Blast from the Past

A Mac Faraday Mystery, Book 4

By: Lauren Carr

Narrated by: Dan Lawson

In this fourth mystery on Deep Creek Lake, Mac Faraday finds himself up to his eyeballs in mobsters and federal agents.

After an attempted hit ends badly with two of his men dead, mobster Tommy Cruze arrives in Spencer, Maryland, to personally supervise the execution of the witness responsible for putting him behind bars - Archie Monday!

Mac Faraday believes he has his work cut out for him in protecting his lady love from one of the most dangerous leaders in organized crime; but when bodies start dropping in his lakeshore resort town, things may be hotter than even he can handle.

©Whole Life of Creator/Author Terri Lynn Zaleski (P)2014 Terri Lynn Zaleski

Critic reviews

"Carr is a very gifted novelist. Her mystery novels, both the Mac Faraday and Lovers in Crime Series, are phenomenal. Her ability to keep the reader guessing, as well as her plotlines that flow so effortlessly as they work up to the big reveal, always make her novels a fun endeavor, and I look forward to even more of her work as this year unfolds." (Shana Benedict, ABookVacation)

"All of Lauren Carr's mysteries are interesting and fun to read. Her characters are well-rounded and ring true, which brings a believability to the stories. Avid readers will be glad that new installments are on the way." (Edie Dykeman, BelleOnline, Mystery Reviewer)

"I must say, I truly enjoyed reading this book! I found myself waking up slightly early for work just to finish a couple chapters! Not only was this book captivating, I found myself laughing at Gnarly, the ever so lovable and rambunctious German Shepherd! I look forward to reading the next book by Lauren Carr!" (Debbie Hill, Miss Book Lovers)

Who done it? ...and why?

If you could sum up Blast from the Past in three words, what would they be?

quick-paced, engaging, fun

What other book might you compare Blast from the Past to and why?

One specific book? That's tough! Blast From the Past follows in the great tradition of pulp page-turners. Their are hints of Patterson, Christie and Grafton

Which character – as performed by Dan Lawson – was your favorite?

Gnarly of course! For humans, I'd have to say Bogie.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Just when you thought you've outrun your past, you turn to find it standing in front of you!

Any additional comments?

This was a fun summer listen. The characters were rich and engaging. The voice talent does not disappoint.

Lauren Carr is amazing

Another great one from Lauren Carr! Mac Faraday is funny, action packed, and has a love story too! I couldn’t put this one down. You get to learn more of the backstory of the main characters. And of course my favorite character is the dog!

Archie, Mac, and Gnarly

Mac Faraday series is one of my favorite series by Lauren Carr, and this book is awesome! I love how this story filled in Archies past, and how her future was threatened. Add in the mob, and its added excitement. Gnarly continues to steal many scenes in this book. I found myself captivated by the story, and was guessing who the killer was. I love unpredictable and original stories.
Dan Lawson did this book justice with his performance. He is a new narrator to me, and I really liked his delivery and voice.
I will definitely listen to more books by Lauren Carr and Dan Lawson.

Another Great Mystery with Mac Faraday

Any additional comments?

Archie is on the way to take Gnarly for his grooming appointment when a Deep Creek Lake police are and two officers stop her. Thankfully she knows everyone on the force and manages to kill the men. They were a hit team from mobster Tommy Cruz. Archie has a bit of a past and it seems Tommy is out to put her in a grave. But then Tommy and a group of his men end up dead at a local café. A short distance away at a local bed and breakfast the owner’s wife initially looks like she fell down the stairs but in reality has been killed.

Mac has his hands full when he learns about Archie’s past. Then when Tommy ends up dead he thinks things are taken care of, the truth of the matter is that there are so much more happening in this story. There is a mobster’s ex-wife and her little girl that are been in the witness protection program. Then there is the death of the Mary Catherine Skeltner. Her husband seems to be the killer yet Mac is his alibi.

This is a great mystery and kept me on my toes keeping all the facts in order. But I managed to stay step for step with Mac. I will admit that there was one thing that did get to be a touch annoying in this story. I was really sick and tired of hearing about Gnarly getting in to see Missy. There was such a fit thrown about this that I had to stop the book for a while because I was irritated.

Having said that this is another great Mac Faraday mystery. I really enjoyed learning more about Archie and love how everything wrapped up. I have already ready Murder at Astaire Castle (which got my started on this series) so I can’t wait to get my hands on The Lady Who Cried Myurder.

I received Blast from the Past from iRead Book Tours for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

Very enjoyable

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a great audiobook for a road trip. I really enjoyed listening to the story unfold over a long drive this summer.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The dynamic between Mac and his half-brother David is very compelling. I hope to see future development along this storyline.

What does Dan Lawson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Dan's performance is excellent at bringing the characters to life while still keeping the narative grounded. The wide range of characters with different accents and distinct personalities helped me keep the story straight.

Another Gnarly tale

Where does Blast from the Past rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have not listened/read that many audio book as of yet, however Blast from the Past would have to be one of my favorite ones so far. I felt like Dan Lawson did a great job bringing the characters to life with his voice.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Blast from the Past?

For me the most memorable moment in the Blast from the Past was when Mac got a call from David to tell him that one of the police cars had been stolen. This was a memorable moment for me because I felt the same confusion and shock as Mac at being told that a police car had been stolen. It was also the beginning of the fast paced plot.

What does Dan Lawson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I felt like Dan Lawson did a great job bringing the characters to life with his voice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I personally felt like the Blast from the Past as well as the rest of the Mac Faraday Mystery books would all make for a great movie. A great tag line for the blast from the past would be Gnarly and Crew vs mobsters!

Archie's past threatens her future

Note: Even though this is Book 4 in the series, it works just fine as a stand alone.

Set in Spencer, Maryland in the Deep Creek Lake gated community, retired DC cop Mac Faraday is about to be hip deep in organized crime and federal protection agents. Tommy Cruze is out of prison after several years and his search has finally turned up the witness that put him behind bars. He’s come to Spencer to hunt her down.

This was a great addition to the series. We finally have something more to Archie Monday than her efficient nature and love of pink. She witnessed a serious crime many years back and had to testify and then go into federal protective custody. That meant saying goodbye to her entire past and becoming the personal assistant to Robin Spencer, a renowned mystery writer and Mac’s true birth mother (who gave him up for adoption). Now all that has to come out and Mac’s both a little hurt that Archie hadn’t told him before and also feeling very protective of her, as two of Cruze’s men have already made an attempt on her life. Lucky for Archie, she took the time to become a proficient shot.

Things get even more convoluted when a poisoning occurs at a dockside cafe where a woman and her daughter, who also happen to be in federal protective custody, work. Leah and her young daughter Sari move into the big Spencer Manor for protection while all this gets sorted out.

Randi Finnegan was a fun addition to the story. Mac’s half-brother David O’Callaghan has caught the eye of the federal agent but Randi isn’t sure he’s interested at all. She’s prickly and not a beauty and she knows it. So she focuses on the job and she’s good at it. I liked the potential of something blooming between these two.

There’s potentially another murder at a B&B. Initially, it looks like a very sick woman stumbled and fell down the stairs, but Mac and David look deeper. Yet another death occurs outside of a restaurant in town and the police have to consider if this one is linked to Tommy Cruze and his second in command. Indeed, it seems Spencer is full of killers this season!

Mac, Archie, and David have their hands full untangling this one! I really enjoyed watching them dig down to the roots of these cases and figure out which were related and which weren’t. Meanwhile, Gnarly was keeping the little girl Sari company. This was so sweet and so cute that it was almost too much. Like a sweet lemonade, sometimes the sugar can just be too much. Luckily, those scenes were sprinkled throughout the story so it wasn’t a turn off.

I received a free copy of this book via iRead Book Tours.

The Narration: Dan Lawson rocked this book. There have been a few narrators for this series and Lawson is my favorite so far. He has a really good range of voices, his female voices are believable, he does the little kid Sari really well, and he even has believable accents (both foreign and regional). I was impressed with his performance on this book.