Against Nature Mysterious Book Report No. 361 by John Dwaine McKenna Before Germany was reunified some thirty years ago, it was divided into east and west halves after World War II. West Germany was controlled by England, France and the United States, and was democratic. East Germany was under the auspices of the Soviet Union and was communist, dictatorially ruled and collective in nature . . . the state
The Man Who Came Uptown Mysterious Book Report No. 359 by John Dwaine McKenna Everyone makes choices . . . and then has to live with the consequences of those choices. A fictional character in Washington, D.C. named Michael Hudson made a bad choice and it landed him in prison. That’s where he got the reading habit, thanks to a librarian named Anna Kaplan, who takes special interest in
Dead Man Running Mysterious Book Report No. 358 by John Dwaine McKenna We’ve said it before, and we’ll no doubt say it again, because it’s one of the elements that makes for great drama, as well as the most compelling plots in all of literature . . . and it’s especially true in crime fiction: The more evil the villain—the more heroic the protagonist. Put another way; in order
The Line That Held Us Mysterious Book Review No. 357 by John Dwaine McKenna The MBR is kicking off the New Year with an elegant—and stunning—tale of Appalachian noir that combines elements of kinship and friendship, absolute love and total retribution, death, revenge and redemption. It is a novel you’ll find yourself thinking about long after finishing the last chapter and reaching the astonishing conclusion, because it leaves several
The Golden Havana Night by Manuel Ramos Arte Publico Press, PB $17.95, 196 pages, ISBN 978-1-55885-8671 One of the most interesting new private investigators to come to the MBR’s attention is a Denver-based ex-convict named Gus Corral. He’s the creation of Manuel Ramos, a life-long resident of the Mile High City, as well as an acclaimed, award-winning author and astute observer of the changing nature of Colorado and its capitol
Interview With The Author: Tom Pitts by John Dwaine McKenna This week’s interview is one we’ve been looking forward to since last year, when MBR No. 300 reviewed American Static, calling it “One of the finest noir yarns we’ve read in years.” Now, author Tom Pitts is back, with a new piece of hard-boiled fiction, and we can’t wait to hear what this rising star in the noir world
101 by Tom Pitts Down & Out Books, PB $18.95, 256 pages, ISBN 978-1-948235-38-9 US Highway 101 runs north from the San Francisco Bay, up to Humboldt County . . . the remote, pot growing area of California known as the emerald triangle because of all the grow operations up there. It’s an area that’s rugged, fertile and brimming with fierce and independent cultivators of the magic green plant
Interview With The Author: Wallace Stroby by John Dwaine McKenna We’re fortunate this week that Wallace Stroby, one of crime fictions hottest young writers, was able and willing to take a short time-out from his swamped schedule down in south New Jersey to speak with the Mysterious Book Report about how he does what he does in such a compelling, forceful and so damned interesting way. It’s an honor
Some Die Nameless by Wallace Stroby Mulholland Books/ Little Brown/ Hachette, $26.00, 337 pages, ISBN 978-0-316-44020-2 Every single human being on the planet has a past; the deeds, events and situations that have shaped us and made us into the persons we are today. Some of those experiences were happy and good . . . others, not so great . . . and a few of them we do
Black and White Ball by Loren D. Estleman Forge / Tom Doherty Associates, $25.99, 240 pages, ISBN 978-0-7653-88476 There must be something in the air, water . . . or maybe an unknown isotope emanating out of the ground at night, that germinates world class crime writers in, around and about Detroit, Michigan. From the late great Elmore Leonard, to the much-lauded Steve Hamilton, to the indefatigable, prolific and