Robert Chazz Chute

I really liked the first one and this second entry is not bad at all and, like its predecessor, is very well-written. It is just that Season 2 is so dark and most of the characters are not easy to like. For some reason, though this is original in its own right when it comes to apocalyptic novels, I could not help but think of "Fear the Walking Dead," especially when I mentally compare the mother in the tv series with the mother in This Plague of Days.

Dark books (like this one) can be superb in style and substance and yet I still can want to run for the hills. I used to consider myself a fiendish zombie fan, but these days I find myself wanting much more light in my fiction reading. Real life is scary enough. I definitely like to be challenged in my reading, but I am not so sure I want to be terrified like I used to when it comes to books.… (mere)

Jesus Diaz is an enforcer for the Machine. He is tasked with ending Panama Bob Lima's life. Jimmy Lima sent him. Jimmy the underboss sent Jesus, the little Cuban hitman, and Big Denny to end Jimmy's
stepbrother Bob's life cause Bob has been skimming from the take. Jimmy and Bob are the underbosses. Their dad, Vincent, who is in the hospital getting operated on for prostate cancer, runs the Machine.

This may sound a little like the Sopranos and a little like Pulp Fiction, but Jesus Diaz isn't any ordinary hitman. This guy thinks of himself as a ninja and raps about Han Solo and the Matrix. He has the funniest
sense of humor for a dangerous guy. Don't worry. There's plenty of violence in this full-on action story, but the heart of this story is when the reader gets to climb inside Jesus's mind and see how he thinks.

The writing is just superb and it is really hard to understand why this isn't on the best seller lists. What other hitman thinks about what shoes he should have worn (as
in he should have worn his Nikes instead of his twelve hundred dollar Tannino Crisci shoes) when chasing Panama Bob onto a thin ledge hundreds of feet above the street. He muses that it wasn't as if he
could have refused the job, but he "should have stayed home, eaten a pot cookie with spongebob for company and given the mission a little more thought." A hitman waxing on like this?

Jesus is a Cuban boat refugee who survived the ninety mile journey only to see his brother and his parents die and to be captured by a man who kept him a prisoner in a basement for years, torturing and abusing him. After breaking free, Jesus makes it to Jersey, and then,
In the wake of 9/11, joins the Army. When he returns, there's no job he's qualified for except working for the machine.

Jesus has watched a lot of television and a lot of movies and his thought pattern is to wonder about what would happen if this were a Hollywood movie. He says that life is often like a Coen Brothers movie.
He says "Pacino never had to con the bad guy, save the girl, make an awesome getaway and at the same time desperately yearn to hit the can. The worst Harrison Ford ever hot was frozen in carbonite or a
scratch on his forehead as Indiana Jones."
He learned English by reading Mickey Spillane novels. How's that for a cultural reference in a crime story?
… (mere)

Jesus Diaz is not your ordinary hit-man. Not that there necessarily is an ordinary hit-man. But this irreverent series about a mob enforcer, hit-man on the run, is not your typically hardboiled, gritty story. Jesus is a guy who tried to come to America as a kid with his family floating on a raft from Cuba, lost his family on the way over, and spent his childhood tortured and imprisoned by a pair of sickos. From there, he go involved as a mob enforcer in New York till that fell apart and ended up next in Chicago and finally here in Hollywood. What sets Jesus apart from the many stories about hit-men gracing our virtual newsstands is that the character narrates often in the second person as if he is talking to himself and telling himself what he should do or should have done and he is steeped in television, movie, and literary references. For instance, as he is staking out a place, he keeps referring to himself as being a smart Ninja. He thinks about how Steve McQueen or Robert Downey Jr would act in certain circumstances. He references being an Avenger like Thor or Ironman. He admits that he is seeing himself starring in his own movie and can only see things as if he is starring in a movie.
This is a fast, quick, easy read and is, despite the subject matter, often quite funny. Jesus can't quite stay undercover for long. He is too bold, in-your-face for that. This version takes him into the Hollywood Hills, playing bodyguard to a movie star on her way up and stumbling into about an awful den of iniquity as could be imagined. Personally, as compared to the first two novels in the series, "Bigger than Jesus" and "Higher Than Jesus," this one lacks a bit of the ooomph that made those two books so great. It is nevertheless a fun read and will appeal to modern crime thriller fans looking for something that is not dark and gloomy.… (mere)

The Haunting Lessons by Robert Chazz Chute and Holly Pop is a fantastic paranormal trip with a girl as she learns about ghosts and more. The way the book is presented is unique and clever, they tell part of the story then present the "lesson" learned. The book is full of wit and fun but at the same time it has tenderness, action, and thrills. The story has a strong female lead and we follow her as a farm girl to a city girl. A girl that sees one ghost to seeing hundreds. From freaking out at seeing one ghost to fighting demons without a second thought. My heart was broken one minute and I was giggling the next, what was this book doing to me! I loved it. I ached for more. I can't wait for the next book to come out! The plot is well planned with surprises even to the very end that caught me off guard. The characters are complex and the dialogue witty and believable. A must read for those tired of the everyday ghost story. This one is a true gem. I received this book for a honest review from NetGalley and I am so glad I did, I might never have found this book. Thank you dear authors for such a wonderful book!… (mere)