Isn’t it fun as a reader to see an author grow? After reading Mr. Blakely’s first novel, The Steel Deal, which was a wry noir mystery, he has grown leaps and bounds in the who-dun-it field of mystery.
Luna Nightcrow is no ordinary insurance fraud investigator. I totally loved her character. She is deadly smart, gun packing, and butt kicking. She’s a detective without the rules and regulations, but with all the snarky and investigative history. The story starts out with a heart pounding gun show down, rescuing a priceless artifact, and an introduction the calm and cool Ms. Nightcrow. After she’s hired by a major firm to ferret out a lost agent and a case of possibly stolen identity, she makes her way to steamy Miami. The Kelvin Frost Case, dubbed K-Frost, turns into a whole lineup of possible suspects and victims. Is the good guy the bad guy… and the bad guy the good guy? Mr. Blakely does a great job of building up the plotline and continuously making the reader change their guess of who is really behind the K-Frost mystery. Seemingly a simple plot to squirrel some money out of an insurance agency turns into a full fledge battle of life and death. In the midst of saying the day, Luna is paired up with a star detective of Miami and battles her own attraction while hunting down the bad guy. The book has just a tough of romance that adds some whimsy to our tough girl protagonist. In between snapping up insanely confusing clues, working alongside a flakey psychic, angry militaristic security guards, and the ultimate shoot ‘em up battle on a boat, Luna has her hands full in solving this mystery.
Mystery lovers, if you’re in need of a true mystery with plots and twists that will make your head spin, you need to pick up this novel. It’s not boggled down with romance or angst characters, and will whet your appetite for a thrill ride.
...[A]n unmistakable noise shook [Luna] from her seat. Pop-pop--it was gunfire! Luna and the lieutenant sprang into action. They raced through the storeroom behind the bar, burst out the backdoor, and into the night air. The lieutenant ran ahead, towards the parking lot, to join his men in the search for Lobo.
Luna was about to follow when a strange sound stopped her. She undid the buttons on her blouse; dipped a hand between her breasts; and unsnapped her Flashbang holster. She wrapped her cold fingers around a warm .38. And with weapon in hand, Luna followed her ears on a search for the source of the sound. Step-by-step through the shadows, the sound grew in clarity and severity. It led Luna back towards the lounge. Then, her eye caught a sudden movement. She whirled sideways. And through gun sights, Luna spotted something propped against the dumpster.
--From "A Big Gamble" (Chapter 1 of The K-Frost Caper)
James Blakley was educated at Missouri Western State College and Washburn University. While at MWSC, he was a local and national award-winning columnist and co-editor of "The Griffon-News."
Blakley worked 10 1/2 years as a page and as an Assistant Librarian for the River Bluffs Regional Libraries of St. Joseph, MO. He currently lives in Topeka,KS where he worked for The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library before spending several years in clerical and customer support capacities for international computer companies such as EDS and HP.
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