Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer: crime

Showing posts with label crime. Show all posts

Monday, June 6, 2022

[Review] - Death of the Black Widow by James Patterson & J.D. Barker

When I hear the name Black Widow, I automatically think of Scarlett Johansson's Marvel character and not the newest novel from bestselling author James Patterson. No, Mr. Patterson hasn't stepped into the MCU world. Instead, he teamed up with J.D. Barker to coauthor the crime-thriller Death of the Black Widow (Grand Central Publishing; paperback; 560 pages).

[Review] - Dangerous Illusions by Irene Hannon

Billy Burgess books , crime

Once upon a time, Christian romance mysteries were unique reads for me. Well, that's until the subgenre became crowded with too many new authors, and the stories became too generic for my liking. I tuned out sometime in 2017, around the time Revell published Dangerous Illusions by Irene Hannon. Revell sent me a review copy, and it's been sitting on a desk collecting dust along with a few other books. At long last, I picked it up, cracked it open, and read it.

Review - The Ranks of Jody Brae

Billy Burgess books , crime

The Ranks of Jody Brae

BY: Jonathan Michael Cullen

PUBLISHED BY: Block Island Books

PUBLISHED IN: 2009

ISBN: 978097681691

Pages: 294

Reviewed by Billy Burgess

Long before cell phones, computers and other electronics, police officers used only their know-how to solve cases. In “The Ranks of Jody Brae,” a Boston cop, Jody Brae, is one of those officers. Set during the 1960s, abandoned buildings are being burned by an unknown arsonist. The Arson Squad has determined that the fires are accidental, therefore the media is ignoring the incidents.

Detective Jody Brae, a Korea war veteran, begins investigating the fires on the same day he gets up the nerve to ask out the lovely Ruth. He’s assigned a new partner, a black man, Detective Harrigan. While Jody relationship with Ruth scorches, so does the streets of Boston. The arsonist strikes again, this time taking innocent lives.

Soon, Jody is abandoned by his own police department. He must go into the dark underworld of the Boston streets to solve the mystery of the fires, and his own past.

Jody Brae is your typical hero character with a troubled past. Unlike other mystery novels, this is set during the 1960s, and just like I mentioned before, there are no electronic gizmos to help Jody out. The dialogue is cleverly written, and so is the descriptions of the Boston streets. I didn’t care much for the love story, it’s been done to death. Overall, this is a entertaining read from a debut author. I recommend reading it.

- I would like to thank the author for sending me this copy to review.