as is his street radar and his moral compass. He's basically just sliding by and trying to avoid everything on every level. Now he tends bar and chases airline stewardess. One in particular, after sleeping with him a second time assumes that they have a relationship. With Lee Henry Oswald living at an extended stay motel near Dallas Love Field she is making a mistake.

So too does Olson shows up at the local bar expecting Lee Henry to come running to help. Also is one of the few living reminders of what went horribly wrong a few months ago. Olson and Lee Henry both were in a Ranger Unit during the first gulf war. Olson brings news that Mike Baxter, another member of their unit, is dying at the Dallas VA Hospital. He needs to see Lee Henry and thanks to Lee Henry's obnoxious boss, Lee Henry is suddenly free.

Ultimately, with his days numbered to a precious few, Mike wants Lee Henry to find his estranged missing daughter, Susan Baxter, and bring her to him. He wants to talk to her one last time. The last thing Lee Henry wants to do is work again as a P.I. but he owes Mike who very well might be dying because of what happened long ago in the desert. He agrees and then moments later gets handed another case by Anita Nazari, a research doctor in the hospital who desperately wants to protect her daughter and keep the police out of it for reasons of her own.

The result is Lee Henry, who wanted no part of the life again is forced back in via two cases that seem to have nothing in common. As the point of view shifts from the doctor, to the trained assassin known only as The Professor, and to Lee Henry author Harry Hunsicker begins to weave two separate tales that have readers knowing much more than Lee Henry. Even though readers do, as the pages pass, it becomes clear that the readers don't have much of an advantage if any at all.

While another enjoyable read in the series, once again one this reader feels like he has been dropped into the latest situation and somehow has missed a novel in the series. Much is hinted in regards to earlier events which seem to rise to the level of being a complete book in their own right. As such with so much change for Lee Henry as well as the stylistic changes such as use of less humor shifting POV, etc. it takes some time before it begins to feel like a Lee Henry Oswald novel.

And yet, after all the shifts, the rather clichéd idea of the assassins code name being "The Professor" the novel begins to churn along with the expected violence and dark outlook on life one expects from Lee Henry Oswald. Crosshairs,  as the others do in this series, rolls towards a violent confrontation where finally all the players are all identified. The novel delivers on its promise and once again author Harry Hunsicker delivers another dark and engrossing read regarding the man with the less than helpful name.



Kevin R. Tipple © 2007

Book Review: "The Next Time You Die" by Harry Hunsicker

Named such by a bull headed father Lee Henry Oswald has a name that would stick out any where. This is especially true in Dallas where Lee Henry works as a private investigator. Lee Henry knows the other side of Dallas. The side the Chamber of Commerce doesn’t want shown and in the two years since the events depicted in Still River things haven’t improved.

His latest case, as have many others, begins in a bar. The bar is located just a few blocks from the new Dallas Police Headquarters. The air conditioning, the dim lighting, and the beer make it a welcome refuge from the cloying mid September heat. He meets with a Baptist Preacher named Lucas Linville who drinks like a fish and runs a small ministry nearby for the street people. He tells Lee Henry that a

file from his office is missing and the info inside could be embarrassing for a local prominent family. In addition, his office assistant is missing. Are the two things related? The preacher doesn’t want to think so but for Lee Henry it is pretty obvious.

Before he can find out too much more, a couple of thugs walk into the bar looking for his client as well as Lee Henry by name. They mean to payback Lee Henry for something that he was involved with that cost a good friend of his, Billy Barganier, his life. The past is the past and he knows it can’t be changed and that Billy is long in the grave no matter what the thugs say. But, the thugs are the first two of several promising payback.

As he works Linville's case, the second storyline involving Billy and their shared past becomes more and more prominent. Not only does the case go off in unexpected ways but there are links between the two. And while this is going on, his partner Nolan has romance problems and they are supposed to be keeping alive a certain young lady that has her own prominent connections.

The result is a sequel stronger than the original book which can’t be said that often. Gone is the writing workshop feel of the first book as is a lot of the sarcastic humor. This book is darker due to that loss of humor as well as the fact that Lee Henry is not as naive as he was in the first book. This Lee Henry is more of a bitter man seeing deep flaws in enemies and friends alike and not very happy with anyone.

Numerous references are made to events that happened to Lee Henry and others between the two books during the two year gap. This could be confusing to readers picking this novel up as an introduction to the series as the way they are constructed implies a book is missing in the series. Why this was done is questionable as the comments don’t seem to have any storytelling purpose other than to artificially age the characters and reinforce the idea that time has passed.

That is, however, a minor quibble. The novel is another enjoyable read that will be very familiar to residents regarding the dark side of the city as well as the moneyed elite. Such concepts almost become a character into themselves as the mystery unravels through the interplay of complex characters, multi storylines, and plenty of action. Like Still River author Harry Hunsicker has provided readers another strong novel that is well worth your time and investment and one that can be read as a stand alone if one so desired.



The Next Time You Die: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery
By Harry Hunsicker
http://www.harryhunsicker.com/
A Thomas Dunne Book
July 2006
Hardback
ISBN: 0-312-34850-9
ARC


Kevin R. Tipple © 2006