Sideswipe

Written by Charles Willeford

Narrated by Stephen Bowlby

Hoke Moseley has had enough. Tired of struggling against
alimony payments, two teenage daughters, a very pregnant and very single partner,
and a low-paying job as a Miami homicide detective, Hoke moves to Singer Island
and vows never to set foot on the mainland again. But on the street, career
criminal Troy Louden is hatching plans of his own with a gang that includes a
disfigured hooker, a talentless artist, and a clueless retiree. But when Louden’s simple robbery results in ruthless and indiscriminate bloodshed, Hoke quickly
remembers why he is a cop and hurls himself back into the world he meant to
leave behind forever.

A masterly tale of midlife crisis and murder, Sideswipe
is a page-turning thriller packed with laughs, loaded with suspense, and
featuring one of the most truly original detectives of all time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Jul 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483002354

Reviews for Sideswipe

[ecw0647 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Imagine this: adding Grape-Nuts to a sieve so you can run hot water to soften them up so you can eat them without putting in your false teeth; then gumming them at the dining room table while reading the sports section. Hoke, a homicide investigator lives with his partner Ellita who has the unbearable habit of letting the egg yolks run through her teeth. Ellita, who is pregnant, helps with the rent and the care of Hoke two teenage daughters.

Shades of Ed McBain, the writing, I mean. Hoke gets fed up with trying to solve an interminable number of cold cases that seem to be forever piling up on his desk. He retreats into a catatonic state, finally decides to chuck it all, and leaves for his father's place on Riviera Beach. He has decided he wants the simple life. Right. We all know there is no such thing, and soon his bulimic daughter (recognized as such only by a neighbor) comes to visit (she gets shipped off to his ex,) he's having to deal with the myriad problems as manager of his father's apartment building (he gets free rent in one of the apartments) and Ellita calls for help in dealing with her mother's thoughts on amniocentisis.

A side plot (never fear, the two will intersect) involves a retired Ford employee falsely accused of molesting his neighbor's daughter, a problem that's soon rectified but not before Stanley meets Troy in jail who has a scheme to make lots of money, also involving a painter and a former stripper whose face was mutilated by her boss.

Enough of the plot. You can find that elsewhere. Hoke soon realizes that the simple life is effervescent.

First rate story and writing by a master. Mislabeled as a thriller, though, unless impending disaster provides you with the sense of thrill. An engrossing, very enjoyable story. If you like McBain, Moseley, Leonard, et al, you'll very much like Williford.

[bjkelley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The third book in the Hoke Mosely series has a couple of crimes wrapped around Hoke's withdrawal from life. Doesn't sound interesting....it might not have been, but in a master writer like Willeford it's as good as any straight crime/mystery novel. I highly recommend this book especially to fans of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen.

[mrtall_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Hoke Mosely crime novel I've read, and I've got mixed feelings about it.Sideswipe is entertaining, with memorable characters and a steadily-progressing plot that's just odd enough to feel true. It's not fantastic on dialog and general descriptive power; the Miami/Palm Beach settings came across a bit bland.

[wirkman_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another Hoke Moseley book. Crime fiction at its pulpy best.

[thomaspluck · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As great as Miami Blues. No one writes characters like Willeford and we get some deusies in this one.