In this gamble, more than a few poker chips are at stake.
When an Army Air Force Major vanishes from his Top Secret job at the Fort Worth airbase in the summer of 1947, down-on-his-luck former Ranger Jefferson Sharp is hired to find him, because the Major owes a sizable gambling debt to a local mobster. The search takes Sharp from the hideaway poker rooms of Fort Worth's Thunder Road, to the barren ranch lands of New Mexico, to secret facilities under construction in the Nevada desert.
Lethal operatives and an opaque military bureaucracy stand in his way, but when he finds an otherworldly clue and learns President Truman is creating a new Central Intelligence Agency and splitting the Air Force from the Army, Sharp begins to connect dots. And those dots draw a straight line to a conspiracy aiming to cover up a secret that is out of this world⎯literally so.
PRAISE QUOTES:
“[In this] intriguing debut . . . clear crisp prose . . . morphs from a western into a detective story with an overlay of conspiracy theories.” —Publishers Weekly
“Sparkling 1940's dialogue, wry humor, an unpredictable yet coherent storyline, and a breezy style all his own, make Colin Holmes' somewhat spooky novel, Thunder Road, a winner. I'll be on the lookout for his next novel.” —Rob Leininger, author of Killing Suki Flood and the Mortimer Angel "Gumshoe" series
“This genre-defying and enormously entertaining romp is Mickey Spillane meets Whitley Strieber meets Woody Allen. I can’t remember when I’ve had so much plain old fun reading a book and just didn’t want it to end.” —Historical Novel Society, Editor’s Choice
“A carefully crafted and original suspense thriller of a read, Thunder Road by Colin Holmes is the stuff of which block-buster action/adventure movies are made. With many and unexpected plot twists and turns, Thunder Road is an inherently fascinating and entertaining novel . . .” —Midwest Book Review
Thunder Road by author Colin Holmes is an exciting and
action-packed scorcher of a story from the very first page, and considering it
begins in a pasture somewhere west of Fort Worth among a herd of cattle, you'd
think that would be hard to do. But Holmes grabs the story by the horns, and it's
off and running.
The reader is introduced to the book's hero, Jefferson
Sharp, on one of his worst days ever. Between the events of the pasture and
discovering he and his wife are no longer a compatible match, the guy takes several
tough gut punches and still gets up to start all over, all the while
maintaining a decent attitude. He's a down-to-earth guy and a 'ride or die'
kind of friend. He's joined in the story, for the most part, by friends he's
grown up with, some of whom have secrets that bring him a lot of trouble.
However, my favorite supporting character is Veronica "Roni"
Arquette, the sister of a childhood buddy and the widow of Sharp's former
partner when both were detectives with the Fort Worth PD before the war.
I loved the post-WWII 1947 time period and the setting in my hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. The author sprinkles the non-stop action and casework with Fort Worth history, historical figures, and local lore. Some characters appear to be fictional recreations of actual individuals, such as Amon Carter. The historical 'time travel tour' aspect was so delightful and fun that before I was even done reading the novel, I purchased multiple hardcover copies to gift to family members at Christmas.
The story can be broadly categorized as a thriller or
mystery or noir or historical fiction or sci-fi; there is literally something
for everyone here. But the main character is a private investigator with cases
to work on, so that is the book's predominant 'look and feel'. Sharp is a stand
up guy who's good in a fight and takes his drinks with little fuss. The
dialogue is crisp, snappy, and clever, and place descriptions are saturated
with mood and atmosphere, so much so that you'll think you're hanging at the
Four Deuces right along with the characters.
I recommend THUNDER ROAD to mystery readers who would enjoy
a story with a noirish post-WWII Fort Worth setting and wouldn't mind a little
sci-fi action in their crime drama.
Before the pandemic, Colin Holmes toiled in a beige cubical as a mid-level marketing and advertising manager for an international electronics firm. A recovering advertising creative director, he spent far too long at ad agencies and freelancing as a hired gun in the war for capitalism.
As an adman, Holmes has written newspaper classifieds, TV commercials, radio spots, trade journal articles and tweets. His ads have sold cowboy boots and cheeseburgers, 72-ounce steaks, and hazardous waste site clean-up services. He’s encountered fascinating characters at every turn.
Now he writes novels, short stories and screenplays in an effort to stay out of the way and not drive his far too patient wife completely crazy. He is an honors graduate of the UCLA Writers Program, a former board member of the DFW Writers Workshop and serves on the steering committee of the DFW Writers Conference. He’s a fan of baseball, barbeque, fine automobiles and unpretentious scotch.
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I adored this book -- best reading escape I've had in a while. Thanks for sharing!
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