An Andy Roark Mystery
2 primary works • 6 total works
Book 1
Boston, 1982. P.I. Andy Roark has spent the past decade trying to fit back into the world. In Vietnam, there was order and purpose. Everything—no matter how brutal—happened for a reason. Now, after brief stints in college and with the police force, it’s enough for him to take on the occasional divorce or insurance fraud case.
Roark’s childhood friend, Danny Sullivan, dragged himself out of the Southie gutter to become a respected and powerful lawyer. Now he wants Roark to help one of his clients find her missing father. The case takes Roark to the beaches of Nantucket, where Roark’s finely-honed senses alert him to danger just below the island’s picturesque surface—where the biggest case of Roark’s career may just shatter what little peace of mind he has left . . .
Book 2
1985, Boston. In Vietnam, Andy Roark witnessed death and horrifying destruction. But for the soldiers who made it back alive, there are other casualties of war—the loss of tenderness, trust, and connection. Still feeling adrift and unsettled, Andy has struck up a welcome friendship with Nguyen, a Vietnamese restaurant owner. Sipping beer and trading memories after the restaurant shutters, Andy gradually learns of the extraordinary lengths Nguyen took to flee Saigon shortly after its fall.
Andy’s latest case, too, has ties to Vietnam. His new client, a beautiful and enigmatic young Vietnamese woman, hires him to investigate her uncle’s murder. Andy discovers a connection to a group of refugees determined to overthrow the communist government. Led by the sinister Colonel Tran, the Committee is extorting local business owners to raise funds. The search for more answers takes Andy from Boston to Washington D.C. to San Francisco, and deep into a web of political and personal betrayal.
Somewhere near the heart of this mystery is a connection to Nguyen’s daring escape from Saigon. Decades may have passed, but sometimes the price of freedom twists allies into enemies, loyalties into betrayals, and truth into a web of lies . . .
It's a race against time to find a teenager missing on the mean streets of Boston, in this hardboiled mystery featuring Andy Roark, Vietnam veteran turned Private Investigator.
"As good as, and maybe even better, than Robert Parker or Dennis Lehane, Peter Colt's Andy Roark is my new favorite sleuth" - International aid worker, journalist and writer Roberta Gately, author of the Jessie Novak mysteries
"Strong mystery . . . Colt plays fair with the reader before the satisfying reveal" Publishers Weekly
Boston, 1985. Private Investigator Andy Roark left the military behind years ago, but his past comes flooding back when he's hired by an old army buddy who's worried about his rebellious teenage daughter's safety. There are bonds of blood between Roark and the highly-decorated Lieutenant Colonel Dave Billings, forged in the steamy Vietnamese jungle, and some debts aren't easy to forget.
Working the case for free, Roark's investigation quickly leads him to Boston's Combat Zone, five acres of sex, drugs and crime, right in the heart of one of America's oldest cities - and to Judy's unsavory new boyfriend, the drug-dealing K-nice.
Then Judy runs away, and the clock starts ticking in earnest. Roark is determined to save his friend's daughter from a life of drugs and prostitution, but it'll take more than missing-person flyers and polite questions to save the girl and get them both out of the concrete jungle of the Combat Zone alive.
This page-turning hard-edged mystery, written by a US Army veteran and New England police officer, is a great choice for readers who enjoy military detail, twisty plots and classic PI heroes with plenty of flaws, humour and attitude.
A retired ambassador's life is in Andy Roark's hands in this explosive, fast-paced mystery featuring the Vietnam veteran turned private investigator.
"Page-turning . . . the balance of plot and character is perfect" Publishers Weekly Starred Review
"Roark is genuinely likeable (not too tough, but not a patsy)" The New York Times
Boston, 1985. Private Investigator - and former Special Forces operative - Andy Roark knows he doesn't fit in with the regular clientele at the Harvard Club, and that's fine by him. He's at the elegant bar for one reason only: to meet with the former ambassador of Laos. Ambassador Gordon Stevenson has a job for him . . . and Roark's here to turn it down.
So what if Stevenson's been getting death threats? After what he did during the Vietnam war, the lives lost under his incompetent command, Roark's almost tempted to cheer his would-be assassin on. But then Roark finds out why he's been headhunted for the job. The FBI believe one of Roark's old army comrades is behind the threats, and only a fellow Green Beret can hunt the culprit down.
Too many of Roark's brothers in arms are dead. If he can save an old friend from making a terrible mistake, he has no choice but to set his feelings aside and take the case. But old grudges and dark secrets are at play, and Roark soon finds it's not just the ambassador's life that's in danger - it's his own.
Written by a US Army veteran and New England police officer, The Ambassador is full of dry wit, page-turning action and shocking twists - if you haven't met Peter Colt's complex, intriguing hero, it's a great place to start.
