Marsh IslandI recently finished reading these two books from Ollie (Yes! I occasionally get around to reading the work of my fellow authors on this site!) and I have to say, dude, you can write. That was quite a storyline and I certainly didn’t see that left hook coming at the end of the last book.

To those of you who aren’t familiar with Ollie’s work, he’ got quite the noir ability. The story has a nice arc across both books and the pacing is great. I recommend you do as I did and get both books so you can binge read. These aren’t particularly long, nor do they feel short like a novella.

Be sure to read “Marsh Island” before “Blind Marsh” because that is the order of the story. What a good little story it is too!

Blind MarshYou definitely need to get the physical books though, not some electronic version. Why? Because these physical books have unique qualities to them, especially Marsh Island. The cover stock had a very gripable feel, like a tool that was given a thin rubber coating to improve handling. Most of today’s paperbacks have a slick gloss coating which makes them difficult to hold pool side or at the beach. I noticed the texture right away when I first handled the book.

The paper stock didn’t seem “ordinary” either. Most of today’s paperbacks have that bright white copier paper used by most POD (Print on Demand) services. This stock had a bit of coloring to it making it both seem sage and be easy on the eyes while reading.

I liked both of these books so much I shipped them off to a friend so he could read them.

If you are someone who likes Mickey Spillane’s “Mike Hammer” tales, this pair of books is right up your alley. Been a long time since I read or watched anything from this genre but remember enjoying it immensely during my youth. These two books let me go home again.