Rico Stays

Author Ed Duncan provided a print copy of Rico Stays the third book in the Pigeon-Blood Red series.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in this series; Pigeon-Blood Red and The Last Straw, I was glad to get to check out this new chapter in the story of Richard aka "Rico" Sanders, the hit man with his owns set of morals.

Rico is definitely not the man to mess with, as we learn again. This time he is protecting his girlfriend from the idiot son of a local mob boss. Even the boss knows better than to cross Rico. Of course if he left Rico alone we wouldn't have much of a story would we?

Lots of mafia-style action and violence. We meet up with characters from the previous books. There is a romantic story line (actually two). Basically a story of right versus wrong within a setting of organized crime. I had more than a little of a noir feel to me.

Author Duncan does an excellent job of fleshing out his characters and if not necessarily endearing them to us, at least engaging us to root for them. Some of the characters' machismo overrules their intelligence. Kind of like the old Bugs Bunny cartoons where Bugs would say, "If I do it, I get a whipping, ...I do it" These characters say "If I mess with Rico I die... I mess with him." You can guess the outcome. But a good twist at the end keeps us on our toes. 

All around, a good example of mafia noir crime action. Enjoy!

Mike

The Fair (Time box #2)

 

Author John Heldt provided me with an e-version of The Fair (Time Box #2) for review.

This second entry in the Time Box series brings back all the things we have come to expect in a John A. Heldt work. We get history, romance, action and adventure wrapped in a tightly crafted story.

The Lane family continues to evade the evil Robert Devereaux who wants to exploit time travel for his own wicked ends. The family, with help in the present time continues to foil plans to kill them all.

Sounds dark but the author (as always) has the ability to keep a dark story line in check by endearing the main characters to us. We join a family dealing with love and loss, new friendships, historic events (This time the Chicago World's Fair) first love and the problems of being 21st century people trying to adapt to 17th century society. A lot of humor is mined from these social differences. 

What I enjoyed most about this installment was the repartee. Heldt does not shy away from dialogue, and he shouldn't, he is a master at the banter between lovers, the teasing between siblings, serious talks, and colorful ancillary characters.

The depth of emotion he brings to the page is tremendous. He has the gift of bringing his characters to life and engaging the reader to really care about the Lane family. We feel their sadness and joy equally. At one point I was shouting at the characters in my mind, "Don't go there! It's bad!"  I don't often catch myself talking to characters in a book. 

We also get a healthy dose of history, mostly around the Chicago World's Fair including serial killer H.H.Holmes (that's as close to a spoiler as you'll get from me), but we also get a peek into Virginia City, Nevada.

In keeping with what I see as Mr. Heldt's evolution as an author, we get more violence (not particularly graphic) and, more sexuality (again, not graphic but some of it disturbing). The Fair is not an adult oriented book per se, but it is following a trend of more mature content in Mr. Heldt's work. I personally see this as a good thing because, for me, it makes for a more realistic read. My opinion, take it with as many grains of salt as necessary. 

Fans of John A. Heldt's writing (and I am definitely one) will find more of what we read his books to get. History, romance, action and adventure, in a well written, clean (big plus), engaging and entertaining read. Enjoy!

Mike