Publisher: CamCat Books
Publication Date: February 15, 2022
Page count: 384 pages
“[In this] intriguing debut . . . clear crisp prose . . . morphs from a western into a detective story with an overlay of conspiracy theories.” —Publishers Weekly
“Sparkling 1940’s dialogue, wry humor, an unpredictable yet coherent storyline, and a breezy style all his own, make Colin Holmes’ somewhat spooky novel, Thunder Road, a winner. I’ll be on the lookout for his next novel.” —Rob Leininger, author of Killing Suki Flood and the Mortimer Angel “Gumshoe” series
“This genre-defying and enormously entertaining romp is Mickey Spillane meets Whitley Strieber meets Woody Allen. I can’t remember when I’ve had so much plain old fun reading a book and just didn’t want it to end.” —Historical Novel Society, Editor’s Choice
“A carefully crafted and original suspense thriller of a read, Thunder Road by Colin Holmes is the stuff of which block-buster action/adventure movies are made. With many and unexpected plot twists and turns, Thunder Road is an inherently fascinating and entertaining novel . . .” —Midwest Book Review
“It is a riddle in the middle of a question surrounded by a mystery.”
What an outrageously wild story! Thunder Road by Colin Holmes wrangles your attention on the first page, and then things really get going. The author weaves some historical events and people into a fantastical fiction that gets more exciting and superbly strange with every chapter.
It is 1947 in Fort Worth, Texas, with WWII two years in the rear view mirror. Jefferson Sharp, previously in the US military, is about to have his priorities shifted and his life rocked. Losing his son-in-law job and his cheating wife notwithstanding, Sharp lands feet first in mystery, murder, military stonewalling, a steady stream of danger, and one astronomical cover up in the Nevada desert.
Most of the story takes place in Fort Worth, with Jeff coming to terms with single life, the consequences of rubbing elbows with mobsters, and a new career as a private gumshoe who is apparently getting too nosy. Also at the forefront is Roni Arquette, the sister of Jeff’s late childhood friend. Roni is all grown up now and turning heads, including Jeff’s. But who has time for romance when people think you have something important and choose violence to find it? If all this sounds confusing, then how about reading this fabulous story because any spoilers will spoil the pleasure of following Jeff and Roni from Texas to Nevada and right into one of the biggest conspiracy nests and covert operations of all time and into a new desert town built on blood, money, and organized crime. Yeah, you know the place.
“’There’s a place in Nevada called Las Vegas,’ Sharp said. ‘I might go check it out.’”
“’There’s supposed to be some sort of casino there.’”
The pacing is as fast as a flying saucer looking for intelligent life on Earth or maybe just a B-36 Peacemaker booming overhead. Either way, hang on to your fedora because Thunder Road is on fire.
Word of warning: While Thunder Road has minimal offensive language and no sexy explicitness, remember that in the 1940s, people smoked cigarettes and imbibed alcohol quite freely and made sexists and other offensive remarks on the daily. The author rightly includes all this and more, wrapping the story in a heavy dose of reality on par with the times. If that does not deter you, then the only actual downside to Thunder Road is that it ends. Rivaling any Stephen King novel, in terms of imaginative plot and characterization, Colin Holmes’s debut novel will keep you constantly entertained with 1940s ideology and old-fashioned everything, a main character with an attitude as big as Texas, and an interesting spin on what really happened when a so-called high-altitude balloon crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. Tune in, suspend your disbelief, and get ready to marvel at this author’s extraordinary storytelling ability. As the ending clatters into place, you will never look at a square piece of tinfoil the same again.
Enter the giveaway below on or before December 16, 2022, for a chance to win an autographed hardcopy of Thunder Road by Colin Holmes!
I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.
Before the pandemic, Colin Holmes toiled in a beige cubical as a mid-level marketing and advertising manager for an international electronics firm. A recovering advertising creative director, he spent far too long at ad agencies and freelancing as a hired gun in the war for capitalism.
As an adman, Holmes has written newspaper classifieds, TV commercials, radio spots, trade journal articles and tweets. His ads have sold cowboy boots and cheeseburgers, 72-ounce steaks, and hazardous waste site clean-up services. He’s encountered fascinating characters at every turn.
Now he writes novels, short stories and screenplays in an effort to stay out of the way and not drive his far too patient wife completely crazy. He is an honors graduate of the UCLA Writers Program, a former board member of the DFW Writers Workshop and serves on the steering committee of the DFW Writers Conference. He’s a fan of baseball, barbeque, fine automobiles and unpretentious scotch
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12/06/22 |
Book Trailer |
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12/06/22 |
BONUS Promo |
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12/07/22 |
Author Interview |
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12/07/22 |
BONUS Promo |
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12/08/22 |
Review |
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12/09/22 |
Author Interview |
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12/10/22 |
Review |
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12/11/22 |
Promo |
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12/12/22 |
Review |
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12/12/22 |
BONUS Promo |
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12/13/22 |
Audiobook Review |
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12/14/22 |
Review |
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12/14/22 |
BONUS Promo |
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12/15/22 |
Review |
Wasn’t this book the best? A less talented writer could never have pulled off making all those elements so perfectly fit together. Great review.