The Blurb
Wall Street’s miasmal garbage washes up on the Jersey Shore when a small time broker falls in love: Is he attracted to the beautiful lady — or her brother’s inside information?
Held spellbound by a steamy, auburn-haired woman with a dubious past and a get-rich-quick, insider trading scheme, Austin Carr knocks down a beehive of bad-acting Bonacellis, including the ill-tempered “Mr. Vic” Bonacelli, who wants his redhead back, and local mob lieutenant Angelina “Mama Bones” Bonacelli, architect of a strange and excruciating death trap for the fast-talking stockbroker she calls smarty pants.
To survive, Austin must unravel threads of jealousy, revenge and new affections, discover the fate of a pseudo ruby called the Big Mojo and slam the lid on a pending United States of America vs. Austin Carr insider trading case. Can Austin and his Jersey Shore mouthpiece possibly out maneuver the savvy U.S. District Attorney from Manhattan? Will anything matter for Austin ever again if Mama Bones flips that switch?
“Gordon Gekko meets Janet Evanovich in this wry and winning caper — Jack Getze does it again!” — Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony and Mary Higgins Clark Award winning author of Truth Be Told
Big Mojo by Jack Getze
Series: Austin Carr Mysteries, #3
Genre: Screwball Mystery
Publication Date: September 17, 2014
Paperback: 176 pages
Paperback: 176 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1937495763
E-Book File Size: 1004 KB
ASIN: B00N8IHOOQ
The Review
I read an amazing book recently, y'all! Let me tell you a little about it.
Big Mojo, a screwball mystery, is the third book in the Austin Carr Mysteries by Jack Getze. The previous books in the series (Big Numbers, reviewed here) and (Big Money, reviewed here) are really good, really fun reads (Four Kitties!). Big Mojo is the best one yet!
[NOTE: It's not crucial that you read these books in order, but to really appreciate the full development of Austin Carr's character, and to know the back-story of the other returning characters, I recommend doing so.]
Yes, Austin's back, irrepressible as ever, with his "Austin Carr Gift of Gab" and his "full-boat Carr grin." It turns out that the full-boat Carr grin is hereditary. His teenage daughter Beth has begun using the family grin on her father — watch out, Austin!
Big Money, Book 2, ends with an interesting development at the Jersey Shore broker-dealer securities company, founded by Vic Bonacelli, where Austin works. In Big Mojo, Mr Vic and his mother, Mama Bones, are primarily concerned with rectifying that development. I love how these two really get their comeuppance! I won't reveal any spoilers, but suffice it to say that I finished reading Big Mojo with a full-boat grin of my own!
Here are some of my favorite passages, to illustrate the Carr gift of gab as well as Author Jack Getze's way with words:
● This woman keeps surprising me, saying things that change the landscape. I don’t like hearing about Patricia and Mr. Vic. I don’t like to think about her and another man. When did I get like this? I hardly know this woman.
● Mama Bones loves the new office part of her basement kitchen — sitting at a desk behind a door she can lock — but she hates using the stupid computer. She can’t figure out the darn thing. Like what is a spreadsheet. Sounds like dirty laundry at a sex motel. Mama Bones has been writing down her weekly bet totals on a piece of paper for twenty-seven years.
● Did he think I am completely helpless? That I’d freeze like some...stockbroker? The man failed to understand how the growling monsters we face each day —
● Luis hands me a short-barrel revolver that was in that bag of other goodies on the beach. A Smith & Wesson. Thirty-eight caliber, snub-nose, I think they call these puppies. “If Vargas is here, it is likely that he and I will fight,” Luis says. “Use this revolver only if he kills me.”
Now there’s an unpleasant thought. Luis’ death. I glance at the Smith & Wesson. Not my weapon of choice, of course, but in some situations, the Carr gift of gab becomes inoperable. Vargas rushing at me with a switchblade the size of Brooklyn might fall into that category.
“You got it,” I say. “I’ll do it.”
I’ve already turned this night over to Luis. I’m not going to argue how he plans the battle. The king of Stockbroker Special-Ops is still just a stockbroker. Luis is Luis.
● Rags points at me with his weapon. “Find his gun.”
I reach inside the cop’s coat. I’ve been dying to check the brand of his suit anyway. Nice blue suits are the mainstay of every stockbroker’s wardrobe. Kind of like the young single woman’s little black dress.
I hope these mini-excerpts give you a sense of Austin's screwball humor, even in the face of danger, and of the suspense and action to be found in Big Mojo. It's definitely a page-turner. I didn't want to put it down. Big Mojo is a fantastic read, one that I highly recommend, and one that has earned the highest honor of Five Kitties!
Note: I received a complimentary copy of Big Mojo from the author and Great Escapes Book Tours, in exchange for an honest opinion of the book.
The Author
About Jack Getze
Former Los Angeles Times reporter Jack Getze is Fiction Editor for Anthony nominated Spinetingler Magazine, one of the internet’s oldest websites for noir, crime, and horror short stories. Through the Los Angeles Times/Washington Post News Syndicate, his news and feature stories were published in over five-hundred newspapers and periodicals worldwide.
His two screwball mysteries, BIG NUMBERS and BIG MONEY, are being reissued by DOWN & OUT BOOKS, with the new BIG MOJO to follow. His short stories have appeared in A Twist of Noir and Beat to a Pulp. Getze is an Active Member of Mystery Writers of America’s New York Chapter.
Find him on the web at
The Giveaway
Jack will award an e-book of Big Mojo to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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