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They Left Me For DEAD: Hardboiled Noir Crime Kindle Edition

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

"A tightly-wound tale of passion, murder and greed."

I’m a civilised man, and I follow the rules. But the rules change when someone tries to kill you. When they left me in that ditch they thought they’d seen the last of me.
They should have checked their work.

Whether fighting to avoid the hordes of Assassin Bugs that have colonized the region, or working to stay one step ahead of drug-dealers, Mafia hitmen and Mexican cartels, our hero is finding life in this sleepy area of the southern US isn’t quite as peaceful as appearances suggest.

This hardboiled crime novel, set in the arid West Texas scrublands, dives deep into dark, dangerous places populated by a host of seedy and corrupt characters.

Featuring a new breed of frontier hero drawn into a tangled web of murder, corruption, and betrayal, the earthy realism and harsh reality of
They Left Me for Dead will pull you in and soon have you sweating along with its hero in the hot, dry Texas Chaparral.


From the Publisher

Recapture the excitement of thrilling stories!
A gun battle in a spaceship and a futuristic girl using a pair of wraparound VR glasses
The heroes of J.M. Holmes's Retrievers, Kat and Jerry, are facing us and smiling.
It's time to discover the gripping storytelling of J.M. Holmes!
Be sure to check out all the works by J.M. Holmes, from science fiction to hardboiled crime noir!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A golden nugget of a book." -- Amazon UK top 1000 reviewer

About the Author

J. M. Holmes was born and raised in Canada and educated in the Classics by Jesuits and nuns. A Renaissance polymath, Holmes has been the Editor of the bilingual magazine for Glendon College in Toronto; the Editor of that city's French-language newspaper, Le Metropolitain; a successful magazine publisher; and Director of the Davis Film Festival in Davis, California. Recipient of the 2005 Heroes Award from the American Red Cross, Holmes has also received commendations from the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the California Legislature, and the City of Davis, California, in recognition of extraordinary charity work performed. Holmes is also the winner of awards in California for running a business with outstanding environmental practices and from Rotary International for producing that charity's weekly publication. Sadly, Holmes bears some measure of responsibility for the overpopulation of Planet Earth, having participated in the creation of two additional humans, Alex and Sarah, both of whom are college students working hard at honing their skills in questioning authority and challenging conventional wisdom. Currently, J. M. Holmes resides in the United States and shares a home with seven feral cats.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09G74V8H7
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Literati International (September 13, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 13, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6558 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

About the author

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J. M. Holmes
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J. M. Holmes was born and raised in Canada and educated in the Classics by Jesuits and nuns who would likely be disappointed to see the results of their efforts.

A Renaissance polymath, Holmes has been the Editor of the bilingual magazine for Glendon College in Toronto; the Editor of that city’s French-language newspaper, Le Metropolitain; a successful magazine publisher; and Director of the Davis Film Festival in Davis, California.

Recipient of the 2005 Heroes Award from the American Red Cross, Holmes has also received commendations from the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the California Legislature, and the City of Davis, California, in recognition of extraordinary charity work performed.

Holmes is also the winner of awards in California for running a business with outstanding environmental practices and from Rotary International for producing that charity’s weekly publication.

Sadly, Holmes bears some measure of responsibility for the overpopulation of Planet Earth, having participated in the creation of two additional humans, Alex & Sarah, both of whom are college students working hard at honing their skills in questioning authority and challenging conventional wisdom.

Currently, J. M. Holmes resides in the United States and shares a home with seven feral cats.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
17 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2023
    I’m a lover of all things true crime, but I want sure about this genre. I loved it! The author did an amazing job connecting all the different storylines. I could totally visualize this tiny west Texas town and the characters that lived there.

    I’ll be checking out more from this author!
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2023
    A hard-hitting crime novel, full of unflinching action. Just the thing to keep you turning page after page. It's really a well executed novel, set in an invisible part of Texas, with plenty of bad guys with evil intentions, a beautiful waitress, and a galloping good read. Holmes writes simply but with the force of brass knuckles. You're gonna like this one if you're a fan of this genre.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2023
    An enjoyable noir crime novel. Some very good twists and turns and exciting parts. I wouldn’t mind reading another with same leading character.
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2024
    This book took me by surprise. I hadn't been expecting such an immersive and captivating story that drew me into the hero's world so completely.
    It is the best neo-noir "detective" novel I have read in years.
    I'll be buying all of this author's other books now.
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2022
    They Left Me For Dead is a novel by J M Holmes. This crime novel opens with our hero being beaten and left for dead in a ditch. The story never slowed down. J M Holmes has written a gripping crime novel with excellent characters. I could hardly put the book down.
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2022
    Simply terrific.
    I thought I was living in an old detective movie, except it was even better than that. The mood was, at turns, meditative, humorous, and suspenseful. It kept me reading until the end. Highly recommended.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2023
    This is something of an old school pulp novel with a goodly amount of noir and an overall style that brings to mind filmmaker Sam Peckinpah (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia). A little more nuanced and fully developed than one might expect from that description but definitely a rough-and-tumble tale -- I liked it.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2021
    I started reading this book in the late afternoon, stopped for ten minutes to eat a fast dinner, then went back to reading and didn't stop until I finished it in the early morning hours. It kept me on edge from start to finish.
    This is an excellent hard-boiled crime novel that could easily go toe to toe with the best works from the great American crime novelists of the last century, like Raymond Chandler or James M. Cain. But as much as I enjoy reading classic detective fiction and descriptions of a bygone time, I find I prefer stories from modern writers because I can relate better to our present-day world.
    This book fits the bill perfectly. It is told in the first person, and is a clever, modern version of the classic noir detective yarn, filled with seedy characters and starring a lone wolf hero. It starts with a cliffhanger intro scene and then segues into a flashback as the main character describes his town and the people he meets there. He has several small adventures that are very entertaining to read, and eventually all the characters are drawn together in the culmination of one long story arc.
    The best parts are the vivid descriptions of the people and places that the detective hero encounters. The author's writing draws an atmospheric picture that makes the scenes come alive. I felt like I was right there along with the hero. The dialogue all rings true and fits the diverse cast of characters perfectly. When reading the book I felt I knew these people personally and could almost hear them in my mind, especially the narrator hero.
    The story is inventive and keeps you guessing until the very end. There is no trick twist in the plot or some far-fetched explanation. But when the answers to all the various mysteries are revealed, it all makes perfect sense. I had absolutely no idea what the author was going to reveal, but it turns out to be an inspired conclusion that left me feeling totally satisfied.
    This is what mystery writing and crime writing should be. I really, really enjoyed this book and I give it five stars without hesitation.

Top reviews from other countries

  • RM
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2022
    Gangsters, drug dealers, thieves, damsels in distress – enter our hero’s world! He takes us on a rollercoaster ride as he tries to help others and save his own skin. An interesting character, clever and sensitive as well as brave. I enjoyed his wit and and descriptive talent: ‘He looks like God was working on building a junkyard dog, and then at the last minute was called away and one of his assistants finished the job and made it human.’ Hints and clues throughout this thrilling book that I tried and failed to decipher, leading to a couple of great twists at the end. Highly recommended!
  • Lagoon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Careful what you wish for.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2021
    You know how it is; sometimes you big yourself up. Our hero in this stellar piece of noir, set in the dust bowl of Texas, is offering his services as a fixer. Whatever little problem may be making your life less than perfect, the solution is staring you in the face. And, to be fair, he does start off small. But, reputations spread and exponentially, so too do the magnitude of the jobs coming our hero’s way.

    This is proper dark and stormy writing. Players drift in and out, some, okay, a lot, out for good. There’s an element of High plains drifter here. I loved the images at the start of each chapter; great scene setters.

    A real golden nugget of a book.

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