"Two interesting novellas"
The Licking Valley Coon Hunters Club. At Los
Angeles Airport, a sick looking thug carrying a syringe
with bad blood inside it abducts former cop Martin Zolotow
using the hypodermic as a weapon. The thug escorts Martin
by air to Oklahoma City where two more punks greet him.
They take Zolo to Tobias Washington who blackmails Zolo by
threatening to kill a friend if the sleuth fails to rescue
his daughter from rival Jimmy McDevitt and the pig
farmer's so-called vampires. Zolo works the case, but is
triple crossed at every step as the two gang lords compete
over illegal drug trafficking. The Bikini Bottoms Optional Oyster Bar. Zolo barely
survives a dunking in the Gulf of Mexico though he cannot
remember why someone would toss him into the sea. Widow
Jacob Mathias helps Zolo recover at his place in
Apalachicola, Florida. Zolo starts to remember his client
Henry McGill wanted him to learn what happened to internet
stripper Lena, who he believes was murdered. Now Zolo
struggles to learn how he got embroiled with mobsters
wanting him dead starting with the strip joint The Bikini
Bottoms Optional Oyster Bar. These two novellas star an intriguing knight in shining
armor sleuth who has memory problems that will remind
readers of Memento's Leonard Shelby. Both tales are well
written as the hero struggles to keep track of what he
knows, which he quickly forgets unless he writes it down
(should try a Polaroid). Brian A. Hopkins furbishes a
unique private investigator who is one part Boy Scout and
one part Noir. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted February 14, 2007
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