WILD NIGHT - Book review

L J Washburn’s first mystery novel about private eye Lucas Hallam is a highly enjoyable read. A while back I read Washburn’s short story ‘The Battle of Edendale’ in a mammoth collection of stories entitled The Untamed West. That was my first introduction to Hallam and my review of the book included this observation: I’d like to read more about this guy! And at last, now I have, and it was rewarding to renew my acquaintance.

Hallam is an ex town marshal, ex Texas Ranger, ex Pinkerton and now a P.I. in the Hollywood of the 1920s, rubbing shoulders with western stars of the period, including Tom Mix and William S Hart, and he even finds time to act in some flickers. He still carries a Colt Cavalry .45 and a Bowie knife. ‘Time was, I was considered a mite wild and woolly.’ (p144) He’s getting on in years, which is a fine touch: ‘… there had been too many years, too many wounds.’ (p146) 

Hallam is employed to protect a local evangelist, Reverend Elton Forbes, founder of the Holiness Temple of Faith. Then, during a scheduled meeting with a disgraced movie director called Wallace, the night turned wild. Wallace and his henchman were shot dead and Forbes was found with a smoking gun. Yet Forbes pleaded innocent. Hallam agreed to investigate on behalf of Forbes.

It appeared that Forbes had good reason to murder Wallace. However, there was no shortage of candidates for the killing of Wallace, an unsavory character. Then again, Reverend Forbes was not particularly popular either and could have been framed.

This is the Hollywood of scandal – the Fatty Arbuckle case is fresh in memories; however, the salaciousness and graphic goings on are not described in any lurid detail, yet taint some individuals nevertheless.

What makes this mystery satisfying is its fast pace, the authenticity of the period depicted and the character of Hallam.

‘Lucas Hallam had been good, all right. One of the best, people said. But those days were twenty years and more in the past. Hallam tried not to reminisce too much; a man could get lost in bygone days and not pay enough attention to what was going on around him now. The way he saw it, he had a lot of living to do. Daydreaming was a good way not to get around to it.’ (p3)

‘The detective business sometimes made you feel lower than a snake… You had questions that needed answers, but to get the answers you had to dig around in people’s feelings and stir up things that would just hurt them.’ (p115)

Throughout, besides dry humor, Washburn throws in telling phrases: ‘There was more brewing in this old house than coffee.’ (p225) And ‘Wasn’t the first time he’d walked down a road with a gun in his hand, and one thing never changed. Walks like this were always long ones.’ (p243)

As with many classic P.I. novels, it’s the past that often comes back to bite you.

Recommended. I've ordered the sequel, Dead Stick.

 

LEON CAZADOR - HIS LIFE

 On the occasion of the publication by Rough Edges Press of three novels featuring Leon Cazador, Private Eye – Rogue Prey, No Prisoners, and Organ Symphony, you will find below a brief biography of the character and a time-line for guidance 

LEON CAZADOR, P.I.

Brief biography

The world needs brave souls like Leon Cazador who is not afraid to bring the ungodly to justice and so help, in his own words, to hold back the encroaching night of unreason.

Leon was born on 16 February 1963 in Spain. He has an English mother (Julia), Spanish father (Paco), a married sister, Pilar, and an older brother, Juan, who is an officer in the Guardia Civil. Leon Cazador sometimes operates in disguise under several aliases, among them Carlos Ortiz Santos.

When he was twenty-one, rather than wait for conscription, he decided to jump and joined the Army, graduating as an Artillery Lieutenant. (Spain’s conscription didn’t cease until 2001). 

About a year later, he joined the Spanish Foreign Legion’s Special Operations Company (Bandera de operaciones especiales de la legión) and was trained in the United States at Fort Bragg, where he built up his considerable knowledge about clandestine activities and weapons. Some months afterwards, he was recruited into the CESID (Centro Superior de Informacion de la Defensa), which later became the CNI (Centro Nacional de Inteligencia). Unlike most Western democracies, Spain runs a single intelligence organization to combat both domestic and foreign threats. 

Part of his intelligence gathering entailed his transfer to the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C. There, he met several useful contacts in the intelligence community. 

At the close of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan he embarked on a number of secret missions to that blighted land with CIA operatives. By the time the Soviet withdrawal was a reality, Leon was transferred to the Spanish Embassy in Tokyo, where he liaised with both intelligence and police organizations.  

Secret work followed in China, the Gulf and Yugoslavia. 

In 1987, Leon was attached to a secret section of MI6 to assist British operatives in Colombia. 

Although he has been decorated four times in theaters of conflict, reports imply that his bravery justifies at least three more medals. 

A year after witnessing the atrocity of the Twin Towers while stationed with the United Nations, he returned to civilian life and set up a private investigation firm. 

During periods of leave and while stationed in Spain, he had established a useful network of contacts in law enforcement, notably Captain Silvano Lopez of the Guardia Civil. 

One of his early cases resulted in him becoming financially set for life, so now he conducts his crusade against villains of all shades, and in the process attempts to save the unwary from the clutches of con-men, rogues and crooks.

 

Leon Cazador’s life timeline

(His age is shown in brackets)

 

1984 - Graduated as Artillery Lieutenant in Spain’s Army (21)

1985 – Joined Spanish Foreign Legion, Special Ops Co. (22)

1986 – Joined CESID (Later to become CNI, 2001) (23)

1987 – Spanish Embassy, Washington DC (24)

1987 – Secretly deployed in Afghanistan (Soviet withdrawal May/88-Feb/89) (24)

1988 – Spanish Embassy, Tokyo, Japan (liaising with intelligence and police re Yakuza) (25)

1989 – Secretly deployed in China, providing intelligence on the protests (Tiananmen Square) (26)

1990 – Gulf War special operations. Medal. (27)

1991 – Yugoslavia – special operation then aiding the UN peacekeeping forces. Medal.  (28)

1992-1993 – special ops during Bosnian War (NATO peacekeeping began 1995); wounded/escaped. (29-30) Medal.

1994 – Hospitalized. (31)

1995 – Spanish Embassy, London (32)

1997 – Attached to MI6 adjunct International Enterprises and deployed to Colombia to investigate the formation (in April) of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. (33)

1998-1999 – secret operations in Kosovo, in preparation for NATO bombing campaign. Medal. (34-35)

2000 – United Nations secondment (36)

2001 – Witnesses 9/11 atrocity (37)

2002 – Leaves service. Returns to Spain and begins career as a private investigator. (38)

2003 – Relic Hunter case – now financially set for life to conduct his crusade against the ungodly (39)

2014 – Involved in Cat’s Crusade: Catalyst with Cat and Rick in Barcelona (51)

2015 – Attended wedding of Monica and Detective Francis Attard in Malta (52)

2017 – Working with FBI, Sister Cristina in Charleston, SC (December): see also Organ Symphony (54)

2018 – Involved in endangered species case: see Rogue Prey (June) (55)

2019 – Rogue Prey (July); recruits Carlota Diaz as PA; see also No Prisoners (September) (56)

2022 – The Organ Symphony case (August) (59)

 

Publication of the LEON CAZADOR thriller trilogy

LEON CAZADOR THRILLER TRILOGY

ROGUE PREY: Kindle Published: 9 August 2022

 

Each hunter has the same equipment—a sniper rifle, five bullets and a machete. An even killing field.  A corrupt organization in Spain is selling the ultimate thrill. They cater to rich amateur game-hunters who hunger for the privilege of stalking and killing human prey. Their targets are non-persons. In effect, the vile process gets rid of illegal immigrants. Enter Leon Cazador—a half-English, half-Spanish private investigator who occasionally assists the authorities. Eager to take down this immoral organization, he’s tasked with going full cloak-and-dagger. But when his cover is blown and he’s forced to join nine other captives, will he become the hunters’ ultimate prey?

Amazon UK: https://tinyurl.com/2p9528f3 

Amazon US: https://tinyurl.com/bdnze3x9

NO PRISONERS: Kindle Published 23 August 2022

When Leon Cazador discovers the body of a fellow investigator who was working with the British National Crime Agency to infiltrate a pedophile group that uses the pursuit of golf as a cover for their organized abuses, he refuses to chalk it up to coincidence. Seeking justice for his fallen friend, Leon is presented with another missing person’s case. But this one is decidedly different. Diving deeper, Leon finds himself one step closer to uncovering the deadly pedophile ring that took down his comrade. Finding missing persons is all in a day’s work for Leon. But can he fight his ultimate nightmare in a race against time to save a group of innocent children and exact revenge on their abusers?

Amazon UK: https://tinyurl.com/3bmf9ukm

Amazon US: https://tinyurl.com/yz8b63fu

ORGAN SYMPHONY: Kindle Published 13 September 2022

Leon Cazador is on FBI liaison duty in Charleston, South Carolina when a dead child is found with a kidney missing. Suspecting an old foe, he jumps into action when a convoy of trucks with kidnapped children hits a snag, and a boy escapes. But what starts out as a simple cat and mouse chase turns into a convoluted web of deceit involving an underground organ transplant ring that surpasses Leon’s wildest expectations—and abilities. Years later—and carrying around the weight of unresolved burdens—Leon runs into suspicious activity in Córdoba, Spain that makes his heart stop cold. Organ traffickers are running rampant, and a three-man investigating team has gone missing. Eager to put an end to this corrupt organization’s misdeeds once and for all, Leon makes finding its leader his top priority. But will he have what it takes to bring an evil like no other to its knees?

Amazon UK: https://tinyurl.com/szhr9s82

Amazon US: https://tinyurl.com/y2hdryym

 Paperbacks will be available on the above dates also!

BAD COMPANY - Book review

 This is Jack Higgins’s eleventh Sean Dillon thriller published in 2003 and overall it is, sadly, a bad book.

I have read very few Dillon novels so found the rehashing of earlier escapades helpful, notably his involvement with the Rashid family, but really for any fans it must have felt dire to have it all regurgitated again as filler. The most interesting aspect for me was the background to von Berger’s wartime German past, because Higgins did his wartime descriptions very well. 

The idea of a secreted diary dictated by Hitler which reveals negotiations between the US President and the dictator was essentially a Hitchcockian MacGuffin. Len Deighton did something similar with a secret meeting between Churchill and Hitler in 1981 (XPD).

Even the action is fleeting without giving any sense of 'being there'.

Disappointing. For Sean Dillon completists.

GARDENS OF EARTH - Book review

 

Book One of The Sundering Chronicles by Mark Iles (2021) is an excellent speculative fiction novel. It begins as if it’s sci-fi but evolves into a cross-genre conflation of fantasy, sci-fi and horror. Most definitely horror.

It begins on the ill-fated planet of Halloween where space troopers are combating the planet’s inhabitants. Steff Philips is with his members of the flight wing enjoying a meal when it all goes wrong, horribly wrong. Steff retreats to his room – but he isn’t safe there. ‘A rotting hand, with ribbons of flesh hanging from exposed bone, reached up from underneath his bed and snatched at his ankle.” The stuff of nightmares. 

However, Steff isn’t the hero of this novel. That’s Seethan Bodell, a space fleet commander. When he’s not on duty and working overtime at the base, he lives in the boarding house of Mrs Maskill, a lady who has become his adoptive mother. Seethan is coping well even though he occasionally suffers from PTSD brought on by previous conflicts where he has lost men. Guilt is never far from the surface. But he employs his coping strategies to defeat the darkness.

Because the humans felt forced to retaliate with devastating effect, Halloween became a wasteland and the indigenous inhabitants – nicknamed the Spooks – escaped to form a massive fleet capable of attacking Earth in dreadful reprisal. And they seem unbeatable. Onboard one of the Earth space carriers is Admiral Woodward – a nod by Iles to Sandy Woodward who was the British task force commander in the Falklands War. 

Yet there is one slim chance for humanity. Seethan is tasked with embarking on the mission that would alter history and even right the wrongs of the past in one fell swoop. He is accompanied by the fetching android Rose who was built in Bradbury City on Mars. ‘Her hair’s like spun gold, and her skin’s… well, porcelain. She has these wonderful deep-green eyes, ones you could drown in…’ (p95) Androids are not particularly liked by many humans; people feel threatened, despite the Asimov Laws of Robotics. Seethan’s is not one of those; he’s in love with Rose.

A rather distasteful suitor of Mrs Maskill is Alan. Seethan doesn’t like him: ‘he smells like Portsmouth Harbour when the tide’s gone out.’ There are plenty of humorous asides, but they’re never there merely for jokey effect. 

Up to this point it is clear that Iles had experience in the armed forces and he clearly evokes the dangers and sheer horror of war, and the psychological damage suffered by many combatants.

Sadly, the event that Seethan triggers is not what had been planned. Instead, the result is the Sundering. ‘The Sundering left Earth’s reality torn.’ (p172) 

Then, Iles really gets inventive. What had been a space military scenario is transformed into a quest for the sake of love, with a colourful environment, fascinating characters and beasts, and an overshadowing threat.

There are a good number of fine descriptions. I particularly liked ‘a shower of brilliant sparks to scatter like panicked fairies.’ (p116) And a saying from Seethan’s mother, which has resonance even today: ‘Don’t look back, you’re not going that way.’ (p137) And: Dragonflies as long as Seethan’s arms buzzed about like military drones as they snatched the butterflies in mid-air.’ (p174) 

Did I mention horror? Yes, I did: ‘The thing … sat into the chair, it creaked as he sat back… one foot slowly tapping against the bare wooden floor. With each tap, small things fell to the floor and squirmed, wriggling their way towards the bed…’ (p125) Iles can do horror, sci-fi wonder, compassion, poignancy and full-blooded action.

No spoilers here, but there is a neat twist or two at the end, which several players did not see coming. While never preachy, the book says something about nature, conservation, aspects of love and hubris, as well as survival. 

Although it’s Book One, Gardens of Earth tells a complete story, so the reader is not left hanging.

Excellent stuff!