Fangs Out

Fangs Out (Mystery)

By David Freed

ISBN #978-1579623333

The Permanent Press

Price $29.95

304 Pages

Rating 5-stars

“Never A Dull Moment.”

Cordell Logan, a private flight instructor is in the air when another plane calls an inflight emergency. With no instruments, the pilot can’t see to land. Cordell leads him to the landing strip, saving the life of a war hero and his wife. The Medal of Honor recipient, Hub Walker learns from Cordell’s mechanic that Logan had been in Air Force Intelligence, and was something of an investigator. He tells him that a recently executed man was put to death for the murder of Walker’s daughter, but his last words were that he didn’t do it, that Walker’s best friend was the murderer. Now, to put his mind to rest on the subject, he offers Cordell ten thousand dollars to prove the dead man was the actual murderer, not his friend. Needing money for his flight school, Logan accepts.

Cordell had worked for the Air Force Alpha Team, a group of assassins who hunted down terrorists and killed them, so he was tough and trained in killing.  I got a good laugh at this, as I’ve never heard of an Air Force assassin team before. They’re usually Army, Navy or Marines. So this was a little different. Well, there was the men’s adventure series, The American Avenger, about an Air Force pilot assigned to CIA, but we know about those men’s adventure paperbacks! The author also makes fun of Navy Intelligence, which I got a good laugh at. In fact, the author entertained me thoroughly in this fast paced action mystery set in California. The characters were three dimensional, and Cordell Logan was an interesting character, as were the other players in this romp. There was never a dull moment, and the author kept the action moving smoothly.  The only sour note I saw was the ending when a neighbor enters the house with a carbine while it was surrounded by SWAT. Not likely to happen in a real situation.

A fun read, and highly recommended!

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories 

The Mind Master

The Mind Master by Tom Johnson, now available on Kindle for $0.99 at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E7FVX9G

New York has a new hero. In a contemporary setting, thieves knock over an art gallery, stealing famous and valuable paintings, and at the same time hit a museum displaying a necklace once belonging to Queen Bathsheba given to her by King Solomon, its value beyond price. From the chaos rises a new hero, His aides are Rocky, an ex heavyweight boxer with ham-like fist, and Korean Jae Lee, master of martial arts. Both can kill with their hands when necessary. Kay Shannon, a beautiful singer is brought into the group, whose weapon is her beauty. The Mind Master has the deadliest weapon of all, his mind. Wearing all black, except for a red scarf around his neck, with a fedora perched above his eyes he remains in the background as his agents seek the perpetrators. 

The Family That Stays Together

The Family That Stays Together (Cozy Mystery)

By Deborah Plummer Bussey

ISBN #978-0615818858

Half Dozen Publications

278 Pages

Price $10.99

Rating 4-Stars

In this sequel to “They Still Call Me Sister”, blood sisters Kathy and Tina come to the aide of their friend, a television celebrity suspected of killing her ex husband. Kathy Carpenter, an ex Nun, is now called Sister Nun, a professional psychologist who gets caught up in investigating mysteries.

Readers of cozy mysteries will find the story of interest, but I felt it was a bit slow and dragged on much too long to get my interest. Tina’s language was really over the top, and I thought the author could have toned it down, and still made the point that she liked to use colorful language. On several occasions I wanted to put the book down, but hung on for the final ride. It was a good mystery, and the characters came alive, and for that I’m giving it a 4-Star rating. It just took too long to tell, and the rambling aggravated me.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories

The Mind Master

The Mind Master by Tom Johnson, coming soon.

New York has a new hero. In a contemporary setting, thieves knock over an art gallery, stealing famous and valuable paintings, and at the same time hit a museum displaying a necklace once belonging to Queen Bathsheba given to her by King Solomon, its value beyond price. From the chaos rises a new hero, His aides are Rocky, an ex heavyweight boxer with ham-like fist, and Korean Jae Lee, master of martial arts. Both can kill with their hands when necessary. Kay Shannon, a beautiful singer is brought into the group, whose weapon is her beauty. The Mind Master has the deadliest weapon of all, his mind. Wearing all black, except for a red scarf around his neck, with a fedora perched above his eyes he remains in the background as his agents seek the perpetrators. 

Dr. Thaddeus C. Harker

Now available from Altus Press www.altuspress.com/ and Amazon for $29.95.

Written by Edwin Truett Long, Doc Harker was one of the last of the Munsey heroes who were introduced to battle the oncoming wave of the comic book industry. Dressed in a Prince Albert coat and looking like a Kentucky gentleman, Harker and his crew travel the country selling their cure-all Chickasha Remedies... and encounter crime at every stop. This edition collects the entire series: "Crime Nest," "Woe to the Vanquished" and "South of the Border," all from 1940 and complete, remastered, with all the original illustrations. And it's rounded out by an introduction by pulp historian Tom Johnson which reveals many facts about this previously-unidentified pulp author, along with an exhaustive Edwin Truett Long bibliography.