The Big Hurt

Hurt Machine: A Moe Prager Mystery by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus Books, $15.95, 320 pages)

If you recognize the song title above, you’re a contemporary of Moe Prager, the hero of this, the seventh book in the mystery series.   Reed Farrel Coleman is a prolific author whose ability to spin an engaging tale is obvious in this well-paced novel.   Although Coleman’s work is new to this reviewer, the comfortable intimacy of Moe Prager’s first-person narrative made the story meaningful.

Faced with a nasty stomach cancer diagnosis just weeks before his daughter Sarah’s wedding, Prager ponders his mortality.   He references past characters who have informed his life, some living and some, like Israel Roth, gone from this world.   Since the story is part retrospective and part reality check, the appearance of former wife Carmella is the perfect segue into the past.

Prager is a former cop whose array of acquaintances comes in handy when he takes on Carmella’s request to clear up her sister Alta’s good name.   Alta and a co-worker walked away from a dying man which was an unforgivable sin, considering the two were emergency medical technicians with the New York Fire Department.   Not long after the episode, Alta was murdered in the street near a famous restaurant.   Well, the restaurant, actually a pizzeria/gelato spot, is famous by Brooklyn standards.

Regardless of the plot twists and interwoven groups that populate the story, it is the effort that Prager makes to reconcile his longing for Carmella, the obvious love offered to him by current girlfriend Pam, and his yearing for future grandkids that compels the reader to move along with him to the last page.

Well recommended.

Ruta Arellano

A review copy was provided by the publisher.   Hurt Machine is also available a Nook Book and Kindle Edition download.   “…contemporary who-dunits don’t get much better than Shamus-winner Coleman’s seventh Moe Prager mystery.”   Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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Coming Up Next…

A review of Hurt Machine: A Moe Prager Mystery by Reed Farrel Coleman.

Read This Book for Free

The hardbound version of El Gavilan: A Novel by Craig McDonald will cost you $24.95.   But you can read this new Tyrus Books release for free if you have an e-reader device, such as a Nook or Kindle.   That’s right, until the end of the day on Saturday, April 7, 2012 you can download El Gavilan (The Hawk, in Spanish) as a Nook Book or Kindle Edition release and be billed the special price of -$0-.   And if you’re busy, you can download it now and read it at your leisure at some point in the future.  

This “ripped from the headlines” story is about a community in Ohio where tensions have been building and escalating between the long-time residents and newly-arrived immigrants.   Once one of the immigrants becomes the victim of a brutal crime, “a war of all against all” may have been unleashed.   As stated in the synopsis, “El Gavilan is a novel of shifting alliances…  Families are divided and careers and lives threatened.”

David M. Kinchen wrote in the Huntington News (West Virginia):  “It is difficult to find a good book that explores the tensions in the nation’s heartland fueled by both legal and illegal immigration, but I think Craig McDonald has acted it in El Gavilan, a novel that the author has said was inspired by true events.”

The novel is a 4.5 star-rated book at Amazon, and the starred review by Publishers Weekly noted that, “McDonald deftly…  dissects one of America’s most tormenting social problems.”   The author lives in Ohio with his wife, two daughters and a dog named Duff.

Joseph Arellano

Tyrus Books is a division of F+W Crime.   Reviewer David Kinchen, while noting that El Gavilan is “a nuanced thriller,” did issue a caution that the novel has “very graphic sex scenes and equally graphic violence.”  

Gift Yourself

Thanks to Tyrus Books of New York City, we have a gift for all e-book readers.   Between now and Christmas Eve, you can use your Kindle, Nook or personal computer (or tablet) to download a free copy of Hurt Machine: A Moe Prager Mystery by Reed Farrel Coleman.   Publishers Weekly has already listed Hurt Machine as one of the the best novels of 2011, and The New York Times is publishing a major review of this gritty Private Investigator mystery on Christmas Day. But you don’t have to wait to get your copy – nor do you have to pay for it.   Just go now to Amazon, Barnes & Noble or other e-book selling sites, enter the title Hurt Machine and enjoy your free download.   Merry Christmas!

Joseph Arellano

Coming Up Next…

We’ll tell you how to get a free download of the new book, Hurt Machine: A Moe Prager Mystery by Reed Farrel Coleman; and you won’t need a password or a set of code numbers to get your e-book!   “Razor-edge contemporary whodunits don’t get much better than Shamus-winner Coleman’s seventh Moe Prager mystery…  Logical and surprising plot twists combine with Prager’s world-weary narrative voice to produce another winner.”   Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The Author’s (Humorous) Perspective

Questions That I Am Asked Frequently* by Jeff Shelby, author of Liquid Smoke

I am asked many questions frequently.   Or, at least in my head, I am asked questions frequently.   Or maybe that is just the voices.   Sometimes it is hard to tell.   The voices can be loud and kinda pushy.   Anyway, here are some questions that I may or may not be asked frequently.

Q:  Is your book, like, a REAL book?

A:  Yes.   It’s totally real.   It has words and everything.   It’s very real.   As is the pink elephant standing next to you.   Watch out, it’s about to pee on you.

Q:  Is your book any good?

A:  No.   It’s GREAT.   It’s so GREAT you’ll probably want to quit your  job and travel the world, telling people about it.   If you wanna go to Mongolia, I’ll probably go with you.   I’ve never been there and I hear they have great BBQ.   And I hear they love great books.   Like mine.

Q:  Are you rich?

A:  No.   I’m Jeff.   Pay attention.

Q:  I have an idea for your books.   Can I send it to you?

A:  No.   I’m already full of ideas.   Those voices again…

Q:  What is LIQUID SMOKE?

A:  It’s smoke that is made of liquid.   Duh.

Q:  Why do you have such awesome hair?

A:  (Blushes)  You think?

Q:  Are you going to write more Noah books?

A:  Yes.   Unless I don’t.   But I will.   Maybe.

Q:  I heard you wrote a book called STAY AT HOME DEAD but you’re using a different name, Jeffrey Allen.   What’s that all about?

A:  Where did you hear that?   Did you tap my phone?   Because it’s true.   Look for it in January.   And stay off my phone.

Q:  What’s the hardest part about being a writer?

A:  Counting all the money we make.   (BURSTS INTO LAUGHTER)  Kidding.   Um, probably writing the first word of the story.

Q:  Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

A:  No.   I always wanted to be a baseball player.   But the Padres got a restraining order and it’s all awkward now.

Q:  If you could write one piece of advice about being writing, what would it be?

A:  Write.   And don’t let pink elephants pee on you.   Ever.

*It’s quite possible that I’ve never been asked any of these questions frequently and that’s why I answered them so poorly.

(Copyright 2011, Jeff Shelby)

Liquid Smoke: A Noah Braddock Mystery (Tyrus Books, $15.95, 300 pages) will be released on August 22, 2011.   Jeff Shelby is the author of the novels Dead Week, Killer Swell and Wicked Break.   He lives in San Diego, and sometimes responds to the name Jeffrey Allen.   But then sometimes he doesn’t.