Conclave

Robert Harris (born: 1957) is a contemporary British novelist with several books adapted for the screen, including his 2016 Vatican intrigue novel, Conclave.

The Pope is dead, and it’s time to pick a new one. This is done through a secretive process among the College of Cardinals in an election done away from the eyes of the world. The conclave is held by the Cardinals locked in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. Harris’ novel takes the reader behind the scenes among the politics and backstabbing in this fictionalized (but, I imagine, realistic) political convention.

The paperback tracks the Dean of the Cardinals, Jacopo Lomelei, who is tasked with administering the conclave event and the secret voting that takes place among the participants and candidates. We meet the conservative cardinals and the liberal cardinals jockeying to be the next pope. There are mysteries and revelations that take place along the way as well as an enigmatic Cardinal that no one has ever heard of before.

In many ways, the novel reminded me of Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians where the candidates are being (figuratively) knocked off one at a time by the other attendees. Lomelei is portrayed as a humble and godly servant fighting hard to herd these ambitious cats vying for infallible papal supremacy.

Mostly, the novel worked quite well and was genuinely interesting and suspenseful. That said, I can't imagine anyone being captivated by the book without a personal history rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition. Otherwise, they might as well be choosing the head of a beer-swilling college fraternity. The book is devoid of any physical action, and the suspense derives solely from high-stakes political jockeying and gamesmanship. 

After a satisfying ending, Harris throws in a final-page curve ball twist ending that was just bonkers. I can’t decide if it was a good twist or a bad twist, but you’ll never see it coming, and it may ruin the book for some readers. Consider yourself warned. It was certainly an audacious literary choice. 

With the stipulations outlined above, this was a great – and very readable – novel. By now you should know if it sounds like your thing or not. It definitely made me want to read more of Harris’ works. Highly recommended. Get it HERE.

Johnny Hawk #03 - Fast Riders

The fictional character Johnny Hawk first appeared in publication in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine's November 1968 issue. The character appeared the following year in the magazine's April and June issues. The character then appeared 10 additional times in the pages of Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine between 1970 and 1976. The character was created and written by Edward Y. Breese, a New Jersey author that also wrote short Mike Shayne stories. He also contributed shorts to other magazines like Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Zane Grey Mystery Magazine. My first experience with the author and the Johnny Hawk character was the third appearance, found in the novelette Fast Riders from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine's June 1969 issue.

Due to not having access to the other Hawk stories, and what little information exists online, I was able to determine that Hawk is sort of an action-man, described as an “adjuster” who sometimes finds himself at odds with the law. He lives in Miami, Florida and enjoys short vacations that involve fishing in central southern Florida, a rural swampland that is ruled by deadly wildlife. It is on a fishing trip that Hawk discovers a different type of threat. 

The beginning of the story explains that Hawk is in the back-country fishing. He has a six-shot .22 revolver, a knife, and a fishing pole. These things are important. Hawk's elderly African-American friend Pop lives about a mile away in a swamp shack that was built by his grandfather in 1895. Hawk originally met Pop when he saved him from some thieves in a bar four years ago, so the two have a close friendship. Pop has an 18 year old beautiful girl named Marabelle.

Preparing to fish in different holes, Hawk walks to Pop's shack and from a distance can see complete carnage. Three bikers with swastikas have killed Pop and nailed him to the walls of his shack. They are beginning to rape Marabelle. Hawk's issue is he has a .22 pistol that won't do much damage. He walks up to the trio, carefully aims the .22 and puts a shot between the eyes of the first biker. Another biker has a .38 that he uses recklessly. Thankfully, Hawk is able to throw his knife and kill him. The other biker quickly leaves during the fight and steals Hawk's vehicle. 

Marabelle thanks Hawk for saving her and the two take Pop from the wall and place him inside. Marabelle informs Hawk that the violence is just beginning. Neither of them have a car or boat and the biker is on his way back to town to get the rest of his gang. Marabelle and Hawk know they only have one path – run to the swamp and hope to outrun them on foot. But, Hawk only has 4 shots left in his .22 and he has 3 bullets in the biker's discarded .38. Not much firepower against an armed biker gang. 

Man, this story was incredible. I am a sucker for “outgunned with low ammo” stories and books and this one fit that particular niche quite well. Fast Riders features Hawk trying to save Marabelle by killing off the bikers one by one in the swamp. The goal is to kill a biker, get his bullets or weapon, then rinse and repeat. Eventually, the numbers are too great and Hawk has to make a life or death decision. Breese's writing was ultra-violent and gritty and he provided me so many reasons to cheer for Hawk and Marabelle. The villains are evil, the good guy is admirable. Oddly, sometimes it isn't clearly defined enough, but Breese avoids the confusion. Fast Riders is highly recommended.

Loren Swift #01 - Foul Shot

Author Doug Hornig (b. 1943) is a New York native that graduated from George Washington University in 1965. He went on to work in various industries as a factory worker, taxi driver, bar singer, clerk, photographer, and journalist. He authored the Loren Smith four-book series of private-eye novels set in Charlottesville, a small college town in northern Virginia. The books were published by Scribner from 1984 through 1988. I am starting with the debut, Foul Shot, which was nominated for an Edgar.

Loren Swift was born and raised in Charlottesville. He flunked out of the University of Virginia (UVA) as a freshman and ended up in the American military serving a stint in the Vietnam War. He is divorced, has an old VW he calls Clementine, is a dedicated UVA basketball fan, and he works as the city's one and only private-eye – a career choice that has kept him living check to check. 

The book begins with Swift arriving at an enormous mansion owned and occupied by the Majors family. When Swift arrives he meets John and Elizabeth Majors and is provided a potential case. Their daughter has gone missing from UVA and they are worried. Swift takes the case for $100 per day including expenses. On the way out of the deep mansion he is interviewed briefly by “The Colonel”, the girl's grandfather. He tells Swift he doesn't trust Elizabeth and wants to have her investigated. Swift politely rejects the offer because he concentrates on one job at a time.

The book then flourishes into a captivating sleuth thriller with Swift digging up intricate details about the Majors family. The plot begins to focus on the family's attorney and his motivation for blackmail. When Swift discovers a deep and dark secret concerning a Majors family member he is able to connect the blackmail pattern. However, there is more than one crime being committed and that enhances the overall story and drives it into a frenzied pace. 

I have a fondness for the book due to growing up in southwestern Virginia and experiencing the Charlottesville area on a number of visits. The book's title represents the inclusion of a character paramount to the story, a highly touted UVA basketball player. The rivalries I watched as a kid between UVA and North Carolina are highlighted in this book. But, beyond the nostalgia, it is a fantastic crime-fiction novel set in the world of college basketball. 

Hornig's inspiration is Robert Parker's Spenser, evident with Swift even reading a Spenser novel in the book (The Judas Goat). He's glib, sarcastic, humorous, and enjoys Irish whiskey. Through first-person narrative the reader uncovers the clues in traditional fashion, but kudos to Swift for bringing an unexpected payoff to the finale. There are a number of private-eye references made and the book utilizes a number of genre troupes that keep the pages turning. 

Foul Shot scores as a smooth page-turner and Hornig clearly has a gift for propelling the reader into some dismal places – a desired destination when it comes to murder mysteries. I'm looking forward to the remainder of the series. Highly recommended. Get yours HERE. 

Killer Delivery

According to his online biography at Blossoms Spring Publishing, Calum France was born in Stirling, Scotland and began writing at a young age. He holds a BA in English Literature and has authored two full-length novels and a novella in the horror genre. I acquired an ARC of the novella, Killer Delivery, published by Sapphire Creed Ink and published in 2024 as a one-dollar ebook. 

The opening chapter, “Cold Night”, places readers in a secluded mansion in the small town of Aberlea on a snowy Halloween evening. It is here that Jonathan Harker (obvious homage to Bram Stoker), successful wealthy novelist, performs the ordinary task of ordering food to be delivered to his home. But, a deranged super-fan named Karlee Monroe has been waiting outside of Harker's home for just this occasion. She savagely executes a gore-gash-to-the-door-dash and then takes on the disguise and carries the food into her literary idol's home. 

But, Killer Delivery offers readers two more surprises. Three burglars decide that this Halloween night is the perfect opportunity to break into Harker's home. Conveniently, as Karlee is inside Harker's home, the three bungling burglars tie Harker to a chair and begin the gun-wielding threats to cough over money. However, all of these intruders are shocked when they realize that Harker doesn't write his murder thrillers as fiction.

This novella slightly resembled Thurlow's Christmas Story, a short story that was authored by John Kendrick Bangs and published in Harper's Weekly in 1894. In that plot design, an author's fan surprisingly appears on his doorstep and then weird things happen. But, in a more modern sense, the novella is like a cross between Dexter and The People Under the Stairs in its clever home-invasion concept plopped neatly upon a stainless steel operating table under the gloom of a professional serial killer.  

At 100-pages, give or take a font size, the novella is presented in a smooth prose with plenty of imagery and compelling storytelling. While it is hard to create an innovative home-invasion plot with today's overuse of the plot design, France works his magic to propel this narrative into a riveting read laced with energy, violence, and a sense of lonely atmosphere that drapes the writing in a snowbound chill. Killer Delivery delivers the goods. Get it HERE.

Dracula

Dracula, written by an Irishman named Bram Stoker, was published in 1897. It was later a huge success in the 20th century and is the most popular horror novel of all-time. It inspired countless media platforms including movies, television shows, animated cartoons, action figures, comics, breakfast cereals, and costumes. The book's villain, Count Dracula, is often the icon for vampire culture - both pop-culture and the freakish folks that dress goth and avoid suntans. Dracula was, and is, a big deal.

Bram Stoker's Dracula is presented in a non-traditional way. The entire book is made up of diary entries, letters, transcripts of phonograph recordings, telegraph messages, and ship logs. It makes for a dynamic reading experience that bounces perspectives. 

The presentation begins with Jonathan Harker's diary entries. He's an attorney who has been asked to travel to the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania to visit Count Dracula at his castle. The meeting is to settle some financial affairs and complete real estate purchases. However, Harker quickly learns that he has become a prisoner and he's only able to communicate with his fiancé Mina through letters that are read and approved by Dracula himself. Harker also discovers that Dracula is a supernatural being when he sees the Count behave like a lizard and crawl down the castle walls. There are parts of the castle that are restricted, but Harker is able to discover three vampire women that are also in the castle as well as a cemetery and chapel where the Count sleeps in a dirt filled box.

Harker eventually returns to England and is admitted into the hospital where he tells Mina everything that happened. Meanwhile, the Count has purchased an old house in London and arrives by boat in a mysterious fashion. Through diaries and letters the readers are introduced to Lucy, Mina's friend. Lucy begins to behave in a strange way and readers discover that she is a victim of Dracula, evident with puncture holes on her neck and her telepathic connection with the Count. 

Dr. Seward, who is also seeing strange behavior in a patient named Renfield, asks for help from his mentor, Dr. Van Helsing who determines that Lucy is a vampire. Together, they collaborate with other men to find Dracula's home. Eventually, horrible things happen to Lucy and the book's finale has Van Helsing and the other men chasing Dracula through the snowy mountains battling gypsies to kill Dracula.

First off, for 1897, this book is extremely violent. There's women being decapitated, garlic stuffed in the mouths of corpses, a baby that is kidnapped and drained of blood, children dying, etc. These are elements that probably created shockwaves at the turn of the century with not only the level of violence but the combination of intense scenes and the fiendish despicable villain. Despite the book's unpopularity upon publication, the intensity may have drawn filmmakers to the novel. 

The book's beginning with Harker in the castle was fantastic and the last 60 pages is really good with the chase and mystery determining Dracula's whereabouts. The ending is quite epic. The middle 200 pages was my biggest issue - which is the bulk of the book. The constant perspective changes from diary entries of one character to physician notes or letters of another character and the rotation just never glued me to the story. Also, Van Helsing's presence was a real letdown. He cries a lot, speaks like a character in Shakespeare, and is just way too literary for me. These 200 pages are similar to a medical thriller with blood transfusions and endless around the clock care for Lucy. 

I wish Dracula was a traditional novel, but its wide appeal is the style of presentation. Some people love it, others are just underwhelmed by the book. Overall, I really enjoyed Dracula but I'll never read it again. I'm one and done just because of the sluggishness of the middle. But, if you like horror, then Dracula is a mandatory read. You have to read it or else you really can't substantiate your love of vampire literature for something like Salem's Lot or Interview with the Vampire. Take a leap and try the classic. You'll be satisfied.

Ranking Dean R. Koontz Books

In this exclusive video, Eric presents a top 20 ranking of his favorite Dean R. Koontz novels. Each novel includes a capsule review with tons of book covers through the years from various publishers. Also, movie clips and some other fun facts about Koontz's work is included.

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 108

Another exciting episode of the Paperback Warrior Podcast. In this episode, Eric discusses the life and work of legendary best-selling thriller writer Dean R. Koontz, complete with the numerous pseudonyms he used throughout his career and the many genres he contributed to. In addition, Eric reviews an iconic horror novel from the 1800s and reads a horrifying "when animals attack" story titled "Weasels Ripped My Flesh". You can stream the episode below, at YouTube, or on any streaming platform. Also, be sure to view the entirely different, exclusive video ranking Eric's favorite Dean R. Koontz novels HERE.

Listen to "Episode 108: Dean R. Koontz" on Spreaker.