The Three-Nine Line

The Three-Nine Line (Murder Mystery)

“A Cordell Logan Mystery”

By David Freed

The Permanent Press www.thepermanentpress.com

ISBN #978-1579623999

280 Pages

Price $29.00 (Hardcover)

Rating 5-Stars

“Well Written With A Good Twist.”

Vietnam. Where Americans died. Where pilots were shot down and captured, spending years in captivity in the North’s Hanoi Hilton, being tortured. Now America is seeking a Trade Agreement with Vietnam, and three ex-POWs are returning to Hanoi as good will ambassadors to cement the agreement. At a meeting, they are reunited with a vicious guard they nicknamed “Mr. Wonderful”, who provided some of the more horrific torture. The former POWs are to let him know they no longer carry any grudge against him or Vietnam. But the next day Mr. Wonderful is found murdered, and two ex-POWs are arrested for his murder.

The President wants an investigator sent to Hanoi to unravel the mystery, and hopefully save the Trade Agreement. Cordell Logan, private pilot instructor, and ex-Alpha team assassin is called back into service. His old friend is now heading another unit, and he wants Logan to go to Hanoi, disguised as a psychiatrist named Bob Barker to act as the prisoners’ doctor while in confinement.

This was a well-written mystery with a good twist. The setting was a good touch, and using ex-POWs as characters, though fictional, was a good plot tool. In 1973 I was part of security for Operation Welcome Home in California where families awaited aircraft bringing their heroes home. It’s a time I’ll never forget, as those men stepped off the planes, and their families rushing through the security ropes to get to them. We wouldn‘t have stopped them if we wanted, and we didn’t want to. We also guarded them at news conferences and in the hospital. 42 years ago, and you never hear about those heroes today. Even the war in Vietnam is almost forgotten. But this is a mystery story, and I highly recommend it to mystery lovers.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories

Voodoo Ridge

Voodoo Ridge (Murder Mystery)

By David Freed

ISBN #978- 1579623555

The Permanent Press www.thepermanentpress.com

288 Pages

Price $28.00

Rating 5-Stars

“An Action Packed Thriller”

Cordell Logan, a private flight instructor in Rancho Bonita, is taking some time off to remarry his ex-wife, Samantha. They are flying down to Lake Tahoe for the ceremony. However, a few miles out from the airport, Logan spots what he believes is the wing of an airplane that has crashed in Voodoo Ridge. Notifying the police upon arrival at the airport, he’s asked to lead a rescue team to the crash site. From here, things go decidedly wrong. They discover the plane had crashed in 1956, and the pilot was long dead, but another mystery is apparent: another body is present, one killed the day before, and something has been taken from the plane.

As the mystery deepens, Samantha is kidnapped, and Logan is forced by the kidnapper to fly the stolen package to Santa Maria, if he wants to see his Samantha alive again. Meanwhile he and the police have been searching for her, but nothing solid has surfaced. Then, he finds out what is in the package, and must make a decision that could well kill the woman he loves.

This was the third novel in the Cordell Logan series. Cordell is an ex-government assassin, trained in finding terrorists and eliminating them. He knows he will eventually catch up with the killer and kidnapper, and will kill him, if the police don’t stop him first. But his hands are sufficiently tied, as he can’t afford to put Samantha’s life in jeopardy by his own actions, and it appears he is under observation by the bad guys. The series has just been getting better, too. Now, there is a hint that Logan may become more active with his old unit again, which means we will be in for more fun and action. Highly recommended for a page turner.

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Magazine

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