Dale T. Phillips

This was a very enjoyable mystery novel by Dale Philips.

Zack Taylor is enlisted by his girlfriend, Allison, to help her cousin, Bonnie, who has been wrongly accused of murdering her boss. It would seem, however, that she has been made a scapegoat. There are plenty of potential suspects from the list of family members and business associates, all with compelling motives, but the police seem hell-bent on looking the other way and opting for the easy way out: Bonnie had motive enough and that was that.

Zack gets the bit between his teeth – he knows injustice when he sees it and does his utmost to clear Bonnie’s name; the minefield of corruption, greed, infidelity, revenge, fraud, selfishness, and sex that he uncovers leaves no doubt at all that she is completely innocent.

This is the second book in the Zack Taylor series – I have not read the first yet – but I was instantly smitten. I was drawn into the action instantly and Zack is easily likeable, if not somewhat captivating – he is loyal, compassionate, determined and focused. His investigations result in considerably more than a black eye on more than one occasion, but he remains undeterred – sadly at some personal and emotional cost.

This was a well-written mystery, well-paced and well-constructed. The baddies ranged from unscrupulous to abhorrently violent – an excellent contrast to those who are and become close to Zack.

I finished the book with mixed feelings. I was sad to not be able to turn another page with Zack on it, but consoled by the fact that I will bump into him again in Book One, A Memory of Grief, and Book Three, A Shadow on the Wall.

Highly recommended.
… (altro)

Thuglit has always been about quality short crime fiction and this final
issue with an even dozen stories is no exception. If you enjoy gritty
crime fiction about losers, conmen, backstabbers, dangerous men and
dangerous women, you will find this to be an easy collection to read
and you are probably going to want to sit yourself down in an easy
chair on your porch with a cooler filled with cold ones to enjoy this
cause there simply isn't any point in getting up till you chew your way
through to the end of this batch.
The sharks are circling in this issue and often the sharks are not just
menacing each other but attacking each other wide-jawed with blood
dripping down. You might think some of the stories are not really going
to be dark and gritty as they are seemingly about two old lovers
meeting in a swank restaurant or a father with his infant son in the carseat stuck in a traffic jam. But be aware that the sharks are circling
and they are hungry and, in these stories, no one, not anyone, is
going to go quietly into the night.
… (altro)