The Devil’s Half Mile by Patrick “Paddy” Hirsch Forge/Tom Doherty Associates, $24.99, 289 pages, ISBN 978-0-7653-9913-7 Wall Street trickery, corrupt politics, racial strife, gangs, murder . . . that all sounds like the headlines from today’s news, but instead, it’s the lead-in on the cover of a nifty murder mystery which takes place in New York City in the year of our Lord, 1799. Through the skill of Alexander
Mysterious Book Report No 351 Some Die Nameless by John Dwaine McKenna 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 our absolute best to
Bearskin by James McLaughlin Ecco/Harper Collins, $26.99, 340 pages, ISBN 978-0-06-274279-7 There is a quiet, but ongoing—and growing—conflict in America, in which well-intentioned, ultra-wealthy individuals are buying up huge parcels of undeveloped land and forests, which they then put into Nature Conservancies . . . places where, they hope, all things of and in the earth will flourish as they did before the emergence of mankind. Human beings, due
The Spy Across The Table Mysterious Book Report No. 290 by John Dwaine McKenna Although prognostication and predicting the future isn’t what we normally do here at the MBR, there’s always exceptions, and this is one. I’m gonna stick my neck all the way out to the cut-on-the-dotted-line tattoo and forecast the near future. In about a week and a-half—June 20th to be exact—a new thriller will be
Blood on the Tracks by Barbara Nickless Thomas & Mercer, PB, $15.95, 372 pages, ISBN 978-1503936867 It was a lucky day for all of us when my wife June’s book club decided to read this outstanding first novel, written by a Colorado author and published in 2016. Smart group those dozen-plus ladies, all college or public librarians, administrators and professional women, the core group of which—including June–has been meeting
Interview With The Author: Paul D. Marks by John Dwaine McKenna We’re pleased and proud, to talk with Macavity Award-Winning author Paul D. Marks, whose just published novel, Broken Windows, is detailed above in Mysterious Book Report No. 349, and a writer who brings some serious chops to the craft, as well as a keen eye for the foibles, follies and quirks of human nature. He’s well on his
Broken Windows by Paul D. Marks Down & Out Books, PB, $18.95, 334 pages, ISBN 978-1-948235-07-5 One of the hottest, most emotional and controversial issues facing the nation today is immigration. Say it once at a cocktail party and a discussion will start. Say it twice and an argument breaks out. Dare utter the word for a third time and the fist fight is on . . . metaphorically
Interview With The Author: J.L. Abramo by John Dwaine McKenna Hello and welcome to Joe Abramo, whose family saga, American History is reviewed in Mysterious Book Report No. 347. Thanks for taking time out to speak with us today and giving our readers your insights and observations. We know you’re busy . . . so let’s dig right in. Why do you write? To release what would otherwise be
American History by J.L. Abramo Down & Out Books, PB, $18.95, 362 pages, ISBN 978-1-946502-70-4 The twentieth century may go down in history as the most epochal of all time. It’s already the most fascinating, pivotal and the most consequential of eras because it was without doubt the bloodiest one ever. Now, in a brand new piece of intricate crime fiction, the twentieth century is encapsulated by following the
Light It Up by Nick Petrie Putnam, $26.00, 384 pages, ISBN 978-0-399-57563-1 As a fifty-plus year resident here in Colorado, the question I’m most often asked by out-of-state friends is: How has the legalization of marijuana affected things there? The short answer . . . stoners love it and are flocking here in large numbers, as are criminals; government is ecstatic over the windfall from tax revenues; cops, school