Hail Storme is a Pounding Thriller

Ex-NFL player Wyatt Storme is bow hunting in Missouri when he stumbles across a huge marijuana field in the middle of the woods. He manages to subdue the guard dog and it's handler, but his discovery sets off a chain of disasters that Wyatt feels compelled to put right. The sheriff he alerts is shot dead the next day, and other people drawn into the investigation face danger from a drug conspiracy far bigger than just a few dozen acres of illicit weed. In the rural town of Paradise, some powerful businessmen have plans to mass produce a new drug called Dreamsicle that will make the crack epidemic of the 1980s look like a cozy tea party. Wyatt is determined to stop them before everyone he cares about is killed.

He teams up with Charles (Chick) Easton, a bounty hunter who's after the chemist who has concocted this new drug. Both men are Vietnam veterans and have seen more than their share of killing. They quickly bond as only battle hardened soldiers can. As Wyatt puts it, "He would be difficult to avoid liking." I liked him. You will, too. In fact, Chick is so likeable, he steals the scene in several chapters. Perhaps the author will give Easton his own series someday.

In the meantime, check out Hail Storme.  It has snappy dialogue and a story that keeps the pages turning. It's a great start to a excellent series, by W. L. Ripley.

Writers Born Today - Joel Goldman

It's the birthday of Joel Goldman, born October 23, 1952 in Kansas City.  He began his career as a lawyer, but switched to another life of crime; a writer of legal thrillers.

While joking around with another attorney in his firm, Joel suggested the best way to handle a difficult colleague was to write a mystery and kill him off. It was a good joke, but it got Joel to thinking. The result was his first thriller, Motion To Kill, published in 2002. Publisher's Weekly said it was filled with  high tension and had an electrifying finish. Four more thrillers followed featuring his smart and sassy protagonist Lou Mason, including Deadlocked, which Mystery Scene Magazine called "a real page turner delivered by a pro." It seemed that Goldman could do no wrong. Then unexpected health problems ended his legal career. Rather than dwell on the matter, Goldman turned to writing full time and created a new hero, FBI Special Agent Jack Davis, and gave his hero the same health issues that plagued him  as a way to deal with the change in his life.

Not content to just write crime fiction, Joel got into the publishing business with a new company he started with fellow crime writer Lee Goldberg. They started Brash Books in 2014 with the ambitious goal of publishing "the best crime novels in existence". At first they focused on top notch authors whose works had gone out of print, and even went so far as to hire a private detective to track down one missing writer who they wanted to publish! Since the company started they have published dozens of award winning authors and over 80 novels.

"Ask yourself the question I ask myself each time I start writing a new mystery – what happens when things go wrong, especially when you think no one’s looking?"

- Joel Goldman

The Soak - They Don't Write 'Em Like This Anymore

Hobbs is a career criminal and a dying breed, much like the classic heist story portrayed in Patrick McLean's latest novel, The Soak. A master at the game of robbery and with a long string of successful jobs behind him, Hobbs is considering retirement. He's approaches every job as a professional, using methodical planning and patience to make the score. His skill at taking out armored cars is so good, the companies have changed their procedures just to deal with him.

But the world has changed. People and money move too fast in today's world. Strictly a blue collar criminal, he doesn't have the computer skills to steal electronically. Hobbs doesn't even own a smart phone. Perhaps it's time to hang up the six shooter and settle into a life of retirement, like the poor saps he sees punching a time clock. He knows it's inevitable, but it's killing him.

Then along comes Alan. He's everything Hobbs isn't. Computer savvy, a millennial with fine clothes, a college education and youth. Especially youth. Hobbs can't decide if he wants to take him on for one final heist or punch him in the mouth. But he sees something in the young lad, and takes him under his wing. He begins to teach Alan everything he knows about pulling a big heist. And he learns a few things...like having a computer wiz on your crew can be a good thing. After all, it's Alan who brings Hobbs the idea for hitting an armored car along the western pennisula of Florida, where the isolated roads and far flung towns present plenty of spots to ambush 23 millions dollars carried by a pair of low paid rent-a-cops.

Not everything goes as planned however. It's one thing to ambush an amorned car (and when it goes down, it's a thing of beauty to watch). It's another thing to get away with the loot and Hobbs has not only an FBI agent with questionable ethics on his tail, but a Category 2 hurricane bearing down on Florida at just the wrong time. If Hobbs can pull this off, he may just be able to retire for good.

You'll be rooting for Hobbs the more you read, and this book is a great read to the end. The writing isn't flowery but it packs a punch:

"Mazerick and the uniform turned to see a woman in a dark-blue suit. Mazerick immediately thought, Naughty librarian. And a split second after that, he thought, There goes that sensitivity training the city paid for...Agent Wellsley smiled. Mazerick liked it."

You'll like it too. The Soak, I mean. What did you think I was referring to, the Naughty librarian? You've got a dirty mind. Enjoy it.

Brash Books - The new publishing kid on the block

There are a lot of good mystery and crime fiction novels that have fallen out of print over the past thirty years. Writers like Jack Lynch, W. L. Ripley, and Carolyn Weston (whose police procedurals were turned into the hit TV show The Streets Of San Francisco) were hard to find. You could wander the shelves of your local library hoping to get lucky or check out the second-hand bookstore in your town (assuming you have one).

No more. Brash Books, the creation of Lee Goldberg and Joel Goldman, is now publishing, as they put it, "the best crime novels in existence". That's a pretty bold claim. But I think they can back it up. Check out their author page, where you can find out more about their award winning writers. 

No more searching for that great book you heard about which is out of print. Brash Books is doing the legwork for you, pounding the streets and hunting down these lost but not forgotten writers. One author who was rediscovered and now is seeing his books back in print asked Joel how they managed to track him down. Brash Books did it with a private investigator! That's pretty brash..for a publisher.

Joel Goldman spoke to Sisters In Crime at our Border Chapter about Brash Books and how the company got it's start. It's a fascinating story...one of many. Check it out.

Finding Jack Lynch is worth playing Truth Or Die.

You don't have to wander the bookshelves or spend hours with Google to find forgotten but great crime writers anymore. Brash Books, a new independent publisher, is doing it for you. One fine example is Jack Lynch.

Truth or Die, the sixth in an eight book series, features California Private Eye Peter Bragg. He's visiting Monterey with his girlfriend when he runs into an old acquaintance, Jo Sommers. Jo's married now, but she can still turn heads, and Bragg's head is ready to spin. So when he learns she's in trouble, he can't resist the temptation to look into it, for old times sake.

Big mistake. Jo's husband has been murdered, and she's the prime suspect.  Instead of running back to Allison, Bragg decides to interview the less than grieving widow. Dr. Sommers was a psychiatrist and many of his patients were ex-navy officers. While the doctor helped them deal with the horrors of war, someone decided to use their secrets for blackmail. That may have gotten Dr. Sommers killed. And Bragg may be next, if he gets too close to the blackmailer.

He has to be wondering what Jo is up to...is she part of the blackmail scheme or an innocent patsy? Was her husband blackmailing his own patients? Is the wife really a black widow? This story will keep you turning the pages to find out and has enough action to keep you entertained along the way.

Lynch has a clean, straightforward prose style that was made popular by Ernest Hemingway, and copied by countless writers. But Lynch is no imitator. He learned to write while working for numerous newspapers including the San Francisco Chronicle (Hemingway cut his teeth at the Kansas City Star). They must feed those newspapers reporters something potent, because most of them can write a tight sentence that packs a punch. Lynch was nominated for the Edgar and twice for the Shamus award.

 This is the first of the Bragg novels I've read, but it won't be the last. There's seven more on my list. They should be on yours.