Three Minute Hero

by Craig Terlson

Luke Fischer knows he can’t go home again—unless it’s to follow a hired killer who bumped off his employer’s nephew.

Luke’s shady friend and benefactor sends him across two borders to find a man who goes by many names … but mostly Mostly Harold, a lizard-boot-wearing hit man with a fondness for Burt Bacharach, Louis L’Amour, acidic observations and sucker punches. Little does Luke realize that he’s not only chasing the man, he’s chasing the one-woman crime wave who’s mesmerized the man. And soon enough Luke’s also chasing the memory of the woman who once mesmerized him.

Before he knows it, Luke is caught up in a Canadian prairie war between rival factions after a cache of illicit cash. As the bullet casings, bodies and beer bottles start to stack up, Luke finds himself reflecting on the choices made, and unmade, that turned him into a two-fisted mayhem-maker for hire. Is this who he is? Is there something else he could and should be? And most importantly, will he live enough to find out?

THREE MINUTE HERO, Craig Terlson’s latest taut and propulsive Luke Fischer action thriller, shows that while you can come home again, you can’t stay there. Or anywhere. Not for long, at any rate…and not without finding yourself reducing the population."Best yet in the Luke Fischer oeuvre.""Luke and Mostly Harold are two of my favorite crime fiction characters.""It is hard to read a Craig Terlson book and not stop to have a beer and order tacos."

299 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 27, 2023

Reviews

[Abibliofob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story, a week ago I didn't know there was an author named Craig Terlson and now I have read his latest and upcoming book Three Minute Hero. I saw somewhere on twitter that you could ask for an advance copy and I did and got it the same day. When I first read the back of the book I thought this would be something for me. Wow, was I right. Even though I haven't read the two earlier stories about Luke Fischer I was hooked. It started out a little hesitant but soon took of and gathered momentum and then it just sped up. What a great way to tell a story and weave it all together. There is action, suspense and a great deal of humor in this book and now I need to catch up with Luke in the first two books. I am so grateful that I got this copy and I really recommend that you try this author. He has a great way with words. Oh, this book is out in stores on October 27th, mark this date so you don't miss it.

[Douglas Lumsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drifter noir times two!

Luke Fischer is back, sent by Benno, the coolest crime lord you'll ever meet, to trail unstoppable hitman (and sometimes ally) Mostly Harold through the small towns of Northern Ontario where Luke grew up and ran away from, leaving a wife he loved (and still loves) behind. Harold is looking for a woman he was having a good thing with in Colorado Springs until she deserted him without a word. People are trying to stop the two of them, and neither of them knows why. Women show up out of nowhere with stories that prove to be lies. Luke and Harold, traveling separately, find themselves on a mystery ride through the bleak and beautiful hills of rural Canada, and bad guys with guns and bad intentions find them wherever they go. The way each of our two protagonists deal with the mystery is a huge part of the fun.

Luke Fischer has become one of my new favorite heroes, and Mostly Harold is a terrific kickass anti-hero. Watching them drift aimlessly into the same criminal scheme via alternating POVs was a crime novel lover's treat! If you are a fan of neo-noir action mysteries with colorful unforgettable characters, this series is a must-read!

[M.E. Proctor]

I love it when series authors dig in the background of their main character. Not in the first episode of a series, when readers need to be intrigued, seduced, and mystery is a major part of that, but later. This is what Craig Terlson does in “Three Minute Hero” the third installment of his Luke Fischer series, the detective at pains to prove he isn’t one. After adventures in Mexico and the Upper Peninsula, Luke is back home in Canada doing what he does best: find somebody. All the memories come back to him. The flat landscape, the roads that show the curve of the earth, the small towns that he escaped from, the woman he left behind. The rage he ran away from. If Luke has found a measure of peace over the years, his home province hasn’t. Violence and trafficking are rife, and life is cheap on the prairie. In “Three Minute Hero” Terlson does something different to exciting effect. He intertwines Luke’s perspective and that of his quarry, Mostly Harold (the lizard-booted, maybe, hitman that fans of the series love dearly). Luke’s chasing Harold, who chases a woman, and none of them know what the hell is going on. They’re plunged in a whirlwind of plots and counterplots, imagine The Big Sleep with a lot more bodies. Clarity will emerge in the end when gunsmoke clears, but in great noir tradition, nobody really gets what they want. This book is like a road movie and the map cannot be trusted. It’s a fun and bracing read, a cool addition to the Fischer canon. Readers don’t need to have read “Surf City Acid Drop” or “Manistique” to enjoy it, but if they are new to Terlson’s universe, I would tell them to go catch up.

[Linda Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Things were collected, other things were paid."

Luke Fischer does not get rattled, which is the hallmark of a man traveling to find someone at the behest of a person no one says no to, with instructions so vague we would none of us get up from the Pacifico and Cholula-soaked peanuts on the table. But then — the no one says no bit.

Fischer does get shaked and rolled. By motley matchups of a thinking woman's meatheads wearing plaid and hunting caps. Keeping track of who the bad guys report to is one of the fun threads to pull on in Terlson books.

Think Get Shorty + Escanaba in da Moonlight. Maybe add a smidge of Pacman as we careen from location to house to basement to small town on flat roads that have unobstruction-induced S curves for a reason to be revealed later.

I may have a crush on Mostly Harold.

Again, kudos for well-written women. If a woman in a Terlson book falls flat on her face while being chased, she got shot in the shoulder. And she'll roll over and shoot back.

Best yet in the Luke Fischer oeuvre.

ps I love the covers. Love.

pps ARC was generously sent on request. And no, I did not beg. Not a lot. Well, some.

[Scott Frederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 72 of 2023. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of @cterlson ‘s latest, “Three Minute Hero” – and it is a banger. This is the third Luke Fischer novel and it’s the best. Hey, anytime you write about Mexico, Tacos, Pacificos and Tequila – I am in. But that’s just the start, from there, across the Western U.S. and up into Canada – it’s a twisty, wild, fast-paced, snarky, action-packed ride. It’s a great story with great characters (and dialogue), but it’s Terlson’s descriptive writing that grabs and pulls you right in – I see the Mexican sunset, the seedy bars, and the flat tundra of Canada in my mind – all playing out like a movie - not all books do that for me. Luke and Mostly Harold are two of my favorite crime fiction characters – give them a chance and they will win you over as well – This is one is easily 5 stars.

[Thomas Trang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is gonna have some mild spoilers for Three Minute Hero, and talk about the Fischer books more generally, so I’ll get all the important stuff out of the way first. If you are a fan of crime novels with caustic humour and offbeat characters, this one is for you. There are fistfights, double crosses, and action—and it is funny as hell. It’s definitely more focused in terms of plot than the earlier books, maybe because of the twin narrative structure, but still loose enough to have that type of charm where you’re happy just hanging out with the characters.

If you’ve read any of the Luke Fischer books before, then you’ll already know what to expect. There are shades of Crumley, Elmore Leonard, and some ‘what the actual hell?’ vibes of a film like Blood Simple. Terlson also has a keen visual eye, and at times when you're drifting through the landscape, you feel as if you’ve stepped into the hallucinogenic emptiness of an Edward Hopper painting.

But there was another reference point in Three Minute Hero that I just couldn’t shake as I was reading it and I’m determined to see this comparison through—much like Fischer once he’s on a case. And it’s a strange one. Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Stick with me.

The most Larry Davidesque character is, erm, Mostly Harold, the hitman who we last saw quietly stealing the show in Surf City Acid Drop. He’s promoted to co-lead here, and he’s still the angriest man west of New York. Modern life in general seems to piss him off, but the bottomless contempt he has for the entire nation of Canada in particular—their food, beer, and turns of phrase—always threatens to spill over into violence. Sometimes it does. Try and picture George Costanza as a gun-wielding jawbreaker. Terlson definitely had a blast writing this guy.

But what I’m really talking about is the overall energy of the book. Three Minute Hero is a crime novel in the same way Curb Your Enthusiasm is a sitcom. It hits all the beats and operates inside the scaffolding of the genre, but is also keenly aware of them.

There is a “meta” quality to the novel, though not in a Brechtian alienation or winking at the camera type of way (and I never expected to use the term ‘Brechtian alienation’ in a book review, or indeed ever, but here we are).

I’m also not suggesting this is a deliberate gambit by the author, but perhaps at reaching the third entry to a crime series, Terlson is starting to poke and prod at the genre, testing its boundaries and seeing how it could be stretched.

The understanding and subversion of the usual crime fiction tropes was already present in Surf City Acid Drop. Characters who veer into cliché are told they’ve watched “too many cop shows”, and Fischer himself remains adamant that he is not a detective. “It’s all too Sam Spade, stepping out of dark alleys under cover of night bullshit for me.”

But in Three Minute Hero, Terlson builds on this wariness of the tropes by how the other characters respond to them. The classic hard-boiled language frequently gets mocked and rebuked. Harold asks a lady if she’s a ‘working woman’ and she laughs in his face. “What TV show from the fifties did you walk out from?” Fischer later enquires about ‘potheads’ and gets told that “Language like that went out with the gramophone.” There are references to fictional gumshoes and crime shows throughout – Columbo, Rockford, Hawaii 5-0 – but it’s always freighted with an edge of suspicion. Those guys? They’re make believe. This is the real world.

But it’s a novel, and it isn’t, and much like the way Curb Your Enthusiasm pushes the conventional tricks of the sitcom into self-aware territory that threatens to break apart—the mistaken identities, the mix ups and misunderstandings—Three Minute Hero’s unfolding crime plot (essentially a real estate con involving all sorts of shady money) gradually builds to a surreal crescendo. There are not one, not two, but THREE femme fatales here. We have two layers of mystery to be solved, with Fischer on the trail of Harold, who is on the trail of someone else. The car chases verge into Looney Toons territory, and at one point there is a duel involving a rake and a shovel.

And our intrepid heroes seem to know what’s up. Fischer says, “I’ve wandered into a web of corruption, bad guys with guns, and likely suitcases of money. There was always a suitcase of money somewhere.”

Mostly Harold, ever the Louis L’Amour fan, puts it way more bluntly: “There was a whole lot of bullshit going on in this big circle of wagons.”

I’m not saying it’s all silly games, just that there’s a playfulness to proceedings. Terlson handles it with a light touch—the verbal pyrotechnics kept just on the right side of being overcooked. “We stood there for a while. We’d both run out of clever quips.”

It perhaps goes without saying that this is quickly followed by a clever quip. Fischer then muses to himself: “I was wrong. She had one more.”

If I’m making this sound academic, well, it really isn’t. This is just how the book spoke to me at a certain level, and you can definitely enjoy the corruption, bad guys with guns, and likely suitcases of money without drowning in postmodern theory.

There’s a motif running through the book about the grid system of roads in the Canadian Prairies, and how – due to the curve of the planet – those straight lines need a curve thrown in every so often to stop them from colliding. If we think about Fischer and Mostly Harold on their own linear journeys, they hit some curves themselves: Harold meets a beguiling woman and goes after her when she disappears, deviating from his path and setting the story in motion. Fischer, ever relentless, is on his own fixed path after him - but then he swerves into a detour back home and into a past he'd left behind. It's one thing to wage war on familiar tropes, but it doesn't necessarily mean you're offering up something fresh yourself.

Those correction lines, the curves, are the key to the novel and why it works. They are ultimately what gives it its heart.

[Ann-Catherine Morner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two macho hitmen go on a road trip...

I bought this book on a recommendation. For 'reasons' I thought that it was about a Paranormal PI...
I spent several chapters trying to find the paranormals. Then I read the blurb and had to start over.
This is not Paranormal Fiction. But it is far, far away from normal.
The Plot.
Well. Two stone cold macho hitmen go on a road trip.
Except, not together. Luke, the Main Main Character takes a job to go looking for Harold, the Other Main Character. Harold has gone looking for Delilah. They both end up in Canada, driving in squares – because it's Canada – around each other and several other people who are also looking for Delilah.
Why? Why, why, why!
The Characters.
The hitmen are not the only macho ones. In fact, all the Characters are stone cold and macho, the women too. It takes a little while to understand this. Luke's chapters are written from first person point of view, Harold's from third person, but we get Harold's thoughts too. Harold doesn't like killing people when he isn't paid for it. He gets to do a lot of work for free.
Both Luke and Harold have old-fashioned views on most subjects. Harold is very prejudiced, but somehow his comments always fit...
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police only appear off screen. Just as well. Seeing grown men cry is upsetting, I find.
The Telling.
It might seem that the story is rather boring, but it isn't. I kept reading to understand what was happening. Think of "This is the House that Jack Built". We get a little here, a little there, nothing connects with anything else, until, at the end, it does. Something similar to an old-fashioned murder mystery with clues everywhere.
I heartily recommend this.

No animals were hurt.
The same can't be said for cars.
I lost count of the dead bodies. It should be bloody and uncivilized, but it is neatly and professionally done.
Canadians have a lot of guns, it turns out...

[kenneth m gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three Minute Hero by Craig Terlson
A man in pursuit of a man who is in pursuit of a woman

Third and best installment of Luke Fischer to date. We get to revisit some favorite old characters and meet some new ones. The story is told from Luke Fischer's and Mostly Harold's separate perspectives and the pacing propels the story from Mexico through Colorado and across Canada at a breakneck pace. All the time while reading I couldn’t wait for them to meet (collide?) Three Minute Hero’s story contains some of Terlson”s best descriptive writing and tough guy dialogue (I laughed out loud so many times). I feel it can get tricky writing tough-guy banter, the writer can get too cute but Craig Terlson nails it every time. Throughout this story, we learn of Luke’s angry past and even see a softer (less hard?) side of Mostly Harold. This absorbing mystery races across Canada filled with car chases, fist fights, and gun fights as well as farm implement fights. There are some amazing female characters introduced I only wish Lauren Bacall was still around to portray Delilah in the inevitable movie or possible tv series. It wouldn't be a Luke Fischer story without the delicious descriptions of the food, drink, and locations. It is hard to read a Craig Terlson book and not stop to have a beer and order tacos. This was an all-around fantastic read offering new insights into the main characters, a good old-fashioned twisty-back stabby mystery, and a smidge of romance to boot. The book wraps up all the details nicely and leaves us jonesing for the next Luke Fischer story.
Kudos to the author on an excellent novel

[Ed Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book in the Luke Fischer series and the third I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, with Craig Terlson once again delivering as reliably as Luke on a mission for Benno.

The trademark humour and action are present in spades (as, indeed, are spades – a useful weapon in a tight spot as it turns out), while the promotion of enigmatic hitman Mostly Harold to having his own chapters adds something fresh to the structure.

Not many characters could cope with sharing centre stage with Luke, but Harold brings his own brand of wrecking-ball violence and laconic one-liners, with Canada and its inhabitants usually on the receiving end one way or another.

Talking of Canada, Luke’s return ‘home’ gives the chance for considerable fleshing out of a backstory only hinted at in earlier books, making him feel satisfyingly 3D here; something cleverly folded in without any let-up in the pace.

Throw in some femmes fatales, fist fights, double crossing, dodgy money, shoot-outs, and surprises, and you have all the ingredients of Luke Fischer’s strangely addictive world (not to mention beer, of course – these books practically demand to be read with one).

Oh, and a word on the descriptions of the physical settings. Always a key part of Luke Fischer’s road trips, here, in the author’s homeland, they manage to be more evocative than ever. I’ve never been to Canada but, reading this in a small English pub, I could swear I could see the alien vastness of the prairie landscapes, could feel the promise and threat of the limitless skies.

[Offer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had my first introduction to Craig Terlson's main character, the titular Luke Fischer, the "don't call me a detective" finder of people, in the first novel (of what is so far a trilogy) called "Surf City Acid Drop". Uncertain then of what to expect, I soon fell headlong into Terlson's storytelling. His yarn, of a hard-knocks guy wanting a quiet life but unavoidably getting drawn into just the opposite, grabbed my attention from the start and kept me spinning the pages.

In "Three Minute Hero", I was overjoyed to be able to spend more time with Luke Fischer, his boss Benno, and his often-time adversary/nemesis Mostly Harold. In this ongoing yet stand-alone crime story, we get another gripping page-turner. Terlson's writing shines here, as before, with a great sweeping plot, full of twists and turns, accidents of fate and discoveries both good and bad for all of his characters.

Action is strong, characters are beautifully drawn, dialogue is crisp and punchy, and while there is violence afoot, there is also a delightful seam of humour that weaves its way from beginning to end. In this dual-POV, we get to see the story unfold through Luke's narrative, as well as a rare over-his-shoulder glimpse of how Harold navigates his way through his own trials and tribulations. It's a dynamic duo of sorts, but they are rushing headlong into one another's lives again.

As if you couldn't already tell, I loved this book! What a pleasure it was for me to read more from this wonderful storyteller. Get yourself a copy of this, and frankly anything else that Craig Terlson writes, and jump in. You'll love the ride.

An ice-cold bucket of Pacificos, please & thank you! Cheers!

[Neal Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is crazy fun, a serio-comic spin through the surprisingly violent Canadian prairie, circa 1974. It's billed as a Luke Fischer book, but Luke shares equal time with Mostly Harold, a hulking hitman with a taste for Burt Bacharach tunes and Louis L'Amour westerns. Along the way, they (and we) encounter land scammers, weed dealers, goons in flannel, goons in suits, and a bartender or two. Not to mention a trio of beautiful and sometimes lethal women. The story keeps you on your toes, never takes itself too seriously, and is wicked funny at times. Whenever things slow down, expect a gunfight or a car chase to keep things lively. Throw in a fight scene with garden implements, and some homespun philosophy on what it means to call a place home, and you have a winner.

Three Minute Hero is the third book in a series, but you can read it without any knowledge of the first two and still enjoy. Though come to think of it, there may be some more Luke Fischer in my future. Highly recommend.

[Andrew Giesbrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

More twists than correction lines in Saskatchewan.

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book from Craig, and I think it may be my favourite entry into the Luke Fischer trilogy.

I've enjoyed the two previous entries into this series, but the way the characters are explored (largely Luke & Mostly Harold) in this one is a depth that you don't normally find in noir/neo-noir fiction.

Everyone's favourite "not-detective" is sent on a mission from his employer, causing him to drive from the warm waves in Mexico to the rolling fields of his home in Canada. While this may be where Luke's from, it definitely isn't a warm homecoming, and all the loosely planned chaos you have come to expect from Luke pulling at the strings of a mystery ensue.

I'd love to say more, but I fear it would give away too much. Find this book. Buy this book. Request this book from your library. But make sure you read this book!

[lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third installment of the Luke Fischer series, but my first. Don’t worry. You can read them out of order. Luke is chasing Mostly Harold. The story is told from both perspectives, which is hard to pull off, but Mr. Terlson does just that. Luke is also chasing beer, Pacificos to be exact. The intercontinental journey seems to take a toll, as Luke is wary of the past. Reflective violence may be the right term. Harold has no such issues. He would have no problem shooting someone in the back. Terlson weaves a great yarn that keeps you laughing and guessing till the end. I’m off to find the other books in this series. Diabolical plan by the author.

I received an ARC of this book. And I send my thanks.

[TJ Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Terlson fellow has done it again. Three Minute Hero is very bit as great as the first two Luke Fischer novels, which means it is among the best crime fiction being written today.
There may be crime novelists more well known and read by more people, but Terlson is as good as there is in the genre today.
These novels are worthy successors to the best hard-boiled noir of the great writers of previous generations.

[Mark Atley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What sets this one apart from the first two is Luke moves beyond his contemporary peers. He isn’t a Travis McGee knight errant-type. He’s Luke. And we are better for it. This novel digs a little into Luke’s past, allows a look at Luke’s setup, and pushes him beyond the man he was.

And then there’s Harold

And a running gag about Harold’s name that totally works and is such a joy.

Mostly.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, this was another super fun read in the Luke Fischer, not detective, stories. Couldn't put it down. Loved the intertwining stories of Mostly Harold and Luke. Great characters all around, great dialogue, both fun, funny and action packed - everything a Luke Fischer novel promises. And, of course, Pacificos. (Also, Saskatchewan, can't forget that)

[Gordon Matties · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine escape in which we learn more about Luke's backstory.

[I-Wa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to keep straight

Jumping from character to character was too hard to keep straight. Plus, the action was not believable. Plus, border crossing isn’t that simple.

[Joel Nedecky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terlson writes a back-and-forth yarn, as the chapters alternate between Luke Fischer and a man named Harold, both searching for Delilah. Harold because she bailed on him, and Luke because his boss, Benno, told him to.

The story moves from Mexico through the US to Canada, and although I did not connect with the characters, I appreciate how the story feels like a bygone era, with Buicks and Oldsmobiles, tons of booze, and no shortage of dust-ups.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

[Dwayne McIntosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

They say there’s no place like home, whether that is a good thing or not on the other hand, is the question at hand. Terlson takes Luke Fischer home in the third book in the Fischer series of road-trip noirs.
Mexico to the Motherland, with a pit stop in the US, Fischer is on the road on once again looking for an old acquaintance at the behest of his benefactor. Although, Fischer seems a bit weary of accepting another this job, as it seems his previous adventures are wearing on him. Yet, he goes and his search takes him home. And as they say “you can’t go home again.”
Well you can, but it just might mean Prairie Mafia and old wounds if you’re Luke Fischer. By taking Fischer home, Terlson builds upon Fischer’s backstory and fleshes out the character a bit. This seems in some ways more of character building turn and it isn’t just Fischer we learn more about.
The old acquaintance Fischer hunts for is Mostly Harold , who returns from “Surf City Acid Drop,” and seems to be in danger of becoming a series regular.
For fans of the Fischer series, Terlson hits this one out of the park. Even if you aren’t a fan, this works as a standalone and is worth the read. I for one look forward to reading about Fischer’s next road trip.

[Linda Sienkiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast-paced engaging story with great dialogue. My husband said he especially liked the way Terlson tied the characters together. Read it, you won’t be disappointed.