Title: The Adventures of Harry Morgan, Volume 1
Author: Clabe Polk
Genre: Crime Adventure, Short Stories, Crime Fiction
Book Blurb:
A collection of three fast-paced crime action novellas featuring an active adventurous retiree, Harry Morgan, a magnet that attracts trouble everywhere he goes. A retired businessman living in St. Petersburg, Florida, Harry owns a sailboat. His friends and long-suffering wife, Jean, have given up trying to keep him out of disasters, but invariably they are also sucked into the story and endure whatever adventure Harry is into until the end.
The three novellas are:
Collegial Conspiracy: An old friend, dying of cancer, asks Harry to help him rob a bank...like Bonnie and Clyde would do it. Against his own better judgment, Harry risks everything – his life, his liberty, even his marriage – to keep a promise to his old friend. And then things really start to get complicated when his friend’s son, Tony, gets involved.
Emilio: What drove Tony to robbery . . . or worse? A drug-addicted college girl and her boyfriend seem to have committed suicide. But did they? What if it was more than that? What if it was murder? Tony is on the hot-seat for manslaughter and blackmail. Harry finds himself playing detective, smack dab in the middle of an investigation that rubs up against the bank robbery he committed and is working so hard to forget. Can he solve the mystery and get away clean?
The Pirates of Cayo Pelau: Harry's heard all the stories of modern-day pirates along the Florida coast, but that's never slowed him down. As he teaches his friends to sail in his new boat, he expects mosquitoes and sand gnats . . . but he never expected to stumble onto a slave ring. Now he has to free the captives, put the slave smugglers out of business, and rescue his friends…before it's too late.
My Review:
A book by one of my favorite authors whose work I cannot wait to get my hands on. His detective series is one of the best currently being penned. As to the book at hand, it stands out as a very well written darkly-themed tome.
Although well penned, I personally found the basis for the first two thirds of the book to be extremely depressing. This is not to say this book will not appeal to a wide variety of people. Fans of the show Breaking Bad or even The Sopranos would devour this book.
I found, in the end, the only truly redeemable characters were Jean and Amanda.
If you think your life is bad, you should read this book to get some perspective.
The character of Tony is well crafted. Rarely do I so deeply hate a character as I do this 'person'. Tony is beyond nonredeemable and there could have been no ending for this character that would have upset me except him getting away with the destruction he caused.
This was a challenging read that keeps the pages turning as you are drawn into the lives lead that are just 'this' side of the law. A solid and timely read that I recommend to anyone.
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Buy it now:
Amazon http://amzn.to/2Ctt0Z3
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-adventures-of-harry-morgan-volume-1-clabe-polk/1127423355?ean=2940154619216
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Clabe_Polk_The_Adventures_of_Harry_Morgan?id=OWNyDgAAQBAJ
Author Biography:
CLABE POLK is into a second career as a writer of fiction. So far, he has written three novels, three novellas, several short stories, and has a couple of other novels in process. He is a Christian and a lifelong reader with a great variety of life experiences that has led him to write a variety of different types of fiction.
Having an educational background in biology and natural sciences, Mr. Polk applied his knowledge and experience in professional environmental protection, retiring after nearly thirty-seven years in environmental protection program management, law enforcement, chemical emergency response and training. He grew up in and spent most of his life among the woods, waters, fields, farms and industries of Florida and Georgia. Besides reading and writing, he loves fishing, boating, sailing, gardening and anything creative.
He lives in Powder Springs, Georgia with his wife, two daughters, and the family’s Cockapoo named Annie.
Social Media Links:
Twitter https://twitter.com/ClabePolk
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/
Reviewed by: Mr. N