Detective Fiction, Thrillers, Crimes - Fiction, Other Mystery Categories, Character Types - Fiction

Frag Box: Herman Jackson Mystery

Name: Frag Box: Herman Jackson Mystery
Author: Richard A. Thompson
ISBN: 9781590586785

by Richard A. Thompson

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Overview

Herman Jackson never thought his past would catch up with him, least of all via a murdered Vietnam veteran named Charlie Victor.

Synopsis

Herman Jackson never thought his past would catch up with him, least of all via a murdered Vietnam veteran named Charlie Victor.

Publishers Weekly

In Thompson’s compelling second mystery to feature St. Paul, Minn., bail bondsman Herman Jackson (after 2008’s The Fiddle Game), Jackson investigates the murder of one of his more unusual repeat customers, soul-wounded Charlie Victor, a homeless Vietnam vet. Jackson, to whom Victor bequeathed a mysterious box, immediately receives visits from the FBI, an odd bully who wants to take over Jackson’s business and a band of heavily armed mercenaries of unknown origin. When the police appear to lose interest in Victor’s case, Jackson enlists the aid of comely Anne Packard, a fearless newspaper reporter. Jackson and Packard follow the scant clues to Victor’s past, hoping to solve the brutal killing, uncover a buried secret and separate the good guys, if there are any, from the bad. A dash of romance, plenty of action and an appealing, wise-cracking hero enhance this detective story with an old-fashioned noir flavor. (Nov.)

About the Author, Richard A. Thompson

Richard A. Thompson is a former civil engineer and construction manager who traded his hard hat for a laptop and now writed full time.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

Herman Jackson, bail bondsman with a heart of mush (Fiddle Game, 2008), goes the extra mile for an ill-used Vietnam vet. One look at Charlie Victor, and most people think of hard luck personified: "Yesterday, elsewhere, and too bad." Consider his war, for instance. Vietnam, no picnic for anyone, was through no fault of Charlie's an extended nightmare from which he never came close to awaking. So when Herman, the doyen of St. Paul bail bondsmen, learns that Charlie's end has been both sudden and remarkably brutal, he's not surprised. But not detached either. After all, Charlie, for whom brushes with ill-disposed cops have long been routine, has been a bread-and-butter client and something more; Herman was drawn to the vet, or at least to the man he sensed had once been. As he launches his investigation into that earlier incarnation, Herman discovers it was far more complicated than he ever imagined. To begin with, Charlie's murder is not the mindless act of violence described by the police. It's been carefully calculated, and its roots go astonishingly deep. The fact is that Charlie mattered enough for powerful people to hate him bitterly. Well-constructed and deftly character-driven, with a nice little love story for leavening.