Russian Roulette [Paperback]

Austin S Camacho (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2009

Russian Roulette is the fifth book in the Hannibal Jones Mystery series. Washington D.C.'s professional troubleshooter, Hannibal Jones, is enraged when he is forced to take a case at gunpoint. His client is a Russian assassin who will kill Hannibal's beloved, Cindy Santiago, if Hannibal refuses to help him. With no choice, Hannibal agrees to investigate the smooth, wealthy Algerian who has stolen the heart of the woman his new client loves. At first the case looks simple - what woman would not choose a rich African businessman over a professional killer? His view changes when evidence surfaces connecting the Algerian to Russian mob money and the apparent suicide of the girl's father several years earlier. Further investigation reveals that the Algerian may not be who he says he is. Then more deaths follow, closing in on the Algerian and the girl. At first working only to protect Cindy's life, Hannibal is soon chasing the truth for its own sake and must fight his way through past lies, present jealousies and the Red Mafiya to learn the real reason that death is stalking the couple. Hannibal peels the Algerian's history like an onion, each layer revealing a false identity. His search for the truth leads to a dramatic shootout on Roosevelt Island, side-by-side with his murderous client.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Hannibal Jones: Russian Roulette - And what a game it is Hannibal Jones: confident, sly, the thinking man s troubleshooter, faces off against the Russian mob, if only he can figure out who the players are and who s fighting whom... Russian Roulette delivers a whipsaw of a plot with more layers than a Vidalia onion.... Camacho gets it right with solid storytelling and compelling characters, all set in the off-beat neighborhoods of the Nation s Capital... Don t miss it! --Libby Fischer Hellmann, Author of the Ellie Foreman mystery/suspense series

An energetic mix of murder and international intrigue. Austin Camacho is a talent to watch. --JoAnn Ross, NY Times Bestselling Author of the High Risk Series

Hannibal Jones is no John Shaft wannabe. He stands on his own as a welcome addition to the ranks of the fictional private eye. --Robert J. Randisi, Founder, The Private Eye Writers of America

An energetic mix of murder and international intrigue. Austin Camacho is a talent to watch. --JoAnn Ross, NY Times Bestselling Author of the High Risk Series

Hannibal Jones is no John Shaft wannabe. He stands on his own as a welcome addition to the ranks of the fictional private eye. --Robert J. Randisi, Founder, The Private Eye Writers of America

About the Author

Austin S. Camacho was born in New York City but grew up in Saratoga Springs, New York. He majored in psychology at Union College in Schenectady, New York. There he read a number of good books, learned to tell good beer from bad, and became a brother in the Alpha Delpha Phi fraternity. Actually, the frat was largely responsible for the books and the beer. Dwindling finances and escalating costs brought his college days to an end after three years. Then came the factory work, the five years selling insurance, and finally, the Army. He enlisted as a weapons repairman but soon moved into a more appropriate field. The Army trained him to be a broadcast journalist. Disc jockey time alternated with news writing, video camera and editing work public affairs assignments and news anchor duties. During his thirteen years as a soldier, Austin lived in Missouri, California, Maryland, Georgia and Belgium. He also spent a couple of exciting weeks in Israel during Desert Storm, covering the action with the Patriot missile crews and capturing scud showers on video tape. While enlisted he finished his Bachelor's Degree at night and started his Master's, and rose to the rank of Sergeant First Class. And in his spare moments, he began writing adventure and mystery novels set in some of the exotic places he'd visited. After leaving the Army in 1996 he continued writing military news for the Defense Department as a civilian, frequently serving as on air anchor for the American Forces Information Service. Today he does public affairs work for the DoD agency charged with guarding the health of service members when they are deployed. He has settled in northern Virginia with his wife Denise and Princess The Wonder Cat.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Intrigue Publishing (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979478847
• ISBN-13: 978-0979478840
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #787,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Austin S. Camacho was born in New York City but grew up in Saratoga Springs, New York. He majored in psychology at Union College in Schenectady, New York. There he read a number of good books, learned to tell good beer from bad, and became a brother in the Alpha Delpha Phi fraternity. Actually, the frat was largely responsible for the books and the beer.

Dwindling finances and escalating costs brought his college days to an end after three years. Then came the factory work, the five years selling insurance, and finally, the Army. He enlisted as a weapons repairman but soon moved into a more appropriate field. The Army trained him to be a broadcast journalist. Disc jockey time alternated with news writing, video camera and editing work public affairs assignments and news anchor duties.

During his thirteen years as a soldier, Austin lived in Missouri, California, Maryland, Georgia and Belgium. He also spent a couple of exciting weeks in Israel during Desert Storm, covering the action with the Patriot missile crews and capturing scud showers on video tape. While enlisted he finished his Bachelor's Degree at night and started his Master's, and rose to the rank of Sergeant First Class. And in his spare moments, he began writing adventure and mystery novels set in some of the exotic places he'd visited.

After leaving the Army in 1996 he continued writing military news for the Defense Department as a civilian, frequently serving as on air anchor for the American Forces Information Service. Today he does public affairs work for the DoD agency charged with guarding the health of service members when they are deployed. He has settled in northern Virginia with his wife Denise.

When he's not writing Austin likes to run along the shores of the Potomac, watch action films, and shoot - at paper targets, not live ones. He is a voracious reader of just about any kind of nonfiction, plus mysteries, adventures and thrillers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast Paced Thriller!, July 11, 2009

By 

MSEreads "mesreads" (Marianna, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Russian Roulette (Paperback)

My rating 4.75 out of 5

This is a fast paced, twisting mystery! If you like the Alex Cross series by James Patterson you will like this series as well!

The writing is tight and crisp with a tone perfect for a private investigator mystery. In addition to the solid mystery, the author does a wonderful job with background descriptions including details of the smells and sights surrounding Hannibal.

This was my first Hannibal Jones read but won't be my last. Although it is part of a series I found it was fine to jump into this book. It is a very good PI mystery thriller!

Read my full review at:

[...]

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hannibal The Affable, June 26, 2009

By 

Christopher D. Hober (Falls Church, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Russian Roulette (Paperback)

A guy walks into a bar, looks up and down the deli menu and he'd like a ham and cheese on rye and an open-faced detective. Bartender says the only rye he's got is in a bottle, but as to the open-faced detective? Hannibal Jones is right there in the corner, nursing a vodka and coffee...and several bruises.

"Russian Roulette" was my first brush with Hannibal Jones and the thing about the character that immediately struck me was his completely open and straightforward approach to a case. No Sherlock Holmes here folks, as Hannibal is not a master of deduction. If Hannibal wants to know something, he simply goes to the individual, tells them what he is about and asks for information. And while a couple of buxom manipulating dames are included in the tradition of any good detective story, he's no booze, broads and bullets dick in the style of Mike Hammer either. One could liken him, perhaps, to a steely black pinball with shades bouncing where his leads take him throughout the D.C. beltway and beyond.

That brings up one fun aspect of the story. You never know what interesting locations you might discover while searching out clues. After reading the story, I found myself wanting to check out a couple of the sites introduced therein. Another thing I discovered while reading "Russian Roulette" was that I really liked Hannibal Jones, so much so that I was willing to become invested in his personal life and get emotionally involved when both his girlfriend Cindy and Hannibal's relationship with her are threatened.

This was a good read, and one could deduce the mystery if reading carefully. Now that I have been introduced to Hannibal, I think that I'll go check out some of his earlier case files.

Chris Hober

Falls Church, VA

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Camacho does it AGAIN!, June 14, 2009

By 

MysteryReaderNC "I love a little mystery, don... (NC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Russian Roulette (Paperback)

In RUSSIAN ROULETTE, Austin S. Camacho's latest Hannibal Jones mystery, the thrills start on page one and never let up!

Hannibal is being forced to dig up the facts on a wealthy and well-connected Algerian who is set to marry the daughter of a deceased big wig within the Russian mob! Her old flame, Aleksandr Ivanovich (an enforcer for the same group of 'gentlemen') needs to know if his beloved will be cared for the way he thinks she deserves. To insure Hannibal's cooperation, Alexander gives an ultimatum: Protect the love of my life or lose yours! Given no choice, Hannibal sets out to get the information on a man who may not be at all what he seems!

All the while, Hannibal's girlfriend Cindy is unaware she is in any danger and is busy looking for her dream house she wants to share with Hannibal--but is he ready for that kind of commitment? Add in the fact that Cindy has a lot more money than Hannibal and his male ego may be getting in the way of his lifetime of happiness with the woman he loves. But before he can make any commitments, he has to save her life--without her even knowing about it.

In RUSSIAN ROULETTE, Hannibal gets to do what Hannibal does best--kick butt and take names--and he never even gets a scratch on those signature Oakleys!

This is hands-down and by far the BEST Camacho novel YET! The pacing is fast, the action is heart-pounding and Mr. Camacho's word choice is sublime! The pictures he paints with words are worthy of the term MASTERPIECE!

If you're only going to read one thriller this year--make it RUSSIAN ROULETTE, but read it TWICE!