Hawaiian Noir

Murder Calls

A solid entertainment from the first page to the last

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August 18, 2014

A new review of The Splintered Paddle in The Midwest Book Review.

Reviewer Jack Mason writes:

Synopsis: Private eye Ava Rome’s calling is to protect the defenseless. She takes on the cases of Jenny Mordan, a working girl who is being harassed by a police detective, and Cassie Sands, a teenager who is mixed up with a marijuana grower. Norman Traxler did ten years in San Quentin nurturing his hatred of Ava Rome, the young MP who took him down for assaulting a prostitute. When Traxler, the detective and the grower join forces against her, Ava’s calling, protecting the defenseless, becomes a fight for her life.

Critique: Set against the background of Waikiki, Hawaii, Mark Troy’s latest Ava Rome detective novel, “The Splintered Paddle”, is a solid entertainment from first page to last and again documents author Mark Troy’s impressive narrative skills as a mystery thriller novelist able to craft memorable characters and embed them into a deftly woven story of unexpected twists, turns, and surprises. Very highly recommended for personal reading lists and community library Mystery/Suspense collections, it should be noted that “The Splintered Paddle” is also available in a Kindle edition ($3.19).

 

 

 

A spectacular ending.

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July 10, 2014

A new review is up at I Love A Mystery. John A. Broussard says:

The action proceeds at breakneck speed, as the various forces clash and work their way to a spectacular ending.

He gives it a rating of HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

You can read the review here: http://www.iloveamysterynewsletter.com/JOHN%20BROUSSARD.html

Hawaiian Noir

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June 10, 2014

Another review! This one in the New York Journal of Books. The reviewer calls it “Hawaiian Noir” and has this to say:

A taunt, well-written suspense novel ending in a violent confrontation . . . The Splintered Paddle by Mark Troy is Hawaiian Noir at its best.

http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/splintered-paddle-ava-rome-mysteries

I googled “Hawaiian Noir” and found the 1953 movie Hell’s Half-Acre, starring Wendell Corey and Evelyn Keyes. The title refers to the red light district of many towns and cities, this one, Honolulu. Who knew there was a sub-genre called Hawaiian Noir? Okay, it’s a small club, but it’s nice to be one of the best.

A private eye’s past comes back to haunt her.

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April 16, 2014

Kirkus Review.

“A private eye’s past comes back to haunt her . . . it reveals the dark underbelly of Hawaii and builds tension right up to the explosive conclusion.”

A private eye’s past comes back to haunt her. At the tender age of 13, Ava Rome found her life changed abruptly for the worse when her career Army father vanished and was marked a deserter. Then her younger brother’s death in a bullying incident while she was supposed to be watching him left her suffering from guilt and nightmares. As a young MP stationed in California, Ava made an arrest that puts her in mortal danger now that she’s a PI in Hawaii. Norman Traxler, a psychopath who spent 15 years in San Quentin for assaulting a prostitute, has dreamed every day of killing Ava. Since she’s a sucker for defenseless people, Ava takes on the case of Jenny Mordan, another prostitute who’s being harassed for sex by police officer Ron Nevez, a bad egg who’s involved with illegal drugs and pornography. Ava’s also drawn to Cassie Sands, the teenage daughter of a client who has little time to spend with her. When Cassie takes off, Ava finds her with pot grower Alvie Wong and is forced to hurt him to get Cassie back. Meanwhile, Traxler is slowly stepping up his harassment of Ava. He has no qualms about hurting her friends as a prelude to killing her. Instead of helping Ava, the police assign Nevez to the Traxler case. Neither Jenny nor Cassie is willing to listen to good advice, and they both become targets for Traxler, who really enjoys hurting women. Its graphic sex and violence will keep this sequel to The Rules (2013) off a lot of bookshelves. But it reveals the dark underbelly of Hawaii and builds tension right up to the explosive conclusion.

Lono Waiwaiole on The Splintered Paddle

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March 15, 2014

Mark Troy’s The Splintered Paddle is a trip through paradise, but the windows on the bus are dark glass and a gun comes in a lot handier than sunscreen.  You’re in good company, though–a kick-ass wahine and a haole who definitely needs his ass kicked are along for the ride–and Troy knows where he’s going and exactly how to get there. This Hawai`i is a lot more lethal than the one in the picture postcards, but you also get a lot more bang for your buck. Just keep your head down, brah, and you’ll be fine!–LONO WAIWAIOLE, author of Dark Paradise

Audio version of The Rules

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March 6, 2014

The Rules was my first venture into the world of audiobooks. I was a little concerned about how it would go, especially when it came to picking a narrator. Nobody in the world could match the voice of Ava that was in my head, but Julie Hoverson came as close as any I heard. I thought the final product was great. As it turned out, so did others. Here is what one reviewer had to say:

I loved the narration by Julie Hoverson. . . . what a job she did in the novella. She has a strong voice and she quickly became Ava for me. She does change her voice somewhat for the other characters but it was easy on my ear and did not distract from the story at all. I hope that she will be narrating the upcoming series as I loved her voice flowing into my ears. 

 

 

http://justreadingforfun.blogspot.com/2014/01/audiobook-review-rules.html

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