Blood on the Tracks by Guy Hale

Jimmy Wayne is headed for LA to make the new album that will hopefully make him a star. In a quiet, deserted canyon a few miles outside Blackjack lie the bodies of his victims who inspired each song – all his secrets are buried in that dry and arid ground. Can he leave his past behind or will the ghosts of his past come back to haunt him?

Can be read as a standalone or as part of the series.

Review

‘Blood on the Tracks’ is a brilliant ‘second album’ and is full of vicious events and even darker humour! This is the second book that features Jimmy Wayne in ‘The Comeback Trail’ but you could pick it up as a standalone read. I would recommend reading the first book ‘Killing Me Softly’ though as you understand the motivation and backstory that much more. Plus, Jimmy and his story is so unique that to do it justice you really should read it from the start.

Jimmy Wayne is heading to LA to make his new album, he has his band, a producer, a manager and a residence in Las Vegas to look forward to! Life is good for Jimmy even if it's based on a lot of dead bodies. Kid, his bass player, alludes to his many talents more in this outing and I loved getting to know him all the better. Let's just say he has a very intriguing past! I'm hoping that we get to learn more about this in the next book as for me he is becoming a very intriguing and nuanced character!

There is a lot less killing in this book, well by Jimmy that is! Jack the Las Vegas gangster and his terrifying mother, Ma make up for it though. The action is just as dark, if not more so than the first book but it's still lightened Hale’s sharp witticism and somehow makes the reader actually enjoy it! The pacing of this book was slightly slower than the first as there are more side plots alongside Jimmy’s story and they are intertwining to what I'm hoping is a huge showdown in the next book. I can't wait to see and find out more about John R. Deal!

This series is proving to be a big hit and I have loved every minute of it so far. Part of its charm is that even though it's dealing with esoteric matters it feels so authentic and that's down to the standard of Hale’s writing! Plus, he has his own experience with the music industry to fall back on when writing, which makes those parts especially feel real. It's not often I would contemplate a re-read of a book as there as my TBR pile is massive but I already know I would return to this series which means it must be pretty special!

Let me know if you pick this one up!