recent read; VEGAS HEIST by Van Allen Plexico

VEGAS HEIST by Van Allen Plexico

It's the Holiday Season of 1965 and the fabulous Caesars Palace Resort and Casino is about to open in Las Vegas. And the vault is filled to bursting with cash. 

John Harper and Saul "Salsa" Salzman roll into town with inside information: A secret way into the casino, leading right to the vault itself. 

Putting together a small but highly skilled team, they make their move, aiming for untold riches. 

But jobs like this never go as planned. 

A beautiful widow, a jealous enforcer and a murderous rival casino owner all want a piece of the pie. 

Before New Year's Day arrives, Harper and Salsa will be lucky to escape Sin City with their lives!

The cover tease is exactly what you get. Reading VEGAS HEIST is like watching a crime-caper right out of 1960s cinema. It's easy to see why this novel won the Pulp Factory Awards Novel of the Year, 2019.

In an interview I heard recently, author Van Allen Plexico described the novel as 'Donald Westlake meets OCEAN'S ELEVEN.' That description is spot on. Harper is clearly influenced by Westlake's Parker. Though, VEGAS HEIST tends more toward Westlake whimsy than the ruthless aura of Westlake's Richard Stark pen name tales of Parker.

VEGAS HEIST could be dropped right into the Hard Case Crime line without missing a beat.

The narration of the audiobook by Pete Milan is stellar. So good, in fact, that Van Allen Plexico stated on Twitter that those are now the voices he hears as he is writing the sequel, MIAMI HEIST.

You can place your bets I'll be all over that sequel when it it released.

recent read; MEMO FROM TURNER

MEMO FROM TURNER by Tim Willocks

Taking a break from his Tannhauser historical fiction trilogy, Willocks delivers a thriller set in modern South Africa.

What happens when a man of absolute integrity finds himself trapped in a world of absolute corruption?

During a weekend spree in Cape Town a young, rich Afrikaner fatally injures a teenage street girl with his Range Rover but is too drunk to know that he has hit her. His companions – who do know – leave the girl to die.

The driver’s mother, a self-made mining magnate called Margot Le Roux, intends to keep her son in ignorance of his crime. Why should his life be ruined for a nameless girl who was already terminally ill? No one will care and the law is cheap. But by chance the case falls to the relentless Warrant Officer Turner of Cape Town homicide.

When Turner travels to the remote mining town that Margot owns – including the local police and private security force – he finds her determined to protect her son at any cost. As the battle of wills escalates, and the moral contradictions multiply, Turner won’t be bought and won’t be bullied, and when they try to bury him he rediscovers, during a desperate odyssey to the very brink of death, a long-forgotten truth about himself...

By the time Willocks's tale is finished, fourteen men have died. He shows once again that he is the laureate of the violent thriller.

As you can see from the synopsis, this might be filed under crime thriller but the story is a modern western. An incorruptible officer of the law, wading into mining territory controlled by a big boss who will stop at nothing to protect their offspring? What could be more western?

Warrant Officer Turner is determined--a man of honor who will uphold the law until the bitter end, like any good sheriff of old. He encounters corruption and resistance at every turn.

With Willocks, we can expect a spaghetti western, too. We get one, sure enough. Willocks lays out the characters like chess pieces, and the tension builds as events and people are moved into place for the showdown.

Willocks pulls a bit of a feint. The violence arrives and it starts off not quite so visceral as I would have expected. But then the plot hits its major twist and Willocks again casts an unflinching brutal eye over the madness of violence and survival. Not for the squeamish.

I enjoyed this one a lot. Recommended if you like crime fiction and/or bloody westerns. It moves right along. I read it in a few days.

MEMO FROM TURNER has not been published in the U.S. It is available via second-hand sellers through Amazon, ABEBooks, and other sites.

recent read; A HELL WITHIN

A HELL WITHIN by James A. Moore & Charles R. Rutledge

A HELL WITHIN returns us to Wellman, GA where the veil between our world and strange other worldly horrors hangs thin and shredded. Sheriff Carl Price and private detective Wade Griffin again find themselves up against the supernatural. This time, a serial killer is on the loose--and his weapon of choice are summoned demons. You see, these demons allow him to enjoy the crime vicariously--safely keeping the killer away from the crime scene.

Further complications arise when the local organized crime erupts in a gang war over territory. Can the stalwart duo and their occult allies keep their heads down and catch the killer?

A HELL WITHIN is described best as horror-action or horror-crime-action and that is exactly what you get. Moore & Rutledge stay on target, delivering chills & thrills, gunfire, and hellfire. The action scenes are explosive. Characters pop off the page. The story clips along. I read this book in two or three sittings.

If you're a fan of the earlier books, BLIND SHADOWS and CONGREGATIONS OF THE DEAD, you'll want to return to A HELL WITHIN. If you haven't experienced Griffin & Price before, grab any of the three. You're in for a hellacious treat!

recent read; HEAD GAMES

Head Games by Craig McDonald

Well, I saved the best for last. This was my favorite read of the year. Well, my favorite listen, anyway. Hector Lassiter is a pulp crime writer, a novelist and a screenwriter (who tends to get more anonymous "script doctor" duty than screen credit.) He lives the pulp life - too many cigarettes, too much booze, too many women and Mexican whores. And he gets embroiled in capers and crimes. This time, he's caught up in a shell game of skulls - one of which was on the shoulders of Pancho Villa. The skull is worth money, if delivery can be made running the gauntlet of FBI, CIA, Skull & Bones society frat boys and Mexican bandits. Beyond that, the skull might be the key to a lost treasure hoard of the Mexican Revolution, putting desperate, violent men on Lassiter's tail.

Lassiter is a fictional construct who McDonald weaves through real history and personalities. Old Mexican Revolutionaries, old mercenaries, Hollywood greats. Maybe the audio narration helped, but Lassiter has a very real, gruff voice. This novel just zips along. The veracity balances the outlandish every step of the way.

Noir. Road trip. Crime caper. Black comedy. Western.

It's all that and more. The whole definitely exceeds the sum of its parts.

I will be reading more entries from the Hector Lassiter series.

recent read; Borderline

Borderline by Lawrence Block

Well, I've wanted to read Block and I wanted to read a title from the Hard Case Crime line.

Here's a lesson for you - you might want to research these titles before you dive in.

Why? Because this isn't a Lawrence Block novel. Oh, he wrote it. But he wrote it under a pen name, "Don Holliday" when it was published originally...as Border Lust.

"Lust" as in sex and old "nightstand" pulp novels for men.

Borderline?  Yes, borderline porn.

The novel features four main characters washed up in El Paso; a gambling man, a wanton divorcee, a drifting prostitute and a serial killer. The serial killer is really the only crime thread happening. The rest of the stories are sex tales in various forms. The divorcee and the gambler hookup up, spend a wild night on the town in Juarez, Mexico, which just makes the divorcee hot for wilder stuff. Meanwhile the creepy guy with the razor is attacking women on both sides of the border.

Now, I'm not a prude. I wouldn't say this stuff was triple-X but it probably would be considered X-rated.

If anything, it felt like I was reading a Russ Meyer movie.

Anyway, I was looking for more crime and less sex (as fun as the sexy covers might be.) I am still going to delve into the Hard Case Crime line, but I'll be a little more careful about double-checking the origins of any given title before I start.

recent reads; Lansdale binge

Coinciding with the premiere episode of HAP AND LEONARD, two Hap & Leonard ebooks were on sale last week. The first novel, SAVAGE SEASON and the story collection, HAP AND LEONARD RIDE AGAIN.

I bought them both.

I read them both.

I enjoyed the hell outta them. HAP AND LEONARD RIDE AGAIN also contains some great essays on the characters (including an 'interview' of Hap and Leonard by Joe Lansdale,) and about Joe Lansdale's writing.

Yes. I read two books within mere days of purchasing them. Will wonders never cease?

I also watched the premiere episode of the television show. It is a strong adaptation of the book. The characters are spot-on.

You can bet I'll be reading more Hap and Leonard. And Joe has some weird Westerns I want to read, too.

recent read; Borderland Noir

Borderland Noir, edited by Craig McDonald

Borderland Noir is an engaging anthology of short stories, novel excerpts, and essays pondering the harder edges of life on the border of Mexico. Coyotes (human traffickers,) wasted lives, murder, the drug war, banditos and echoes of the Mexican Revolution, and all sordid stops in between are examined.

The short stories are all engaging and take different directions. There are many, many stories to be told under the umbrella of borderland noir. DEA, ICE, prison guards, sheriffs, broken-down hookers, hit men, washed-up lawyers, life on the other side of the river and more.

McDonald's excerpts from his novel, El Gavilan, provide a poignant view of the illegal immigrant's journey through desert, coyotes, mad men with jugs of water and untold hardships - all for a chance - just a chance - of something better in the United States.

Jim Cornelius's essay on the the rise and fall of Pancho Villa, "Pancho Villa—Fourth Horseman of the Mexican Apocalypse," might appear out-of-place at first. But, in fact, it is a fascinating read when paired with the closing essay, "Where God And The Devil Wheel Like Vultures" by Tom Russell. The roots of bandito worship start with Villa and the Revolution (or perhaps, earlier.) The bad guys are the good guys because - for all their killing - they also help entire communities when it is to their benefit. It is chilling to see the same behavior and acceptance of drug lords and their wars. Also chilling - both items, separated in content by 100 years, give or take - mention Americans on the border watching warfare and gunfights across the river.

If you think the fictional body counts are unbelievable, just wait until you read the real statistics.

History repeats.

Borderland Noir is an engaging read. It drags you over the border and steeps you in sweat, beer, fear, revenge, smoke, jalapeños and blood. It is an eye-opening noir anthology about life in the shady world of the border.

recent read; Virgin Zombie

Virgin Zombie by Charles R. Rutledge

Armand Brule, aka 'Houngan', is a meth cook on the run from a murder charge in Chicago. When he turns up in the small town of Wellman Georgia, Chicago homicide Lieutenant Jacqueline 'Jack' Daniels is dispatched to apprehend him.

Jack ends up teamed with Wade Griffin, a mercenary turned private investigator. Their search will bring them into conflict with a biker gang and something far more sinister. For Houngan is another name for a voodoo priest and Brule may be cooking up something worse than crystal meth. And then there's the dead guy with a hatchet.

This story is a fast-paced crime/mystery with plenty of action. I enjoyed it. I have read previous Griffin & Price novels, but I have not read Jack Daniels stories. That in no way limited my enjoyment. Reading Griffin in action – and bumping into some other characters of Wellman, GA – was like a quick, satisfying visit with old friends.

If you're a fan of either Jack Daniels or Griffin & Price, I would give it a read. Or try it anyway, even if you aren't familiar with either series. It is a solid story that stands on its own. Charles writes good, fun stuff!

(also read Charles blog post about the story)

three short reads; novellas and a short novel

The Dunfield Terror by William Meikle

In this short novel, a deadly interdimensional fog bank attacks an isolated Newfoundland town at the height of a disastrous blizzard. This book is a quick read with nifty backstory simultaneously explored as the "now" story rages on. There are even flashbacks to the 1800s, establishing that the phenomena genesis in the 1950s caused a rift in time, too.

The only negative was some repetitive incidental action - drink coffee, drink rum, smoke a cigarette. Then again, at the height of a Newfie blizzard, what else can you do?

Good feel of winter storms and isolation, and interesting scifi/horror monster(s.)

I am trying to explore genres and read some tales from NECON attendees before this July's next con. Bracken MacLeod and Chris Irvin both had crime novellas out last year.

White Knight by Bracken MacLeod

Tight, quick read that hits hard and fast. An idealistic prosecutor tries to help outside the boundaries and gets caught in a noir-ish trap. Things only get worse and darker from there.

I like that MacLeod's stage was quick and small, befitting the story and novella length. The tale happens quickly, over a few days, and the setting is a smaller city of Massachusetts. When we say "Lynn, Lynn, city of sin," we aren't kidding. It works far better than trying to stage this noir-ish tale in New York City or Los Angeles. It works.

(also, see review by Charles Rutledge)

Federales by Christopher Irvin

In Mexico, law enforcement comes in shades of grey, never black & white. An idealistic Federale, Marcos Camarena, finally gives in under pressure (and threat to his life) and leaves law enforcement. He can't keep from trying to help, though. He is hired as a bodyguard to an anti-drug crusader who has already had brushes with death and assassination attempts.

On the plus side, this tale has very evocative characters and tone. I felt the heat, the sweat, the hopelessness. On the negative side, the narrative sputtered and gave out at the end, I thought. It felt like a setup for a longer work, a shift into the second act, but then it hurriedly ended.

Rather bleak stuff, but the war on drugs is a bleak subject, especially over the border in Mexico.