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Summary: What a fantastic read
Review: A great summer read, fast paced, with characters that you care about. I liked Sloan so much, I want to see what else he does. A third book is coming out soon, can't wait! This would make a great movie!!
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Summary: fast paced
Review: A great summer read, fast paced, with characters that you care about. I liked Sloan so much, I want to see what else he does. A third book is coming out soon, can't wait! This would make a great movie!!
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Summary: Good Book
Review: As one P I to another. Beauford you're OK. Great read. Keep locking them up.
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Summary: PRAISE for RAYMOND AUSTIN & HIS BEAUFOED SLOAN.
Review: Austin has combined a terrific story with great characters for a fabulous read. A riveting tale well laid out pacing from start to finish. This is a new voice in P I genre. Hope we hear more of Austin's Beauford Sloan.
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Summary: A Must Read!
Review: I was totally captivated right from the start how the incredible "Eagle Heist" went down. You'll have to read to know what I mean! This book was fabulous! Right until the end I could not figure out who masterminded this incredible heist. Raymond Austin does an amazing job of creating a visual masterpiece in his first book. It must be made into a movie! I'm looking forward to the next in his series, "Dead Again."
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Summary: What a fantastic read
Review: Raymond Austin is a terrific writer, and I love Beauford Sloan! Very well written, great dialog, and a page-turning plot. A must read for any mystery fan.
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Summary: Beauford Sloan A Winner
Review: This is a first rate PI story. Beauford Sloan is a one hell of a PI. And I'm not saying that because I'm a Sloan. This is a page turner.
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Summary: A Super Read
Review: This Review lead me to Raymond Austin. (It is right it is.)BOOKLIST AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION Fans of the classic British television series The Avengers and The Saint may recognize the author',s name: as Ray Austin, he directed episodes-of-those serve; as well as many other British and American shows, This is his first novel, and it's ideally suited for the small screen. An armored car is hijacked, seemingly snatched out of thin air, and Virginia's Beauford Sloan, retired-cop-turned-private-detective, is hired to find out whodunit. Sloan, who closely resembles the actor Wilford Brimley, is a remarkably likable character. (The resemblance is no coincidence: Brimley and the author are friends, and Brimley has expressed his desire to play the detective in the anticipated television movie based on the novel. He has also written an introduction to the book.) In fact, everything about the novel is remarkably likable; perhaps because he spent decades in the world of moving pictures, Austin knows how to create detailed characters, dialogue that is both memorable and realistic, and an exciting plot. An excellent debut and a real find. David Pitt
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Summary: Likeable Characters and a well-written book
Review: This story, while formulaic, is a quick read containing likeable--make that VERY likeable--characters. Beauford Sloan, the wily PI, is a man you want to know. In fact, you wish he lived next door. Glad to know I can keep him in my life by reading the series.
A good mystery and I recommend the read.
From the author of I'm Living Your Dream Life and The Things I Wish I'd Said.
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Summary: The first Beauford Sloane mystery turns out to be a good one
Review: When you look at the cover of "The Eagle Heist," the first of the Beauford Sloan mysteries by Raymond Austin, you will notice that the photograph on the identification card of Sloan looks a lot like Wilford Brimley. This would be because it is a photograph of Brimley, who writes the brief introduction for the novel and has known the author since they were stunt men together in the old days. Then Brimley went on to be a familiar character actor and Austin directed a lot of television shows from "The Avengers" to "JAG."
The running gag in the book is that Sloan looks like Brimley, but the chief advantage is that every time you listen to Sloan in the mystery you can hear Brimley's familiar voice (every time I read a play the female lead is Katharine Hepburn, adjusted for whatever age is required). Knowing exactly how the main character speaks is certainly an advantage, but you are on your own when it comes to the mental images you come up with for the sex scenes in the book (or the mental picture demanded by the book's final line).
"The Eagle Heist" begins with a rather ingenious way of making an armored truck carrying sixteen million dollars in diamonds and three million in cash disappear. All the authorities have to go on are a couple of bodies and some $100 bills and after six months the case has gone stone cold. However, Rosa Costello, the mother of one of the murdered guards from the armored truck is not willing to let the crime be forgotten and hires Beauford, an ex-Virginia cop turned private eye. Within hours he makes a big break in the case and almost as quickly people start dying. Clearly, our hero is making progress and there is somebody who does not like that at all. But once Beauford gets the bit between his teeth there is no stopping him.
Brimley says this mystery is "a great read," and that is certainly an apt description. The action proceeds at a brisk pace, the supporting characters are pretty engaging, and they are enough twists and turns in the mystery, some of which are not exactly happy ones, to keep you engaged from start to finish. One of the reasons it works this well as that Austin provides his hero with a complete back story that comes into play at various points. There is a sense of history to the character and his friends even if this is the first Beauford Sloan mystery. Fortunately I already have the next one, "Dead Again," in my possession, so I do not have to wait for the next "episode" (it is hard not to think of this as a television series, which is not a bad thing in this case).
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