Fictional sleuth Sam Spade will be back in 2026

From AP News:

The story of one of the great fictional sleuths, Dashiell Hammett‘s Sam Spade, will be continued by prize-winning crime writer Max Allan Collins.

The publisher Hard Case Crime announced Thursday that Collins’ “The Return of the Maltese Falcon” will be released in January 2026, when the Hammett classic featuring Spade, “The Maltese Falcon,” enters the public domain. “The Maltese Falcon,” published in 1930 and known to movie fans for the 1941 adaptation starring Humphrey Bogart, is widely regarded as a model for the hard-boiled detective novel.

According to Hard Case Crime, Collins’ new book will bring back Spade and Joel Cairo among other Hammett characters, and “a mysterious new femme fatale.” Collins, whose “Road to Perdition” was adapted into a film starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, has a long history of working with famous literary detectives. He took over the Dick Tracy comic strip in the late 1970s after creator Chester Gould retired, and he was later authorized to continue Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer series.

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie

Synopsis: When Thomas Lang, a hired gunman with a soft heart, is contracted to assassinate an American industrialist, he opts instead to warn the intended victim - a good deed that doesn't go unpunished. Within hours Lang is butting heads with a Buddha statue, matching wits with evil billionaires, and putting his life (among other things) in the hands of a bevy of femmes fatales, whilst trying to save a beautiful lady ...and prevent an international bloodbath to boot.

~ ~ ~

Why has it taken me so long to find this tome???

Another one for that genre of "bad guy hero" narrative - this time from actor and comedian Hugh Laurie. Told in first person narrative by the man in the title - gun seller / assassin for hire Thomas Lang - we are taken on a non-stop, oft tongue-in-cheek adventure as Lang tries to right a wrong, save the life of the man he was hired to kill and the life of the damsel in distress, whilst at the same time saving the world under the guise of terrorist from evil villains (ie: businessmen) who are hoping to start WWIII in order to drum up sales.

As Lang laments.... " ... all I was doing - all I'd ever been doing since the whole thing started - was selling guns ..."

It is witty, humourous (in a dry, sartirical sort of way), it is action packed - with action and fabulous one-liners a-plenty - and has a hero intent on doing good under (and in) extreme circumstances - does he get the girl in the end, read on and find out!

Loved every minute of reading this!

Review: The Recruiter by Gregg Podolski

Synopsis: An action-packed debut from Gregg Podolski, The Recruiter is a thrilling and unique adventure through the European underworld.  When bad guys need good help, they call Rick Carter.

He’s a criminal recruiter, searching for contract killers, cyber hackers, gun smugglers, and any other assorted villains-for-hire a European crime boss might need. But, when the family he left behind in New Jersey is caught up in a client’s plot to monopolize the black market, Rick has to save them from two of his own top candidates: deadly assassins known only as Ghost and The Persian.

Fixing his own mess will require a set of skills he doesn’t have—not a problem, as finding qualified help is where he excels. But stepping into action, becoming the hero his family needs, that’s new territory. For a man who’s spent the last ten years being the best at helping the worst, this may be his last chance to do something right.

~ ~ ~

Barely a quarter of the way in, I gave this four stars. It deserves five - what a roller-coaster ride through the murky underworld and the shady world of espionage. The bad guy is the good guy and the villains are suitably bad.

Rick Carter is a recruiter - he lines up "staff" for those who are willing to pay big bucks for a job to be done - no questions asked. However, things go a little awry (understatement) when a new client comes on the scene and makes Rick an offer he cannot refuse. Now Rick must use his skills and contacts to ensure that this new client does not achieve their end game - and it will come at a personal cost.

It is so easy to become invested in Rick's narrative as the tale rockets along - sometimes a break-neck speed - to an inevitable outcome, which is not a a tidy affair at all. The body count is high, the violence oft times gratuitous, the humour suitable dark, the undertones noirish, the action non-stop. For a first novel, the reader could not ask for anything more. Except more!

A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to read a number of books of a similar genre (Truhen, Milford, Johnson, Holmen, Hamdy, and McDonnell). Podolski is in good company and I look forward to reading more.

Every Man A King by Walter Mosley

In this highly anticipated sequel to "Down the River Unto the Sea" from Edgar Award-winning "master of craft and narrative," Walter Mosley, Joe King Oliver is entangled in a dangerous case when he's asked to investigate whether a white nationalist is being unjustly set up. (National Book Foundation).

When friend of the family and multi-billionaire Roger Ferris comes to Joe with an assignment, he’s got no choice but to accept, even if the case is a tough one to stomach. White nationalist Alfred Xavier Quiller has been accused of murder and the sale of sensitive information to the Russians. Ferris has reason to believe Quiller’s been set up and he needs King to see if the charges hold.

This linear assignment becomes a winding quest to uncover the extent of Quiller’s dealings, to understand Ferris’ skin in the game, and to get to the bottom of who is working for whom. Even with the help of bodyguard and mercenary Oliya Ruez—no regular girl Friday—the machine King’s up against proves relentless and unsparing. As King gets closer to exposing the truth, he and his loved ones barrel towards grave danger.

Mosley once again proves himself a "master of craft and narrative" (National Book Foundation) in this carefully plotted mystery that is at once a classic caper, a family saga and an examination of fealty, pride and how deep debt can go.

Review: The Mysterious Romance of Murder by David Lehman

Synopsis: From Sherlock Holmes to Sam Spade; Nick and Nora Charles to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin; Harry Lime to Gilda, Madeleine Elster, and other femmes fatales—crime and crime solving in fiction and film captivate us. Why do we keep returning to Agatha Christie's ingenious puzzles and Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled murder mysteries? What do spy thrillers teach us, and what accounts for the renewed popularity of morally ambiguous noirs? 

In The Mysterious Romance of Murder, the poet and critic David Lehman explores a wide variety of outstanding books and movies—some famous (The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity), some known mainly to aficionados—with style, wit, and passion.Lehman revisits the smoke-filled jazz clubs from the classic noir films of the 1940s, the iconic set pieces that defined Hitchcock's America, the interwar intrigue of Eric Ambler's best fictions, and the intensity of attraction between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. He also considers the evocative elements of noir—cigarettes, cocktails, wisecracks, and jazz standards—and offers five original noir poems (including a pantoum inspired by the 1944 film Laura) and ironic astrological profiles of Barbara Stanwyck, Marlene Dietrich, and Graham Greene. 

Written by a connoisseur with an uncanny feel for the language and mood of mystery, espionage, and noir, The Mysterious Romance of Murder will delight fans of the genre and newcomers alike.

This was possibly written as a follow up to the author's previous book, The Perfect Murder: A Study in Detection.

The book is divided into five parts (the romance, the props, the authors & directors, the films, and some profiles). The author's key areas of interest - poetry, speech, writing - form the basis for this narrative.

Part One specifically deals with the language and dialogue of the genre. Part Two the props used (clothing, cigarettes, etc). Part Three looks at authors and directors such as Fleming, Hitchcock, Chandler, Greene, Wilder, McBain, et al. Part Four is a series of essays on films and actors (eg: Double Indemnity, Cape Fear, The Asphalt Jungle, Odd Man Out, etc) whilst also exploring the villains and locations (San Francisco, Chicago, London). Part Five consists of profiles of Stanwyk, Greene and Dietrich.

Despite being a huge fan of noir, espionage and crime, I was not a fan of this. The 40 plus page introduction was overly long and nearly finished it for me then and there.  I found my attention wavering and I was wishing the author would hurry up and get to the crux of it all.  Even when he did, I was not sufficiently engaged to absorb anything that was written down in front of me - the writing style and overall presentation did not inspire me.

Image by Wonman Kim

What I also found lacking was an exploration of international noir - both authors and film - which is something I would definitely have been interested in, especially as I have been reading a lot of Frederic Dard (the classic French noir author) and his contemporaries.

Definitely one for the dedicated movie fan of the genre as this book explores specialty subject matter that only those seriously immersed in the genre will appreciate.

Big Trouble in the “93”: Olivier Norek’s Banlieue Trilogy

From CrimeReads:

Welcome to the Paris of Olivier Norek, former French cop for eighteen years who reached the rank of Capitaine in one of Paris’s toughest banlieues (technically ‘suburbs’, but invariably indicating tough housing projects on the outskirts of major French cities). Norek has now turned crime writer but he’s still inhabiting those dark streets and criminal worlds.

In Norek’s novels Seine-Saint-Denis police are an insignificant satellite operation looked down upon, if indeed ever noticed, by the mighty Brigade Criminelle bedded down in central Paris at the Quai des Orfèvres, HQ of the Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de la Préfecture de Police de Paris (DRPJ Paris). Its legion of “grands fromages” make decisions from on-high that create tensions and anger in the tower blocks. Political and social engineering decisions that mean life, death, budget cuts, or hassle for those who actually have to police Seine-Saint-Denis. And so, say bonjour to SDPJ.93 Groupe Crime 1.

read more here @ CrimeReads

see also my review of Norek's The Lost & The Damned

Review: Nottingham by David Hazan

Synopsis: In this twisted medieval noir, the Sheriff of Nottingham hunts a serial killer with a penchant for tax collectors. The Sheriff's investigation makes him the target of England's most nefarious power-brokers. That's to say nothing of the Merry Men, terrorists lurking amongst the trees of Sherwood, led by an enigma known only as "Hood."

I accidentally chose this one not realising it was a graphic novel. That being said - I rather enjoyed this grim, noirish homage to the Robin Hood mythos.

If you like your villains dark and broody, your heroes questionable and a bit off-kilter, a bit of blood and gore (understatement), fantastic artwork by Volk and Romano, then this will be right up your alley. A great start to a promising series.

New Steve Cavanagh Book Announced!

If you haven't already discovered author Steve Cavanagh, where have you been. Visit his author website to discover some amazing titles in the Eddie Flynn series whilst awaiting the next offering!

Steve's website >>>> HERE!

Review: The House of Killers by Samantha Lee Howe

Synopsis: Killing Eve meets Jason Bourne in this nerve-shredding new thriller series simmering with obsession and espionage… Serial killer Neva has been conditioned not to ask questions of the mysterious Network, to remain perfectly incurious and perennially cold-blooded. She must simply execute the targets they text her and live to bury the tale. But then she’s tasked with terminating a fellow assassin and glimpses her own future in her colleague’s fate. When she leaves flowers on the gravesite, someone notices.

Agent Michael Kensington knows he’ll have his work cut out for him when he’s recruited by MI5 onto operation Archive to piece together patterns in cold cases. Nothing could ever have prepared him for Neva…

An assassin obsessed with hell, a fugitive tortured by the secrets of her past, a woman destined to unthread him

The premise and the cover drew me into this first class thriller! We follow Neva, a conditioned serial assassin, as she undertaken her latest missions. But when her next assignment is one her her own, things begin to fall apart, and as a result, that instilled conditioning opens up fragments to a long hidden past, one she now starts to question. Thrown into the mix is MI5 agent, Michael Kensington who has been hot on Neva's trail for some time. And then their paths inextricably cross (as you know they must!) - and Michael follows his own path of hide and seek, not only with Neva but with his own agency.

But it is always with Neva that the reader will empathise, as more and more of her past is revealed.  The author has provided the reader with an engrossing, well crafted cat and mouse game - assassin and victim - assassin and agent - assassin and employer. We never know if Neva will break free or will be drawn back into the tightly woven web that offers a rather curiously dystopian view where money and power and greed force humanity to take a backseat.  There are so many reveals, and twists and turns that one wonders where you - the reader - will eventually end up!

It is the start of what promises to be an enthralling trilogy!

Note: I believe the next books are "Kill or Die" (May 2021) and "Kill A Spy" (July 2021)

Visit Samantha's website >>> HERE

Review: Angelino Heights by Adam Bregman

Synopsis: When Dalton Everest, a naive school teacher with a crackerjack, free-form way of expressing himself, forms a fast friendship with Nathan Lyme, a charmer who’s cagey about his employment, everything Dalton knew of his previous life is swiftly upended.

Set up by Nathan to fall hard for Melanee, a frequently drunk French girl and former purse snatcher, Dalton ends up in a pickle and then, paranoid out of his wits, is ultimately chased through the streets of downtown L.A.

Angelino Heights is a crime novel obsessed with Los Angeles. It traipses across the city from a crooked pawn shop in Cudahy to a secretive mecca of modernism protruding from a hill in Pasadena to the old timey dive and themed bars, where its protagonists drink up the atmosphere of old L.A. 

Firstly - apologies to Adam for my tardy review. Secondly - what a great read!

I love noir! And this is a compelling tale of a solid citizen's flirtation with the dark side that has ultimately led to where they find themselves. Bregman takes his reader on a mystery tour of the seedy side of Los Angeles as we follow mild mannered school teacher Dalton Everest as he is slowly seduced over to the dark side by one Nathan Lyme. 

The reader never really discover's Lyme's motive in his selection (or targeting) of Everest as his partner, accomplice, patsy, fall-guy . Nor do we ever really discover what made Everest so susceptible to Lyme's charms, for Lyme does manage to have a certain hold over those in his immediate sphere. 

However, I strongly suspect that it all boils down to that need to walk the fine line between good and bad, a flirtation with danger; and like the old style sobriety test, some just never manage to stay on that straight line.

LAPD Detective Orlando Talbert sums it up nicely, "... they sure don't make crazy white dumbfucks like they used to ..."

Review: The Second Life of Inspector Canessa by Roberto Perrone

Synopsis: Family secrets, terrorist plots and the return of a legendary cop: a ferociously paced noir thriller from one of Italy’s top crime writers, and the second book in Pushkin Press’s collaboration with Walter Presents.

Annibale Canessa didn’t want to go back to his old life. When everything went wrong in 1984, he traded his brutal, exciting career in the Carabinieri for paradise in San Fruttuoso. He started swimming in the bay at dawn and helping his elderly aunt run a small restaurant. His life was calm.

But some shattering news pulls him back in - his estranged brother has been found dead; lying beside him, the body of an ex-terrorist, a man Canessa himself caught. Back in Milan, Canessa must pursue old connections and unsolved crimes, which draw him ever deeper into the underworld he thought he’d left behind…

Loved it!

I am really getting into crime /detective /  thriller / noir fiction set outside of the standard locations of the UK and USA.  And this one by Perrone is no exception to the great books I have been reading.

The synopsis covers it all: retired cop returns to avenge the killing of his estranged brother and work out the link with acts of terrorism from thirty years previous, and hence the back and forth with the timeline.

We are introduced to a number of characters early on, and it is only as we slowly progress, does their relevance to the narrative become apparent (I kept a list to keep track!).  Many of these are not nice folks - and that is the aim of the author, I think, to provide varying shades of good and bad (and some downright evil), with which to demonstrate the blurred lines and vagaries of what is right and what is just.  Even Canessa himself reminds me of "Dirty Harry" - a no-nonsense, ultimately good guy, who believes that if you shake the tree hard enough, the rotten fruit will eventually fall.

As I mentioned, I loved it. For me, it had all the required elements: crime, mystery, history, passion, power, corruption, secrets, revenge, intriguing characters, action, resolution.

Reviews: Death in a Bookstore: An Inspector De Vincenzi Mystery by Augusto de Angelis

Synopsis: When the clerk arrived to unlock the bookstore on Via Corridoni, the last thing he expected to find inside was a dead Senator. 

Now Inspector De Vincenzi has been assigned the case and the only clue is a missing copy of a rare book, La Zaffetta, taken from the room where the Senator lies dead. The Senator's murder is a live hand-grenade with no pin and the Superintendent has given Inspector De Vincenzi eight days to solve the murder . . . or else. As the bodies begin to pile up, supernatural forces seem to be at work. But it was no spirit that put a lead slug in the back of Senator Magni’s head.

Death in a Bookstore, one of De Angelis's best novels, is a psychological tour de force. Inspector De Vincenzi, "the first authentic Italian detective," doesn't just track down clues, he gets inside the heads of his suspects, with often stunning results. “You disregard evidence . . . appearances . . . earlier crimes. You disregard motives. You observe people, question them, examine them, judge them with your psychological method and then set them free, having decided that they cannot be guilty, because they lack the moral, intellectual, temperamental, or emotional capacity to commit a murder, this murder . . . Where will we end up, De Vincenzi? Your obsession with the psychology of murder is madness!”

While new to English readers, Inspector De Vincenzi is immensely popular in Italy, and is the protagonist of several best-selling novels as well as two Italian television series.

Yet another engaging journey into 1930s Milan and a crime involving the discovery of a body in a bookstore. Inspector de Vincenzi slowly pieces together the puzzle and lamented that "... this is one of those knotty cases, in which taking a false step means going back to the beginning ..". But we know that in the end, de Vincenzi will solve this crime.

What I appreciated was the Foreward - this is a must read in itself, for we discover that under Mussolini, the detective novel was not only seized but destroyed, and de Angelis himself was a victim of the fascist dictator.

also by Augusto de Angelis:

> The Mystery of the Three Orchids

> The Hotel of the Three Roses

> The Murdered Banker

further reading:

> Politics and Society in Italian Crime Fiction: An Historical Overview by Barbara Pezzotti
> The Importance of Place in Contemporary Italian Crime Fiction: A Bloody Journey by Barbara Pezzotti

Crime By Country

On this page I will be listing the many crime books that I have read and own according to which country they are (predominantly) set in. I will start with crime fiction, noir fiction, cosy crime and detective fiction. Depending on the list (which is by no means a complete list), I may even include some historical crime fiction. It will mean that titles in a series may be split up according to where they are set geographically and only those I have read are listed - which means there may be some incomplete or out-of-order series.

>>> start your reading journey here @ Crime By Country

Review: Vintage Crime edited by Martin Edwards

Synopsis: Vintage Crimes will be a CWA anthology with a difference, celebrating members' work over the years. The book will gather stories from the mid-1950s until the twenty-first century by great names of the past, great names of the present together with a few hidden treasures by less familiar writers. The first CWA anthology, Butcher's Dozen, appeared in 1956, and was co-edited by Julian Symons, Michael Gilbert, and Josephine Bell. The anthology has been edited by Martin Edwards since 1996, and has yielded many award-winning and nominated stories in the UK and overseas.

A nice mixed bag of stories - not overly long - from some well-known and not so well-known names in crime fiction. We have stories covering practical jokes gone awry, sleepwalking, dreams, espionage, love and betrayal, greed and jealousy, accidental death and out-and-out murder. Quite a few have that twist at the end that readers will enjoy, and not all our protagonists are deserving of our empathy. With some distinctive noirish tones, I enjoyed all twenty-two stories, and appreciated the mini author biographies at the end. Martin Edwards does it again - collating a diverse range of tales for this murderous anthology.

Review: The Doom List by Gerard O'Donovan

Synopsis: The Doom List - you'd rather be dead than be on it: the intriguing new 1920s mystery featuring Irish-born cop turned private investigator Tom Collins.

July, 1922. Newly-appointed 'movie czar' William H. Hays is about to arrive in town on a single-minded mission to clean up Hollywood. He is said to be compiling a list of 'undesirables' whom he plans to bar from screen work. They call it the Doom List.

With the industry in the grip of fear and paranoia, Hollywood's hottest young director Rex Ingram is determined that no hint of scandal should mar the premiere of his new movie, The Prisoner of Zenda, and hires private investigator Tom Collins, a fellow Irishman, with instructions to protect his leading lady's reputation at all costs. But, as Collins discovers, Barbara La Marr isn't the only member of the cast hiding a dangerous secret.

Meanwhile, a body is discovered in the Baldwin Hills to the south of the city. Could there be a connection? Against his better judgement, Collins is drawn into a case of scandal, forbidden love, blackmail . . . and cold-blooded murder.

This quite neatly follows on from "The Long Silence" which is set in February 1922 and has Tom investigating the disappearance of an actress with close links to the recently murdered director, William Desmond Taylor.

Hollywood 1922

Hollwood started out as a new land development in the 1880s.  It wasn't until 1910 that the first motion picture company - the Nestor Motion Picture Company- set up in Hollywood, which - unlike the East Coast where the majority of films were made - had ideal weather conditions and easy access to locations. The following year, four major film companies – Paramount, Warner Bros., RKO, and Columbia – had their studios in Hollywood, as did several minor companies and rental studios.

Rex Ingram

Tom is no longer attached to the studios as their in-house "fixer" - he has managed to open an office of his own, and through long time "friend" Fay Parker, he meets director Rex Ingram. Rex has just finished "The Prisoner of Zenda" for Metro Studios and is about to hit the publicity trail, whilst in the process of making yet another film, Black Orchids (renamed Trifling Women).

Barbara La Marr

However, his leading lady, Barbara La Marr is not the only one among his cast who has secrets they would much prefer to remain hidden, especially since moral crusader Will H Hays is on his way to clean up the fledgling Tinseltown.  An up and coming young Mexican star Ramon, rumoured to be the next Valentino, has problems of his own and Barbara asked Tom to help him out. Hollywood at this time had a burgeoning Mexican population, attracted by the closeness to the border and the multitude of new employment opportunities that arose from the movie industry.

Ramon Novarro

Hollywood had much to hide by way of scandals from secret pregnancies and abortions, drug and alcohol addiction, homosexuality, affairs, violence and murder.  Many stars burnt bright then faded back into obscurity; the lucky ones stuck around a little longer - it was the movie-going public who could make or break both a film and its stars, so the studios employed "fixers" to cover up an indiscretions and buy off silence.  Unfortunately, not everything could be swept under the carpet.

Will H Hays

In January 1922 Will H Hays was been appointed as chairman of Chairman of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) shortly after the organization's founding. The goal of the organization was to renovate the image of the movie industry in the wake of the scandal surrounding the alleged rape and murder of model and actress Virginia Rappe, of which film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was accused, and amid growing calls by religious groups for federal censorship of the movies. Hiring Hays to "clean up the pictures" was, at least in part, a public relations ploy and much was made of his conservative credentials, including his roles as a Presbyterian deacon and past chairman of the Republican Party. However, at the time of our story, Hays had not yet made a name for himself or trouble for the studios - but the implied threat was very real for some. 

I really enjoyed this second trip into old Hollywood - silents films are still the rage, talkies are barely on the scene, actors and actresses were glamourous, scandalous, mysterious and sometimes murderous. The weaving of some of these famous Hollywood folk into the story gives it a bit more of an edge, and O'Donovan again uses events from this time as a backdrop.

Whilst it is not necessary to have read the first in this series, I would recommend that you do as there are references to previous events in this new outing - events which have never quite been closed.

In Tom Collins, ex-cop, ex-studio fixer, now private inquiry agent, O'Donovan gives us a character straight from the pages of the classic noir playbook - right up their with Spade, Hammer or Marlowe.  I enjoyed the style of storytelling, which provided enough plot twists and turns and diversions to keep the reader firmly planted on the edge of their seat.  You get a true sense of what it was like back in the early days of Hollywood and Los Angeles.

Check out
- Silent Era: The Silent Film Website
- Wikipedia: real life Hollywood Fixer, Eddie Mannix
- Atlas Obscura: the Fixers who buried Old Hollywood's biggest scandals

Review: Indigo by Loren D Estleman

Synopsis: Film detective Valentino is summoned to the estate of Ignacio Bozel to collect a prized donation to the university’s movie library: Bleak Street, a film from the classic noir period, thought lost for more than sixty years. Bleak Street was never released. Its star, Van Oliver, a gifted and charismatic actor with alleged ties to the mob, disappeared while the project was in post-production, presumably murdered by gangland rivals: another one of Hollywood’s unsolved mysteries. Studio bosses elected to shelve the film rather than risk box-office failure. UCLA’s PR Department is excited about the acquisition, but only if Valentino can find a way to sell it in the mainstream media by way of a sensational discovery to coincide with its release: “We want to know what happened to Oliver.”

Valentino searches for and restores lost films, and in between has restored his own movie theatre. An opportunity to showcase a film thought long lost comes at a price - find out what happened to its star. The more Valentino digs, the more he realises someone doesn't want this film to see light of day.

This was a nice little noir outing with the twist at the end slowly revealing itself in the final chapters. You sort of get a hint that something is not quite what it should be. I hadn't read any of the previous books in this series, though had no real issues with picking up the threads as I read along. Loved the bibliograghy and filmography at the end.

An afternoon's escapism for those that get the chance to read it one sitting. 

Review: Black 13 by Adam Hamdy

Synopsis: Black 13 is the brilliant first novel in the Scott Pearce series from Adam Hamdy. 

In this addictive and fast-paced thriller, ex-MI6 officer Pearce is about to show us that in a world where there is no loyalty to the nation state; where governments, the military and intelligence agencies are being outmanoeuvred at every step; it’s time to burn the espionage rule book. Watch Pearce light the fire!

Pre-review (posted 23.12.19 - barely halfway through): I haven't even finished this - and HOLY CRAP ... what a roller-coaster ride this is already! One of the best action thrillers I have read in a long while and I'm only half way through! 

Well, now I have finished it (24.12.19), and what can I say but what a read! My thoughts above, when only halfway through, are still applicable - even more so. The characters, the story, the descriptiveness, the action sequences (and there are plenty of those) - I felt every heartbeat, sat there breathless through every nail-biting escapade, winced at every punch thrown and every bullet spent. 

We already know this is going to be a series so no spoiler alert there - but for a while you wonder .... is this man made of kevlar ... by the end of it, I can hear the words ... "we can rebuild him" ... 

Now for a spoiler alert: this is no fairy tale; there is violence and a lot of it; so if you are easily offended, turn away now. If you want one of the best thrillers around, read on!

Review: The Downfall of Raymond Rainbow by Michael J Milford

Synopsis: Raymond Rainbow was where he wanted to be in life. But fate took a hand, and one night he was dealt with a very bad hand indeed. That was the beginning of this man's downfall. Just one mistake, a wrong decision, a wrong turning, set his whole life plummeting downwards, spiralling out of control towards total disaster. Soon he was fighting to regain the life he once knew. But when faced with such a descent sometimes the only solution is to resort to some dirty tricks. With the help of the criminal fraternity Rainbow tries to climb back to the top, a place he used to know well.

Follow this man while he tries to eradicate himself from the mess he is in. Or is there even a way out? Is there, in reality, a pot of gold at the end of any rainbow?

Raymond Rainbow has it all - idyllic childhood, perfect job with a nice promotion in the offing, the perfect fiance to whom he is about to propose; he's a good looking man and knows it. Yet, with one wrong turn, "things can change in a split second" and it all goes to hell in a handbag.

We are literally witness to this one man's fall from grace, as he struggles to keep his life and career intact, whilst avoiding the consequences of his mistake - which he compounds, time and again - Raymond's carefully constructed house of cards has come crashing down around him - will he man up and own his mistake or will he continue ".. going downhill as fast as a train whose brakes have failed .." What tactics will he resort to to lift himself out of this ever deepening hole has has dug for himself.

Oh how I loved this story .... great noir style fiction. You cannot but empathise with Raymond and his predicament, you want him to come out on top, you are almost shouting at him to stop and think before acting, you find yourself physically shaking the book as if to shake some sense into him.

And then the ending .... craftily written as we are led down the proverbial rabbit hole, coming out on the other side to ..... well, read on ... there will be no spoiler alerts here.

Review: Blues In The Dark by Raymond Benson

Synposis: Karissa Glover is a movie producer who moves into a decrepit but functional old mansion in the West Adams Heights area of Los Angeles, where black celebrities of yesteryear—Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers, and others—once resided. The former owner was a white actress, Blair Kendrick, who often starred as the "bad girl"—a femme fatale—in films noir of the 1940s. However, Blair’s career was cut short when she was tragically killed by the mob after allegedly witnessing the slaying of a corrupt studio head in 1949.

As Karissa and her producing partner decide to develop a modern film noir about Blair Kendrick, malevolent forces from the past attempt to stop them—first with intimidation, and then with the thread of murder.

Is this because Karissa has learned that Blair was involved in a then-taboo interracial relationship with jazz musician Hank Marley? What really happened on the night that death struck in a dimly lit studio mogul’s office? The consequences of Blair and Hank’s doomed love affair still resonate in the present day as Karissa attempts to unravel Blair’s secrets.

I love reading about the darker side of Hollywood - who doesn't love reading about a salacious scandal, a mysterious death (or two), blackmail, the infamous "casting couch", the "fixers" who kept the stars' secrets from becoming front page news, and studio bosses who ruled them all.

"Blues In The Dark" covers all of the above, through alternating and interweaving narrative from the present and the past, when a modern-day film maker decides to make a film on a long dead movie start, and in the process uncovers secrets many would kill to ensure remain well hidden.

We all know there's a mystery and a film, but how we get there is slowly teased out chapter by chapter, the tension constantly building as both stories unfold before us and little clues click into place. When the stories do merge, what is revealed is a cycle of destruction and sadness.

I was nearly tempted to categorise this as a cosy mystery - but cosy noir is more apt.

Review: Slugger by Martin Holmen

Synopsis:  It's summer in Stockholm, and the city is sweltering in the grip of a rare heatwave while fascists and communists beat each other bloody in the streets. Harry Kvist has had enough. It's time for him to leave. But first he has some business to take care of. His old friend and ex-lover, Reverend Gabrielsson, has been murdered, and the police are more interested in anti-Semitic rumours than finding the truth.

Kvist investigates the only way he knows how, with his fists, uncovering a Nazi terrorist plot and a cabal of corrupt cops. Before long he finds himself caught in the middle of a turf war between two of the city's most brutal gangs. Can he fight his way out of one last corner and find a way to freedom, or has Kvist finally taken a punch too many?

I will sum this up with a quote from the book and the character of Harry Kvist: " ... how in hell is one lonely man supposed to take on a whole conspiracy of gangsters, coppers and fuck knows what else ..."

Holmen certainly knows how to write gritty noir that is visceral, violent, memorable. The character of Harry Kvist (always refers to himself in the third person) is never forgotten, long after the final page has been turned.

Harry is an enigma, a contradiction, and yet - I don't want to say cliched - but he is your typical big old gorilla goon. However, underneath, this ex-con, ex-boxed, battle-scarred thug, a man not without friends or enemies, is a softee. He looks after his friends - and seek to settle things the old fashioned way - a man of few words but brutal action - "... hatred burns in my veins like petrol ..".

This is Harry's final job, told over the course of a number of days. Following the brutal murder of an old friend, Harry finds himself caught up in something much bigger than himself, a pawn in the hands or rival gangs and the police, who seek to use him to their own ends, often at odds with one another - and never in Harry's interests.

There will be no spoiler here - suffice to say ".. the last stretch is always walked alone .."

see also my review of "Down For the Count"