PIPE DREAMS by John Madinger: Book Review

How do you write a murder mystery when history has already disclosed the climax? In the case of John Madinger’s Pipe Dreams: The Dark Secret Behind Hawaii’s Most Notorious Crime, this involves a different point-of-view narrator, in depth research that supplies new information, and an eye to well-developed characters acting in good faith on a paradise island overrun with military personnel. Also a challenge offered to the reader regarding the meaning of justice.

Newly-minted Narcotics Officer Jack Mather arrives at police headquarters in Honolulu eager to begin his first assignment – clean out the opium dens in Chinatown. Jack knows better than to stick his nose into the blistering rape case involving a white woman and, allegedly, five local boys. At least, until he doesn’t heed his own warning.

Tendrils of smoke drift through Waikiki amidst a nightlife crowded with sailors on weekend leave. Against a backdrop of underworld drug trafficking, and simmering animosity among the Hawaiian population, repeated lies lead to murder. No one is left unscathed, including Jack Mather. After all the chips have fallen and the dead are buried, he must face the consequences of his own actions. Along with the reader, he must decide what price of justice is too high.

John Madinger is the author of Death on Diamond Head, a Kimo Rigg mystery. He also authored Money Laundering: A Guide for Criminal Investigators (not a “how-to” book, but about anti-money laundering). He is a Special Agent- Retired – with the United States Department of the Treasury. His resume also includes Anti-Money Laundering Consultant at United States Department of Justice OPDAT, and work with the Deauville Partnership and US DOJ on stolen asset recovery issues in the Middle East and North Africa - Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and other countries. 

Along with publications available on Amazon, John’s latest book, The Opium Kings of Old Hawaii: America's first drug traffickers, will be published by The History Press in the Fall of 2021. 

Pipe Dreams on Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/2LpODmT

Read John’s advice to aspiring writers: John Madinger (Author of Money Laundering) Goodreads

*****