About the Book
Finally, Jackson Donne has it figured out. After leaving the private investigation business, he's looking toward the future -- and getting married to Kate Ellison. Donne is focused on living the good life -- planning the wedding, a big Hawaiian honeymoon -- until he receives an anonymous email with a link and an old picture of him on the police force. Once Donne clicks the link, nothing else in his life matters. Donne sees a live-stream of the one thing he never expected. Six years ago, his fiancée, Jeanne Baker died in a car accident with a drunk driver. Or so Donne thought. He's taken to a video of Jeanne bound to a chair, bruised and screaming, but very much alive. Donne starts to investigate, but quickly finds he's lost most of his contacts over the years. The police hold a grudge going back to the days when he turned in his corrupt colleagues, and neither they nor the FBI are willing to believe a dead girl's been kidnapped. Donne turns to former NARCO department partner Bill Martin -- the only man to love Jeanne as much as he did -- for help. And that decision could cost him everything.
About the Author :
Dave White is a Derringer Award-winning mystery author and educator. White, an eighth grade teacher for the Clifton, NJ Public School district, attended Rutgers University and received his MAT from Montclair State University. His 2002 short story "Closure," won the Derringer Award for Best Short Mystery Story the following year. Publishers Weekly gave the first two novels in his Jackson Donne series, When One Man Dies and The Evil That Men Do, starred reviews, calling When One Man Dies an "engrossing, evocative debut novel" and writing that his second novel "fulfills the promise of his debut." He received praise from crime fiction luminaries such as bestselling, Edgar Award-winning Laura Lippman and the legendary James Crumley. Both When One Man Dies and The Evil That Men Do were nominated for the prestigious Shamus Award, and When One Man Dies was nominated for the Strand Critics Award for "Best First Novel". His standalone thriller, Witness To Death, was an ebook bestseller upon release and named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. All three books have been reissued by Polis Books and are available wherever ebooks are sold.
Review :
Praise for NOT EVEN PAST "White is one of a group of younger writers reimagining the P.I. novel by giving Donne solid connections to his culture (he's not alienated from his world) and a moral self-awareness I think is more interesting than the traditional P.I. code of behavior. This book flies."
--Carole Barrowman, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
"Not Even Past begins with a tremendous jolt of adrenaline, downshifts to an incredibly slow burn during which the tension becomes almost unbearable given the situation Donne finds himself in, then ratchets the action back up for a breakneck finish."
--Florida Times-Union
"Dave White brings the goods. Skillfully crafting a tale that thriller fans will devour at lightning speed, yet meaty enough that mystery fans will delight in fitting the pieces together."
--CrimeSpree Magazine
"Donne is likeable and flawed but doesn't feel like the typical PI protagonist. The world White's crafted feels real, interesting, and most of all, authentically 'New Jersey'. Dave White impresses thoroughly with this effort."
--My Bookish Ways
Praise for the novels of Dave White
"Dave White is everything you hope for in a crime novelist, delivering both white-knuckle suspense and nuanced characters, propulsive action and an emotional wallop. These are books that both invigorate the genre and are also, truly, built to last."
--Megan Abbott, author of Dare Me
"White has written a PI novel that is both traditional and fresh, one of the few new talents to join this much-plowed field with something interesting and original to say. Fans of detective novels will, we hope, be enjoying his work for years to come."
--Chicago Sun-Times on WHEN ONE MAN DIES
"Everybody wins when a classic form, such as the private-eye novel, meets up with a class act, such as Dave White. In his remarkable debut novel, WHEN ONE MAN DIES, White manages the neat trick of respecting the genre's traditions while daring to nudge it toward something new and unexpected. And Jackson Donne is a wonderful character, someone with whom readers will happily share many beers in the Olde Towne Tavern for years to come. Lots of promise here -- in Donne and White. I'm rooting for both of them." --Laura Lippman
"Will grab most readers from its opening sentences. Fans of hard-hitting, uncompromising private investigators will hope that Donne ditches his college dreams and continues to pound the pavement."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review) on WHEN ONE MAN DIES
"A terrific novel, a unique and artful blend of the PI and the Police Procedural in a plot as nicely tangled and sexually violent as a cat fight, a story as deceptively simple as your first love and as fatal as your last car wreck. It's a great read."
--James Crumley, Dashiell Hammett Award-winning author of The Last Good Kiss on WHEN ONE MAN DIES
"Stunning...fulfills the promise of his debut...the author does such a fine job of depicting the inner conflicts of his fallible but ultimately heroic protagonist."
--Publishers Weekly on THE EVIL THAT MEN DO
"Intricate plotting and nonstop action make this a nail-biting read from start to finish. White, winner of the Derringer Award for When One Man Dies, is a writer to watch." --Library Journal
"White makes good use of the urban and suburban geography, accurately depicting the terrain. But that's not what makes his sophomore effort so readable and engaging. Rather, it's White's realistic depiction of family dynamics--readers will be struck by the sheer humanity on display in this novel, from Donne's strained relationship with his sister and brother-in-law, to the tragedy of the PI's mother's valiant but futile struggle with Alzheimer's disease, and finally, to the sacrifices that are sometimes required to keep one's family intact and safe." --Mystery Scene
"Dave White's second novel, The Evil That Men Do, absolutely confirms and fulfills the promise of his highly regarded debut Jackson Donne novel, When One Man Dies; so, simply stated, readers looking for top-notch hard-boiled noir fiction featuring an intriguing protagonist and complex characterizations need look no further than Dave White's deftly plotted novels." --Bookloons
"White handles his characters with a balance of emotional tension and action that drives this novel from the critical incident to a conflagration that leaves the survivors stunned."
--CurledUp.com
