Saturday, October 19, 2013

What is Tim O'Mara reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Tim O'Mara, author of Crooked Numbers.

His entry begins:
I’m almost through with Otto Penzler’s latest anthology, Kwik Krimes. Otto got over 80 writers, none of whom were me, to submit crime stories no longer than 1,000 words in length. Sounds gimmicky, I know, but it is a lesson in the economical use of words. Some of...[read on]
About Crooked Numbers, from the publisher:
When one of Raymond Donne’s former students is found stabbed to death under the Williamsburg Bridge, Ray draws on his past as a cop to find the truth in Tim O'Mara’s second New York mystery.

Raymond Donne’s former student Douglas Lee had everything going for him thanks to a scholarship to an exclusive private school in Manhattan, but all of that falls apart when his body is found below the Williamsburg Bridge with a dozen knife wounds in it. That kind of violence would normally get some serious attention from the police and media except when it's accompanied by signs that it could be gang related. When that’s the case, the story dies and the police are happy to settle for the straightforward explanation. Dougie's mom isn’t having any of that and asks Ray, who had been a cop before an accident cut his career short, to look into it, unofficially. He does what he can, asking questions, doling out information to the press, and filling in some holes in the investigation, but he doesn’t get far before one of Dougie’s private school friends is killed and another is put in the hospital.

What kind of trouble could a couple of sheltered kids get into that would end like that? And what does is have to do with Dougie's death? None of it adds up, but there's no way Ray can just wait around for something to happen.

Following on the heels of his acclaimed debut, Tim O’Mara’s Crooked Numbers is another outstanding mystery that brings the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan to life and further solidifies O’Mara’s place among the most talented new crime fiction writers working today.
Learn more about the book and author at Tim O'Mara's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: Crooked Numbers.

The Page 69 Test: Crooked Numbers.

Writers Read: Tim O'Mara.

--Marshal Zeringue