Michael Burke
Information and Pricing
978-1-60235-598-9 (paperback; $14.99) 978-1-60235-599-6 (PDF, $9.99); 978-1-60235-600-9 (ePub, $9.99) © 2014 by Parlor Press. 188 pages.
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About This Book
Detective Johnny “Blue” Heron is lured away from stargazing on his fire escape by a wealthy socialite who wants to track down her husband’s lover. It appears to be a straightforward task for a private investigator, but the trail quickly muddies. Blue is chased by hit men and seduced by the suspected lover. A fight in an abandoned pipe factory, a headless body on the railroad tracks, and the curious involvement of homeless kittens makes Out of Mind a fascinating read. Michael Burke has produced a fast moving mystery that combines a tightly woven plot with Blue’s philosophical musing, sexual shenanigans, and humor.
What People Are Saying
“Thomas Pynchon and Dashiell Hammett walk into a bar: Michael Burke is channeling the results right here in Out of Mind. It is a lively trip—wit with intrigue, graft with grins. I laughed out loud at the “ten-story glass office building” which is “named after our ex-Mayor Norton Montgomery—no one had bothered to change its name after he went to jail.” And, like his wife Louella, I too wondered what Larry Lafonte was up to. Johnny ‘Blue’ Heron, his Beamer, and the aging pony-tailed hippy LeRoy are back. Burke writes like a really great conversationalist at a party, and you’re invited! Glorious reading!”
—Graeme Harper, author of The Invention of Dying and Moon Dance
“In Out of Mind, Michael Burke’s third novel in the series, we are charmed once again by the eccentric macho tenderness of protagonist Johnny ‘Blue‘ Heron. Blue would opt every day for a romantic martini with Kathy over a murder. Yet beyond the laconic style of Burke’s hero, and obvious literary skill, this book is extremely well plotted, with an unforgettable erotic scene in a cornfield. Bravo Mr. Burke—who, we are not surprised, is also a sculptor, scientist, and poet. We want more of the seductive and mysterious Mr. Heron.”
—Margaret Sheffield, author of The Expressive Edge
About the Author
Michael Burke has traveled through a number of careers since he graduated from college. The first was as an astronomer, working at observatories in the U.S., Hawaii, and Iran. He then went back to school to obtain a Master’s Degree in City Planning. He worked in New York City’s Planning Department and later became an Assistant Professor at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture and City Planning. Michael changed direction again when he found a loft in Soho and began to paint. He has been an artist for more than thirty years—painting, drawing, and lately producing aluminum books and sculpture. He has exhibited his work extensively in the U.S., Japan, and Europe. Although he has written and published poetry over the years, Michael has only recently arrived on the mystery scene. Swan Dive was published in 2009 and Music of the Spheres in 2011. Out of Mind, the further adventures of detective Johnny “Blue” Heron, is the third book in the series.
