FIGHT CARD #1: Felony Fists by Jack (Paul Bishop) Tunney

Have you jumped on the Fight Card bandwagon yet? Well, this is a great time to do it. The series is only nine months old, but it’s going like gangbusters. There are already nine books available, with many more on the way, and there’s even a spin-off series or two in the works.

The place to start, naturally, is at the beginning, and that’s Felony Fists, penned by Paul Bishop (who co-created the series with Mel Odom). And Felony Fists is a hell of a fine start.

Our hero in this one is Patrick "Felony" Flynn, an L.A. street cop and amateur boxer, who’s destined for greater things both in and out of the ring. The action takes place in 1954, with mobster Mickey Cohen working to consolidate his power, and an elite crew of detectives called the Hat Squad working to bring him down. Patrick Flynn boxes his way into the fray and finds himself on a path that just might take him all the way to the heavyweight championship.

Felony Fists is Rocky meets The Untouchables - the perfect blend of hardboiled crime fighting and two-fisted ring action. And Paul Bishop’s hard-hitting prose is perfectly suited to the task. This is a crime novel that makes you want to stand up and cheer.

Best of all, it’s only the beginning, so you (and I) have a lot more Fight Card action to look forward to. “Jack Tunney,” the house name used for the series is apparently a mash-up of Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney, two of the greatest heavyweights of all time, and Paul and Mel have recruited a crew of writers who are sure to honor the name. Those involved so far (in alphabetical order) are Eric Beetner, Gerard Brennan, Henry Brown, Jeremy Brown, Wayne Dundee, Mike Faricy, David Foster, Heath Lowrance, Kevin Michaels and Bob Randisi. Yikes.

You and I have a lot of reading to do. And we’re going to enjoy it.

Visit the new Fight Card website HERE.

RANCHO DIABLO 1: Shooter's Cross by Colby Jackson (Mel Odom)

Bottom Line first: I enjoyed the hell out of this book.

I guess I’m not really surprised, it’s just that I didn’t know what to expect. And whatever those nebulous expectations were, Shooter’s Cross exceeded them by a country mile.

I knew James Reasoner and Bill Crider were involved in this project, and knew they’d written books 2 and 3 in the series, respectively. I’ve read a good number of books by both those gents, and they’ve always delivered the goods. But the author of this inaugural entry, Mel Odom, was a mystery to me.

No more! Mel delivers, too, introducing the Rancho Diablo saga in grand fashion. Shooter’s Cross is sort of an origin story, in which nail-tough Army scout Sam Blaylock lays eyes on Rancho Diablo and never looks back. The locals, residents of the nearby town of Shooter’s Cross, think the place is haunted, but Sam thinks it’s the perfect place to make a home for his friends and family.

In this one, we meet two of Sam’s old friends: Duane Beatty, a stalwart Cajun with a knack for engineering, and Michael Tucker, a wizard with a six-gun. And two new ones: An aptly-named old coot called Gabby (think Hayes) and a young whippersnapper from the town named Randy. These four appear slated to be regulars in the series, and offer many directions for future storylines.

Meanwhile, back in Shooter’s Cross, there’s stern-but-fair Marshal Tolliver, who seems destined to be strong ally, and newspaperman/gambler Mitch McCarthy, a capable adversary. With these members of the cast in place, we’re ready for the arrival of Sam’s wife and kids in the next installment.

The story is compelling, the prose smooth and the dialogue tight. It all adds up to a great read, and has me eager to see what Misters Reasoner and Crider have for us in the next two books. And thankfully, I won’t have to wait. All three books are available for Kindle RIGHT NOW, and for us old-fashioned paper book collectors, Shooter’s Cross is also offered in paperback.

More info at the Rancho Diablo Blog, including the very good news that this intrepid trio already has a spin-off series in the works!