Saturday
Spotlight on......
Lou
Malloy Crime Series
by
J. Frank James
Genres:
Action/Adventure, Crime Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
There
are currently 4 books in the Lou Malloy Crime Series by J. Frank James: The Run Begins, Dead Money Run, Only Two Cats,
and Blue Cat In Paradise.
The
Run Begins is the
prequel to the Lou Malloy Crime Series:
Lou Malloy is 18 years
old and ready for the world... but is the world ready for him? His brother Sam
has left and his sister wants to move to Florida with the family. Malloy is
having none of it and on a wild moment decides to hop on a rail car, unsure of
where he is going. The important thing is that he will no longer be in Kansas,
but the problem is that he doesn't have any money. Henry Lowe, who is in
the same rail car, offers Malloy the deal of a lifetime... All he has to do is
help Lowe rob a casino in Georgia. With the promise of a big payday, Malloy
throws in with the scheme and seals his fate forever.
What starts off as a
quick way for Malloy to get a share of $15 million turns into a run for his
life. Malloy learns the hard way that nothing comes easy when you’re alone and
your life is about change forever…
Read how
Malloy survives against all odds in J. Frank James’s next Lou Malloy novel Dead Money Run.
Dead Money Run is the first book in the Lou Malloy Crime Series.
CHAPTER
1
The
warden was a small man, but dressed neatly. Everything about him was neat-from
his hair to his shoes. He was almost too neat.
“So
what are your plans, Lou?”
When I walked into the room, the
warden turned over a little hour-glass full of sand. We both watched it for a
few seconds and then looked at each other. This was the first time I ever met
the man. What did he care about me now? Since he never cared before, I figured
the man was just looking for information. Perhaps he wanted to give me a
warning. I didn’t say anything.
“Do you ever think about time, Lou?”
“After fifteen years, what do you
think?” I said.
He smiled and said, “Most valuable
thing we have and no one seems to mourn its passing until it’s too late.”
I had nothing to say to that.
Conversations with a prison warden came with a lot of maybes. While in prison I
trained myself to watch a man’s hands. If he rubbed his hands in a washing
motion, he was lying. If he messed with his fingernails, he wasn’t interested
in the conversation. The warden was rubbing his hands as if he had touched
something distasteful.
“I haven’t given it a lot of
thought, Warden Edwards.”
“Call me John, Lou. We’re friends
now,” Edwards said while rubbing his hands in a determined kind of way.
So now we were friends. I wanted to
tell him he was a liar, but my better judgment stopped me. Probably a good way
to delay my release-things get lost, papers go unsigned. Things happen.
“Okay, John,” I said.
“You know, we never found the
fifteen million,” he said.
“I didn’t know you were looking for
it.”
I watched his eyes flicker briefly.
I seemed to hit a sweet spot.
“No, Lou. You misunderstand,” he
said as he caught himself. “There is a reward for the recovery of the money.
Did you know that?”
Edwards said it more as a statement
than a question. I said nothing and waited. Edwards shifted in his chair and
started to rub his hands again.
“It would be in your best interest
to tell them what you know.”
“Who’s the ‘them’ John?” I asked.
“They’re the people looking for the money.”
I thought about that for a few
moments. The statement covered a lot of ground.
“Since I didn’t take the money in
the first place, I don’t have anything to tell them. They need to ask the
people that took it,” I said.
Edwards was smiling now and he
stopped rubbing his hands.
“There are some people that think
you do.”
“I can’t help what people think.”
“Ten percent,” he said.
“Ten percent of what,” I said.
“The money, Lou. Ten percent of
fifteen million is a lot of money.”
“I hadn’t heard about that,” I said.
“Yeah, it seems the Indian casino
had insurance. The insurance company that paid off on the claim put up a ten
percent reward for the return of the money. A million five is a lot of money.”
“I hope they find it,” I said.
Edwards blinked his eyes signaling
he was moving on to something else.
“Sorry to hear about your sister,”
he said. “I understand they are doing all they can to find her killer.”
Edwards was a real card and running
out of things to say. On any other day, in any other place, he would be dead or
wishing he was.
“Thanks, John. Your words are real
comforting,” I said and returned my gaze to the little hourglass and the sand
as it accumulated on the bottom.
I had nothing else to say except
make him happy. Make them all happy. Just one big happy group sitting around
smiling at each other; happy, happy, now let’s just get the money and spread it
all around and we can go on being happy. In the meantime my sister lies in a
hole feeding worms. I had money on the worms being real happy. No word on how
my sister felt.
Edwards looked disappointed when I
didn’t add to our conversation.
“Lou, it might be a good idea for
you to help them find the money. It could be a big windfall.”
Now we were getting somewhere. Just
like all the rest of the treasure hunters, the miserable bastard was just in it
for the money.
“Windfall for who, John? Me or you?”
As if tasting a lemon, Edwards
twisted his face and, at the same time, waived his hands at an imaginary fly.
“I’m not sure what you mean, Lou.
I’m just trying to give you a head start. If it was my decision, you would
still be with us. Fifteen million dollars is a lot of money to lose.”
“It still is,” I said.
I sat and watched Edwards shift in
his chair some more. We had nothing left to talk about. I could feel him
working out in his mind how he was going to present his failure to get a lead
out of me on the money.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
Edwards said.
Finally, I had enough.
“Leave. Isn’t that what we all do?”
His smile vanished. He knew he was
wasting his time on someone who had maxed out. He also knew he couldn’t hold
me. There would be no parole violation with the threat to re-incarcerate me. No
work release effort to rehabilitate me. Just a new suit made in the prison cut
and sew area and a hundred bucks was the sum total of it. That probably hadn’t
changed since the 30s. I wondered if Al Capone wore the suit they gave him when
he got out.
We were both looking at the little
hourglass of sand now. The sand had drained from the top of the glass to the
bottom. Suddenly, as if being shot out of a cannon, we both stood up. Edwards
stuck out his hand. I turned and left the room. I didn’t shake his hand. I
didn’t want to touch him.
Reviewed by BestThrillers.com:
On the day Lou Malloy is to be released from prison, the warden calls him for a private meeting. “Ten percent of fifteen million is a lot of money,” the warden tells him. He’s probing Lou for the whereabouts of the $15M that was stolen from a casino 15 years earlier. Lou, however, doesn’t bite. He’s got big plans, which include finding the person who killed his sister while he was in the joint.
Enter Hilary Kelly, a 20-something beauty who gives Lou a motorcycle ride from the bus station. She claims to be a student, but Lou is far too wise to fall for it. After crashing in Hilary’s trailer, Lou soon finds her .38 Smith and Wesson and discovers she’s a private investigator who knows something about his sister.
Hilary a great character, and loaded with memorable lines: “Lou, sometimes you can be the nicest killer I have ever known.” Alas, she and Lou were made for each other - he likes to think of himself as a "compassionate killer."
Fans of James Ellroy and Elmore Leonard are going to love James’ ingenious capers, devious characters and wry humor. The entire book goes down like a strong yet smooth shot of bourbon.
Will Lou reclaim his money, or will he be lured into one last big score? And who killed his sister, anyhow? To James’ credit, the answers will surprise you. This is one crime novel well-worth finishing.
Add to Goodreads:
The Run Begins
Dead Money Run
Blue Cat In Paradise
J. Frank James is the
author of crime thriller novels. His crime fiction books are gripping and suspenseful
with readers being unable to put them down once they get into them. Jim has a
passion for writing, and he certainly has the knowledge and experience to write
realistic crime thriller novels, thanks to his extensive background in law. Jim
attended law school, where he was a member of the law review. He even went on
to pass the state bar and started his own law practice that specialized in
complex litigation.
Jim’s experience in law
helps lend credibility to his crime fiction books. Not only that, Jim has
traveled extensively and gains inspiration for his crime thriller novels from
his travels. Some of the countries that Jim has visited include Peru, Brazil,
Italy, Greece and countless others. From observing other cultures and gaining
new experiences, Jim is able to infuse new life into his books and develop
believable characters that readers can identify with.
At present, Jim has
published four crime thriller novels in the Lou Malloy Crime Series: The
Run Begins, Dead Money Run, Only Two Cats,
and Blue Cat In Paradise. They offer the readers just enough
information to keep them guessing and trying to solve the crimes until the end
of the books when they are actually revealed. Jim’s books are also fresh and
unique takes on crime as well, though. They are not the same whodunit type
books that have been done over and over again. By infusing his personal travels
into his books, Jim creates characters and atmospheres based on just enough
truth to be relatable.
Jim’s books have everything
in them from robbery to prison to family. They have hard and soft elements
simultaneously to really capture the life of a hardened criminal who is still
very human and struggles with the same emotions as the rest of society. At the
same time, Jim gives the reader perspectives from private investigators to
balance out the story.
Jim’s books even have a hit
of romance when his characters come to care for each other as more than just
friends. Then, crime and love mixes to create a dynamic atmosphere that is even
more complicated than ever before since characters care not only for each other
but for their other family members as well. Jim has an amazing way of
incorporating various elements into his latest crime novels to create thrillers
that readers cannot get enough of, which is perhaps why all four of his books
so far carry on one from the other to continue the same story concerning the
hardened criminal who did 15 years in prison, Lou Malloy and who comes to be
his partner, private investigator, Hilary Kelly. The two of them go it together
to create gripping stories that keep readers coming back for more.
To
learn more, go to http://www.jfrankjamesbooks.com/
You can find the series on Amazon
I
hope you enjoyed today's Spotlight! I
think this series sounds spectacular and I absolutely love the covers! Let us know what you think about today's post
by commenting below. We would love to
hear from you!
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