THE DIABOLICAL

4 stars out of 5

Bruno Johnson is one of those guys you almost hate to love; a former LAPD officer who got in serious trouble (and spent time in jail as a result) who's now happily married to Marie but living with her and their 14 kids - mostly rescues - in exile in Costa Rica. He's also prone to reverting to his former self, even after he's promised his cherished wife that he's done with that phase of his life.

This installment of the series - the 11th - begins after a deadly shoot-em-up in a local nightclub that included a dear friend of Bruno and Marie, the police chief - who is aware of Bruno's real identity despite his "cover" as a bartender at a local tourist hotel - asks for help in solving the murders. When the chief goes so far as to threaten him with turning him over to U.S. authorities, Bruno feels he has no choice but to try despite his dislike of the chief.

Bruno's good friend Karl Drago, who recently married the dead friend's daughter, has taken his bride on a honeymoon, leaving Bruno in charge of his loyal Rottweiler, Waldo - and, as readers become acutely aware of as the story progresses, Waldo is not a Bruno fan. Neither, apparently, are some very bad guys who seem to be out to get him, nor is his boss, the hard-nosed Darla, who rules the hotel with an iron fist (any just about anything else she can get her hands on). One who's sold on Bruno, though, is a rotund guy named Otis Brasher who sits at the bar all day drinking grasshoppers and insists on hiring Bruno as a bodyguard (it seems some very bad guys are out to get him as well).

Confused? Well, so is Bruno - especially when more dead bodies pile up and it starts to look as if Otis's predicament and that bar shoot-out may be connected. It's also starting to look as though Bruno may have to relocate his entire brood elsewhere lest he be found and returned to the United States, where he's wanted on charges of kidnapping and murder (how that hasn't happened long before this, especially since just about everyone in Costa Rica seems to know who Bruno really is, remains a mystery to me, but hey, it's all in good fun). All told, it's another fun romp - and of course, you'll have to read it for yourself to get down to the nitty gritty. Great series, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review another pre-release copy. 

The Diabolical by David Putnam (Oceanview Publishing, February 2024); 345 pp.

A LONESOME BLOOD-RED SUN

4 stars out of 5

I've read three other books by this talented author and looked forward to checking out the adventures of "Bone Detective" Dave Beckett in this series - of which this is the second installment. Honestly, neither he nor the story grabbed me much till at least halfway through, but after that, my interest picked up and I enjoyed the rest of the ride. It helped to learn - albeit after the fact - that most of the adventures are based on the author's real-life experiences in law enforcement.

Basically, Beckett, a homicide detective in San Bernadino County, California, has earned a reputation for noncompliance with the rules - even to the point of writing his own. For years, he's gotten away with his offbeat, borderline illegal words and actions, mostly because he also gets his man (or woman) - or at least more often than the other detectives in his department. Still, his antics are enough to try the patience of Job (and certainly didn't endear him much to me). The plot is a sort of compilation of his adventures and misadventures over four or so years, centering primarily on the father he barely got to know, his emotionally disturbed partner and his attraction to a pretty female officer named Judith "Jimmie" Poe. Throw in his own penchant for shooting himself in the foot (usually after loading the gun himself), and you've got a real mishmash of back-and-forths that at times can be a little hard to follow (or, in some instances, really care much about).

Eventually, though, it all comes together with a gruesome find unearthed - literally - by a local dog. The rest of the story isn't much less gruesome, but it does bring closure of at least one major case that pretty much assures a follow-up. Will I? Yes, I think - if for no other reason than to see what beat of whose drum this guy will follow next time out. Meantime, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the pre-release review copy of this one.

A Lonesome Blood-Red Sun by David Putnam (Level Best Books, October 2023); 333 pp.

THE SCORNED

4.5 stars out of 5

It's hard not to love hard-scrapping former LAPD cop Bruno Johnson - even though he's killed way more than his share of bad guys, he's got a heart behind his shoulder holster. For the most part, that heart belongs to his family - at this point, he's got a very pregnant wife, Marie, an aging father who's dying of cancer and at least 10 youngsters of varying ages stashed away in a Costa Rica compound. He'd also go to the mat for his even scrappier buddy, Karl Drago, whose best friend is his uber-loyal dog Waldo.

As his local doctor friend and his wife assist with Marie's difficult birth of their son, the wife pulls Bruno aside to ask his help with bringing their college-age daughter Layla, who's being stalked and claims to be in danger, back from Los Angeles. Problem is, of course, Bruno is a wanted man in the states; if he's caught, it's a pretty sure bet he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars. But he's got a debt to settle with the doctor and his wife, so he agrees - with the doctor's good wife and his mostly estranged, con artist mother Bea - who has turned up in Costa Rica but wants to return to the good old US of A.

At this point, I'm quite sure I'd have told both women to buzz off and let me alone, but Bruno, being Bruno, agrees to their demands and off they go (with a promise to a groggy Marie that he'd be back in a couple of days). Once they get on U.S. soil, however, the entire dynamic changes; both mom and the doctor's wife disappear, and Bruno finds out that, among other things, Layla's mother came along so she could bring money to pay kidnappers for her daughter's return. When that plan falls apart - big surprise, the kidnappers want more - Bruno knows he needs to find Layla himself and calls Drago for help. That plan is fraught with danger as well, but they do find Layla alive and telling quite a different story; it's not a stalker she has, but a baby - and the notorious criminal baby daddy doesn't want to give him up.

And it is at that point that I must respectfully bow out; giving out more details would spoil the story for other readers. Suffice it to say that, as is the case with the other books in this very enjoyable series, bodies and body parts dot the landscape like fireflies in the early summer night sky. Almost no one save Bruno and Drago seems to tell the truth, so twists and surprises keep readers turning pages not only to find out who survived the latest go-round, but which, if any, can be counted on in a pinch (or sting).

As I alluded to earlier, it's hard for me to understand how Bruno can so easily rationalize away and even forgive the bad behavior of other people - once burned, twice shy and thrice gone from my life tends to be my motto. Still, the whole thing makes for a great, edge-of-your-seat story - and I've gotta love a pooch who can turn the nastiest of the nasties into slobbering globs of jelly almost with a glance in their direction. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy of another of these gems!

The Scorned by David Putnam (Oceanview, February 2023); 353 pp.

THE SINISTER

5 stars out of 5

Bruno Johnson is a wanted man. The former LAPD cop, who also spent some time in jail, has been hiding out from the law in a hotel with his pregnant wife, Marie; they're waiting to return to Costa Rica to rejoin the children they rescued from lives of almost unimaginable horror. He's also wrestling with PTSD after delivering his kind of justice to a motorcycle gang during which he was seriously injured - and during which he lost a son he never knew he had.

Marie can't wait to get back to the kids and Bruno's elderly father, who is dying of cancer; Bruno is hot to trot as well, at least until he gets a call from FBI Deputy Director Dan Chulack, who begs him to find his recently kidnapped granddaughter. Despite Marie's protests, Bruno reluctantly agrees - it's an offer from an old friend he can't refuse. It'll just take a day or two, Bruno counters. Then we'll be on our way, he insists. Enter that old "best-laid plans" expression.

In fact, it enters in more ways than one. The second hitch in the gitalong comes with the out-of-the-blue appearance of a woman who claims to be Bruno's long-gone-missing mother; now in a wheelchair, she insists she wants to make up for lost time and accompany him and Marie when they return to Costa Rica and the ailing husband she left in the lurch. That encounter, BTW, led to one of the best lines I've read in a book in quite some time (hint: It's his impression of his mother the first time he sees her).

Problem is, Bruno's search for the kidnapped child and his mother's past indiscretions (some of which landed her in jail) get twisted up, requiring him to head into dangerous gang territory even though he's not fully healed. But he's got help from his big old pal Karl Drago and his uber-capable dog Waldo. I don't remember Drago from the only other book I read in this series, The Heartless, which is the seventh (somehow I must have missed the eighth, in which I'm pretty sure Drago made an appearance). At any rate, he's an impressive character - and if anything, his dog is even more impressive.

For the most part, everything works out in the end - but you'll just have to read it for yourself to find out how. I'll be watching for the next installment - hope I don't miss another one. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy of another one.

The Sinister by David Putnam (Oceanview Publishing, February 2022); 369 pp.

THE HEARTLESS

4 stars out of 5

When a publisher offers me a free book, I rarely look a gift horse in the mouth (the only exception is if it's a romance novel, which I will read only if a shotgun is pointed at my head and maybe not even then). Admittedly, I hesitated a minute or two because this is the seventh in a series of which I've read none, but since I'm always on the lookout for cool characters and plots and the description sounded promising, I decided to take a chance. 

And I enjoyed it. For readers new to the series like me, I'll say this one stands alone well, although I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it more had I started at the beginning (which IMHO is true of any series). The "hero," former Los Angeles County Deputy Bruno Johnson, is just enough of a maverick to tickle my fancy, and the plot is for the most part believable and filled with action - edge-of-seat in places.

As the story begins, Johnson has traded in his law enforcement status for work as a court bailiff, mostly so he can keep more of an eye on his teenage daughter Olivia. In the middle of the trial, he gets a call from Olivia begging for help; with her ne'er-do-well boyfriend - the one Johnson despises - she's in the middle of a confrontation that involves a gun. So Johnson is off to save her day (and perhaps her life). He's successful, but the incident certainly doesn't change his opinion of Olivia's drug-dealing boyfriend.

Meanwhile, back at the local prison, there's a brouhaha that results in the escape of several dangerous criminals including murderer Louis Barkow. As the story progresses, readers (and Johnson) learn that the incident with his daughter was rigged to set the stage for the escape. Now, Johnson is even madder; no way, he insists, is his daughter going to be used as a pawn - and it looks as if that might happen yet again. Enter Johnson's old partner Robby Wick, still on the force and happy to lend his more-than-capable assistance with Johnson's search for the illusive Barkow, who's gone to ground.

Along the way, there's what I suppose is a requisite love interest, but for me, at least, it was nothing more than an unnecessary diversion (as were a handful of typos that should have been caught). As for the love part, I know Johnson has been living alone for several years, but really, he can't - or shouldn't - be quite that stupid. Otherwise, the plot thickens as the search for Barkow intensifies and Olivia's life really does go on the line. But as the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going - and it's clear Johnson and his partner plan on hanging tough all the way to what is an exciting end. All told, this is a good old-fashioned knock 'em down, drag 'em out story which, for the record, I can see as a TV series or movie, perhaps with a younger version of Denzel Washington in the lead (hint, hint).

The Heartless by David Putnam (Oceanview Publishing, February 2020); 368 pp.