Cuban Dagger

by Ken McKea, Brad Strickland (Illustrator)

Jim Dallas knew that runaway-daughter cases seldom end happily, but the Hamptons were frantic. Their daughter Judy had vanished in Aruba while celebrating her eighteenth birthday...and when Dallas searched for her, the quest led him into unimaginable evil, unforgivable crimes, and unthinkable betrayal. A missing girl, a deadly professional assassin, and exotic locations spice Cuban Dagger, the new Jim Dallas adventure from Ken McKea. Reviewer Gary Kim Hayes wrote of the first book, Atlanta Bones, "The writing style is right on the money – think John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiassen and especially the easy wry style of Nelson DeMille in Plum Island.But the best thing, at least for me, is I feel like I’ve just made a new friend. And I can’t wait to read about his next adventure."

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2012

Reviews

[G.K. Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

DALLAS DOES IT AGAIN

Cuban Dagger, the latest book in the new Jim Dallas detective series, starts with a dire warning: "Runaway-daughter cases never have happy endings."

And you better believe it.

Dallas is reluctantly pulled into helping his friend Sam find the runaway daughter of a wealthy business man. From his previous experience as a cop, he knows that the girl may already be dead, but as it turns out, things are actually much worse.

This book has a much more international feel, and yet still manages to maintain the intimate focus on Jim Dallas and his friend Sam Lyons that all good detective stories must have. Throughout the book we get snippets of information that add to the history and personality of both Dallas and Sam. They even get girlfriends but, as you might guess from the opening line, there is no happy ending in store for any of them.

In this book, we again feel gritty sand between our toes, meet dangerous and mysterious men and women involved in drugs, crime, cartels, fast boats, and hotels with hot and cold running girls in bikinis. We also get, Joe Palacios, a special agent for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, another great character, painted so vividly that his strong Latin machismo actually made my Kindle overheat.

Throw in an entire island run by Drug Lords and evil politicians, and add one of the most realistic bad guys I've seen in a long, long time (he and his bloody dagger will probably show up in my nightmares); put it altogether and you've got a nail-biting, immersive, can't-stop-reading, detective novel that, while it doesn't have a happy ending, certainly has a very satisfying one.

Mr. McKean? Can I please have another?

[Reb MacRath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This new series sails into greatness with its second entry. And Ken McKea establishes his stature as one of the best mystery writers alive. McKea takes a bold risk that pays off handsomely for readers: creating white knuckle suspense by holding back on front end action for a good stretch of the book. We learn early on that Jim Dallas must go up against a knife-wielding assassin. Brilliantly then, McKea ratchets the suspense by describing the dangers of knife fights and Dallas' acceptance of the fact that he'll no doubt get cut. Dallas still hasn't come anywhere near his foe when the real danger he faces is made horrifyingly clear in his discovery of two carved-up corpses. Big-time Monster Time is here. And there will be a knife fight that takes your breath away. But, better yet, Jim Dallas comes close to surpassing the great Travis McGee in this outing--for likability, charisma, toughness and style. And by the time this series runs its 13-book course, I believe that Dallas will leave poor McGee in his dust.