The Austin Job (Lost DMB Files #18) [Kindle Edition]

David Mark Brown (Author)

Book Description

A TWISTY POLITICAL THRILLER ON HORSEBACK

"Saddle up. Austin's about to get hot!"

"A wild and woolly fantastical adventure. Texas lightning in a bottle...excellent!" ~Thomas O'Donnell

WARNING:
This novel regards genrefication as so much fart gas. (It is also unconcerned that genrefication is not a word.)

Product Description
With the world embroiled in the Great War, power-hungry forces threaten to tear apart the state of Texas in a secret plot to rule the resource that will fuel the future. In The Austin Job, James Starr, bronc rider turned politician, stumbles into a high stakes game of power and lies that he must master before it masters him.

Exploding with double-fisted, cheek-puckering action, including the world's first parkour stunt horse, The Austin Job dares you to cinch your saddle to a bolt of Lone Star lightning and hold on for dear life.

Through this continuation of the Lost DMB Files, dime novelist David Mark Brown (disappeared during the 30's) invites the reader into a world illuminated by human torches and moonlight towers, an underground Austin inhabited by machine and monster alike. Lastly, it's a world where what you don't know can get you killed--or just really, really messed up.

Note from the Editor
The Truth in History Society (THS), commonly known as lost file conspiracists, have beat their drum for nearly a dozen years. I, like most, ignored them. Unlike most, I was kidnapped. While initially ticked off by this, not getting exploded (another story altogether) ultimately balanced the scales.

Since then I have rigorously set about curating and editing all known Lost DMB Files while maintaining as scientific of an approach to these pulpy stories as possible. Now I count myself among the zealous believers in their authenticity, not simply as pulp fiction, but as journalistic tales preserving historic fact.

My promise to the reader is to seek out these Lost DMB files and present them to you unabridged and unaltered from their original intent for as long as I am able. I also vow to do my best to allow you to draw your own conclusions as to their historical value and contemporary commentary. (I'll refrain from my preachy tendencies as best I can!)

Finally, be forewarned. Becoming lost in these "lost files" and the world they reconstruct is difficult to resist. May what once was lost be found.

Professor Jim "Buck" Buckner

All Currently Known Lost DMB Files (including assumed gaps)
Reefer Ranger (#9)
Del Rio Con Amor (#14)
Fistful of Reefer (#17)
The Austin Job (#18)
Hell's Womb (#22)
Get Doc Quick (#24)
McCutchen's Bones (#25)
Twitch and Die! (#26)
Paraplegic Zombie Slayer (#35)
Fourth Horseman (#43)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David has published non-fiction as well as novels, shorts and novellas within the DMB universe. Feel free to google, poke, fan or like him, but do it fast before he's disappeared by the FBI. (After that all inquires must be sent through the Dept. of Homeland Security.)

His body of works include the Lost DMB Files, a loose knit series of pulpy adventure stories revealing details of a secret past. The DMB Files (primary author Jim Buckner) are near-future thrillers for readers who enjoy a ripping story a few degrees south of ordinary. These stories rely on the Lost Files as source documents. David has also begun work on a dystopian, young adult crossover series entitled, DMB's Shadow. These stories work toward unwrapping the ultimate cosmology of the DMB universe from yet another angle. Read one series. Read them all.

Product Details

• File Size: 557 KB
• Print Length: 238 pages
• Publisher: StoneGate Ink; 1 edition (December 6, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006J0X0IO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,680 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like reading and you don't buy this at this price you're a fool January 16, 2012

By Peter Francis

Format:Kindle Edition

With The Austin Job David Mark Brown proves that just because the publishing industry is in decline doesn't mean that good authors don't have original and scintillating tales rummaging around their head that deserve to be read! Having enjoyed the first "Reeferpunk" (a fantastic new diselpunk-cum-Wild West genre Mr Brown has pioneered) novel I've been waiting in ernest for the sophomore effort. I'm pleased to say that it doesn't disappoint. New story, new adventures set in a world that I'm quickly coming to feel very at home in and, dare I say, am falling quite literally in love with. I'd recommend reading the first book...well first, to get some semblance of the world Brown has created. The Austin Job assumes readers are familiar with this exciting new genre and they'd be doing themselves a disservice by not acquainting themselves with it prior to attempting this new tale.

The opening chapter is probably the best opening I've read since the Da Vinci code and James Starr (great name) is a local-boy with the world on his shoulders hero that Josef Stalin would have a hard time disliking. The action is thick and fast, the prose tense and terse but what really makes the Austin Job tick are Brown's characters and the way this motley rabble connect and cross each others lives like a Chinese puzzle. Real human characters jus d'esprit with real emotions that readers can really sink their teeth into. The good might not be so good, the bad might not be all bad and the ugly...well lets just say there's plenty of them in there to keep things interesting. For me the real joy in the Austin Job was watching this talented new author sashay from romance to wild-west action, to political mystery without a single hiccup in his literary dance step....

I'm onboard for this wild Reeferpunk ride now with David Mark Brown, and I'm screaming to go faster! Read more ›

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Best horse in a story ever... December 31, 2011

By Mr. Stuart G. Wilson

Format:Kindle Edition

A great addition to the world created by David in A Fistful of Reefer, this is a great romp through a slightly different Texas.

Action packed, with a great storyline, good characters and brilliantly conceived setting, the story grabs you by the throat and shoves you into a world of intrigue, monsters, whirlwind romance and of course breathtaking ride with the horse version of Jackie Chan. Thoroughly enjoyable.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Once more into the breach December 9, 2011

By fauxpunker

Format:Kindle Edition

David's wacky alt-Texas grows. Taking place during roughly the same time as Fistful of Reefer (events overlap a bit), we're introduced to some new faces as well as a couple of familiar ones. Starr makes for another enjoyable lead character as he gets caught up in events way bigger than himself, though I found a certain character from Reefer to be the most compelling. With plenty of action, humor, and a touch of who's-cheating-who fun thrown in for good measure, The Austin Job is nice second step into a slightly wacky world I hope to see more of.

4.0 out of 5 stars Attention Grabber May 8, 2013

By Brian E. Lee

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I seriously couldn't put this book down! David Mark Brown packs a lot in to the story-line. Great characters. Lots of action. Haunting parallels to present issues.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Reeferpunk breaks new ground for a fun, fast ride February 8, 2012

By Scott Bury

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Austin Job by David Mark Brown.

As soon as I started it, I realized that I should have read its predecessor, Fistful of Reefer, which creates and introduces the new sub-sub-genre of science fiction, reefer punk. According to the author's introduction to The Austin Job, "reefer punk" fiction is alternate history, set in the western US, based on the premise that oil never got cheap, and instead energy comes from "cellulosic ethanol from the wonderful cannabis plant."

I haven't read any "steampunk," "dieselpunk" or any other "-punk" work before, although I have seen some movies that fit into the genre. The idea is appealing on an intellectual as well as aesthetic level. I love the look of the cyberpunk and dieselpunk ethos--the curving metal, the 1920s Art Deco typography. But pulling off a story that works is a challenge. You have to create a world and a history that is believable while different from our own; an alternative history that patently makes sense and stems from a recognizable point of divergence from our own history; and at the same time not get bogged down in back-story--the bane of many new writers.

This is not Brown's first novel, but with just two novels and a collection of short stories out, he still counts as a new author.

Strengths
The setting is Austin, Texas in 1918. The story brings together an embittered Ukrainian Bolshevik refugee from the Russian Revolution, a newly elected Texas state senator who is beginning his journey to political disillusionment, an aging sheriff, his beautiful and headstrong daughter, and, of course, a fantastically rich banking tycoon.

The conflict starts right away, with lots of literal pyrotechnics.... Just after the state election, a new State Senator, the young and handsome former rodeo cowboy Jim Starr (what a cowboy name!) is courted by two sides in a seething social tension in the state.

Economically, times are hard. Students and union members are striking and have rioted. The match is lit, literally and figuratively, by the mysterious Professor Medved ("bear" in Ukrainian), and once that happens, the action never stops.

Brown describes the technology and gadgets very well. As far as I can tell, the streetcars, derricks and other machinery fit well into the dieselpunk genre, as far as I can tell.

Most of the characters are believable, even sympathetic. I can identify with Jim Starr, someone who is tentatively finding his way in a new line of work after he can no longer pursue his first career (rodeo cowboy, remember?), and I really felt for Sheriff Lickter. I could even feel a connection to the villain, and I felt I could understand, if not condone, his thinking and actions.

The villain is very believable, except for his name: Oleg Rodchenko. It's Russian. To be Ukrainian, it should be Oleh. On the other hand, Brown may be showing how Russified Ukraine is in our world as well as in his alternative version.

Weaknesses
This bring me to the only plot weakness: the somewhat unclear state of the world. For example in the Reeferpunk history, what is the state of Russia? Had the Bolshevik Revolution failed?
This is a forgivable weakness, however. An author cannot fit a description of the whole world into one novel, and should not try. Brown says he's planning a series, which will give him room to explore his alterative world.

While almost all the characters are believable, the femme fatale is contrived. Daisy Lickter is a headstrong, capable as well as beautiful. She rallies the women in the Women's Bank (another piece of the alternative history?) She's just too good.

Style: smooth
Brown is a professional writer. Unlike so many independent authors, he obviously knows how to write. The book had very few typos and a couple of words were missing. It's far ahead of many independently published books that I've read lately.

Brown has created a fascinating world and populated it with entertaining and sympathetic characters. The Austin Job is a fun ride, well worth a read. Check it out. Read more ›

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another fantastic book from DMB! February 2, 2012

By Jason

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I continue to be amazed at the writing of David Mark Brown. This book was an absolute blast - a Wild Wild West thrill ride through an alternate past of Texas mayhem. Read this book today and remember this author. He's a voice you'll be hearing from in a big way.

More About the Author

David has published non-fiction as well as novels, shorts and novellas within the DMB universe. Feel free to google, poke, fan or like him, but do it fast before he's disappeared by the FBI. (After that all inquires must be sent through the Dept. of Homeland Security.)

Raised in Central Texas, David Mark Brown learned to ride horses at a young age. Then learned to hate them after a disastrous attempt to impress a girlfriend. He was five.

Turning instead to a life of poetry and prose he eventually migrated north to the University of Montana (the Berkeley of the Rockies) and became the Redneck Granola.

Falling in love with a chainsaw wielding mountain woman forced him to reconsider his chosen career path--Hemingway on a sailboat. Instead he illuminated the path of life to college students as a spiritual guide for over a dozen years while his wife (now a pharmacist) squirreled away enough acorns for David to embrace the sultry world of commercial fiction.

His body of works include the Lost DMB Files, a loose knit series of pulpy adventure stories revealing details of a secret past. The DMB Files (primary author Jim Buckner) are near-future thrillers for readers who enjoy a ripping story a few degrees south of ordinary. These stories rely on the Lost Files as source documents. David has also begun work on a dystopian, young adult crossover series entitled, The Green Ones. These stories work toward unwrapping the ultimate cosmology of the DMB universe from yet another angle. Read one series. Read them all.

David still rides horses, but only in black and never for fun.

Enjoy the show!