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Fools Rush In (The Sam McCain Mysteries Book 7) Kindle Edition

by Ed Gorman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 24 ratings
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On the eve of the March on Washington, racial tensions flare in McCain’s small town
In the summer of 1963, freedom riders are crisscrossing the South, Martin Luther King is preparing for a march on Washington, and the people of Black River Falls, Iowa, are about to go to the polls. Senator Williams is cruising to reelection when a blackmailer starts sending him photos of his daughter arm in arm with a handsome black student. To save his campaign, Williams hires private investigator Sam McCain to talk sense into the crook, but the blackmailer is nowhere to be found—until McCain discovers him behind his shack, dead in the dirt, with a handsome black corpse beside him.
TV crews arrive with the police, to broadcast the horrible scene across the state. As Black River Falls threatens to erupt into all-out race war, Iowa will have much more to worry about than Election Day. Searching for the savage killer, McCain learns that quiet prejudice can be the most dangerous kind of all.
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  1. Book 7 of 10
    The Sam McCain Mysteries
  2. Print length
    251 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
  6. Publication date
    December 31, 2013
  7. File size
    8154 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
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  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Gorman's engaging seventh civil rights–era whodunit (after 2004's Breaking Up Is Hard to Do), PI Sam McCain goes looking for a blackmailer and finds him dead alongside one of his blackmail victims, dynamic black college student David Leeds. David had been dating the white daughter of a senator, a major scandal in 1963 Black River Falls, Iowa. Given the pervasive climate of racial strife, there's no shortage of suspects, including a racist biker gang and the daughter's bully of an ex-boyfriend. McCain discovers other compromising photographs and a wad of cash indicating further blackmail victims, one of whom may have been driven to murder. The town's inept police chief warns McCain off the case, but the new district attorney, a young, attractive no-nonsense woman, lends invaluable support. While evoking the quiet ordinariness of the time with nostalgia, Gorman realistically portrays the small town's mixed response to the exploding national demand for long overdue justice. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Black River Falls, Iowa, 1963: the violence of the civil-rights era lurks behind the double murder of a Peeping Tom photographer and a handsome black lothario, David Leeds, who was dating the daughter of a white Republican senator. Young Sam McCain, a lawyer and sometime private detective, is on the case. Motives are widespread. The senator was having an affair. Local bikers hated Leeds' success with a white woman to whom they could never aspire. The photographer was a blackmailer, and the white ex-boyfriend of the senator's daughter was a violent bully. Sam McCain is cut from the same cloth as Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder and Bill Pronzini's "Nameless"--series heroes who change as time passes. The sweet, nonviolent, naive young man we met in the series debut (The Day the Music Died, 1999) is now comfortable pistol-whipping a witness. Readers unfamiliar with this fine series should hop onboard now and watch as an Iowa Mr. Marple starts to behave like a cornbelt Spenser. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00H8GCKSY
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ MysteriousPress.com/Open Road (December 31, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 31, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 8154 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 251 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 24 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Ed Gorman

    Ed Gorman

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    I was the kid in school who always had a science fiction or thriller paperback hidden behind my textbook while class was in session. I was not exactly a gifted student but I did read all the classics (my classics) from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Jack London to Ray Bradbury to Raymond Chandler before I finished high school.

    I wrote my first story in third grade. I still remember the first paragraph--I wanted to make sure that my vast readership (me) got the idea that this was a science fiction story. "Johnny Mars walked down Mars Street on Mars one day." I don't know about you but I think that should be studied in every writing class ever taught.:)

    About my stories and books:

    "Ed Gorman has the same infallible readability as writers like Lawrence Block, Max Allan Collins, Donald E. Westlake, Ed McBain, and John D. MacDonald." Jon Breen, Ellery Queen

    Kirkus called Ed Gorman "One of the most original crime writers around."

    Gorman's novels The Poker Club and The Haunted have both been filmed. Author of more than thirty novels and ten collections of short stories, The Oxford Book of Short Stories noted that his work "provides fresh ideas, characters and approaches."

    The Rocky Mountain News called him "The modern master of the lean and mean thriller." Gorman's thrillers include Blood Moon and The Marilyn Tapes both available as part of the Top Suspense Group (TSG).

    His novel Cage of Night, also available on TSG, is one of Gorman's personal favorites. The sites Gravetapping and Good Reads noted "It is truly a classic of the macabre--part mystery, part suspense, and entirely chilling and haunting."

    Gorman's westerns have also been lauded by Publisher's Weekly. "Written in a lean hard-boiled style." Rocky Mountain News said "Simply one of the best Western writers of our time." Booklist raved "Intelligent characaters uniuely motivated make for knock-out read."

    Gorman is now busy on a suspense novel he hopes to finish this year. Gorman can be reached at New Improved Gorman http://www.newimprovedgorman.com/ You can also follow him on Twitter.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Edward Gorman

    Edward Gorman

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Ed Gorman is an award winning American author best known for his crime and mystery fiction. He wrote The Poker Club which is now a film of the same name directed by Tim McCann.

    He has written under many pseudonyms including "E. J. Gorman" and "Daniel Ransom." He won a Spur Award for Best Short Fiction for his short story "The Face" in 1992. His fiction collection Cages was nominated for the 1995 Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection. His collection The Dark Fantastic was nominated for the same award in 2001.

    He has contributed to many magazines and other publications including Xero, Black Lizard, Cemetery Dance, the anthology Tales of Zorro, and many more.

    Visit his blog at newimprovedgorman.blogspot.com

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
24 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Michael Schramme
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant private-eye series with a touch of social commentary.
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is a very special 'private eye' series build around a lawyer and special court investigator, Sam McCain, in a small town in the midwest (Iowa) in the fifties and sixties. I absolutely love this series for several reasons:

1. the wonderful immersion into a different time, spanning a decade from the late fifties to the late sixties. The descriptions are detailed, evocative, engaging and realistic. They are exceptionally well done.
2. The protagonist is a likeable average joe, who is easy to identify with and tells the stories in the first person. His back story is as engaging and interesting as the murder mysteries he gets involved in, and has become the main reason why I have become hooked on this series.
3. I like Sam McCain's world view. He is particularly adverse to any extremist tendencies (MCarthy witch hunts, racism, Beatle records burning, religious bigotry, snake handling churches, etc) and any form of social snobbery and elitism. Yet through all the turmoil (of which there was a lot in the fifties/early sixties), he retains a great sense of humor, which will have you smiling on and off, throughout the entire series.
4. There are plenty of connections to the pop culture of the fifties and sixties, which is a bonus for any lover of music, books, cinema and culture of the period.
5. The mysteries are well crafted and keep you guessing until the end.
6. Every single one of the entries in these series is excellent without exception and well worth the read.

Give this a try, you won't regret it. I read all 9 books in 2 months and can't wait for the 10th entry, 'Riders' on the Storm', that will appear in October 2014! I hope Mr. Gorman gets the opportunity to write several more before he retires.
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WALT
5.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS ANOTHER AMAZING SAM MCCAIN THRILLER
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2019
THE AUTHOR, ED GORMAN, CONTINUES TO THRILL AND AMUSE THE READER. I HAVE READ AND LOVED ALL OF THE SERIES, AND THIS NOVEL IS NO DISAPPOINTMENT. THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS, SO RELAX. IT IS SET IN 1963, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TRUE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. IT IS A WONDERFUL THRILLER, WHILE CAPTURING THE TRUE EVENTS OF A CHANGING COUNTRY.
AN EXCELLENT SUSPENSE BOOK, WITH BOTH SERIOUS SOCIAL COMMENTARY, AND A LOT OF FUN AND EXCITEMENT.
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Ben Boulden
4.0 out of 5 stars FOOLS RUSH IN by Ed Gorman
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2008
It was the winter of 2002 that I discovered Ed Gorman's Sam McCain series--I found a copy of WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW?, the third novel in the series, at Borders one afternoon. I read it, loved it, and quickly went on an expedition to find the first two novels in the series. Since then there have been four additional Sam McCain novels and one novella. I've read each of them at least once, and I just read the most recent addition to the series: FOOLS RUSH IN.

It's 1963. The civil rights movement is charging across the country. The townspeople of Black River Falls, Iowa are concerned about the tumultuous changes that are happening across the country, but their town has been insulated from the turmoil until a young black man is murdered. His name is David Leeds, and he is a motivated, attractive, and well-liked young man who is attending University in Cedar Rapids, and scandalously dating the daughter of a local Senator.

Sam is again heralded into action by Judge Whitney--the last of the gentrified Whitney family who came to Black River Falls in the 1860s after a disagreement with the Treasury department sent them running from the East coast. He is ordered to find out who killed David Leeds and stop Cliff Sykes, the incompetent local Sheriff, from fouling the investigation. Sam quickly finds himself in a mystery that goes beyond mere racism--he does discover plenty of hate, but he also finds corruption, blackmail, fear, and even a little love.

FOOLS RUSH IN is darker than the previous entries in the series. We find Sam in a new world--the beautiful Pamela Forrest is gone, Mary has returned to her husband and Sam feels himself getting a little older. His father is ill and his world is changing. He is still a wiseacre, philosopher, pulp reader, part-time lawyer, and part-time private eye, but the world is changing around him. Or maybe better said, he is losing his youth and his vision of the world is changing.

The mystery is top-notch. Mr. Gorman gives enough false leads to keep the reader guessing at what is happening, and when the climax arrived I was surprised by who did what, and why. I enjoyed FOOLS RUSH IN a whole lot. It is a worthy addition to one of the better private eye series still being produced, and I hope--oh how I hope!--there is another story or two still waiting to see print. But if there isn't, FOOLS RUSH IN isn't a bad title to go out with.

Ben Boulden, Gravetapping
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The Wife
5.0 out of 5 stars ... Ed Gorman's Sam McCain series has made me a happy addict. Gorman is an excellent writer and weaves ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2014
Having discovered Ed Gorman's Sam McCain series has made me a happy addict.
Gorman is an excellent writer and weaves in events of the Sixties into
the culture and mindset of the folks in Black River Falls, Iowa.
Of course his always funny take on things along with the great who dunnit stories
makes for delicious entertainment.
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Charlie Stella
5.0 out of 5 stars Another wonderful discovery ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2009
Ed Gorman is a legend in the crime writing world and I was fortunate enough to finally meet his work the other day. I'm a sucker for nostalgia and Fools Rush In is boat-loaded with our recent American past as the story takes place in 1963 Iowa. It's a trip that weaves indirectly through civil rights era issues as a black man dating a white woman lurks in the background to murder (no spoilers here). It's a small town in the midst of a changing American landscape and some people don't like change. There are Republicans and Democrats in the mix and the author does a great job of being fair and balanced (listening Fox news/MSNBC?) by not demonizing either.

A lesson long ago learned (for me) on the streets (and through life) is that there are two sides to every story ... and somewhere in the middle is the truth. Although I'm not a big fan of PI novels in general, this one does more than justice to the genre with clever writing, spot on dialogue and that great baseline of 1963 America that makes the read both fun and interesting. This, I believe, is #5 in the McCain series for the author ... which makes me anxious to look back at #'s 1-4.

We should all READ, amici ... every chance we get ... Fools Rush In makes it easy to do so ... it's a pleasure. READ it ...
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