It’s been quite a week for THE RED HAND. A couple of awards, and an unexpectedly strong review from Kirkus Reviews. I’m humbled and thrilled. Thanks to all.
From the Kirkus Review: “This dense, engrossing prequel illuminates why Frank embraces Ironton before economic decline and corruption totally savaged the town. Ironton is a character that Daigle (The Frank Nagler Mysteries: An Anthology, 2018, etc.) brings to atmospheric life in his work: “The sun had squeezed out of the mud the greasy mix of rotten plants, moldy, sweating trash, motor oil that had leaked from dismembered, rusted cars parts, and the musk of dead animals, and then compacted it.”
The author’s pacing is immaculate in this gruesome thriller, as he ratchets up the tension as each additional body is found. He also captures a portrait of a
once-thriving community in chaos as fear sweeps through Ironton. While the fledgling detective often finds himself adrift while investigating the case, Frank’s moral compass never wavers, even when the town and its officials are ready to lynch an unlikely suspect. This makes him almost a lone voice in the wilderness but his gut proves right in the end. What results is a taut look back at the birth of a memorable character.
A winning origin story for one of modern fiction’s expertly drawn detectives.”
The full Kirkus Review is found at this link: THE RED HAND.
THE RED HAND, was named a Distinguished Favorite in the 2019 New York City Big Book Awards contest .
The book was also awarded SECOND PLACE for Mysteries in the 2019 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards, by Story Monsters LLC.
This is the third book in the series to honored with an award. My thanks to the contest sponsors, judges and my publisher, Imzadi Publishing of Tulsa, OK.
THE RED HAND: It’s the time of pay phones, fax machines and piles of paperwork.
And in Ironton, N.J., nine women have been killed, their deaths played out over months as fear grows in the city.
Into this scenario is cast newly-minted Detective Frank Nagler, eager to take on the task of finding the killer, but daunted by the description supplied by the medical examiner: “What we have here is an experiment in death.”
“The Red Hand” is a prequel to the award-winning Frank Nagler Mystery series. Among the characters we meet are Charlie Adams, a teenage hoodlum and Martha Nagler, Frank’s wife, whose love carries him through the bad times ahead.
Can an old-style detective story capture a modern audience?
It can if it is filled with characters that resonate, has a love story for the ages, settings that carry weight and is layered with issues that raise the story above the everyday.
It’s gritty, moving, probably confounding, but it resonates.
Women are missing. Missing would imply a willingness to leave.
Women are not missing: They were taken.
Available at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944653198/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_H1ZgDbQJB259V
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-red-hand-michael-stephen-daigle/1132368097
Also, Kobo and Walmart.com.
