What do you think?
Rate this book
Bragg #5
San Quentin
Desperate men with nothing to lose make one last demand. Get Peter Bragg.
SPEAK FOR THE DEAD
The Shamus Award-nominated fifth novel in Jack Lynch’s Edgar-Award-nominated series of detective novels.
An escape attempt at San Quentin goes to hell, a guard is beaten into a coma, and the hard-core convicts retreat to a corner of the prison with their hostages, including two civilian women. It’s a deadly stand-off…a bloody powder-keg ready to explode into a full-scale massacre. The cornered, desperate prisoners have one demand: they want private eye Peter Bragg to clear the ringleader’s teenage brother of a murder charge in a small, northern California town. It’s a high-stakes case with a brutal ticking clock, and it pits Bragg against cops, neo-Nazis and powerful enemies who would like to see him, the convicts, and the hostages all go down in a hail of flames and gunfire that would keep their secrets from ever being revealed.
“Bragg is authentic, gripping, gritty…what Lynch sells is well-written escape…slam-bang mystery that’s fun to read” San Francisco Examiner
“This is a first-rate series,” 101 Knights: A Survey of American Detective Fiction
“The books are damn good, featuring a hard but believable hero,” The Thrilling Detective
(Originally published under the title "San Quentin")
SPEAK FOR THE DEAD
The Shamus Award-nominated fifth novel in Jack Lynch’s Edgar-Award-nominated series of detective novels.
An escape attempt at San Quentin goes to hell, a guard is beaten into a coma, and the hard-core convicts retreat to a corner of the prison with their hostages, including two civilian women. It’s a deadly stand-off…a bloody powder-keg ready to explode into a full-scale massacre. The cornered, desperate prisoners have one demand: they want private eye Peter Bragg to clear the ringleader’s teenage brother of a murder charge in a small, northern California town. It’s a high-stakes case with a brutal ticking clock, and it pits Bragg against cops, neo-Nazis and powerful enemies who would like to see him, the convicts, and the hostages all go down in a hail of flames and gunfire that would keep their secrets from ever being revealed.
“Bragg is authentic, gripping, gritty…what Lynch sells is well-written escape…slam-bang mystery that’s fun to read” San Francisco Examiner
“This is a first-rate series,” 101 Knights: A Survey of American Detective Fiction
“The books are damn good, featuring a hard but believable hero,” The Thrilling Detective
(Originally published under the title "San Quentin")
Paperback
First published October 1, 1984
26 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 28, 2021
Well, I'm really enjoying this series. Speak for the Dead centers around a rather complex plot involving a prisoner in San Quentin, his brother in a small town and a whole bunch of characters that become entangled with our man Bragg as he tries to help defuse a tense hostage situation in the prison after a failed attempted breakout.
The leader of a biker gang (the "cherubs"), Beau Bancetti, protests that his little brother is innocent of a crime for which he's being held in jail up in a small CA town. Seems the younger Bancetti won't speak for himself and provide a solid alibi, even though everyone intuits that he's actually innocent. So, Beau attempts to breakout of San Quentin in order to go to the town and clear his brother, who is socially quite awkward and wouldn't last a month in prison. But the attempt fails and soon devolves into a hostage standoff. Bragg gets the call to act as go-between and free the young man, deliver him to Beau as proof of his freedom, and then the hostages will be freed.
Once Bragg begins investigating, with the help of a local cop, things become quite interesting and clearly more complicated than one would have initially supposed. That's the beauty of the story and how cleverly Lynch writes it. It's a diverting, enjoyable read with a decent helping of plausible suspects. As has become evident, Lynch allows Bragg to get knocked around, even shot, and not always come out of altercations on top. Yet in the end, the reader will be rewarded as Bragg pieces the puzzle together and has his day. Predictable, yet satisfying and entertaining. Fans of the author will want to be sure to include this even if they are as late to the Jack Lynch party as am I.
The leader of a biker gang (the "cherubs"), Beau Bancetti, protests that his little brother is innocent of a crime for which he's being held in jail up in a small CA town. Seems the younger Bancetti won't speak for himself and provide a solid alibi, even though everyone intuits that he's actually innocent. So, Beau attempts to breakout of San Quentin in order to go to the town and clear his brother, who is socially quite awkward and wouldn't last a month in prison. But the attempt fails and soon devolves into a hostage standoff. Bragg gets the call to act as go-between and free the young man, deliver him to Beau as proof of his freedom, and then the hostages will be freed.
Once Bragg begins investigating, with the help of a local cop, things become quite interesting and clearly more complicated than one would have initially supposed. That's the beauty of the story and how cleverly Lynch writes it. It's a diverting, enjoyable read with a decent helping of plausible suspects. As has become evident, Lynch allows Bragg to get knocked around, even shot, and not always come out of altercations on top. Yet in the end, the reader will be rewarded as Bragg pieces the puzzle together and has his day. Predictable, yet satisfying and entertaining. Fans of the author will want to be sure to include this even if they are as late to the Jack Lynch party as am I.
January 19, 2024
A surprising read, I was figuring it was going to be another Mack Bolan type uber macho punch to the face to every feminist in the world, but no! It was a relatively low violence decent mystery/PI story that didn't even have one sex scene, he didn't even kill anyone....
October 30, 2014
Brash Books is doing a terrific job of reissuing some fine crime novels. The Peter Bragg series is one of the best that slipped by me in the original publications. Can't read everything I guess, though Lord knows I try.
It's said that author Jack Lynch modeled Bragg after some aspects of himself> Both ex-reporter from Seattle originally now established in San Francisco. Bragg is a private investigator.
When an escape from San Quentin goes wrong, hostages are taken, two civilian women teaching a class to inmates, and a pair of guards, one wounded. Bragg gets drafted to help. A reporter he'd worked with recommended him to solve a problem.
Beau Bancetti was the leader of a bike club serving time along with three other confederates. The breakout was because Beau's teenage brother had been arrested in their hometown for murder, something the kid couldn't possibly do.
Bragg agrees to go look into it to help free the women hostages.
It's unusual from the start. A police officer is more help than even the boy's lawyer. Bragg is shot, a young girl murdered, before he starts to put the pieces together. There's more going on than appears on the surface.
Loved it and look forward to more of these excellent novels.
It's said that author Jack Lynch modeled Bragg after some aspects of himself> Both ex-reporter from Seattle originally now established in San Francisco. Bragg is a private investigator.
When an escape from San Quentin goes wrong, hostages are taken, two civilian women teaching a class to inmates, and a pair of guards, one wounded. Bragg gets drafted to help. A reporter he'd worked with recommended him to solve a problem.
Beau Bancetti was the leader of a bike club serving time along with three other confederates. The breakout was because Beau's teenage brother had been arrested in their hometown for murder, something the kid couldn't possibly do.
Bragg agrees to go look into it to help free the women hostages.
It's unusual from the start. A police officer is more help than even the boy's lawyer. Bragg is shot, a young girl murdered, before he starts to put the pieces together. There's more going on than appears on the surface.
Loved it and look forward to more of these excellent novels.
November 17, 2014
Thanks Jack
like so many books these days too short.Well fleshed out characters and a story that never let you know too much until the end.
like so many books these days too short.Well fleshed out characters and a story that never let you know too much until the end.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews