Michael P. King

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!

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!

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!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends. Hope you have a safe and fun-filled gathering.

Still working on the new KD Thorne thriller—tentatively titled Murders at Mercy Creek. Five twenty-something friends have been murdered in Mercy Creek, Iowa. One of them was an undercover FBI agent investigating drug and gun smuggling down Interstate 35 from Iowa to the Mexican border. Police corruption may be involved, so KD and Blunt have been tasked with running a parallel investigation. Hope to release it in January.

Meanwhile, two books of interest—

Recently finished The Last Mona Lisa, by Jonathan Santlofer, which was one of People Magazine’s best books of summer. Luke Perrone, a struggling artist and art professor, is tracking down information about his grandfather, who stole the Mona Lisa in 1911. Was the genuine Mona Lisa returned to the Louvre or was it replaced with a forgery? And why did his grandfather steal the painting in the first place?

Perrone’s journey takes him down a rabbit hole of theft, forgery, and murder as he travels from Florence to Paris to New York following the trail that leads to the last Mona Lisa. A fast, fun read.

Also read The Blackbirder (1943) by Dorothy B. Hughes. She wrote a number of crime novels, starting in the 1940s, and was an important influence on the genre. This is one of the earlier ones, told from the point of view of a young woman on the run from Nazi spies in the US during World War Two. We only know what she knows, and she’s constantly misinterpreting what she sees and consequently being manipulated by bad players. Still, she manages to find her way clear by the end.

Read this book because I’d read a later book by Hughes, In a Lonely Place (1947), about a screen writer who might be a murderer, which was made into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart. Loved the movie. The book is quite different from the movie, and, I think, better. If you were going to read one Hughes book, this would be the one.

All for now. Happy reading!

Here in Ames, Iowa, the university semester is starting up, and the students are back, so it feels a little like fall even though the weather is still hot. What’s going on?

First off, the Kirkus review of The Hunt for the Hijacked Nerve Agent is now out. Kirkus calls it: “A thriller that offers an undeniably entertaining way to spend an afternoon at the beach.” I’m very pleased. You can read the whole review here:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-p-king/the-hunt-for-the-hijacked-nerve-agent-kd-thorne/

Now that The Hunt for the Hijacked Nerve Agent is out, and I’m at work on a new book, I’ve been getting some reading done.

Just a reminder, the books I comment on here are usually discounted eBooks I got from Bookbub, Early Bird Books, or Murder & Mayhem, which are the three discount eBook sites that I think have the best quality books right now. (I don’t get a special deal from these sites. It’s just where I’m buying my discount eBooks.) Here are three thrillers that are really different from each other and all excellent.

Recently read Sara Paretsky’s 19^th V.I. Warshawski novel (2018), Shell Game. It’s been a while since I’ve read one of her books, and she does not disappoint. It starts out simply enough, with Warshawski trying to help a friend’s nephew avoid a murder charge and at the same time trying to hunt down her missing niece, but quickly devolves in a complex case involving scam loans, artifact thefts, crooked billionaires, and undocumented refugees. Lots of details about Chicago, lots of action and suspense. Paretsky is still at the top of her game.

Also read Martin Limon’s GI Bones, the sixth of his novels that follow two US army criminal investigators (Sergeants Sueno and Bascom) in 1970s South Korea. It was a National Public Radio Best Book of the Year (2009). On this outing, they’re investigating a cold-case missing/murdered GI and hunting down an officer’s delinquent teenage daughter. The local color here (both South Korea and US military) is fabulous and the story races along. A fast, fun read.

And finally, just read The Border, the third book in Don Winslow’s Power of the Dog trilogy. I read the first book in this trilogy earlier this year. This is an excellent novel about the drug war in the US and Mexico that follows the exploits of a former DEA agent. Rich, fleshed out characters, and a complex, suspenseful plot about corruption and justice. It was named best book of the year by a number of outlets. A great read.

That’s all for now. Happy summer reading!