Reviews of the Work of Larry Maness
Nantucket Revenge
”Maness keeps the pages turning as his leading man, Jake Eaton, confronts a maniac bent on becoming a famous name in Nantucket history. The Nantucket background, pounding pace and raw courage of the hero will get readers to demand an encore.”
The Boston Herald
”Playwright Maness’s first novel provides all the thrills of watching a demented super villain doing what he does best.”
Kirkus Reviews
”The author captures brilliantly the Nantucket ambience, constructs a neat and frightening puzzle, and writes in a vivid and colorful style.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
”Simply put, Nantucket Revenge is the best summer read since Jaws.”
Steve Glassman, author
A Once Perfect Place
”A strong supporting cast and keenly observed New England settings thicken the eerie environmental scenario. The book . . . is like Jake, solid and reliable.”
Mystery Forecasts
”Larry Maness takes his tough private eye Jake Eaton . . . to a once perfect place in a competently told tale of the high-stakes despoliation of a New Hampshire mountain paradise.”
The Boston Herald
”Maness writes with a thrilling combination of Robert Parker and Alistair MacLean. He mixes action and detection into an explosive cocktail.”
Austin Tichenor, author.
Strangler
”Maness has created a terrific mystery plot based on a fascinating conspiracy theory. Jake Eaton is still one of the better private investigators in detective fiction and Strangler’s plot is incredibly gripping.”
The Nashua Telegraph
”Novelist Larry Maness cleverly resurrects the terror inspired by the Boston Strangler in this outstanding detective novel featuring private investigator Jake Eaton.”
The Hartford Journal Inquirer
” . . . an entertaining and lively mystery.”
Publisher’s Weekly
”The writing ranges from keen observations to good turns of phrase.”
Ellery Queen
The Voice of God
With The Voice of God, his first new novel since the popular hit Strangler, Larry Maness has delivered a nifty tale of suspense. Set mainly in Provincetown, MA, which Maness captures with a painterly eye, the book takes many a winding road, weaving past and present into a story that keeps a reader guessing right to the very end. Maness’s chops are on display with great dialogue, deft pacing, strong imagery, and a cast of engaging characters. Lino Cardosa, former insurance claims investigator turned fisherman turned informal PI, is a painful and sympathetic protagonist. Bringing together a loving knowledge of many things, from fishing, boatbuilding, and a Catholic church struggling to be relevant in an age of doubt, The Voice of God is, ultimately, a journey of the heart.
David Daniel, author of Six off 66, Reunion, and the forthcoming American Pastime
Mostly set on land and sea in and around the fishing docks of Provincetown. Massachusetts, Larry Maness’s The Voice of God follows the quest of saltwater fly fisherman and sometime insurance investigator Adilino “Lino” Cardosa to get to the truth behind the burning of a church and disappearance of its priest. Grievously suffering from the suicide loss of his teenaged son and the ensuing implosion of his marriage, and burdened with securing care for his aged mother who is succumbing to dementia, Cardosa has far too much on his plate. But he is spurred to action when he realizes that police are looking at him as a suspect and that his investigation might help him to learn more about the mystery behind his son’s dramatic change from loving and involved to self-destructive. Like Cardosa in many neatly described fishing scenes, Maness keeps gracefully sending out his lines and surely reeling the reader in. The Voice of God is an assured production that snares the reader from start to finish.
Rosemary Herbert, author of Front Page Teaser: A Liz Higgins Mystery, and editor in chief of The Oxford Companion to Crime & Mystery Writing.
Larry Maness makes a crackling return to sea, salt, and suspense with The Voice of God. Driven by crisp prose, fascinating characters, and a crisis that challenges historical—and personal—faith, the novel dives deep into Provincetown culture, family dynamics, and secrets as dangerous and violent as a riptide. Insurance investigator turned ocean fly-fishing guide Lino Cardosa has to unreel his own past to discover the truth behind a missing parish priest and the death of Lino’s teenage son. With its perfect pacing and expert crafting, The Voice of God is like a master class in fiction. This novel is sure to leave readers eager to take another voyage with author Larry Maness.
Kathryn Mackel, co-author of To Know You (with Shannon Ethridge; HarperCollins)
The Voice of God caught me by surprise. Rarely do mystery writers, even the best of them, weave their tales within the fabric of larger, serious social issues. But Larry Maness has done just that. He creates a thoroughly likeable but troubled fisher who has to submerge himself among the worst bottom-feeders of our contemporary world, child sexual predators, in order to survive the greatest loss a man can ever experience. This is a great tale.
Tom Gotsill, writer and blogger