MARCH 2018 | SARASOTA SCENE 115
LITERARY Scene
By Ryan G. Van Cleave
arts&culture
THIS MONTH, RYAN REVIEWS TWO OCEANVIEW THRILLERS,
AND ONE OF HIS STUDENTS REVIEWS A PICTURE BOOK
SPEED THE DAWN
by Philip Donlay
An avid pilot with over six million miles logged, author
Philip Donlay knows about things in the sky and things
falling out of it, too. And that’s what Speed the Dawn
is about—things falling. In this case, it’s hundreds of
screaming-hot meteor fragments shooting down at
California. Unfortunately, that’s exactly where our hero,
Donovan Nash, finds himself. Now it’s up to him to
save himself and others as the meteorites ignite the arid
landscape and start an inferno like those that current
real Californians know all too well about.
It’s up to Nash’s wife, Dr. Lauren McKenna, and the
use of her Pentagon and Forest Service connections to
dream up a solution to keep the fire from spreading and
killing millions in the Bay Area. But will her plan stop
the fire and save Nash, too?
Fans of science-based stories like those of Michael
Crichton will delight in this tale. Nash is a strong lead
with lots of energy and smarts. Plus, Donlay’s got a
knack for twisting and turning at just the right time so
readers get the full effect, too.
If this is your type of story, Donlay’s got seven other
Donovan Nash tales, and all of them move at the same
breakneck speed.
Rating:
philipdonlay.com
GUMSHOE ON THE LOOSE
by Rob Leininger
USA Today bestselling author Rob Leininger has released
Gumshoe on the Loose, the third novel in the Mortimer
Angel series. An IRS-guy-turned PI, Mort’s my kind of
hero. He’s got a good dose of the classic PI in him, but
he’s also got a snappy voice and keen eye. Plus, he gets
into all the trouble Reno can offer, which is where all
three books are set.
The book starts with “I am a murderer. Technically
speaking.” Say something like that, I’m hooked!
In this tale, an attractive woman (he can’t seem to stop
bumbling into them!) hires Mort to find out why someone
left her a note demanding a million bucks. At her house,
he stumbles upon the body of Jo-X, a recently-gone-MIA
Nevada gangsta rapper who Mort calls “an opportunistic,
foul-mouthed piece of shinola, twenty-four years old, who
had taken advantage of all the flaws and loopholes in the
First Amendment to make millions while encouraging kids
to kill their parents and rape their ho’s—a ho being pretty
much any female in the vicinity who still had a pulse, not
that a pulse was an absolute requirement, according to
Jo-X.”
Things get cooking fast from there.
Leininger knows how to turn a
phrase and keep the action hot. If
you’re into maverick PIs and a little
Nevada sun-and-fun, this is the
book for you.
Rating:
robleininger.com
re.
ttle
/philipdonlay.com
/robleininger.com