George Wier

I am 51 now and I suppose I really ought to know better! Once again I succumbed to the lure of the cheap offers in the Kindle Store and, like the reckless treasure hunter at the end of 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade', I chose poorly. Let's be honest, there is normally a reason why those books cost just 29 pence. This one was still a rip-off, even at that price!

A few years ago I stubbed my toe, breaking it, and spent several hours incapable of wrenching my mind away from the show more self-inflicted pain. Reading this novel was very reminiscent of that evening!

Feeble plot, implausible characters (particularly Bill Travis, the protagonist.narrator) and impenetrable prose. show less

Cueball Boland, owner of NiteWise Security Company as well as a couple of other things in Galveston, Texas has a very unpleasant task when he knocks on Micah Lanscomb’s trailer. Cueball needs Micah’s help because a fellow guard, Jack Pense, is dead. Jack was on the job in the Demour warehouse when somebody hit him on the head, tied him up, and then beat him to death. Cueball wants Micah to go have a look at the crime scene before they have to call the cops.

Jack Pense died in a warehouse show more owned by the legendary Demour family. They are old island money with plenty of power and connections and a desire to keep things quiet. Having a night watchman killed in their warehouse is not going to sit well with them or those that do their bidding. It also doesn’t sit well with either Micah or Cueball, both of whom have extensive law enforcement backgrounds and distaste for local law enforcement.

That means they intend to make it their case and will work it as they see fit. Wrongs have to be set right, as best as they can, in a case that will has links to crimes decades old that still reverberate with modern consequences. The truth may not set them free, but there can still be justice, not just for Jack Pense, all these many years later.

Featuring twin Texas story lines with one set in the late 1980’s and the other in the mid to late war years of World War II, Long Fall from Heaven is a powerful novel co-written by George Wier and the late Milton T. Burton. Rich in Texas history and details, the book is a complex multilayered read that is not easily summed up in any review without revealing a vast number of spoiler details. Suffice it to say that Long Fall from Heaven is incredibly good and very highly recommended.

Long Fall From Heaven
George Wier and Milton T. Burton
http://www.billtravismysteries.com
http://obscuredestinies.blogspot.com/
Cinco Puntos Press
http://www.cincopuntos.com
ISBN# 978-1-935955-52-8
Paperback (also available as an e-book)
224 Pages
$15.95

Reviewer note---As I said last August when I reviewed These Mortal Remains I knew Milton Burton and was honored to have been his friend. Before he passed away far too soon, Milton would call me on a regular basis a couple of times a month from his home in Tyler, Texas. His gravelly voice would boom across the miles as he inquired as to my family and my fiction writing. Writing, history, and many other topics deeply interested Milton who never stopped teaching. I deeply miss those talks and the man I never got to sit with in person. I have a feeling that somewhere Milton is still cackling with derision at the politicians and writing yet more great stories.

Review copy was provided by George Wier for my use in an objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2013 show less

It has been awhile since the events of Desperate Crimes and as Mexico Fever opens it is not long before the peace and quiet of Bill Travis’ world is broken. Walt Cannon is missing somewhere in Mexico. He’s a retired Texas Ranger and saved a few folks over the years including a Governor of Texas, Richard Sawyer, and our family man and reluctant hero, Bill Travis. While Sawyer has been out of his office for the last 4 years, he wants to see Bill Travis at his home down in River Oaks in show more Houston. When a Governor of Texas asks to see you, you go see him.

Governor Sawyer may be dying and a shadow of his former self, but his mind is still sharp. He knows that their mutual friend, Walt Cannon, is missing down in the state of Yucatan in Mexico. He even knowns exactly where Cannon was conducting business before he vanished. Governor Sawyer should know as he sent Cannon down there to track down and deal with a former religious leader that these days is arming rebels and seeking to overthrow the Mexican government. Some of his followers acting on his behalf executed a family on the Texas side of the border near Eagle Pass and Sawyer wanted Cannon to get him.

It was over two months ago that Cannon went down there chasing the elusive figure known as “Sunlight” and he has not been heard from since. Sawyer wants Travis to go down after Cannon and get him back home where he belongs. The last personal request of a dying man who feels responsible would be difficult to refuse as it is, but Travis also owes Cannon so going is never the question. A debt has come due.

Explaining it to Julie and leaving her and the kids behind is going to be hard. Dealing with looking for Cannon, the local politics, a guerrilla movement, and more in Mexico Fever is going to be very hard.

Mexico Fever is the twelfth in the Bill Travis Mystery Series that began many years ago in The Last Call. While the family continues to grow and long running characters continue to evolve in the series, the hallmarks of action and adventure are as strong as ever in this read. Also present are the frequent and often humorous observations about Texas, Texans, the weather, and the human race in general.

While the series began with The Last Call readers that have been onboard since the beginning will get more out of this read, those folks new to the world of Bill Travis could easily start here. There are references to several earlier events as we play catch up with folks we have seen before, but those references would not destroy earlier reads in the series. As always there is a hint of pulp adventure to the read. Events and actions slide dangerously close to the edge and may push the ability to suspend disbelief for some readers.

That same thing could be said about almost of the books in this fun and engrossing series. Those readers who want everything to be totally logical and realistic might find Mexico Fever a bit of a challenge since the author does not play by those rules. This read is another engrossing tale in a long rail of great reads by prolific author George Weir.

Mexico Fever: A Bill Travis Mystery
George Wier
http://www.billtravismysteries.com
Flagstone Books
May 2016
ASIN: B01FYEU48E
eBook (paperback available)
160 Pages
$4.99

According to Amazon, I picked this up back last August to read and review. I believe I did it by way of the Author’s free read promotion.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2018 show less

Nothing much happens in Fort Davis, Texas or in the surrounding Jeff Davis County. People drift in, stay awhile, and leave. Ralph MacAfee hadn’t thought of the Cynds—Melvin and Judith—until he was reminded of them by Jerry Miles over at the local bookstore. It was only then that Ralph realized he hadn’t seen them in as long as a couple of years.

Miles tells Ralph about how Melvin had been looking for an obscene book by J. Frank Dobie and Miles had come across it. When he went to try show more to reach Melvin, he could not get ahold of him. He had been trying several times over a couple of months and never has been able to get ahold of him. He has also been talking to the local real estate guy and the property has not been sold.

Ralph MacAfee is spooked by all of this and decides to go out to the Cynd place up on a mesa outside of town. The drive out to the mesa about ten miles outside of town is easy enough, but the drive up the last little bit onto the mesa is quite an adventure. Being the county coroner means Ralph has a truck with four-wheel drive to get up and over the abrupt edge of the mesa. What he finds up there changes everything they in They No Here: A Short Story by George Wier.

Known for having a touch of the supernatural in his long running Bill Travis Mystery Series that began long ago with The Last Call as well as in numerous short stories, George Wier does in again in this short story. Couple that fact with his usual ability to create a sense of place in a few quick sentences as well as conjure up a strong mystery makes it very clear that George Wier is again weaving his storytelling magic in They No Here: A Short Story. The result is a fun read that entertains from start to finish.

They No Here: A Short Story
George Wier
http://www.billtravismysteries.com
Flagstone Books
http://www.flagstonebooks.com
May 2017
ASIN: B0719P764J
eBook
16 Pages
$0.99

Material was purchased to read and review using funds in my Amazon Associate account.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2017 show less