Double Switch by T. T. Monday is the second book in the series featuring San Jose Bull Dogs Relief Pitcher, Johnny Adcock. He is well aware that he is far closer to the end of his career than the start as he moonlights as a non-paid private investigator to his fellow players. He’s helped more than one player out of a jam and keeps details to himself. That fact and a few other things means he has a bit of a reputation around Major League Baseball (MLB) among the players and the ownership.

Tiff Tate also has a reputation around MLB. She is what is known as a “stylist.” When having a certain look can make a player rich by celebrity endorsements, she designs a persona to fit the player on the field and off. She gets paid well. Very well in fact as she is reputed to earn mid six figures for each makeover she can well afford her private jet and other luxuries. She also can suddenly resurrect a struggling player’s career with a few tweaks. More than any other sport, superstition rules baseball and when her player makeover magic works it adds to her allure and mystique.

But, the stylist to the players has a problem she can’t solve on her own. It’s June and the Colorado Rockies rookie outfielder, Yonel Ruiz, is tearing-up the league. He can do it all from being on a record pace homer wise and driving in runs to throwing out base runners on the paths. He is also a media sensation because of his perilous journey out of Cuba.

What the public does not know is that Ruiz is being blackmailed by the Venezuelans who smuggled him out of Cuba. Tate has been told by Ruiz that his family is being held hostage in Havana. They want him to set up a deal where his salary of 50 million dollars paid over six years goes into an account the kidnappers’ control. He will be given an allowance so he can keep up appearances. Should he fail to agree to do this in the next two weeks. They will start killing his family including his daughter, wife, parents, siblings, etc.

Ruiz’s only contact is with staff of the Colorado Rockies and Tiff Tate, his stylist. The kidnappers won’t allow him to meet with others and most likely have operators in the area watching him. So, with the Bay Dogs soon headed to Denver to play the Rockies, Tate wants Adcock to try and find out who these Venezuelans are. Once he identifies them then Tate will try to work directly with them to resolve the problem. If MLB gets involved they will do what is best for the sport and not the player. She will resort to involving MLB if she has to, but intended to give Adcock a week to work the case.

While Adcock is well aware that he can’t do much, he agrees to do what he can. Ruiz isn’t the only one being threatened as Adcock quickly finds out.  It is a far reaching mess that could have a huge impact on baseball in the future. It does not help that those at the upper reaches of MLB very much want Adcock to get out of the private investigator business and that is way before the bodies start dropping.

Double Switch builds on the events of The Setup Man in a strong way. Adcock is a year closer to the end of pitching in the majors and he very well knows it. A future beyond baseball is on his mind, but he isn’t about for one second to give up on what he loves which is playing baseball.

In addition to the complicated mystery, T. T. Monday brings readers well familiar with baseball or not at all right along for a ride through the clubhouses and the underworld of how Latin American players make it into the show. He has a rare gift of making baseball accessible to the novice as well as the experienced fan as part of the overall mystery.  As he did with the first book, T. T. Monday shines a light into the less glamorous aspects of a sport he clearly loves.

Double Switch could be read as a stand-alone, but it really should be read after one reads The Setup Man. The sacrifices of family continue to play a role in Adcock’s life as do other elements carried over from the first book. Double Switch is a good read and an excellent sequel.

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

The Combat Zone by Jed Power takes readers back in time to the Harvard Square of the very early 70’s in Boston. A time when drugs and X-rated entertainment ruled the area, hippies are everywhere, and anti-war sentiment is strong. Cocaine is a wonder drug that can do no harm. As Malloy muses to himself, “Even one of my heroes, Sherlock Holmes, had used the stuff to help solve cases.” This is the world of private investigator Michael Malloy who consumes vast amounts of cocaine throughout the book.

The late 20 something private investigator is on the hunt for a teenage runaway named Susan Worthman.  According to her father who has been coming down from Maine to look for her and threw some money around, she is now going by the name of “Susie Sparkles” and is in the company of a couple speed freaks. Malloy wants a friend of his, Stoney Sundown, to also look around for her by way of the people he knows via drug dealing and a few other things. It should be easy to find her and Mallory figures the whole deal will be wrapped up in a couple of days. He doesn’t expect to make much money on the gig and hopes that he doesn’t get evicted.

Malloy starts by talking to his cousin, Billy Skinner, who also works for the Cambridge Police Department. The cops are overwhelmed by the number of runaways and other issues they are dealing with and were of no help to the dad. Because of the familial connection Malloy gets a little consideration and assistance, but not much. He also starts talking to the homeless young people in the square as well as his other contracts. The case might have stopped there with zero real leads if some members of the “Devil’s Demons Motorcycle Club” had not decided to try to scare him off using physical brute force and threats. They aren’t the only ones who give that a shot. Before long private investigator Michael Malloy is in a world of trouble in The Combat Zone.

Filled with plenty of action, a difficult case, and a private investigator walking the edge is a number of ways this read is a very good one. Malloy is doing the best he can to find the runaway and save himself while at the same time heavily indulging in his darker vices. Part anti-hero and part good guy, this is a complex character that lives in a world rich in detail. The Combat Zone by Jed Power is part mystery, part crime fiction, and in all aspects a very good read.

The author sent me a pdf of the book to read and review after hearing about me from author Bill Crider who reviewed the book last August.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

The Ehrengraf Fandango is the twelfth short story featuring the lawyer Martian H. Ehrengraf. He has a small room at his home reserved for attorney-client meetings. The room is a bit reminiscent of such a room at a police station as both the table and the chairs are bolted to the floor. The surroundings lean towards the austere and Ehrengraf may or may not be recording everything that goes on in the room. It is not exactly clear from the start that he pushes the legal boundaries hard if not flat out obliterating them. That talent comes in handy with his latest client, Cheryl Plumley, as the story begins.

The entire world knows she fired the gun that killed three people in a house on Woodbridge Avenue. She has no memory of actually going into the home and shooting Mary Beth and Richard Kuhldreyer as well as their neighbor, Patricia Munk. While her only explanation other than sheer madness for the crime would be satanic intervention, Ehrengraf has a much more down to earth explanation. Not only does he know how he can help her with the case, he has a few other ideas to help her and her future.

Along with a touch here and there of subtle humor, The Ehrengraf Fandango by Lawrence Block is a complicated multiple case mystery. The Plumley case is just part of a much larger tale in this work. Martian H. Ehrengraf is a lawyer who bends the law to suit himself and enjoys the fruit of his labors in the process. He only defends innocent clients and he never loses a case. If you need his services it is always best to pay his free promptly and without delay.

Also present at the end of the book is the original introduction to the first story, The Ehrengraf Defense, written by Edward D. Hoch for the 1978 initial appearance in Ellery Queen’s mystery magazine. That is followed by two different afterwards from the author, first in 1994 and then 2014. Those pieces by Hoch and author Lawrence Block provide intriguing details about the dapper lawyer, the other eleven tales in the series, as well as publishing in general.

Material was picked up to read and review when the author made it free back in January.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

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Gunfire Ridge is the fourth installment of the Bodie Kendrick Bounty Hunter Series. It opens with Kendrick in the company of a soiled dove in the town of Ford’s Bottom. The quiet is disturbed by the pounding on their room door, followed by threats, and very soon gunfire. When the lead stops flying and the dust has settled a bit town marshal, Cotton Mayhew, makes it clear that the bounty hunter has overstayed his welcome in these parts. Thanks to the Sheriff up in Laramie already having authorized his bounty pay at the local bank, Kendrick can collect his monies due him and head on out of town immediately.

That would be just as well as for all involved as some folks are no doubt coming to town to settle a score with Kendrick. Today’s attempt at killing him traces back to an event earlier in the series and the far flung family members, of which there are quite a few, seem to be of no mind to let things go. Kendrick also has work to do near Pine Ridge, Nebraska and would like to get out of northern Colorado before the winter snows set in. That is going to be a way easier said than done in Gunfire Ridge.

Gunfire Ridge: Bodie Kendrick Bounty Hunter Book 4 is another good one.  Starting with Hard Trail To Socorro, Rio Matanza, Diamond In The Rough and now Gunfire Ridge, the very good reads in this series are well worth your time. Kendrick is a man’s man— he loves hard, he drinks hard, and he works hard. When killing needs to be done he does it as that is the cards he was dealt. A very good western series where there is plenty of action and adventure with a hint of romance and mystery thrown in the mix. Award winning author Wayne D. Dundee simply can’t write a bad story. This is another good one.

According to Amazon I picked this up in early April 2015. I have no idea now if it was a free read or I used funds in my Amazon Associate account. I suspect the latter.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016