Bluetick Revenge

Mark Cohen Does a great job in telling this gripping story. Relating to his previous book "The Fractal Murders" including the great Pepper Keane. If your looking for a fast pace suspenseful,thriller with a great storyline this is it.

Mark Cohen is a Denver native who is a former JAG and municipal judge in Boulder, Colorado. He presently lives in Nederland, Colorado. His first mystery was THE FRACTAL MURDERS, and BLUETICK REVENGE is the follow-up Pepper Keane mystery. Mysteries involving private eyes with a military background are particularly engaging, but add an ex-Marine with a JAG background who has a law degree with a penchant for Philosophy, who formed and quickly retired from his own law office, and you have the character of Pepper Keane. Pepper may have left the vagaries of the law behind, but his ex-partner, Matt, calls on him to steel a champion bluetick hound for a client ready to turn state's evidence on her husband, who is the leader of a biker empire called the Sons of Satan. Pepper becomes her bodyguard until she can enter the Witness Protection Program, but she decides to take off. Pepper accepts a job from her husband to find her, and when he double-crosses the husband, his life is suddenly in jeopardy. Pepper's girl is teaching in China, so she is safe. He enlists his friend Scott to help him find the girl, collect evidence against the bikers, and stay out of the line of fire. Scott is as much of a Renaissance man as Pepper: "Scott McCutcheon. Unemployed astrophysicist. Former Navy SEAL. Fifth-degree black belt. One-time field goal kicker for the Colorado Buffaloes. Brad Pitt with a receding hairline. I thought about him as I sipped coffee at a small table beside the fireplace inside Nederland's Pioneer Inn this cold Saturday morning." Cohen leads the reader right into the world of sadistic bikers who think nothing of killing to gain their ends. Pepper and Scott aren't afraid to follow them into their lair and beat them with a combination of military skills and intelligent strategy. Pepper's dogs add a rich texture to an already excellent plot, and the bluetick hound is Cohen's centerpiece of the tale. Mark Cohen has a way with words. His style is crystal clear, his characters jump out at the reader. His background in law, the military, and with self defense makes him a knowledgeable author. BLUETICK REVENGE is a mystery the reader can't put down, and Mark Cohen is a bright new star on the mystery scene. Shelley Glodowski Senior Reviewer

Yes, the bluetick gets his revenge, but Private Investigator Pepper Keane also gets revenge. Several threads weave together to make a page-turning novel that is difficult to put down. Characters are well-developed with a depth not often found in mysteries. Finishing the novel, one has the feeling of having gotten to know a number of new people--not all friends. Pepper's/Cohen's sense of humor and breadth of interests are another aspect of the book that make it more interesting than many mysteries.

The second book in the Pepper Keane series improves upon an excellent debut novel, The Fractal Murders. Keane, a hard-nosed, no-nonsense PI, is a real breath of fresh air when compared to many of the shallow detective stereotypes that permeate the genre. Imagine a detective who loves philosophy as much as guns and bullets! This winning combination is masterfully woven by author Mark Cohen, a lawyer, part-time judge, former JAG, and an all-around expert in the legal field. He really knows his stuff, and it shows! Cohen captures the endearing mountain quirkiness of my home town (Nederland, CO), while also wading its darkest, most sinister grottos. The novel's ending is daringly brilliant - as gruff and bold as the leading character and his skilled cadre of sidekicks. You won't be disappointed... talk about poetic justice!

Attorney "Big" Matt Simms of the Denver law firm of Keane, Simms & Mercante hires private investigator Pepper Keane to perform two jobs for his client, Karlynn Slade. First he must "dognap" her canine from her husband and second he must keep her safe from him. Pepper knows neither duty will be easy because her husband is Thaddeus Bugg, head of the most violent drug dealing biker gang in Colorado, Sons of Satan. Matt explains that Karlynn left Thaddeus taking 300K with her only to have the FBI threaten her with arrest if she failed to cooperate on bringing down her ex and his cohorts. She agreed to life in the witness protection program instead of prison as long as Prince her bluetick coonhound joins her. Learning that there is a bounty on whoever stole Bugg's mutt, the simple job turns more complex than the DNA double helix when Karlynn vanishes. Expecting the SOS crowd to come after him, Pepper is shocked when instead Thaddeus hires him to find her. However, the case spins further out of control when the trail leads to a cold case murder. Pepper would like to expedite himself in one piece and alive from this mess, but knows he has some difficult decisions to make to do so. BLUETICK REVENGE is an exciting private investigative tale that is filled with much more action and less cerebral concepts than the incredibly superb predecessor THE FRACTAL MURDERS although some key characters reappear in this tale. Still this is a strong entry as the hero has extremely thorny choices to make in which morality is gray. Though not the mathematical delight of the previous keen tale in spite of math Professor Jane Smyers on hand, readers will take immense pleasure with this powerful thriller in which nothing is sound byte black and white. Harriet Klausner