DEPARTURE DAY - Biker 11

 

DEPARTURE DAY

Biker Book 11

By Mike Baron

Wolfpack Publishing

336 pgs

 

What we’ve always appreciated about Mike Baron, whether writing prose shorts, novels or comic scripts, is that he remains topical. It’s as if Baron assimilates the culture around him. He absorbs all its high points and in the same regard all its lunacy. That gift is on display in “Departure Day,” the eleventh book in his series featuring reformed biker, Josh Pratt. 

A summary history on the protagonist as follows. He grew up without a mother and a killer for a father. He got involved with biker gangs at a young age and ended up in prison. There he was saved by a charismatic pastor who brought him to Jesus and salvation. A pardon from the governor, at the pastor’s recommendation, then led to a free ex-con becoming a private investigator/summons server. Over the next nine books, Josh found himself making atonement for his early life by helping others; some of these souls in desperate straits. The stories were fast-paced thrillers and through them, Josh suffered victories and a few brutal loses. 

With this latest, and what feels like a finale, Josh is about to get married for the first time to his movie-making dancer fiancé. A few months prior a young man named Dolan appears on his doorstep claiming to be his son. Their physical resemblance is enough to convince Josh. Dolan’s mother was one of his old flames from his sordid past who has died leaving the seventeen-year-old an orphan. The second surprise is the lad is not only intelligent, he has maturity with a great deal of character and integrity. The more Josh gets to know his son, the more he is impressed and vows to be the best father he can be, whatever that entails. He has a lot to make up for. 

It's at this point when Dolan informs him that the apartment building he and his late mother resided, has been invaded by members of the Venezuelan outlaw, Tren de Aragua. They are driving out the regular tenants and using the building to sell their drugs and turn young girls into sex-slaves. Whereas Dolan managed to escape them, he left behind several old military veterans among the tenants held hostage. He worries for their safety. Can Josh help to get them out of that place? 

It seems like a simple enough question, but Josh knows better. Which is where Baron’s book launches off the narrative platform like a space-bound Nasa rocket. How Josh Pratt, not only manages to free these men and then later an entire building complex is an incredible and brilliantly told adventure. From start to finish, “Departure Day” is like nothing this reviewer has ever read before. The settings are real, the issues examined timely and the action non-stop. This may be the last Josh Pratt yarn. If that’s the case, then we want to tell you, it ends on a rousing, all cheering high note. Do not miss this one!

NYPD RED 8 - The 11:59 Bomber

 

NYPD RED 8

The 11:59 Bomber

By Marshall Karp

Black Stone Publishing

335 pgs

Available Nov 25, 2025

 

We always had a fondness for solid police procedural thrillers. One of our favorite writers of all time was the late Ed McBain whose 87^th Precinct novels entertained us for decades. Thus, it was with some anxious expectations that we picked up this book hoping for the best. Happily, we were not disappointed in the slightest, as Karp delivers a solid, wonderfully paced tale with truly memorable characters; both good and bad. 

The two principles are detective partners Kylie McDonald and Zach Jordan. There are also two really well-defined plots. The primary concerns an obsessed bomber whose only wish is to bring the great city of New York to its knees, and he doesn’t care how many people he has to kill to achieve his goal. The secondary plot involves Kylie’s husband Spence. He had been missing for many months and upon his return attacks a popular new filmmaker claiming the fellow stole his story. Later that same night, the director is murdered and Spence is found standing over his body with a bloody knife in his hands. It seems an opening and shut case, but Kylie refuses to accept the damning facts. She convinces both Zach, and her captain, that they should investigate further. 

We are generally not fans of writers who switch from narrative viewpoints ala going from third person to first back and forth. Most of the time that ploy is crudely applied and results in our losing interest immediately. Not so with this particular book and that’s due to Karp’s intuitive sense of solid storytelling regardless of the perspective. Once caught up in the tale, we found it impossible to put it down and in the end were rewarded with a truly powerful, well-told crime drama. We think McBain would have given it thumbs up. We certainly do.

THE WANDERING MAN

 

THE WANDERING MAN

A Charlie Doherty Thriller

By Terrence McCauley

Woldpack Publishing

272 pgs

 

Charlie Doherty’s best pal growing up on the streets of New York was Andy Carmichael. Carmichael entered the police academy while Charlie enlisted in the army and went off to fight in the First World War. Upon his return to civilian, Carmichael had risen in the ranks of the NYPD and encouraged Charlie to sign up. Now it’s 1927 and Carmichael is not only the Chief of Police, but he’s helped Charlie climb through the ranks and made him a detective. That’s a stretch, because all Charlie really is the Chief’s “black hand,” the nickname of boss’ gopher who does his menial errands without asking questions. 

But when Charlie witnesses a fellow detective gunned down in public in downtown Manhattan, everything changes. As if failing to chase down the audacious killer wasn’t bad enough, Charlie later learns from Carmichael that the slain officer was hunting a twisted serial killer who, for the past twenty years, had been targeting young boys from the various boroughs; all reported missing by their parents and their bodies never found.  Carmichael and his top cops kept the case out of the public eye aware its discovery would severely damage the department and create panic among the city’s millions of residents. 

Sensing Charlie’s frustration at not having captured the brazen psycho, Carmichael assigns him the task of picking up the hunt where the slain cop had left off. Initially Charlie is confounded, well aware he has no real experience in crime solving; but as he begins to pour over the files collected by the dead detective, he begins to see threads left unpursued. While methodically, going over those old records and witness accounts, a pattern emerges and Detective Charlie Doherty becomes obsessed with catching the twisted figure known only as the Wandering Man. 

Terrence McCauley is one of the finest new crime writers in the business today. His narrative style is clean, straightforward and succinctly paced. There isn’t a dull moment in this entire, gripping tale of an average guy challenged to be more than average.