John Owens

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About John Owens
John Owens was born in Liverpool, England in 1953 and journeyed to Canada at the age of two (apparently with some assistance). Raised and schooled in Ottawa, he obtained a BA in English Literature from Trent University followed by an MA from Queen's. After a teaching stint in the Bahamas, he returned to Ottawa where he began a 32-year career in marketing and public relations with, successively, a charity, a technology company, the Ottawa Senators hockey team, and, since 1996, with his own marketing and communications business.
Owens kicked off the comic Jake Lydon mystery series with Connecdead, followed up by Machete and Bushwhacked.
The fourth novel in the series, Jackpot, is oh so close to completion.
He is also the author of two novels of historical fiction -- On the Rails and The Sixth String -- and more than 30 short stories. He is married to long-suffering and saintly Maggie. They live in Morrisburg, Ontario on the banks of the St. Lawrence River and in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida on -- wait for it -- the banks of the Gulf of Mexico.
For more information or to sign up for John's Newsletter visit https://www.johnowensauthor.com/
Owens kicked off the comic Jake Lydon mystery series with Connecdead, followed up by Machete and Bushwhacked.
The fourth novel in the series, Jackpot, is oh so close to completion.
He is also the author of two novels of historical fiction -- On the Rails and The Sixth String -- and more than 30 short stories. He is married to long-suffering and saintly Maggie. They live in Morrisburg, Ontario on the banks of the St. Lawrence River and in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida on -- wait for it -- the banks of the Gulf of Mexico.
For more information or to sign up for John's Newsletter visit https://www.johnowensauthor.com/
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Author Updates
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Blog postWith all the serious political doings going on in Belarus, oh, and the US, I thought I might address Jake Lydon’s politics – or the somewhat odd lack thereof. Readers (bless you!) may have noticed that even though he’l l go on and on about everything else, Jake expresses no overtly political opinions in the first three published mysteries (and also in my fourth book in the series which is coming soon!).
Why is that, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. Two main reasons: the murders and evil3 months ago Read more -
Blog postOctober 8, 2020
Sorry for the foul language but I’m gosh darned pleased to see Bushwacked, the third Jake Lydon mystery, make it to reality. It was a gas to write and here’s hoping that the readers who told me they liked its predecessors, Connecdead and Machete, will feel the same way about the latest installment in the series. By the by, I like that I can legally and officially call it a series.
When you think about it (and I think about shit like this all the time) writing m4 months ago Read more -
Blog postAfter putting out two books of mostly serious historical fiction (On the Rails – 2007 and The Sixth String – 2013) I decided on a change of pace by trying my hand at the wide, wonderful world of mystery writing.
Retirement and location, location, location played big roles in this decision. I’ve been lucky enough that, for the last six winters, the only real work I’ve done is gardening and the only ice I’ve seen has been in my gin & tonics. When you’re chasing perpetual summer you5 months ago Read more
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Books By John Owens
On the Rails: A Novel
Sep 17, 2010
by
John Owens
$9.99
Set against the harsh backdrop of the Great Depression, On the Rails traces the journey of Michael Shymchuk (later Shutt), a boy from the Canadian prairies who escapes a bitter family life and a failing farm to ride the train rails, crossing the country and the paths of a memorable cast of characters.
Fleeing poverty and abandoning perhaps the love of his life, Michael enlists in the legendary Royal Canadian Mounted Police, where he comes face to face with bootleggers, bandits, whores, murderers, and, ultimately, all the evil men do. Finally, in the unforgiving Canadian Arctic, among the Inuit, the missionaries, and the mercenaries, Michael's body and spirit are severely tested as he deals with the brutal environment, another mans insanity, and the haunting discovery of a nineteenth-century English expedition. Death comes close, and he faces an intense day of reckoning with all that he believes.
Tracing one young mans journey into manhood and self-knowledge, On the Rails is an adventure, a bittersweet love story, and an epic tale of sin, redemption, and the agonizing choices that confront us all.
Fleeing poverty and abandoning perhaps the love of his life, Michael enlists in the legendary Royal Canadian Mounted Police, where he comes face to face with bootleggers, bandits, whores, murderers, and, ultimately, all the evil men do. Finally, in the unforgiving Canadian Arctic, among the Inuit, the missionaries, and the mercenaries, Michael's body and spirit are severely tested as he deals with the brutal environment, another mans insanity, and the haunting discovery of a nineteenth-century English expedition. Death comes close, and he faces an intense day of reckoning with all that he believes.
Tracing one young mans journey into manhood and self-knowledge, On the Rails is an adventure, a bittersweet love story, and an epic tale of sin, redemption, and the agonizing choices that confront us all.
Bushwhacked: A Jake Lydon Mystery Book
Sep 27, 2020
by
Johns Owens
$4.99
In Bushwhacked, the 3rd Jake Lydon mystery, we find our “hero” looking forward to a laid-back summer after a sh*tstorm of a winter in the Caribbean, (as chronicled in Machete). His dream of a little gardening and a lot of over-refreshment around his hovel-by-the-lake in cottage country is shattered by a ruthless developer intent of seizing Jake’s prime real estate and hundreds of acres around him.
To no one’s surprise, Jake holds out, incurring the wrath of the entire community (except Carl, his laconic neighbour). As Jake digs into the shady motivations of all the players involved, he must face escalating acts of vandalism that turn to violence and, finally, attempted murder.
And then there’s that pesky matter of two dead politicians – one opposed and one supporting Edgewater Estates. Were their deaths accidental as the police concluded? Or were they bushwhacked?
Jake has only one option: to put that beer down and figure it all out before things get even uglier.
Irreverent, outrageous, and funny as hell, Bushwhacked is squarely aimed at a boomer audience that just may want a change from a steady diet of grim noir detective novels.
WARNING – Contains a surprising number of potty-mouth words.
To no one’s surprise, Jake holds out, incurring the wrath of the entire community (except Carl, his laconic neighbour). As Jake digs into the shady motivations of all the players involved, he must face escalating acts of vandalism that turn to violence and, finally, attempted murder.
And then there’s that pesky matter of two dead politicians – one opposed and one supporting Edgewater Estates. Were their deaths accidental as the police concluded? Or were they bushwhacked?
Jake has only one option: to put that beer down and figure it all out before things get even uglier.
Irreverent, outrageous, and funny as hell, Bushwhacked is squarely aimed at a boomer audience that just may want a change from a steady diet of grim noir detective novels.
WARNING – Contains a surprising number of potty-mouth words.
Other Formats:
Paperback
by
John Owens
$2.99
Jake Lydon is back! And looking forward to a relaxing winter in the tropics after the summer “shi*tstorm” chronicled in Connecdead. But the part-time detective and full-time slacker’s dream of endless beer and beach is shattered by the grisly murder of a friend and fellow expatriate. Was it a simple robbery gone horrifically wrong or something more? Something that points the finger at one of Jake’s motley crew of drinking buddies as the killer?
As with pretty well everything else in his middle-age, Jake doesn’t have a friggin’ clue. And neither does Arturo “Arty” Diaz, the region’s top cop, who reluctantly takes Jake on as his unofficial deputy.
Together, the improbable duo digs deeper, throwing out all the “possible” scenarios to get to the “likely” ones.
And together they discover that the mostly likely solution lies with a vicious criminal enterprise exploiting the lives of the most vulnerable on their Caribbean island. Ultimately, they find their case hangs on the deadly blade of a machete.
Untrustworthy praise for Jake Lydon:
“Without question, Jake Lydon is the most appealing paunchy, long-haired, Hawaiian shirt-wearing, foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, near-alcoholic, anti-social, diabetic, semi-reclusive retiree detective in crime literature today….Certainly Top Five.” — Possibly a famous guy who didn’t read the book
As with pretty well everything else in his middle-age, Jake doesn’t have a friggin’ clue. And neither does Arturo “Arty” Diaz, the region’s top cop, who reluctantly takes Jake on as his unofficial deputy.
Together, the improbable duo digs deeper, throwing out all the “possible” scenarios to get to the “likely” ones.
And together they discover that the mostly likely solution lies with a vicious criminal enterprise exploiting the lives of the most vulnerable on their Caribbean island. Ultimately, they find their case hangs on the deadly blade of a machete.
Untrustworthy praise for Jake Lydon:
“Without question, Jake Lydon is the most appealing paunchy, long-haired, Hawaiian shirt-wearing, foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, near-alcoholic, anti-social, diabetic, semi-reclusive retiree detective in crime literature today….Certainly Top Five.” — Possibly a famous guy who didn’t read the book
Other Formats:
Paperback
by
John Owens
$2.99
Meet Jake Lydon – a different kind of sleuth (and not in a good way). The paunchy, long-haired, Hawaiian shirt-wearing, foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, near-alcoholic, semi-reclusive retiree has a different take on just about everything. He also has a simple life plan: six months at his northern Hovel-by-the-Lake in cottage country and six months in the Caribbean as he “plays out the string” deeply committed to doing one of the few things he’s very good at. Nothing. But the mysterious death of a former boss changes everything. Helped by his homicide detective daughter, his laconic neighbor and drinking buddy, and a young computer hacking genius, Jake sets off on a wild quest to find the who, how, and why behind his ex-employer’s murder. Featuring near-fatal disasters in San Francisco, Toronto, Boston, and points in between, Jake’s search for answers uncovers even more sinister forces at work on the Internet than the ones you already know about. Forces intent on manipulating our everyday life, stealing billions and killing at will. Forces intent on seeing the technophobic Jake Lydon fully connecdead.
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