Border Field Blues

Rolly Waters #2

by Corey Lynn Fayman

A potent dose of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll (ForeWord Magazine)Vandals destroy a bird sanctuary in Border Field Park. Political organizations mobilize for confrontation. Can guitar-playing detective Rolly Waters save a young woman from sex traders or is he just part an out-of-control video game?The second novel in the award-winning Rolly Waters mystery seriesMurder, sex, politics, and classic rock guitar collide in this original and compelling mystery set in the backcountry along the San Diego-Tijuana border, when a violent encounter between a young border-crosser and an angry bandit creates a secret and shocking bond between the boy and the bandit’s dumbfounded daughter. But when recovering guitarist and reluctant private detective Rolly Waters arrives at Border Field Park early one morning, he’s only there to help his bird-watching friend Max find the vandals who’ve destroyed a sensitive bird nesting area. Feeling less than optimistic about nabbing the perpetrators, Rolly begins his due diligence, crossing paths with a local border vigilante, a tormented vaquero, and an aging rock groupie. A menacing house call from a scalpel-wielding orderly in pursuit of a prostitute named for an eighties pop hit confounds his case further. And when police detective Bonnie Hammond hands him a coroner’s report, he knows it’s turned deadly.As their separate cases dovetail into one, Rolly and Bonnie negotiate a prickly partnership, dragged into a dark world of human trafficking and sexual abuse as they uncover tantalizing connections to an old murder case. Bonnie presses ahead with her official investigation, while Rolly turns to his wisecracking network of bohemian friends, trying to connect the red-haired seductress on a banned album cover to a popular video game. As opposing political organizations mobilize for a confrontation in the shadow of the Tijuana’s Bullring-By-The-Sea, Rolly races to save a willful young Mexican girl, his only link to the crimes that will test his psyche, his allegiances, and one family’s unspeakable past. Amid band gigs, family issues and personal temptation, the guitar-slinging detective rocks on, putting his sleuthing skills, and life, to the test.Sparse dialogue and riveting scenes make this mystery impossible to put down. Corey Lynn Fayman delivers a potent dose of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.ForeWord MagazineA rollicking and fast-paced crime novelSan Francisco Book ReviewsReaders will enjoy the broadly drawn characters and the rough and tumble borderland setting.Publishers Weekly

Genres: Mystery

270 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2013

About the author

“A powerful new voice on the crime-fiction scene” (ForeWord Reviews), Corey Lynn Fayman has made a career of avoiding the sunlight in his hometown of San Diego, California, where he’s done hard time as a keyboard player for local bands, a sound designer for the world-famous Old Globe Theatre, and an interactive designer for organizations both corporate and sundry. Armed with a B.A. in Creative Writing from UCLA and an M.A. in Educational Technology from SDSU, he’s also taught technology and design courses at various colleges and universities in Southern California.

Fayman's adventures working for the infamous Internet startup MP3.com led him to conceive the character of Rolly Waters, the guitar-playing detective first featured in the San Diego Book Awards nominated mystery, Black’s Beach Shuffle. Encouraged by this early success, he set about writing a second Rolly Waters Mystery, Border Field Blues, winner of the Genre Award at the 2013 Hollywood Book Festival. Desert City Diva, the third novel in the series, was a bronze award winner in the 2015 Indiefab Book of the Year Awards. The latest in the series, Ballast Point Breakdown, was awarded the best-in-show Geisel Award at the 2021 San Diego Book Awards.

Reviews

[Babydoclaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this mystery. It's a little bit rambling, and confused in the middle, not unlike the investigator. Rolly seems to fall into things rather than actually solve the mystery. I will check out the next in series

[Ingrid Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Border Field Blues: A Rolly Waters Mystery is the winner of the 2013 Hollywood Book Festival and it is easy to see why. Set on the American border with Mexico (San Diego and Tijuana) this is a fast paced story which tells the story of a slightly hapless but incredibly endearing private investigator (Rolly Waters) and his attempt to discover who is responsible for destroying the nesting grounds at the Border Field Park Bird Reserve...Yes, being more used to high body counts in the mysteries that I read, I was initially thrown by this as it seemed such an innocuous and dare I say a little boring thing for the hero of a mystery story to be investigating, however the tension and drama does quickly escalate.

The opening of the this story is amazing. Exquisitely written and with more than a brief nod to Stephen King's Gunslinger, I was completely drawn into the world of El Muchacho (The Boy) and I was more than slightly miffed when the author switched to the hero of the book and Rolly Waters entered the scene as the author could easily have continued with what he started...Granted, the book would have panned out very differently but it would have been an incredible read!

That said, Rolly quickly grew on me, I definitely related to him and I found all of the characters to be intriguing and well written. The author sufficiently muddies the waters so that you are never quite sure who the bad guys are until the end and he tackles some major issues for example prostitution, human trafficking and the tensions that exist on the Mexican border head on.

I genuinely think that Rolly Waters has sufficient gravitas about him to carry a lengthy series and I would love to see these books turned into a television series. (We love our detective dramas over here in the U.K)

All in all this is a wonderfully well written book and if you like your mysteries then what are you waiting for? Grab your copy today!

[William Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fayman's writing is crisp and the story is well-constructed. I picked up this series out of order and immediately loved the main character, Rolly Waters--a guitarist who moonlights as a private eye (or really a private eye who moonlights as a guitarist).

If you like terse mysteries and rock and roll, you will love this series.

I've never been to San Diego, but after reading this series I believe that I have a good idea in my mind about the place. I'd definitely like to visit.

With this book, I've caught up on the series. I hope he has another one in the works. I have one more of his works to read, The Esmeralda Goodbye, and I enjoy the way Fayman writes, so I will read that and look forward to the next Rolly Waters mystery.

[Ana Manwaring · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don; know why it took me so long to start reading this series. Border Field Blues is a delightful, often funny, definitely zany novel set on the border between San Diego and Mexico. Protagonist Rolly Waters delighted me with his music, his humor, his sense of moral responsibility and his memories of the good old rock n roll days and nights. In this episode, he's investigating who destroyed a bird nesting habitat, but of course, it has more to do with immigration, drugs, human trafficking and an album from way back. I loved the Spanish titles.

[Ellen Kirschman · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a romp

A romp along the border with a quirky cast of characters, desert rats, dead girls, faded rock and rollers, a militia, a damaged gamer and one truly evil villain. All brought to justice by Rolly Waters, a melancholy anti- hero with a knack for getting in over his head. Great fun.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something different

In this second book of the series most of the action takes place along the border south of San Diego. Rolly, the guitar player and private investigator, is hired to solve a simple mystery that suddenly turns serious. A great read that will keep you up late into the night.

[Vernon Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, I’m hooked on these Rolly Waters mysteries! Rolly is like Phillip Marlowe, if Marlowe was a recovering alcoholic guitar player… this is a gritty, engaging story centered around the US/Mexico border and incorporating some Latin American folklore… very cool!!

[Pegeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Immersive setting, interesting characters, entertaining.

[Chrissy (The Every Free Chance Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did I enjoy this book: Yes.

Hats off to Mr. Fayman for writing a novel with:
- an unpredictable story line
- interesting, atypical characters
- a unique setting for the action to take place

I just love it when I stumble upon a mystery that doesn’t follow the formula. Border Field Blues is anything but boring and formulaic. It’s is filled with some of the most unusual twists and turns and I’ve ever read.

So why 4 stars instead of 5? For the first 50% of the book, I couldn’t put it down. I walked over to turn on the light still reading because I literally couldn’t put it down. But at around 70%, the action began to slow. By the end, I’d tired of the story line and was happy to finally have resolution; a disappointing end to an otherwise fascinating novel.

Would I recommend it: Yes.

Will I read it again: No.

As reviewed by Belinda at Every Free Chance Book Reviews.

(I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)

http://everyfreechance.com/2014/02/re...

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rolly Waters, Rock and Roll Dick, is hired to find out who drove a car into a bird sanctuary, and gets involved in a delirious case involving a censored 1980's rock and roll album, panties, protesters on both sides of the immigration debate, and a mad doctor.

Very strange, but it all hangs together.

[Jennifer-Eve Workman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this through Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.