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The Madhouse Mambo: A Dieselpunk Adventure
When Jed Strait sees through the lies his latest client has told him, he figures he’s got the case just about solved. And solving the case should free him up to keep things going smoothly with his girlfriend—despite the bumps their newly found fame threatens to throw at them. But when an old nemesis resurfaces with an attack worse than anything Jed has faced before, he’s left with much bigger problems than a dishonest client and a grumpy girlfriend. With his very sanity and identity on the line, Jed has to call on all his skills if he’s going to stay in the world he calls home. If not, he may spend the rest of his life in a cell, humming a tune that he doesn’t even realize is called The Madhouse Mambo.
279 pages, Paperback
Published September 3, 2022
1 person want to read
About the author
Richard Levesque
45 books46 followersRichard Levesque was born near Montreal,Canada and grew up in Southern California.
He began writing while in college, publishing several pieces in college journals while working on his undergraduate degree at Cal Poly Pomona. After finishing his Master's Degree in 1990, he focused more on teaching than writing for a few years, eventually completing his Ph.D. at UC Riverside in 2000. His dissertation was on Hollywood novelists of the 1920s and 1930s.
Since 1999, he has been part of the English Department at Fullerton College and turned again to writing a few years ago. He primarily writes science fiction but continues to have a strong interest in early Hollywood and Los Angeles history and culture and often works those themes into his writing.
When not writing or grading papers, he spends time with his wife and daughter, works on his collection of old science fiction pulps and tries to be better than a mediocre guitar player.
He began writing while in college, publishing several pieces in college journals while working on his undergraduate degree at Cal Poly Pomona. After finishing his Master's Degree in 1990, he focused more on teaching than writing for a few years, eventually completing his Ph.D. at UC Riverside in 2000. His dissertation was on Hollywood novelists of the 1920s and 1930s.
Since 1999, he has been part of the English Department at Fullerton College and turned again to writing a few years ago. He primarily writes science fiction but continues to have a strong interest in early Hollywood and Los Angeles history and culture and often works those themes into his writing.
When not writing or grading papers, he spends time with his wife and daughter, works on his collection of old science fiction pulps and tries to be better than a mediocre guitar player.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 12, 2022
This may be the last book in the series and it is brilliant! I didn't expect any less, but Richard Levesque managed to exceed my expectations by quite a long chalk!
Jed gets caught in a trap by his old nemesis and finds himself in an America which has been completely taken over by the Nazis. Nobody is to be trusted as almost everyone is prepared to sell another out in order to save their own skin. Just to add to his problems, he seems to have no way of getting back to his own world, and doesn't even have a way to contact anyone there. One of those glorious reads that are impossible to put down, and yet you are sorry when you reach the end.
This is an unbiased review of an ARC which I received from the author.
Jed gets caught in a trap by his old nemesis and finds himself in an America which has been completely taken over by the Nazis. Nobody is to be trusted as almost everyone is prepared to sell another out in order to save their own skin. Just to add to his problems, he seems to have no way of getting back to his own world, and doesn't even have a way to contact anyone there. One of those glorious reads that are impossible to put down, and yet you are sorry when you reach the end.
This is an unbiased review of an ARC which I received from the author.
September 12, 2022
I've read the entire series and I'm just about finished with this book. It did not disappoint as usual.
Just to be a little nit-picky, I found I was losing track of the characters by name. More than once I had to search on a name (I love that Kindle feature) to be reminded when the person showed up and who they were. But that may be more an issue of my aging brain.
To nitty-gritty, Jed is not as in control as he usually is when hopping between parallel universes. No, that's not a spoiler if you'd been a good kid and read books 1-6 before reading this review of book 7. You would also know that the Jed we're following in this series hops into the body of another Jed in the other universe. The worst possible hop was into Jetpack Jed's body in a parallel world where the Nazis either won WWII or the entire history of that particular universe just led to the Nazis being in charge. Given there is a resistance movement, it's more likely that the Nazis did win some kind of war that put them in charge.
Jed (our Jed) finds his previous fiance hooked up with Jetpack. In his world, she had died. Jet is, of course, sympathetic to her. He can't tell her that in another world she had died when in her world she is married to a Jed and has two kids.
Alliances and sympathies are different in this alternate world. Our Jed has to be fast on his feet to grab the universe-hopping machinery from Jetpack while avoiding being picked up by the Nazis. He has to take the technology from the Nazi world so they don't get hold of it and make a horrendous mess across multiple universes. Thank goodness for rebels even if they are a pack of kids.
Four and 3/4 stars just because there's rarely anything perfect in this world or any other.
Note: I got a pre-publication copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I do my best to be truthful in reviewing each book. However, the consistency across seven books is an achievement that must be taken into account when reviewing one of the books.
Go read the entire series. You won't be sorry.
Just to be a little nit-picky, I found I was losing track of the characters by name. More than once I had to search on a name (I love that Kindle feature) to be reminded when the person showed up and who they were. But that may be more an issue of my aging brain.
To nitty-gritty, Jed is not as in control as he usually is when hopping between parallel universes. No, that's not a spoiler if you'd been a good kid and read books 1-6 before reading this review of book 7. You would also know that the Jed we're following in this series hops into the body of another Jed in the other universe. The worst possible hop was into Jetpack Jed's body in a parallel world where the Nazis either won WWII or the entire history of that particular universe just led to the Nazis being in charge. Given there is a resistance movement, it's more likely that the Nazis did win some kind of war that put them in charge.
Jed (our Jed) finds his previous fiance hooked up with Jetpack. In his world, she had died. Jet is, of course, sympathetic to her. He can't tell her that in another world she had died when in her world she is married to a Jed and has two kids.
Alliances and sympathies are different in this alternate world. Our Jed has to be fast on his feet to grab the universe-hopping machinery from Jetpack while avoiding being picked up by the Nazis. He has to take the technology from the Nazi world so they don't get hold of it and make a horrendous mess across multiple universes. Thank goodness for rebels even if they are a pack of kids.
Four and 3/4 stars just because there's rarely anything perfect in this world or any other.
Note: I got a pre-publication copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I do my best to be truthful in reviewing each book. However, the consistency across seven books is an achievement that must be taken into account when reviewing one of the books.
Go read the entire series. You won't be sorry.
September 5, 2022
Chilling, terrifying whatif. This is an alternate reality where the Nazis won World War 2 and Americans report to the Reich any disloyalty or suspicious behavior by their neighbors. Jed is thrown into this nightmare world, trying to stay out of the grasp of the Nazi police. While managing that, he needs a way to contact his friends in his Earth reality, while finding friends and allies in this Nazi ruled world. Scary read, but well written as all Levesque novels are. I should note I received an advance reader copy from the author.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews