Reviewed
by: Keith Nixon
Genre:
Supernatural/Crime Fiction
Approximate
word count: 50-55,000
words.
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
After a long stint trying to make it
as a musician in LA and clawing his way up to mid-level management in
the chemical entertainment industry, Earl went back to his first
love—writing. Earl now works as a proof reader and editor. Down
Solo is his debut novel.
You can learn
more about the author at his website.
Description:
Things
haven't been going well for Charlie Miner. His work as a private
investigator involves him with an endless roster of shady characters.
His ex-wife is borderline crazy. And he hasn't been getting to spend
anywhere near enough time with his teenage daughter Mindy, the one
person in his life who truly matters to him.
When he wakes up on a slab in the morgue with a hole in his head, though, things get even worse.
Just before the shooting, Charlie was investigating a case involving fraud, gold, religious zealots, and a gorgeous woman who seemed to be at the center of everything. Even with a fatal bullet wound, Charlie can connect the dots from the case to his attack. And when his daughter is abducted by someone involved, the stakes get exponentially higher. Charlie needs to find Mindy before the criminals do the same thing to her that they did to him.
After that, maybe he'll try to figure out how he's walking around dead.
When he wakes up on a slab in the morgue with a hole in his head, though, things get even worse.
Just before the shooting, Charlie was investigating a case involving fraud, gold, religious zealots, and a gorgeous woman who seemed to be at the center of everything. Even with a fatal bullet wound, Charlie can connect the dots from the case to his attack. And when his daughter is abducted by someone involved, the stakes get exponentially higher. Charlie needs to find Mindy before the criminals do the same thing to her that they did to him.
After that, maybe he'll try to figure out how he's walking around dead.
Appraisal:
Well
this is an intriguing story… first and foremost because at the
outset the protagonist, Charlie Miner, wakes up in a mortuary with a
bullet hole in his head. He’s clinically dead, yet somehow still
alive.
What
first drew me to Down Solo
was the blurb and a couple of author quotes from favourites such as
Paul D. Brazill and Les Edgerton. If those guys are fans, there must
be something within, right?
Right.
Surprisingly,
it doesn’t take long to get used to the idea that Charlie is dead.
For one thing Down Solo
is written in first person. So as Charlie accepts it, so does the
reader. Smart move on the author’s part. Charlie is just as puzzled
by what’s going on and spends the entire novel figuring out his own
medical miracle as well as discovering who killed him and why, plus
looking out for his daughter, Mindy, who’s caught up in the mess.
Down
Solo is an intriguing mix
of the supernatural (Charlie is able to escape his own body and
investigate his surroundings as a spirit no-one can see, but not for
too long) and crime (lots of people get shot). It’s loaded with
dark humour and trips along at a very good pace. The characters are
strong and the dialogue suitably snappy. I thoroughly enjoyed Down
Solo. Go look up Earl
Javorsky.
FYI:
Nothing
unusual for a crime novel.
Format/Typo
Issues:
None.
Rating: ***** Five Stars
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