Review - Killng Quarry

Killing Quarry by Max Allan Collins - Cover art by Paul Mann

Who put Quarry in the crosshairs?

That’s the question that drives Killing Quarry by the bestselling author of Road To Perdition, Max Allan Collins. It hits bookstores tomorrow but I got a chance to take a look at it ahead of time.

The titular character Quarry is a Marine sniper turned hitman. He has spent the past decade killing for money; first for an agent known only as The Broker and now as a freelance hitman. His one redeeming quality is that he has always been on the right side of those contract kills.

All of this changes while he is on an assignment. Someone tries to kill him. Quarry needs to find out who and why fast.

One of the things that I find to be very impressive about Killing Quarry is how Collins managed a very successful balancing act. This is his 16th Quarry novel, which means that his character has a lot of backstory already built up.

In this installment, Collins was able to remain consistent with the legacy yet not get so caught up in it that readers who never read any of the previous installment could still understand and enjoy his story. He carefully drops enough details about the character in the first couple of chapters that a first-timer could feel caught up yet not so many details that returning readers feel weighed down.

“The Quarry books are some of our most popular and been too long since readers have had the pleasure of a new one,” explained Charles Ardai who founded and edits Hard Case Crime, which publishes the Quarry novels. “We’re thrilled to bring this classic antihero back to put him through the wringer like he’s never been before.”

One other thing that I liked about this book is the way Collins handled turning the proverbial tables on his main character. It felt authentic and engaging. In my experience, very few novelists can maintain that sense of authenticity and engagement after this many stories. Even Ian Fleming only managed to hold it together for 12 James Bond novels and two collections of short stories.

For all of those reasons, I’m proud to recommend Killing Quarry by Max Allan Collins.

Killing Quarry by Max Allan Collins is available for pre-order now on Amazon.com by clicking here or on the graphic below. It is also available at fine bookstores everywhere.

The Warrendale Detroit Blog is proud to offer occassional reviews of books that we enjoy.

Review: Wonderland

Wonderland 

I've always like it when modern authors are able to put their own unique spin on classic characters. This is why I was excited when Wonderland hit bookstores a couple of weeks ago. This book is an anthology of works that were inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane.

There is a total of 19 short stories in this 363-page book. Each one offering their own very unique down the rabbit hole or through the looking glass. O'Regan and Kane did a very good job, in my opinion, of keeping enough of Lewis Carroll's imagination to keep the characters and scenses recognizable while still allowing the various writers to introduce their own interpretation.

Theses 19 adventures through one's imagination range from horror to historical. While the original novel from 1865 was largely intended for children, this anthology is written with adult readers in mind. On the back cover, for example, there is promise that the authors will take readers from the nightmarish reaches of their imagination and beyond with tales that will shock, surprise, and tug at one's heartstrings.

The one criticism that I have of this collection is that, in my opinion, it draws a bit too much from the nightmarish horror genre and doesn't quite keep enough of the original child-like innocence of Carroll's 19th century creation. However, since this book does come out rather close to Halloween, i suppose that one should overlook this fact.

Even if one has never read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the basic story is so widely engrained in Western culture that I believe anyone could enjoy the collection that O'Regan and Kane put together regardless of whether or not one has reader the original work. This, of course, is one more thing that I like about these stories - they draw on a mythos that is widely understood yet instill within it each other's particular take on it.


Wonderland, an anthology edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane, is currently available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobel, and in fine bookstores everywhere.

Review - Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery

A new compilation of short dark fantasy or paranormal stories about witches and witchcraft has hit bookstores in time for Halloween. This anthology is called Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery. The book features 18 original stories of wickedness, evil, and cunning.

Each of the all-women authors who contributed stories to this book is a bestselling fantasy author. Kat Howard, for example, has a brilliant story in it called “An Invitation to a Burning.” Howard, of course, previously wrote a novel entitled An Unkindness of Magicians, which NPR named as the best book of 2017 and won the Alex Award in 2018. Her collection of short stories, A Cathedral of Myth and Bone was nominated for the World Fantasy Award.

The witches in these 18 stories might be monstrous or they might be heroes depend on their own definitions. Even the kind hostess with the candy cottage in a legendary fairy tale thought of herself as a heroine. After all, she no doubt reasoned, a woman has got to eat.

My personal favorite story in this book was the spooky yet thrilling “How to Become a Witch-Queen” by Theodora Goss. As I read it, I was impressed by how it walked the line between reality and imagination. It’s no wonder why she has been nominated for almost every major award in science-fiction including the Nebula, Locus, Mythopoeic, World Fantasy, and Seiun Awards.

Hex Life was edited by Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering. Golden is prolific author of science-fiction and fantasy. His previous work includes editing the horror anthology Dark Cities as well as co-authoring Ghosts of Albion, Hidden Cities, and The Secret Journeys of Jack London.

Deering not only co-edits this volume with Golden, she also wrote a story in it entitled “Where Relics Go to Dream and Die”. Her previous work has been nominated for the Eisner and Harvey Awards.

The remaining 15 authors and their respective stores are “Widows Walk” by Angela Slatter as well as:

• “Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story” by Kelley Armstrong;
• "The Night Nurse” by Sarah Langan;
• "The Memories of Trees” by Mary SanGiovanni;
• “Home: A Morganville Vampires Story” by Rachel Caine;
• “The Deer Wife” by Jennifer McMahon;
• “The Dancer” by Kristin Dearborn;
• “Bless Your Heart” by Hillary Monahan;
• "The Debt” by Ania Ahiborn;
• “Toil and Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story” by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Madaug Kenyon;
• “Last Stop on Route Nine” by Tananarive Due;
• “This Skin” by Amber Benson;
• “Haint Me Too” by Chesya Burke;
• “The Nekrolog” by Helen Marshall; and
• “Gold Among the Black” by Alma Katsu.

Hex Life is an impressive 400 pages of short dark fantasy or paranormal stories. The witches in it will undoubtedly keep you sufficiently spooked out until Halloween is behind us.

Hex Life: Wicked Tales of Witchery is currently available online from Amazon.com and at fine booksellers everywhere.


This review is bought to you by the Warrendale Detroit Blog. By clicking on any of the links above to purchase a book, you help us keep our journalistic focus on the Warrendale and surrounding neighborhoods.

Review - Blood Sugar

New York Times-bestselling author Daniel Kraus has a new novel hitting stores tomorrow. This novel, in my opinion, is the perfect Halloween crime story. It's smart, sexy, and a heck of a lot of fun to read.

Blood Sugar starts in a ruined house where an angry outcast hatches a scheme to extract vengeance upon his community for a lengthy list of wrongs committed against him. With the help of three equally alienated children, our villain intends to poison, maim, or kill every child in his neighborhood on Halloween night.

I like the fact that Kraus used one of the children to act as his narrator in this novel. Imagining that much pure evil from the perspective of one of the supporting characters enabled me to imagine both the horrifying madness of our villain and the complexities that enabled him to recruit his young co-conspirators.

Prior to writing this piece, Kraus worked with Guillermo del Torro to co-author The Shape of Water in 2018. While Blood Sugar deals with a very different subject matter than his previous project, there can no denying that the ink flowing through Kraus's veins is just as powerful today as it ever was.

Megan Abbott, who wrote Give Me Your Hand and The End of Everything amongst other great novels described Blood Sugar as, "a twisted little miracle with a sneaking, beating heart."

On a related note, I know now why Abbott is acclaimed by so many critics. She packed more of a punch into her nine word description than many critics could produce in a dozen reviews.

Anyway, back to Blood Sugar.

I recommend this book for anyone who loves a powerful thriller or a crime drama. The fact that this novel comes out so close to Halloween - a holiday that figures prominent in this story - makes everything that much better, in my opinon.

Blood Sugar by Daniel Kraus goes on sale tomorrow. It's currently avaiable for presale on Amazon.com and at booksellers everywhere.

Book review: The Triumph of the Spider Monkey

The Triumph of the Spider Monkey - Cover by Robert McGinnis

For the first in more than 40 years, The Triumph of the Spider Monkey by Joyce Carol Oates is once again available in print. The folks at Hard Case Crime brought this novella back to us earlier this summer and I'm grateful that they did.

In The Triumph of the Spider Monkey, Oates crafts the story of Bobbie Gottenson - a man who was abandoned as a baby in a bus station locker; who grew up being shuttled between a series of abusive foster homes and juvenille detention facilities. As an adult, this character yearns for success as a musician. Besides carrying his guitar, though, he also brings with him seething rage, paranoid delusions, and a capacity of shocking violence.

What results from this is a seductive and powerful take that Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl called "innovative, brilliant, curious, and creative."

In short, I recommend this book highly for anyone who enjoys dark thrillers. The Triumph of the Spider Monkey is available on Amazon.com as well as at most major booksellers.

15 best books about productivity

Summer is, unfortunately, coming to an end soon. With that, it's time for a summer reading list of mystery and romance novels to turn to more serious subject.

The folks at Alux.com published their picks for the 15 best books about productivity. I'm proud to share this with my readers as the Tip of the Week for August 19.

You will find a video from Alux about the 15 best books for productivity embeded above.

These tips are brought to you by the Warrendale (Detroit) Blog as part of our semi-regular Tip of the Week feature. Please check back every Monday for more advice on your home, money, and life.

Also, be sure to follow the author, Frank Nemecek, on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek for more great information.

Review: So Many Doors by Oakley Hall

So Many Doors - Cover art by Robert McGinnis

For the first time in 60 years, So Many Doors by Oakley Hall is available in publication. This 320-page mystery/crime novel was called, “beautiful, powerful, even masterful” by novelist Michael Chabon.

The story behind So Many Doors begins where most other novels would end. The reader meets a condemned prisoner who has been sentenced to death for the murder of a beautiful young woman. In the opening chapter, Hall doesn’t tell us who exactly this character is – only that he is on Death Row for murder and that he has no interest in challenging his sentence.

From there, the author takes his reader back in time to the murdered woman’s teen years. Her name, by the way, is Vassila Caroline Baird but everyone calls her V. In the early chapters, we get to know V, her family, her neighbor, and the ranch that she grew up on in California.

As the story continues, V grows into adulthood and moves away from her childhood home. The reader continues to meet new characters and learn more about them as V continues into her late-teens and into her 20s.

With each succeeding chapter, the reader can hardly help but notice that if someone had something a little differently or had done one small act a little different, the entire story may well have ended in a manner that was radically different from the initial encounter with a prisoner condemned to death for V’s murder.

The great mystery, of course, is the identity of this condemned prisoner for the opening pages. The reader meets several men in this story who may well have had the means, motive, and opportunity to murder V but only one of them did it.

As one chapter flows into the next, this novel presents its reader with so many options as to which one of these men could have been her killer. This fact only reinforces that the novel showcases dozens of different ways in which V’s life could have gone in another direction.

A direction that would not have resulted in V being murdered and this man condemned to Death Row.

This, in my opinion, is the main reason why So Many Doors is such a fascinating and enjoyable mystery novel to read. The reader not only follows the story that resulted in V’s murder but is called to imagine all the different lives that she could have lived along the way.

So Many Doors by Oakley Hall is published by Hard Case Crime. It is available at bookstores everywhere or by clicking the banner below to read sample chapters at Amazon.com.

The paperback version of this mystery novel is priced at $9.95 in the United States, $13.50 in Canada, or £7.99 in the United Kingdom.

UPS delivers happiness

A stack of happiness | Photo by Frank Nemecek

UPS delivered two packages of happiness to me this afternoon. It was a stack of soon-to-be-released novels for me to read and review on this blog.

There's a lot of promising titles in this group. A Bloody Business by Dylan Struzan is your classic dark crime novel. I've only skimmed through the others but All My Colors by David Quantick, The Smoke by Simon Ings, Ruin's Wake by Patrick Edwards, and Zero Bomb by M.T. Hill all look like they're going to be a great read.

Look for a series of new book reviews to appear on this blog towards the end of this month.

Review - The Will to Kill

One of the advantages of the cold snap that hit Detroit last week is that it provided me with an incentive to stay indoors and catch up on all of the books that I've been meaning to read. This included Erle Stanley Gardner's Turn on the Heat, which I reviewed last week, as well as The Will to Kill by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins.

The Will to Kill is one of the last Mike Hammer novels that were left unfinished when Mickey Spillane passed in 2006 at the age of 88. Before he left us, Spillane designated Max Allan Collins as the author that he wanted to finish his projects.

The Will to Kill begins with iconic private detective Mike Hammer taking a midnight stroll along the Hudson River. He pensive moment, though, was interrupted when he discovers a partial corpse on an ice flow.

The body, we soon learn, is that of a butler who spent the last years of his life working for a millionaire - now also deceased - and his notoriously privileged children.

Were both master and servant murdered? Mike Hammer's friend Captain Pat Chambers of the New York City Police Department thinks so. However, to prove it Hammer must travel upstate to investigate the dead man's family, all of whom have a motive for murder.

Like all Mike Hammer mystery novels, there are a number of twists and turns in every chapter - perfect to keep the reader exciting and guessing. More importantly, the story comes across with the same gritty eloquence from Collins' pen that millions of fans came to love from Spillane.

The Will to Kill is a wonderful detective story that is a joy to read. It is currently available in hardcover at finer bookstores and for the Kindle. It will be available as a paperback from Titan Books on February 27. The paperback can be pre-ordered by clicking here.

Please come next week when I will have a review of Help, I am being held prisoner by Donald E. Westlake.

Review - Turn On the Heat

They're back.

Erle Stanley Gardner's legendary detectives Cool and Lam are back in bookstores for the first time in 50 years.

If you're not familiar with Erle Stanley Gardner, he was the creator of Perry Mason. When he died in 1970, Erle Stanley Gardner was the bestselling American author of all time.

Turn On the Heat tells the story of private detectives Bertha Cool and Donald Lam who are retained by a mysterious "Mr. Smith" to find a woman who disappeared 21 years earlier. In the course of their investigation, Lam finds himself facing a sadistic cop, a desperate showgirl, a deceptive client, and one very dogged reporter.

As he struggles to learn the truth, Donald Lam finds himself kidnapped, beaten up, and framed for a crime that he didn't commit at different intervals during the story. It's very clear in this story that powerful people don't want this missing woman found.

The action and pacing in this novel were great. I particularly loved the dialogue that Gardner constructed in these pages. It rang authentic for the characters and the time that they were operating in.

One can still occasionally find copies of Turn On the Heat in libraries and used book stores. However, since it's been out of print for decards, those copies are getting harder and harder to find. That's why I'm really glad that Hard Case Crime brought it back for a new printing.

Turn On the Heat by Erle Stanley Gardner is available now on Amazon.com and bookstores everywhere.

Review - 100 Things to Do in the Upper Peninsula Before You Die

100 Things to Do in the Upper Peninsula - Photo by Frank Nemecek

I have made several trips to Michigan's Upper Peninsula over the years and those experiences have made me a huge fan of the new book 100 Things to Do in the Upper Peninsula Before You Die. It was written by Kath Usitalo, who authors the Great Lakes Gazette.

One of the things that I really like about this book is that not only does it cover some of the more famous destinations in Michigan's Upper Peninsula such as Mackinac Island, it also discusses the quirky, fun, and obscure. A few of my favorite items include the Junkyard Art Park in Lakenenland that I've never visited but of which hundreds of people have raved about on TripAdvisor as well as:

• Seney National Wildlife Refuge, which is a 95,000-acre sanctuary where one can pick wild berries and mushrooms;
• Copper Peak in Ironwood, which is the world's largest artificial ski jump;
• Museum of Ojibwa Culture in St. Ignace; and
• Riverside Pizzeria in Ironwood.

The one thing that I have to take issue with is that, on page 4, Usitalo discussed how there is a friendly debate among residents as to whether a pasty, the unofficial dish of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, should be topped with gravy, ketchup, or butter. Quite frankly, I cannot believe that there is even a debate on this one. Obviously, a pasty should be topped with gravy.

Obviously.

Anyway, it's almost impossible not to plan another trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula after reading this book. I highly recommend it and think it would make a great Christmas gift this holiday season.

100 Things to Do in the Upper Peninsula Before You Die by Kath Usitalo is published by Reedy Press. It's available in bookstores everyone as well as on Amazon.

Review - "Forever and a Death"

Forever and a Death  by Donald E. Westlake (Hard Case Crime)
Cover painting for the novel by Paul Mann

Like so many great novels, there is a story behind Forever and a Death by Donald E. Westlake that rivals the suspense of the fictional prose itself.

Donald Westlake had long ago established himself as one of the grandmasters of the suspense novel. Newsweek proclaimed him to be, "one of the great writers of the 20th century" while the San Francisco Chronicle observed years ago that "Westlake's ability to construct an action story filled with unforeseen twists and quadruple-crosses is unparalleled."

It was with that as background that United Artists Studio in Hollywood commissioned Donald Westlake to write an original screenplay for an upcoming James Bond movie. What Westlake eventually produced for them was a thrilling tale of a businessman who seeks revenge against the entire island nation of Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, the studio was nervous about the political implications of his story. They stuck his screenplay on a shelf and largely forgot about it.

Not wanting to waste what he thought was an exceptionally good story, Westlake converted this tale into a novel with a protagonist other than James Bond. The result of that was this novel, Forever and a Death.

Unfortunately, Donald E. Westlake died on December 31, 2008, before this book could be published. After two decades of delay, this story is finally available for readers to savor - complete with an afterword by Jeff Kleeman, one of the producers who helped to connect Westlake with the James Bond project in the first place.

One of the things that impressed me about this novel is that, even though Westlake wrote it decades ago, time did not dull its heart-pounding edge. The reader will no doubt notice something that places it as having happened in the not too distant past - with its references to pay phones, fax machines, and other things that have largely disappeared from everyday life - but there is still a thrilling quality to Westlake's writing that is as timeless as ever.

The characters are vivid. The dialogue is sharp. The way police inspectors are skeptical at first but eventually swayed into action by the evidence of our villain's plot rings amazingly true.

James Bond illustration by Tumisu/Pixabay

I highly recommend Forever and a Death by Donald E. Westlake for any reader who enjoys James Bond stories, devours the original works of Tom Clancy, or simply loves a good thriller.

Forever and a Death by Donald E. Westlake is available from Amazon.com or from your local bookseller.

Review: "Two Lost Boys" by L.F. Robertson

Courtroom - Photo by Faye Rollinson/Wikimedia

Two Lost Boys is the stunning debut crime novel by LF. Robertson. The characters are thoroughly captivating. Her dialogue rings with the kind of truth that only an author who had spent the past two decades in the trenches as a defense attorney can muster.

It tells the story of Janet Moodie, a death row appeals attorney in California who was recently widowed. Her client is Marion ‘Andy’ Hardy who was convicted along with his brother Emory of the rape and murder of two women. Emory received a life sentence while Andy got the death penalty; labeled the ringleader despite his low IQ and Emory’s dominant personality.

Convinced that Andy’s previous lawyers missed mitigating evidence that would have kept him off death row, Janet investigates Andy’s past. She discovers a sordid and damaged upbringing, a series of errors on the part of his previous counsel, and most worrying of all, the possibility that there is far more to the murders than was first thought.

There is never any doubt that Andy is guilty. However, by the end of this story, I feel that even those most jaded of us would find themselves if this character deserves to die.

Two Lost Boys takes the reader behind the scene to offer a look at a part of America's criminal justice system that few ever see. It does this without losing the reader. In doing so, I could help but think that this novel should be a serious contender for the Silver Gavel Awards.

I highly recommend Two Lost Boys by L.F. Robertson for anyone who enjoys crime stories or simply loves a really good story that is well-told.

Two Lost Boys by L.F. Robertson is available on Amazon.com.

Fatal Music - Review

The twists and turns in Peter Morfoot’s “Fatal Music” make this crime novel an enjoyable read. The book is the latest in a series following Homicide Captain Paul Darac of the Brigade Criminelle as he uncovers clues to catch a killer.

At first, this at-home death of an elderly woman looks as cut and dry as a heart attack in a hot tub but deeper exploration from Darac (and brilliant intuition) prove there is more to this investigation than meets the eye. Set in France, the author wastes no time in setting the tone for a compelling story that not only heightens your imagination but also provides a smooth soundtrack along with it.

Forget the basics in this soundtrack though, Morfoot gives us an advanced lesson in some of the greats of Jazz. Being sure to mention names like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Thelonious Monk, Morfoot exposes readers to the tone of his novel through the music Darac is mesmerized by. Whether playing a club, listening to it, or admiring it, Jazz is clearly Darac’s first and longest love.

Aptly named “Fatal Music” for the obvious ode to Jazz, the arts do not stop there. Morfoot ties in the high-profile world of France’s art scene where Darac finds himself in the quarters of famed art collectors and curators piecing together how a famous painting could have anything to do with the murder of his jazz queen. From the seedy streets and Jazz clubs of the Babazouk to the cultured world of art lovers this investigation has Darac (and his team) scrambling to find answers and as each clue is revealed, more action unfolds.

Suspense, drama, and action make each page turn quicker than the last and your heartstrings to pull more than the strings on Darac’s guitar. With so many opportunities for motive, means and just plain hatred, figuring out who is the culprit will leave readers blown away by jazz and crime.

Publisher's note: This review of "Fatal Music" was written by Shalen Franchini. It is the first in a series of book reviews that will appear on this blog in the coming weeks.

"Fatal Music" by Peter Morfoot went on sale today from Titan Books.