Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo) - C. Joseph Greaves

Happy February! My review of C. Joseph Greaves' Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo) first appeared in Shelf Awareness for Readers. I am posting it today with their permission. Hope you enjoy.

First line: "'Six is the point.'"

Following-up his first historical novel, Hard Twisted, C. Joseph Greaves gives readers a front row seat to one of the greatest courtroom dramas in U.S. history: the battle between gangster Charles "Lucky" Luciano and the special prosecutor determined to bring him down, Thomas Dewey.

Greaves has meticulously blurred the lines between fact and fiction in this novel that reads with the momentum of a legal thriller and throws back the curtain on political shenanigans. Braiding the plot together with the perspectives of Tom and Lucky as well as the talented defense attorney George Levy and the prosecution's star witness, Cokey Flo Brown, Greaves delves into the compulsory prostitution trial of the notorious mob boss. While building the background of each character takes time, the result is a robust view of a highly dysfunctional case.

In an especially effective approach, Greaves opts to tell only Cokey Flo's story from the first person perspective, lending the drug-addled con woman credibility and empathy while casting greater suspicion on both defendant and prosecutor. Still, Greaves doesn't let the reader forget Flo's motivations or her checkered history. There are no white hats in this New York courtroom.

The trial transcript and character dialogue work to create the unsavory atmosphere of New York's mob network as well as the Depression-era scarcity. And the fastidious research enables Greaves to seamlessly meld the four lives into one engrossing story.

Whether readers have an interest in the time period, gangster fiction or historical novels, they will find plenty to captivate them in Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo).

Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo) is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9781620407851) from Bloomsbury. You can find a copy at your favorite independent bookstore or the following retailers:

  

  

Green-Eyed Lady - Chuck Greaves

My review of Green-Eyed Lady first appeared in Shelf Awareness. I am reprinting it here with their permission.

First line: "Even now in vivid hindsight, he could not recall which he'd noticed first: her crumpled shape on the blacktop or her voice echoing across the nearly empty parking lot."

When a California candidate for U.S. Senate is caught with his pants down, he turns to Jack MacTaggart for help—legal help that is.

Warren Burkett, known womanizer and former L.A. mayor, is in the middle of his bid for Senate when he unwittingly helps a woman steal a high-priced painting. Burkett hires MacTaggart to help him not only in court but also to find the “green-eyed lady” who vanished with the art, leaving Burkett to take the fall. The case gets sticky when the “green-eyed lady” is found dead from an apparent suicide and the painting is seen hanging in Burkett’s opponent’s home.

As clues are delivered to MacTaggart on Etch-A-Sketches, he enlists the help of his partner Marta Suarez, his office secretary Bernie Catalano and Officer Regan Fife of the Sierra Madre police department. They race the clock and the L.A. County District Attorney in an effort to solve the mystery before a possible murderer is elected to the U.S. Senate.

Green-Eyed Lady, the follow-up to Chuck Greaves’ debut Hush Money, is a light-hearted, funny legal mystery. It integrates legal process without weighing down the plot and channels Greaves’ inner Hitchcock.

The characters comprising Greaves’ cast are quirky and convincing, from the tax-evading accountant to the candidate’s brother-in-law, “whose position at Archer Properties seemed to be vice president of Union Affairs and Cement Footwear.”

Whether readers have experienced Chuck Greaves before or not, Green-Eyed Lady promises an engaging reading experience. It is a riotous campaign in the all-too-real world of political antics.

Green-Eyed Lady is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9781250005243) from Minotaur Books. It is also available as an unabridged audio (ISBN: 9781482101409), narrated by Dan Butler, from AudioGo

Five on Friday - Chuck Greaves

Happy Friday friends!! I hope you had a great holiday. I was fortunate enough to spend my holiday with both family and friends as well as books! Who could ask for more?

As I've been traveling, some fun stuff has been going on, so I'll send out belated congrats to the 2013 Macavity nominees.

Pop Culture Nerd has the July Nerdy Special List up and I have a recommendation for an impressive crime fiction debut. Be sure to check that out if you haven't already.

Since I'm short on time this week, I'll get right to the contest links:

FridayReads has Karin Slaughter's new book, UNSEEN, as well as Antonio Hill's THE SUMMER OF DEAD TOYS.

and

Criminal Element has a Superhero prize pack giveaway.

Now on to our Five on Friday guest. Today I'm happy to welcome Chuck Greaves to the feature. I had the pleasure of reading Chuck's work for the first time this year. You'll hear more about Green-Eyed Lady soon. My dad is enjoying the book now as well. I also saw Chuck in person at the Left Coast Crime where I learned he owns a vineyard and is a former attorney. Now he's writing books as both Chuck Greaves and C. Joseph Greaves. 

The fictional character that most reflects my personality is Archie Goodwin, from the Nero Wolfe mystery novels. I cut my teeth on Rex Stout, and I think Archie’s combination of street smarts, integrity, and wry humor struck a chord with my teenage self that resonates to this day in the first-person voice of my series protagonist, Jack MacTaggart.

A place I’ve never visited but would like to is, assuming Keira Knightley’s dressing room is off limits, I’d have to say New Zealand. I’ve yet to meet the person who’s gone there and returned disappointed. Not, I assume, unlike Keira Knightley’s dressing room.

When I read a book, I absolutely hate it when a writer shows a tin ear for dialogue. Elmore Leonard should be required reading for every mystery author. Make that every author, period.

Happiness is landing on your feet. I spent twenty-five stressful years as a trial lawyer in Los Angeles, and I’d still be there today if I hadn’t closed my eyes and made a leap of faith. I resigned my partnership, sold my home, and vowed to write a novel. Seven years later, I’m working on number four. As I tell my workshop students, the road to a finished novel begins with a commitment.

The No. 1 item on my bucket list right now is to put a book on the New York Times bestseller list. Both Hush Money and Hard Twisted were critically acclaimed, but neither achieved the requisite escape velocity. With Green-Eyed Lady, I’m hoping the third time is a charm!

Thanks to Chuck for taking time to participate in our Five on Friday feature. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with great books. Happy Reading, friends!

Left Coast Crime - Part I

Rabbit, rabbit! Right? Kind of funny saying that the day AFTER Easter. I hope you all had a great weekend.

So, you know I traveled to Colorado to attend my first Left Coast Crime. And I have to say, it was a great experience. I liked the size of the conference and the resort was absolutely lovely. I personally would have preferred it in the summer, but some left-coasters who don't get to see snow very often enjoyed it. Here's a view of the scenery Friday morning:

This was the same view Saturday morning:

This was also the reason Lou Diamond Phillips had a difficult time getting to Colorado Springs, but more on that later. Despite the weather, we had a grand time.

Thursday was our panel on social media. I video taped the panel, but unfortunately the view wasn't wide enough to get everyone. So, it's only a partial view. When I have that available on YouTube, I'll let you all know. But we touched on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads (too bad we didn't have the Amazon topic to throw in), Pinterest and Google Plus. Time prevented us from addressing blogs, websites and newsletters, though. Our panelists were so wonderful and all had unique perspectives, so the conversation was great and we received many compliments. The greatest thing I heard from people was that they learned something something from the panel. Yay!

The next day started off with a panel about literary influences, followed by a panel on the anti-hero. The discussion on the anti-hero was rather fascinating and revealing. Questions such as "is there a line your anti-hero can't cross" and "should the reader judge the anti-hero" came up. I think readers are going to judge all characters no matter but whether they're justified in doing so is the real question. This brings to mind for me the idea that readers should first and foremost ask themselves if the author is doing what he/she set out to do. John Gilstrap says the problems arise when you have the anti-hero step outside his/her own code.

The panel was all male and I wonder what direction some of the questions would have taken if there had been a female on the panel. It was pointed out later in the panel that Zoe Sharp writes a female anti-hero. That may very well have changed the climate of this panel, but it was insightful nonetheless.

One of my favorite panels of the weekend was the "Lighter Side of Death and Dismemberment" featuring Deb Coonts, Harley Jane Kozak, Rochelle Staab, Brad Parks and Chuck Greaves. These folks know how to avoid taking life too seriously. While I had a hard time believing that Brad Parks is the shy quiet one in his family, the fact that Deb has made it her life's mission to embarrass her son sounded like a parental truth.

The idea of humor in the darker books of crime fiction came up and humor as a defense mechanism was discussed. Most professions that encounter regular horrors like law enforcement, the medical professions, etc. have a way of dealing with what they witness every day. To people on the outside that may come across as sick, but for those in the trenches, it's the only way to remain healthy. So humor is true to life for these people.

I have some video from this panel as well. I need to do some editing with it, but will hopefully have that done soon so I can share. I think you'll enjoy a little tidbit from this panel.

Following this humor panel, I attended another absolutely hilarious event and that was the Truth or Dare panel. The folks subjecting themselves to this were Brad Parks, Toast master David Corbett, Guest of Honor Laura Lippman and Parnell Hall.

The questions and dares were posed by Rhys Bowen. At first everyone was willing to respond to the truths: what non-living writer doesn't deserve their fame? What's your birth name? What's the worst thing anyone's ever said or written about you? But when the question of "What LIVING author doesn't deserve their wealth or fame" no one was willing to answer and the dares started. 

Several of the dares dealt with singing, but when they arrived at Brad, he was given a blind fold and then Jan Burke came to the stage and stood next to him. He had to determine who Jan was without looking. And yes, we were all a little concerned about this! No lives or limbs were lost, however.

To top off this night, Brad Parks and I went to dinner at a dive called The Hatch Cover. Brad had been in the "Concealed Weapons Fashion Show" as James Bond and was decked out in a tuxedo. I fit in much better in my jeans and sweatshirt. As Brad describes it, when we walked in the record scratched and everyone turned to look at the first tuxedo to grace the Hatch Cover. The tuxedo may also have been the reason the waitress carded Brad when he ordered a beer. He was astonished and had to brag to everyone that night about being carded. A success Friday at Left Coast Crime I would say!

I'll have more on Saturday tomorrow, so stay tuned!