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Campanelli #1
Campanelli: The Ping Tom Affair
It is 2109 in Chicago and a double murder is discovered in Ping Tom Memorial Park. Frank Campanelli, a homicide detective, is called in to investigate. Together with his partner, Marcus Williams, the pair are pressed to solve the case before a gang war envelopes Chinatown.
84 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 30, 2013
3 people want to read
About the author
Frederick H. Crook
18 books14 followersBorn in Chicago, Frederick lives with his wife, Rae and their dachshunds, Moxie, Luke, and Parker. He writes dystopian sci-fi, but has written a ghost story and recently a thriller.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 2, 2017
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I really enjoyed this novel! I loved the aspect that the majority of Earth’s population had settled on a different planet. The world building was spectacular and intricate.
Campanella himself was a brilliant character who was incredibly interesting and has his flaws.
I really enjoyed this novel! I loved the aspect that the majority of Earth’s population had settled on a different planet. The world building was spectacular and intricate.
Campanella himself was a brilliant character who was incredibly interesting and has his flaws.
February 17, 2016
An intriguing story about guilty secrets set in Chicago. Campanelli was eager to discover the truth. The double murder involved someone in either the Triads or one of the smaller Chinatown street gangs.
Mickey was dangerous; he was arranging a human trafficking network.
I liked the story and the characters. I think Campanelli was a good man and I felt like knowing him. I believe this is a good book and readers who love thriller and suspense stories won’t be able to put it down.
Mickey was dangerous; he was arranging a human trafficking network.
I liked the story and the characters. I think Campanelli was a good man and I felt like knowing him. I believe this is a good book and readers who love thriller and suspense stories won’t be able to put it down.
June 30, 2017
Set in Chicago in 2109, Detective Frank Campanelli and his partner Detective Marcus Williams are investigating the death of two men. One is identified as a son, Wong, of a leading Chinese criminal family. The crime scene is lacking the expected amount of blood and this simple clue sets Campanelli and Williams on a hunt for a killer. Hopefully they will be able to catch the perpetrator before a war can break out between the lead criminal families of Chicago.
First, I really enjoyed Frank Campanelli. He’s blind and uses cybernetic implants to mimic eyesight, allowing him to live an independent and pretty normal life. This gives him a little different way of looking at some things, giving him the occasional edge in his work. He’s chosen to stay on Earth while much of the population has left for another habitable planet, Alethea. The whole story has a noir detective feel but it’s set in this kind of grungy future Chicago with cool SF tech. This mash up works really well for me.
Campanelli isn’t new to the area. He has contacts and relationships with people in the area, including Lei Wong, whose son has just turned up dead. He knows the best forensics people and his partner, Williams, is a gengineered navy SEAL. Despite Lei Wong being this crime boss, the author makes him very human. Campanelli has to deliver news of his son’s death. Despite Lei’s need to keep a strong face on, Campanelli can still see how this news pains him.
Now, there are few ladies present in this story and I wish there were a few more and they were doing something besides being romantic interests. Tam, Frank’s part-time girlfriend, has potential to be more in future books. I did like the main forensics lady and her geeky ways. The pacing of the story and the mystery were all good until right at the end. Now I didn’t mind the whodunit part but I did feel that the big reveal was rushed and it was very convenient for a character to provide all the answers. I would have liked the detectives to have sorted most of it out for themselves.
I received a free copy of this book.
The Narration: Tom Cooper did a pretty good job with this book. He’s great at playing a male noir detective. He also had a decent voice for Marcus Williams. I did have a little trouble hearing distinctions between the characters here and there, especially with minor characters. He was good at an elderly Lei Wong and his pacing was good as well. His female characters could use a bit more femininity.
First, I really enjoyed Frank Campanelli. He’s blind and uses cybernetic implants to mimic eyesight, allowing him to live an independent and pretty normal life. This gives him a little different way of looking at some things, giving him the occasional edge in his work. He’s chosen to stay on Earth while much of the population has left for another habitable planet, Alethea. The whole story has a noir detective feel but it’s set in this kind of grungy future Chicago with cool SF tech. This mash up works really well for me.
Campanelli isn’t new to the area. He has contacts and relationships with people in the area, including Lei Wong, whose son has just turned up dead. He knows the best forensics people and his partner, Williams, is a gengineered navy SEAL. Despite Lei Wong being this crime boss, the author makes him very human. Campanelli has to deliver news of his son’s death. Despite Lei’s need to keep a strong face on, Campanelli can still see how this news pains him.
Now, there are few ladies present in this story and I wish there were a few more and they were doing something besides being romantic interests. Tam, Frank’s part-time girlfriend, has potential to be more in future books. I did like the main forensics lady and her geeky ways. The pacing of the story and the mystery were all good until right at the end. Now I didn’t mind the whodunit part but I did feel that the big reveal was rushed and it was very convenient for a character to provide all the answers. I would have liked the detectives to have sorted most of it out for themselves.
I received a free copy of this book.
The Narration: Tom Cooper did a pretty good job with this book. He’s great at playing a male noir detective. He also had a decent voice for Marcus Williams. I did have a little trouble hearing distinctions between the characters here and there, especially with minor characters. He was good at an elderly Lei Wong and his pacing was good as well. His female characters could use a bit more femininity.
June 30, 2018
“Campanelli: The Ping Tom Affair” is a journey through Earth’s post-exodus underworld. The year is 2109 as Detectives Frank Campanelli and his partner, Marcus Williams, dig into a double-murder and immediately focus their investigation on their most notorious victim—a Chinese mobster’s son.
Crook’s novel is a good weekend read. His futuristic technology and modeling of Earth’s former society will fascinate Sci-fi fans while his fast-paced criminal investigation through the still seedy world of mobsters and gangsters will propel Mystery lovers through this dystopian crime novel.
The plotline for “Campanelli: The Ping Tom Affair” is set in the future, however, with a few tweaks, it could just as well have been written about our own day and age. Its references to continuous changes in technology, a stagnant urban economy, gang warfare, and the crumbling city of one of our most historical cities—Chicago—are issues that we ourselves must deal with here in our own time. Crook’s talent lies in his ability to draw the reader into his story with a fast-paced and driven plotline, and it is here that he succeeds quite well.
Although Crook’s characters are quite stereotypical—from his curmudgeonly and lonely lead detective to his legacy-minded crime boss, they do come across as being genuine within the context of the story. It’s their rapid-fire dialogue along with adequate explanations of their motives that create urgency and drama in this otherwise predictable crime drama.
High on energy and low on explicit violence and sex, “Campanelli: The Ping Tom Affair” is a satisfying read for crime enthusiasts over the age of 17 and adults.
Crook’s novel is a good weekend read. His futuristic technology and modeling of Earth’s former society will fascinate Sci-fi fans while his fast-paced criminal investigation through the still seedy world of mobsters and gangsters will propel Mystery lovers through this dystopian crime novel.
The plotline for “Campanelli: The Ping Tom Affair” is set in the future, however, with a few tweaks, it could just as well have been written about our own day and age. Its references to continuous changes in technology, a stagnant urban economy, gang warfare, and the crumbling city of one of our most historical cities—Chicago—are issues that we ourselves must deal with here in our own time. Crook’s talent lies in his ability to draw the reader into his story with a fast-paced and driven plotline, and it is here that he succeeds quite well.
Although Crook’s characters are quite stereotypical—from his curmudgeonly and lonely lead detective to his legacy-minded crime boss, they do come across as being genuine within the context of the story. It’s their rapid-fire dialogue along with adequate explanations of their motives that create urgency and drama in this otherwise predictable crime drama.
High on energy and low on explicit violence and sex, “Campanelli: The Ping Tom Affair” is a satisfying read for crime enthusiasts over the age of 17 and adults.
May 10, 2017
This book is based after the majority of the earths population has left earth to settle on a new planet. The shift in population has had a distinct impact on the people who remain on earth with many things previously taken for granted now expensive, rare or of lesser quality/technology. The world building is impressive and seems like it could be real.
It's in this world that we meet Campanelli a police detective who is trying to solve the murder of the son of a Chinese crime family. The setting makes the story more interesting and creates twists that I wasn't expecting.
The book is stand alone so you don't need to have read other related books. While it is essentially a mystery book it also contains sci-fi elements because it's based in earths future.
Tom's narration was nice and smooth and I liked how he did the character voices.
This book was supplied free by the author/narrator/publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
It's in this world that we meet Campanelli a police detective who is trying to solve the murder of the son of a Chinese crime family. The setting makes the story more interesting and creates twists that I wasn't expecting.
The book is stand alone so you don't need to have read other related books. While it is essentially a mystery book it also contains sci-fi elements because it's based in earths future.
Tom's narration was nice and smooth and I liked how he did the character voices.
This book was supplied free by the author/narrator/publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
June 1, 2018
There are a few quirks, but over all, this is your standard murder mystery as seen by a policeman.
If that's your thing and you have it on your shelf, give it a shot. Don't go out of your way for it.
This is my third Crook book and I've figured out that he has a knack for setting up a feeling at the beginning of the book and continuing it throughout. The general feeling in this book is 'go go go go go' and you just feel like you're on a time crunch to get through with it. It's a bit stressful, actually.
If that's your thing and you have it on your shelf, give it a shot. Don't go out of your way for it.
This is my third Crook book and I've figured out that he has a knack for setting up a feeling at the beginning of the book and continuing it throughout. The general feeling in this book is 'go go go go go' and you just feel like you're on a time crunch to get through with it. It's a bit stressful, actually.
June 14, 2017
I really enjoyed this Frank Campanelli short story written by Frederick H. Crook . I listened to it as an audiobook. It's a lot of fun with many great characters combining science fiction and crime fiction. Great performance by the narrator Tom Cooper
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews