Friday, July 4, 2014

Critical Damage

Critical Damage by Robert K. Lewis
Midnight Ink; 4/8/2014
Trade Paperback, 312 pages

ISBN-13: 9780738736235
Mark Mallen Series #2
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When ex-cop and recovering junkie Mark Mallen is asked to track down two very different girls who have gone missing, he doesn't think twice about putting himself in harm's way to find them. Bloodied and bruised, Mallen shakes down the pimps and hustlers who could crack the cases wide open, leaving no stone unturned in San Francisco's criminal underground.
But something isn't right. Somebody's trying to scare Mallen off, and it's no ordinary street thug. With heat coming at him from all angles, Mallen's search for the truth leads him to men who will stop at nothing to make sure their twisted desires never see the light of day.
My Thoughts:


Critical Damage by Robert K. Lewis is a highly recommended gritty crime novel that provides nonstop action and frantic pages turns. It is not for the faint of heart; there is plenty of violence. If you are looking for PI novel that features a flawed antihero who operates in the dark, seedy underside of San Fransisco, then the Mark Mallen series will be right up your alley. The series started with Untold Damage and continues with this second book, Critical Damage.
 
Mark Mallen is a former cop and recovering drug addict. He and his friend Gato return in this second book. Two girls are missing and one of them is Gato's sister, Lupe. Lupe is a prostitute, so she may have fallen into trouble due to her own activities, but the other missing girl is the daughter of the mayor. What could these two girls possibly have in common? What Mark discovers is chilling and disgusting - and much bigger and more dangerous than anything Mark has ever tangled with before.
 
Lewis is a good writer who has the ability to deftly capture an action scene, as well as the dialogue, which makes Critical Damage a captivating novel to read. This is definitely not a cozy mystery, though; the subject matter gets down and dirty as the case progresses into the world of pimps, prostitutes and the criminal underworld.
 
It might help to read the first novel, Untold Damage, and then this second novel, Critical Damage. There is definitely a third Mark Mallen novel in the future.


My review copy was courtesy of Robert K. Lewis.


Excerpt

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Lori!

Thank you for the awesome review, and for also putting it up on Amazon. Very appreciated!

Best,

RkL