Monday 5 March 2018

Dead Men Run by Gregg Taylor - Book Report #221

I have been listening to the Black Jack Justice Podcast for at least ten years and I can't get enough of the adventures of Jack and Trixie.  They are such a great team.  The stories are all self-contained and performed to perfection.

That's why I get a thrill whenever I hear:
Once again, Decoder Ring Theatre presents another page from the casebook of that master of mystery, that sultan of sleuthing, Martin Bracknell’s immortal detective: Black Jack Justice ...
I always know that I will be in good hands and that the dialog will crackle.  Gregg Taylor should be a big, big star.  He should be publishing books and be rolling in a big pile of cash because of it.  This blog is my little way of helping him to live that life.

The novel is structured much like the podcasts, with Jack and Trix taking turns at the narration of the story.  Here Jack is suspected of killing a cop and, instead of explaining the circumstances to the police, runs and hides.  Only a guilty man would run.

But Trixie does not believe it.  Both of them work the case on their own, which brings me to the only complaint I have of the book.  Black Jack and Trixie Dixon are a team; the stories work best when they are together.  Some of that great banter was missing and how they help each other to work a case was also gone.

It was still a very entertaining installment in the cannon.  But now that the podcast is suspended, each book becomes much more important as it just might be the last time I get to spend time Jack and Trix.

Taylor is just as talented a novelist as he is a script writer.  He has those voices so well memorized that reading the book is just like listening to a podcast.

To me the Black Jack Justice series is the pinnacle of what old-time detective fiction should be.  I can't get enough of this.

Absolutely recommended.  Help Gregg Taylor and buy the most expensive version of this book.  Make sure he gets as much money as possible so that he can be convinced to continue writing.

Decoder Ring Theatre - https://decoderringtheatre.com/shows/

Gregg Taylor

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