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Five Cards, Underworld Money, and a Sharp Knife. Jake Fallon can’t catch a break. He borrows and crashes a truck, and while getting checked out by the paramedics, the other driver kicks his ribs in. He falls in love at the hospital, only to end up dead a few days later. When Flynt and Steele are called in, they find Jake with Aces and Eights, the dead man’s hand, stuck to his chest with a six-inch switchblade. When shadowy figures are spotted at the hospital, and potential suspects start piling up, where do Flynt and Steele look first? As they dig deeper, even legitimate businessmen begin to seem dirty and suspect. With Steele’s wife becoming weaker by the day, his mind is torn in two directions and he realizes certain sorrow is looming. Meanwhile, Flynt’s life has taken a turn for the better. Can their personal lives draw the two mismatched partners closer together, or will it widen the gap? Join Flynt and Steele as they are dealt the strangest case yet. They'll have to go all in to catch a killer, but also make sure they don't get dealt a Dead Man's Hand of their own in the process. If you like a taut, page-turning mystery with a fat dose of betrayal, look no further than this fourth outing for fiction’s most mismatched cops – Flynt and Steele.

188 pages, ebook

Published October 26, 2020

75 people are currently reading
11 people want to read

About the author

Micheal Maxwell

65 books75 followers
Micheal Maxwell has traveled the globe on the lookout for strange sights, sounds, and people. His adventures have taken him from the Jungles of Ecuador and the Philippines to the top of the Eiffel Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge, and from the cave dwellings of Native Americans to The Kehlsteinhaus, Hitler’s Eagles Nest! He’s always looking for a story to tell and interesting people to meet.

Micheal Maxwell was taught the beauty and majesty of the English language by Bob Dylan, Robertson Davies, Charles Dickens, and Leonard Cohen.

Mr. Maxwell has traveled the globe, dined with politicians, rock stars, and beggars. He has rubbed shoulders with priests and murderers, surgeons and drug dealers, each one giving him a part of themselves that will live again in the pages of his books.

Micheal Maxwell has found a niche in the mystery, suspense, genre with The Cole Sage Series that gives readers an everyman hero, short on vices, long on compassion, and a sense of fair play, and the willingness to risk everything to right wrongs. The Cole Sage Series departs from the usual, heavily sexual, profanity-laced norm and gives readers character-driven stories, with twists, turns, and page-turning plot lines.

Micheal Maxwell writes from a life of love, music, film, and literature. Along with his lovely wife and travel partner, Janet, he lives in a small town in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for Linda.
1,036 reviews
March 21, 2021
These two guys are so good you want to keep reading. Steele is seeing his wife gradually fade away and has trouble dealing with it. Flynt is falling in love. Wow! The case they are investigating involves a car accident resulting in the death of a young woman. Her boyfriend beats up the driver of the other car putting him in the hospital. Turns out this guy, Jake Fallon, is a gambler with quite a few enemies. He owes money to one guy who visits him in his hospital room. So, you say, so what? Well, the guy visits him and leaves a message. Meanwhile, Flynt is falling in love. Steele’s wife is dying and he is not coping well. These books do stand along BUT you will want to start with the first one because you will want to know what makes Steele and Flynt tick and how did they get to be partners. The author has written other series and all of them are excellent. These are adult stories without the need for adult language constantly hitting you between the eyes. Very refreshing. And I am a reader who likes Walter Mosley books.
Profile Image for Rosemary.
3,896 reviews71 followers
November 1, 2020
Dead Hand - a review by Rosemary Kenny

Jake Fallon's starting to believe that he's jinxed, as one misfortune after another befalls him in short order, in Micheal Maxwell and Warren Keith's murder-mystery-thriller, Dead Hand, book 4 of their marvellous Flynt and Steele Mystery series.

The latter are a disparate brace of detectives, brought in to discern the reason the eponymous so-called Dead Hand of cards is grotesquely displayed - on Fallon's cold, stiff corpse!

High-stakes gambling dens, a fever-pitch car chase and outstanding debts that can never now be repaid - it's high-powered police work and it stretches Steele in particular to the limit as he suffers private turmoil.

A detective duo, on a case like no other, rife with villains and much skulduggery afoot, makes Dead Hand a dead cert to overcome all the odds and make it straight to the top...so grab Warren Keith and Micheal Maxwell's Dead Hand today!
Profile Image for Jeff Benham.
1,730 reviews12 followers
November 4, 2020
Easily in the top 5 of all the books I have read this year. There are a couple things in play here. Steele and Flynt are trying to solve a murder of a gambler, who was stabbed to death with the Dead Man's Hand stuck to his chest. Also, Steele has to deal with his sick wife, who is dying from cancer. Quick comment about that. It was handled very well. The emotions that Steele showed during this time, seem completely reasonable. To even this out somewhat, Flynt seems to be starting a relationship that has possibilities. Now for the main plot. Jake Fallon is a professional gambler who owes money to a person that can get rough. He gets in an accident when a car runs a stop sign and hits his truck. He is injured and a young lady in the other vehicle is killed when she is thrown from the car. Jake is stabbed to death while in the hospital. Is $12,000 enough to murder someone over? That is what Flynt&&Steele need to figure out, and the answer may surprise you.
Profile Image for Nancy.
218 reviews3 followers
December 24, 2020
Another Good Read

Quirky Comrade Flynt and Detective Noah Steele back agaIn with another mystery to solve where all signs lead one way and the sudden and unexpected confession surprised and tied up the solution to the bizarre murder. A bit more of the personal lives of the detectives is revealed also with one finding happiness and the grief.
155 reviews2 followers
October 29, 2020
Love these books!

The Flynt and Steele books are a great way of showing that not all characters can be superheroes! They need to have their own way of doing things, but they get the job done. Thanks!
71 reviews
November 12, 2020
Loved it!

Absolutely enjoyed the latest in this series. The characters grow more complex with each book. I like the fact that Flynt and Steele are not the Miami Vice type of describes. Can't wait for the next book!!!
91 reviews
October 31, 2020
Dead Hand

Great read! I love the characters Flynt & Steele. Michael Maxwell writes books that are always full of action without profanity and they are a nice change of pace.
206 reviews4 followers
November 4, 2020
Great read!

I read this quickly, curious as to outcomes, good story line and a few surprise twists in the mix!! Good one!
75 reviews1 follower
November 4, 2020
Fascinating

Loved this book and the two detectives. Waiting on the next book to come out. All of Michael 's books are interesting.
6 reviews
January 2, 2021
An interesting mystery where the killer was not who I thought was guilty. Flynt and Steele are each at a crossroads in their lives with big changes in store. All in all, a good read.
891 reviews5 followers
October 11, 2021
Dead Hand

Get your tissue out readers and prepare yourselves. It made me cry . Storytelling , was worth the purchase of this mystery novel.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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