Sample Reviews: The Jack Grant Novels

Proof of Purchase

Jochem Steen, Sons of Spade
It's like this guy is just channeling Raymond Chandler on every page. . . . The ending . . . would make Mike Hammer proud.

The Last Voice You Hear

Alan Paul Curtis in Who Dunnit
It's not often that an author's second book is as good as the first, and even less frequent are the instances when an author . . . top[s] it with an extraordinary second . . . deliver[ing] a walloping good tale as well. Richard B. Schwartz has done just that. In The Last Voice You Hear, Mr. Schwartz places himself on par with our finest contemporary murder-mystery writers. This is a book you won't want to miss. . . .

Richard B. Schwartz has provided us with a most memorable book: The Last Voice You Hear very successfully departs from the usual murder-mystery format in ways both as engaging and entertaining as they are justified and horrible.   full review >>
 

Mary Helen Becker in Mystery News
The author . . . writes vividly, putting the reader right into the scene. Schwartz explores the meaning of right and wrong, crime and justice.
 

Joseph Scarpato, Jr. in Mystery Scene
The story rockets along . . . a fast-moving, well-told story with a surprising conclusion that blurs the line between crime and justice.
 

Publishers Weekly
Jack Grant, the Vietnam vet and Pasadena-based PI who debuted in Frozen Stare (1989), returns in this engrossing sequel by Schwartz, author of several scholarly studies of Samuel Johnson. Schwartz knows his London, but surprisingly he evokes California with equal ease, mainly with vividly etched strokes. An apparently maniacal killer is on the loose in London, someone strong and very practiced at impalement. So far, so nasty. But when a victim is dispatched in similar fashion in Disneyland, of all places, Jack Grant is called in. He discovers the killer's identity, but there's a problem: there's a method to the killer's madness. Moreover, Grant has an ethical problem of his own: he's plagued by his conscience, since he understands and even sympathizes with the murderer's cause. The cinematic climax takes place high above the floor of the California desert, and Schwartz squeezes every last drop of suspense from his setting. . . . The result is a high-tension thriller awash in sanguinary detail. Paper towels, anyone?

Frozen Stare

Sandra Scoppettone
I welcome Richard Schwartz to the club. It's been a long time since I've seen two more engaging characters entering the series scene.

Kirkus Reviews
Grant and White play nicely off each other and the switch-on-a-switch works well.

Publishers Weekly
This tale, in the California private eye tradition, has a rousing finish and is an enjoyable read.

The Washington Post Book World
A new author devoted to the hard-boiled tradition. . . . Schwartz has the hard-boiled formula down pat. . . . Schwartz does not break any rules in Frozen Stare. . . . He writes crisply. The narrative moves at a slam-bang pace as bodies pile up. . . . As a dedicated student of the hard-boiled school of detective fiction [Schwartz] has learned his lessons well.

Sarasota, FL Herald Tribune
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'cold-blooded murder'. . . . This is a quick read with plenty of action. Schwartz's first novel is a winner!

The Armchair Detective
This is a delightful tale, full of amusing touches, and the relationship between Grant and his good cop friend, black Frank White, is a joy. I hope that Schwartz can keep this standard up for a long time to come.
 

After the Fall (upcoming 2007 release as Proof of Purchase)

Publishers Weekly
In this engaging hard-boiled mystery, one of three in Schwartz's Jack Grant series (Frozen Stare; The Last Voice You Hear), the seasoned California PI looks into the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend at the request of the woman's husband. When her mutilated body turns up in the woods, Grant makes it his mission to track down her murderer. With the assistance of Lt. Diana Craig, an attractive fast-riser in the San Bernardino police department, Grant follows leads that point to his client, as well as to a consortium of underworld bosses who are branching out into a mega-real estate project. The pair find time, between car chases and gun battles, to begin a relationship. . . . Fans of Robert Parker will enjoy encountering Grant . . . .

Nice and Noir: Contemporary American Crime Fiction

The Thrilling Detective
Opinionated but always fascinating, shrewd and smart, but always readable. . . .