Matthew Legare - Historical, Thrillers, & Noir
Website for Matthew Legare, writer of historical, thriller, and noir novels, including the Reiko Watanabe/Inspector Aizawa series set in 1930s Japan.
Shanghai, 1935 – a Japanese sailor is gunned down in the busy streets, escalating tensions between China and Japan. Doug Bainbridge, an officer in the ONI – the US
Office of Naval Intelligence – is tasked to investigate. Joined by his friends, Doug is sucked into a whirlwind of intrigue, double-dealing, and espionage.
[Read more…] about Assassin’s Hood Review & Garrett Hutson Interview
In 1943, Paris groans under the heel of the German occupier. After an intense chase, several French Resistance agents are captured by the SS, two of whom are the wife and daughter of Harry Mitchell, a British cryptographer. So begins Night Flight to Paris, a World War II thriller by David Gilman.
[Read more…] about Night Flight to Paris Review & David Gilman Interview
The years of 1931-32 were a turning point in Japanese history, typified by military coups, invasions, and political assassinations. Although this era only gets a few
sentences in English language history books, the specific details of three events – the October Incident, the Blood Brotherhood Incident, and the 5-15 Incident – are fascinating in their own right and read like a thriller novel. I’ve taken information from various sources to create a thoroughly researched and detailed account of these events that changed the course of Japan.
I am often asked if the musical references and songs that I include in the Reiko Watanabe/Inspector Aizawa series are real. Well, the answer is ‘yes’ and I have the reciepts to prove it.
[Read more…] about Japanese Songs from the 1930s – Music of the Reiko/Aizawa Series
Berlin, November 1932. Inspektor-Detektiv Willi Kraus has been called in to investigate a gruesome case. A woman’s corpse has been discovered, her legs grotesquely mutilated backward. So begins The Sleepwalkers by Paul Grossman, a historical thriller set in the last days of the Weimar Republic.
[Read more…] about The Sleepwalkers Review & Paul Grossman Interview
In 1931, Warner Brothers launched the modern gangster genre with the hit film, Little Caesar. Based on a 1929 novel, it became one of the most popular movies at the
time, capturing the public’s attention and capturing the criminal zeitgeist of the late 20s/early 30s.
The geopolitical tension between America and North Korea offers fertile creative ground for spy fiction. Author John Altman uses this perfectly to craft his fast-paced action thriller The Korean Woman.
[Read more…] about The Korean Woman Review & John Altman Interview
As the Nakamoto Corporation celebrates with a lavish gala in a prestigious Los Angeles office building, a woman is found murdered in an empty board 
room. So begins Rising Sun by Michael Crichton, one of his most controversial novels.
[Read more…] about Rising Sun by Michael Crichton Book Vs Movie Review
A hardboiled detective seeks to unravel a noir mystery set against a cyberpunk, futuristic Los Angeles. The description conjures up images of Blade Runner, but it’s actually Dome City Blues by Jeff Edwards.
[Read more…] about Dome City Blues Review & Jeff Edwards Interview
Opium dens, seedy bars, and exotic jungles – all tropes associated with pulp fiction, specifically the yellow peril subgenre, which writer Richard Jaccoma uses in his appropriately named 1978 novel, Yellow Peril – The Adventures of Sir John Weymouth-Smythe.
[Read more…] about Yellow Peril By Richard Jaccoma Novel Review