No one Cares

The Coleridge Taylor Mysteries are about a newspaper reporter who is interested in solving the murders no one cares about.  Lights Out Summer by Rich Zahradnik is the latest Coleridge Taylor mystery.

 

Taylor works for a news wire.  The large, flashy newspapers cover the big news.  They seek the sensational, the latest titillation that the public seems to clamor over.  But Taylor would rather find the story of the people who interest him the most, like Martha Gibson.

Martha was a hard working young woman, who was murdered.  The crime seemed unsolvable, but Taylor was determined to find the killer.  In researching Martha’s life, he becomes enmeshed in Martha’s sister’s drug life and her employers’ rich lifestyle.

The reader will expect the drug dealer to have killed Martha.  Then it seems like someone in Martha’s employer’s family.  All this sleuthing is done on the side because Taylor has to do some reporting on other news. 

Taylor has a girl friend named Samantha, who is a private detective.  Taylor’s grandfather owns a coffee shop where Taylor and Samantha hang out.  It’s a place to relax and regroup.  Taylor often uses it as a meeting place.  Samantha and Grandpa support Taylor and help him recharge, besides offering him a sounding board to bounce his theories against.

I liked the pace in Lights Out Summer.  It was faster paced when the thrills erupted on the scene.  There were moments when I thought Martha Gibson was murdered by the Son of Sam.  Oh, that psycho is around.  In fact, the newspapers are clamoring over themselves to get that story out.  But Taylor only pays lip service to the Son of Sam.  He’s more interested in Martha Gibson. She was a good girl who came from a loving and supporting family.  And the police and media don’t seem to care because they’re chasing Son of Sam.  The author has the reader caring about Martha, too. 

That’s the beauty of the story.  The author has the reader care. The characters are delineated well. They are real people.  (Speaking fictionally)  I know people just like these characters.  Unfortunately, I know a few murderers.  (I volunteer in a prison.)  I know enough that people are people and everyone has choices to make. Unfortunately, some bad choices are life altering mistakes.

 Lights Our Summer is a good choice to read.  You just may get hooked on the Coleridge Taylor mysteries.  I was given this book to read and review, but my opinion is my own choice.

Author’s Web Site:
http://www.richzahradnik.com/

Rich Zahradnik's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/richzahradnik/

Rich Zahradnik's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rzahradnik
 
Rich Zahradnik's Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8335771.Rich_Zahradnik

Rich Zahradnik's Blog:
http://www.richzahradnik.com/blog/

Lights Out Summer Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34605303-lights-out-summer

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Lights Out Summer blog tour site:
http://lightsoutsummerblogtour.blogspot.com/

Rich Zahradnik's Bio:

Rich Zahradnik is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed Coleridge Taylor Mystery series (Lights Out Summer, A Black Sail, Drop Dead Punk, Last Words).



The first three books have been shortlisted or won awards in the three major competitions for novels from independent presses. A Black Sailwas named winner in the mystery category of the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Drop Dead Punk collected the gold medal for mystery ebook in the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards. Last Words won the bronze medal for mystery/thriller ebook in the 2015 IPPYs and honorable mention for mystery in the 2015 Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards.

"Taylor, who lives for the big story, makes an appealingly single-minded hero," Publishers Weekly wrote of Drop Dead Punk.

 A Black Sailreceived a starred review from Library Journal, which said, “Fans of the late Barbara D’Amato and Bruce DeSilva will relish this gritty and powerful crime novel.”

Zahradnik was a journalist for 25-plus years, working as a reporter and editor in all major news media, including online, newspaper, broadcast, magazine and wire services. He held editorial positions at CNN, Bloomberg News, Fox Business Network, AOL and The Hollywood Reporter.



Zahradnik was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1960 and received his B.A. in journalism and political science from George Washington University. He lives with his wife Sheri and son Patrick in Pelham, New York, where he writes fiction and teaches kids around the New York area how to write news stories and publish newspapers.

  
Lights Out Summer Book Summary:

In March 1977, ballistics link murders going back six months to the same Charter Arms Bulldog .44. A serial killer, Son of Sam, is on the loose. But Coleridge Taylor can't compete with the armies of reporters fighting New York's tabloid war--only rewrite what they get. Constantly on the lookout for victims who need their stories told, he uncovers other killings being ignored because of the media circus. He goes after one, the story of a young Black woman gunned down in her apartment building the same night Son of Sam struck elsewhere in Queens.

The story entangles Taylor with a wealthy Park Avenue family at war with itself. Just as he's closing in on the killer and his scoop, the July 13-14 blackout sends New York into a 24-hour orgy of looting and destruction. Taylor and his PI girlfriend Samantha Callahan head out into the darkness, where a steamy night of mob violence awaits them.

In the midst of the chaos, a suspect in Taylor's story goes missing. Desperate, he races to a confrontation that will either break the story--or Taylor.

Book 4 in the Coleridge Taylor Mystery series.
 

Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $15.95 paperback, $29.95 audio
Genre: Historical, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Pages: 288
Release: October 1, 2017
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603812139

Amazon buy link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/160381213X?&tag=tributebooks-20

Barnes and Noble buy link:
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IndieBound buy link:
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Stormy Seas

Having seen and appreciated the Tall Ships, during our country’s bicentennial, I appreciated the locale of A Black Sail, by Rich Zahradnik.  The back and forth between the ships and the city arced the story from mob to tong and city to harbor.  The major protagonist, Coleridge Taylor is not only jumping and ducking locales, but the bad guys, too.  Taylor is an investigative reporter who isn’t assigned to investigate the murder of the poor woman who was dragged up from the harbor, but he wants to—needs to—is called to.  His assignment is to report on the Tall Ships and the ceremonies involved in New York Harbor, for the Bicentennial in 1976. 

Our story begins with Taylor cruising the harbor to report on the Tall Ships, when he sees the police pull up a dead woman from the water, with bags of drugs attached to her.  Taylor’s boss wants him to just write on the goings on for the Bicentennial.  You might as well ask the sun not to shine.  Taylor works on his Bicentennial assignment in between following leads to find who was murdered and why.

The victim was Bridget Collucci.  Attached to her body was heroin (China white).  Stamped on the bags were Chinese junks with black sails. Was this a message from the tong to the mob about whom controls the drug trade?

Bridget Collucci was indirectly connected to the mob.  She was a daughter of someone connected.  Her husband was a lawyer whose career was indirectly involved with the mob.  Taylor scribbles off some fluff on the Tall Ships for his boss, but then interviews Bridget’s husband.  He’s upset, naturally, but Taylor wonders why someone who works for the mob calls the police when his wife is missing.  While interviewing the husband, Bridget’s father- a small-time mobster, blusters in the house and wants to know what’s going on.  These mob types seem clueless but are still very threatening.  They seem not to know what’s happening, either.

Taylor figures he’ll follow the drugs.  He ends up in a drug den and tries to rescue a girl.  Up until the introduction of this druggy, Mary, I couldn’t figure Taylor out.  I’ve never read a Taylor mystery before and thought Taylor kind of a lame hero.  He got sea sick.  He couldn’t shoot straight and near the end of the book he considers not carrying a gun at all because it was of no use to him.  He had a job he hated because he lost a good job before and was sliding downwards. He had to fall back on his grandfather for financial support, and if it weren’t for his very competent girlfriend, Samantha, Taylor would be dead a zillion times.  But when Taylor tried to help Mary, I could see what type of hero he was—my type.  His priorities were people first—helping them.  Money was last, next to he, himself.  He was a nice guy and that’s not an oxymoron when it describes Taylor.

In rescuing Mary, Taylor runs into the tong.  They’re scary! But not as scary as Nick Lucco.  Lucco is Carl Carlucci’s body guard.  The FBI is also involved.  Of course the local police are in on the action, too.  And guess who is in the middle and told to butt out, by all of them.  Taylor managers to straightened out this knot of gangsters and also eek out enough information to keep his news job. 

The real news is the final story.  The bad guy isn’t who you will think it is.  And Taylor manages to satisfy his boss, if not his own personal conscience.  He has one regret and I’m not spoiling the story for you.  Taylor relates the story and the plot doesn’t give you a break.  The reader races to keep up.  I enjoyed it and will be looking for the other two Coleridge Taylor mysteries.  Even though the book was free in exchange for my review, I wasn’t pressured to write a good review.  I don’t know if my review is good, but A Black Sail by Rich Zahradnik is a good mystery.

The blog tour's official site is:
http://ablacksailblogtour.blogspot.com

Rich Zahradnik's Web Site:
http://www.richzahradnik.com/

Rich Zahradnik's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/richzahradnik/

Rich Zahradnik's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rzahradnik
 
Rich Zahradnik's Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8335771.Rich_Zahradnik

Rich Zahradnik's Blog:
http://www.richzahradnik.com/blog/

A Black Sail Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30208460-a-black-sail

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

A Black Sail blog tour site:
http://ablacksailblogtour.blogspot.com

Rich Zahradnik's Bio:

Rich Zahradnik is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed Coleridge Taylor Mystery series (A Black Sail, Drop Dead Punk, Last Words).



The second installment, Drop Dead Punk, won the gold medal for mystery/thriller ebook in the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs). It was also named a finalist in the mystery category of the 2016 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Last Words won the bronze medal for mystery/thriller ebook in the 2015 IPPYs and honorable mention for mystery in the 2015 Foreword Reviews IndieFab Book of the Year Awards.



"Taylor, who lives for the big story, makes an appealingly single-minded hero," Publishers Weekly wrote of Drop Dead Punk.



Zahradnik was a journalist for 30-plus years, working as a reporter and editor in all major news media, including online, newspaper, broadcast, magazine and wire services. He held editorial positions at CNN, Bloomberg News, Fox Business Network, AOL and The Hollywood Reporter.



In January 2012, he was one of 20 writers selected for the inaugural class of the Crime Fiction Academy, a first-of-its-kind program run by New York's Center for Fiction.



Zahradnik was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1960 and received his B.A. in journalism and political science from George Washington University. He lives with his wife Sheri and son Patrick in Pelham, New York, where writes fiction and teaches kids how to publish newspapers.

  
A Black Sail Book Summary:

On the eve of the U.S. Bicentennial, newsman Coleridge Taylor is covering Operation Sail. New York Harbor is teeming with tall ships from all over the world. While enjoying the spectacle, Taylor is still a police reporter. He wants to cover real stories, not fluff, and gritty New York City still has plenty of those in July of 1976. One surfaces right in front of him when a housewife is fished out of the harbor wearing bricks of heroin, inferior stuff users have been rejecting for China White, peddled by the Chinatown gangs.

Convinced he’s stumbled upon a drug war between the Italian Mafia and a Chinese tong, Taylor is on fire once more. But as he blazes forward, flanked by his new girlfriend, ex-cop Samantha Callahan, his precious story grows ever more twisted and deadly. In his reckless search for the truth, he rattles New York’s major drug cartels. If he solves the mystery, he may end up like his victim—in a watery grave.
 

Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $15.95 paperback
Genre: Historical, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Pages: 264
Release: October 1, 2016
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603812115

Amazon buy link:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Sail-Coleridge-Taylor-Mystery/dp/1603812113?&tag=tributebooks-20

Barnes and Noble buy link:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-black-sail-rich-zahradnik/1123845960?ean=9781603812115

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