Book Review and Giveaway: Toxic Relationship by Richard Hacker

This book is a 2011 Writer’s League of Texas (WLT) finalist

Synopsis: After a murdered partner, a cheating wife and a lost job in Houston, Nick Sibelius sets up a private investigation business in a small Texas town hoping to find some peace and maybe, himself. When a couple disappears and a bass fisherman turns up dead, he finds himself drawn into a web of toxic relationships:  MaryLou, a beautiful woman with a mysterious past; Junior, a failed farmer whose best intentions seem to always result in a dead body; Barry, a sociopathic dentist turned illegal toxic waste entrepreneur with visions of grandeur.  When the felon who killed his partner in Houston joins forces with Barry, Nick must not only stop the toxic waste dumping while finding his client’s missing daughter, but keep from being killed in the process. In the end, MaryLou’s dark secret will either save him or kill him -- whichever comes first.

Excerpt:

Junior looked back at Ayisha.

“He’s not my kid you know. My brother, my dear brother Caleb killed himself. The boy’s

mother,” he pointed to Carl, “she ran off with some rodeo cowboy. Caleb tried to dull his pain with a load of beer and a bunch of whiskey he found on sale down at the Quik Pick liquor store.

Caleb got drunk, then killed himself by rolling his truck, which of course led to me suddenly having his son Carl in my business. You got kids?”

Ayisha shook her head “no.”

“Figures. You FBI types probably don’t have time for family. Well let me tell you what. It

ain’t all it’s cranked up to be. I mean, look at this situation. I’ve got you people,” he waved his gun across at Delton, “probably federal agents, snooping around my property and where’s Carl? Face down in the dirt. I tell you, the boy makes a cedar post seem really smart."

Review: I think I've been reading too many chick lit/family drama books lately(a downside of the books coming up for review and giveaway here, LOL) , as it took me til about the fourth chapter to really get into this book! It may have also been the 'Three Stooges' effect of two of the main characters, Carl and Junior- I've never been a fan of theirs, so I just wasn't seeing the humor as much. Once the story really got underway, the author found his groove and it settled into a pretty good crime fiction book!

Characters and humor sorta overflow- psychopath dentists, cop gone bad, trying to be good, concerned parent, a woman who isn't what 'she' seems, a fisherman in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a soldier on leave. But the biggest characters if the proverbial 'Murphy's Law'- if it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen to these characters, and that is where alot of the laughs come from! 

It's really hard to pinpoint the book- at it's heart it is crime fiction, but it really is such a study of characters, that you may find yourself reading just to see what the characters will do next, versus keeping up with the plot line!

About the Author: Richard is a member of both the Writers’ League of Texas and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. After living many years in Texas where he worked as a leadership coach, public speaker and management trainer, he moved with his high school sweetheart to Seattle. While he misses the big skies of Texas, Richard has grown pretty fond of the Pacific Northwest. Along with his wife, Sidney, they hike, kayak and have adventures on his Vespa scooter. His writing partner is a springer spaniel named Jazz, who helps with proofreading and ball fetching.

DIRTY WATER, the next novel in the Nick Sibelius series after TOXIC RELATIONSHIP, will be released June, 2013. He is currently working on the third book in the series, as well as a young adult fantasy entitled INKER WARS: THE FIVE PENS OF JOHANN.

For more info, check out his pages: Facebook, Twitter: @Richard_Hacker and his Website




Here's the rest of the blog tour:

September 25 - My Reading Addiction - Review/Giveaway/Excerpt

September 26 - Andi's Book Reviews - Giveaway/Excerpt/PROMO

September 27 - Beth Art From the Heart - Review/Excerpt

September 28 - Bunny's Reviews - Interview/Excerpt/PROMO

October 2 -  Up All Night Reviews - Review/Giveaway/Excerpt

October 3 -  The Story of a Girl - Review/Giveaway

October 4 -  Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews - Review/Interview/Giveaway/Excerpt

October 5 -  Turning the Pages - Excerpt/PROMO

October 7 -  Sweeping the USA - Review/Giveaway/Excerpt

October 8 -  Kaisy Daisy's Reviews - Review/Giveaway/Excerpt

October 10 -  The Adventures Within - Review/Interview/Excerpt

October 12 -  Mademoiselle Le Sphinx - Review/Excerpt

October 13 -  Bunny's review - Review/Interview/Giveaway/Excerpt

October 13 - Lov Live Life Reviews - Review/Giveaway/Excerpt

October 14 -  My Cozie Corner - Review/Giveaway

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Disclosure / Disclaimer: I was sent this book, free of charge, for review purposes,from the author via Reading Addiction book Blog Tours. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.