Richard Zappa has really nailed it with his latest crime thriller. Just look at all these glowing professional reviews.
“Double Indemnity by Richard Zappa is a chilling crime thriller that will keep you on the edge of your chair from start to finish. The subplots are nested like Russian dolls, with red herrings and false trails a-plenty, and an eminently satisfying conclusion. A thrilling roller coaster ride of greed, deceit, and murder; a book that you can’t put down. I give it five stars without hesitation.” – Charles Ray, author.
“Opening with a pleasingly brutal home invasion/ robbery/ execution that comes with a neat twist in its closing paragraph which immediately wrong-foots the reader, Double Indemnity is an extremely well written contemporary thriller. Blending maverick cops, hardboiled killers and rogue businessmen, author Richard Zappa has created an engrossing and entirely believable crime novel that continues the story of New Orleans homicide detective Jo Crowder.
IndieReader Reviews
New Orleans homicide detective Jo Crowder finds a link between a series of seemingly random deaths and exposes a corrupt insurance company. After piecing together a link between a number of seemingly random deaths, Crowder finds herself unraveling a lethally corrupt insurance company. It’s the kind of plot set-up familiar to readers of the Jack Reacher series wherein the hero picks away at a seemingly above board institution and ultimately busts open its rotten core. Double Indemnity is reminiscent of the kind of high quality, deceptively simple crime paperbacks of the golden era of American pulps. Though Double Indemnity works as a standalone novel, on completion readers will almost certainly want to catch up on Crowder’s previous antics in the novels The Easter Murders and Identical Misfortune. And as long as Crowder can avoid getting herself killed or fired, the series deserves to run and run. Double Indemnity is the third Jo Crowder novel and establishes Richard Zappa as a first class thriller writer and his homicide detective heroine as one to watch.”
“Author Richard Zappa is both a first-rate writer and storyteller. His plot is intricate and involving, yet easy to follow. His action sequences, of which there are many, resonate with cinematic intensity. He creates characters whose motives and behaviors are not just dramatic but credible as well. Zappa uses dialogue as it should be used, with spice and bite. He increases reader involvement by making his protagonists face moral as well as physical challenges. And he does it all while keeping the pace of his story roaring ahead.
Jake Bishop, Pacific Book Reviews
Double Indemnity by Richard Zappa is not a retooling of James N. Cain’s pulp novel of 1943. It’s a highly entertaining yarn in its own right, a clever crime story that keeps the emphasis on energy and entertainment, continually building suspense as it goes. New Orleans is home for both the good guys and the bad in this intriguing sojourn into greed, corruption, and megalomania. The bad is represented by a corporation that buys life insurance policies from individuals and then makes sure that those individuals die before they should, thereby enabling the corporation to stop paying premiums while collecting big payouts. The good is Jo Crowder, The Big Easy female detective who winds up looking into a series of seemingly accidental deaths, suicides, and more. She’s a tough-as-nails cop who is not at all averse to using lethal force when it becomes necessary. She gets teamed with Alex Hill, a special agent with the organized crime unit of the FBI who is smart, savvy, good with his fists when he has to use them, or when one of them is holding his gun.
The two eventually find themselves up against some of the worst of the worst. There’s the corporation’s founder who has a photographic memory but no moral compass whatsoever. There’s his head of security who’s an ex-military man skilled at special ops, taking no prisoners, and leaving no witnesses behind. In their employ are stone cold assassins who ply their trade with frightening efficiency. As you might guess, before novel’s end these sets of opposites will clash with devastating results.”
“Zappa is a skilled storyteller, and fans of crime novels will find a lot to love here. As a trial lawyer himself, Zappa brings a sense of authenticity to his plotline as well as to all matters of crime in the novel. The characters are well-drawn and believable. Crowder’s character as a take-no-prisoners homicide detective is convincing, and her work ethic is easy to admire. Despite their unconventional actions—and even illegal ones—Hill and Crowder both prove to have strong moral compasses. The mounting body count and seemingly endless twists and turns in the story create an exciting, rapid pace that keeps the reader focused and interested. The dialogue is easy to follow and rings true throughout the book. Overall, this is a well-written and exciting novel that builds to a satisfying final conflict while also leaving room for another book in the series.”
Jennifer Hummer, US Review. https://www.theusreview.com/reviews-1/Double-Indemnity-by-Richard-Zappa.html#.Ymc1vNpByEQ
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