Andy Straka's Blog, page 9
November 7, 2011
The Blue Hallelujah – Latest Release!
How far would you go to rescue your grandchild and redeem your long dead spouse?
Detective Jerry Strickland and his wife Rebecca shared a secret calling. When Rebecca died of cancer in prison—branded as a disturbed vigilante after killing one of his murder suspects—Jerry knew he needed to put the truth in writing to set the record straight.
Now, as an old man nearing his own demise, Jerry is unsure whether to share his narrative about Rebecca with the world. But when his eight-year-old...
The Blue Hallelujah
How far would you go to rescue your grandchild and redeem your long dead spouse?
Detective Jerry Strickland and his wife Rebecca shared a secret calling. When Rebecca died of cancer in prison—branded as a disturbed vigilante after killing one of his murder suspects—Jerry knew he needed to put the truth in writing to set the record straight.
Now, as an old man nearing his own demise, Jerry is unsure whether to share his narrative about Rebecca with the world. But when his eight-year-old...
September 24, 2011
Too Dark For Superheroes
—-Free, for your reading pleasure, especially for writers. Maybe a glimpse of the near future. A story about ebooks and the ghost of publishing past. —-
I half expected the old man in the green eyeshade not to show. But when I stepped off the elevator on the twenty-fourth floor of the Acme Legacy Publishing building in New York a few minutes after midnight, there he was.
In his corner office with his shirtsleeves rolled up, nursing bloodshot eyes. The nub of a cigar protruding from the side of ...
September 21, 2011
Cold Quarry
In the skies over West Virginia, an invisible predator hunts its prey. When friend and master falconer Chester Carew is found dead in the woods, private investigator Frank Pavlicek doesn't buy the official report of an accidental shooting. The trail leads to a shadowy group of domestic terrorists—and to Frank's former NYPD partner, Jake Toronto, who is accused of being involved with their plot. To prove Jake's innocence, Frank will have to trap the real killers before they can carry...
September 20, 2011
A Witness Above
The first book in the popular Frank Pavlicek series. Falconer and private investigator Frank Pavlicek is hunting with his red-tailed hawk in the Virginia woods when he stumbles across a young man's body and evidence that implicates his own teenage daughter. Soon, his daughter is in jail.
Frank's past as a disgraced former NYPD homicide detective is coming back to haunt him. And his reputation and life are on the line….
A WITNESS ABOVE is an exciting investigative tale that provides...
September 19, 2011
A Killing Sky
When her twin sister, Cartwright, disappears, Cassidy Drummond can't help wondering if her father a congressman known as much for his philandering as for his politics—has something to do with it. Desperate and deeply frightened, she turns to Frank Pavlicek for help. But Frank isn't convinced it's foul play. And soon the falconer is following a treacherous trail of family secrets and scandal to the most dangerous discovery of all the truth….
"The book's title [A Killing Sky] comes from the...
September 17, 2011
Flightfall
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This novella was adapted from a short story originally published under a different title as part of an anthology. For any previous readers, please forgive the literary license takenas to time, place, and additional characters.
"How do the birds make great sky circles … They fall and falling they are given wings." -Jalal Rumi
The day Jake Toronto triggered the downfall of a cable TV network, I was in my office thinking about my upcoming vacation. My suitcase, already packed for...
Record of Wrongs
Freed from prison when a new round of DNA testing casts doubt on his guilt, Quentin Price is about to confront a figure from his past who will make him an offer difficult to refuse: the chance to help solve the crime that put him behind bars. There is only one problem. What if Quentin is guilty? And what if the person he is about to meet appears the unlikeliest ally of all?
"Shamus Award winner Andy Straka is a heavily under-rated author unknown to many readers. If he keeps producing books...
September 16, 2011
Kitty Hitter
This is not your mother's cat mystery. (With apologies to all you lovers of feline noir.)
No one would ever mistake Virginia private investigator and falconer Frank Pavlicek for Ace Ventura. But when the ex homicide detective is asked to return to New York City to help find a physician/animal rights activist's missing feline, the stage is set for one of the most bizarre cases of Frank's career.
Are the doctor's accusations true? Has the eccentric developer of her luxury apartment building ...
September 1, 2011
Safety Patrol
Occasionally, I am asked why I write crime fiction.
A simple enough question. After all, I've published several mysteries, so it seems like a logical inquiry. I always answer it by saying that a) I love reading good crime fiction b) as a mediocre plotter but decent descriptive writer I rely on the narrative hook that the mystery form inherently supplies, and c) crime novels in general tend to be popular with readers, just check out any bestseller list.
Recently, however, I've begun to wonder ...
