Tag: crime novels

New book release: ‘Full-Tilt Boogie: A Jade Hui Mystery’ by Robb T. White

‘Full-Tilt Boogie: A Jade Hui Mystery’ is the latest novel by Robb T. White. Photo: Amazon

Crime, noir, and detective novels have been around for years and their popularity is still strong. Whether it is a gritty and cynical detective solving crimes or a morally compromised private detective solving seedy mysteries, their dark undertones have thrilled readers who prefer more realistic storylines. If you are a fan of this genre of books, “Full-Tilt Boogie: A Jade Hui Mystery” by Robb T. White might just be your next guilty pleasure. This new release is available on Amazon.

Robb T. White writes from Northeastern Ohio. He has published several crime, noir, hardboiled novels, and genre stories in various magazines and anthologies. He has been nominated for a Derringer and “Inside Man,” a crime story, was selected for Best American Mystery Stories 2019. His second hardboiled private investigator series, after the Thomas Haftmann mysteries begun in 2011 with “Haftmann’s Rules,” features Raimo Jarvi in Northtown Eclipse and Northtown Blitz. British website Murder, Mayhem & More cited “When You Run with Wolves” as a finalist for Top Ten Crime Books of 2018 and Perfect Killer in 2019. “If I Let You Get Me” was selected for the Bouchercon 2019 anthology and “The Russian Heist,” another crime thriller, was selected by Thriller Magazine as winner of its Best Novel category. In his new novel “Full-Tilt Boogie: A Jade Hui Mystery,” shortly after being assigned to the field office, Special Agent Jade Hui is stumped by her predecessor’s do-nothing record when there is every indication that something big is about to happen. (Robert T. White, 2023)

“Full-Tilt Boogie: A Jade Hui Mystery” – Something’s going on in Youngstown, Ohio—and it is not pretty. The Bureau is hindering SAC Jade Hui’s attempts at stopping the brutal trafficking of young girls in New York City. She has only a retired senior agent as her backer. Now she is reassigned back to that minor field office in Youngstown, the quintessential rust-belt city—and she contemplates quitting. Her newest assignment holds her back, however: she is to coordinate with Interpol’s Amsterdam contact, an old colleague from her past.

Jaap Ens is spearheading an international drug-smuggling operation that originates in Amsterdam with tentacles reaching into the American Midwest. Jaap tells Jade that the Aryan Brotherhood, a dangerous prison gang which has been operating for decades under law enforcement’s radar, has aligned itself with a cartel of international criminals to dominate the United States with the designer drug Extasy. Camouflaged behind its racism and neo-Nazi politics, the Brand has shifted away from the high-risk and hard-to-control production of meth to this designer drug, where endless supplies of pills are manufactured by the hundreds of thousands in labs across the Netherlands. Using the same routes in place from their sex-slave trafficking in Europe and the Balkans, this cartel of Albanian and Russian mobsters is beginning to flood the huge market of vulnerable American teenagers.

Adding to Jade’s challenges is a raw agent assigned to assist her: Derek Bensusan. Jade is determined not to fail this time, and she has the qualities of mind and heart to succeed. She and Derek interview a convict given a “death sentence” by the Aryan Brotherhood at the state penitentiary. He reveals an expected drug shipment and mentions a bar downtown.

Derek’s ongoing investigation into a corrupt local bank with links to the Russian crime organization out of Brighton Beach needs help. She calls New York for technical support and they send their ace hacker. Jade, meanwhile, has a disturbing experience after an interview with a striking woman who runs in dangerous, wealthy circles over a female prize fighter’s brutal death.

Jade attempts to re-establish a rapport with the detectives of Youngstown P.D. but discovers hostility and suspicion. The drug investigation will take Jade to Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Moscow and back again to Youngstown. She will be surrounded by a vile host of sleazy characters between Hollywood and the Midwest, some with Russian connections to crime organizations. As Jade gets closer to the top figures in the international drug ring, the body count rises as the expendables are cut loose.

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Book review: ‘Off the Grid’ by Robert McCaw

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Robert McCaw’s second book in the Koa Kane Hawaiian mystery series, ‘Off the Grid’ will be available starting July 2. Courtesy photo, used with permission. 

Robert McCaw is an American author who graduated from Georgetown University and served as a lieutenant in the US Army before earning his law degree from the University of Virginia. He was a partner in a major international law firm with offices in Washington, DC and New York City and maintained a home on the Big Island of Hawai’i. This allows him to bring a unique authenticity to his Koa Kāne Hawaiian mystery novels in both his law enforcement expertise and his ability to portray the richness of Hawai’i’s history, culture and people. “Death of a Messenger” is the first book in the series and the second, “Off the Grid” is due out on Tuesday July 2. In “Off the Grid” Hilo police Detective Koa Kāne investigates two deaths that at first seem unrelated but when he discovers how they are linked, the crimes could rewrite history or cost him his career.

Chapter One of “Off the Grid” begins on a poetic note “The plume of smoky steam rising like a sulfur cloud from a volcanic vent told Hilo Chief Detective Koa Kāne he’d been called to a nasty scene” but ends with a staged accident that left a woman dead. That leads him to the second murder of the day: the tortured remains of an unfortunate soul left to burn in the path of an advancing lava flow. He soon discovers that the two murders are related when they turn out to be a reclusive couple living off the grid. They are mysterious fugitives, so naturally the CIA, the Chinese government and the Defense Intelligence agency try to impede all attempts to get to the truth of who wanted this couple dead. Despite growing political pressure, Koa digs further only to find himself drawn into a web of international intrigue. His investigation uncovers a government conspiracy that culminates in the arrest of Nāinoa Nihoa, the Hawai’i state representative running for governor, for murder in the deaths of the couple.

Robert McCaw brings the beauty of Hawai’i to the average reader and softens an otherwise grisly tale of murder and conspiracy. Espionage, treason and murder makes for a fascinating read and the action flows effortlessly through the pages. The language is easy to read and understand including the law enforcement and military lingo. An interesting detail is that the protagonist, Hilo Detective Chief Koa Kāne has a secret: as a young man, he killed a sugar mill manager to exact revenge on behalf of his father. He still feels guilt and remorse, yet he has not told anyone, including his girlfriend, and it affects his crime solving decisions. How long will it take for the secret to catch up to him? Stay tuned. “Off the Grid” is an intriguing crime mystery novel with enough plot twists to keep the reader turning pages until its jaw dropping ending. It is recommended for fans of mystery/crime novels with a flawed leading man who would not mind learning a thing or two about Hawai’i’s culture and its people. A definite must-read.

*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.

Best seller of the month: ‘The Late Show’ by Michael Connelly

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‘The Late Show’ by Michael Connelly holds the top stop on The New York Times best seller list. Photo: amazon

New to the best seller list on The New York Times is “The Late Show” by Michael Connelly. It was released this month and it holds the number one spot on the list. Michael Connelly is the author of detective novels and other crime fiction, the most popular being the ones featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. With “The Late Show” he introduces Renee Ballard, a young detective fighting to prove herself on the LAPD’s toughest beat.

According to Amazon, in “The Late Show,” Renee Ballard works the night shift in Hollywood, also known as the Late Show. She was once an up-and-coming detective but she was given this shift as punishment for filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor. Now, she begins many investigations but does not finish them because each morning she turns everything over to the day shift. One night she gets two assignments that she does not want to hand off: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting. Determined not to let go of the cases, she works both by day while maintaining her shift by night. The deeper she delves into the investigation, the closer they pull her to her own demons.

Michael Connelly is the best-selling author of twenty-eight novels and one work of fiction. He has sold over sixty million copies of his books worldwide and they have been translated into thirty-nine foreign languages. Before turning to writing, he was a newspaper reporter who worked the crime beat at the Los Angeles Times and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. His first book, “The Black Echo” won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. Movie adaptations of his novels include “Blood Work” starring Clint Eastwood and “The Lincoln Lawyer” starring Matthew McConaughey. The series of books featuring Harry Bosch is now an Amazon Studios drama series starring Titus Wellliver and is streaming on Amazon Prime.

Book review: ‘Mangrove Lightning’ by Randy Wayne White

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‘Mangrove Lightning’ is the new Doc Ford novel by Randy Wayne White. Photo: barnesandnoble.com

The New York Times’ best-selling author Randy Wayne White is best known for his crime fiction and non-fiction adventure tales. He has written seven novels under the pen name Randy Striker and eleven novels as Carl Ramm. Written under his real name, his most popular is the Doc Ford series, crime novels featuring the retired NSA agent Doc Ford, a marine biologist living on the Gulf Coast of southern Florida. “Mangrove Lightning” is his most recent and twenty-fourth Doc Ford novel. In it Doc Ford is being haunted by the ghosts of a 1925 multiple murder.

In “Mangrove Lightning” Doc Ford is approached by Tootsie Barlow, a charter captain and guide who is distraught and muttering something about a curse. His niece has disappeared and he fears she might be in danger because his extended family have always suffered due to his family’s shameful involvement with multiple murders dating back to 1925. Together with his sidekick Tomlinson, Ford begins to investigate by following the trail that leads them from Key Largo to Tallahassee where the connection takes them to a history of Chinese slavery and rum runners from Cuba. Eventually they find Gracie at the hands of a madman as they race to solve an old murder case and save her at the same time.

Randy Wayne White begins the story with an Author’s Note at the beginning where he writes about how the events in the book are based on events that occurred in Florida during Prohibition but that he has taken liberties with the details. Since this is not the first Doc Ford novel the emphasis is on the murder mystery rather than the characters. This does not change the dynamic of the story but readers who want character background and intention will be left wanting more. While the action is fast paced and easy to follow some of the details about what the captive women go through may be too graphic for some readers. This plays only a small part of the story and overall “Mangrove Lightning” is an interesting crime novel for fans of the genre.

*A copy of this book was given for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are solely the author’s.

New release: ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ by Jonathan Kellerman

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‘Heartbreak Hotel’ is the new Alex Delaware novel by Jonathan Kellerman. Photo: amazon

Jonathan Kellerman is a psychologist and The New York Times bestselling author of suspense novels and nonfiction writings on psychology including “Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children.” He is best known for his novels featuring child psychologist Alex Delaware who consults for the police with LAPD detective Milo Sturgis. “Heartbreak Hotel” is his most recent Alex Delaware novel that has Alex dealing with a patient who is almost one hundred years old.

According to Amazon, in “Heartbreak Hotel” Thalia Mars comes to see Alex with some unusual questions. He normally just treats children but the witty and charming woman convinces him to meet her in a suite at the Aventura, a luxury hotel that has a questionable history. During their session, she asks him disturbing questions about guilt, patterns of criminal behavior and victim selection. When asked why the fascination with the topic she promises answers during their next session but she is found dead the next morning. The investigation into her death turns out to be one of the most baffling cases Alex and Milo have come across in years. Her complicated life holds nearly a century of secrets that have violent connotations for everyone around her.

Born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles, Jonathan Kellerman worked his way through college as a cartoonist, illustrator, journalist and editor and received a BA in psychology at UCLA. He worked extensively with anxiety disorders and he used that experience to publish a book for parents titled “Helping the Fearful Child” in 1981. In 1985 he wrote his first novel “When the Bough Breaks” and it became a bestseller and was adapted into a TV movie. Since then he has written forty one crime novels, two children’s books and numerous nonfiction books.