Damaged Goods
-
- $3.99
-
- $3.99
Publisher Description
This Marine veteran may have survived in combat, but will she survive this case?
Unlicensed private eye Erica Jensen works as a "researcher" who performs background checks, conducts surveillance, and takes on other dubious assignments while battling PTSD and an opioid addiction. When a wealthy man hires her to find his missing daughter, Erica ends up with more work than she bargained for: a murder victim and unwanted attention from the killers.
While seeking the daughter, Erica uncovers evidence that raises questions about the dead man. Did the missing daughter know him? Did the victim have ties to an artifacts smuggling ring? As Erica tries to find the answers, she attracts the attention of people willing to kill to keep their secrets.
A FEW KIND WORDS ABOUT DAMAGED GOODS
"Best private eye novel I've read in ages. Pitch perfect pace and plot with a well-drawn protagonist."
— M. Ruth Myers, Shamus Award winning author of the Maggie Sullivan mystery series
"Marine veteran turned unlicensed PI Erica Jensen is a flawed and intriguing heroine in this meticulous mystery. Charlie Fox would work alongside her any day!"
— Zoë Sharp, author of Bad Turn
"A gritty, stunning portrayal of the impact and response to post traumatic stress, packaged inside a compelling mystery."
— Frank Zafiro, author of the Charlie-316 series
"Erica Jensen is the tough PTSD-suffering Marine veteran and unlicensed PI in author Debbi Mack's new series. In Damaged Goods, an apt metaphor, Erica seeks a missing person but stumbles onto antiquities smugglers—or worse. Offering up sleek prose and adopting the world-weary detective's First Person style to great effect, Mack keeps the action rolling along while fleshing out a keeper of a protagonist. Excellent read for neo-noir and private eye fans!"
— W.D. Gagliani, author of The Judas Hit and the Nick Lupo Series
"Debbi Mack's novella, Damaged Goods, is a fulfilling and exciting read and proof that the novella is alive and well. Highly recommended. I also hope we will see more of Mack's strong protagonist, Erica Jensen in the future."
— David Swinson, author of The Second Girl and Trigger
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Erica Jensen, the heroine of this sterling series launch from Mack (the Sam McRae series), survived her deployment to Afghanistan in 2011 as a member of a team of female Marines "who performed valuable back-up to the ground troops and intel-gathering duties." But the concussion she received from an explosion left her addicted to painkillers, a condition that barred her from later getting a PI license in Maryland. Instead, Jensen takes on research assignments from clients with their own reasons for not going to someone with official credentials. Her latest such job comes from Stuart Blaine, an affluent real-estate developer with a drug-dealing conviction, whose college student daughter, Melissa, has been out of touch for four days. Blaine fears something bad has happened, and Jensen agrees to spend a little time tracking down Melissa. Her discovery of a murder victim connected with her employer raises the stakes. Mack never makes her lead's work feel anything but realistic and captures the psyche of an addict's struggles. Fans of flawed but empowered female detectives will be pleased with this exceptional mix of character study and detective work. (Self-published)
