Welcome to Mysteries to Die For and this Toe Tag.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is normally a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you at the heart of mystery, murder, and mayhem. Today is a bonus episode we call a Toe Tag. It is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, and thriller genre.
Today’s featured release is The Bone Records by Rich Zahradnik
The Bone Records was released October 2022 from 1000 Words A Day Press and is available from AMAZON LINK and other book retailers.
About Rich Zahradnik
Rich Zahradnik is the author of the thriller The Bone Records and four critically acclaimed mysteries, including Lights Out Summer, winner of the Shamus Award. He was a journalist for twenty-seven years and now lives in Pelham, New York, where he is the mentor to the staff of the Pelham Examiner, an award-winning community newspaper run, edited, reported, and written by people under the age of eighteen.
TG Wolff Review
The Bone Records is a thriller. Grigg Orlov, the son of a Russian father and Jamaican mother (deceased), was an outsider in his own neighborhood. His father disappeared six months ago and the NYPD wasn’t interested in looking for him. Grigg alone has been searching while juggling two jobs. Just as suddenly, his father returns, with a gunman hot on his heels. His father’s last stand launches Grigg on mission for the truth. One with twisted truths and secrets so deep, dying is the only way out.
Bottom line: The Bone Records is for you if you like lightning-fast pacing, engaging underdogs, and a setting in one of America’s hidden cultures.
Strengths of the story. Rooted in New York City’s Russian community, the story is a creative weave of fiction and facts in the foreground of the 2016 presidential election. That being said, this is not a political thriller. At its essence, The Bone Records is a thriller about a son searching for the truth about his father’s murder. The plotting is strong with Grigg taking actions that interfere with the antagonists’ goals and force them to react to him, propelling the story forward. There is ample lying, backstabbing, and spying to keep the reader guessing right along with Grigg about who can be trusted.
Where the story fell short of ideal. This is a very strong thriller. Of course, there are always little things I can pick at, but nothing worth mentioning. When I got to the end of The Bone Records, I sat for several moments and unpicked the weave of the storylines. They all held up. The actions stayed consistent with the motivations of the decision makers from start to finish. It would have been interesting if Grigg had had more time with his father. What would he have learned and how would it have changed Grigg’s actions. For that matter, after six months, why did his father come back at all?
