The Black Bullet (Sean O'Brien) by Tom Lowe

Tom Lowe's Sean O'Brien goes Jack Reacher style in this one. It shows how versatile a character O'Brien is, working in more standard PI mysteries as well as more thriller oriented stories as this one. That's because he's got a background as a cop AND a Special Forces guy, so he's got the skills to investigate a murder AND fight terrorists.
During a fishing trip O'Brien discovers a downed submarine and material for a dirty bomb. When it becomes national news he's contacted by the granddaughter of a man who got killed sixty-seven years ago. It turns out the submarine and the murder are connected. O'Brien has to fight Russian mobsters and terrorists for the uranium and uncover the mystery behind the 67 year old murder, dealing with all kinds of agencies.
There's a lot of action in this book. I usually have a hard time with big budget action flicks style action in books because they're hard to read, but Tom pulls it of.
Looking forward to more of O'Brien, in many ways the ultimate series protagonist. He's got everything a hardboiled hero needs.

Favorite Sons of 2012

It is the end of the year again, so time to tell you about my favorite PI reads of the year...

BEST PI NOVEL: Whiskey Island (Milan Jacovich) by Les Roberts
BEST DEBUT: Frame Up (Fenway Burke) by James Phoenix
BEST NEW PI: Randall Lee in Changes by Charles Collyot
BEST ACTION SCENES: Ressurected (Adam Wolf) by Steve Trotter

Special mention to Jim Cliff's Jake Abrahams who was a close runner-up for Best New PI.

I'm pleased that Les Roberts still manages to put out books that are quite traditional PI but still feel new and fresh.
James Phoenix just blew me away with his debut that is so full of love of the genre.
Charles' Randall Lee is just one of the coolest characters in genre fiction and I'm enjoying his second outing (Pressure Point) right now. I love the guy and his girlfriend even more.
Steve Trotter managed to put out a great action movie in Kindle form with the first Adam Wolf novel that has me longing for a second one.

I was really pleased to see Tom Lowe return to crime fiction with The Butterfly Forest and to finally interview Charles Knief.

Special thanks this year to O'Neill DeNoux, Sean Dexter and Phillip T. Duck for helping my books become better and James W. Hall for writing a fantastic blurb for me.

And of course a great, great thanks for all of you buying the Noah Milano and Mike Dalmas stories and reviewing them!

The Butterfly Forest (Sean O'Brien) by Tom Lowe

I was worried we'd be without Sean O'Brien after it seemed Tom Lowe's publishing deal wasn't renewed. Luckily, Tom struck out on his own, self-publishing the third Sean O'Brien tale.

Sean is a Gulf War veteran and ex-cop living on a houseboat. When he rescues a mother and daughter from a killer he gets involved with pagan rituals and drug dealers.

There's some nice poetic passages involving butterflies and what they can represent. These scenes are countered by some action-packed passages that seem to come out of a Lee Child novel.

Sean is THE private eye, even if he isn't an official one. He's very, very tough and a great investigator. His feelings for his deceased wife is endearing and his sacrifices to protect the mother and child enforce his heroism. I long to see O'Brien return, just because he has all the qualities I need in a fictional hero.

It's an entertaning, well-written novel. The only qualm I have is with the page count. The second O'Brien novel was a bit shorter and that made it pack more of a punch. Now some plots seemed to be drawn out a bit too long.

Q & A with Tom Lowe

Q: What makes Sean O'Brien different from other (unofficial) PIs?
I don't know if O'Brien is a lot different from many of them. I think what they all have in common is a sense of doing the right thing and compassion for victims of abuse, crime, etc. O'Brien, however, is a sharp observer of people. He has an uncanny gift to detect when someone is lying. He notices when things are not what they seem to be, and when they are not what they should be.

Q: How did you come up with the character?
I used to be a journalist and I was exposed to a lot of cops and crime. O'Brien reminds me of a detective I once knew.

Q: How much research went in your latest novel?
My latest novel is THE 24TH LETTER.. I consulted with attorneys and cops to give a work of fiction as much accuracy as possible within the fast-paced format.

Q: What's next for you and Sean?
What's next for Sean or me? For Sean, the next novel, THE 24TH LETTER, will be published March 16th. For me, it's one day at a time.

Q: How do you promote your books?
I spend a lot of time going to book signings and events. I think face-to-face meetings with readers is a great connection. I do a newsletter and hit the social media on the Internet as often as possible.

Q: Do you have any favourite Sons of Spade yourself?
Some of the mystery/thriller writers I enjoy include: Dennis Lehane, James Lee Burke, John Connolly and many others.

Q: In the last century we've seen new waves of PI writers, first influenced by Hammett, then Chandler, MacDonald, Parker, later Lehane. Who do you think will influence the coming generation and in what way?
Writers like Michael Connelly and Lee Child are very popular. I believe the hybrid of the mystery/thriller is the kind of work that may fuel the imaginations of the next generation - and whatever content they deliver to e-books.

Q: Joe Lansdale came up with the following question: If your PI could choose to be a comic book superhero, which would he choose and why?
I have no clue. Ironman maybe. Probably because I saw the film recently.

Q: What question should we ask every PI writer we interview and what is your answer?
You might want to ask them why they do this genre of storytelling. For me, it's a great way to entertain people with escapist fiction that can have a subtle theme that resonates with social relevance of today, i.e., the death penalty.

A False Dawn (Sean O'Brien) by Tom Lowe

Sean O' Brien is an ex-cop who promised his dying wife to steer away from the darkness of criminal investigations, living in Florida with his dog. When he stumbles upon a dying young woman he can't help but find justice for her. Along the way he has to face human trafickers, corrupt cops and a psychopathic serial killer. Luckily, Sean still has some friends he can trust and a past as an Special Forces paratrooper.
Sean is not a very original kind of hero, neither is the plot. There is a very well written dark tone however and enough action to enjoy. It's a cross between James Lee Burke, James MacDonald and Lee Child. Since I like all those writers a lot, I enjoyed this one although it didn't blow me away.