Cold Cuts

by Steve Brewer

Some people in the Southwest love the Rojo brand of Mexican bologna, but it's illegal to bring it into the United States. Smugglers sneak rolls of the bologna across the border, trying to get rich off the food fad.

Enter Lucky Flanagan, such an unlikely smuggler that he's perfect for the job. But others in the smuggling ring are up to no good, and Lucky is unlucky enough to get caught in the middle of a deadly scheme.

Genres: Mystery

216 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2018

About the author

STEVE BREWER is the author of more than 30 books, including the recent crime novels UPSHOT and COLD CUTS.

His first novel, LONELY STREET, was made into a 2009 independent Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna.

Under his pen name Max Austin, Brewer wrote three hard-boiled crime stories set in Albuquerque, NM. The first, DUKE CITY SPLIT, was published by Alibi/Random House in April 2014. DUKE CITY HIT followed in December 2014. DUKE CITY DESPERADO came out in June 2015.

Brewer's short fiction has appeared in the several anthologies, and he's published articles in magazines such as Mystery Scene, Crimespree and Mystery Readers' Journal.

Brewer has taught at the University of New Mexico, the Midwest Writers Workshop and the Tony Hillerman Writers Seminar. He regularly speaks at mystery conventions, and was toastmaster at Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe, NM, in 2011.

He served two years on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, and twice served as an Edgar Awards judge. He's also a member of International Thriller Writers and SouthWest Writers.

A graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Brewer worked as a daily journalist for 22 years, then wrote a syndicated weekly column for another decade. The column, called The Home Front, produced the raw material for his humor book TROPHY HUSBAND.

Married and the father of two adult sons, Brewer lives in Albuquerque, NM.

More at www.stevebrewer.blogspot.com.

BOOKS BY STEVE BREWER
"Lonely Street," 1994, Pocket Books
"Baby Face," 1995, Pocket Books
"Witchy Woman," 1996, St. Martin's Press
"Shaky Ground," 1997, St. Martin's Press
"Dirty Pool," 1999, St. Martin's Press
"End Run," 2000, Intrigue Press
"Crazy Love," 2001, Intrigue Press
"Cheap Shot," 2002, Intrigue Press
"Trophy Husband," 2003, University of New Mexico Press
"Bullets," 2003, Intrigue Press
"Fool's Paradise," 2003, UNM Press
"Boost," 2004, Speck Press
"Sanity Clause," a novella, in "The Last Noel," 2004, Worldwide
"Bank Job," 2005, Intrigue Press
"Whipsaw," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Monkey Man," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Payoff," a short story in the anthology "Damn Near Dead," 2006, Busted Flush
"Cutthroat," 2007, Bleak House
"Limbo," a short story in the Mystery Writers of America anthology "Crimes by Moonlight," 2010, Berkley
"Firepower," 2010, Amazon/Smashwords
"1500 Rules for Successful Living," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Calabama," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"The Big Wink," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Lost Vegas," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Party Doll," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"A Box of Pandoras," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Showdown," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Found Money," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Yvonne's Gone," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Cemetery Plot," a short story, 2013, Amazon
"Duke City Split," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Hit," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Desperado," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2015
"Shotgun Boogie," 2016, Amazon
"Homesick Blues," 2016, Amazon
"Side Eye," 2017, Amazon
"Cold Cuts," 2018, Amazon
"Upshot," 2020, Amazon

Reviews

[Scott Cumming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucky Flanagan is a conman practically living hand to mouth, who is given the opportunity to make some easy money smuggling illegal Mexican Bologna across the border. Red haired and pale skinned, his employers believe he's far from likely to be suspected. The smuggling of the meat goes to plan, but let's just say it's about the only thing that does in this caper.

You can tell Brewer is an experienced novelist as he packs concise chapters with characterisation and plot development along with great dialogue. Reminiscent of Elmore Leonard, he was recommended by Eric Beetner and Jim Thomsen as a reliable palette cleansing novelist and I certainly found him to be so. If you're in need of a fun, fast read then this is definitely one worth checking out.

[Jim Thomsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how Steve Brewer does it. Year after year after year, he writes two or three crime novels — some comic, some hardboiled, some in-between — and not a one of them is a clunker. In his latest, he effortlessly succeeds at a deceptively difficult challenge: making a loser likable without playing him for easy laughs.

Lucky Flanagan is a small-time grifter who isn't too good at it, a low-life criminal who isn't too bright and probably isn't worthy of his estranged wife and daughter — but for the fact that he's not too hard or bitter about his destitute circumstances and bleak outlook, and truly loves the woman who dumped him and the daughter he's seldom allowed to see, and he never gives up on the idea of getting them back. It's in the service of this quixotic quest that he agrees to take a job smuggling contraband bologna from Mexico to Albuquerque for $500 a pop, and isn't bright enough to realize that it's probably too good to be true.

It turns out that the guy behind the guy who hired Lucky is dating Lucky's wife, a cold opportunist who hopes that Lucky's bad luck and front-man status for the operation will lead to the sort of disaster that's followed Lucky all his life. And, well, he isn't wrong.

Complications ensure among a cast that includes the aging and easily annoyed "king of Rojo bologna," an all-but-Aspergerish food-safety inspector and a sweet-but-doofusy comic-book nerd among others. Through it all, Brewer keeps a steady but light foot on the pedal, keeping the story lean without sacrificing plot or character nuance or wobbling on his fine line in tone between the hardboiled and the lighthearted. That can only be done by a pro with Brewer's epic track record, which encompasses more than thirty novels.

COLD CUTS is a winner, a crime novel to be devoured like a plate of fried meat droppings in the course of a day, with no bad aftertaste or trace of stomach upset.

[Laurie Fagen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read

Bologna is far from a typical central character in a mystery, but Steve Brewer made it integral to “Cold Cuts,” a fun read with decent characters and a number of twists and turns along the way. Humor in a murder mystery is challenging, but refreshing to read the way Brewer presents is.

[Ian Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic quirky crimey stuff. Halfway in I actually googled for outlets that sold this Rojo bologna. Too bad its fictional.