Faithless Heart

by Randall Moore

A fifties noir warning about the dangers of adultery. Human passions can lead us into the wrong place in life and ruin what we have achieved. This is a cautionary tale. One that needs to be taken to heart so you don't end up like the protagonist.

335 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2015

About the author

Randall Moore makes Boise, Idaho, his home after living most of his life in Southern California.
He’s a rabid reader and lover of history and peppers his tales, when appropriate, with historical references and strives to make the details as historically accurate and pertinent as possible.
While he has extensive experience writing, whether it’s poetry, personal journals, newspaper articles, or advertising copywriting, he’s always had a soft spot in his heart for fiction. To that end, he began to pour all his energy into writing fiction in 2013. To this date, he has written 32 novels in varying degrees of completion. He’s self-published 17 and published another with Atmosphere Press.
For more information please visit his website at randallmoorefiction.com.

Reviews

[Frank Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an example of the very worst kind of pulp fiction. Worst because it pretends to be something else. You might wonder why I finished it. I rather foolishly, I now realise, agreed to read and review the book.
Reviewing previous books by this author I said "There were, for me, too many lists." I also commented unfavourably about the ability of the protagonist to survive multiple wounds and a "propensity to shed tears at the least provocation.”
The real problem I have with this book, however, is the excessive violence and the sexual encounters, which are repeated, following the same pattern every time. I also wonder if it is wise of the author to include scenes from a Hollywood party at which many noted stars are present whilst politicians are being photographed in compromising positions so that they can be blackmailed, not for money, but for political favours. In a country as fond of litigation as the USA, I would worry that, if the book were to sell in significant numbers, the children or grandchildren of those stars might bring multiple defamation suits against the author.
On the other hand this book will confirm your worst prejudices about political corruption and police brutality in the USA.
If your reading preference is for brutal but unrealistic fight scenes, plenty of graphic sex and a 'hero' who can survive multiple stab wounds and being shot, who can, despite having his hands tied behind his back open a locker, withdraw a toolbox, open the tool box and retrieve a saw with which to cut his bonds, then this is for you.
As for historical accuracy, I don't know anything about the building of the LA Freeway, but I do know the internet did not exist in 1989 in a form that could be used in the way described.
I promise never to read another book by this author.

[Robbie Cheadle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Faithless Heart is initially set in post-Second World War Japan where Mark McMichael's is sent as military policeman after spending his short war years behind a desk in the USA. McMichael's is eager for action, feeling that he has missed out on contributing to the war effort. He speaks fluent Japanese and is sympathetic to the Japanese and intrigued by their culture. He is assigned a murder case involving a number of Japanese prostitutes and ends up solving the case but making himself extremely unpopular with a unscrupulous and evil serving soldier who he successfully builds a case of rape and murder of a young Japanese girl against but justice isn't served and the soldier goes free.

McMichael also embarks on an affair with a Japanese woman, in a time when Japanese hostility against their perceived oppressors is at an all time high. It naturally ends in disaster and McMichael's returns home.

McMichael's time in Japan comes back to haunt him later in life and results in a bitter situation for him and his family.

There is a lot of sex in this book. Unlike some readers, I didn't think it was particularly graphic but it did come up frequently. McMichael showed himself up as being a man with no control over his lust and who was willing to compromise himself and those he loved in the pursuit of pleasures of the flesh. On the other hand, he is a believer in justice for the Japanese who are portrayed as being harshly oppressed by the Americans in their own country after the war and in the USA. He lacked loyalty and had a tendency to be spoiled and behave like a toddler having a tantrum. This characteristic presented itself throughout the novel. It didn't endear him particularly to me as a reader, and I didn't feel sorry for him when things turned sour in his life.

There is also a lot of swearing in the beginning of this book particularly. I was surprised as I didn't think military personnel would swear at each other so much in the line of an investigation and duty. I also wouldn't expect a military policeman to lose his temper and beat up a suspect. I would have expected such language and behaviour to be a punishable offence in the military and it degraded the USA military in my opinion.

On the whole, I found the Japanese setting post the war interesting and this made the book worthwhile for me. The rest of the story was okay, nothing special or unusual.

[Tonya Coffey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randall has taken me back to the time when the war blanketed parts of Asia. Seeing Mark McMichaels' view, as an MP, working the streets, trying to uncover who was behind the deaths of local prostitutes was enlightening.

The first part, which I believe could be a book on its own, dove into the streets of Tokyo as the duo, Mark and Jim, work at uncovering the mystery of a serial killer who targeted working pan-pans. Mark quickly finds himself in the arms of an Asian woman, something the local men did not like. When they discover the man responsible and arrest him, things don't end there... Mark and his woman are ambushed and he watched as her throat was slashed and he was left for dead, only to be saved by his friends Jim.

After months in the hospital, Mark meets Betty, his nurse. Back in LA he happens across her and they quickly become married and have two children. Even though Mark works for the police department you can tell he isn't getting what he needs because every time a case comes up that reminds him of before, he finds out that his past comes back to haunt him.

Mark and Jim become detectives, solving crimes and making money. They get payed to uncover corruption in the movies. As they investigate, Mark meets a woman who reminds him of the woman who died in Tokyo. He becomes infatuated with her. They go out and one thing leads to another. Mark is head over heels for two woman. By the end, he has to make a choice, his family or the woman he has on the side. Even though he thinks he made the right choice, it comes back to bite him in the butt.

[G.J. Griffiths · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a fan of thrillers I began reading Faithless Heart with my usual hopes of an intriguing and engaging ‘who done it’ novel; a ‘good read’ possibly in the style of Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe novels. This novel had been presented to me as a historical novel set mainly in the 1950s but, for me, there was such a lack of verisimilitude I could not easily accept it as such. The blurb gave a similar impression, notwithstanding its alerts about the sexual nature of the story, hovering around the rumours of the Hollywood casting couch. Well, it was not at all similar to the thriller novels I’ve enjoyed; such as those of Ian Rankin, Dan Brown or John Grisham, and of which I am a fan, since there was a serious lack of subtlety, mystery and anticipation or even the odd twists in the tale. It is obviously a book much more of the graphic (very!) and hard-boiled genre of fiction, and I found it quite difficult to like from beginning to end. I counted 82 mentions of the f*** word as well as almost countless times the plot moved into a sexual scene. The main character, Mark McMichaels, a detective, was not someone I found myself rooting for to the end. He was obsessed with women’s bodies, and the endless descriptions of his thoughts about almost every woman he met, became rather tedious after a while. The plot moved from one violent or sexual scene to the next with such regularity, that I found myself thinking, ‘Another page, another act of…’ etc. so often it became boring. No doubt this would be quite titillating for many a teenage boy reader. But I could not wait until I reached the end of the book, which lamely raced ahead about thirty years and felt rushed. The frequent changes of the story’s point of view, which suddenly arises about two thirds in, were confusingly unexpected, and felt like unnecessary padding out about the historical context of the tale. There were a few punctuation and typo issues that invited some editing attention.

[Ica Iova · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book as part of a review club not realizing this was a prequel to another book but I had no problem connecting to the characters, or the display of action. Randall’s writing is average, his best element is dialogue. At times, the story felt a bit surreal and too violent for my liking, but we see or hear similar stories—even if not in gory details—as part of our daily news. Overall, deserving of 4 stars.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the prequel to Noble Heart. This introduces Mack who is in Japan as an MP and is assigned to solve serial killings of Japanese women. During this time he becomes enamored of a Japanese woman that he met in a restaurant. Tamiko was killed and Mack was injured and was sent to recuperation where he met a nurse who he would later marry.

In regards to the murder there are 3 American soldiers who are considered suspects. Evenually he is able to establish that the murderer was a respected Japanese man. While doing this investigation, he came up with a crime that one of his suspects committed. He was court martialed and sentenced to death. His sentence was changed thru an appeal and he was given a Discharge and released. This person would harbor a resentment and would play a part later on.

Mack upon returning home joined the police department where he found that politics was involved and he became disillusioned and joined a Detective firm that was started by his former MP Sargant while he was in Japan. Several years after he started, he was involved in a case that involved blackmail. During the Investigation, his wife and children were murdered by the blackmail ring. He tracked them down and murdered all but one. For this action, he was arrested and convicted and served 30 years in prison. Once released he rejoined the dective gency which will be related in the next book.

If you enjoy action, then I highly recommend this book.

[Loretta Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lieutenant Mark McMichaels, a military policeman working in occupied Tokyo, is an idealistic man whose goal is to seek justice and follow the law. He begins investigating a case involving the brutal killing of Japanese prostitutes, and falls in love with a Japanese girl named Tamiko. He succeeds in convicting an important man, Ralph Snedeker, for the killings, and Snedeker vows to seek revenge. Soon Tamiko and he are attacked, she, brutally murdered, and he left near death because of his valiant attempt to save her. He is unable to recover from the death of Tamiko, even after he returns to the U.S., although he joins local law enforcement, marries, and has two children. His attempt to establish a good life doesn’t happen, and surprisingly released from his duties, he joins his friend, Jim Corothers, in his private investigation services and begins working against the evil powers who are blackmailing, extorting, and bribing public officials, even as high up as the governor. Even after great set-backs, he keeps on, battling the forces that be, where good and evil vie for control. Randall Moore’s novel has an important theme. It is fast-paced and eye-opening.

[Geraldine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting that throughout the book were mentions of the highways and roads traveled in Los Angeles, as the journey of the characters, And also that that highway system was built by the people in power in the government, who also were some of the bad guys. Read like a tv true crime show.

[Randall Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all my books, this was a labor of love, only this time I enlisted the aid of an accomplished television writer from the fifties, sixties and seventies to be my copy editor.
I am so blown away that she never questioned any of the period remembrances of dialogue I'd heard when I was a boy.
Sonya Roberts improved my novel immensely. I'm so glad that she agreed to help me. She is among my list of wonderful people who've had an impact on my life. God bless you, Sonya!