A vulnerable woman being followed. A PI determined to protect her. Former lovers embroiled in an intense mystery thriller fraught with intrigue and danger. A sexy, romantic, suspenseful ride through the atmospheric 1940s for fans of film noir and the classic hard-boiled detective novel. Someone is following Lauren Lewis. She ducks into the office of PI, Jimmy “Soldier” Riley, not to hire him, but to find out if he’s the one following her. Back when they were lovers he told her if he ever decided to, she’d never know he was there. It’s1940’s Panama City, Florida. The world is at war, and the growing panhandle paradise is doing its part. Tyndall Field is training pilots. Wainwright Shipyard is building battleships. The Naval Section Base is protecting vessels in the Gulf. The Dixie Sherman Hotel is hosting celebrities such as Clark Gable. Harry Lewis, a wealthy banker, is running for mayor, unaware his wife is running for her life. With a secret to hide and a husband running for mayor in a city exploding and expanding like no other time in history, Lauren doesn’t want trouble, but she’s about to get a double-barrel full of it. Only one man can help her, and though it might destroy him, he doesn’t mind. Better to die than be the walking wounded. Get The Big Goodbye and begin your fun, romantic, and mysterious journey with Jimmy and Lauren today! “Lister’s hard-edged prose ranks with the best of contemporary noir fiction.” Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review of The Big Goodbye . Publisher's Weekly Starred Review "Lister (The Body and the Blood) kicks off a promising private detective series set in 1940s Florida and rapidly establishes the intriguing persona of narrator Jimmy Riley. Lister's hard-edged prose ranks with the best of contemporary noir fiction." Walk the mean streets of wartime Panama City with Jimmy "Soldier" Riley, a wounded, woman-haunted knight errant in Michael Lister's resonant new noir series Publisher's Weekly calls "a promising private detective series set in 1940s Florida," and Library Journal says "peppered with snappy dialog, this hard-boiled mystery by award winner Lister is a swell read." "Michael Lister has the world of Florida Panhandle noir all to himself. Tough, violent, and hard-boiled, This novel of obsession and suspense will remind you of Raymond Chandler, Graham Greene, and why you started reading crime novels in the first place." John Dufresne "Michael Lister successfully brings back the hard-boiled 1940′s P.I. with his Jimmy 'Soldier' Riley series. Soldier has heart, the dialogue is relentlessly hard-boiled, and the local is steamy and original. Lister knows how to mix it all together with the steady hand of a solid pro." Robert Randisi "Tight, taut, terrific PI noir with a classic and fully-realized 1940s setting. Michael Lister is one of those rare, gifted writers who can immerse you with his first sentence. The "Soldier" series is a treasure--don't miss it!" Kelli Stanley"Michael Lister delivers the goods like Tyson in his prime, hard, fast and beautiful kind of brutal." Gary Phillips PUBLISHER'S WEEKLYLister (The Body and the Blood) kicks off a promising private detective series set in 1940s Florida with a tantalizing opening line--"I had not yet recovered from shooting Stanley Somerset when I saw her"--and rapidly establishes the intriguing persona of narrator Jimmy Riley. Riley, who lost an arm while on the police force, now works as a PI partnered with a former Pinkerton agent. Obsessed with ex-lover Lauren Lewis, he's taken aback when she re-enters his life. Lewis, whose husband is running for mayor of Panama City, appears at his office to ask whether Riley is the person who's been tailing her. While she believes his denial, she declines his offer to help. Unsurprisingly, Riley decides to look into the matter anyway, and soon finds himself squarely in the crosshairs of the police when bodies start piling up. Lister's hard-edged prose ranks with the best of contemporary noir fiction. (Sept.) Multi award-winning novelist, Michael Lister, is a native Floridian best known for his literary suspense thrillers DOUBLE EXPOSURE, BURNT OFFERINGS, and SEPARATION ANXIETY, as well as his two ongoing mystery series, the prison chaplain John Jordan "Blood" series (BLOOD SACRIFICE) and the hard-boiled, 1940s noir Jimmy "Soldier" Riley Series (THE BIG HELLO).The Florida Book Review says that "Vintage Michael Lister is poetic prose, exquisitely set scenes, characters who are damaged and faulty" and Michael Koryta says, "If you like crime writing with depth, suspense, and sterling prose, you should be reading Michael Lister," while Publisher's Weekly adds, "Lister's hard-edged prose ranks with the best of contemporary noir fiction."Michael grew up in North Florida near the Gulf of Mexico and the Apalachicola River in a small town world famous for tupelo honey.Truly a regional writer, North Florida is his beat. Used Book in Good Condition