6 February 2023.
ISBN: 978-1-64396-298-6 (PB)
The passion of the true believer was gone. Instead, something scarier, the passion of the true unbeliever.
Nick Crane is a Private Investigator who recently escaped from a group of far right and fabulously wealthy extremists who want to stop him exposing their corrupt political dealings as they attempt to “Make America Safe Again.” Sound familiar? The right-wingers are led by Marguerite Ferguson, Thomas Quincey, and Desmond Cole, a trio now desperate to recapture the man who gave them the slip. Since he made his getaway, Crane has been forced to eschew his Los Angeles office and has been moving from place to place to avoid recapture. He sleeps light, with a gun and packed bag by his side – a nocturnal habit that enables him to survive Chapter 1.
After several close shaves at the beginning of the novel, Crane decides to head back to his L.A. office. There he discovers that his partner and friend, Bobby Moore, has been abducted by Marguerite’s people. Bobby, of course, is bait; it’s Crane they really want, and he soon receives a message giving him twenty-seven days to surrender and secure his pal’s release. The proactive investigator sets off to rescue Bobby and finds he's not the only one trying to bring down the political cabal undermining US politics. Enter Carrie North, an FBI agent whose idealism proves to be the perfect foil for the headstrong gumshoe.
The characters in 27 Days are just what you’d expect from a hard-boiled, noir detective thriller with political overtones - tough, tense, and terrifying. Crane’s first-person narration is breathless and clipped as he guides the reader through an ever-accelerating plot. As well as being a writer, Patrick H. Moore is a working private investigator and specialist in sentence mitigation. This shows in his writing. The story is complex, and the fate of Bobby Moore hangs in the balance until the very end.
27 Days is a hard-hitting critique of extreme political views that tap into people’s fears and warp patriotic sentiments. Comparisons with current events are impossible to ignore. But the book is also a non-stop adventure that is great fun to read, and its explosive pace and off-beat humour are a counterweight to the political exploits described in the text. I particularly liked the author’s nod to literary P.I. Lew Archer from The Zebra-Striped Hearse, a 1962 novel by Ross Macdonald. Crane tries in vain to finish the book, but every time he picks it up, he’s interrupted. Even by the last chapter he still hasn’t “quite finished” it!
A super read.
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Reviewer:
Dot Marshall-Gent
Patrick H. Moore is a Los Angeles based Private
Investigator, Sentencing Mitigation Specialist, and crime writer. He has been
working in this field since 2003 and has worked in virtually all areas
including drug trafficking, sex crimes, crimes of violence, and white-collar
fraud. This is no easy task but mastering this job, which combines art, science
and intuition, has given Patrick the tools to write realistic crime fiction
that depicts the unpredictable and violent world of cops, convicts, prosecutors
and defence attorneys. Patrick holds a Master’s degree in English Literature
from San Francisco State University where he graduated summa cum laude in 1990.
Prior to moving to Los Angeles, he was lead vocalist and played rhythm guitar
for Crash Carnival, a San Francisco rock ‘n roll band, and experienced the
“naked lunch” of life on the streets for more than a decade. In February of
2013, Patrick started ‘All Things Crime Blog’, a true crime and crime fiction
website, which for several years was one of the most popular crime blogs in the
United States. 27 Days, Patrick's first traditionally published thriller, was
published on February 6, 2023, by Down & Out Books. A
three-part series in which veteran Los Angeles Private Investigator Nick Crane
battles a group of aristocratic domestic terrorists known as the
"principals."
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