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“Dark Hollows” is Steve Frech’s first published book. If this is the first book published I’m positive that his readers are in for long periods without a good night’s sleep as they enjoy his future novels and his skill in writing them. The book is a ghost story – but is it? Whatever it is it brings the reader to a truly surprise ending after going through many changes of opinion.

Jacob Reese is the owner of a successful coffee shop as well as a cottage in a small town in Vermont called The Hollows. He came there after experiencing the traumatic pain of watching his girlfriend die violently and wanting to change his life.

At the same time that his girlfriend dies, he lost both his parents, although the only good part of that was that they left him everything they had. This gave him the wherewithal to afford the move and set up his coffee shop and buy the cottage.

The cottage is in an excellent location with adjacent attractions and is easy to rent. Jacob can pick and choose the people he rents to and normally has the cottage occupied. Most people looking to rent supply references that can be checked out until one day he gets a call from a woman that wants to rent the cottage but doesn’t supply the normal information. Jacob makes the decision that he will rent to her and the lady indicates the day and time she wants to come. When she arrives Jacob sees her and gasping, is sure that the woman is Laura, his dead ex-girlfriend.

Suddenly Laura, if that who she is, is everywhere he goes even after she leaves the cottage. She has a scar on her face that Laura had, the same color hair and looks like her with the appearance of a girl that is a bit older than Laura looked at her death. Who or what is she, and what does she want at this period long after her death? The answers are found after a mesmerizing read and a good deal of coffee. A very well done novel be it the first published or the following books and the work of a gifted author.

12/19 Paul Lane

DARK HOLLOWS by Steve Frech. HQ Digital (December 6, 2019). ASIN: B07SC6GJQP. 384p.

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 The Rick Cahill Series, Book 6

Rick Cahill, who is Matt Coyle’s answer to Sam Spade and his brethren, as a hard-boiled, take no prisoners detective makes his sixth appearance in this novel.

Rick started out life as a member of the Santa Barbara, California police department and married Colleen, the woman he was in love with. Tragedy struck when Colleen was murdered and her body thrown on a beach with all marks burnt off her body. Rick was accused of being the killer, but released by the police when an alibi cleared him.

In the years since the murder, Colleen’s killer was never caught and unfortunately, popular opinion thought of Rick as the guilty party. He lost his job with the police and over time became a private detective during the years after the murder.

In this book, Rick has mentally sunk down far enough to just look for easy work as a process server. At a point where he has reached his lowest point, he receives a phone call from Leah Landingham who the sister of Krista who was Rick’s first partner when he joined the Santa Barbara police department. Leah gives him the bad news that Krista has been killed by a hit and run driver in the middle of the night at a location she should not have been in. Reluctantly, Rick goes to Krista’s funeral where Leah gets him to investigate her sister’s death since it did not look like any accident.

Rick accepts the assignment and falls into not only Krista’s death, but also the possibility that Colleen’s death is somewhat connected. The investigation brings to bear all of Matt Coyle’s ability to tell a fascinating story that just grabs the reader and forces him or her to continue reading until done. Each of the Rick Cahill books does stand on its own with only a few sentence recapitulation of the past events. This one is the same; mesmerizing and very well done.

12/19 Paul Lane

LOST TOMORROWS by Matt Coyle. Oceanview Publishing; None edition (December 3, 2019). ISBN 978-1608092451. 368p.

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This author made his literary reputation with the creation of Dexter, a picaresque rogue who was also a serial killer. His mitigating feature was that he only killed other serial killers. Can Lindsay top that? Looks like he is giving it a good try with the first book of a new series.

This new novel features as the reverse hero, Riley Wolfe, who is a thief. Not an ordinary one, mind you, but a master thief that looks at very large possibilities not only to get the proceeds but for the adrenaline rush he gets from doing the seemingly impossible.

The novel picks up Riley coming off another successful theft and beginning to look for his next venture. After looking around at many possibilities he comes up with the idea of stealing a diamond held by the Iranian government. Of course not an ordinary run of the mill gem but one of a kind that is so well cut and so large that its value could approximate more than one billion dollars.

Riley realizes that the theft could not take place in Iran but by chance, the gem is part of a group of Iranian state jewels. These are being lent to a prestigious private museum in New York City for a temporary exhibit there. It will be guarded by a new state of the art alarm system plus a contingent of ex-special forces troops, augmented by a squad of Iranian Republican guards. The security will be around the clock as long as the jewels are being exhibited. This is the challenge that Riley decides to accept and moves ahead with plans in spite of the possibility that the jewels cannot be stolen.

Riley is aided by a lady named Monique, who in her own right is a master forger of paintings with her own reputation as the best in her field. In the probable planning of a series, it would appear quite likely that Monique will have her own niche. She is an object of Riley’s attention and will certainly figure as both an aid in the schemes as well his female interest. To round out the action a veteran FBI agent has made himself a master of obtaining the background and interests of Riley Wolfe and has made it his full-time job to chase him in order to put him in prison.

12/19 Paul Lane

JUST WATCH ME by Jeff Lindsay. Dutton (December 3, 2019). ISBN 978-1524743949. 368p.

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A Jericho Quinn Thriller Series, Book 8

Marc Cameron’s principal protagonist makes another appearance in this novel. Like the previous books featuring Jericho Quinn and his team, the story involves continuous action and more action. The entire novel is one long adrenaline rush.

The current book begins as a Cuban scientist, his wife, and little girl arrive on the coast of Florida after fleeing Cuba. He brings a secret that he is anxious to impart to American authorities. Unfortunately, he and his wife are killed by Cuban revolutionaries along with an American that spotting them on the beach goes over to help them. The American and his wife are good friends with Jericho and have managed to call him by cell before they are killed.

To exact revenge for the killing and to find out what is the secret that the Cuban scientist was anxious to bring, Jericho and his team travel to Cuba posing as tourists out for a few days holiday on the island. The Cuban government finds out that Jericho is there to find the reason for the scientist’s death and take steps to correct the situation.

Cameron presents a picture of the conditions present on Cuba which are at variance with the face that the Island nation tries to present to the world in order to attract tourism. It is one of devastation and poverty almost beyond imagining. A place where the leaders of the revolution are the rich with everyone else trying to scratch out a living. The reasons for the huge influx of boaters attempting to arrive in the US is very apparent. It is a case of a possible good future but with the risk of drowning or facing a lifetime of destitution, the crushing of the population by the secret police and endless spying by the dictators.

The plot of the novel is easy to follow. Find out what secret the scientist was bringing. Go through the mounting opposition by the Cuban authorities to Jericho and his team finding out and the hurdles appearing on a constant basis which must be surmounted in order to get the job done.

11/19 Paul Lane

ACTIVE MEASURES by Marc Cameron. Pinnacle; Reprint edition (November 26, 2019). ISBN 978-0786042692. 576p.

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