Review: For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness

 

Richard Schwindt has a knack for creating unique characters.

I’ve read all of his fiction. His works are the epitome of Bradbury’s Dictum: Create your characters, let them do their thing, and there’s your story.

Story flows from the characters. And Richard’s characters are full of story.

In his most recent book, For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness, the 28th book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series, he gives us a powerful psychologically driven murder mystery. One in which Dr. Mike Kurelek, professor and psychotherapist at Burnet College, struggles with his anger and desire for justice. Anger that wants to see justice accomplished, but is thwarted by the police and the legal system’s bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy’s operate on correct procedure. And sometimes, and perhaps more than sometimes, that mandate to follow correct procedure gets in the way of achieving justice.

Mike struggles with doing what is “right” and doing what is right. In the end, he makes a choice that is consistent with who he is in order to see that justice is done.

Richard Schwindt follows the standard murder mystery format: a world the is functioning normally, which is then turned on its head by murder, and then restored to order by the sleuth solving the crime.

As Raymond Chandler observed, what differentiates one murder mystery from another is style.

And this is where Richard shines. His characters are cut from the fabric of life. In many ways they are much like us. But their world gets turned upside down by murder.

Richard, who is a social worker and psychotherapist himself, shows us the inner workings of what goes through people’s minds when their world is suddenly shattered through no fault of their own. And what they are willing to do to restore order to their lives.

I am an ardent admirer of Richard Schwindt’s fiction. It has everything to create the most satisfying movies of the mind.

In Dr. Mike Kurelek, he has created a most memorable character. One of the best in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series.

Pick up your copy of For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness today on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome and until next time happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with three bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness is Coming Soon

 

We all have our demons, and for Dr. Mike Kurelek anger is one of his.

Richard Schwindt, social worker and therapist, knows a lot about the demons people have, which makes his fiction so very lifelike.

We see ourselves in his characters and that draws us into his books.

I’ve known Richard for quite some time now. He is an amazing author. His fiction is laced with humor, action, suspense, and introspection, presented in an easy to read style.

When the Underground Authors were first being gather together, Richard was an easy suggestion for me to make to the late Caleb Pirtle. And Caleb, already familiar with Richard’s work, immediately sent an invite.

Richard’s main contribution to the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles is Dr. Mike Kurelek. Through him we get to see the inner workings of Burnet College and Burnet Medical Center.

Kurelek is a professor and a practicing therapist. He is also very good with a bow and arrow.

The good doctor professor made his first appearance in The Shine from a Girl in the Lake. He returned in Men Lying Dead in a Field. 

And now we have his third appearance in For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness. Here is a teaser to whet your appetite:

When clinical psychologist Dr. Michael Kurelek’s elderly best friend is savagely beaten in a home invasion, rage pushes him to the limits of his emotional control.

After nearly choking a woman abuser to death in O’Gara’s bar, he turns his attention back to the new students at Burnet College, and his pregnant wife, Sue. 

But his anger – and the sociopathic attackers – don’t go away. 

Locked out of the investigation by the Magnolia Bluff police department; Mike goes rogue, enlisting the help of friends, family, and two troubled young women with their own reason for vengeance.

For Boys Who Struggle With Darkness is on pre-order right now for 99¢. The book goes live September 20, 2024. I’ve ordered my copy. Why don’t you order yours?

I’ll be back with a review sometime after the 20th.

In the meantime, check out Richard’s website to see all of his books and learn more about him.

Comments are always welcome and until next time happy reading!

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with three bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

What Is Going On With The Website On Wordpress?

 

The short answer to the question in the title is that I’m having my website updated.

It is a work in progress and things may get a bit wonky before the dust settles.

I have been wanting to revamp my website for a long time. But the cost of getting the site revamped has always been the reason to put it off. 

After all, I’m retired and am living on a fixed income. Although being a government worker, I was on a fixed income for 20 years prior to retiring. Once at the top of my pay grade – there were no more raises. Only insufficient cost of living adjustments.

For me, living on a fixed income has been a way of life for most of my life. Hence the hesitation to drop big bucks on a website overhaul.

But a few weeks ago when I couldn’t get into my site, I knew I had a major problem. The techie at HostGator jury-rigged things so the site was working again, but I knew I was on borrowed time.

Even so, I hemmed and hawed over spending the money. And just as I decided to scrap my site, because I didn’t have the money to fix it, and use my Blogger mirror site instead of the WordPress site, cash arrived. Now I could revamp the very aged and obsolete WordPress site.

So if things look a little weird every now and then, it is because this site is a work in progress and will hopefully be all shiny soon.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with three bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

A Wrong Turn Over on Threads That Bind

Some of you may already know I write a periodic post on the Threads That Bind blog. It’s a forum for lovers of the dark in literature, film, and what have you.

The other day my friend Jack Tyler posted a top-drawer short tale about what ifs. Read it here.

I very much like Jack’s writing. The storytelling is straight forward, the dialogue is realistic, the characters are lifelike, and the description is just right.

In this story, you can see how much we learn about the characters from just the dialogue. The sign of a master craftsman.

“Wrong Turn” is the kind of story that draws you in and gets you thinking about the turns in your own life — both good and bad. A trip down What If Lane.

So treat yourself to a shorty about taking the wrong turn. It’s a bit sad, a touch philosophical, packs a hidden punch, and is very simply a whole lot of very good.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with three bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes