The Foreign Service Journal, November 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2015 49 Continued on page 55 paintings are also the main suspects in the murder. Wagner skillfully weaves the history of Bassano del Grappo and its habitants into the story, blending fiction and reality. His detailed descriptions of the city’s food and culture vividly transport readers to Italy. Fans of this book will also enjoy the first two in the series: Cold Tuscan Stone (2013) and Death of the Dolomites (2014). A fourth Rick Montoya mystery is currently in the works. David P. Wagner is a retired FSO. His assignments in South America included Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Guayaquil and Montevideo. During three postings to Italy he consumed large amounts of Italian culture and food, much of which are described on the pages of his Rick Montoya Italian Mysteries. Wagner and his wife, Mary, live in Colorado. City of Ghosts: A Mystery in Vienna Shawn Kobb, CreateSpace, 2015, $10.99/ paperback; $3.99/Kindle, 208 pages. Looking to recover from a family tragedy and pull his life back together, Ameri- can student Jake Meyer seeks refuge in culture-rich Vienna. Respite proves elusive, however, when he is suddenly pulled into a deadly scenario after providing a false alibi for an attractive peer seen fleeing the scene of a murder. The story is set in Austrian history, and diplomatic elements are introduced in the form of Jess, a Foreign Service officer who is sucked into Jake’s dilemma and proves to be his only ally. When more murders begin occurring, Jake must survive long enough to prove his innocence to the police. In this debut novel, Shawn Kobb takes readers on a vivid tour of Vienna and describes some of the real work of American con- sular officers. Fast-paced and full of adventure, City of Ghosts proves Kobb an excellent suspense writer. The second book in the “Mystery in Vienna” series is expected to be released in early 2016. Kobb is currently posted to Vienna as a general services offi- cer in Vienna after serving in Ukraine, The Bahamas, Afghani- stan and Washington, D.C. Before joining the Foreign Service in 2006, he backpacked through Asia and worked as a 911 dis- patcher. In that latter occupation, he had ample opportunity to develop plot ideas for future books while speaking on the phone with crime victims, murderers and naughty children. Collection: A Rocket Malone Hard-Boiled Mystery Shawn Kobb, CreateSpace, 2015, $3.99/Kindle, 165 pages. Rocket Malone is a disgraced ex-cop swim- ming in gambling debts. He struggles to make ends meet in an unusual way—by cracking open the skulls of the rich to remove the implanted hardware and steal their memories. Malone is eventually called on for a very peculiar assign- ment: His client’s head is missing, along with the memories it contains, and he is tasked with figuring out what happened. An unconventional cast of characters emerges—a beautiful woman, a mysterious foreigner and an eccentric billionaire— all of whom are willing to pay Malone handsomely to solve the mystery. Desperately in need of money, Malone begins his quest for answers, but he might just find himself in the same shoes of the dead man if he can’t uncover the memories in time. In this e-book, Shawn Kobb has again penned a gripping thriller that will leave readers guessing until the very last chapter. Turning Points: Stories of Love, Crime, and Faith Duke Ryan, CreateSpace, 2014, $9/paperback; $2.99/Kindle, 148 pages. Four novellas comprise this new edi- tion of Duke Ryan’s previously published title, Impure Thoughts (2014). Out where Chicago’s sprawl meets the Midwestern plains, two brothers, the main characters in this collection, cope with painful change, senseless crime and thwarted love. Both very different, Weller is an action-oriented engineer and Larry is a dreamy and introspective intellectual. “The Arsonist” describes a high school loner who plunges into a series of pointless felonies and forces a terrified younger schoolmate to become an accomplice. Weller, a volunteer policeman, must fight his own chief before he can stop it all. In “The Stunt,” Weller—also an ex-Navy pilot—returns to help a young protégé learn to fly. The result is spectacular but disas- trous. “God’s Phone Booth” introduces Larry, 12, who is confused about sex and religion. His mother and a priest only further bewilder him on the topics. “The Return of the Visigoths” opens