The murder at Joe Café is an abomination. It stops the entire universe. For Michael, it tarnishes everything, including his badge. For Chet and his hostage, it is the beginning of a chase that will lead them through dingy motels and the darkest corridors of their minds. Dogan just wants Sara back. Jimmy the Cat wants to make up for all the time he has wasted. Frankie wants to live a 'moral' life, erasing everyone in his path who does not live up to his standards. Conventional notions of good and evil quickly blur as they are all forced to look into the mirrors they have avoided for so long. Chilling and horrifying, whimsical and wretched, Joe Café's cast of broken characters try to find their way in a world they never understood to begin with...for the Chens, it is easy. They are dead.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Patrick R
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
JD Mader spins a dark, introspective crime thriller about the nature of evil. Both introspective and suspenseful, this short novel takes the reader into a sordid world of strip clubs, cheap hotels, and mafia hitmen. Gruesome scenes contrast with the beauty of fishing on a tranquil lake. Deep psychological character development stands next to sudden flashes of action. The characters are developed with care--even the mobsters seem like flesh and blood (as opposed to cardboard cutouts). With a few unexpected twists in this upside-down moral universe, Joe Cafe keeps the reader guessing without being trite or glib.
If you're looking for a well-written, powerful crime novel that keeps you thinking, buy Joe Cafe. You won't regret it.
If you're looking for a well-written, powerful crime novel that keeps you thinking, buy Joe Cafe. You won't regret it.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Joe Cafe is my first exposure to J.D. Mader and evidently his first mainstream publication as well. Mader really knows how to tell a story and got this reader from page one. The many characters are brought to life well and the plot line never strays. This book is hard to put down and leaves you thinking about what is next when you do have to take a break.
Good work! Can't wait for the next tale.
Good work! Can't wait for the next tale.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By jillian_jigs
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I picked Joe Cafe up on a random Wednesday night and then found myself picking it up every spare minute or 30 seconds I could find until I finished! JD Mader creates a whole world and its characters that go so deep that you find yourself getting completely immersed in them. They are so well drawn and have such depth that I found myself thinking of Mader as a modern day Damon Runyon- if Runyon had ever taken his light, humorous style to a much darker, deeper place. The book is full of twists and surprises while you follow the journey of these characters, and you find yourself caught in never quite knowing who is good and who is evil. You just know that you kind of love all of them. I was extremely impressed and very moved by this first work I've read of JD Mader. I would definitely recommend this (and already have to many).
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great story, well told
An essential element in a good read is that it is long enough to fully develop and tell the story without padding the writing with extraneous details just to increase the length. Read more
Published 2 months ago by .
4.0 out of 5 stars
Grisly in a Good Way
When I first read this book last year, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. But I've since revisited Joe Cafe after reading more of JD Mader's work and I can see how he's really... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jennifer D.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Disturbing and suspenseful
A disturbing and suspenseful story about a pregnant exotic dancer who is kidnapped by a murderous psycho. Her frantic boyfriend will go to any lengths to find her. Read more
Published 2 months ago by M White
5.0 out of 5 stars
A grown up psychological thriller
In many ways 'Joe Cafe' is a simple story. We learn almost from the beginning that the villain of the piece is a character called Chet. Read more
Published 3 months ago by ACFlory
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Love It
I really enjoyed this read. Good storyline and a wide range of characters. I liked that it had an overall happy ending.
Published 4 months ago by Jeremy
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's okay
This story is very dark and somewhat depressing. The sheriff's outcome was particularly unsatisfying. I wouldn't recommend it but it's okay.
Published 6 months ago by Tomereader
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great first book!
This is a great first book by an indie author about people who are thrust into a very bad situation and how they handle it and themselves. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jacqueline R Walton
3.0 out of 5 stars
Grabbed me at the beginning
Joe Cafe is a good book. The beginning grabbed me, with its graphic descriptions of the characters (the Chen family and their loyal customer) and the places, especially Joe Cafe. Read more
Published 8 months ago by GinnyReader
4.0 out of 5 stars
See the World Through Different Eyes
I was thinking about this book after I finished it last night. Have you ever noticed that when a murder occurs, we only think about the victim's family and close friends and what... Read more
Published 9 months ago by SeaWitch
1.0 out of 5 stars
Big Disappointment
I wanted to like this novel and kept hoping it was going somewhere.... it never happened.
Quite disappointing. Read more
Quite disappointing. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Michael J. Brungs
More About the Author
JD Mader is a writer and musician who hangs his laptop in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mader began writing professionally at age fourteen as a sportswriter and columnist in San Diego. He is a graduate of the illustrious Creative Writing program at San Francisco State University.
Mader is an award winning short story writer and novelist. His work has been described as "powerful and real", "gritty", and "rock and roll-literary". "Joe Café" is a character-based, psychological drama. "Please, no eyes." is a collection of short stories, many of which take place in San Francisco. "The Biker" is the first in a series of Matt Stark novels - urban, postmodern takes on the classic western form. Mader maintains a blog: www.jdmader.com and frequently writes about fishing and motorcycling. He is the president of a MC club, the PPMC.
From reviews:
"Stylistically the novel is both elegant and dark, moving between evocative descriptive passages and sharp edge dialogue. Using flashbacks, it gets you inside the killer's head and Mader cleverly manages to allow you to see the reasons Chet Mooney has ended up this way. This is one of the strengths of Joe Café, it digs behind the behaviour of the characters and gets beneath the skin. In its thematic darkness and narrative style Joe Café is a Noir novel and a fine one at that." - Review of Joe Cafe, by British Author and Playwright Richard Godwin.
"Mader has a sense of understated occasion, an understanding of the dull and devious. Of the harrowing and the hardboiled. Never is this better discovered by a reader than when the interior lives of a number of less-than-savory characters are dissected. Discovering an author who can write despair, hopelessness, confusion and deep, deep loneliness can be a shock. It can sadden, but it can also impress. Yes, there are people who live like this, and think like this, and there are writers who can make it all tangible." - "According to Luke" Author, Rosanne Dingli
Mader is an award winning short story writer and novelist. His work has been described as "powerful and real", "gritty", and "rock and roll-literary". "Joe Café" is a character-based, psychological drama. "Please, no eyes." is a collection of short stories, many of which take place in San Francisco. "The Biker" is the first in a series of Matt Stark novels - urban, postmodern takes on the classic western form. Mader maintains a blog: www.jdmader.com and frequently writes about fishing and motorcycling. He is the president of a MC club, the PPMC.
From reviews:
"Stylistically the novel is both elegant and dark, moving between evocative descriptive passages and sharp edge dialogue. Using flashbacks, it gets you inside the killer's head and Mader cleverly manages to allow you to see the reasons Chet Mooney has ended up this way. This is one of the strengths of Joe Café, it digs behind the behaviour of the characters and gets beneath the skin. In its thematic darkness and narrative style Joe Café is a Noir novel and a fine one at that." - Review of Joe Cafe, by British Author and Playwright Richard Godwin.
"Mader has a sense of understated occasion, an understanding of the dull and devious. Of the harrowing and the hardboiled. Never is this better discovered by a reader than when the interior lives of a number of less-than-savory characters are dissected. Discovering an author who can write despair, hopelessness, confusion and deep, deep loneliness can be a shock. It can sadden, but it can also impress. Yes, there are people who live like this, and think like this, and there are writers who can make it all tangible." - "According to Luke" Author, Rosanne Dingli
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