Blood on the Tracks by Guy Hale

 

"Jimmy Wayne is headed for LA to make the new album that will hopefully make him a star. In a quiet, deserted canyon a few miles outside Blackjack lie the bodies of his victims who inspired each song – all his secrets are buried in that dry and arid ground. Can he leave his past behind or will the ghosts of his past come back to haunt him?."

A quick recap. 

- When we first met Jimmy Wayne (Killing Me Softly, The Comeback Trail book 1) he was a fairly washed up singer in what was more or less a bar band. He'd had a chance at the big time years ago but it never worked out and now he's just turning up and getting by. Then he killed his girlfriend Wendy . . .

 But it's ok, he didn't mean to - and she's forgiven him (well, her ghost has). Thing is though, when he killed her he'd been drinking heavily and passed out and when he woke he found that not only had he got a dead girlfriend he'd also seemingly written some awesome lyrics. 

Short version - Jimmy realises every time he commits a murder he wakes up with a brilliant song and the band are going from strength to strength on the new tunes. A record deal is on the table so Jimmy needs new songs and more people need to die (but as long as it's scumbags that die that's not so bad is it?).

So, here we are at book 2, Blood On The Tracks and Jimmy and The Kid are leaving the town of Blackjack (and the Song Graveyard where Jimmy buried his victims/muses) behind and heading to LA and, hopefully, the Big Time. Things are looking up for our favourite serial killer but there's always trouble lurking around the next bend in the road and Mafia type Jack Lantern still wants his piece of the pie.

As you would expect Jimmy goes from scrape to scrape, new friends, acquaintances and enemies join the story and Wendy is there keeping a ghostly eye on him and Kid. The best way I can describe Blood On The Tracks is "like Killing Me Softly, but better" and I loved Killing Me Softly.

Once again Hale hits all the right notes with this darkly funny thriller and I can't wait for the concluding part.

A well deserved 5/5* Highly Recommended (but I'd read book 1 first if I were you) 

Thanks to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blogtour and giving me the chance to review this book, and to White Fox Publishing for supplying a copy to read (all views are my own though and not influenced in any way - I even bought kindle copies of both books so I could carry on reading in bed. Yeah, I did not want to put these down at all).

Below is a list of the other bloggers on the tour and where you can find their reviews so please go have a look at them when you get a moment.