Loot the Moon [Hardcover]

Mark Arsenault (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 2009

From the Shamus Award nominee of Spiked comes this much-anticipated sequel to the highly acclaimed Gravewriter

In this next electifying thriller from up-and-coming author Mark Arsenault, former journalist and beaten-down gambler Billy Povich returns to aid Martin Smothers, the Patron Lawyer of Hopeless Causes.

Martin’s old law partner, the well-respected superior court judge Gilbert Harmony, has been shot by a thief who dies in a car crash. The cops close the case, but Martin doesn’t believe a two-bit shoplifter would suddenly kill a judge---somebody must have paid him to do it.

The suspects range from a vengeful mobster to a jealous brother to the judge's widow, and---oops---his mistress and her son. And as Billy comes closer to the truth, it isn't long before the killer takes aim at him.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Shamus-finalist Arsenault's fine second novel to feature former investigative journalist Billy Povich (after 2006's Gravewriter), Povich is writing obituaries for a Charlestown, R.I., newspaper. When ex-con Adam Rackers guns down Charlestown's leading judge, attorney Martin Smothers offers Povich a tougher job—finding out who hired Rackers to carry out the hit. Povich, a single dad with a son to take care of as well as an ailing father, learns a local gangster threatened the judge shortly before the murder. Meanwhile, Smothers discovers the judge had a secret life in New York City, complete with a mistress who considered herself his second wife. The author lightens the hard-nosed detecting with humor, even injecting it effectively into conversations between Povich and his father about end-of-life issues. The action builds to a genuinely surprising but logical solution. Fans of Harry Hunsicker's Dallas PI series (Still River, etc.) will appreciate Povich. (Oct.)
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Review

“[A] fine second novel . . . The action builds to a genuinely surprising but logical solution. Fans of Harry Hunsicker's Dallas PI series (Still River, etc.) will appreciate Povich.”
- Publishers Weekly on Loot the Moon

"Sharp, stylish prose and a great cast of supporting characters"
- Kirkus Reviews on Loot the Moon


Praise for Gravewriter

“Sharp as a knife and fast as a bullet . . . a great thriller.”
- Lee Child

“Arsenault writes like an AK-47 . . . a terrific read.”
- William G. Tapply

“A humdinger of a mystery . . . Billy Povich makes a wonderfully wounded hero.”
- The Providence Journal

“An outstanding, can’t-put-it-down thriller.”
- Library Journal

“It’s that rare bird, a suspense novel with heart.”
- Boston Globe

“Arsenault's terrific writing makes this a page-turner.”
- Kirkus Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (October 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312555768
• ISBN-13: 978-0312555764
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,583,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Arsenault is a Shamus-nominated mystery writer, a journalist, a runner, hiker, reader, political junkie and eBay fanatic, cursed with an incurable itch to collect memorabilia from the 1939 New York World's Fair. His new novel, LOOT THE MOON, was released October 13 by St. Martin's Press. It's the second book in the Billy Povich series that began with GRAVEWRITER, a noir thriller praised for a fusion of suspense, humor and human tenderness.
Arsenault's debut novel, SPIKED, (2003, Poisoned Pen Press) was a finalist for the Shamus Award for Best First Mystery. The story was drawn from his experience as a journalist writing about heroin addicts who lived desperate lives of crime, love and addiction beneath a railroad bridge in Lowell, Massachusetts. His follow-up novel, SPEAK ILL OF THE LIVING, (2005, Poisoned Pen Press) was inspired by two years of jailhouse interviews inside "Supermax," Rhode Island's most secure prison.
With 20 years of experience as a print reporter, Arsenault is one of those weird cranks who still prefers his news on paper.
When he's not at his keyboard, you might find him backpacking up the side of a mountain.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars (4.5) "When you drive past Respect, how far is Jealousy?", October 13, 2009

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Loot the Moon (Hardcover)

A carjacking gets the blood racing in this thriller, an adrenaline rush that is sustained throughout the story. In Rhode Island, Billy Povitch, a fairly unsuccessful gambler and former journalist who writes poetic obituaries at night for a newspaper, is struggling. A widower, Billy is raising his young son and trying to convince his debilitated father that life is still worth living, even on dialysis. Life is tough for this family, but not nearly as tragic as the fate of esteemed Superior Court Judge Gil Harmony, found shot to death the night of the carjacking incident. So when Martin Smothers, Patron Lawyer of Hopeless Cases, requests Povitch's aid, the novel is off and running.

Arsenault writes with an energy that is as much character-driven as plot, delving into the daily trials and disappointments that affect his protagonists and the outrageous behaviors of the criminal element, a vengeful mobster who makes liberal use of his hired muscle, a wise-cracking small-time thief named Scratch and a judge with a sterling reputation and lots of secrets. The judge's death is ruled opportunistic, but Smothers wants Billy to dig deeper into the facts, convinced it is a deliberate hit. And when Billy exercises due diligence, he uncovers shocking information and no shortage of suspects.

Arsenault takes a well-plotted thriller and turns it into something more, a study of human behavior and the vagaries of fate, where a frustrated attacker hides behind a shower curtain with a plastic bag over his head and an ice pick in his fist, where a judge's clerk learns more than she wants to know and a sometimes-investigator gets a beating while sinking into his own grave. With a style similar to Don Winslow (The Winter of Frankie Machine, California Fire and Life), this author has an eye for characters and a great sense of timing, where life pulls no punches and danger is right around the corner ready to pounce. Luan Gaines/2009.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reads Like a Roller Coaster Ride, October 27, 2009

By 

Linda Faulkner (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Loot the Moon (Hardcover)

Loot the Moon is a gripping whodunit that reads like a roller coaster ride. Superior Court Judge Gilbert Harmony is shot dead in his home during a break-in and the killer/thief dies in a car wreck fleeing the scene of the crime. Although the police consider the case open and shut, the judge's friend and former law-partner, Martin Smothers, doesn't.

Why would the thief shoot the judge and dash away without stealing anything? And why did he kidnap the judge's son at gun-point during his exit and then promnptly carjack a passing vehicle?

Martin enlists the aid of Billy Povich, a former journalist with a gambling problem, to help him figure out who hired the two-bit shoplifter turned killer/carjacker to murder the judge. Billy, battling personal problems that include an ailing father and an eight-year old son recovering from his mother's death, uncovers a handful of suspects that include the judge's jealous brother, his widow, and his mistress' son.

Mark Arsenault's writing is crisp, fast-paced, and peppered with insights that will make you laugh--and seriously consider your own relationships. The plot, with its twists and turns, is clever and suspenseful and ends on an unexpected and satisfying conclusion. The characters are quirky, endearing, and all too realistic. I literally couldn't put this book down once I started reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arsenault's best book, October 25, 2009

By 

Mysteryfan2345 (Tampa, Fla) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Loot the Moon (Hardcover)

With the second book of the Providence-based Billy Povich series, Mark Arsenault has made my automatic-buy list. This humorous yet darkly noir novel packs plenty of action around serious philosophical questions about end-of-life issues and family relations.