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The Red Storm

Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

The Red Storm is the first novel from licensed private-investigator-turned-novelist Grant Bywaters, sure to appeal to fans of PI novels and historical mysteries.

Newly-minted private investigator William Fletcher is having trouble finding clientele. He's not the only man out of work, but his past as a former heavyweight contender with a few shady connections—not to mention the color of his skin in race-obsessed New Orleans—isn't helping lure clients to his door. Stuck without any viable alternative, he takes a case from an old criminal acquaintance, Storm. His only client assures him that the job is simple—locate his missing estranged daughter, Zelda, no questions asked.

But when Fletcher starts knocking on doors, he sets off a catastrophic chain of events that turn the city into a bloody battleground between two rival syndicates. Then Storm is murdered, and Fletcher finds himself caught between the police and dangerous mobsters. With Zelda's safety on the line, the unlikely private detective finds himself saddled with a lot more than he bargained for.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Kevin Kenerly evokes the strong atmosphere of this mystery, set in 1930s New Orleans. He captures the swagger of African-American P.I. William Fletcher through dialect and portrays the smoky sensuality of Fletcher's client, Zelda, with a deep, almost masculine, tone. The story would benefit from showing more and telling less. Furthermore, some of Kenerly's accents are inconsistent on occasion, and the words of a dying man late in the novel give no indication of suffering even though the character is bleeding to death. But Kenerly keeps the listener hooked on the plot and atmosphere, so fans of the genre should find this debut enjoyable. J.F. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 5, 2015
      Former heavyweight boxer William Fletcher, the narrator of Bywaters’s promising debut, winner of the PWA Best First Private Eye Novel competition, is scraping by as a PI in 1938 New Orleans when Bill Storm, a criminal acquaintance, asks Fletcher to find his estranged daughter, the beautiful but hate-filled Zella Storm. Fletcher winds up becoming Zella’s protector after Bill’s murder. Because Sal Mallon, a psychopathic mobster whom Bill mutilated years before, now craves revenge, Fletcher finds himself negotiating with rival gangsters, hiding Zella and her aunt in a cabin in the swamp, and collaborating—nervously, since he’s black—with the corrupt, racist New Orleans police. Staying alive is difficult; resisting various temptations to back away is even more so—but Fletcher slogs ahead through a hail of bullets. Bywaters edges near Hammett territory with this unassuming hero who stoically accepts that, even though the odds are heavily stacked against him, he still needs to go on doing the best he can.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

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