Cheap Shot: A Drew Gavin Mystery [Hardcover]

Steve Brewer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2002

A phone call in the night brings sports editor Drew Gavin to the aid of reporter Curtis White, who has awoken beside a brutally murdered cheerleader. Unable to recall anything from the night before, Curtis swears he's innocent, and Drew believes him.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steve Brewer is the author of nine other crime novels. His weekly newspaper column, The Home Front, is distributed nationally by Scripps Howard News Service. He lives in Redding, CA, with his wife and two sons.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 321 pages
• Publisher: Intrigue Press; 1ST edition (October 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890768456
• ISBN-13: 978-1890768454
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,273,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

STEVE BREWER is the author of more than 20 books about crooks, including the recent crime novels LOST VEGAS, THE BIG WINK and CALABAMA.

His first novel, LONELY STREET, was made into a Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna. BOOST currently is under film/TV option.

Brewer's short fiction appeared in the anthologies DAMN NEAR DEAD, THE LAST NOEL, CRIMES BY MOONLIGHT and WEST COAST CRIME WAVE, and he's published articles in Mystery Scene, Crimespree and Mystery Readers' Journal.

A former journalist and syndicated humor columnist, Brewer now works as a writing coach, book doctor and University of New Mexico lecturer. A frequent speaker at mystery conventions, he was toastmaster at Left Coast Crime in 2011.

Married and the father of two adult sons, Brewer lives in Albuquerque, NM.

More at www.stevebrewer.blogspot.com. Write him at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 2ND Drew Gavin Mystery A Hit!, March 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Cheap Shot: A Drew Gavin Mystery (Hardcover)

Steve Brewer replaces the humor that so often punctuates his Bubba Mabry novels with suspense and action that keeps the reader engaged throughout. Unlike Bubba, Drew Gavin is a more confident, less klutzsy protagonist who takes on challenges with an aggressive, "take no prisoners attitude."

But one aspect of Brewer's writing that is so rewarding for the reader, and which is a hallmark of all of his books, is his uncanny ability to describe his characters so that you can see and even smell them, as though they were standing in front of you. When he writes that the high-tech guru, Wally Mertz, " . . . looked like Alley Oop" and then adds, "Lank black hair . . .", "A square face and a heavy brow and a long upper lip.", "A jagged beard along his jawline.", and "Big forearms . . ." you picture the guy and know the character in a way that few writers are able to convey. Brewer makes you care about his protagonists, his victims, and even the peripheral characters. And boy does he make you hate the bad guys!

I can't wait for the next book in the Drew Gavin series.

4.0 out of 5 stars Fully professional mystery novel, January 12, 2012

By 

drkhimxz (Freehold, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cheap Shot (The Drew Gavin mysteries) (Kindle Edition)

Steve Brewer has produced a mystery novel in a style possible only to a true professional. The lead character, department head of a local newspaper sports section, is an interesting character who can easily fit the role of hero in a mystery series. He is a more humanized, less weighty, detective in the mold created by Hammett and Chandler, so ably enhanced by Kenneth Millar (as Ross MacDonald. The plot, while clearly outlined, has its tricky aspects, the characters who count are well delineated. The complexity of the plot does not produce a dense text, it remains light throughout. Most amateur detective fans will find the book most entertaining.