Sunny is back... Blood Feud a solid resurrection of the Sunny Randall series

$13.99 Kindle Edition

Sunny is back. As a longtime devoted fan of Robert B. Parker, the dean of American crime fiction, I was devastated when he passed away in 2010. I felt mixed emotions when the estate decided to continue Robert B. Parker's characters and series by turning them over to other authors. While I mourned the loss of Spenser especially, I found myself in agreement with John D. MacDonald's son Maynard when he explained why he refused offers to continue his father's popular and influential Travis McGee series. “It is because I have never seen a really good imitation, be it art, literature, or music, that carries that poignant echo of the original artist.”

Parker not only revived the private detective novel, but he also revolutionized it by bringing to the genre a literary-like quality that made it respectable. It's quite difficult to imagine another author ever filling those big shoes by giving us fanatical Parker fans a novel that reads anywhere close to those penned by Spenser’s late creator.

Yet, I've been pleasantly surprised to see how well Ace Atkins and Reed Farrel Coleman have done with the Spenser novels and Jesse Stone series respectively. Neither author is Robert B. Parker, but both are excellent writers and do a credible job with the series each has continued. It was for that reason I was keen to see how Mike Lupica would do with the Sunny Randall series when I learned the estate had tapped him to continue it.

I was counting the days until the release of Blood Feud when I had the good fortune of being offered a complimentary ARC to review by the publisher which I happily accepted. Like Atkins and Coleman, Mike Lucia is not Robert B. Parker, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading his first Sunny Randall novel. Sunny along with all the other principal supporting characters seemed the same as I'd remembered them. Also, the case that provided the basis for the story was one which I could easily imagine Sunny pursuing.

Lupica didn't disappoint. For the most part, his writing is tight and exciting, and he kept me turning the pages. I'll be looking forward to his next Sunny Randall novel as Blood Feud was a worthwhile and entertaining read.

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Blood Feud, slated for release November 27, 2018, is available for preorder on Amazon. While I give the book a four out of five stars rating, I'm  a little surprised the publisher has set the eBook cover price at $13.99. The most recent Spenser book by Ace Atkins is priced at $12.99 and the most recent Jesse Stone book by Reed Farrel Coleman is priced at $9.99. I'd think both of those authors are more well known than Lupica and should command higher cover prices. I might wait until used print editions of this one are available before snagging one, or until the publishers relent and lower the eBook price to a more reasonable one once the early sales figures come in after the launch.    

Only to Sleep: Chandler's Philip Marlowe Returns for Encore

Coming July 2018

Lawrence Osborne brings one of literature's most enduring detectives, Private Investigator Philip Marlowe, back to life for one last adventure

It takes a lot to surprise me these days, but I was literally gobsmacked when I read a recent email from Penguin Random House offering me an ARC for a new Philip Marlowe novel to review.

There hasn't been a new Marlowe novel since Robert B. Parker completed in 1990 Raymond Chandler's Poodle Springs, the eighth Philip Marlowe novel, three decades after Chandler started it in 1959. But, there soon will be when Only To Sleep by Lawrence Osborne is released this July.

Who among us true blue hard-boiled fans haven't wished we could read a new Philip Marlowe novel just one more time. If you're one of those fans, you will soon have the opportunity. Lucky me. I'm reading it right now, and I'll be publishing my review right here at Best Crime Thriller Books in the next week or so.

Here is a brief synopsis...

The year is 1988. The place, Baja California. And Philip Marlowe—now in his seventy-second year—is living out his retirement in the terrace bar of the La Fonda hotel. Sipping margaritas, playing cards, his silver-tipped cane at the ready. When in saunter two insurance men dressed like undertakers, with a case that has Marlowe's name written all over it.

Set between the border and badlands of Mexico and California, Lawrence Osborne's resurrection of the iconic Marlowe is touted as an unforgettable addition to the Raymond Chandler canon.

Coming This October

T. J. O'Sullivan Private Investigator Series, Book 2

 

 

Can't wait for Honolulu Blues, the second installment in the T. J. O'Sullivan Private Investigator series? Then click on the image or the link below to read a FREE sample, the first three complete chapters.

READ THE HONOLULU BLUES SAMPLE

It's Flashback Friday at Best Crime Thriller Books

$14.12 at Barnes & Noble

Welcome to the first installment of "Flashback Friday" where each week we will be showcasing a great crime thriller from the past.

Unless you're a diehard fan of Raymond Chandler, and/or Robert B. Parker, you may have never heard of Poodle Springs, Chandler's seventh and last Philip Marlowe novel. I've been a fan of both for years and even then had never heard of the book until I stumbled across it quite by accident one Saturday afternoon while browsing the stacks at the Flagstaff, Arizona Barnes & Noble. If you've not heard it, there is an interesting story behind the book, especially the Robert B. Parker connection.

When Chandler died in 1959, he left behind the first four chapters of Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe's seventh caper. The book had the working title, The Poodle Springs Story. It wasn't until 1988, on the occasion of the centenary of Chandler's birth, that Robert B. Parker was asked by the estate of Raymond Chandler to complete the novel.

Parker did an exceptional job picking up the story from the slim opener and writing a thriller to rival his own bestselling Spenser novels. Poodle Springs reads just like any of Chandler's great Marlowe novels which shows just how much influence Chandler had on Parker's writing style.

In Poodle Springs, Marlowe is newly wed to wealthy Linda and at home in her luxurious house in Poodle Springs (pseudonym for Palm Springs) but refuses to be a kept man. He opens up a private eye shop in Poodle Springs on the second floor above a gas station. He is hired by a local gambler to trace Les Valentine, a photographer who has welshed on a $100,000 bet.

Marlowe questions the missing man's bibulous wife Muffy, daughter of a multi-millionaire. Muffy's vague answers give nothing away. Marlowe is compelled to drive back to Los Angeles's grubby streets, looking for information.

Acting on a tip, Marlowe visits the office of a man named Larry Victor,' and finds it vacant except for the dead body of a blonde model. Marlowe deduces that Larry Victor is actually Les Valentine and suspects Valentine was framed for the murder, probably by the gambler's mob bosses. Marlowe stays on the case in the city at the risk of not only his own life but his new marriage too. Sustaining tensions, writing in tune with the period and delivering a knockout finale, Parker does nobly by the great Chandler.

If you enjoy those wonderful "hard-boiled" detective novels of days gone by, you'll want to pick up a copy of Poodle Springs by Raymond Chandler and RobertB. Parker.