River City

Jason Colefield #1

by Doc Macomber

“Patrolling Portland’s Liquid Streets”
As a frozen fog lifts, River Patrol Deputy, Jason Colefield, motors ashore on an idyllic Pacific Northwest island to recover a body. Colefield has a history with Sauvie Island and any return triggers unpleasant boyhood memories. This visit he comes face-to-face with his childhood nemesis, now a timeworn man, who leads him to the bullet riddled body of a young boy he claims he stumbled upon while hunting. Colefield suspects the man is lying but it will take more than just gut instincts to prove it.
Within hours the FBI dispatches Agent Tamara Costa, an old high school sweetheart, to assist in the investigation and its possible connection to a serial killer. With her marriage on the rocks, only an indecipherable clue to go on, she pushes her way back into Colefield’s life and wastes no time igniting the fire that still lingers between them. Colefield, torn between his renewed affection for his old flame and his teetering relationship with a feisty saloon owner, has a choice to make.
As the story unfolds, with more twists and turns than the majestic Columbia River, island life is disrupted, family secrets exposed and it becomes clear the past isn’t done with him.

246 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2014

About the author

Doc Macomber belongs to many leading writing organizations, including the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Friends of Mystery, and Willamette Writers. He has contributed articles to the prestigious Mystery Readers Journal and Bloodletter on the history of ethnic detectives, and the origin of his hybrid Vietnamese investigator, Jack Vu. His most recent contribution is “Finding the Key Strengths and Weaknesses of your Detective Character” in “Now Write! Mysteries: Suspense, Crime and Thriller Fiction Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers” to be published in 2012 by the Penguin Group (USA). His mystery series includes: The Killer Coin, Wolf’s Remedy, Snip, and the upcoming new release Riff Raff, set in Costa Rica, a finalist in the Killer Nashville Claymore Award. Mr. Macomber formerly served with an Air Force Special Tactics Unit and now lives aboard a yacht on the Columbia River. As a decorated Marine Captain once noted, “Doc sees much ... says little ... and writes it all down.”

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a recent transplant to Portland, I enjoyed the author’s descriptions of the view of the city from the waterways. I’ve looked at the rivers from the shores, roads, and marinas, but I liked being transported via boat in my mind. And I appreciated the descriptions of war scarred emotions as they play out in moments and encounters. Stories do a much better job of evoking empathy for things we haven’t experienced ourselves. I just read River Rat, so I may be remembering bits from that book too. As a woman, I thought the descriptions of the male characters’ emotions seemed more three dimensional than the descriptions of the women in the story, although the last scene with the young girl was more nuanced. Thank you for the read!

[Heather Ames · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating premise with a very different protagonist from the usual law enforcement officers. Enjoyed reading about the river patrol and particularly Deputy Jason Colefield, who has to not only pursue perpetrators on a boat but be available to dive into the murky waters of the Columbia or the Willamette. I learned a lot of details while following Colefield as he wrecks his truck on Sauvie Island and copes with the shadows of his past, two very different women and his cranky landlord. Hopefully, he will have a better back-up vehicle than the one he spends the majority of this book riding around in by the second book in the series. Love that he lives on the water.

[Dani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved that this was set in Portland, and the plot was interesting, but I just couldn’t get into it. I had a hard time following the story and kept feeling like I’d skipped some pages. With some more character development, I would have loved it. For example, author referenced Jason’s past several times, but never fully revealed it. I felt like I spent the whole book waiting for...something...and never got it in the end.

[Alan Spinrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun mystery for Portland, Oregon readers, set here in PDX. Lots of familiar references.

[Lisa Eirene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent read. I liked that it was set in Portland and there was a lot of local flare. The story was pretty good but I felt like the character development needed some work and there needed to be a little bit of editing. Other than that, I liked it enough that I would read a second book in the series.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really? This was on the overdrive home page for my local county library. Coulda been better, but the Portland references were fun.