Nick Kolakowski - The Irresponsible Reader

Covers of King of Ashes, The Final Vow, Everybody Knows, Don't Tell Me How to Die, Where the Bones Lie, The Broken Detective, Second Lies the Son, Dark Neon & Dirt, One Death at a Time, and The Bang-Bang Sisters, next to an image of an anthropomorphized Pilcrow and the words 'My Favorites of 2025 Crime Fiction'
Finally, we’re at the end of my 2025 wrap-up. Thanks for sticking with me for so long! (assuming you have). I’ve taken to considering this genre apart from everything else when I put together my Favorites Lists, or just about everything else would get ignored. Even if I went with a Top 20 instead of a Favorite 10, maybe 5 books from the previous lists would’ve made it along with all of these. Maybe.

Once again, I’ll note that I limit my lists to things I read for the first time. Yes, there are some author names on here that have been on a couple of these lately. Under half the list. It wouldn’t surprise me if any of these showed up in the years to come. I might have to retire some authors from consideration. Maybe this list should be renamed “S.A. Cosby, M.W. Craven, and some others.”

As always, re-reads don’t count for these lists.

(in alphabetical order by author)

King of Ashes

by S.A. Cosby

This was a twisted, gripping, read about a group of siblings trapped (and shaped) by a shared trauma from their childhood. Now adults, they find themselves trapped in a deal with a local gang of drug dealers, and the only way out may be to become worse than them. Told with Cosby’s signature style and humanity, this will leave you in a daze.

The Final Vow

by M.W. Craven

This is a lighter book than the last couple of Poe and Tilly novels–but that doesn’t make it less compelling to read. Just a little more fun, and probably won’t leave you haunted and unable to get a good night’s sleep right away. It definitely sets a new direction for the series. But none of that matters. This is M.W. Craven at the top of his game–he sets a puzzle worthy of Poe and Tilly, puts some big obstacles in their way, and let’s the reader sit back and revel in it. Who could ask for more?

Everybody Knows

by Jordan Harper

My original post
This is one of the best and starkest depictions of human depravity and the dangers those who dare to stand against it will face. The only thing that makes this experience entertaining is Harper’s prose and fantastic pacing. It left me speechless.

Don’t Tell Me How to Die

by Marshall Karp

My original post
This is a devilishly clever story that’s also emotionally effective. I mean, part of the book’s premise is that the protagonist’s mother died young. Early in the novel, we flashback to that, and I got choked up. I knew the woman was dead before I started the book, and it still got me. Just imagine what the book did to me by the end. As far as the rest of the story goes–the less I say, the better it is for a potential reader. But it’s a doozy–a new kind of story for Marshall Karp and just as good (if not better) as his previous best.

Where the Bones Lie

by Nick Kolakowski

My original post
Kolakowski brings us a little L.A.-noir here with this book–a former Hollywood fixer gets a shot at a new life when someone hires him to find out why her father died many years ago. The interplay between the protagonists is great to read, the mystery is compelling, and the contemporary California-ness of the setting is so real (geographically, environmentally, and in the entertainment industry). It’s a really strong work from Kolakowski.

The Broken Detective

by Joel Nedecky

My original post
We move from L.A.-noir to Winnipeg-noir, which is a thing (apparently). This tale of broken detectives hunting for one particular broken woman in the midst of crime, corruption, and the worst of humanity grabs you in the first couple of pages and won’t let go until a couple of days after you finish. It’s one of the most satisfying endings I read last year, too.

Second Lies the Son

by Matt Phillips

My original post
Here’s another haunting read–Matt Phillips is one of those writers that I just want to read the prose of. The plot and characters don’t matter as much to me as the experience of reading Phillips. But, he always comes through with characters and plot that matter as much as you want, too. This is a fast, lean novel that will leave you moved (disturbed might be a better word) and chewing on it for days.

Dark Neon & Dirt

by Thomas Trang

My original post
And now we’re back to L.A.-noir…Trang’s debut is the kind of assured, nervy book that is a delight to find. You’ve got dirty (or at least compromised) cops, professional thieves, and a collection of coincidences that entwine them in more ways than they find comfortable. The diallogue is fantasitc. The whole things feels like a slick Winslow novel as cool as Miami Vice was at its height.

One Death at a Time

by Abbi Waxman

My original post
Abbi Waxman’s first mystery novel proves (to me, anyway) that she can write anything. The mystery portion of the novel is really well done; the characters are well-designed and well-executed, the relationships between them are strong and obvious—you like the people you’re supposed to like enough that you wish you sat around the room with them, watching them go back and forth Also, it’s funny. That’s a one-two-three combination that I’ll always enjoy and recommend.

The Bang-Bang Sisters

by Rio Youers, Kristen Sieh (Narrator)

My original post
This rollicking adventure captures the spirit of music and live performance (and inter-band dynamics) as…well, any rock novel I can think of. There’s a serial killer equal to Francis Dolarhyde; a violent, kill-or-be-killed, “game” as nasty as Chain-Gang All-Stars; and three great women characters with all the style, skill, and general badassery as The Deadly Viper squad–all in a book with the violence level equal to—if not greater than—Kill Bill, Vol. 1. It’s got the pacing of a classic rock song—with occasional bursts of speed metal–it’s fast, it’s furious, it’s bloody, it’s raw emotion, it’s dangerous. It is so much fun. It is Rock and Roll.

A few books that almost made this list, and I want to be sure to mention:

Mississippi Blue 42 by Eli Cranor; Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart, Righteous Trash by Nick Kolakowski; and The World Entire by Jo Perry.

PUB DAY POST: Righteous Trash by Nick Kolakowski: A Chaotic Family Reunion

By HCNewton

On October 23, 2025

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

Righteous Trash

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Series: Jake Halligan, #3
Publisher: Rock & a Hard Place Press
Publication Date: October 23, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 232 pg.
Read Date: September 24, 2025

What’s Righteous Trash About?

Jake Halligan’s sister, Frankie, has come back to Idaho after a time in Mexico. She wants to start her business again—there’s always a market for guns, right? Especially of the extra-legal variety. But first, she wants to take care of some business for an old friend. With Jake’s help, of course. It’s messy and…well, never mind that.

But before they can really get into that, they find themselves at the scene of the nuttiest (gutsiest?) robbery—that promises to wreck Jake’s life. There’s some involvement with the FBI, some political corruption and cover-ups, and so many people pointing guns at the siblings that it’d be too hard to count.

All in all, a good time.

Action

One thing you expect from a Jake Halligan novel is some good action scenes—and boy howdy, does Kolakowski deliver here. There are some intense—almost cinematic—action scenes here.

But the first big gun fight in particular is the one I want to focus on for just a moment—there are multiple groups, with varying alliances (the exact number is hard to determine in the moment). You need someone like John Woo or Chad Stahelski to bring this to life—you’ve got the bullets, the quips, some stupid and useless deaths, and a couple of good twists. If you haven’t been fully engaged in the novel to that point, you will be after it.

The other action scenes are more grounded. I’m not saying they’re all that realistic, I don’t think (who reads these novels for hyper-realism?). But they seem a little more like what would happen to actual people, not stuntmen, in the situations. Just as compelling, just a little less eye-candy.

Stand By Your Man

One of the more interesting things through this series has been tracking the relationship between Jake and his wife. Or maybe it should be phrased as the relationship between Janine and her husband and sister-in-law’s lifestyle. She’s not comfortable with it (to undersell it), she doesn’t want it anywhere near their daughter, she’s barely tolerant of Frankie at all. And who could blame her for any of that? The number of bullets I want flying anywhere near my spouse is far lower than what Jake sees in the first book—never mind the others. And as for their kid? Forget it.

That’s not to mention how often Janine’s life has been in danger. That alone should drive her away.

Nevertheless, she stands by her man. I’m not sure if she should be admired or pitied, really. Either way, it makes her the kind of character you want to watch, and gives you something to think about in the midst of everything else.

The Missing Sequel?

Back in 2018, the first time I got to ask Kolakowski some questions, he mentioned a sequel to the first Jake Halligan book set in New Orleans. We ended up getting a very different sequel. Now in book three, we get a flashback to an adventure that Jake and Frankie had in The Big Easy.

I don’t know if any of the material he’d prepared for that would-be sequel ended up as that flashback, but it’s fun to think about (and fun to imagine what would happen after it). Obviously, it could just be a coincidence, and he needed a non-Idaho place for the siblings to get into trouble—and New Orleans works well for both of those criteria.

So, what did I think about Righteous Trash?

Again, Kolakowski nails the local geography. I really think I could drive to each location he describes—and for those who aren’t from around these here parts, he describes them in a way that conveys a good feel for the place. The fact that I could give a tour of the series locations to a reader who dropped by is just a bonus. (and I can absolutely see the Idaho political scene function the way he depicts it, although I think that could be easily ported into the other 49, too).

I enjoyed both the change—and utter lack of it—that we see in Frankie. She’s aged a bit, got some perspective (maybe wisdom), and knows what she wants. She’s also enough of a realist to understand what’s possible for her (you might read a little pessimism into that, too—but she’d deny that).

I’m a little worried about our friend Jake, at least where he was at the beginning of the novel. He’s a survivor, and he has Janine and his daughter to worry about, so I assume he’ll find a way to get it done. These novels have taken their toll on him (and everyone else), which I appreciate because these kind of books can gloss over that kind of impact. But, he’s such a nice guy (most of the time), that you hate to see it.

Great action, a clever story, characters that you just can’t get enough of. This is a fast-moving novel that will keep you turning pages longer than you should (plan your sleep accordingly; the adrenaline can only do so much). This is a fun thrill ride that will satisfy fans of the series and probably create some new ones, too. (It is absolutely not necessary to read the earlier novels before this, but you will appreciate some things more if you have.)

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski: Down These Mean Streets People Must Still Go

By HCNewton

On March 10, 2025

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

Where the Bones Lie

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Publisher: Datura Books
Publication Date: March 11, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 304 pg.
Read Date: February 26-Narch 1, 2025

What’s Where the Bones Lie About?

Dash Fuller used to work for a man he compared to Mr. Wolfe from Pulp Fiction, and in his employ would clean-up various messes by celebrities and other movers-and-shakers in L.A. Eventually the work got too much for him and he walked away. He tried to find a new career in Stand-Up comedy, but that’s not going so well. He’s doing better at drinking copious amounts of bourbon to numb himself, and then scurrying around picking up money from delivery driving and other gig jobs at the end of the month to pay his bills.

After one, shall we say, not-good night at a local comedy club two significant things happen for Dash. First, his old boss, Manny, shows up to badger him into doing one more job for him (he’d like more, but will settle for one, for now).

The other spins off of both—another audience member there picks up on some of what Dash does that night (but not all of it, he’s pretty good at what he does) and offers to hire him. After several years where the family had to assume he was dead, Madeline Ironwood’s father’s body has recently been discovered in a barrel found as a nearby lake has receded thanks to water shortages in the state. She’d like Dash to look into it and see if he can figure out what happened to him.

Ken Ironwood was a smuggler, and probably other things. He’s been missing since she was a young girl. He’s noteworthy enough that a true crime docuseries has started recently streaming about him, but not so noteworthy that Dash would’ve heard of him without the billboards all around town (that Madeline had to point out to him). The suspect list was so large that the LAPD and FBI gave up trying to pare down without more to go on than a missing man.

It’s not a lot for Dash to go on, but the money is okay, and it’s something that gets him out of town for a little bit.

The Traumatized Knight

I think it’s pretty obvious that Dash is supposed to be in the Hammett model more than the Chandler, but I’m more familiar with Chandler, so I’m going to lean on what I learned from L.A.’s hardboiled detective/detective-like characters from him.

Dash is a knight—a knight in tarnished, battered, and filthy armor. But a knight nonetheless—he knows how many of his choices didn’t match his ideals and ethics. His ex wondered if the good person inside him could be found—and Dash wonders the same.

This has taken a toll on him—one job in particular, but there’s also the cumulative effect from years of this—and has left him traumatized and self-medicating. This is also common to the hardboiled investigator, but given Dash’s cultural context it seems more apparent (and something he’s more willing to reflect on).

The job that Manny sends Dash on at the beginning brings all the trauma to the surface (it was close to it already, but this gave it the needed nudge). While the focus of the novel—and Dash’s attention—is Madeline’s case and her father’s fate, Dash’s struggles are a shadow over everything he does, over many of his choices (like the one to take the case), and will even interfere with his thinking on occasion.

Again, you see this all over Marlowe’s adventures—but it’s between the lines—I expect the same could be said about Hammett’s characters. But with Dash it’s clearer, it’s acknowledged, and understood—at least by some of the characters.

The Environment

California’s repeated droughts lay the foundation of the investigation into Madeline’s father’s death. The heat in L.A. as Dash and Madeline drive northward is oppressive. Wildfires threaten that city, close in on Dash and Madeline at important junctures in their search—and play a significant outcome in the endgame of that storyline.

This is possibly the most environmentally aware detective novel I’ve read. I’ve read “eco novels” that do a less effective job of addressing these issues. Part of what makes it so effective is that Kolakowski doesn’t get preachy with it, he doesn’t beat you over the head with it—it’s just seamlessly woven into the tapestry of this novel, no more noteworthy than Dash’s bad jokes, or the threat of bent cops. But it’s there. Everywhere.

I’m Glad Someone Asked

One question that had been running in my mind throughout was why Dash turned to Stand-Up, and his narration didn’t choose to reveal it, while it revealed so much about other things.

By the time that someone asked him, I was overjoyed that someone else (even if they’re fictional) had to know. The answer was satisfying enough, and in many ways didn’t tell us anything we couldn’t have/shouldn’t have figured out on our own (especially by that point in the novel), but hearing it from Dash was good.

So, what did I think about Where the Bones Lie?

This just might be the best thing Kolakowski has written so far. Which is likely a sentence I’ve written before—and I meant it then, but time has gone on and Kolakowski has gotten better.

I didn’t end up saying anything about the job that Manny hired Dash for that kick-started this whole novel, it doesn’t take long for Dash to take care of it, and we get an idea of some of the things he’s done in the past (more importantly, some of what he hasn’t done). Some of what he’s seen. This is developed through the course of the novel, too. But it gives us a taste of his old life and shows that he has the tools to build on.

Madeline’s case is the first job he’s ever had for a positive goal—to accomplish something. He’s not trying to prevent embarrassment or scandal—he’s not trying to save some studio a bunch of money, or rescue someone’s reputation, or prevent someone from facing legal charges. Sure, he has the skills—but he has to learn to use them in a different way. Which is a great place to put a character.

The supporting characters are great—particularly the “bigger bad”s (which is all I’m going to say about them). I would love to spend more time with the closest thing that Dash has to a friend, in particular.

With Chandler—like more modern writers like Ellroy or Connelly—you get a real sense of L.A. or California. And Kolakowski delivers the same here. He’s done some really specific geographic work in the past, but outside of geographic markers, I don’t know that I “felt” the area like I do here. (I want to stress that this isn’t intended as a criticism of his earlier work, it’s a compliment and observation about this one).

As far as the ending or resolutions to the various plotlines—some I saw coming, because Kolakowski prepared the reader for them. Some hit me like they came out of the blue (they didn’t, really, but they felt like it). All were satisfying in ways I didn’t expect really. There were lines that you could see Chandler writing—if not word for word, at least close paraphrases. The spirit of that age lives on in these pages.

His history suggests that the next work by Kolakowski will be something else entirely—probably not a cozy, but something he hasn’t delivered yet. But if he wants to do more like this, I’ll be first in line for it. Meanwhile, you should focus on getting this book in front of your eyeballs.

Disclaimer: I was provided with this ARC by the author in exchange for my honest opinion. The only impact this had on what I said about the book was that I could say it before I could buy a copy.

4 1/2 Stars
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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REPOSTING JUST CUZ: Payback Is Forever by Nick Kolakowski: There’s a lot of opportunity in doom.

By HCNewton

On March 6, 2025

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

I didn’t quite finish my post about Kolakowski’s upcoming release last night (read: I wrote 2 paragraphs that probably need revision/expansion). So, let’s revisit this bold crime novel instead.

Payback Is Forever

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books
Publication Date: March 24, 2022
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 170 pg.
Read Date: March 29-30, 2022

What’s Payback Is Forever About?

Miller’s a thief, a fairly successful one. This comes in handy because he’s not as successful when it comes to gambling. He needs to pay a debt, so he takes a job with a couple of strangers. They betray him, the job goes wrong, and Miller (and the cash) escape without his partners. They don’t know his name or home base, so he figures he’s safe for a little bit.

He’s soon contacted by a figure from his past, Rick Redfield:

“I’ve entered into an arrangement with some… men of violence, shall we say. Which means I need the services of the most violent man I know. Which is you.”

“I’m no bodyguard.”

“No. You’re capable of terrible acts, and that’s the necessary thing here. Besides, bodyguards ask too many questions.”

With the promise of a large payday on the horizon, Miller’s in—and soon finds himself involved with some Nazis who escaped from Germany in the waning days of the war, Nazi hunters, and a few more dead bodies than Miller was prepared to deal with.

Supporting Cast

Miller and most of the characters that he deals with are of a fairly typical sort—you’ll recognize the types easily. They’re interestingly-drawn and well-used, but they’re types.

Then there’s Jill Reilly—she’s Miller’s love interest and is a secretary in the Medical Examiner’s office. Given the proper circumstances, she’d probably make a pretty good Examiner herself—but between the education, she’d need, and the rampant chauvinism in the office, that’s probably not going to happen. Reilly feels like she’s got one foot in the Girl Friday type, but with a rebellious streak that keeps the other foot out of the type.

The other character that stands out as not fitting into a typical mold is Scott, Redfield’s friend who acts as a liaison to the outside world when Redfield needs to stay out of the light. He’s a timid, uncertain man—who needs to use a ventriloquist’s dummy, Colonel Longshanks, to communicate those things that are too much for Scott to handle. Miller has no patience for either of them—but can force himself to work with Scott. The Colonel on the other hand…

There was a moment where I wondered if Scott/Colonel Longshanks would over-take Monkey Man as my favorite strange Kolakowski character. He didn’t, but that he was in the running says something about the character development in this short novel.

The Hidden Agenda

If what I’ve described seems pretty straight-forward, it is. If anyone’s read Kolakowski before, that’s not how he rolls. Right?

There is something else afoot here. I don’t know that it added much (if anything), but it didn’t hurt anything either. Maybe if I was in a different mood when I read this I’d have a more positive take on the “something else,” but right now, I can take it or leave it.

The material with Miller, the Nazis, Nazi Hunters is enough to focus on and keep you entertained. If you happen to get the rest of it, that’s gravy.

So, what did I think about Payback Is Forever?

This feels like the kind of pulpy thrillers from the 1960s and 70s I’ve read—just in a post-WWII setting with a dash of Nathanael West thrown in. It’s a surprisingly effective combination, and I’d have read another 200 pages of it without blinking. Although I do think this lean, mean, streamlined approach is far more effective.

Miller’s absolutely the kind of character you want in this setting—his morality is stuck in the gray—it’s a pretty dark gray, but he’s not a full-on villain. And he’s thinking about reforming, at least a little.

There were two scenes—or parts of scenes—that make this more than a quick, fun read. There’s a visual in the last big gunfight that’s so ridiculous, so comical, in the middle of a big action scene that makes you want a film version immediately (but it may be better in your imagination).

Before that there’s another scene that I can’t describe—you start it assuming X might happen, and yet when X does happen you still sit up and pay attention because you can’t believe that Kolakowski actually did that. And then over the next 3 or 4 paragraphs, the shocking scene becomes something so unexpected that you have to read it a couple of times to make sure you read it right. Cackling while you read it every time makes the comprehension a little difficult.

A solid, stylish thriller with Kolakowski’s style and sense of character is exactly what I needed to read last week, and Payback is Forever delivered. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

4 Stars

The Friday 56 for 9/2/22: Hell of a Mess by Nick Kolakowski

By HCNewton

On September 2, 2022

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it.

from Page 56 of:
Hell of a Mess

Hell of a Mess by Nick Kolakowski

“Where are we going?” Fireball asked as he escorted Jen down the steps, careful on the wet concrete. His heavy back. pack bounced against his spine, the straps too loose.

“No idea,” Fiona said. The station would protect them from the rain and wind, at least. With no trains running, they could safely walk the tracks to another station. Hell, it wasn’t impossible they could make their way back to the house while staying underground.

But what if the system floods?

You have a point, she told the treacherous demon in her head. Past hurricanes had ruptured tunnels and retaining walls, filling half the subway system with toxic water. For years, politicians insisted they were spending the money to ensure such a thing never happened again, but since when could you trust anything they said?

She would just have to risk it. And yet she hesitated at the top of the stairway, frozen by a vision of whitewater foaming down a tunnel, sweeping away anything in its path, drowning anyone foolish enough to try and take refuge deep in the earth…

PUB DAY REPOST: Hell of a Mess by Nick Kolakowski: A Whole Bunch of Plans that Don’t Come Together

By HCNewton

On August 26, 2022

In Fiction, Love & Bullets Hookups, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

I also did a Q&A with the author about this book, give it a look!

Hell of a Mess

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Series: Love & Bullets, #4
Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books
Publication Date: August 26, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 234
Read Date: August 1, 2022

What’s Hell of a Mess About?

Well, isn’t that a tricky question? There is too much. Let me sum up. There are multiple people who start off intending to commit one crime and end up doing something entirely different.

Fiona’s been hired to steal something, and it’s a timely thing (and she’s not deterred by much), so despite an impending hurricane, she goes for it. Sure, the Inside Man tries to wave her off, but, again—she’s not deterred by much. Which is a shame—she should’ve paid attention to either the weather or the Inside Man. She ends up with a price on her head and multiple people around the city.

While she’s busy, Bill’s trying to prep for the storm in the home they’re squatting in when some police break in looking for the man who lives there. One thing leads to another, and they kidnap Bill, believing he can lead them to the millions his former employer had hidden away.

Thankfully. that assassin they thought Fiona killed at the end of A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps survived—readers knew that, but Fiona and Bill didn’t. Not only did he live, but he’s been keeping tabs on them. He’s been trying to live a different—less lethal—life and he has a chance to help them. Will he be enough?

(I have no idea if the above makes any sense—trying to cram it into three brief paragraphs doesn’t do the plot any favors. In the non-condensed version, it works. Trust me.)

The Unnamed Assassin

Up to the point where it looked like Fiona killed him (maybe a little sooner), I thought that the hitman who was sent after Bill in the first book was the protagonist. His is the only first-person perspective we get through the series—almost like he’s relaying what he knows and hears about this crazy couple while he’s dealing with his own problems like they’re a diversion for him.

His personal arc is very different from theirs—they claim to be trying to get out and live a straight life, if only they get one more decent score to set them up. The unnamed assassin is going a different path, he’s still a violent criminal, but like Jules Winnfield, he’s looking for something more. There are lines he won’t cross anymore (he seems to be making those rules up on the fly, but at least he has them.

As you can probably tell, I find it difficult to articulate his development and role in the series—but using him (sparingly, on the whole) and his arc throughout in juxtaposition to Fiona and Bill adds a layer to these books that few authors would have utilized, but make the whole thing better.

Be sure to check out my Q&A with Kolakowski (posting later today) for more about him.

Unanswered Questions

The thing that really kicks off the Fiona storyline is her stumbling across something she wasn’t expecting while discovering the thing she came to steal wasn’t there. Her discovery of the other nefarious action—and the way she prevented it from being completed*—is what starts the manhunt for her, more than the attempted heist. If she’d just walked away, I think it’s likely no one would’ve come after her.

* It is so tricky to discuss this obliquely.

Then when it comes time for Fiona to go save Bill, that storyline is dropped. Which is actually fine and good, because ultimately what it’s replaced by is more interesting. But in the back of my mind couldn’t stop asking—and, a week later, still can’t—what happened? What led up to Fiona’s discovery? What happened after she and the unnamed killer ran off to rescue Bill?

Typically, leaving these threads hanging would annoy me enough that I’d downgrade a novel over it—but Kolakowski pulls it off. If you’re going to abandon a plotline, this is the way to do it.

That said, I’d pony up twice the typical Shotgun Honey novella price today to get Love & Bullets #5 if it picks up right after this to tell the rest of that story. Maybe thrice.

So, what did I think about Hell of a Mess?

The previous three installments were novellas, but this is a novel, clocking in at 50-100 pages longer than the rest. And it didn’t feel like it at all. It was the same adrenaline-fueled, not-quite-frenzied pace and was over before I was ready for it to be. My daily schedule kept this from being a one-sitting read, but I think I could’ve done it in one sitting without realizing it.

This is pulpy fun. There’s action, there’s heart, there’s comedy (some subtle, some absolutely not), there’s a lot of violence, and you can’t forget the bunch of heartbroken saps that are at the center of things. They’re crooks and killers that really seem like decent people when you stack them up next to the nastier crooks and killers they can’t stop encountering. In the middle of all that chaos (and you can’t forget the chaos of the storm), there’s hope, forgiveness, and love. And who can’t use a little of that?

I don’t know if Kolakowski is going to come back to these characters in the future—I’d be content with what he’s given already, but I also know that I’d jump on any future installments, too. I encourage you to do the same.

4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

A Few Quick Questions with…Nick Kolakowski (2022 edition)

By HCNewton

On August 8, 2022

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction, Love & Bullets Hookups, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

He’s back for the sixth time, now to talk about the fourth installment of this Love & Bullets series of hookups, Hell of a Mess (I posted about it earlier today). I look forward to these Q&As a lot, I know that when I get the responses I’ll learn a few things, understand the books better, and will grin at least twice. Not only does he write a good book, he writes a good answer. The novel comes out at the end of the month, get your orders in today!

So what brought you back to Bill and Fiona? Did you get a hankering to do something new with them while putting The Megabomb Edition together or did you get the idea for a heist in a hurricane (or something like that) and decide they’d fit better than someone new?
I’d always wanted to do a heist in a hurricane. When I was a teenager, for reasons I can’t quite explain, I was really into the movie “Hard Rain” with Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater, which centers on an armored truck robbery in a flooded town. It’s a pretty mediocre flick, but I really dug the idea of taking two distinct genres—crime and natural disaster—and slamming them together.

So, the basic framework of heist-in-a-hurricane rattled around in my brain for years. I thought about it more after Hurricane Sandy smashed through New York ten years ago, which came with all the chaos you can imagine—no power, flooded buildings, chaos in the streets. I even wrote some crime-themed short stories that took place during Sandy, but the itch to turn it into a full-fledged novel didn’t grip me until 2020.

Originally, it was supposed to involve all-new characters, but I really like Bill and Fiona, and I thought: why not? I know how they think. I know what they’d do. It seemed more organic to make it another Love & Bullets adventure.

This question might have fit better for the first Love and Bullets novella, but it still applies here. Can you talk a little about your decision to have the unnamed-assassin as your first person narrator rather than one of the protagonists, or a third-person omniscient narrator? He’s important to this novel, and the first novella—but not as important to the rest of the series—but he’s not a John Watson or Nick Caraway kind of non-protagonist narrator, either. Maybe you can describe his function in the series as well (I clearly can’t do it concisely). Also, was leaving him nameless a conscious decision, or just something that happened along the way that you stayed with it?
Leaving him nameless is just something that happened along the way. The assassin is human, obviously, but I also think of him as a supernatural or mythical force—almost like a Loki, a spiritual trickster who’s not firmly implanted in this world. Giving him a name seemed to reduce him somehow, at least in my mind.

I can’t explain why he’s written in the first person, and the other characters are shoved into the omniscient third. Not to give too much agency to a fictional character, but it’s what he wants; when I sit down and write from his perspective, it just spools out effortlessly. When I started Hell of a Mess, I very briefly tried writing him from the same third-person perspective as the other characters, and it simply fell flat.

There was also a version of Hell of a Mess where he didn’t appear at all, and it didn’t work, either. He’s the levity that differentiates the series from other crime fiction, in my mind; he’s the crazy element, the secret sauce, the glue that binds the narratives together on a subtextual level. Maybe that’s because he’s always articulating the book’s themes as he wrestles with his own feelings and coincidence; maybe it’s just that I find him funny as hell.

How do you balance the threat of a hurricane with the various human threats running around this book? Are there special challenges involved in using a natural disaster like this in a book, or is it a gift—allowing a random tree branch or torrent of rain to come along and interrupt things when you want?
It’s a gift and a curse. If you’re jammed up in the plot, yeah, you can send a tree branch or a flood through to shake things up—it’s the nature equivalent of Chandler’s old adage about how if you’re stumped on how to advance the plot, just have someone walk in with a gun. Living through Sandy, I learned firsthand how a big storm can really impact even the most mundane physics; at one point, I had to open a door with another big guy, and it took all of our strength to crack it open even a few inches against the wind and the air pressure. You throw those physics into a fictional narrative, and you generate some really interesting potentials for suspense.

At the same time, especially when you’re using a hurricane, you have to make sure the tempo of the storm aligns with your action—for example, as the storm intensifies, your characters really can’t do anything outside, which is why I decided to have the climax of the book take place just as the eye passes overhead, cutting out the wind and rain.

Let’s take a break from your work for a moment—you’re a reader/viewer as well as a writer, what’re some of the books/movies/shows this year that you’ve been enjoying?
I loved Heat 2. I was lucky enough to get an early copy, and I had some trepidations about how well Michael Mann would carry off that shift from cinematic to novelistic, but I needn’t have worried—the book is fantastic. Meg Gardiner, his co-author, layered it with her trademark suspense, and the whole thing really works.

I’m also reading Jordan Harper’s Last King of California, which is coming out in late September in the UK (although U.S. readers can find a copy via Amazon.co.uk pretty easily, I think). It’s a real treat because Harper is one of the best wordsmiths working the crime genre, and every sentence is rich and thick. The book itself is in the proud tradition of noirs like Blood Father and Tapping the Source, and it’s wonderful.

You’ve got Beach Bodies coming out on Halloween, right? I understand that’s a horror novella? Do you want to give a quick pitch for that one?
Beach Bodies is a super-short horror novella that began as a potential project for a smaller horror publisher, but when that didn’t work, I decided to dip my toe into self-publishing. It’s a weird book with one bloody moment near the end that will probably excite hardcore horror fans while freaking other folks out (one early reader texted me, “DUDE, WTF, LOL,” when she reached it).

The short pitch for it: Julia and Alec are two twentysomethings paid to “house sit” a billionaire’s luxury doomsday bunker on an isolated stretch of beach. Three strangers invade the bunker on a sinister mission, and very bad things happen. There’s a big twist that’ll have you questioning the nature of the characters’ very reality.

As usual, I’ve got to ask, what’s coming down the pike? Are you far enough into your next book(s) to talk about it/them?
Right now I’m working on an episode of A Grifter’s Song, which is a long-running series (something like 28 novellas and counting) written by various crime-fiction authors, including S.A. Cosby, Hilary Davidson, and Paul J. Garth. The series follows two hustlers as they attempt to cheat bad folks out of their money. The main challenge for me is taking these two preexisting characters with a rich backstory established by other authors… and trying not to mess it up.

And by “mess it up,” I mean, “make it too much like Bill and Fiona from Love & Bullets,” which I’m definitely at risk of doing. But I’ll make it work.

Thanks for your time—and thanks for Hell of a Mess—it’s always fun spending time with these characters.
Thank you! I love these questions!

Hell of a Mess by Nick Kolakowski: A Whole Bunch of Plans that Don’t Come Together

By HCNewton

On August 8, 2022

In Fiction, Love & Bullets Hookups, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

Hell of a Mess

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Series: Love & Bullets, #4
Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books
Publication Date: August 26, 2022
Format: eARC
Length: 234
Read Date: August 1, 2022

What’s Hell of a Mess About?

Well, isn’t that a tricky question? There is too much. Let me sum up. There are multiple people who start off intending to commit one crime and end up doing something entirely different.

Fiona’s been hired to steal something, and it’s a timely thing (and she’s not deterred by much), so despite an impending hurricane, she goes for it. Sure, the Inside Man tries to wave her off, but, again—she’s not deterred by much. Which is a shame—she should’ve paid attention to either the weather or the Inside Man. She ends up with a price on her head and multiple people around the city.

While she’s busy, Bill’s trying to prep for the storm in the home they’re squatting in when some police break in looking for the man who lives there. One thing leads to another, and they kidnap Bill, believing he can lead them to the millions his former employer had hidden away.

Thankfully. that assassin they thought Fiona killed at the end of A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps survived—readers knew that, but Fiona and Bill didn’t. Not only did he live, but he’s been keeping tabs on them. He’s been trying to live a different—less lethal—life and he has a chance to help them. Will he be enough?

(I have no idea if the above makes any sense—trying to cram it into three brief paragraphs doesn’t do the plot any favors. In the non-condensed version, it works. Trust me.)

The Unnamed Assassin

Up to the point where it looked like Fiona killed him (maybe a little sooner), I thought that the hitman who was sent after Bill in the first book was the protagonist. His is the only first-person perspective we get through the series—almost like he’s relaying what he knows and hears about this crazy couple while he’s dealing with his own problems like they’re a diversion for him.

His personal arc is very different from theirs—they claim to be trying to get out and live a straight life, if only they get one more decent score to set them up. The unnamed assassin is going a different path, he’s still a violent criminal, but like Jules Winnfield, he’s looking for something more. There are lines he won’t cross anymore (he seems to be making those rules up on the fly, but at least he has them.

As you can probably tell, I find it difficult to articulate his development and role in the series—but using him (sparingly, on the whole) and his arc throughout in juxtaposition to Fiona and Bill adds a layer to these books that few authors would have utilized, but make the whole thing better.

Be sure to check out my Q&A with Kolakowski (posting later today) for more about him.

Unanswered Questions

The thing that really kicks off the Fiona storyline is her stumbling across something she wasn’t expecting while discovering the thing she came to steal wasn’t there. Her discovery of the other nefarious action—and the way she prevented it from being completed*—is what starts the manhunt for her, more than the attempted heist. If she’d just walked away, I think it’s likely no one would’ve come after her.

* It is so tricky to discuss this obliquely.

Then when it comes time for Fiona to go save Bill, that storyline is dropped. Which is actually fine and good, because ultimately what it’s replaced by is more interesting. But in the back of my mind couldn’t stop asking—and, a week later, still can’t—what happened? What led up to Fiona’s discovery? What happened after she and the unnamed killer ran off to rescue Bill?

Typically, leaving these threads hanging would annoy me enough that I’d downgrade a novel over it—but Kolakowski pulls it off. If you’re going to abandon a plotline, this is the way to do it.

That said, I’d pony up twice the typical Shotgun Honey novella price today to get Love & Bullets #5 if it picks up right after this to tell the rest of that story. Maybe thrice.

So, what did I think about Hell of a Mess?

The previous three installments were novellas, but this is a novel, clocking in at 50-100 pages longer than the rest. And it didn’t feel like it at all. It was the same adrenaline-fueled, not-quite-frenzied pace and was over before I was ready for it to be. My daily schedule kept this from being a one-sitting read, but I think I could’ve done it in one sitting without realizing it.

This is pulpy fun. There’s action, there’s heart, there’s comedy (some subtle, some absolutely not), there’s a lot of violence, and you can’t forget the bunch of heartbroken saps that are at the center of things. They’re crooks and killers that really seem like decent people when you stack them up next to the nastier crooks and killers they can’t stop encountering. In the middle of all that chaos (and you can’t forget the chaos of the storm), there’s hope, forgiveness, and love. And who can’t use a little of that?

I don’t know if Kolakowski is going to come back to these characters in the future—I’d be content with what he’s given already, but I also know that I’d jump on any future installments, too. I encourage you to do the same.

4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

Payback Is Forever by Nick Kolakowski: There’s a lot of opportunity in doom.

By HCNewton

On April 4, 2022

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

Payback Is Forever

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books
Publication Date: March 24, 2022
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 170 pg.
Read Date: March 29-30, 2022

What’s Payback Is Forever About?

Miller’s a thief, a fairly successful one. This comes in handy because he’s not as successful when it comes to gambling. He needs to pay a debt, so he takes a job with a couple of strangers. They betray him, the job goes wrong, and Miller (and the cash) escape without his partners. They don’t know his name or home base, so he figures he’s safe for a little bit.

He’s soon contacted by a figure from his past, Rick Redfield:

“I’ve entered into an arrangement with some… men of violence, shall we say. Which means I need the services of the most violent man I know. Which is you.”

“I’m no bodyguard.”

“No. You’re capable of terrible acts, and that’s the necessary thing here. Besides, bodyguards ask too many questions.”

With the promise of a large payday on the horizon, Miller’s in—and soon finds himself involved with some Nazis who escaped from Germany in the waning days of the war, Nazi hunters, and a few more dead bodies than Miller was prepared to deal with.

Supporting Cast

Miller and most of the characters that he deals with are of a fairly typical sort—you’ll recognize the types easily. They’re interestingly-drawn and well-used, but they’re types.

Then there’s Jill Reilly—she’s Miller’s love interest and is a secretary in the Medical Examiner’s office. Given the proper circumstances, she’d probably make a pretty good Examiner herself—but between the education, she’d need, and the rampant chauvinism in the office, that’s probably not going to happen. Reilly feels like she’s got one foot in the Girl Friday type, but with a rebellious streak that keeps the other foot out of the type.

The other character that stands out as not fitting into a typical mold is Scott, Redfield’s friend who acts as a liaison to the outside world when Redfield needs to stay out of the light. He’s a timid, uncertain man—who needs to use a ventriloquist’s dummy, Colonel Longshanks, to communicate those things that are too much for Scott to handle. Miller has no patience for either of them—but can force himself to work with Scott. The Colonel on the other hand…

There was a moment where I wondered if Scott/Colonel Longshanks would over-take Monkey Man as my favorite strange Kolakowski character. He didn’t, but that he was in the running says something about the character development in this short novel.

The Hidden Agenda

If what I’ve described seems pretty straight-forward, it is. If anyone’s read Kolakowski before, that’s not how he rolls. Right?

There is something else afoot here. I don’t know that it added much (if anything), but it didn’t hurt anything either. Maybe if I was in a different mood when I read this I’d have a more positive take on the “something else,” but right now, I can take it or leave it.

The material with Miller, the Nazis, Nazi Hunters is enough to focus on and keep you entertained. If you happen to get the rest of it, that’s gravy.

So, what did I think about Payback Is Forever?

This feels like the kind of pulpy thrillers from the 1960s and 70s I’ve read—just in a post-WWII setting with a dash of Nathanael West thrown in. It’s a surprisingly effective combination, and I’d have read another 200 pages of it without blinking. Although I do think this lean, mean, streamlined approach is far more effective.

Miller’s absolutely the kind of character you want in this setting—his morality is stuck in the gray—it’s a pretty dark gray, but he’s not a full-on villain. And he’s thinking about reforming, at least a little.

There were two scenes—or parts of scenes—that make this more than a quick, fun read. There’s a visual in the last big gunfight that’s so ridiculous, so comical, in the middle of a big action scene that makes you want a film version immediately (but it may be better in your imagination).

Before that there’s another scene that I can’t describe—you start it assuming X might happen, and yet when X does happen you still sit up and pay attention because you can’t believe that Kolakowski actually did that. And then over the next 3 or 4 paragraphs, the shocking scene becomes something so unexpected that you have to read it a couple of times to make sure you read it right. Cackling while you read it every time makes the comprehension a little difficult.

A solid, stylish thriller with Kolakowski’s style and sense of character is exactly what I needed to read last week, and Payback is Forever delivered. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

4 Stars

The Friday 56 for 3/25/22: Payback is Forever by Nick Kolakowski

By HCNewton

On March 25, 2022

In Currently Reading, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Nick Kolakowski, Quotations, The Friday 56

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve done one of these (a streak of books with hard-to-quote or oddly-dull-to-quote 56s), but you can always count on Kolakowski to be quote-worthy.

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it.

from Page 56 of:
Payback is Forever

Payback is Forever by Nick Kolakowski

Creak-creak-creak-creak.

Miller pictured a lightning bolt shooting from the top of his head, through the ceiling, and incinerating the old man in his irritating chair. Like something a Greek God would do to a peasant who was preventing him from mating with a beautiful swan. Wasn’t that how the legend went? He was a little drunk.

Jill laughed. “You have to admit, it’s sort of funny.”

“Sure, unless I’m trying to sleep.”

Tag: Nick Kolakowski Page 1 of 3

What’s Righteous Trash About?

Action

Stand By Your Man

The Missing Sequel?

So, what did I think about Righteous Trash?

What’s Where the Bones Lie About?

The Traumatized Knight

The Environment

I’m Glad Someone Asked

So, what did I think about Where the Bones Lie?

What’s Payback Is Forever About?

Supporting Cast

The Hidden Agenda

So, what did I think about Payback Is Forever?

What’s Hell of a Mess About?

The Unnamed Assassin

Unanswered Questions

So, what did I think about Hell of a Mess?

What’s Hell of a Mess About?

The Unnamed Assassin

Unanswered Questions

So, what did I think about Hell of a Mess?

What’s Payback Is Forever About?

Supporting Cast

The Hidden Agenda

So, what did I think about Payback Is Forever?