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Nate Ross #2
Dead-Bang Fall
2023 Shamus Award Winner (Best Original PI Paperback)
March 1939, and try as he might, private eye Nate Ross can't seem to stay clear of Hollywood. His latest case, a penny-ante theft caper, turns deadly serious when one of the miscreants is murdered and Nate's the prime witness. No sooner does L.A.P.D.'s number one suspect - a former friend and disgraced ex-colleague - turn up asking for Nate's help than he goes on the run again, from both the police and Nate.
Nate's forced to come to terms with more than one ghost from his past as his struggle to prove his on-the-lam client's innocence brings him up against hostile cops, a pair of rolling assassins, film pirates, mobsters, and a girl who may need his help or may be playing him for a chump.
March 1939, and try as he might, private eye Nate Ross can't seem to stay clear of Hollywood. His latest case, a penny-ante theft caper, turns deadly serious when one of the miscreants is murdered and Nate's the prime witness. No sooner does L.A.P.D.'s number one suspect - a former friend and disgraced ex-colleague - turn up asking for Nate's help than he goes on the run again, from both the police and Nate.
Nate's forced to come to terms with more than one ghost from his past as his struggle to prove his on-the-lam client's innocence brings him up against hostile cops, a pair of rolling assassins, film pirates, mobsters, and a girl who may need his help or may be playing him for a chump.
- GenresMystery
176 pages, Paperback
Published April 5, 2022
About the author
J.R. Sanders
9 books18 followersAward-winning author J.R. Sanders is a native Midwesterner and longtime denizen of the L.A. suburbs.
His nonfiction articles appear in such periodicals as Law & Order and Wild West magazines. His books include Some Gave All, which gives true accounts of forgotten Old West lawmen killed in the line of duty.
J.R.’s first Nate Ross novel, Stardust Trail - a detective story set among the B-Western film productions of 1930s Hollywood - was a 2021 Spur Award Finalist (Best Western Historical Novel) and Silver Falchion Finalist (Best Investigator). His second Nate Ross novel, Dead-Bang Fall, won the 2023 Shamus Award (Best Original PI Paperback). The third novel, Bring the Night, was a 2024 Shamus Award Finalist (Best Original PI Paperback).
His nonfiction articles appear in such periodicals as Law & Order and Wild West magazines. His books include Some Gave All, which gives true accounts of forgotten Old West lawmen killed in the line of duty.
J.R.’s first Nate Ross novel, Stardust Trail - a detective story set among the B-Western film productions of 1930s Hollywood - was a 2021 Spur Award Finalist (Best Western Historical Novel) and Silver Falchion Finalist (Best Investigator). His second Nate Ross novel, Dead-Bang Fall, won the 2023 Shamus Award (Best Original PI Paperback). The third novel, Bring the Night, was a 2024 Shamus Award Finalist (Best Original PI Paperback).
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 19, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyable mystery with a charismatic detective and well crafted villains.
May 12, 2022
Shades of Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, and Mike Hammer. From the first page, I was drawn back to another era of gumshoe detectives, roscoes, gats, packing heat, fins, seedy bars and rummies, coppers, booze, and shady ladies.
The plot is thoroughly engaging and well-thought-out. The characters and dialogue are well-developed. It’s a realistic bad guys vs. the good guy crime novel with intrigue and a labyrinth of clues and hints trying to connect the dots. Things are not always what they seem, and the plot kept me guessing right up until the end.
A page-turner from start to finish. Dead-Bang Fall hits all my marks for an entertaining read as Author J. R. Sanders seamlessly led me through another time and place.
The plot is thoroughly engaging and well-thought-out. The characters and dialogue are well-developed. It’s a realistic bad guys vs. the good guy crime novel with intrigue and a labyrinth of clues and hints trying to connect the dots. Things are not always what they seem, and the plot kept me guessing right up until the end.
A page-turner from start to finish. Dead-Bang Fall hits all my marks for an entertaining read as Author J. R. Sanders seamlessly led me through another time and place.
February 1, 2023
PI Nate Ross thinks he has a simple case when he’s hired for a penny-ante theft caper. But that’s before one of his suspects is killed in a back alley. While Nate didn’t witness the crime, he did see the victim go into the alley with someone that Nate helped put in prison five years ago. However, a few hours later, that man turns up at Nate’s office claiming to be innocent and hiring Nate to clear him before disappearing again. Nate buys most of the story, but he knows he didn’t get the whole truth. That feeling only grows as he starts to investigate. Can he figure out the whole truth?
This is a great trip back to 1939 Hollywood, and the setting comes to life. As a throwback PI novel, it does start out with a little too much jargon of the time, but fortunately, that calms down as we get into the story. It does have a bit more violence and foul language than in one of the cozies I read, but it doesn’t go overboard. The plot is strong with quite a few twists, compilations, and half-truths before we reach the fun climax. Nate much face his past here, and we are reminded about enough to make the growth real. Meanwhile, we get a couple of fun returning characters and a batch of great new ones. If you enjoy PI novels set in this era, this is one to check out.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
This is a great trip back to 1939 Hollywood, and the setting comes to life. As a throwback PI novel, it does start out with a little too much jargon of the time, but fortunately, that calms down as we get into the story. It does have a bit more violence and foul language than in one of the cozies I read, but it doesn’t go overboard. The plot is strong with quite a few twists, compilations, and half-truths before we reach the fun climax. Nate much face his past here, and we are reminded about enough to make the growth real. Meanwhile, we get a couple of fun returning characters and a batch of great new ones. If you enjoy PI novels set in this era, this is one to check out.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
September 2, 2023
Author J.R. Sanders knows how to tell a noir detective story. Investigating a Hollywood movie theater ticket theft scheme results in murders and lies that lead Private Detective Nate Ross down the shadowy avenues and alleyways of Los Angeles in the 30s. The plot is flinty sharp, the dialogue pitch-perfect terse and the characters as hard-boiled as they are twisted. “Dead-Bang Fall” moves fast and reads like a movie. You think you know where it’s headed, and then it turns this way, then veers that way. You can’t put it down and the reason is because you don’t want to. Hammett and Chandler are nodding their approval.
January 21, 2025
Good story with some twists.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews