Praise for Message In A Bullet

Praise for Message In A Bullet

“[Message in a Bullet is] gritty, raw, and monochromatic, but still clever enough to keep you turning pages wondering if you are keeping up with the clues. Everyone is damaged goods still trying to abide by their own versions of virtue.”
Random THought
“This was an interesting read. [Message in a Bullet is a] hardboiled crime novel — good guys, bad guys, and a cat who loves bourbon. Who can say no to that?”
DIscovery
“Message in a Bullet is as kaleidoscopic as it is fun and easy to read; it’ll leave you squinting for what’s just beyond the page.”
Maincrest Media
What happens when a craftsman of language, the author of serious works of literary fiction, turns his hand to a noir detective story? You get a carefully plotted mystery, with lots of onion layers and surprise twists and turns. Even better, you get Owen Thomas’s keen observation of human nature and his ability to describe the varied circumstances of life with evocative details.
Bob OsborneLiterary Fiction in a Noir Package
Previous
Next

Buy Paperbacks


Buy for Kindle

“Shortlisted for the Best Mystery Book of the Year by
the Forward INDIES Book of the Year Awards!”

Loved it!

Hardboiled crime novel — good guys, bad guys, and a cat who loves bourbon. Who can say no to that?

 

Tricia Shulist (Discovery)

Hardboiled — a genre that I’m not really familiar with. At least until I read Message in a Bullet, by Owen Thomas. And, now, I’m a fan.

The story’s protagonist, Raymond “Mack” Mackey, is a “retired” homicide detective in Chandler, a suburb of Chicago. I say “retired” because that’s the crux of the story. After a long and distinguished career, Mack was forcibly retired under a cloud of corruption and suspicion. Now, almost five years later, he’s reluctantly drawn back into the same case — his case — and he’s still maintaining his innocence.

But there’s a twist here. Mack is suffering from a psychiatric disorder — depersonalization/derealization disorder, or 3D as he sometimes calls it — a condition where the patient, Mack, detaches from the first person actualization, and sees himself in the third person. Weird, right? It makes for some interesting narratives.

We meet Mack four-plus years since being retired. He’s got 3D, he’s working part-time as a mall cop, still mourning the death of his wife, Marlo, and his only bestie is Phil the alcohol-loving cat. He spends his time trying to write crime novels, while over-indulging in Old Forester bourbon. He is resigned to his life, although not necessarily enjoying it.

Then, two Chandler internal affairs officers knock on his door, insinuating that the case that ended his career is anything but closed. Thus starts Mack’s journey to find the truth, and clear his name.

This was an interesting read. It took me a while to become comfortable with the first person-third person transition, but it works well. The descriptions and dialogue are spot on, although, at times, a bit clichéd. But that’s the whole premise of hardboiled, right? The narrative is liberally salted with similes, metaphors, and hyperbole.  Again, that’s what hardboiled is all about — the turn of phrase, and sparse dialogue.

Although a bit dark, it’s interesting to read the way Owen Thomas describes Mack’s world and the people in it. The gritty streets of Chandler, good guys who are bad guys, bad guys who are good guys, and a liberal sprinkling of the women in Mack’s life. First and foremost is Marlo, Mack’s diseased wife. In a series of flashbacks, Mack “listens” to Marlo’s advice. He claims she was the best investigator who ever lived — much like Philip Marlowe (her namesake?).

This book would be a great read for anyone who loves hardboiled, or noir novels, in particular, or if you like crime novels, in general. It isn’t an easy read, you have to pay attention, but it’s worth it.  I’m looking forward to book 2 in the series.

Maincrest Media

Message in a Bullet by Owen Thomas breaks all of the rules, insisting that no genre is safe from the mind-bending nature of the human condition it is meant to capture.

Raymond “Mack” Mackey, can’t catch a break. After the tragic death of his wife, Mack is let go from his job as a homicide detective under mysterious circumstances, sending him spiraling into a dreary life of relative solitude. He doesn’t have much luck turning his old cases into crime novels, either. Set during a pointedly hot Chicago summer, Message in a Bullet sees Mack’s life descend into chaos when he finds himself at the center of yet another new deadly mystery; all the while, his past is coming back to haunt him. He must push through the ordinary constraints of his increasing age and the not-so-ordinary effects of his psychological disorder to claw his way towards the truth and clear his name.

On one hand, the book comes complete with all of the characteristics that readers might want or expect from a crime mystery; Thomas clearly knows the rules of the genre. But, on the other hand, he refuses to stop there; Thomas’s brilliant use of language and his penchant for what’s beneath the surface sets the book apart from your standard detective novel. This straddling the fence between genre fiction and literary fiction lives to an unprecedented degree in the pages of Message in a Bullet. Its textual awareness is established, of course, by virtue of being a crime novel about a crime writer. But the funhouse of self-awareness is really brought home by Mack’s psychological condition, which causes him to experience his own life in third-person. Thomas doesn’t miss the opportunity to play with his stylistic use of point-of-view to bring this device to life.

The book’s protagonist is eccentric and well-developed enough to carry the narrative along and ground the reader in its philosophical themes and twisting plot, both of which compete as one of the book’s standout features. In addition, the supporting characters are just as compelling and well-rounded. Thomas’s unique authorial voice shines through, which makes Message in a Bullet shockingly original regardless of genre. One could argue that the book does run the risk of appealing to the potentially narrow center of a venn diagram of crime readers and literary critics, but Thomas checks all of the boxes for each so completely that he’s far more likely to reach a broader audience.

Message in a Bullet is as kaleidoscopic as it is fun and easy to read; it’ll leave you squinting for what’s just beyond the page.

 

RANDOM THOUGHT ONLINE MAGAZINE

Hey, Mack!

Have you ever picked up a novel, started reading, and felt like you walked through a door into another time, for no other reason than the style of writing? I had that experience this past weekend. I am trying with gusto to wipe out my stack of works that I have been asked to read and review. The work that was next in the line up was Message In A Bullet by Owen Thomas. As you might surmise it is a mystery, but what you would not surmise is that the author’s style is so retro that it is fresh!

The first pages seem like a cheap attempt at noir glam, but that is just the bait. Within a few pages it’s reading like one of those dime store novels in all the best ways. It’s gritty, raw, and monochromatic, but still clever enough to keep you turning pages wondering if you are keeping up with the clues. Everyone is damaged goods still trying to abide by their own versions of virtue.

This is the debut story for the main character’s series. In good dime store fashion he is a self-persecuting, redemption denying, relentless gumshoe from some of the toughest city streets and dirtiest halls of justice that America has to offer and none of it is softened by Thomas. Mack is just the kinda guy you would imagine having the nerve to work the streets of Chicago and just the guy that you would want on your side if you are in a bind. Additionally, now as a widower and “retired” detective he doesn’t have much to lose, but lots to gain, including his sanity.

The piece is a great weekend escape or Friday night date, one-night stand. With no next morning regrets. The chapters flip past just like the play list of the local band at the American Legion Hall. The story is constantly moving forward with just enough memory lane detours to not make it a marathon run in sprint mode. So pour that glass of merlot, turn off the phone, and spend the night with Mack and his motley crew of ghosts and cohorts.

What Readers are Saying

treekiller5.0 out of 5 stars Move over, Marlowe!

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2021

Verified PurchaseMESSAGE IN A BULLET is a promising start to a detective series featuring Raymond Mackey, as eccentric and nuanced a sleuth as you might expect from a writer of Owen Thomas’s caliber. Mack is a former Chicago PD homicide detective now embarking on a second career as a genre writer, until the reality of his own messy past intrudes on his fiction. Adding another layer of complexity, Mack suffers from something called Depersonalization- Derealization Disorder which causes him to view his first-person existence with third-person detachment. It’s a fascinating device which allows Thomas to change point of view throughout the narrative without actually introducing another narrator.

And this is not the only literary flourish; Thomas’s prose crackles with apt figurative language and haunting description of person and place. Dialogue is snappy and hard-boiled, in the tradition of Chandler, Hammett, and Cain. While there are pages devoted to setting up Mack’s backstory and developing secondary characters, the plot hurtles forward like a cranked-up mouse crashing through a maze. There are some fantastic action scenes, one in particular where I really thought ol’ Mack was gonna die in his debut. He takes plenty of punishment but survives to unravel the tangled strands of the caper, and more importantly, feed his feline, Phil, his daily ration of Old Forester. Highly recommended!

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting & well written detective novel!

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2021

Verified PurchaseThis novel is well written by an experienced writer that’s given this modern day detective novel and 1940/50s ‘Iceman’ feel! Really thought out , amazing storyline and easy reading, it’s quirky and I even caught myself reading in a Italian mobsters voice!  5.0 out of 5 stars A gumshoe whodunnit with a twist

Reviewed on Amazon

While the main character is not a private investigator by trade, to save his own hide he relies on the knowledge from his years as a police detective. The story emersed me in Macks loneliness and his need to prove his innocence. The suspense kept me reading. A good book.

4.0 out of 5 Stars  Message in a Bullet delivered a likable but flawed lead character in Raymond Mackey. (Reviewed on Goodreads)

Fighting for both his life and his ruined reputation the novel sees hard-bitten ex-cop Mackey struggling with his own mental health to both save his former informant and sort out once and for all who is responsible for his early release from the local police department on early retirement.

Now working as a mall cop Ray gets caught in the crossfire of the local Police and the Internal Affairs Dept as they go looking for the department mole who is passing info to the local mob boss.

I loved the style which was reminiscent of mid 20th Century Noir detective novels complete with the wisecracks.

The plot was fast paced and kept me guessing all the way through to the end. I’ll be looking out for book 2

Bob Osborne5.0 out of 5 stars Literary Fiction in a Noir Package

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2022

Verified PurchaseWhat happens when a craftsman of language, the author of serious works of literary fiction, turns his hand to a noir detective story?  You get a carefully plotted mystery, with lots of onion layers and surprise twists and turns.  Even better, you get Owen Thomas’s keen observation of human nature and his ability to describe the varied circumstances of life with evocative details.

In The Lion Trees, Thomas rotated through a family cast of characters to provide different perspectives, then artfully pulled them together to provide a comprehensive understanding.  Message in a Bullet uses a different conceit to similar effect:  the protagonist is a washed up ex-cop with a dissociative identity that enables, or perhaps condemns, him to view his own alter ego from a psychological distance.  Thomas puts the former cop, now working shopping mall security, through a rinse cycle that starts slow but builds momentum until the full spin mode has you rotating like the cylinders of a Model 10 Smith & Wesson thirty-eight.

Unlike my sardonic attempt at metaphor, Thomas brings the full measure of his skill with words to the noir genre.  He creates vivid characters and invents characterizations that, with the possible exception of a naming homage to Raymond Chandler, are breezily original and free of any taint of cliche.  As with other works by this author, every word is carefully selected and placed, every sentence and paragraph shows evidence of being worked and reworked until it just feels right.

Bullet doesn’t swing for the literary fences like Lion Trees did, but it is a solid work that respects both its genre and its readers.  It’s labeled as Book One of a Raymond Mackey Mystery series. I’m looking forward to reading more.

.

Chickadee

5.0 out of 5 stars  A Suspenseful and Funny Page-Turner

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2022

I bought MESSAGE IN A BULLET because I am a big fan of Owen Thomas’ novels THE LION TREES and MOTHER BLUES. And because I love Steve Martin’s satire of this genre in DEAD MEN DON’T WEAR PLAID. I was doubtful that I would like this novel, but I was curious enough to give it a
try.

To my surprise, I loved it!!!

Other reviewers have described the book’s premise, so I’ll skip that part. Here’s why you’ll like MESSAGE IN A BULLET even if Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler don’t turn you on… This book is to THE MALTESE FALCON what the Coen brothers’ O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU is to Odysseus. It’s a fresh, imaginative, hilarious reinvention of a classic form. The book is laugh-out-loud funny in places like Thomas’ other works, but much shorter and more streamlined. It’s a fast read with great suspense and page-turning momentum.

I love it when literary writers stray into genre fiction. They bring a different sensibility and gorgeous writing skills along with them. MESSAGE IN A BULLET has that quality. It is full of wittiness, thoughtful observations, and beautiful sentences – all put to service in bringing gritty
characters and action sequences to life.

If you know this genre, you will have fun spotting the names and tropes that Thomas has cleverly planted throughout the book. In the same way he inserted leonine references throughout THE LION TREES, these morsels will amuse you if you catch them, but your enjoyment of the novel won’t suffer in the least if you miss every one of them.

Raymond Makey is a soulful and engaging character. He is mature and savvy like Michael Connelly’s HARRY BOSCH, but irreverent and funny like a RYAN REYNOLDS character. I can’t wait to read the next Raymond Mackey book. I’m also hoping to see a cable network turn this gem into a series.