Kalmann Mysterious Book Report No. 499 by John Dwaine McKenna Kalmann, (Bitter Lemon Press, PB, $16.95, 300 pages, ISBN 978-1-913394-68-4), by Joachim B. Schmidt, and translated by Jamie Lee Searle, is by far the most unusual, unique and unforgettable novel of this summer’s reading season. Already a best-seller in Europe, it’s a carefully plotted and well-written murder mystery that takes place in a remote corner of Iceland . .
The Last Paladin Mysterious Book Report No. 497 by John Dwaine McKenna The Last Paladin, (St. Martin’s, $28.99, 288 pages, ISBN 978-1-250-27986-6), by P.T. Deutermann, is a superb, battle-filled World War II adventure that takes place aboard the USS Holland, a lone destroyer escort on patrol in the Solomon Islands in the western Pacific Ocean during the summer of 1944—just as the two greatest armadas of the era are
Havana Highwire Mysterious Book Report No. 497 By John Dwaine McKenna Havana Highwire, (Severn, $28.99, 224 pages, ISBN 978-0-7278-5073-7), by John Keyse-Walker, takes place in 1957—a couple years before Fidel Castro came to town and imposed a whole new kind of tyranny, serfdom, and perpetual poverty on the island—at a time Cuba was in the thrall of a dictator named Fulgencio Batista . . . who’d gone into business
Backstory Mysterious Book Report No. 496 by John Dwaine McKenna Backstory, (Oceanview Publishing, $27.95, 336 pages, ISBN 978-1-60809-490-5), by William L. Meyers, is a tale of psychological terror that begins when a man is attacked in an alley, where his head is repeatedly slammed face first into a brick wall, leaving him bloody, disoriented and without memory of who he is . . . or where. When he comes
Death At Fort Devens Mysterious Book Report No. 495 by John Dwaine McKenna Death At Fort Devens, (Severn, $28.99, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-4483-0766-1), by Peter Colt, is a good old-fashioned private-eye yarn that features a wise-cracking and tough as a yellow toenail . . . hard-drinking, hard-fisted, and hard-living—as well as a hard-up—ex-Boston cop and former Green Beret named Andy Roark . . . a character who kicks ass
Just in case you’re not one of the many viewers of the trailer, the FX television network is kicking off a new series on June 16, 2022, starring Jeff Bridges in the title role, of the following Thomas Perry novel which we reviewed in April of 2017. We thought you might enjoy a quick review. The Old Man Mysterious Book Report No. 284 by John Dwaine McKenna The
The Recruit Mysterious Book Report No. 494 by John Dwaine McKenna The Recruit, (Random House, $28.00, 416pages, ISBN 978-0-399-59212-6), by Alan Drew, takes place in 1987, during the urbanization of southern California amidst the influx of Vietnamese, Central and South Americans as well as other groups from India, Asia, Africa and the Middle East who were all fleeing war, pestilence, persecution and corruption in their native countries. It was
Cold Fear Mysterious Book Report No. 493 by John Dwaine McKenna Cold Fear, (Bantam, $28.00, 432 pages, ISBN 978-0-593-35631-9), by Brandon Webb and John David Mann, is the second installment, (after 2021’s Steel Fear, about the hunt for a serial killer aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier: MBR 457), and it’s the perfect book to kick-off your summer reading season. The novel begins with an incognito and AWOL Navy
Deep Water Mysterious Book Report No. 492 by John Dwaine McKenna Deep Water, (Scout, $28.00, 320 pages, ISBN 978-1-9821-7036-3), by Emma Bamford is our second first-time author in the past two weeks and features a young, almost newly married British couple who’ve sold all of their possessions and bought a fixer-upper boat, spent most of their funds outfitting, repairing and provisioning it . . . then setting out to
The Handler Mysterious Book Report No. 491 by John Dwaine McKenna The Handler, (Penguin Random House, $27.00, 448 pages, ISBN 978-0-5934-4163-3), by M.P. Woodward, is written by a debut author whose real-life experiences as a Naval Intelligence Officer working with U.S. Special Forces, CIA and NSA clandestine operations through-out the Middle East, Persian Gulf and Far East, makes Mr. Woodward exquisitely well qualified to write about the covert doings