Noir thriller (Thomas Blume Book 1) - HARD FALL - A gripping

Enjoyable short read. Not really predictable, but somehow familiar. Definitely enjoyed the ending, and the book flowed. But it's missing something - some amorphous characteristic that would normally force me to immediately look for more books in this series. Can't say why, but I'm not that emotionally married to this story.

Thomas Blume was an up and coming NYPD cop, until his wife and son were murdered in London. Now, burned out, Blume is working in London as an off-the-books PI while he searches for their killer. When he stumbles across a case that has the London cops baffled, he finds himself hip-deep in criminals, thugs, and corrupt officials, and someone’s willing to kill to keep him from solving the case.
Hard Fall by P. T. Reade is a new entry in the hard-boiled, noir mystery fiction, reminiscent of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer series, but Blume’s no Mike Hammer. He has problems keeping his mind on his case and his lips off the booze, but somehow, he has to pull it together or he’s a dead man. In this riveting story, even the weather’s villainous. Follow along as Blume stumbles his way to finding a killer—if you dare.

A modern day noir style mystery with a hardened ex-cop that reminds you of Lenny from Law and Order. And the best part of it is that it works. Reade has a style all his own. Where else will you find the use of the internet and cell phones in a noir mystery that feels like it could be happening in the 50's? A nice quick read that is character driven but not short on mystery with a nice hook on the end. I'm looking forward to more from this very talented author.

I felt zero empathy or connection to the totally cliché protagonist. Another ex-cop drunkard tortured by the death of his wife and child. Yawn. I guess the twist at the end is supposed to hook readers into buying the next book, but reading this one was like hitting myself on the fingers with a hammer: it only felt good when it was over. Really awful. I'm glad I got it for free, I just regret the time wasted reading it.

Short, sweet, goes by quick. No nonsense just the facts mam attitude. No filler here just the meat and bones story. Nice kick at the end.. His room and board are not as fee as he thinks. On to Blume book #2.