🤕 Dearests, this book made me seriously concerned for the sanity & mental well-being of US Cali officers in 1984 😬 W - T - F?! This guy is an absolute M E S S.

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Wild Desert Cop
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: Walter
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Normal
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Novel
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: 1980’s police investigation
3.5/𝟱

🌱𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄

🦖 In the long tradition of male cops in the 1980s, we follow 28yro, bad boy, attitude-problem-having-cop Dave, who is trying to get into the homicide department. I tried to understand this guy’s reckless stupidity… but couldn’t 💁. He gives ALLL of the red flags.

Between a drunk of a father, a ptsd suffering partner, a helpless damsel of a cop crush & complete lack of self-preservation, the book delves into the mysteries the desert holds 4 years after we meet Dave.

Now, as a homicide detective he is a loose & somewhat irresponsible cannon who begins to investigate the mystery of his missing crush, car & note from his dad. As he makes all of the terrible decisions, barely holding on to his career, he uncovers the mystery of his crush Jimmie, her sister & the Disciples of hate.

✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.

🌱THE MEH
~ Encouraging Siderites with his nonsense 🙄 & not letting him face consequences
~ 🙀 D A I L Y wash cloth baths?!?!
~ reads a bit ‘aged’
~ weird ‘love’ relationships sans chemistry 😬

♡🌱 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲 ;)

A lonesome blood-red sun by Dave Putnam

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this novel.

So THRILLED (and frankly relieved) to find this author. I am a long-time fan of police procedurals, the old-fashioned type with a gutsy protagonist who isn't afraid to "buck the system" if the path to justice is no longer clearly black and white.

David Beckett is just my type of heroic cop, even though being true to his own sense of justice has prevented him from obtaining his much desired (and deserved) promotion to homicide detective.

One of the most enjoyable books I have read in decades!

Fans of old-fashioned police procedurals such as: Michael Connelly's - Bosch, Neil Cross' - Luther series, Ed Mcbain's 87th precinct series, or Cop town by Karin Slaughter will love this novel!

I've sighed, I've frowned and I've sighed some more.

I couldn't get into the very juvenile mindset of the protagonist, David Beckett, detective in the blood hot desert of San Bernardino County. The cops are crooks not abiding the law, the crooks are of the worst kind, and some brave citizens then take justice in their own hands. It's the wild wild west, guns and rifles spit their lead all the way, and although it might very well be the way it is in that neck of the woods, I found it very over the top.

Cops are not getting arrested for drunk driving, destruction of property or battering a suspect under the adage "boys will be boys" or "they are just having a hard time". Really? From then it was really difficult to get any sense of sympathy for the main character. To make things worse, he works without any regard to laws and regulations and creates his own set of rules to play and work by. I'm absolutely certain there is a large crowd that will love this kind of non-conformist maverick behavior, but it just wasn't doing it for me.

Also, there is the very strange time-lapse in the middle of the book, where the story jumps three years forward. Some threads that I considered important in the first part were loosely closed with just one sentence. And I have so many questions still, as some behavior isn't make any sense to me.

Anyway, time to close this book and on to the next one. A sincere thank you to NetGalley, Level Best Books and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is well-written and fairly interesting. It's clear that the author has knowledge about the subject, but I did not enjoy the fact that the plot outlined in the description doesn't start until over half-way through the book. It's like almost the entire book is a prologue to the plot, and then the plot is just rushed through to get to the end. When it does get to the end it feels as if everything happens at once and the rest is left hanging. It makes me feel like there was a time limit and someone realized they'd spent too much time setting it up and then rushed to get it done. Perhaps the loose ends are to be taken up in another book? Overall, I just ended this book feeling as if it was unresolved.

I didn’t realize going in that this was the 2nd in a series, although I’m not sure it mattered. I didn’t like the timeline fast forward in the middle of the book. I did like the main character, Officer Dave Beckett, a lot.

This theme is very reminiscent of “A Fearsome Moonlight Black” with fictionalized events and encounters from the author’s own career experiences. It gives insights into an entirely different era in the police department. There are tricky personalities, politics and procedures that shift like the California dessert sand.
Detective Beckett has a code of justice that doesn’t always align with his superiors. He tends to go off book, following his instincts, which are sometimes uncanny. He holds himself to standards, while often disregarding proper policies. His dogged pursuit and devotion to cases has cost him his marriage. Many in the force have succumbed to alcohol, the personal toll of what they see is great. Beckett struggles with remorse, guilt, nightmares and a tenuous relationship with the father he grew up without.
He befriends and is attracted to a fairly new Deputy, Jimmie Poe. He tries giving her pointers and tips, then she disappears. In his search to find out what happened to her Beckett’s instincts lead him to a dangerous, ruthless motorcycle gang with no morals. Many strong characters, especially enjoyed his father. Lots of twists and turns, harrowing action scenes, sorrow, and answers to unsolved questions.
A really good police procedural, I look forward to reading the next in the series. This digital advance reader copy was provided by NetGalley. “A Lonesome Blood-red Sun” The Bone Detective, A Dave Beckett Novel, is written by David Putnam, published by Level Best Books. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

Quite disappointed by this book, a story that really didn’t go anywhere and had large chunks of it missing. The characters weren’t well developed and lacked depth while both police procedure and acronyms were overused. It was only in the final chapters that a series of events kept the book afloat enough for me to make it to the end at all. Sorry but even the few gruesome moments weren’t enough to save it. Thanks all the same to Netgalley for the advance reader copy.

Detective Dave Beckett is called out to an incident in the desert that becomes a murder investigation.
Lots of action in this thriller with a lot of shady characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Level Best Books for my e-copy in exchange for a honest review.

American Police Detective murder mystery that I just couldn’t put down. I really liked the characters and their interactions, and the build up of tension as the story progresses. Thank you to Level Best Books and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Dave Beckett Aka The Bone Dick, the desert sets the scene and a bone brought in by a dog turns out to be human, the victim of this bone is somebody he knows and the detective in him works the case through twists and turns and lots of dead ends but eventually he turns up something that was always in his sight

A certain hit for me and I would give this 4 stars

Dave was given a human bone found by a dog, but did nothing with it for a variety of reasons. Now he has another body part and discovers that it belongs to someone he knows. Now he’s off the books and determined to hunt down a killer. I enjoyed A Lonesome Blood-red Sun, which is a hard hitting police (non) procedural with a dedicated if self destructive protagonist and a dash of situational humor to lighten the load.

The novel is split into two books, one set in 1984 and the other in 1988. In the first one Dave is a patrol deputy and in the second he is the bone detective. I think it works really well with book one setting up the threads for book two and giving the reader a real taste of policing at the sharp end. The author insists that many of the incidents are based on actual events, so it doesn’t do the Sheriff’s Office any favors, not that book two offers much redemption. Some of the events are funny, but more often they are dangerous.

Book one is a series of events, whereas book two is the murder investigation and offers more continuity. Both are equally interesting in different ways, with Dave Beckett providing the links. I think the best way to describe him is a disrupter. He doesn’t exactly break the law, but he is creative in its application and seems to cause mayhem wherever he goes, much to the dismay of his superiors and thus to the detriment of his career. Still, he is relentless in his investigations and determined to get justice.This novel was a constant surprise to me. I never knew how each segment would be resolved and I certainly didn’t see the resolution to book two before it came. It made me turn the pages for answers.

Nice addition to the collection. Love the characters and the style of writing. Looking forward to more kn hhd series. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers the opportunity to read this novel. I wanted to like it, I really did. Before I wrote this review I checked out what my fellow reviewers wrote and it seemed that many thought as I....it was too difficult to get around the 'cop speak'....and because of this I gave up early on. It seems that the author assumes his reader is down with the colloquial lingo - the story cannot move on at the pace it needs if have of the words mean little or nothing. Sorry, but not for me.

I have a hard time reading books with language I’m not familiar with. I felt a little lost not knowing what some of the Cop language was. The only think I liked about detective Beckett was his determination for Justice against criminals, other wise found his character annoying and frustrating. I’m a sucker for legal thrillers and love strong detective leads. I did enjoy that the crimes were based off true events and following the case was interesting. I’ve read more from this author and enjoyed many of those books, this one was just slightly lacking for me!

Honest Book review given following copy of pre published ARC by Netgalley and the publisher, thank you. I havnt read any books written by David Putnam so a fresh talent to get my eyes over, a US cop crime thriller based upon the authors past job where insights into a cops life and the weaving in real life events created a well crafted read. Not easy to get into as it lacks an addendum explaining 'cop language' with the codes they use over the radio but you soon pick up some of the common ones, did make it a realistic read. The cop David Beckett was not a lovable cop or loveable rogue, irritating and annoying at times but with a heart to get around by any means the stifling laws protecting criminals. I found the story had a few tendrils weaving through the book, on the whole a series of events many sad, frustrating and shocking on the loss of life. Worth a read.

This book was quite disappointing. A Lonesome Blood-Red Sun follows a cop as he experiencing a number of crime cases, some quite personal. I love reading crime thrillers but this one was lackluster. First, the story seemed all over the place. I feel like every chapter had a different case to follow and in the middle of the book there was a page indicating Book 2. "Book 2?" I thought, "what even was resolved in book 1?".

As for the characters, the main character needed a lot more depth. If he was going to be that arrogant and wild in his decision making I need a better understanding of how he makes decisions.

I hated the romance in the book. It was rushed and not thought out at all.

This book was all over the place, it needs a ton of editing and revising before hitting shelves.

It was a good read. I loved the story flow and i think i will read more book from this author. And the writing style is also great.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me this wonderful ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, Putnam has written a book that puts you squarely in the driving seat of a Deputy Sherief, giving us a visceral look at the lives they led in the 80's. It is another brilliantly written book, one that pulls you along by your fingernails. and leaves you cheering and despairing with the main character. I loved the first book, but I loved this one more, no doubt, as you see the toll that the job can take on the life of those who work to bring down criminals.

A must-read.

Im giving this book a 3/5.
I really like legal thrillers but I haven’t read many police-following stories. The fact that many parts of this fictional book were TRUE and REAL things that happened made reading this even more interesting and exciting. Unfortunately, there was something missing for me and I can’t exactly put a finger on it: an element to have the audience completely captivated. I think the story didn’t have a big climax point and the plot twist was put so close to the end of the story that readers don’t have enough time to sit in the awe of it.

Everything before the halfway point was just story/ character building, which was interesting for me. I did really enjoy the stories leading up to the main case! A lot of things did happen in the 4 years that were skipped over and I felt they were just sprung on the reader with not much explanation.

I liked the MC at first. I actually liked that he bent the law a little for the greater good. He has great investigative instincts and always follows his gut. But this became his flaw. At 50% of the book, I started to get annoyed with his belligerent and wild impulsivity… his disrespect and “above-the-law” attitude. No matter what though, you can’t deny he’s a incredible detective and is always doing things for the right reasons. This makes him more relatable, a more likeable hero.


Some things I was less excited about:
- the word desert was over-used in the first bit of the book.
- Some parts felt like an old school way of writing. Ex: like saying “the car was empty of criminals” I stead of saying “there was no one in the car” or just that it was empty. Like I said, I don’t know much about cop-talk or police work so this could just be the way they communicate and I wasn’t understanding it.
- Interesting that at 50% it just kind of leaves everything and jumps to 4 years in the future with no explanation. That threw me off a little bit.


I think you’d love this book if:
- You can follow cop talk/ know the codes
- Are interested in true crime
- Like a slow burn with a lot of action

I’d also recommend changing the cover just a little bit to something that will really draw the readers eye!

Started at a slow pace while the story took shape and all the build-up took place, the book gets interesting gradually. Even though it had the elements of a good thriller, I could not really relate to the characters and the writing style.

The writing style or the use of certain jargons hindered the pace which I feel is integral to a great thriller. The plot was good but could have been presented better.

I would recommend this one if you like a thriller cop story.