The Princeling of Nanjing

Ava is in Shanghai for the launch of the PÖ clothing line. She has invited Xu, and over the course of the glitzy event and a late-night dinner, she detects a certain hesitancy in him. He confides that the Tsai family, headed by Tsai Lian, the governor of Jiangsu Province and a “princeling” — he is the son of a general who was on the Long March with Mao and a member of China’s power elite — is trying to force him and his Triad organization back into the drug business. Xu is already paying millions of dollars a year to various Tsai businesses, but the family wants more and thinks the new venture can deliver it. Xu believes this move would lead to his eventual destruction and feels he has nowhere to turn. If he opposes them, they will crush him. If he goes along with them, he thinks that inevitably the police and military will hunt him down. Ava sets out to help Xu deter the Tsai family. As she digs into the breadth and depth of the family’s wealth and corruption, she gets caught up in a huge tangled web, extending all the way to the U.S. and the U.K., where it reaches the top echelons of political power.

The Princeling of Nanjing (International Intrigue)

“An Ava Lee Novel”

By Ian Hamilton

House of Anansi Press

ISBN #978-1487001605

Price 10.84

496 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“A Smooth Page Turner.”

Ava Lee is with May Ling and Amanda, her partners in the Three Sisters business in Shanghai, as they start their clothing business. Their benefactor, Xu is on hand, but he reveals that a powerful Chinese family is forcing him into the drug business, and they won’t take no for an answer. He is truly between a rock and a hard spot. Drugs are a business he doesn’t want in, and if he says no they could destroy him. Although he doesn’t ask Ava for help, she feels obligated to look into the family’s financial dealings. What she finds is proof of bribes and illegal money laundering, something that might look bad within the other Chinese power structures. She begins following the money, and things get more complicated when the head of the family discovers who is doing it.

This is the 8^th Ava Lee novel, and the writing continues to be smooth and topnotch. The story is character driven, and the characters actually become part of the reader. We feel a kinship to Ava, May Ling, Amanda, Xu, Sonny, Suen, and everyone involved. They are like our own family. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

Glass Souls

In the abyss of a profound personal crisis, Commissario Ricciardi feels unable to open himself up to life. He has refused the love of both Enrica and Livia and the friendship of his partner, Maione. Contentment for Ricciardi proves as elusive as clues to the latest crime he has been asked to investigate.

The beautiful, haughty Bianca, countess of Roccaspina, pleads with Ricciardi to investigate a homicide that was officially closed months ago. In the tense, charged atmosphere of 1930s Italy, where Benito Mussolini and his fascist thugs monitor the police closely, an unauthorized investigation is grounds for immediate dismissal and possible criminal charges. But Ricciardi's thirst for justice cannot be sated.

A tightly plotted historical noir novel, this eighth installment in the Commissario Ricciardi series is a gripping meditation on revenge and justice in which each character's soul reveals itself to be made of glass.

Glass Souls (Historical Noir Mystery)

By Maurizio De Giovanni

Europa Editions

ISBN #978- 1609454098

Price $12.19

424 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Giovanni Continues To Entertain.”

It’s September, and serious crimes are absent at the moment, leaving Commissario Ricciardi and his partner Brigadier Maione with nothing to do. Ricciardi is still suffering after the death of his housekeeper, and his lost love, Enrica. Maione is worried about him, but perks up when Bianca, countess of Roccaspina, approaches them to investigate a four month-old murder already solved. Her husband is in prison, awaiting trial, after confessing to the crime, but his wife wants to know why, since she knows he was with her when the crime was committed.

The case interests them, especially if her husband was somewhere else at the time. Why would he confess? Ricciardi knows murder can be pinned to either hunger or love/hate. To be doing something to occupy his mind, they take the case, though it’s against Rome to do so.

Livia believes Ricciardi is homosexual since he won’t make love to her, and Enrica may soon be engaged to a handsome German soldier, leaving his love life in limbo, and it doesn’t help when the Fascists think the police officer is a homosexual. They won’t him removed.

Glass Souls is character driven, each character proving that souls are merely glass, ready to be shattered. Even if Ricciardi can save Bianca’s soul, can he save his own? And will Enrica discover that Ricciardi also has a glass soul?  The author continues to entertain with his police novels set in Italy, whether contemporary or the 1930s. He is the best writer to come out of Europe in my opinion, and I devour every novel he writes. However, I’m anxious for Commissario Ricciardi to settle down with Enrica, and quit leaving us hanging in every novel. Bring some other characters in for romantic entanglements, and let Ricciardi and Enrica have a quiet home life for a change, after all, it’s been eight novels now, gee. Really, though, this is a wonderful series, and I highly recommend it to mystery lovers, as well as historical noir.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

The Scottish Banker of Surabaya

Ava begins an investigation into what she thinks is a Ponzi scheme. The trail leads her to a bank in Indonesia that is run by a Scot, but in actuality is a front for an elaborate money-laundering operation by Italian mobsters. The relationship between Ava and the Scotsman turns nasty and personal. Meanwhile, Uncle’s health problems become apparent …

The Scottish Banker of Surabaya (International Thriller)

“Ave Lee #5”

By Ian Hamilton

House of Anansi Press

ISBN #978-1770892347

Price $19.95

448 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Smooth Writing.”

Ava’s mother talks her into meeting with a Canadian Vietnamese girl who claims to have lost a lot of money. She doesn’t want to, but to please her mother she talks with the girl and learns that the Vietnamese community invested thirty million dollars in a bank that might be a scam. Speaking with Uncle he advises they accept the job, with their usual 30% fee. Unfortunately, in her early investigation she uncovers Italian mobsters involved, and this poses problems for them. However, Uncle sees a way to get their money without the Mafia discovering their involvement, so Ava continues. Besides, by this time she wants to punish the Scottish banker for a personal reason.

As usual, the novel is smooth reading, and keeps the reader turning pages to the end. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

The King of Shanghai

The seventh novel in the Ava Lee series finds Ava getting caught up in the election for the chairmanship of the Triad Societies.

Ava steps into her new business with May Ling Wong and her sister-in-law, Amanda. On a trip to Shanghai, Ava meets with Xu, a young man Uncle had been mentoring and who is also the head of the Triad in Shanghai. Xu makes an audacious business proposal that she and May are compelled to consider. Meanwhile, separately and privately, he confides to Ava that he intends to run for the chairmanship of the Triad Societies and attempts to recruit her as his adviser and confidante.

Against her will, Ava becomes enmeshed in Triad warfare and her future is threatened . . .

The King of Shanghai (International Intrigue)

By Ian Hamilton

House of Anasi www.houseofanansi.com

ISBN #9781770892460

Price $10.84

388 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

Ava, May Ling, and Amanda are working hard to complete several deals with their new business, The Three Sisters, a few of the deals could cost them upwards of thirty million American dollars, and there are some problems completing the deals for all concerned. To add to Ava’s trouble, they are in Shanghai, where Xu runs the Yan Yee Tong, a powerful Triad organization consisting of over four thousand loyal members. Xu is also running for chairman of all the Triad groups, but is opposed by an older gentleman who wants to run them in the old way. Xu wants to bring youth to the organization, and expand his business. He also wants Ava to be part of the new organization. She is opposed to the idea until an assassin attempt is made on her and Xu, leaving him severely wounded. Now she helps hold the organization together while he recovers, and that means negotiating with the enemy before war breaks out among the Triads.

This was another great Ava Lee adventure, as she travels from Hong Kong to Shanghai, and Canada, while dealing with the new multi-million dollar business, plus diplomatically stopping a triad war.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

Views From The Past: Wichita County, Texas

It has taken 8 years for this book to happen, thanks to all of the great people who have sent me photos over the years. There are so many wonderful memories in this book: Funland, Short's Pig Stand, Westmoreland Pool, and Sand Beach. There are photos of streets that no longer exist and places that are no longer there: Underwood's and Brownie's BBQ, Tac Burrito, Tastee Freeze. There are photos of the 1979 tornado, police and firemen, fires and wrecks, churches and schools. Memories are timeless treasures of the heart.

Views From The Past (Pictorial History)

“Wichita County, Texas”

By Julie Williams Coley

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN #978-1541217843

Price $26.95

612 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“History of Wichita Falls, Texas In Pictures.”

This is the third volume the author has collected with photographs depicting the long history of Wichita Falls, Texas, where my family lived from 1947 to 1956, then again in 1968-’69 while I was stationed at Sheppard AFB. And again, from December 1978 until after the 1979 tornado, when we moved away for good. But I still hold fond memories from those early years growing up in Wichita Falls, and attending San Jacinto elementary and Carrigan elementary, as well as Reagan Jr. High. We lived in so many places, and I had so many friends that I will never forget, and it’s wonderful to view these old pictures. There are still places not seen yet, and I always hope for a future volume with more memories.

This volume contains photographs from the 1920s to 1930s, 1940s, 1050s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s to 2000. Chapters on Churches, Schools, and hospitals; Burkburnett, Electra, and Iowa Park; Fire Department, Police Department, Fires and Wrecks; Pony Photos; Sheppard AF Base; and The 1979 Tornado. I remember the Army & Navy Store on Ohio & 7^th Street with fond memories, as well as the Westmoreland Pool, Funland, Short’s Pig Stand, the Strand Theater, and so many other places (volume one or two had many more photos of theaters). I highly recommend this series of books for anyone who has ever lived in Wichita Falls. If I had a complaint, it would be a request for the pages to be printed on better paper to provide more positive prints, as these books are collectors’ items to be cherished forever.

Tom Johnson

Author of ECHOES 30