Thanks very much, Liam! A belated welcome to AJB, and I sure hope you check out my book. If you like it, please tell all your friends... 
Here's the press release for B&A, slated to move on Monday morning, 2nd August 2010, at precisely 10:43 AM, Central Daylight time. For economic reasons (my own 
) it will get a regional distribution, centered in Illinois, U.S.A....but it will be seen by all news organizations, magazines, media outlets, etc. We'll see where it takes us:
“Blood & Ashes” heralds literary debut of private eye Oscar Jade
Retro-style Mystery/Action Thriller set in Miami Beach, circa 1941
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, August 2nd, 2010/"Blood & Ashes" - Oscar Jade, a hardboiled sleuth in the gritty tradition of Philip Marlowe and Mike Hammer, makes his debut today in "Blood & Ashes." It’s an action-packed mystery novel set in Miami Beach, Florida, at the dawn of America's entry into World War Two---and make no mistake: Jade means business.
Author Mark Loeffelholz describes his hero as “a cruel man with a kind face, so people tend to underestimate him.” He's a down-and-out private detective who lives in a one-room apartment above the beachfront Pelican Bar & Grill. Two days after Pearl Harbor, after he is rejected for military service, he takes on a beautiful client who claims her husband wants her dead---and soon finds himself entangled in a violent conflict between rival factions of a New York crime family.
"I wanted Oscar Jade to be an antidote for the modern day," says Loeffelholz. "He exists in a time before DNA testing, cell phones and the internet. In his world, the line between right and wrong is still pretty clear. A man is as good as his word...and the bad guy usually gets what's coming to him." Political correctness is out the window, too: Jade will do whatever it takes to get the job done. "He's not afraid to use 'enhanced interrogation techniques,'" Loeffelholz adds with a laugh. He says that he got the idea for the Jade novels from his father. "My dad had just finished reading a Mickey Spillane book, and he told me I ought to try writing an old-fashioned private eye story," he says. "And once I got started with it, I knew I was onto something. There’s a lot going on inside this guy. Jade keeps a lot of secrets, even from me!"
"Blood & Ashes" is published by Outskirts Press and is available at all major online book retailers, such as Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, as well as the author's website, OscarJade.com.
About "Blood & Ashes" Mark Loeffelholz is a screenwriter and novelist who lives in Springfield, Illinois. "Blood & Ashes" is the first in a planned series of Oscar Jade thrillers set in the 1940s.
Contact: Mark Loeffelholz - Author, "Blood & Ashes"
oscarjade@onemain.com
http://oscarjade.com, http://outskirtspress.com/bloodandashes
"Blood & Ashes"...SIGNED COPIES NOW AVAILABLE!!! Get 'Jaded':
http://oscarjade.com/index.html"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig,
The Best James Bond EverTM
