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Third Degree
Cut Loose All Those Who Drag You Down by Ross Klavan
The story of what turns out to be a very, very bad night. A crooked reporter who fronts for the mob and who’s been married eight times is minding his own business at home when he gets a sudden visit from his oldest friend, a disgraced and defrocked shrink. The man is in deep trouble. He needs a place to hide. The problem is, he refuses to admit to exactly what’s wrong and so there begins a heated, drunken, drug-fueled discussion that runs through failed marriages, divorces, mistresses, murders, suicides, police raids that went wrong, meetings with strange women in the desert, a child with killing on his mind and more. When it’s finished, the answer to what’s wrong becomes horribly clear…and somebody is going to pay with his life.
Beaned by Tim O’Mara
Hours after successfully transporting smuggled maple syrup from Missouri to New York City, and picking up a truckload of maple-syrup related products for the return trip, Aggie and his new partners decide it’s more important to help take down a sex-trafficking ring based out of Manhattan. Taking care of business first—trading the maple-syrup products for high-end coffee beans and distributing the new cargo—Aggie takes off for The Big Apple. His mission: help take down the billionaire who’s funding the trafficking of under-aged children for the pleasure of other rich folks. His trip takes him to Manhattan’s toney Upper East Side to a final confrontation in the US Virgin Islands.
The Fifth Column by Charles Salzberg
Several months after the shock of Pearl Harbor thrusts America into the war, Jake Harper, a young Connecticut reporter, gets his dream job on a New York City Newspaper. Returning to the city of his birth, Jake meets a young boy who’s been bullied and savagely beaten in a schoolyard by a bunch of young toughs wearing Brown shirts and railing against Jews. Jake, who smells a possible story, suspects the resurgence of the German-American Bund on the Upper East Side. As he digs deeper, he begins to suspect that the supposedly disbanded Bund is alive and well and making plans to sabotage the American war effort.
The story of what turns out to be a very, very bad night. A crooked reporter who fronts for the mob and who’s been married eight times is minding his own business at home when he gets a sudden visit from his oldest friend, a disgraced and defrocked shrink. The man is in deep trouble. He needs a place to hide. The problem is, he refuses to admit to exactly what’s wrong and so there begins a heated, drunken, drug-fueled discussion that runs through failed marriages, divorces, mistresses, murders, suicides, police raids that went wrong, meetings with strange women in the desert, a child with killing on his mind and more. When it’s finished, the answer to what’s wrong becomes horribly clear…and somebody is going to pay with his life.
Beaned by Tim O’Mara
Hours after successfully transporting smuggled maple syrup from Missouri to New York City, and picking up a truckload of maple-syrup related products for the return trip, Aggie and his new partners decide it’s more important to help take down a sex-trafficking ring based out of Manhattan. Taking care of business first—trading the maple-syrup products for high-end coffee beans and distributing the new cargo—Aggie takes off for The Big Apple. His mission: help take down the billionaire who’s funding the trafficking of under-aged children for the pleasure of other rich folks. His trip takes him to Manhattan’s toney Upper East Side to a final confrontation in the US Virgin Islands.
The Fifth Column by Charles Salzberg
Several months after the shock of Pearl Harbor thrusts America into the war, Jake Harper, a young Connecticut reporter, gets his dream job on a New York City Newspaper. Returning to the city of his birth, Jake meets a young boy who’s been bullied and savagely beaten in a schoolyard by a bunch of young toughs wearing Brown shirts and railing against Jews. Jake, who smells a possible story, suspects the resurgence of the German-American Bund on the Upper East Side. As he digs deeper, he begins to suspect that the supposedly disbanded Bund is alive and well and making plans to sabotage the American war effort.
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 5, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 4, 2020
Three short stories, three different authors all together under one cover, all written in a casual, easy-to-read style, all crime related and definitely entertaining in varying degrees.!
CUT LOOSE ALL WHO DRAG YOU DOWN by Ross Klavan starts out with an interesting question regarding infidelity is the story of a crooked reporter in denial and a whole lot of trouble.
BEANED by Tim O’Mara is a quirky tale of smuggling maple syrup that turns into a far darker mission, ending human trafficking. Can a simple truck driver bring down a powerful billionaire?
THIRD DEGREE, containing Charles Salzberg’s THE FIFTH COLUMN, is the story of a young reporter in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and America’s jump into World War II. Jake Harper is New York bound with dreams of making it big with cutting edge reporting. He stumbles onto a story that could explode the premise that a hate group, thought disbanded is alive and as venomous as ever.
Yes, I liked one best, it felt more solid, seemed to have more substance. Yes, there was one that just didn't quite sit well with me. I did like being able to read one story at a time in bite-sized pieces. I did enjoy getting to know each author's style and how deeply they were able to go (or not) with such few words.
I received a complimentary copy as part of a blog tour review.
CUT LOOSE ALL WHO DRAG YOU DOWN by Ross Klavan starts out with an interesting question regarding infidelity is the story of a crooked reporter in denial and a whole lot of trouble.
BEANED by Tim O’Mara is a quirky tale of smuggling maple syrup that turns into a far darker mission, ending human trafficking. Can a simple truck driver bring down a powerful billionaire?
THIRD DEGREE, containing Charles Salzberg’s THE FIFTH COLUMN, is the story of a young reporter in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and America’s jump into World War II. Jake Harper is New York bound with dreams of making it big with cutting edge reporting. He stumbles onto a story that could explode the premise that a hate group, thought disbanded is alive and as venomous as ever.
Yes, I liked one best, it felt more solid, seemed to have more substance. Yes, there was one that just didn't quite sit well with me. I did like being able to read one story at a time in bite-sized pieces. I did enjoy getting to know each author's style and how deeply they were able to go (or not) with such few words.
I received a complimentary copy as part of a blog tour review.
November 4, 2020
I enjoyed all three of the novellas of Third Degree.
In The Fifth Column, there is Jake, a tenacious young reporter with an Ivy League education who wants to do his part during WWII. While he doesn’t get to enlist, Jake stumbles upon an Aryan group plotting to commit crimes on U.S. soil.
Jake was a wise antagonist for someone so young, and though he had high aspirations, Jake had no problem putting patriotism ahead of personal gain. The guy had a “Captain America” feel to me.
In Beaned, I found out there is a hierarchy even among criminals. Some have absolutely no issues with “appropriating” goods and reselling them for a living. However, human trafficking is a hard line many will not cross. They also won’t turn a blind eye to it either.
My favorite in the trilogy was Cut Loose Those Who Drag You Down. The frenetic, dysfunctional friendship between Dick, a never-up-and-coming reporter and Solly, a disbarred psychiatrist, made me laugh. Understand me, this is not a humorous story, but these two men couldn’t get out of their own way.
Dick’s answer for any problem is to get married… eight times. Okay, seven—twice to Amy. He also has a girlfriend he’s been with through at least three of his marriages.
Solly sleeps with his patients—which is what got him disbarred—and ALL of Dick’s ex-wives! Come on! HA! He even married the last one, Mage, and they had a child, Silent Adam, who refused to speak. Of course, the marriage went sour and things didn’t end well for Mage.
But even with this Mount Everest of poor decisions between them, things are complicated even more because they’re both involved with women from mob families, Tanya and Lisa. OMG, those two!
Dick is irritating, a bit arrogant, and unapologetic. Solly is a basket case. I cannot say either held the other back, but I’m almost sure both could have been so much more if they’d never met. Dick introduces Solly in the story as his oldest friend. But they were more like Cain and Abel.
When push comes to shove, Dick is… Dick (and Cain) and the title of the story comes into play. The story ended the only way it could, but it left me with concerns for Silent Adam who didn’t ask for such selfish parents.
The original plots and interesting characters of these three very different stories will take you to different places readers of noir crime and historical fiction are sure to be entertained by.
Enjoy!
In The Fifth Column, there is Jake, a tenacious young reporter with an Ivy League education who wants to do his part during WWII. While he doesn’t get to enlist, Jake stumbles upon an Aryan group plotting to commit crimes on U.S. soil.
Jake was a wise antagonist for someone so young, and though he had high aspirations, Jake had no problem putting patriotism ahead of personal gain. The guy had a “Captain America” feel to me.
In Beaned, I found out there is a hierarchy even among criminals. Some have absolutely no issues with “appropriating” goods and reselling them for a living. However, human trafficking is a hard line many will not cross. They also won’t turn a blind eye to it either.
My favorite in the trilogy was Cut Loose Those Who Drag You Down. The frenetic, dysfunctional friendship between Dick, a never-up-and-coming reporter and Solly, a disbarred psychiatrist, made me laugh. Understand me, this is not a humorous story, but these two men couldn’t get out of their own way.
Dick’s answer for any problem is to get married… eight times. Okay, seven—twice to Amy. He also has a girlfriend he’s been with through at least three of his marriages.
Solly sleeps with his patients—which is what got him disbarred—and ALL of Dick’s ex-wives! Come on! HA! He even married the last one, Mage, and they had a child, Silent Adam, who refused to speak. Of course, the marriage went sour and things didn’t end well for Mage.
But even with this Mount Everest of poor decisions between them, things are complicated even more because they’re both involved with women from mob families, Tanya and Lisa. OMG, those two!
Dick is irritating, a bit arrogant, and unapologetic. Solly is a basket case. I cannot say either held the other back, but I’m almost sure both could have been so much more if they’d never met. Dick introduces Solly in the story as his oldest friend. But they were more like Cain and Abel.
When push comes to shove, Dick is… Dick (and Cain) and the title of the story comes into play. The story ended the only way it could, but it left me with concerns for Silent Adam who didn’t ask for such selfish parents.
The original plots and interesting characters of these three very different stories will take you to different places readers of noir crime and historical fiction are sure to be entertained by.
Enjoy!
October 4, 2020
This book contains three short stories, two of which are noir. As is often the case in a collection with various authors, my opinions on the stories vary. The one by Klavan was the one I liked the least. There was a great deal of foul language, drug taking, being stoned and other debauchery. Klavan tells a story about a down and out newspaper reporter who has been married eight times and an ex-doctor who is in trouble with the mob. Not much character development and no good moral to the story.
O'Mara's story was a bit more to my liking. Some truck drivers probably work for a mob boss who draws the line at human trafficking. There is sort of a moral to this story that even bad guys draw the line at what they are willing to see happen. I was glad to see the bad guys win out over the worst guy.
I liked the story by Salzberg best of all. I felt it was actually a fully formed short story. It was informative about WW II Nazi sympathizers such as those on the Murphy Ranch on the West Coast and Camp Siegfried on Long Island. It has a good hero in Jake, the newspaper reporter willing to get the entire story. The plot is great as it mixes fiction with historical fact. The galley I read could have used some editing. Maggie uses her parents' car to take Jake and his stuff down to New York (Loc 2327/3838) but she is going back on the train (Loc 2377/3838) And a sentence is repeated a few paragraphs apart. (Loc 2351/3838)
Low marks for the first two stories but high marks for the last one.
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.
O'Mara's story was a bit more to my liking. Some truck drivers probably work for a mob boss who draws the line at human trafficking. There is sort of a moral to this story that even bad guys draw the line at what they are willing to see happen. I was glad to see the bad guys win out over the worst guy.
I liked the story by Salzberg best of all. I felt it was actually a fully formed short story. It was informative about WW II Nazi sympathizers such as those on the Murphy Ranch on the West Coast and Camp Siegfried on Long Island. It has a good hero in Jake, the newspaper reporter willing to get the entire story. The plot is great as it mixes fiction with historical fact. The galley I read could have used some editing. Maggie uses her parents' car to take Jake and his stuff down to New York (Loc 2327/3838) but she is going back on the train (Loc 2377/3838) And a sentence is repeated a few paragraphs apart. (Loc 2351/3838)
Low marks for the first two stories but high marks for the last one.
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.
October 26, 2020
Third Degree is the result of the efforts of three different authors, Ross Klavan, Tim O'Mara, and Charles Salzberg. Each one contributed a short story to this anthology, creating a novel full of thrilling reads with a noir aesthetic.
What I love about collections like this one is just how well the stories fit together. They may not be from the same world, the same series, or even the same authors, but they certainly all have the same feel.
Cut Loose All Those Who Drag You Down by Ross Klavan
Rating: ★★★
Ross Klavan writes about one man, and the seriously bad string of luck that he has. Dick has been through quite a lot, much of it his own making. Yet the most recent circumstance is far from his own fault, as a friend (of sorts) brings all sorts of trouble down on his head.
“This has happened to me in every one of my eight marriages.”
Out of the three, this short story has feels the most dated. By that I mean – it felt like it belonged in a very specific time period, and it resonated through every single paragraph and line. Dick wasn't an easy character to like, but that was hardly the point – the mess he got into was more important, and the quick pace made sure to keep everything moving at breakneck speeds.
Beaned by Tim O'Mara
Rating: ★★★★★
A life of crime isn't exactly new to Aggie, a small-time smuggler just trying to keep his life moving forward. Today, he was on the docket for transporting some maple-syrup and coffee beans. Not exactly a high stakes game. That is, until Aggie and his partner saw something they just couldn't walk away from, not while maintaining their souls.
“After all the guns and shooting and dead people I'd seen over the past few days, I felt like I was in the spy biz, brother.”
Beaned is probably the highlight of the three, at least for me. Aggie is such an unexpectedly charming character, and his entire...experience is full of mystery, intrigue, and lots of surprises. Okay, there's a fair bit of action as well, but that was to be expected. Overall, I really loved the noir themes, and how well they meshed with the more criminal elements of this adventure. It made for a great read, one that I wouldn't have minded reading more of.
The Fifth Column by Charles Salzberg
Rating: ★★★★
Jake Harper is a young reporter with big dreams. Dreams made bigger and wilder by the events of Pearl Harbor. From that moment on, he wanted to work for a big newspaper. Well, Jake is about to learn that reporting sometimes takes guts, and the ability to refuse to walk away from a story that needs telling.
“Sometimes, kid, losing can be a blessing”
The Fifth Column was another fantastic read from this novel. I really adored Jake's perspective, even while it probably felt the most dramatically different of the three. It was charming and riveting, with a strong historical twist. There's a darker tone to the tale, much like the other two, and yet even that felt different in some ways. In short, it was the perfect conclusion to this particular collection. I can't wait to see more from these three authors!
What I love about collections like this one is just how well the stories fit together. They may not be from the same world, the same series, or even the same authors, but they certainly all have the same feel.
Cut Loose All Those Who Drag You Down by Ross Klavan
Rating: ★★★
Ross Klavan writes about one man, and the seriously bad string of luck that he has. Dick has been through quite a lot, much of it his own making. Yet the most recent circumstance is far from his own fault, as a friend (of sorts) brings all sorts of trouble down on his head.
“This has happened to me in every one of my eight marriages.”
Out of the three, this short story has feels the most dated. By that I mean – it felt like it belonged in a very specific time period, and it resonated through every single paragraph and line. Dick wasn't an easy character to like, but that was hardly the point – the mess he got into was more important, and the quick pace made sure to keep everything moving at breakneck speeds.
Beaned by Tim O'Mara
Rating: ★★★★★
A life of crime isn't exactly new to Aggie, a small-time smuggler just trying to keep his life moving forward. Today, he was on the docket for transporting some maple-syrup and coffee beans. Not exactly a high stakes game. That is, until Aggie and his partner saw something they just couldn't walk away from, not while maintaining their souls.
“After all the guns and shooting and dead people I'd seen over the past few days, I felt like I was in the spy biz, brother.”
Beaned is probably the highlight of the three, at least for me. Aggie is such an unexpectedly charming character, and his entire...experience is full of mystery, intrigue, and lots of surprises. Okay, there's a fair bit of action as well, but that was to be expected. Overall, I really loved the noir themes, and how well they meshed with the more criminal elements of this adventure. It made for a great read, one that I wouldn't have minded reading more of.
The Fifth Column by Charles Salzberg
Rating: ★★★★
Jake Harper is a young reporter with big dreams. Dreams made bigger and wilder by the events of Pearl Harbor. From that moment on, he wanted to work for a big newspaper. Well, Jake is about to learn that reporting sometimes takes guts, and the ability to refuse to walk away from a story that needs telling.
“Sometimes, kid, losing can be a blessing”
The Fifth Column was another fantastic read from this novel. I really adored Jake's perspective, even while it probably felt the most dramatically different of the three. It was charming and riveting, with a strong historical twist. There's a darker tone to the tale, much like the other two, and yet even that felt different in some ways. In short, it was the perfect conclusion to this particular collection. I can't wait to see more from these three authors!
October 30, 2020
Third Degree gives us three novellas by three different authors. All are different in mood and style.
The first story, Cut Loose All Those Who Drag You Down, is narrated by an unlikable, irritating, yet weirdly engaging narrator. It’s an exploration into the dark psyches of two men spiraling out of control.
Beaned introduces us to a pair of truckers who find themselves entangled in more than they bargained for. This is more of a traditional crime story.
The Fifth Column is historical crime fiction. This is the longest and most expansive of the three, narrated by a young, ambitious journalist at the start of WWII.
This anthology is an entertaining introduction to three diverse authors.
*I received a review copy for the Partners in Crime blog tour.*
The first story, Cut Loose All Those Who Drag You Down, is narrated by an unlikable, irritating, yet weirdly engaging narrator. It’s an exploration into the dark psyches of two men spiraling out of control.
Beaned introduces us to a pair of truckers who find themselves entangled in more than they bargained for. This is more of a traditional crime story.
The Fifth Column is historical crime fiction. This is the longest and most expansive of the three, narrated by a young, ambitious journalist at the start of WWII.
This anthology is an entertaining introduction to three diverse authors.
*I received a review copy for the Partners in Crime blog tour.*
May 27, 2021
Ross Klavan's protagonist appears complicated but more relatable than you first think - same for all his clever and messy characters. The action and the settings are crystal clear and memorable long after you're done reading. I hope there's a film in progress.
October 29, 2020
The highlight of this novella anthology was the final story in the book, "The Fifth Column." It did an excellent job of combining an investigative journalism piece in the early 1940s. I found the protagonist, Jake, to be extremely likable and tenacious. I'd love to read more about him and his adventures!
The second story, "Beaned," would be my second favorite. It was a fun tale that moved along quickly. Aggie and co reminded me a lot of Danny Ocean's crew from the Ocean's 11 series.
I did not care for the first story - it seemed too rambling and incoherent. I didn't see a real point or clear plot to the story overall.
Overall, "The Fifth Column" made it all worth it. With novellas, you haven't invested too much time if you find a story you don't connect with, but the diamonds in the rough can make it all a worthwhile experience.
Thank you to PICT for an ARC. All opinions are my own.
The second story, "Beaned," would be my second favorite. It was a fun tale that moved along quickly. Aggie and co reminded me a lot of Danny Ocean's crew from the Ocean's 11 series.
I did not care for the first story - it seemed too rambling and incoherent. I didn't see a real point or clear plot to the story overall.
Overall, "The Fifth Column" made it all worth it. With novellas, you haven't invested too much time if you find a story you don't connect with, but the diamonds in the rough can make it all a worthwhile experience.
Thank you to PICT for an ARC. All opinions are my own.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews