MIKE MINER - TRUE DARK (2019)

Synopsis/blurb....

On a warm, quiet morning in a speck of a town near the Mexican border, an old man stops at an airstream diner and orders coffee. When the owner of the diner appears, the old man shoots him to death, pays his bill, and drives away.

The sheriff, Leo Murphy is called in to investigate the murder. His instincts lead him to his brother, Ryan.

The black sheep of the family, Ryan Murphy lives just south in Mexico. He makes a living as a coyote, moving illegal cargo across the border. The brothers have an arrangement regarding Ryan's illegal enterprise: Don't ask, don't tell.

When the old man's car breaks down in the middle of the desert Leo takes him into custody. If only things had gone according to Ryan's plan.

Now a cold-blooded killer named Wicked Bill is on his way from Miami to help Ryan clean things up.

The Murphy brothers need to redefine the lines they will and won't cross to protect each other and those closest to them from interlopers on both sides of the law.

In True Dark, Mike Miner has created a vivid and dangerous world.

All the ingredients for a satisfying, dark read...... a flawed family caught in the crosshairs of a hitman on his way to town to clean house.

Our family.... Leo and Ryan, two brothers seemingly working the opposite sides of the law, Cass, Leo's innocent daughter and a doting grandfather, Jeremiah - a retired cop to boot and with some interesting history with his two sons.

Ryan, the older brother gets involved in an act of retribution and sets in play a chain of events which threaten his family. Despite their differences blood proves thicker than water as he tries to set things straight, something he can't do on his own.

I'm struggling to articulate what I enjoyed about this one. I read it a month or two back and I don't think it's time which has me groping for coherent thoughts on this one.

So....

what I liked........

the story - a hit on a seemingly innocent old man, the fall out from that event - the danger that befalls not just the family, but an innocent waitress, Doris and the fellow members of the small town police department including the grumpy, staid old woman on the front desk, Mrs O'Leary .

the characters - the two brothers, their father, the troubled daughter, one with issues and problems - their history, the different paths taken, the military career, the failed marriage, their secrets, the fall outs and disappointments, the misunderstandings and the accommodations, the guilt, the regrets, the sacrifices, the love and loyalty that comes to the fore when members of the tribe are threatened; in addition, the peripheral characters - the chilling hitman, Wild Bill and his accomplice who is sent their way to straighten out a botched job; the old ex-con, Teddy who carried out the execution. I enjoyed the interaction between him and Vanessa O'Leary, the warmth generated between them.

a decent pace, great writing - the telling of the tale - with some flip-flopping back and forth - 2012 (our present day), the 80s, the 60s, the 00s, etc,

the setting - a small town near the US/Mexican border, the isolation, the wilderness, the history of movement,   

the outcome - satisfying, no loose ends from what I could tell, no ambiguity either.

My first encounter with Mike Miner's work. Definitely not my last. His novels, The Immortal Game and Prodigal Sons and short story collection, The Hurt Business sit on the pile.

4.5 from 5

Read - February, 2020
Published - 2019
Page count - 316
Source - review copy received from Chris at All Due Respect
Format - paperback

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET: T IS FOR ......... THOMPSON, TEXAS, TOWER

Another week, another letter, another trawl through my books for some Ts......

T is for .......

Thompson...... Jim Thompson and a couple from his ouevre

I read a bit of him back in the early 90s when I first discovered him, but not so much in the intervening years. I still have a lot of his books to plough through.

Ironside (based around the TV show starring Raymond Burr) was read in 2015 and The Rip-Off in 2013, probably not two of his better books.

Texas by the Tail and After Dark My Sweet

After Dark My Sweet (1955)

William Collins is very handsome, very polite, and very friendly. His is also dangerous when aroused. Now Collins, a one-time boxer with a lethal "accident" in his past, has broken out of his fourth mental institution and met up with an affable con man and a highly arousing woman, whose plans for him include kidnapping, murder, and much, much worse.

Texas by the Tail (1965)

Mitch Corley has a girlfriend with expensive tastes and a ruthless wife who refuses to become an "ex" without major compensation. He needs big money and he needs it fast. Which makes Texas Mitch's natural destination, since nowhere are rich men more inclined to stake huge sums on a roll of the dice. The only problem is that Texans are sore losers--and they have cruel and ingenious ways of getting back at anyone who cheats them.


T is for ......

Texas - as a setting. I've read a few great books set in this vast state - Attica Locke's Bluebird, Bluebird and Heaven, My Home, Nic Pizzolato's Galveston and Joe's R. Lansdale's The Thicket to mention a few.

I've more than a few great ones ahead of me including Lansdale's Hap and Leonard dozen book long series. Savage Season  (probably read before in the pre-blogging days) from 1990 is the first.

Savage Season (1990)

Here comes Trudy back into Hap's life, thirty-six but looking ten years younger, with long blonde hair and legs that begin under her chin, and the kind of walk that'll make a man run his car off the road. Here comes trouble, says Leonard, and he's right. She was always trouble, but she had this laugh when she was happy in bed that could win Hap over every time. Trudy has a proposition: an easy two hundred thousand dollars, tax-free. It's just a simple matter of digging it up... Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, white and black, straight and gay, are the unlikeliest duo in crime fiction. Savage Season is their debut.


Lastly,

T is for....

Tower - a 2009 collaborative novel from two authors I've enjoyed in the past - Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman

Tower (2009)

Born into a rough Brooklyn neighborhood, outsiders in their own families, Nick and Todd forge a lifelong bond that persists in the face of crushing loss, blood, and betrayal. Low-level wiseguys with little ambition and even less of a future, the friends become major players in the potential destruction of an international crime syndicate that stretches from the cargo area at Kennedy Airport to the streets of New York, Belfast, and Boston to the alleyways of Mexican border towns. Their paths are littered with the bodies of undercover cops, snitches, lovers, and stone-cold killers. In the tradition of The Long Goodbye, Mystic River, and The Departed, Tower is a powerful meditation on friendship, fate, and fatality. A twice-told tale done in the unique format of parallel narratives that intersect at deadly crossroads, Tower is like a beautifully crafted knife to the heart. Imagine a Brooklyn rabbi/poet -- Reed Farrel Coleman -- collaborating with a mad Celt from the West of Ireland -- Ken Bruen -- to produce a novel unlike anything you've ever encountered. A ferocious blast of gut-wrenching passion that blends the fierce granite of Galway and the streetwise rap of Brooklyn. Fasten your seat belts, this is an experience that is as incendiary as it is heart shriven.



See U next week!




Previous Alphabet entries.....

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - A IS FOR.... AX, ABBOTT, ABERDEEN

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - B IS FOR ....... BOSTON, BIRD, BONES

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - C IS FOR.........CAPE TOWN, CONFIDENCE MEN, CROSS

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - D IS FOR ....... DETROIT, DISHER, DEAD

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - E IS FOR ....... EDINBURGH, EXCESS, ELLIS

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - F IS FOR ....... FLORIDA, FRANCIS, FLOATERS

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - G IS FOR ....... GALWAY, GUNS, GRAFTON

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - H IS FOR ....... HAMBURG, HAMMETT, HIDDEN RIVER

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - I IS FOR ....... ICE, ICELAND, IZZO

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - J IS FOR ....... JAPAN, JACK CARTER. JELLO SALAD

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - K IS FOR ....... KING, KOREA, KEEPER

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - L IS FOR ........ LE CRIME, LEONARD, LOS ANGELES 

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - M IS FOR ........ MIAMI, MACKAY, MUCHO MOJO 

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - N IS FOR ........ NORWAY, NISBET, NEMESIS

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - O IS FOR ........ OWEN, ONE NIGHT STANDS AND LOST WEEKENDS, OXFORD

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - P IS FOR ........ PARKER, PHILADELPHIA, PAYDIRT

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - R IS FOR ........ RAYMOND, ROGUE COP, RUSSIA

CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - S IS FOR ...... SWEDEN, SMITH, SILENT JOE

2 BY STEPHEN DOBYNS

A couple of books from author Stephen Dobyns - a man touted as the American Dick Francis. Stephen King has also referred to him as "the best of the best."

I've not read him anything from him yet. In addition to his 11 book series featuring Charlie Bradshaw, he's written a dozen standalone novels and numerous volumes of poetry.

Despite having three or four of these Charlie Bradshaw books on the pile which ought to be read first, I'm tempted by one of his most recent books - Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? 
Maybe just me, but a book with a title like that demands to be read.

Saratoga Swimmer is the second in the series, Saratoga Headhunter the third. The series opener is Saratoga Longshot


Saratoga Swimmer (1981)

Ex-Cop Charlie Bradshaw and the Saratoga Police Department no longer see eye to eye. So Charlie has taken a job as head of security at local rich man, Lewis Ackerman's racing stables. But when Ackerman winds up dead at the bottom of the town's swimiing-pool the detective in Charlie sets to work to vindicate a short-lived friendship.

"Dobyns is a true detective of the heart" - Raymond Carver

"More than just a hardboiled Dick Francis, Dobyns writes real people" - Time Out







Saratoga Headhunter (1985)

Ex-cop Charlie Bradshaw runs a private-eye agency in the American horse-racing town of Saratoga
Springs. But he's spending so much time moonlighting for the Wholesome Dairy Company for an absent friend he's hardly earning the rent on his office. And the quality of life isn't really improved by the arrival of Charlie's former high-school hero - a fat and corrupt jockey who's turned State's Evidence, skipped his Federal protection and is now on the run from the mob.

But Jimmy McClatchy's not on the run for long, for when Charlie returns from work the next day he finds McClatchy's headless body slumped at his dining-room table. And now everyone in this small faded town thinks Charlie sold the fat man down the river.

"His writing is honest, tough-minded and as uncompromising as his unforgettable hero" - Lawrence Block, Washington Post Book World

"Dick Francis had better look to his laurels. An American longshot, appropriately named Dobyns, is coming up fast on the outside" - Houston Post

LAWRENCE BLOCK - THE SCORELESS THAI (1967)

Synopsis/blurb......

Presenting EVAN TANNER—the first series character created by Lawrence Block, bestselling author of A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES...

Ever since a shred of shrapnel did a number on his brain’s sleep center, Even Tanner has been awake 24/7. This gives him more time than your average underachiever. Time to learn the world’s languages (he’s fluent in Basque, but has trouble with Chinese). Time to embrace the world’s lost causes and irredentist movements (The Flat Earth Society, the League for the Restoration of Cilician Armenia, the Society of the Left Hand). Time to write term papers theses for students with more money than knowledge. And, most important, time to do his dreaming while he’s wide awake.

When his girlfriend, T'pani "Tuppence" Ngawa, disappears on a jazz tour of Thailand, Tanner flies to Bangkok, slips his CIA escort, and rushes to the rescue—only to wind up caged by bandits, who plan to behead him at daybreak. He enlists a young and sexually inexperienced Thai, Dhang, with the promise that he'll get him laid. Their escape route ultimately leads to North Vietnam—and, eventually, into the DMZ. Oh, you don't really expect a summary of a Tanner adventure to make sense, do you? It's a wild ride, partly by bullock cart, and no one but Tanner could bring it off...

Evan Tanner's fourth adventure and a different theatre of operations this time - south east Asia, as opposed to eastern Europe. I welcomed the change of setting after three books spent mostly behind the Iron Curtain.

In a nutshell, we open with Tanner, a prisoner of Communist guerillas, in a jungle cage and due execution the following day. We then backtrack to the reasons for his current predicament, before his escape and further adventures including some jungle trekking, a near fatal fever, some intelligence gathering, going native, an alliance with an impoverished Asian, longing for the resurrection of French Indo-China dominance, a couple of jail breaks, the death of a rapist, a boat trip, a near-miss skirmish with NVA troops, attracting friendly fire from American forces in Vietnam, joy-riding in a North Vietnamese tank and eventually reaching the safety of allied forces in the possession of the king of Thailand's jewels.

Plenty of humour present, particularly in the on-going frustrations of Tanner's virgin accomplice, Dhang - frustrations amplified by several near-misses, each of which seem to land the odd couple in greater peril. I liked their sense of loyality to each other and Dhang eventually achieving his goal.

Some of the escapades stretch credibility, but I was enjoying the outing. It's rare that a Lawrence Block book disappoints me. This one didn't.

4 from 5

The three previous Tanner books have all been enjoyed.
The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep
The Canceled Czech
Tanner's Twelve Swingers

I'm looking forward to the next - Tanner's Tiger

Read - (listened to) February, 2020
Published - 1967
Page count - 240 (5 hrs 40 mins)
Source - Audible download code from one of the author's assistants
Format - Audible

DAVID SIDDALL - A MAN ALONE (2014)

Synopsis/blurb.....

John Doyle just wanted a peaceful life in Liverpool with his wife, Josie, and her teenage daughter, April. But when local crime boss Barry Wood and his thugs threaten April, Doyle is forced to revive the identity he thought he'd buried. Wood is a man used to taking what he wants, and soon Doyle finds himself immersed in an all too familiar war, risking everything he's worked for. But unlike the past, this time Doyle is a man alone.

“Just when you despair of the mystery novel along comes A Man Alone which has the three essentials of great writing, a keep you on the edge of your seat narrative, and a burning intensity to the style…Highly entertaining.”- Ken Bruen, author of Purgatory.

“David Siddall's brilliantly hard-boiled novella A Man Alone is a gripping urban western worthy of a Walter Hill film.” - Paul D Brazill, author of Guns of Brixton, Roman Dalton - Werewolf PI.

“A compact, paunchy thriller that takes a classic situation - what happens when one Competent Man won't back down? - and adds some clever twists. Siddall writes with great skill and verve, wasting no words as he coolly maps out the route taken by his maybe-hero.” - David Longhorn, editor of Supernatural Tales.

Ticks in all the boxes with this one.......character, story, pace, setting and outcome.

A short, explosive book telling the story of a man with a buried past refusing to be cowed by the local top banana villain-gangster-thug and all round billy-big-bollox, Barry Wood.

Family, a new start, almost a senes of belonging, boyfriend-girlfriend trouble, an intervention, jeopardy, pride, history, secrets, a bloody past, a subdued community kow-towing, increasing isolation, initimidation and escalation, a fractured family, a dusting off of some old skills, mayhem, loss, revenge.

All the ingredients that I like in a book. An intriguing main character with bits of his past slow drip-fed into the narrative. A man with his own code and sense of worth who won't be pushed around and when he gets going, a kind of suburban Rambo. Barry Wood may have met his match.

Definitely an author I would like to read more from, though he doesn't seem to have too many books to his name. Breaking Even: And six short stories is all I can find. Worst case I can always re-visit this one when I need an injection of adrenaline into my reading

4.5 from 5

Read - February, 2020
Published - 2014
Page count - 103
Source - owned copy
Format - Kindle

DANIEL PEMBREY - THE CANDIDATE (2013)

Synopsis/blurb...

WHEN HEADHUNTER BECOMES THE HUNTED (a concise, pacy read): Nick Thorneycroft is a British headhunter working in Luxembourg. His company asks him to recruit a high-flying executive for the company's Russian business. The best candidate turns out to be smart, beautiful... and mysterious. Soon the effects of Russia’s political upheaval, and the arrival of an ex-girlfriend who won’t leave him alone, make Nick’s Luxembourg life increasingly perilous; worlds collide in this gripping, atmospheric tale.

"A very readable Euro thriller with a strong sense of setting. This is well worth a read, and has shades of Elmore Leonard and other hard-boiled American detective writers. But it’s also up to date, with an insight into modern Euro-crime which is all too accurate." Katharine Quarmby, award-winning writer, TV producer and journalist

"I can see the film in my head. It's a great visual piece of work – fantastic and rare location" Caro Ramsay

Second time around for me in the absence of another shortish Audible book that I could listen to during the work day. I liked it a bit better second time around, with the narrator's accents and tones less grating on me.

Our main character is Nick, who is attempting to recruit a Russian candidate for a position at his ambitous company. There's strong competition from a business rival for the services of Kate, as Nick refers to her, as well as interest from some aggressive foreign agents. Nick's a pawn in a game of spies.

A date rape drug, surveillance, spy cameras, an annoying girlfriend - who might not be all she seems, a beautiful job applicant, pushy bosses, pubs and casinos, a missing dog, a kidnapping, a beating and interrogation, a resistance hero still doing his bit, Russian agitation, rumours and politics and agents keen on suppression of the opposition. It's quite a busy book to be honest.

Elements of humour, better characterisation than I initially gave the author credit for and a reasonable plot. Glad I re-read it.

3.5 from 5

Daniel Pembrey's work has been enjoyed before.
Pembrey's The Harbour Master  The Harbour Master II: The Maze and The Harbour Master III: Ransom were enjoyed back in 2014 and 2015 and Initiation: Amsterdam,'83 in 2018

Read (re-read) - (listened to) March, 2020
Published - 2013
Page count - 142 (3 hrs 1 min)
Source - Audible purchase
Format - Audible

--------------------
* Less flattering remarks from the first time I read this below......

 I've enjoyed Daniel Pembrey's work before with his Harbour Master series, but sadly on this occasion not this one. I think The Candidate pre-dates the ones I've enjoyed.

It was an Audible version which may have contributed a bit to my overall state of apathy regarding the book, as the narration grated, especially when encountering Russian characters in the story. I couldn't help but think of the comedy series Allo Allo every time our accent deviated from the gruff Northern tone of Nick Thorneycroft. Over-exaggerated in my opinion thus losing any potency they may have had.

My main issue though was a lack of investment in the story. It wasn't badly written, it flowed and had a few things going on - headhunter Nick is trying to get a Russian candidate lined up for a high profile position at his money management company in Luxembourg. It's a race to get the deal done, before she's poached by a rival. He wakes up one morning with a limited memory of the night before and a pair of women's knickers on his apartment floor, but no women. Has he been spiked? Is there a spy camera in his ceiling light? Who is the Russian, what's her background? Why is his on/off on/off girlfriend pestering him and back in town? Why does he get temporarily kidnapped? What are the motives of his bosses at the firm, one keen and eager to get the deal done, the other a bit less frantic?
What's the imminent Russian election got to do with things? Why did I care about any of this?

I didn't.

This might work better for others than me. Well from the comment above from Katharine Quarmby shows it definitely does. But a comparison with Elmore Leonard? Really - not for me anyway.

2.5 from 5

Pembrey's The Harbour Master  The Harbour Master II: The Maze and The Harbour Master III: Ransom were enjoyed back in 2014 and 2015


Read (listened to) - September, 2018
Published - 2013
Page count - 142 (3 hours 1 minute Audio time)
Source - Audible purchase probably free or on a free trial
Format - Audio via laptop and iPhone

MAX ALLAN COLLINS - QUARRY'S CUT (1977)

Synopsis/blurb......

WHEN THE DIRECTOR CALLED CUT— THE KILLER DID JUST THAT 

It’s normal to see bodies on the set of an adult film. But when they’re dead bodies—and the cast and crew discover they’re trapped in a house with a serial killer—Quarry’s got his work cut out for him.

The 4th entry in the author's Quarry series and after a gap of a few years, after reading the first three, a chance to get reacquainted with Max Allan Collins' hitman - Quarry.

Plenty of sex, plenty of death, an adult movie film set, lots of snow - a blizzard, a chance to catch up with a couple of old acquaintances; one a willing bedfellow, the other a less enjoyable reunion with a former work associate and a man in the same game as Quarry. It's a reunion which automatically heightens Quarry's spidey-danger sense. The fact that the man then kills one of Quarry's friends, means their next encounter is going to be terminal for one of them.

I liked it without being totally blown away by it.

It's the sort of book that could have been written for my reading palette.... an interesting main character, a profession hitman, an entertaining history and back story outlining where he is now, attributes - capable of cunning, efficient, patient,  a calm, rational reasoner and when called for, a man of action. And he has a moral compass of sorts.

Decent length - not over long, Collins doesn't hang about too much telling his tale.

Some necessary conflict resolution (obviously, otherwise there's no book) - ergo murder, mayhem, violence and without spoiling things - one man standing at the end.

4 from 5

Quarry (1976), Quarry's List (1976) and Quarry's Deal (1976) are the previous series entries which I've enjoyed. Quarry's Vote aka Primary Target will be my next outing with the character.

Read - April, 2020
Published - 1977
Page count - 170
Source - owned copy
Format - Kindle