Hello
lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host T.S. O’Neil and his new
book, “Mexican Hat Trick”! For other
stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner
above.
Be sure to
make it to the end of this post to enter to win one of TWO lucky prizes!! Yep – that’s right!! There will be TWO lucky winners during this
tour!! ONE lucky winner will win a $10
Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card and a SECOND lucky winner will win a $20
Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card!!
Also, come back daily to interact with T.S. and to increase your chances
of winning!
Thanks for
stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in
this exciting giveaway!
Mexican Hat
Trick
by T.S. O’Neil
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE:
Contemporary, Action/Adventure
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Mexican
Hat Trick reunites Retired Sheriff’s Department Detective turned Private
Investigator, Eidetic Eddie Doyle with Former Force Recon Marine, Michael
Blackfox, in a rollicking tale of murder, counterfeiting and kidnapping south
of the border. A rogue’s gallery of new villains, including a pathological
ex-French Foreign Legionnaire, a bloodthirsty drug kingpin, and a conniving
corporate attorney, conspire to corner the counterfeit apparel market. Mexican
Hat Trick is Florida Glare—south of the border.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT ONE:
Chapter 1: Chewy Mendelevich
Jesus
Juan Carlo Rodriguez Mendelevich or Chewy for short was scared. The portly man
sweated profusely in the noonday sun. His body generated rivulets of sweat that
cascaded down his corpulent frame in continuous flows. Part of the cause was
Torreon’s climate; the other was his nervousness. Chewy had scheduled the
meeting at Casa Portofino, a restaurant in one of the more upscale and tranquil
areas of the city. The neighborhood was a series of walled compounds, behind
which sat multi-story villas protected by shotgun-toting security guards. Chewy
waited under the blue canopy of the Mediterranean style white stucco building,
hoping to see whether the man he was scheduled to meet arrived alone as was
agreed. He was expecting a Gringo named Eddie Doyle, an emissary sent by the
owner of the clothing company Chewy supplied.
Torreon
was a dangerous place—there were over a thousand murders the previous year.
Most were drug related as the Zeta cartel called it their territory and
home—while other gangs disagreed. It was also the industrial heart of Mexico
with much of the manufacturing scattered around the city in a series of walled
and guarded industrial parks.
Chewy was
the product of a May-September romance between a Jewish immigrant and a Mexican
seamstress. His father, Isaac, a talented and well-connected tailor, had fled
the Soviet Union in the early fifties. He had served many senior officials
within the Communist Party ¬¬—a connection that would save his life. In the
aftermath of Stalin’s death, a plot had been discovered to seize power by
assassinating select high party officials. A group of Jewish doctors was
implicated and vilified. Some were executed, others imprisoned—Isaac had been a
non-practicing Jew, but nonetheless was swept up in the purge that followed. He
escaped via a connection he had with a Mexican diplomat.
Over the
remainder of his life, Isaac Mendelevich had grown a one tailor shop into a
lucrative cut & sewn operation that employed over sixty seamstresses. Chewy
had neither his father’s patience nor his virtue, but he did have higher
aspirations.
For the
past eleven years, Chewy’s company, Estrella de David S.A., had served as a
foreign contractor of an American apparel manufacturer. The cloth was cut in El
Paso and shipped to his Estrella Fabrica Una in Torreon—he only had one
factory, but he could still dream big. His seamstresses rapidly turned the
fabric into shirts and pants, he paid them poorly and reaped the reward. He had
developed a pretty lucrative gig—the work was good, and Chewy prospered. He
lived in a three level walled home outside of town, drove a late model Range
Rover, and vacationed in a rented villa in Tuscany.
The Range
Rover handled Torreon’s rough streets better than the Ferraris or Lamborghinis
he saw in Italy—still, the Rover was not as stylish. He was originally pissed
when he found out the Chinese had copied the storied vehicle and sold the
counterfeit version, called the Landwind X7 for half the price of the original.
But that anger gave way to grudging admiration after he involved himself in a
similar pursuit.
Chewy
dated the better-looking members of his staff—oblivious to the warning about
fishing from the company pier—apparently, there is no similar expression in
Spanish. The work was lucrative but limited. He often finished the entire
consignment that the North American manufacturer shipped him in record time,
which left him with an idle factory. He had plans for an early retirement to
his own villa in Italy or along the Spanish Coast, and that took serious money.
Before
his current girlfriend, Angelina, came to work for him—she had been employed
for a short time in a factory stitching counterfeit shirts. The shirts were
such good quality that they were often sold in the same retail shops that sold
originals. She liked the work—the factory was in an old warehouse close to her
home, the pay was in dollars, and they fed her lunch. Sure the work was
hard—twelve hour days using old sewing machines, learning the strange stitching
design and getting yelled at when she screwed something up, but they let her
bring home the leftover tamales, and they paid her each day in currency.
On her
one month anniversary a team from the Prosecutor’s Office arrived—all dressed
in black military-style uniforms and carrying automatic weapons. The two Mexican
Americans running the factory were summarily arrested—cuffed and stuffed as the
gringos say, and carted off in a detention vehicle, not doubt to the infamous
Gómez Palacio prison.
The
gringos’ arrests left a vacuum in the market and after some subtle inquiries,
Chewy filled it with a vigor. He now produced a regular run of clothing, in
this case, a trademark known as Mountain Man (MM) and then produced a second
line of high-quality fakes. The clothing line had a distinctive trademark—an
inch high double M with crossed legs. The patterns were the same, and much of
the output was repurposed seconds or new jeans made with locally bought denim.
The quality of his counterfeits was high enough to fool the trademark
inspectors and even some of the manufacturer’s investigators.
They
filled a container of legitimate product for which Mountain Man’s in-country
manager paid in cash a sum that was both gratifying and underwhelming. His shop
floor otherwise idle, he would put his seamstresses to work with remnants and
leftover sundries, to turn out another line of high-quality counterfeits. He
knew others were doing the same. The fake jeans went straight into a shipping
container that arrived on a regular basis—he assumed they were exported as he
never saw them in the ‘Tianguis’ or local flea markets.
Chewy was
initially happy. That together with what he was earning in regular work meant
he was garnering over one-half million dollars a year. Still, it was not
enough. The villa in Italy that he wanted costs over two and one-half million
dollars and his prolific use of cocaine, 100% agave aged Tequila and high-class
prostitutes, limited his ability to save. He needed, as the computer geeks say,
a killer app—something lucrative enough to put him over the top. Two million
dollars would get him there, and he figured that the information he had to
share was well worth that price.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REVIEW:
This book is full
of action, excitement, mystery, and adventure.
This book has drug
cartels, kingpins, murderers, and lots of criminal activity! This book takes you on a wild and crazy trip
that will certainly entertain you!
Eddie Doyle, a
Private Investigator, who is also a Retired Sheriff’s Department Detective, is
sent to Mexico to investigate a counterfeit clothing scam. He takes his partner, Michael Blackfox, who
is a Former Force Recon Marine with him to inspect the facility and solve the
case.
Eddie and Michael
make a brilliant team! They sure seem to
get into some hairy situations, but with the two of them on the case they will
do everything they can to crack it and make it back safely.
Eddie has an
eidetic memory. I’ve always been
fascinated by people with this unique talent.
It definitely added an extra dimension to this book. Both Eddie and Michael bring a special
skill set that makes them exceptional at solving cases together.
These characters
are well developed, likable, and realistic.
The storyline is
strong and holds up well. Mr. O’Neil
proves his military and criminal justice background as he conveys reasonable
and practical scenes, plots, and characters.
I didn’t know much
of the counterfeit clothing operation, but this book provided detailed insight
that made the illegal activity comprehensible.
Many people, including myself, most likely think it’s just the company
or consumer that gets ripped off.
Nope! There’s way more to it than
that and it funnels all the way down to the economic standpoint.
There were a lot
more gory scenes and details than I expected.
I kind of just skimmed over it.
It didn’t bother me, just was a little more than I’m used to
reading. Guys – you’ll probably love it
lol!
This book has
tremendous detail. Whether O’Neil was
describing the Mexico background or the one-handed prostitute or the AK-47 –
it’s all easy to picture.
Although this book
is targeted at 12-18 year-olds in grades 7-12, this book can still be enjoyed
by an older crowd. I’m in my late 20’s
and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
Although this is
Book Four in the series it easily holds up on its own. I have not read the first three books, but I
was still able to understand and follow the story. I think reading the first three books would
be nice to get a better understanding of the main characters, and there were
some “inside” jokes and references that probably would have been more recognizable. However, it is not required to read them
first.
The storyline and
characters are good – maybe even great.
Unfortunately, there are many spelling and grammar errors in the book. This is quite
distracting and disappointing.
Especially since this book is targeted at young adults. They are significantly learning at this age
and don’t need to be taught writing mistakes.
I had to take half a star off for this.
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**
Did you find this
review helpful?
If so, please, please,
please mark it as helpful on Amazon here:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
TS
O’Neil graduated with Honors from Northeastern University in Boston,
Massachusetts with a Degree in Criminal Justice and graduated with High honors
from the University of Phoenix with a Master’s in Business Administration in
Technology Management. He served as a
Rifleman with the Marine Corps Reserve, an Officer in the Military Police Corps
of the United States Army, and retired from the Army of the United States (AUS)
as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2012. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. TS
is currently employed as a Senior Security Consultant, specializing in
Information Security. He lives in Seminole, FL with his beautiful wife,
Suzanne. He has written four books,
Tampa Star, Starfish Prime, Mudd’s Luck and Mexican Hat Trick.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH T.S.:
Website:
Amazon
Author Page:
Goodreads
Author Page:
Goodreads
Book Page:
Facebook:
Twitter:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMAZON BUY LINK:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn
winner and a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to another randomly drawn winner, both via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and
Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions. Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not
Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are
solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
T.S. ~ It is great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! I enjoyed reading and reviewing your book, thanks for providing the copy! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeletecongrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed the tour, the book sounds great.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed following the tour for Mexican Hat Trick. All of the posts along the way have been great to read. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It's a read I'll need to check out, thank you
ReplyDelete