Created by David H. Fears
“My dick was hot now, expectant. She was Kimbra, in the flesh.”
— from Dark Glory
Hoo-boy.
New York gumshoee MIKE ANGEL is the hero of a string of enthusiastically self-published “historical erotic” mysteries, that promises plenty of old-fashioned good stuff.
When we first meet him in Dark Quarry (2011), it’s 1960, and Mike’s a Korean War vet turned private eye in Newark, New Jersey, bored with insurance fraud cases, and still troubled by the murder of his NYPD lieutenant father (whose otherworldly voice pops up now and then to warn mike of imminent danger — sort of like a supernatural version of Lost in Space‘s robot, I guess). Before it all winds up, there is indeed a lot of implied sex and actual violence, most of it rendered in an often eyeball-rolling manner, although the author may not realize it.
Still, he figures we need to be cautioned. Here’s his actual blurb for Dark Quarry:
Warning! This is a Noir Novel complete with sarcastic humor back when PC wasn’t eroding logic. If you find yourself laughing occasionally, that’s okay. It’s not a comedy.
So it’s complete with “sarcastic humor,” but “it’s not a comedy,” which I guess means we’re supposed to take it seriously. Okay, so maybe it isn’t comedy, but I’m figuring it just might be a joke.
I mean, when the prolific author himself cites his admiration for Chandler and Spillane, and then his blurby, five-star Amazon pals immediately compare him to the same two writers in their five-star reviews for book after book, it certainly brings a smile to my face.
Except that, with its strained tough-guy talk (dished out in pseudo-tough guy first person narration), high school smirkiness and presumably non-eroded logic, what this most reminds me of is the Shell Scott books by Richard S. Prather. Except that that series was played for laughs, for the most part, while the Mike Angel series, of course, is “not a comedy.”
By the way, the author, a “recognized Twain expert,” has also given the world the handy-dandy Self-Edit Your Novel (2014). I particularly like his bitching in the introduction about all “awful covers” traditional publishers impose on authors.
Yeah, those “awful covers.” We gotta keep our eyes open for those…
NOVELS
- Dark Quarry (2011) |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Lake (2011)Â |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Blonde (2011)Â |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Poison (2010)Â |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Idol (2011)Â |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Moon (2011)Â |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Fantasy (2012)Â |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Conspiracy (2012)Â |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Red (2014)Â |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Eyes (2014)Â |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Union (2014)Â |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Drama (2015)Â |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Jaws (2015) |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark House (2015)Â |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Dark Vigil (2017) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Dark Glory (2017) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- NOTE: The Mike Angel books may have been re-issued and possibly revised over the years, or at least published out of order, so these are listed in the order the author has conveniently numbered them (although #15-18 seem to be missing on his Amazon page).
