The Good Lie Mysterious Book Report No. 372 by John Dwaine McKenna The Good Lie, (ECCO/ Harper Collins, $27.99, 354 pages, ISBN 978-0-06-247539-8) by Tom Rosenstiel, is an electrifying, dark and twisted thriller that could only have been conceived and written by someone who’s intimately familiar with the contentious and Machiavellian deus ex machina that operates behind the scenes in Washington, D.C.. And, what makes it so alarming is
Wolf Pack Mysterious Book Report No. 370 by John Dwaine McKenna Unlike most of the rest of our squared-off western states that’re all of a sudden filling up with folks fleeing from overcrowded, overtaxed and overregulated places to the east and west of them, Wyoming is still windswept, wide-open and mostly rural. It has some of the most spectacular scenery and most magnificent wild game and fish anywhere on
Trigger Mysterious Book Report No. 369 by John Dwaine McKenna Frank Marr is “a good cop with a bad habit,” who operates as a PI in the down and dirty underbelly of our nation’s capitol, Washington, D.C. Forced into early retirement from the Metro DC Police Force, he ekes out a living as a Private Eye when he’s not busy knocking over one of the stash houses of D.C.s
Unforsaken by John Dwaine McKenna Unforsaken is a bullet packed with gritty characters and explosive action. John Dwaine McKenna skillfully takes readers to the untamed Southwest at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The Wild West is past its heyday. Locomotives have replaced horses. Bandit gangs are a vanishing menace, yet outlaws still prowl the dusty streets looking for easy marks. The lone and honorable lawman is on the
Restoration Heights Mysterious Book Report No. 367 by John Dwaine McKenna Gentrification is a recently coined term that describes the displacement of blue collar, working-class residents from their long established city neighborhoods by newer and wealthier persons who’ve moved in and bought houses where the people with less money used to live. It’s a contributing cause of homelessness, and it’s happening in every major city in America. One of
The New Iberia Blues Mysterious Book Report No. 365 by John Dwaine McKenna Whenever a new James Lee Burke novel comes out, everyone celebrates. The publishers and agents are happy because they’re assured of another commercial success, as are the bookstores, who know that his legions of fans will be calling or dropping by to get a copy. Crime fiction, mystery and thriller enthusiasts will be smiling in anticipation
Interview With The Author: Howard Michael Gould by John Dwaine McKenna This week’s interview is with Howard Michael Gould, whose first novel, Last Looks, is reviewed in MBR No. 364, and since he’s got a been-there, done-that resumé that’s longer than Seabiscuit’s hind leg, lets get right to our first question: Where do you write? I write in public. I start with a few hours at a coffee shop
Last Looks Mysterious Book Report No. 364 by John Dwaine McKenna According to the Collins Unabridged Dictionary and Synonym Finder of the English Language, the word quirky is defined thus: “peculiarly individual or unconventional.” It’s synonyms are: “odd, unusual, eccentric,” and well, you get the gist. We mention this only because this week’s MBR No. 364 will introduce all of our readers to one of the most unusual detectives
Dark Sacred Night Mysterious Book Report No. 363 by John Dwaine McKenna After twenty novels, Michael Connelly’s lonesome, jazz-loving and gifted Los Angeles Police Department Detective Harry Bosch is the most iconic and well-known sleuth in all of modern crime fiction. When the average lifespan of a serial character is about four books before the plots become repetitive and the character formulaic, it’s a testament to Mr. Connelly’s gifted
Interview With The Author: Nico Walker by John Dwaine McKenna Our interview this week is thanks to the extra effort of Emily Reardon at Penguin Random House in NYC and our own Lora Brown here at Mysterious Book Report. Together, they coordinated our questions and corresponded with author Nico Walker, who’s currently an inmate at the Ashland Federal Correctional Institution where he’s serving an eleven year sentence for