Synopsis
In this tale of misplaced trust, betrayal, and greed, a dedicated family man tries to balance his home life with his increasingly dangerous career. Carl Jacobs, a private investigator, agrees to meet an informant, Jimmy "The Blue" Jay - a man Carl grew up with. As soon as Carl arrives, Jimmy starts shooting at him from a dark alley. Carl is wounded but returns fire, and Jimmy is killed. Now Carl has to find out why Jimmy tried to murder him. After more attempts are made on Carl's life, he learns that some people prove ruthless when millions of dollars are at stake. And some men can be even more ruthless when their families are threatened.
Dale Whisman resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Review
"Whisman spins a good story and has created a likeable, credible here and a supporting cast with good depth and a promise of staying power that bodes well for future appearances."
--Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, March 2005 (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine 20050301)
"...packed with interesting details about investigative work...a refreshing rarity in the genre."
--TheKirkus Review (October 2004) (Kirkus Review 20041001)
"This novel has two things going for it, a high degree of believability and a likable leading man. The book's believability no doubt springs from Whisman's eleven-year career as a licensed P.I. No Superman, Jacobs bleeds when he's wounded (which is often) and gets antsy during stakeouts. Jacobs' likeability comes from Whisman's skill at rendering his characters interactions with family, friends, and fellow professionals, and the feeling the author conveys that Jacobs withholds nothing from readers.
"...Friends, And Other Perishables is a pleasant way to while away a couple of hours, a good, quick read from a writer who knows his stuff."
--Mystery Scene Magazine, Holiday 2005 Edition (Mystery Scene 20050801)
"Hard-boiled detectives in fiction rarely show their feelings. Authors portray them almost as robots, living dangerous and covert lifestyles with one function-catch the villain.
These detectives, besides being married to their hazardous jobs, often have no family to come home to.
Dale Whisman breaks that mold in his first novel, "Friends, And Other Perishables," featuring private investigator Carl Jacobs.
The pessimistic title leads readers to expect a typical mystery, and the opening scene of the book does little to change this. Jacobs is standing in the rain, with a gunshot wound in his shoulder, looking down at the body of a lifeless man who just shot at him. Jacobs, being a crack marksman, returned fire, fatally hitting his adversary in the forehead. Whisman worked as a private investigator in the Tulsa area for eleven years, specializing in insurance fraud investigations. His proficiency is evident, as his story takes a reader through the twists and turns of the story, masterfully providing details only a detective would notice.
It seemed so real, I found myself wondering whether any of these incidents were constructed from pieces of actual cases.
The story is set in Tulsa, which, for local readers, adds a realistic feel to the novel. Whisman not only writes of recognizable roads and intersections in Tulsa, he names specific, well-known places. Tulsa icons mentioned include Will Rogers High School, Weber's Root Beer Stand, St. Francis Hospital and Miss Jackson's. I continually read through the story, eager to see what familiar landmark would be referenced next, and was not disappointed. The book is pleasurable, nostalgic and easy to red-overall, an entertaining book."
--Tulsa World, May 2005 (Doody Enterprises 20050501)
"..pleasant way to while away a couple of hours, a good, quick read from a writer who knows his stuff."
-- Mystery Scene (December 2004) (Mystery Scene 20041201)
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