Free Fiction: Girl Gone Wild part 5 (A Lenny Parker serial) by Jochem Vandersteen

I'm pleased to offer the fans of my blog the fifth part of a brand-new crime story that features roadie / PI Lenny Parker, a fat tattooed slob with a heart of gold. You can check out the fourth part here.

Girl Gone Wild part 5 (A Lenny Parker serial)

by Jochem Vandersteen

I visited the convenience store where Melinda worked. I browsed the racks, settling for a sixpack of Corona and walked over to the cash-register. Melinda was behind it, saying hello. That’s right, I thought up a plan. Wasn’t sure it was a good one, but I was going to give it a try.

“Hi,” I told her.

She told me how much the sixpack cost me. I took out my wallet and asked her why she didn’t card me.

She laughed. “I’m pretty sure you’re of legal age.”

“I’m hurt,” I said.

She laughed again. “Sorry.”

“Say, have you been working here for a long time?”

“Huh? Why?”

“I was wondering if maybe I should apply for a job here. I’m looking for work, you see.”

“Oh. Right.”

“How do you like it here?”

“Fine, fine. Have been working here for a year or something. Pay is okay, work is nice.”

“What about the boss? I bet he’s a really nice guy too, then?”

Her pasty white skin flushed a deep red. She shrugged. “Er… Yes. I guess. Sure.”

“You seem to really like him,” I said.

“What do you mean?” I had her worried.

“You blushed. Like a kid infatuated with her teacher or something.”

“Please, pay for the beer and leave.”

“Melinda, maybe it would be good if we had a little talk.”

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Her skin almost matched her hair.

“I’m Lenny. Your dad was a bit worried about you and hired me. I know all about you and mister Beck.”

“Please, leave,” she pleaded.

“Is this guy bothering you?” a deep voice sounded behind me.

I turned around and looked into the eyes of a muscular black man in the same uniform as Melinda.

“I’m not bothering her at all, I’m just looking for a job and was asking her some stuff about her work.”

He crossed his arms. Those were muscular arms. “Don’t seem like it to me. Get the fuck out of here.”

“Relax,” I said.

“Wasn’t I clear enough?” The black man grabbed me by my Volbeat T-shirt. I read the name tag on his uniform, it told me his name was Will.

He pushed me all the way to the door. With a final, hard shove I was out the door and on my ass. The door closed. Through the glass of the closed door he mouthed me to stay out.

I got up, brushed off my jeans. The beer was still inside the store. I debated going in to get it. Then I thought how easily Will had me outside on my fat ass and decided that might not be the best of ideas. Just as bad an idea as confronting Melinda had been. Still, her reaction was clear enough for me. There was something going on between her and Beck. Too bad she didn’t seem open to talking about it. Maybe I should just let it rest. If Melinda was okay with it, her dad didn’t want me to get involved, who was I to interfere?

Maybe I should just get together with the guys from my band, slap some bass and get drunk.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Q & A with Michael Beck

Regular readers of this blog know I like to search for and interview writers of PI fiction (official or unofficial private eyes) who you might not now but might enjoy. I found Michael Beck, whose Mark Tanner series sounds like great reading for fans of Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar...

Q: What makes Mark Tanner different from other hardboiled characters?
Tanner’s childhood tragedy gives him a unique focus. His tragic past and the mystery surrounding it helps define his being and life. Tanner, unlike many famous characters, is not indestructible, super-smart and always right. In fact, he probably has more faults than admirable traits. He is capricious and rude. He is violent yet emotionally vulnerable. He can be ruthless and merciless yet he baby sits his nieces. Personally, he is afraid of commitment yet, conversely, he has committed his whole life to one purpose. 

Q: How did you come up with the character?
I have always enjoyed characters with an irreverent and sardonic view of the world. I am a self-confessed sports-nut so basing Tanner’s exploits around the sporting-world and making him a Fitness Trainer was a no-brainer. I wanted to create a character that I would like to read about. A person with admirable character traits but with flaws like a real person.  I enjoy reading books where the characters display a dry humour so I wanted to create a character who displayed these qualities. 

Q: What are your thoughts on the whole eBook revolution?
I think it is great for both writers and readers alike. More budding writers than ever before have a chance of getting their work published. There are so many great writers out there that we never would have heard of if it wasn’t for the eBook revolution. And for people who love books they are now more accessible and cheaper than ever before. I love the fact I always have a library of books on my IPhone and that I can read or download a new book wherever I am. And I no longer have to drive to a bookstore to peruse the latest releases. I can shop wherever and whenever I like.  

Q: What's next for you and Tanner? Will he return?
Yes, Tanner will be returning in a sequel to Killpoint by the end of the year (or, at the latest, early 2014). I had to write at least one more Tanner book as I wanted to resolve a lot of the issues that Killpoint had left open. What happened to Tanner’s parents? Who killed them and why? Is Tanner’s never-ending search vindicated? What does the future hold for his comatose sister, Jade? I have finished the first draft of the sequel which, at the moment, is titled Pump Fake. 
In PumpFake, Tanner is also dragged into the world of professional football when his ex-girlfriend, Liz, asks him to find out who is trying to destroy the career of her current boyfriend, who just happens to be the quarterback for an NFL team. Tanner must enter the world of professional football, in the guise of a player no less, to discover who would want to kill the quarterback. Tanner also discovers that his parents weren’t the only ones murdered in
such a gruesome manner fourteen years ago. He traces the dark steps of the killer, (dubbed Cupid for a reason beyond imagining), which leads to a final revelation that horrifies and angers Tanner to the core of his being.
In Pump Fake, Tanner’s obsession for the truth leads to two mysteries, both linked deeply to the past and both likely to kill him. 
Q: How do you promote your work?
I must admit I am pretty hopeless at promoting my work. I would much rather be actually writing.  My books can be viewed on my website www.michaelbeckbooks.com
I suppose that is one of the main advantages of publishing with a big publishing house; you have someone who is keenly interested in promoting your work.

Q: What other genres besides crime do you like?
I have always loved science fiction. My first novel, Shifter, was science fiction. Along with westerns(!), science fiction was my favourite genre growing up. Back then, I lived on a diet of Heinlein, Card and Dickson.  Horror has always appealed to me and I have read everything by King, Koontz and Laymon. The genre is not important to me so long as the main character and story grabs me. 

Q: What's your idea about the psychotic sidekick in PI novels like Hawk and Joe Pike?
I think they are great so long as the sidekick doesn’t become a caricature. He has to be believable and real, definitely not indestructible, or he loses credibility. I grew up reading the Spencer novels and so was heavily influenced by them. However, Tanner’s sidekick, Bear, is very different from the norm. Most sidekicks (Pike, Hawk, Win) are often violent, dark characters.  In mine, Tanner is the hot-headed one and Bear is the stabilising influence. Bear is the opposite of the traditional sidekick who tends to have some of these characteristics – single, violent, hot-headed, womaniser. Bear is married, has kids, a normal job and tends to be a calming influence on Tanner. Bear is the voice of reason. I think sidekicks run the risk of becoming one dimensional and therefore boring. By making Bear a more normal, well-rounded person I hope he comes across as more believable and interesting. 

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?
Good question! The crime writers that first attracted me were Parker, McDonald and Leonard. These days I really like DeMille, Crais, Connolly, Finder and Coben. Of course, strictly speaking, Tanner is not a PI. Technically he is just a Fitness Trainer doing favours! 

Q: Why do you write in this genre?
I enjoy the layers that envelope the stories in this genre. In a good crime thriller you can just keep peeling the layers back. I love the mystery and plotting the twists and turns that the story takes. Often the story takes me down a path I hadn’t planned and I would think, “Where did that come from?” The characters in a good novel write themselves and constantly

Free PI fiction from Nathan Gottlieb

One of my favorite new PI writers is Nathan Gottlieb, a boxing reporter who writes about ex-DEA legend-turned-PI Frank Boff. Both his novels were very positively reviewed by me.
Now, The Punishing Game, the second novel in the series can be yours for free this Monday and Tuesday! Pick it up here.

Onion Street (Moe Prager) by Reed Farrel Coleman

Reed Coleman has been a praised master of PI fiction for years now and his Moe Prager series has been a fan-favorite. This novel gives us the chance to see just how Moe became the determined, principled and tough investigator we know.
It is 1967, Moe is a student in New York. His girlfriend is beaten into a coma, prompting the young man to investigate. It turns out his friend, Bobby, is also in danger and soon Moe as well.
Facing gangsters, anarchists and the challenges of becoming a man Moe has a tough time in store for himself that explains how he became a cop and a PI later.
The story is exciting enough by itself, it's simply a good mystery story, but what makes it so great is the little pieces of foreshadowing of Prager's future and in fact some of the inventions that we take for granted right now. An interesting character study as well as a piece of good historical hardboiled fiction this one's recommended. Highly.

Dead And Not So Buried (Gideon Kincaid) by James L. Conway

In this exciting action-packed story we follow PI and mystery writer Gideon Kincaid as he tries to find out who stole the bones of a dead Hollywood star. There's a very personal link to Gideon and the Gravesnatcher it turns out. We see the story unfold through the eyes of the villain (besides those of Gideon), a failed actor, who wants to get revenge on the people that ruined his carreer. This view especially gives a nice satirical edge to the story. James Conway has been a writer and producer and that shows, he servers up a great insider's view of Hollywood.
There's a lot of action scenes (explosions, car chases) that makes you feel this is a Shane Black movie or something. Aside from those scenes there's a lot of laughs inside the pages and the plot is very thriller-like. All these elements make this not only a good read for the hardcore PI fan but also for fans of thrillers by Deaver or Sanford.
I especially enjoyed the scenes between Gideon and his ex-wife and the ones with his lovely and witty  assistant. All in all, I'm looking forward to the second one in this series.