BLOOD AND RAIN

By John Dark aka Bob L Morgan, Jr.
Writers Club Press 0-595-201636
$16.95

God forbid, if there was someone going around who intended to chop the head off Joe Lansdale, fear not, because the head of Bob Morgan would grow right out of it. "Blood and Rain" is a hard-boiled mystery with an unlikely hero swimming in his own personal hell.

The hero, John Dark, is in a bad place. He is a former boxer who suffers the loss of his girlfriend and feels he was responsible for her death. Now he claims to work as a private detective in East St. Louis, but in reality he is some kind of private assassin for the town politicos, wiping out heinous bad guys. Through a police recommendation, a nurse, and single mom named Julia Richardson, approaches to John for help. Her teen-age, chess competitive daughter, Felicia, has disappeared, possibly kidnapped or whoring on the street. John, having no real detective experience and just knowledge of the ghetto that he lives in, reluctantly takes the case. With his bartender sidekick, Johnny Davis, John Dark searches for Felicia and finds a deeper hell than what is in himself: voodoo, zombies, and an underground cult.

The cover of the book claims to be a supernatural thriller. As I was reading the book, nothing supernatural happened for the first half and things ended too tidy. Honestly, I was a bit confused. Then there turned out to be a second half to the book, and it took the characters that were introduced and continued the story. Then the supernatural happened. Then I started to think how clever this Bob Morgan is.

The character of John Dark is a complex individual. Although he is not on drugs, he continues to do things that are harmful to his life, and he is aware that they are bad, but he continues to do them. When John Dark meets Julia Richardson he quickly recognized her strength, as well as her body. He wants to change but he can't, but he can make a difference and save Felicia and destroy the bad guy. There will be more of John Dark in the future, which is just my feeling.

The dialogue is sharp and witty. I laughed out loud a few times at the one-liners between John Dark and Johnny Davis. The violence is fast-paced and the gory. There's a butt-load of fun in this novel and I'll probably read it again to refresh myself when the next John Dark comes out.

Now a word of caution: The editing of the book was the worse I ever saw. Buyers beware. But in my opinion, it wasn't so bad that I couldn't enjoy this book. There is a long and expensive story of why this happened, but that is another time.

Blood and Rain is a highly entertaining book that kept me turning the page. Granted, you won't find the meaning of life in it, but it will make you forget your own. Then again, Bob Morgan might be so clever that the meaning of life could be in there.

Bob L. Morgon @ The Author's Den
Bob L. Morgon

Review by Mike Purfield, author of "Dirty Boots." Life on the run and running for a life. Now available at BN.com, Amazon.com, and Booksamillion.com
Mike Purfield