Michael P. King

KD Thorne book 4, The Hidden Mine at Agua Dulce, is off at the copyeditor. In the meantime, here’re two thrillers I read last month. 

First off, Spy Game (Brodick Cold War Thriller book 1) by John Fullerton. This book is set in Pakistan and Afghanistan during the 1980s when the Soviet Union is mired in Afghanistan. Richard Brodick, a British spy in his first assignment, is undercover as a journalist gathering intel on the Afghans’ progress in their war against the Soviets.

He’s at odds with his superiors, can’t trust any of the locals he’s dealing with, and is conflicted about what he’s been assigned to do.

Lots of suspense and detailed tradecraft, a hero who does not do what you expect him to do, and historical accuracy make for a fun read.

Second, The Maid (Molly the Maid book 1) by Nita Prose. I picked up this book because the reviews were outstanding. This is a traditional cozy-style mystery told in the first person by Molly, a hotel maid who has what seems to be a learning disability of some sort. She’s constantly misinterpreting other people’s actions and intentions, which lands her into the middle of a murder investigation at the hotel where she works.

Deft plotting and the unique point of view make for real page-turning pleasure here. If you like old school cozy mysteries, this book is for you.

Happy reading!

Finishing up the new KD Thorne book, where NDA agents KD Thorne and Jeffery Blunt are on the trail of jihadis and black marketeers who are trying to gain control of a newly discovered strategic metal before the US government cuts off their access. In the meantime, here’re two crime books I read last month. 

First off, The Passengers by John Marrs. The premise here is the that unhackable driverless cars have been hacked, putting the lives of eight innocent passengers at risk as people across the web are provided information about each passenger and asked to vote on who will live and who will die.

Started a little slow for me, as we learn about the complicated background stories of each passenger from their own point of view, but it quickly picked up speed as the hacker makes his demands and the tension and plot twists piled up. A very clever, well-reviewed thriller.

Second, The Thief Who Couldn’t Sleep (Evan Tanner Book 1) by Lawrence Block. I’ve read most of Block’s Matthew Scudder books (disgraced detective) and the Keller books (contract killer), but I’d never read one of his Evan Tanner books.

The Scudder books are top-notch gritty crime thrillers, but this Tanner book is more lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek.

Evan Tanner is a polymath who does not sleep due to a brain injury suffered during the Korean War, which gives him plenty of time to work on his many sort-of-maybe legal interests. In this first outing, he’s on the trail of a fortune in Armenian gold hidden in Turkey during WWI. In short order, he’s stumbling into trouble all across Europe, which makes for a lot of screwball plot twists and suspense. A quick, fun read.

Happy reading!

Happy New Year! Hope you have another great year of fun reading. I’ve been out and about visiting family over the holidays, but now it’s back to work.

Doing rewrites of the new KD Thorne book. Going to have to think up a title. In the meantime, here’re two crime books I read last month. 

First off, The Man Who Died Twice: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery (book 2) by Richard Osman. I wrote about the first book in this series earlier this year. These are light-hearted British romps that will keep you guessing down to the last few pages.

Our four septuagenarians—Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim—who live in an upscale retirement community are back, this time trying to find stolen diamonds and the killer who’s murdering to get to them first.

Fast-paced, fresh writing and loads of human interest keep this book moving. You won’t be disappointed

Second, The Forgers by Bradford Morrow. (There are several books with the same title. This is the Broadford Morrow book.) This is a first person, unreliable narrator novel that follows the blackmail scheme that arises from a murder, all of which takes place in the word of rare book dealing and manuscript forgery.

Complex, descriptive language and lots of twists and turns in a suspenseful plot make this an interesting read. Plus all the trivia having to do with rare book world. A little different from my usual thriller read, but a fun change.

Happy reading!

Howdy, Michael here,

Wow! December’s already here. And whatever you’re celebrating this season, I’m wishing you and yours all the best now and in the new year.

I’m still drafting the new KD Thorne book, which is coming along nicely, I think. In the meantime, here’re two crime books I read last month. 

First off, March Violets by Philip Kerr. This is the first of the Bernie Gunther series. I wrote about Prague Fatale (book 8) previously and wanted to see how the series starts out. It did not disappoint. Set in Berlin after the Nazis take over and before WWII starts, this is an extreme noir world of cruelty and corruption. And Bernie Gunther, private investigator, is both somehow distinctly cynical and highly moral.

So when an industrialist hires him to locate missing diamonds, he soon finds himself dealing with the Gestapo and hire-ups in the government who all seem to have their own corrupt advancement at the front of their minds. Fast paced and sarcastically funny. I’ll be reading more of these.

Second, Pay Dirt Road (Annie McIntyre Mysteries Book 1) by Samantha Jayne Allen. This book won the Tony Hillerman Prize, which is awarded to a first-time author of a mystery set in the southwest, so I decided to give it a try.

Annie McIntyre is a young woman fresh out of college who finds herself back in her hometown at loose ends, trying to figure out what to do with her life. In the meantime, she’s working as a waitress. Her grandfather is a semi-retired, ex-sheriff, private eye. When a work friend goes missing, Annie tries to discover what happened, and in the process finds her calling as a private detective and uncovers the answer to a disturbing personal experience that has been dogging her since high school.

Careful plotting creates lots of tension here, leading to a fast-paced finale that puts the pieces of the puzzle together. If you’re okay with a twenty-something protagonist, you’ll enjoy this book.

Happy reading!

I’m hard at work on a KD Thorne book right now, still in the early drafting, but I’m making good progress. After this I’ll write another Travelers book.

In the meantime, two crime books I read last month. 

First off, Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. The book takes place is Boston during the run up to the school integration of 1974, which was an explosive situation. A young woman from the Irish housing projects goes out with friends and doesn’t come home. The next morning, a young black man is found dead at the nearest subway station. The young woman’s mom starts digging into where her daughter was, who she was with, and what happened to her, while the cops are looking into the black man’s death.

Could not put this book down. The local color, the use of the historical situation, the motivations and desires of the various characters. All wonderful.

Second, Never Let Me Down Again by Mark Dawson. This is number 19 in the John Milton series. Milton is a sort of Equalizer character, only he’s British and on the run from the secret government agency he used to work for.

On this outing, he’s trying to make amends for a hot-headed mistake he made back when he was a soldier that had repercussions for an old friend and, at the same time, help a dying woman find her missing son, all of which leads to facing up against an international consortium of bad players in the outer reaches of Scotland. Complex plot with lots of action. A fun read.

If you want to try a John Milton eBook, number 20, Bulletproof, is $0.99 US today.

Happy reading!

We’re on the countdown to the release of my new Travelers crime thriller, Grifters’ Hopscotch. I’ll have more news about it and discounts on earlier books in the series as the time approaches.

In the meantime, two mystery books I read last month while I was on vacation in the Canadian Rockies.

First off, People of the Book by Geraldine Books. This is a literary book that moves back and forth in time, but it is an excellent mystery and an easy read.

Hanna Heath, a rare book expert, is asked to authenticate an ancient Jewish prayer book. While examining the binding, she discovers several tiny artifacts that are extremely puzzling because they don’t belong in the book. Figuring out when and where these artifacts came from tells the story of where the book has been since it was written in the late 1400s.

But there are three mysteries here—the story of the book and its origins, the story of why Hanna Heath was chosen to research it, and the story of her own origins. You won’t find out all the answers until the last few pages. A fun, fun read.

Second, Acqua Alta by Donna Leon (Commissario Brunetti Book 5). I wrote about Death at La Fenice (Book 1) earlier this year. These books are a high recommend if you like European locations and tightly crafted police procedurals.

This time out, an archaeologist friend of Brunetti’s has been badly beaten in what appears to be a home invasion gone wrong, but as Brunetti digs into the case, he finds himself of the trail of antiquities’ smugglers who won’t stop at murder to get their way. A pleasure from start to finish.

Number 15 of this series, Through a Glass, Darkly,  is $1.99 US today.

Happy reading!

I’ve received some emails over the last year or so asking me if there were going to be any more Travelers books, since I’d switched focus to the KD Thorne thrillers. Well, last fall, while I was recuperating from my knee replacement and finishing up The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers, I wrote up a few pages of what is going to be a new Travelers book, tentatively titled The Grifters’ Hopscotch. That’s the book I’m working on now, and I hope to finish it this spring. So if you’ve been waiting for a new Travelers caper, there’s one on the way.

In the meantime, two books you might be interested in.

You all know I’m a big fan of Donald Westlake’s Parker books (written as Richard Stark). I’ve also read and commented upon a few of his Mitchell Tobin books. These books are much more centered in the time period when they were written. I recently read A Jade in Aries (1970). This outing concerns the murder of a gay man whose partner is using astrology to find the killer, who he thinks must be one of their six gay friends. (Not kidding.) The premise might seem a little off beat, but Westlake avoids the usual stereotypes to make the characters individual and compelling. And the murder mystery itself is a first-rate closed box puzzle with a surprising twist about two-thirds the way in. Couldn’t put it down once I was halfway through.

A Jade in Aries is $1.99 (US) today. Here’s the link if you want to check it out:

Also, I recently wrote about Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker, which is the first of a series of mystery novels that take place in a small town in southern France. I’ve just finished the third book in this series, Black Diamond (2010), which involves counterfeit truffles (the kind you find in the forest), illegal immigration, and the murder of a local hunter and truffle expert. These books are not hard boiled, but the characters are beautifully drawn, and the mysteries are complex and exciting. Fun, fun, fun reading!

Hope you have a great holiday season!

Still working through the edits on the new KD Thorne thriller, The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers. Hydroelectric dams are being targeted by ransomware attacks, and KD and Blunt are on the trail of the hackers.

My right knee replacement (August 2) turned out well, though I’m still hard at the physical therapy to regain full range of motion of the knee. It’s slowing me down on getting this book done, but so it goes.

Recently read The Mugger (87th Precinct book 2, 1956) by Ed McBain. I commented on book 5 in this series last October. These are first-rate police procedurals that delve into the personal lives of the cops who work out of the 87th precinct in a fictional city somewhat modeled on New York City. This series was released from 1957 to 1984.

On this outing, a mugger who preys on women late at night is terrorizing the city. When one of his victims is murdered, the detectives of the 87^th go into overdrive to catch him. Meanwhile, a street cop who’s asked for a favor by an old acquaintance finds himself shoved into the middle of the case.

No superheroes in these books, just straight-up, by-the-book police work, following leads, questioning suspects, and catching the occasional lucky break. Fast-paced, hard-to-put-down reads. It that’s your cup of joe, the kindle version is $1.99 today.

Also read The Truth Lies (Grifter’s Daughter book 4) by Duane Lindsay. I commented on the first book in this series back in May. These books are in the same vein as the Ocean’s 11, 12, 13, and 8 movies, where a group of specialist grifters set up an elaborate con to fleece a bad guy.

This time out, Dani Silver’s straight arrow brother has been set up by crooked cops and imprisoned, so she assembles a crew to break him out, clear his name, and rob the crooks.

Lots of twist and turns, plans going awry, and bickering among the grifters as Dani and her crew work the con. A fun read.That’s all for now. Happy reading!