I had no problems getting into the story, despite the fact that this was b0ok two in the series. Yes, there some hints here and there to stuff that must have happened in the previous book. But, it was never a problem. The characters were introduced so that you quickly got into the story without having to figure them out along the way. I like books that start that way, you don't have to feel lost even to you don't start with the first book.

Coleridge Taylor is working on the doomed newspaper The Messenger-Telegram and he is searching for his latest scoop in New York 1975. The city is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and President Ford has just told the city to “Drop Dead”. Taylor gets to a scene of the crime where the dead bodies of a punk and police are found. The police think that they must have killed each other, but Taylor thinks something is wrong with the crime scene and when he talks to the police female partner does he learn that she was called away by a call. But the police say she never got the call and she is lying. Now Taylor must find out the truth.

I can honestly say that this is not a book I would have gone for in the first place. For instance, the cover really didn't appeal to me. But I'm glad that I did say yes to be part of this blog tour because it turned out to be an interesting enough reading experience. For instance, I seldom read about journalist reporting crime, usually they are just in the way in the books I read. And, it was quite interesting reading about New York in the70s. Still I must admit that the case overly interesting to me. I mean I wasn't hooked that I couldn't stop reading, but I still enjoyed the book to read and I would read more in the series.

All and all a decent book and I enjoyed the fact that Taylor was a big punk fan.

I received a copy from the publisher and Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours in return for an honest review! ( )

New York City is on the brink of bankruptcy in the Ford/punk rock era. Taylor is a reporter, working for a third string newspaper on the police beat. A cop and mugger shoot each other after a chase when the cop's female partner is left behind. She is shunned by male cops for allowing her partner's death, but Taylor wants to hear her story, which includes being misdirected by a radio call. Then, it turns out the mugger was a non-violent homeless guy, whose primary focus is caring for stray dogs. As in the first book, Taylor is obsessed with discovering the truth and is able to use his charm to get answers when the cops aren't interested. ( )

Source: Review copy provided by the author for an honest review.

Drop Dead Punk by Rich Zahradnik
Camel Press; 2015
Crime Fiction; 254 pgs

I was quite smitten with Coleridge Taylor in Last Words, and was glad for the opportunity to read and review Rich Zahradnik's second book in his series, Drop Dead Punk. I can just imagine this is a mystery series my dad would have enjoyed, Coleridge Taylor being his kind of guy. Not to mention the time period, mid-1970's.

With the newspaper business already having taken a hit with the advent of television, and a city that is falling apart at the seams in near financial ruin, times are tense in 1975 New York City. Crime reporter Coleridge Taylor is more concerned about the city's crime than he is the city's financial woes though. When he comes across the scene of a murder of a police officer by a homeless man not known for being violent or a criminal, Taylor smells something fishy and decides there may be a bigger story there than at first meets the eye. He would be right. The partner of the dead cop, Samantha Callahan, has two strikes against her. Not only is she a woman in a male dominated profession, she is also being blamed for his death--why didn't she back him up when he came across the mugger? Taylor cannot resist an underdog nor a good story, and so he and Samantha join forces to uncover what really went down.

Taylor's investigation is complicated by more personal issues: his broken heart and the financial state of the newspaper he works for. He doesn't know how much longer he will have a job.

Drop Dead Punk is high in intensity and intrigue. This series is set in a time when leg work and in person interviews are the best way to get answers, and Taylor does a lot of that. With each lead Taylor gets, the more complicated the mystery becomes--and the more danger he finds himself in. There is nothing light about this mystery. It is a very dark time in history and the corruption and crime Taylor is up against is very serious. I found my pulse racing during some of the tight spots Taylor found himself in, and hoping he would make it out okay.

Coleridge Taylor continues to be one of my favorite crime reporters in a series. He is ambitious and yet also has a strong sense of right and wrong. He believes in finding the truth and reporting the truth, qualities I admire. I appreciated how these values came into play over the course of the novel, not always being easy to maintain, especially the more dire the outlook for Taylor on both a professional and personal level. He is a complex person, like any of us, really.

Zahradnik captures well the time period, both in tone and atmosphere: from the city politics to the financial downward spiral of one of the biggest cities in the country, to the impact it had on all levels of society. He also takes us into the heart of the punk scene of the mid-1970's, with its anti-establishment values and rock music scene. I felt like I was right there in the thick of it.

I thoroughly enjoyed Drop Dead Punk. Author Rich Zahradnik has written another intriguing historical mystery that had me sitting on the edge of my seat. I look forward to reading more by him in the future.


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A city on the verge of bankruptcy. Good cops versus bad cops. Murder and lies. And one reporter who’s trying to get that big story.

Looks like Coleridge Taylor may have stumbled onto many stories, and they might all be connected.

Taylor works for the Messenger-Telegram. Not the biggest or most popular newspaper, but he loves his job. The paper may also be in financial trouble.

As Taylor worries about his job, he digs deep into the murder of a policeman. Why would a nice kid, one who struggles to feed the cities stray dogs, try to mug someone and kill a cop?

Who sent the anonymous radio dispatch calling off policewoman Samantha Callahan from backing up her now dead partner? And why does no one believe she received that call? Now she looks like a coward and the cops aren’t too happy about it.

You follow along with Taylor as he digs for more answers, gets beat up by some rogue cops, and begins to fall for the lovely Samantha.

You feel like you’ve stepped back in time as the author describes the financial crises in New York in 1975 and the rampant crime and corruption. This reads like news you read about today. It seems some things never change.

Coleridge Taylor is a down on his luck but scrappy reporter with some ethics. He wants the story badly, but he’s gonna make sure he gets the facts and nothing but the facts.

He lives on a boat, but not on the water. It’s in dry dock and loaned to him by a friend. Taylor likes to drink, but not the hard stuff, and not too much. The examples of his father’s many drunken arrests keeps that under control. He’s smart, funny, and like a dog with a bone when he’s onto a good story.

As you follow the story and uncover the clues, finally reaching the end, you come up for air. It was the writing, how the author kept me curious and anxious for the characters, especially Taylor, and excited to get answers to my questions, plus how easily and quickly the story flowed, that got this a high recommendation from me. ( )

Drop Dead Punk by Rich Zahradnik gives you the feeling of being in New York City during the financial crisis of 1975 when the city was on the verge of bankruptcy. The details really make this book shine. Even though this is the second book in a series, it works very well as a standalone. I love the fact that the author was a reporter in many kinds of media but because he had reported for newspapers, the book felt very realistic.

The main character, Coleridge Taylor enjoys his life as a crime reporter and had allowed himself total immersion in his job after a break up with a girlfriend. He was trying to fill a big hole, he knew something was missing in his life but his job came closer than anything to filling that hole.

Coleridge was sort of a depressed fellow, everyone at the office knew that the paper that he worked for was ready to fold, and they just didn’t know when it would happen. He is not the right person to spend his time at City Hall to wait for a reaction from the mayor about President Ford’s declaration that New York City would not be offered help to save them from bankruptcy. He was bored by that kind of stuff.

One thing that was very endearing to me was that Coleridge felt emotional pain but also at times a lot of physical pain. That made me realize that usually male leads in crime mysteries do not complain about physical pain. This one little fact made me fall for this character. He sort of brought out the mother in me!

Even he was supposed to spend the day at City Hall, Coleridge called a contact up and got a lead on a crime story. He managed to be at the crime scene at the same time that the investigators were there. He noticed that the policeman had been shot in the face and it would have been almost impossible for the young punk haired man to have shot him. Things don’t fit. Something smells about this case. The more he checks things out the more that they don’t fit. Coleridge makes a new friend a badgered female newbie on the force. It took a long time for them to be able to trust each other but they learned how. She would a great character to continue in a third book.

The book kept my interest all the way through, I stayed up to midnight finishing it. I did not have an idea about how it would end. One thing that I was positive of and that was that I was on Coleridge Taylor’s side! I would love to read the next book in this series.

I received a finished copy of Drop Dead Punk in exchange for a fair review from the Partners in Crime but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in my revie ( )