admin, Author at John Dwaine McKenna

Mysterious Book Report No. 153 – The Black-Eyed Blonde

By admin|2016-06-16T13:09:50+00:00June 16th, 2016|Mysterious Book Report|

The Black-eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black Henry Holt and Co, $27.00, 290 pages, ISBN 978-0-8050-9814-3 One of the most iconic writers of the twentieth century is Raymond Chandler. He is the father of the hard-boiled detective novel, and creator of a character named Phillip Marlowe, who became the prototypical private eye for many of our popular modern writers, notably Robert Parker's 'Spenser' and Michael Connelly's 'Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch,' an

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Mysterious Book Report No. 152 – The Red Road

By admin|2016-06-16T12:18:33+00:00June 16th, 2016|Mysterious Book Report|

The Red Road by Denise Mina Little, Brown and Co., $26.00, 298 pages, ISBN 978-0-316-18851-7 Here's some news: I got involved with a young woman last week in a personal way. We spent a delightful afternoon and evening together; she even went to bed with me while my wife June snoozed right beside us. And hey . . . before any mendacious gossip of a salacious nature gets started

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Mysterious Book Report No. 151 – The Rules of Wolfe

By admin|2016-06-16T07:55:17+00:00June 16th, 2016|Mysterious Book Report|

The Rules of Wolfe by James Carlos Blake Mysterious Press, $24.00, 258 pages, ISBN 978-0-8021-2129-5 The roughly 2,400 mile long imaginary line which separates the US from Mexico encompasses an area known as the borderlands. It’s been disputed, fought over and illegally crossed in both directions for as long as it’s been drawn. It separates the haves from the have-nots and represents two uniquely different cultures, each of which

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Japantown

By admin|2019-10-03T20:20:43+00:00June 14th, 2016|Mysterious Book Report, Spy/Thriller|

Japantown Mysterious Book Report No. 150 by John Dwaine McKenna Have you ever noticed that we humans tend to seek the company of our own kind? That we form affinity groups of like-minded persons and stay within, or at least in proximity to it? This is especially true of recent immigrants and non-English speakers, so much so in fact, that certain areas of major cities are known by

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Mysterious Book Report No. 149 – Alex

By admin|2016-06-07T07:24:05+00:00June 7th, 2016|Mysterious Book Report|

Alex by Pierre LeMaitre MacLehose Press/Quercus, $24.95, 368 pages, ISBN 978-1-62365-000-1 There’s no other way to say it; the novel we’re reviewing this week is flat-out diabolical in nature, fiendishly clever and as compulsively addictive as a honking great piece of New York Cheesecake smothered in cherry compote . . . Alex, by Pierre LeMaitre was first published in France in 2011, where it won just about every literary

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Mysterious Book Report No. 148 – Going Dark

By admin|2016-06-05T11:12:53+00:00June 5th, 2016|Mysterious Book Report|

Going Dark by James W Hall Minotaur Books, $25.99, 295 pages, ISBN 978-1-250-00500-7 My old friend Caywood was opposed to modern technology. He hated microwave ovens and cell phones, but most of all he hated computers. He’d say, only half joking, “Computers are the work of the Devil, and when we’re totally dependent on ‘em . . . that damned old Devil’s gonna shut off all the electricity. You

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Mysterious Book Report No. 147 – Red Sky in Morning

By admin|2016-06-04T10:27:15+00:00June 4th, 2016|Mysterious Book Report|

Red Sky in Morning by Paul Lynch Little, Brown and Company, $25.00, 275 pages, ISBN 978-0-316-23025-4 There’s an old Irish joke Michael Curley told me a number of years ago that goes like this: How can you tell when an Irishman is losing his mind? He forgets who he has grudges against! It’s a joke that’s all the funnier because there’s an element of truth to it. The Irish

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Mysterious Book Report No. 146 – Tatiana

By admin|2016-06-04T09:47:19+00:00June 4th, 2016|Mysterious Book Report|

Tatiana by Martin Cruz Smith Simon & Schuster, $25.99, 292 pages, ISBN 978-1-4391-4021-5 Given the current state of world affairs as regards Russia, Vladimir Putin, the Crimea, Ukraine and the general world condemnation of Mr. P and the country he’s president of in light of the so-called referendum on March the sixteenth as to whether Crimea should become part of Russia or remain part of Ukraine . . .

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Mysterious Book Report No. 145 – Jimmy the Stick

By admin|2016-06-04T08:38:56+00:00June 4th, 2016|Mysterious Book Report|

Jimmy the Stick by Michael Mayo Mysterious Press/ Open Road Integrated Media, PB $14.99, 220 pages, ISBN 978-1-4532-7095-0 For many crime fiction fans, the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and the Great Depression in the 30s holds an intense fascination that, even now, almost one hundred years later, captivates our collective imaginations. The gangster age as it became known, really began at the end of the Great War—the first

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Mysterious Book Report No. 144 – A Nasty Piece of Work

By admin|2016-06-02T06:54:08+00:00June 2nd, 2016|Mysterious Book Report|

A Nasty Piece of Work by Robert Littell Thomas Dunne Books/St Martins Press, $24.99, 259 pages, ISBN 978-1-250-02145-8 When one of the best and most well-known living writers of espionage spy thrillers turns his hand to crime fiction, you bet we’re going to pay attention here at the Mysterious Book Report. Robert Littell, author of blockbuster novels like The Company, Legends and The Stalin Epigram, has turned his hand

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