Swamp Walloper

Fight Card, Book 2

By: Paul Bishop

Narrated by: Duane Sharp

Patrick "Felony" Flynn is back! And this time, he's in way over his head. New Orleans, 1956. When the battered body of boxer Marcus de Trod turns up on the edge of the Bayou Sauvage outside New Orleans with the words "Get Felony Flynn LAPD" tattooed in his armpits, Hat Squad detective, Patrick Felony Flynn, knows he is in for the fight of his life. Far from the hardboiled streets of Los Angeles, Flynn and his partner Tombstone Jones are on a two-fisted rampage to find a killer. But hiding in the swamp, deep inside the walls of the Bayou Sauvage Federal Penitentiary, the killer patiently waits to crush his prey with razor sharp teeth and deadly jaws.

After taking down gangster Mickey Cohen's championship prospect Solomon Kane in Felony Fists, Patrick Flynn triumphantly returns in Swamp Walloper, facing an even more dangerous foe - a killer fueled by voodoo and revenge.

©2013 Paul Bishop (P)2014 Paul Bishop

Brawlin' on the Bayou

Would you consider the audio edition of Swamp Walloper to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print edition, but I think it is safe to say that the audio edition of Swamp Walloper offers an equally exciting experience to the print edition. And with Duane Sharp's pitch-perfect narration, which fully captures the voice of Patrick "Felony" Flynn, I dare say it might even be the preferred way of experiencing the story.

What did you like best about this story?

While I have an aversion to fighting, for sport or otherwise, I enjoy watching it. But I haven't read a whole lot of fiction that is heavy on hand-to-hand combat, at least outside of the occasional novel by Jonathan Maberry and Joe Lansdale. So for me, the deftness by which Paul Bishop presents the fights in this story is just about all you could ask for. He gets in the guy's head and does so much more than deliver a blow-by-blow account. The emotion and the ramifications of the fight are all there in full spendor.

Which character – as performed by Duane Sharp – was your favorite?

He didn't appear a whole lot in the story, but I quite enjoyed Tombstone Jones, as the kind of guide for Flynn through the ways of New Orleans once they arrive to begin their investigation. A little gruff, a little coy, he was a great character with which Flynn could exchange thoughts and ideas through the book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Swamp Walloper harkens back to those beloved pulp stories of the mid-20th century from the likes of Robert E. Howard and others who enjoyed a generous dose of fisticuffs with their fiction. Unlike some of the more brusk stories of that era, however, this one is considerate of non-white, non-male characters.

Any additional comments?

Aside from Felony Flynn, it appears the Fight Card series features a slew of characters in a range of books. I've picked up a couple more from Amazon's Kindle Store, and I look forward to checking those out as well. Hopefully more will appear on Audible, too.

Voodoo Boxing Magic

Any additional comments?

In case a boxing detective was not enough. Add in voodoo magic, corrupt prison bosses, mob bosses, and a corrupt New Orleans police chief and you got your self a swamp walloping adventure.

This is a fun book, if a little silly with the voodoo magic portion of it, that takes you on the adventure of Felony Flynn as he continues to figure against corruption using his awesome boxing skills.

If you like boxing and detective work, then this story is for you.

I made this comment before but my biggest complaint is that this book was not listed as part of the series in audible so I listed to this book before listening to felony fists. This is book 2, felony fists is book 1.