Category Archives: Reviews

Review – The Jacklighter by Carla Conti

Posted on by

I don’t read a lot of true crime, but after reading Conti’s The Jacklighter, I may start reading more.

In THE JACKLIGHTER: Murder, Betrayal, and Justice in Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains, Carla Conti has crafted an intense, complex and compelling true crime story of murder, buried truths and systemic injustice. “50 years ago, Martin Dillon walked into the Pennsylvania woods and never came home.”

Martin Dillon was married to Patti Dillon. One afternoon, he was accompanied by Dr. Stephen Scher, a one-time friend (but now also Patti’s lover) to Dillon’s hunting camp in the hills. Dillon died there of a gunshot wound to the chest which Scher called an accident.

The Jacklighter is an investigative true crime book about a decades‑long Pennsylvania cold case, the small town it tore apart, and a murder that refused to stay buried. It’s about family, friends, detectives and a community that wouldn’t let go. Centered on the small town of Montrose, Pennsylvania, in the “Endless Mountains,” it is a probing and well researched book, with heartfelt, personal accounts of the decades long crime saga, even as it disinters scandalous personal behavior abetted by criminally incompetent police work.

Beyond telling a riveting story, Conti writes engagingly and well. The Jacklighter begins with the tight-knit town of Montrose, and Conti makes you feel the impact of the crime, the stages of grief, along with the frustration and anger the people in the community go through.

From the very beginning, there were issues about the manner of death and things that didn’t add up, but the Pennsylvania State Police’s failures at the scene all-but ensured there would be no finding beyond “accidental.” Failures that would be compounded.

To say much more would be to rob you of the joy–and dismay–of reading the twists and turns of this account.

Highly recommended.

*I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher, Crimemoir Press, and this is my honest review.

# # #

James McCrone writes upmarket thrillers that raise questions about the nature of power, the choices we make and the lessons we don’t learn.

He is the author of the Imogen Trager political suspense-thrillers Faithless Elector, Dark Network , and Emergency Powers–noir tales about a stolen presidency, a conspiracy, and a nation on edge. Bastard Verdict, his fourth novel, is about a conspiracy surrounding a second Scottish Independence referendum. His current novel is Witness Tree, where a newly sober ex-con is trapped at the center of a white supremacist plot when he is the only witness to an execution, turning his hopes for a new life into a fight for survival. Set in Oregon’s wine country, it’s a (pinot) noir tale of murder and corruption.

All books are available on BookShop.org, IndyBound.org, Barnes & Noble, your local bookshop, and Amazon. eBooks are available in multiple formats including Apple, Kobo, Nook and Kindle.

He’s a member of Mystery Writers of America, Int’l Assoc. of Crime Writers, and he’s the current president of the Delaware Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime. He lives in Philadelphia. James has an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle.

For a full list of appearances and readings, make sure to check out his Events/About page. And follow this blog!

You can also keep up with James and his work on social media:

Bluesky: @jmccrone.bsky.social
Facebook: James McCrone author (@FaithlessElector)
and Instagram/Threads “@james.mccrone”

From the Dust is a compelling, insightful whodunnit

Posted on by

I was fortunate enough to read an early copy of David Swinson’s From the Dust on NetGalley. Here’s my review.

Retired DC homicide detective, Graham Sanderson has returned to his father’s home in Upstate New York. “It was my father’s death that brought me here, but my brother’s condition and need for company that made me stay,” he says. Death used to be Graham’s business, but he’s happy to be retired. Or so he says.

But something isn’t right. The small, rural town where he finds himself had only two murders in the past three years, and they were crimes of passion easily solved. Now, a body is found near the canal, probably killed elsewhere and brought to the site so that it would be found.

The local sheriff, himself a retired big city detective, worries that his new detective may not be up to the challenge. When a second murder occurs, with all the hallmarks of the first, he enlists Sanderson to help the rookie.

Swinson has crafted an intriguing and compelling whodunnit that is insightful and poignant. The weight of the past drags at Sanderson, and indeed on many of the characters here. Sanderson’s investigation will take him into places, and pit him against forces he never dealt with in DC.

And it will force him to confront not only his preconceptions about the investigation, but what lies behind them. The story moves along well. The pacing is good as suspects are introduced and the motive behind the crime comes into focus.

There is a noble doggedness about Sanderson’s approach, exhausting the leads, that reminded me of Georges Simenon’s Maigret.

I enjoyed this story, and I particularly liked that it didn’t fall into the trap of portraying rural citizens as quaint or cute, but as fully realized characters, each contributing something to the story.

Highly recommended.

From the Dust, by David Swinson ISBN: 978-0-316-52865-8

James McCrone’s stories raise questions about the nature of power, the choices we make and the lessons we don’t learn.

He’s the author of the Imogen Trager political suspense-thrillers Faithless Elector, Dark Network and Emergency Powers–noir tales about a stolen presidency, a conspiracy, and a nation on edge. Bastard Verdict, his fourth novel, is about a conspiracy surrounding a second Scottish Independence referendum. His current novel, Witness Tree, is out on submission.

All books are available on BookShop.org, IndyBound.org, Barnes & Noble, your local bookshop, and Amazon.

eBooks are available in multiple formats including Apple, Kobo, Nook and Kindle.

James is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Int’l Assoc. of Crime Writers, and he’s the current president of the Delaware Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime. He has an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle, and he now lives and writes in Philadelphia, PA.

For a full list of appearances and readings, make sure to check out his Events/About page. And you can also follow him onSubstack!

Some of his short stories are available FREE online. Links are HEREtoward the bottom of the page.

Ants Waking, by RJ Huneke – Review

Posted on by

Ants Waking, A Fantasy Novella with Bonus Short Stories and Poetry, by RJ Huneke

ISBN – 979-8349273322 (hardcover)
979-8349340338 (ebook)
Published by Rune Works Productions, Ltd.
BUY on Bookshop.org

A surprising story about the power of myth and identity. Recommended.

Ants Waking by RJ Huneke is a novella-length “fairy tale noir,” an exploration of story and identity, using myth and the power of stories to guide readers through an immersive world that is unsettling and allegorical.

Stories and myth are the currency in this world, as Erica journeys to find the Legioness, the power of the city. But it may already be too late, and it is too late for some…

To say much more would spoil the discovery!

I received an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Note: for every book sold, the author is donating $1 to Global Action for Trans Equality [GATE] and $1 to Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

The Whisper Legacy, by Tj O’Connor – Review

Posted on by

“Curran’s enemies thought he was dead. They were wrong.
He thought his past was left on the Voula Beach Road. He was wrong. Now, that nightmare is drawing his enemies out”

Whisper Legacy is a brilliant, powerful and well written cyber warfare “take” on the familiar noir tale of criminals needing to keep their stolen records hidden. But with some intriguing twists. Beset by PTSD, lingering injuries and creeping old age, (Mar)Lowe Curran makes a living “on both sides of the ethics line” as what’s left of the former black ops spy he once was. Now a security expert, an unregistered PI and a fixer for the powerful, enigmatic TAE–“Tommy” to his friends–Curran inadvertently stumbles into a much more sinister plot involving the highest levels of government.

When Curran steals back the records and files that the hacker “Piper” stole from TAE’s company, he inadvertently downloads the records of a shadowy influence-peddling group’s blackmail operations, known as Whisper. Worse, for Curran, the Whisper group has already tried to kill him. Twice.

Whisper Legacy takes us through slimy operators, to the rich and powerful, right up to the highest levels of politics, where everything is personal. Not least, for Curran. He lives not only with the aches, pains and nightmares of his past work, but also with deep regret. This is about to get ugly. And dangerous. Powerful people with shady friends need the duffel bag to remain hidden. To stay alive and expose Whisper will take all of Curran’s experience, guile and grit. The police are the least of our hero’s problems.

Lowe Curran is an engaging narrator and guide. The story moves along confidently and quickly, spinning its seemingly disparate strands in a way that feels fresh, all while leading us, and Curran, inexorably on. I liked that our hero was human, hobbled by old wounds in very real ways. He’s forced to use his wiles more than his fists or a gun (though he certainly knows how to use them both when called upon). The scene that opens the book is a wonderfully chaotic masterclass in improvised spy craft. Levels of madness misdirect from the darker purpose and set an assured tone for the story to come.

Highly recommended!

Whisper Legacy is available on Bookshop.org, Amz, Barnes & Noble and through Bookbub

# # #

James McCrone is the author of the Imogen Trager political suspense-thrillers Faithless Elector, Dark Network , and Emergency Powers–noir tales about a stolen presidency, a conspiracy, and a nation on edge. Bastard Verdict, his fourth novel, is about a conspiracy surrounding a second Scottish Independence referendum. His novel-in-progress is called Witness Tree, a (pinot) noir tale of murder and corruption set in Oregon’s wine country.

All books are available on BookShop.org, IndyBound.org, Barnes & Noble, your local bookshop, and Amazon. eBooks are available in multiple formats including Apple, Kobo, Nook and Kindle.

James is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Int’l Assoc. of Crime Writers, and he’s the current president of the Delaware Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime. He lives in Philadelphia. James has an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle.

For a full list of appearances and readings, make sure to check out his Events/About page. And follow this blog!

You can also keep up with James and his work on social media:
Mastodon: @JMcCrone
Bluesky: @jmccrone.bsky.social
AND MORE, on the links page