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The Comedians; Bruno, Chief of Police; and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

The Comedians; Bruno, Chief of Police; and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

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Still finishing up the new KD Thorne thriller, The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers. Here’s how the description is shaping up:

Ransomware attacks on hydroelectric dams in the US. The power grid disrupted. Downstream communities flooded. Who are these mystery hackers?

The hackers operate in cyberspace, their messages and the ransom money bouncing between countries until their trail disappears off the grid in Eastern Europe.

As National Defense Agency operative KD Thorne and her partner Jeffery Blunt track the hackers from dam to dam, the hackers create a web of misinformation to conceal their identities and hide their stolen money.

Can KD and Blunt cut through the subterfuge and lay a trap to catch the hackers before they rob their last target and disappear with the ransom cash?

Two books you might be interested in–

Recently read The Comedians by Graham Greene (1966). Haiti in the 1960s— the regime of Papa Doc Duvalier and his secret police, the Tontons Macoute. Picture Syria or North Korea today. Citizens being disappeared, government scams, grifters hoping to make their fortune–this novel reads like a thriller, as we follow a British hotelier through his involvement with con artists, patriots, and innocents. He hopes to make a living at his hotel and stay out of prison, but he just can’t seem to mind his own business as everyone around him has their own agenda—some for good and some for pure selfishness. And is he one of the good guys, more or less, or just another selfish grifter taking advantage of those around him? A serious read and well worth the effort.

Graham Greene’s Collected Novels Volume 5, which includes The Comedians, is $2.99 (US) on Amazon today.

Also read Bruno, Chief of Police, by Martin Walker (2008). This is the first of a series of mystery novels that take place in the (fictional, I think?) town of St. Denis in southern France. Bruno is a decorated military veteran who’s taken on the easy job of a small-town cop, only to have the murder of a local WW II war hero fall into his lap. The local color and the scene setting here are excellent, as well as Walker’s ability to capture modern issues such as conflict around immigration and tourism. And I bet you won’t be able to figure out who the murderer is until the very end. I’ll definitely be reading more of these.

Finally, if you’re an Elmore Leonard fan (which I am), his novel Raylan, featuring US Marshal Raylan Givens, is $1.99 (US) on Amazon today.

That’s all for now. Happy reading!

The Mugger, The Truth Lies and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

The Mugger, The Truth Lies and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

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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 87th 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!

Murder Among Children, Bats Fly at Dusk and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

Murder Among Children, Bats Fly at Dusk and The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers

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The new KD Thorne thriller, The Hunt for the Ransomware Hackers, is off at the editor. Hydroelectric dams are being targeted by ransomware attacks, and KD and Blunt are on the trail of the hackers.

I got my right knee replaced last week, so I’m going to be out of commission for a little while. In the meantime, here are a couple of August reading suggestions.

Just read Murder Among Children (1967) by Donald E Westlake. You may recall that I am a big fan of Westlake’s Parker books (written as Richard Stark). I wrote about the first book in the Mitchell Toben series, Kinds of Love, Kinds of Death, earlier this year. 

Tobin, a disgraced former police detective, is contacted by a young woman, his second cousin, who needs help dealing with a crooked cop who’s demanding a bribe from the coffee shop she’s set up with friends. As Tobin starts looking into the situation, her boyfriend and a prostitute are murdered, and she’s charged with the crime. Tobin is tasked with finding the real killer. Colorful characters, fast-paced action, and a hard-to-figure-out plot make the pages fly.

Murder Among Children is discounted to $2.99 (US) on Amazon today. Here’s the link if you’re interested.https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Among-Children-Mitchell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00D668GSS

Also read Bats Fly at Dusk (1942) by Earle Stanley Gardner (of Perry Mason fame) writing as A.A. Fair. This is the seventh of the Bertha Lam/Donald Cool private detective series, which are slightly comic old school who-done-its. This is the first of this series I’ve read. Just curious as to how different this would be from a Perry Mason book.

On this outing, Lam is hired by a blind man to find a woman who was in a car accident, while Cool is doing his WWII military service and can only be consulted via telegram or letter. In short order, the case turns into a murder investigation of the missing woman’s employer. It’s the usual tightly plotted, red-herring-filled story you’d expect from Gardner, even if some of the clues are a little far fetched. A quick, fun read.

If you’ve read a crime thriller you particularly liked, please let me know about it so I can put it on my list.

Happy reading!

July Reading: Slow Horses and The Fifth Grave

July Reading: Slow Horses and The Fifth Grave

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Howdy, Michael here,

Finishing up the new KD Thorne thriller. Currently trying to settle on a title. Hydroelectric dams are being targeted by ransomware attacks, and KD and Blunt have been tasked with finding the hackers and getting the insurance companies’ money back.

In the meantime, here are a couple of July reading suggestions.

Just read Slow Horses by Mick Herron. This is a British thriller that features a group of washed-up MI5 operatives who’ve been, in theory, banished to pushing paper in hopes that they will quit the service.

It’s been made into a TV series on Apple TV. I haven’t seen it, but my brother says it’s good. I have, on the other hand, read the book. Read it mostly in one sitting. (It’s that good once it gets going.) After Herron sets up the premise of the kidnapped kid who’s going to be beheaded, the plot is a labyrinth of false trails and broken desires that careen to the very end of the story, as the MI5 agents try to sort out who the kidnappers are and where they’re holding the kid.

Also read The Fifth Grave by Jonathan Latimer (1946). Some of you may recall that I’m a big fan of old-school, hard-boiled crime thrillers. I’d not heard of Latimer previously. This book contains the casual sexism and racism of this time period. With that caveat in mind—

Private detective Karl Craven has come to Paulton, Missouri, to separate a young woman from a cult. He discovers his partner’s been murdered, and he immediately gets on the wrong side of the local crime boss. And those are just his opening problems. Femme fatales, crooked cops, and the cult itself round out the cast he has to navigate to solve his partner’s murder, save his client, and stay on the right side of the law. Nicely plotted.

This book was originally released in 1941 as Solomon’s Vineyard. This is the uncensored, original version where the language is even more explicit. It’s currently $0.99 (US) on Amazon.

Happy reading!

Summer Reading

Summer Reading

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Making good progress on KD Thorne book 3, although I don’t have a title yet.

If you’re looking for a summer read (or a winter read if you’re in the southern hemisphere), I’ve read two excellent crime thrillers.

The first, Five Decembers by James Kestrel, won the 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best mystery. This crime novel, which takes place during WWII, follows police detective Joe McGrady as he tries to solve a gruesome murder on Hawaii and gets trapped in Asia during the war while tracking down the killer. This book is excellence from start to finish. Don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil any of the plot twists.

Also read Billy Summers by Stephen King, which was recommended to me by a Readers Group member. Most everyone has read a Stephen King book. This one is a crime thriller with a tiny supernatural reference to The Shining about three-quarters of the way through. King is still at the top of his game.

Billy Summers is a hit man who only kills bad people, but on this outing he ends up in a complex plot where he doesn’t know what’s really going on until it’s too late. Lots of suspense, action, and complex backstory make for a first rate read as we discover the limits of who Billy is and what he’s capable of.  Very enjoyable.

Happy reading!

KD Thorne and Spring Reading

KD Thorne and Spring Reading

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Still working on the third KD Thorne novel, which begins with ransomware attacks on hydroelectric dams. No title yet, but I’m making good progress, I think. In the meantime, I’ve been getting some reading done.

Recently read The Grifter’s Daughter (book 1 in the Grifter’s Daughter series) by Duane Lindsay. This is a comic caper crime novel featuring Dani Silver, a professional thief and con artist. This time out, she’s assembled a crew to go after a crooked televangelist. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong as she tries to rope her score. Crisp writing and fast pacing keep it all rolling along. Very enjoyable.

Also read Kinds of Love, Kinds of Death (1966) by Donald E Westlake. You may recall that I am a big fan of Westlake’s Parker books (written as Richard Stark). Westlake originally wrote the Mitchell Tobin mysteries under the pen name Tucker Coe, but they’ve been re-released under his own name.

Tobin, a disgraced former police detective, is hired by a mob boss to find out who killed his mistress. Off he charges, using police techniques to hunt down the guilty party in New York’s underworld. I started it one night and finished it the next day. A top-notch who-done-it with no wasted words. If you read old school crime books, you’ll love this one.

All for now.

Happy reading!

April reading and research

April reading and research

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Recently read Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. This book has received a lot of hype—and it does not disappoint. Ray Carney’s a Harlem furniture store owner just trying to navigate his way between the crooks and crooked cops in his neighborhood while he keeps his store afloat through legal and not-so-legal means. His cousin’s a hustler with a lot of bad ideas about how to get rich quick. And when his cousin ropes him in on a jewelry heist, he’s scrambling like mad to stay out of jail, out of the clutches of the mob, and to keep his part of their score, all while protecting his reputation as an upstanding businessman. Lots of fun!

You might recall that at the end of January I picked up a copy of The Gone Sister (Lee Callaway Book 2) by Thomas Fincham. Two plot threads here—the murder of a college basketball player and the disappearance of a young woman. While the cops are looking into the murder, Lee Callaway has been hired by the missing woman’s blind sister to find her.

This book starts out slow for me, but as it moves along, it picks up speed and the complications become a lot more interesting, particularly the way the two cases intertwine. Liked the blind sister character a lot.

And if you’re following my crime research, here’s a link to an article about how cybercriminals use checks stolen from mailboxes.

https://theconversation.com/how-cybercriminals-turn-paper-checks-stolen-from-mailboxes-into-bitcoin-%202165721446+Version+A+CID_cdcec7d6744fe4b86bfbc8d9e77a0d8e&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=How%20cybercriminals%20turn%20paper%20checks%20stolen%20from%20mailboxes%20into%20bitcoin

Finally, the Kirkus review of Murder at Mercy Creek is out. Kirkus calls it “… a ballet of tension and rough justice.” You can read the full review here: 

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-p-king2/murder-at-mercy-creek-kd-thorne/

Happy reading!

In Iowa, spring is just beginning to peek out

In Iowa, spring is just beginning to peek out

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Just starting to write a new KD Thorne thriller—this time hackers are using ransomware against hydroelectric dams. And thanks again to those of you who picked up a copy of Murder at Mercy Creek. It means a lot. A few more reviews are showing up, which gives me a little extra incentive to push on with the new book.

In the meantime, two books I read recently—

Welcome to Cooper by Tariq Ashkanani was recommended to me. This book reads like a classic noir movie, but it takes place in contemporary Nebraska (US) and is written by a Brit. It’s got all the pieces of the puzzle—bad cops, femme fatale, pressure to do the wrong thing to get the right result. And Ashkanani doesn’t flinch from taking the story where it needs to go. Lots of surprises and lots of grit. So if you enjoy old school crime fiction, this is one for you.

Also read Deadly Stillwater by Roger Stelljes (Book 3 of the McRyan mystery series). It involves the kidnapping of two young women that appear at first to be unrelated. McRyan and his team of St. Paul, Minnesota, detectives have their work cut out for them trying to find the women and capture the kidnappers. Lots of local color and high-speed action. 

This book started out slow for me, but after it gets going, Stelljes keeps all the balls in the air, juggling a complex plot that just doesn’t quit until it’s all tied up in the last few pages. It’s free on Amazon today if you want to take a look:

https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Stillwater-compelling-thriller-Mystery-ebook/dp/B005WUVLAG

All for now. Happy reading!

Murder at Mercy Creek

Murder at Mercy Creek

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Murder at Mercy Creek, the second KD Thorne thriller, is out now. Whoo-hoo!

To celebrate the release, the eBooks for Murder at Mercy Creek and The Hunt for the Hijacked Nerve Agent (KD Thorne Book 1) are each $2.99 (US) for the next seven days. After that, they go up to $4.99. (The paperback for Murder at Mercy Creek will be out shortly.)

Here’re the universal links to your favorite store:

Murder at Mercy Creek: https://books2read.com/u/mYyn6V

Hunt for the Hijacked Nerve Agent:  https://books2read.com/u/bMwaXv

And here’s the Murder at Mercy Creek blurb:

A few fingers sticking up out of freshly dug dirt…

After an undercover FBI agent working for an interagency taskforce is found dead in a county park, National Defense Agency operatives KD Thorne and Jeffery Blunt are sent to Mercy Creek, Iowa, to run a parallel investigation into drug running, gun smuggling, and police corruption.

Who’s running the guns and trafficking the drugs? How was the undercover agent discovered? Which cops can be trusted and how many are on the take?

As KD and Blunt follow the money trail and contraband up and down Interstate 35 from Iowa to south Texas, the traffickers push back, eager to protect their anonymity and their business. Will KD and Blunt unravel the conspiracy before the traffickers find the opportunity to put them in their graves?

Murder at Mercy Creek is a swiftly paced thriller that will keep you reading into the night. If you like unpredictable plot twists and nail-biting suspense, you’ll love the second novel in the KD Thorne series.

…

I hope you enjoy it. And I’d love to hear what you think.

Happy reading!

Just a quick note

Just a quick note

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As promised, The Murder Run: The Travelers Book 6 eBook is $0.99 through February 3. So if you need to catch up on the series, now’s your chance. Here’s the universal link to your favorite store:

 https://books2read.com/u/mdzyPE

The description:

Never cheat a partner. Always get revenge. . .

The Traveling Man takes on a quick and easy safecracking job…easy until his partners are murdered and he’s on the run.

His wife is trying to settle into her new role as a rich man’s girlfriend, so she isn’t at his side.

Who are these killers who are after him? And how are they connected to the government agency that wants the envelope he took from the safe?

With the help of a new associate, he tracks the killers until he’s steered into a trap. They think he’s cornered, but he’s still got one ace up his sleeve. . .

The Murder Run is a gritty, hard-boiled crime thriller. If you like criminal intrigue, surprising plot twists, and high-speed action, you’ll love the sixth novel in the Travelers series.

…

By the way, this is the first book to make mention of Clara Garcia and the National Defense Agency, the organization that KD Thorne and Jeffery Blunt work for in the KD Thorne thrillers.

The new KD Thorne thriller, Murder at Mercy Creek, should be out as an eBook in about two weeks.

All for now. Happy reading!