The Jack Grant Novels

Richard B. Schwartz’s Jack Grant series currently consists of three novels published by Midnight Ink:

Frozen Stare

The Last Voice You Hear

Proof of Purchase (formerly After the Fall)

The novels feature a continuing protagonist and ensemble cast. More noir than cozy, a Jack Grant novel is generally anchored by, but not restricted to, a southern California setting. It characteristically includes strong and interesting women, romance verging on love; historical fact and reminiscence, a strong sense of place, a taste for justice and a mix of violence, suspense, sex and intellectual reflection in agreeable proportions.

Grant is a Vietnam-era veteran whose right leg was shattered by a Chinese grenade. The command assignments gone and his career at a halt, he finds time to do a master’s degree in history at the University of Maryland. Waking up one morning at the Armor School at Fort Knox and seeing nothing better in his future than muddy tank trails, miles of commo wire snarled in roadwheels, and desks piled high with government forms, he leaves the Army and aims his car west. He now works out of his apartment in Pasadena and has a steady retainer with Valley Mutual Insurance, though more interesting and dangerous opportunities have a way of presenting themselves. He is tall; he has been mistaken for Coach Pat Riley, and he has finally gotten over his chronic limp after a succession of operations. His wife was killed in a mugging on the Mall in Washington while he was incommunicado in Vietnam; they had no children. His best friend is a black LAPD lieutenant named Frank White.

Frank White is tall, broad, quiet, and slightly guarded. A survivor of city and department politics, his career has cost him his wife, Marie, who reads the evening news for the local ABC affiliate and now dates Armani’d professionals with expensive glasses and ostrich brief cases. Think Ving Rhames in charcoal gray suits.

Frank’s uncle, Charles White, originally from Detroit, is also a retired soldier. The most decorated noncom in Korea, with Vietnam tours as well, he lives in Altadena with his wife Mary, an executive staff assistant at Caltech. While Mary keeps the chemists’ labs supplied and functioning, Charles walks the neighborhood, defending bullied school kids and anyone else in need. A specialist in silent kills, he is a lethal vigilante available to his favorite nephew Frank and brother-in-arms Jack, though he always defers to his wife and characteristically puts the beleaguered at ease with his polite and kind manner. His small stature and gray hair belie his reality. Think Adolph Caesar with a gentle smile and a pocket weapon consisting of a piece of piano wire strung between oak handles.

Frank’s medical technician, who carries the rank of Inspector, is Jerry Dailey. Short, squat, and tousled, he is his late mother’s pride, the ‘family scientist’--bracketed at family reunions by midwest ward heelers lost in the old days, New York labor temple gatekeepers waiting for better times, and Chesapeake crabbers in cheap suits with unbuttoned collars and slack ties. Always at ease with gore, his appetite remains unaffected; his jacket pockets are filled with tins of smoked oysters or kipper snacks. Think Bruno Kirby’s manner in Dennis Franz’s body.

Frank’s boss is Carl Loram. A standup but by-the-book guy, he never stopped wearing his 50’s flattop. Unemotional and quiet he sometimes partners with Frank, generally tolerates Jack, and has deep respect for Charles. He prefers not to know what the other three are up to, but will help, as needed. Think of an 80’s Brian Keith with more muscle tone and less patience.

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