@Asphalt_Warrior @JKSLitPublicity #Book #Review "Doctor Lovebeads" by Gary Reilly

Doctor Lovebeads review
Author: Gary Reilly
5 out of 5 stars

See also my book feature here.

Book Info: Genre: Literary Fiction/humorous
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Anyone

My Thoughts: I'm running out of adjectives to describe how awesome these books are. In this one, Murph runs across a hippie commune in the mountains past Boulder and, as usual, breaks his vow to not become involved in his passengers' personal lives, leading him into a labyrinthine plan involving passing himself off as a hippie. It's pretty funny. As always, Murph is full of advice on many things. I don't want this review to be all quotes like a couple of my earlier ones, but I will give you this.

Murph on Fashion:

“The big house... reminded me of the types of structures you can still see in places like Center City: gingerbread houses, two-story affairs built back in the nineteenth century when people didn't have televisions and were forced to build interesting things out of wood. I have a theory that the outrageous fashions you see in pre-twentieth century culture came about as a result of the lack of television. I'm talking wild hats on women with lots of feathers, pelts, sequined dresses with long trains, as well as top hats on the men, with long-tailed coats. I figure that life in those days was so dull that people themselves became televisions. I'm still working on the theory. I include European royalty in this construct, but let's move on.”

I can't think of anyone who wouldn't like this book, honestly. It's funny and thought-provoking. Check it out.

Series Information: The Asphalt Warrior series, a proposed eleven-book series each featuring Murph, but which can be read as stand-alones.
Book 1 The Asphalt Warrior. review linked here
Book 2: Ticket to Hollywood. review linked here
Book 3: The Heart of Darkness Club. review linked here
Book 4: Home for the Holidays, review linked here
Book 5: Doctor Lovebeads

Disclosure: I received a copy from JKS Communications/NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: In Doctor Lovebeads, the fifth in novelist Gary Reilly's Asphalt Warrior series, Murph must go undercover to accomplish his mission. He lets his hair go untamed, dresses in muslin and sandals and arrives on the scene in a beat-up VW van called the Cosmic Wonderbus and Mobile Mercantile.

Murph tries to pass himself off as an old love child in his confrontation with Brother Chakra. As the good Brother might say, It's a mind-blowing trip.

@Asphalt_Warrior @JKSLitPublicity #Book #Review "Home for the Holidays" by Gary Reilly

Home for the Holidays review
Author: Gary Reilly
5 out of 5 stars

See also my book feature here.

Book Info: Genre: Humorous literary fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Anyone

My Thoughts: Gary Reilly's books continue to delight me, and I continue to mourn that he was taken from the world before any of us knew about him. This book is a little different from the previous ones, in that Murphy actually spends most of the book visiting his family rather than driving a cab, but he still manages to delight the reader with his wonderfully piquant descriptions of his lifestyle, his thoughts on various things, and his views on working. Reilly is often quite surreal in this book, and I was very amused by that.

As I read these books, I become more and more drawn to the simple life that Murph leads. It's incredibly tantalizing.

I enjoyed “meeting” Murph's family in this book. He talks about his mother a lot, so it was fun to finally meet her, as well as his brother, and his three sisters and their passel of kids. While there are actually quite a lot of distant relatives in my family, the core of it has remained small, so I am always amused by the mass chaos of a large family gathering. As long as I'm not actually there...

So, another outstanding book in the Asphalt Warrior series. If you still haven't taken my advice to read these books, stop procrastinating already! These books are worth every penny spent and every minute taken to read them. Highly recommended.

Series Information: The Asphalt Warrior series, a proposed ten-book series each featuring Murph, but which can be read as stand-alones.
Book 1 The Asphalt Warrior. review linked here
Book 2: Ticket to Hollywood. review linked here
Book 3: The Heart of Darkness Club. review linked here
Book 4: Home for the Holidays
Book 5: Doctor Lovebeads

Disclosure: I received an ARC paperback of this book from JKS Communications in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: It’s Christmastime, and Murph leaves his cab behind to visit his family in Wichita where he finds himself reluctantly reconnecting with his siblings. Meanwhile, Murph takes it upon himself to save an old friend from making the biggest mistake of his life—accepting a job where suits and ties are everyday attire.

@Asphalt_Warrior @JKSLitPublicity #Books Feature: The Asphalt Warrior Series by Gary Reilly

Today I'm featuring Gary Reilly's books; mostly the two that just came out November 15, Home for the Holidays and Doctor Lovebeads. My reviews will be posted over the next two days. These are books 4 and 5 in a proposed 10-book series by the late Gary Reilly, a true genius, and a true loss to the world of literature. They are funny, philosophical, and most importantly, absolutely amazing reads. For your information, here is the series as it stands so far:

Series Information: The Asphalt Warrior series, a proposed eleven-book series each featuring Murph, but which can be read as stand-alones.
Book 1 The Asphalt Warrior. review linked here
Book 2: Ticket to Hollywood. review linked here
Book 3: The Heart of Darkness Club. review linked here
Book 4: Home for the Holidays
Book 5: Doctor Lovebeads

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        

CONTACT: Marissa Curnutte 347.574.3136

 marissa@jkscommunications.com  

BEST-SELLING WRITER’S LEGACY LIVES ON THROUGH COMEDIC ‘ASPHALT WARRIOR’ SERIES ‘Home for the Holidays’ and ‘Doctor Lovebeads’ by Gary Reilly hit bookstores Nov. 21

DENVER, Colo. – Back in the driver’s seat again, the cabbie who made readers laugh out loud in the first three installments of the posthumously published “Asphalt Warrior” series has returned for two more books written by best-selling author Gary Reilly.

Winner of the 1979 Pushcart Prize, Reilly passed away in 2011 after a two-year battle with colon cancer, trusting a pair of friends to publish an 11-book series after his death. Since then, the “Asphalt Warrior” series has been in the hands of Mike Keefe, a retired political cartoonist and Pulitzer Prize winner, and Mark Stevens, a former journalist and acclaimed author in Colorado. Following the successful release of the first three books – “The Asphalt Warrior,” “Ticket to Hollywood,” and “The Heart of Darkness Club,” which hit No. 1 on the Denver area bestsellers list – the two friends will publish two more books Nov. 21, 2013 in honor of Reilly through Running Meter Press.

Denver taxi driver Brendan Murphy, aka Murph, returns in Reilly’s fourth book, “Home for the Holidays.” It’s Christmastime, and Murph leaves his cab behind to visit his family in Wichita where he finds himself reluctantly reconnecting with his siblings. Meanwhile, Murph takes it upon himself to save an old friend from making the biggest mistake of his life – accepting a job where suits and ties are everyday attire.

In “Doctor Lovebeads,” Murph ignores the little voice in the back of his head that says to stay out of the lives of his passengers. Instead, he goes undercover as a hippie – muslin, sandals, VW van and all – to rescue two girls he believes have been brainwashed by a cult leader.

“Reilly is a master wordsmith,” Denver Post reviewer Mike McClanahan raved about “The Asphalt Warrior.”

“A sardonic, well-read, authority-bucking character who cites Fellini and Dobie Gillis in the same passage, Murph…has a clear, winning voice,” Denver Post reviewer Tucker Shaw said in a story about “Ticket to Hollywood” being named as a finalist for the 2013 Colorado Book Award.   Reilly was born in Arkansas City, Kan., and moved with his family of seven brothers and sisters to Denver. He served two years in the army, including a tour in Vietnam as a military policeman, and later majored in English at Colorado State University with continued studies at the Denver campus of the University of Colorado. After publishing his short story “The Biography Man” and writing as an AOL comic advice columnist in the ‘90s, Reilly turned to novels. His dedication to writing did not include self-promotion. Instead of seeking agents and publishers, he focused on his craft, writing and rewriting, polishing to perfection. Proceeds from his book sales benefit Reilly’s longtime partner, Sherry.

Gary Reilly excerpts - embedded videos

I learned today that there were a couple readings of Gary Reilly's books on YouTube, read by Dennis Gallagher, who is the City Auditor for Denver. By the way, a little birdie tells me that Ticket to Hollywood is a finalist for the 2013 Colorado Book Award, so best wishes that the book will win. These are awesome books. Before I let you watch the videos, let me link you to my reviews for Gary Reilly's books: Asphalt Warrior, review here; Ticket to Hollywood, review here; The Heart of Darkness Club, review here. By the way, there are two books scheduled for release in November! Home for the Holidays and Dr. Lovebeads, so I'm very excited for that; that means I, for one, will have a happy holiday if I receive those two books! If you do a search through my blog, I have several other posts featuring the Gary Reilly books and providing more info about the series and the man, so feel free to dig around!

Now, without further ado, here we go. First an excerpt from Ticket to Hollywood, followed by an excerpt from The Heart of Darkness Club, both read by Dennis Gallagher.

GIVEAWAY: "The Heart of Darkness Club" by Gary Reilly

Be sure to see my separate posts for The Heart of Darkness Club, which includes a guest post and book feature.  Also see yesterday's review (there you will find links back to the same features on the previous book in the series, Ticket to Hollywood)!  Everything is all linked up for you, so just click away!

Today, my lovelies, we're featuring this book in our giveaway.  One lucky winner will receive a physical copy of this book.  Unfortunately this giveaway is only open for US addresses, so my apologies to my international followers. But don't despair!  You know I have giveaways regularly!

So fill out the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win a copy of this book.  While it is the third book in a series, each book can easily stand by itself.  I hope that once you've read this one, you'll want to pick up and read the others, though.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"The Heart of Darkness Club" book feature plus author biography

BOOK DETAILS

Paperback: $14.95, eBook, $9.99

ISBN: 978-0984786022

Comic Fiction, 194 pages

Running Meter Press / Big Earth Publishing

May 28, 2013

MEET DENVERITE BRENDAN MURPHY...

Or “Murph” as he’s known to the rest of the world.

That world consists mostly of fares and doormen and fellow hacks from the Rocky Mountain Taxicab Company. He lives alone in his crow’s nest apartment, fries a hamburger for every meal, does his dish, then channel surfs for reruns of Gilligan’s Island.

He’s a radical minimalist.

Murph has two main goals in life. First, to earn no more from driving his cab than it takes to keep his bohemian lifestyle afloat. Second, never and under any circumstances get involved in the lives of his fares. He’s not very good with the first issue and spectacularly bad with the second.

The Heart of Darkness Club is the third book of The Asphalt Warrior series, following The Asphalt Warrior and Ticket to Hollywood. In The Heart of Darkness Club, Murph encounters a mysterious nihilist who may or may not be leaving him cryptic handwritten notes on five-dollar bills.

Come prowl the mean streets of Denver with Murph and ponder the meaning of the world and all sorts of deep questions, such as “Why would anyone want to DO anything?”

Website: TheAsphaltWarrior.com

   Twitter @Asphalt_Warrior     Facebook The Asphalt Warrior   Goodreads Gary Reilly

Gary Reilly was a writer.

Simply stated, that was the essence of the man.

Born in Arkansas City, Kansas he spent his early years in Kansas and Colorado in a large Irish-Catholic family of seven brothers and sisters. The family moved to Denver where Gary attended parochial high school, graduating in 1967.

He served two years in the army, including a tour in Vietnam as a military policeman.

After discharge, Gary majored in English at Colorado State University and continued studies at the Denver campus of the University of Colorado.

All along, his overarching ambition was to write fiction. And he did, prodigiously. His first published short story, The Biography Man, was included in the Pushcart Prize Award anthology in 1979.

Later he turned to novels, several based on his army experiences. While he wrote both serious and genre fiction, his greatest invention was the character, Murph, a likable, bohemian Denver cab driver. Starting with The Asphalt Warrior, Gary cranked out eleven Murph novels.

His dedication to writing did not include self-promotion. Instead of seeking agents and publishers, he focused on his craft, writing and rewriting, polishing to perfection. He wrote well over twenty novels before he thought he was ready to make his work public.

Unfortunately, he passed away in March 2011, before he could realize that dream.

Friends and family remember Gary as a fun-loving, generous soul who always had time for other writers, helping them shape their work, getting it ready for print.

Now, through Running Meter Press and Big Earth Publishing in Boulder, Colorado, Gary’s fiction is finally coming to bookstores in Colorado and across the nation.

"The Heart of Darkness Club" Guest Post!

My review of The Heart of Darkness Club by Gary Reilly, the third book in the Asphalt Warrior series, went up yesterday.  You can see it here.

I still have not managed to put my hands on The Asphalt Warrior, the first book in the series, yet, but you can see my review of Ticket to Hollywood, the second book, here.  You can also see my book feature on the same book here. Today I'll also be posting a book feature for this book, and a giveaway, so be sure to check those out!

Today I have a guest post written by the folks who have been publishing these excellent books, a sort of retrospective on Gary Reilly, who he was.  It's wonderful.

Without further ado...

Who was Gary Reilly?

Gary Reilly was an inspiring mentor, a sharp-eyed editor, a book club pal (in our own little two-member club), a voracious reader, a lover of movies, a devoted fan of stories in any form and a guy who always wanted to know, as much as anything else, how you’re doing.

Gary was the kind of guy who would email you in the middle of the night when a new idea for a scene came to him. That is, a new idea for a scene in one of your stories (not his).

Gary was the kind of guy who would show up for coffee and pull out a well-thumbed draft of your novel and humbly say: “Well, I was looking through your book again and a couple more things occurred to me.”  The “again,” in this case, might mean the fifth or sixth run-through.

Gary Reilly was the kind of guy who would show up for coffee with a backpack or briefcase jammed with books he thought you might want to read. Or a novel he had just written. Or an older novel of his he had just re-written. Again.

Gary loved Georges Simenon—and was impressed by Simenon’s productivity.

But Gary also liked Proust and Dickens—and Elmore Leonard and Patricia Highsmith. He’d prowl the used paperback stores along South Broadway in Denver. He liked pulp fiction covers. He got a kick out of the noir titles and (of course) the stories inside.

When I casually mentioned one day that a childhood friend had written his first novel, Gary was the kind of guy who said, “I want to read it.”  And of course Gary not only read the book but provided thoughtful, detailed feedback and commentary—for someone he had never met.  Because he enjoyed stories.

Gary was the kind of guy who wrote a treatise about novel structure. He was fascinated by the arc of a story and how to build tension into a plot.  He called the middle section of novels “the part where everyone is running around and shooting at one another.”

Gary Reilly had a self-starting laugh—a gentle, rolling, dry kind of laugh. His voice would hit a higher pitch and he would smile broadly. He was tall and barrel-chested. When I knew him, late in life, he had white hair. He moved slowly, even before he got sick and started on chemo. He listened carefully. He loved a good iced latte.

He loved being amused.  And he enjoyed amusing others.  He wrote 11 novels about Brendan Murphy, a.k.a. “Murph,” a Denver cab driver based on the 14 years Gary spent driving a cab.

They are packed with amusing lines and insights about life. In spots, the novels are wickedly funny. Murph is endlessly self-effacing. Here’s one quick line, right after Murph is given a five-dollar tip. “I tried to put the fiver out of my mind as I drove the remainder of my shift, but that was like trying to forget my first kiss. With a girl, I mean, not ‘of death.’”

Gary also wrote another 10 novels in all varieties, including two of the best Vietnam-era novels I’ve ever read.

Gary was the kind of friend who made you believe you could be a writer. He believed, you believed. If you ever had any doubts, Gary boosted your confidence, found a way to shine a light on your strengths.  Gary read all the novels I had written, some plucked from dusty bottom drawers, and found passages and parts he liked. He put a spotlight and what worked in such a way that he didn’t need to tell you about the parts that weren’t so strong.

Gary was the kind of friend who didn’t complain when cancer slowed him down even more, when his face changed and his hair went from shaggy white to short and cropped. But the smile was still there.

Before he died, Gary wrote a three-sentence will that gave me and my pal Mike Keefe permission to publish his books. Just “permission.” If we wanted to, we could.

The first book in the Murph series came out in June of 2012—and with “The Heart of Darkness Club,” the first three “Murphs” are out. There are eight more “Murphs” and many more Gary Reilly novels to go.

Murph lives. And so does Gary Reilly—and his never-ending affection for the power of a good story.

Thanks, fellas!

I truly believe that with the loss of Gary Reilly, the world lost a brilliant writer. I want to thank his friends for publishing these books, and sharing his brilliance with the world!  For the book information, see the separate post, also put up today.

JKS Presents: "Ticket to Hollywood" by Gary Reilly

I just finished reading Ticket to Hollywood (and you can see the review here) by Gary Reilly (who is, tragically, now deceased). Now, learn a bit more about both the book and the writer! First, a bit more information about Ticket to Hollywood:

BOOK DETAILS

Paperback: $14.95, eBook, $9.99

ISBN: 978-0-9847860-1-5

Comic Fiction, 216 pages

Running Meter Press / Big Earth Publishing

Dec. 3, 2012

In Ticket to Hollywood, the second of 11 comic novels about Denver cab driver Brendan Murphy, a.k.a “Murph,” a young woman on the way to a showing of The Great Gatsby leaves her purse behind in Murph’s Rocky Mountain Taxi Cab #127—and then goes missing. Murph finds himself confronted by police and loses his job. He becomes entangled with filmmakers and makes his way to Los Angeles in search of the lost woman and in desperate need to restore his reputation and regain normalcy, which in Murph’s case means doing as little as possible.

Ticket to Hollywood follows the June 2012 debut of The Asphalt Warrior. The first volume of Murph’s adventures rose to No. 3 on The Denver Post best-seller list.

Website: TheAsphaltWarrior.com

Twitter    @Asphalt_Warrior   Facebook   The Asphalt Warrior  Goodreads  Gary Reilly

Gary Reilly

Author Biography

Gary Reilly was a writer.

Simply stated, that was the essence of the man.

Born in Arkansas City, Kansas he spent his early years in Kansas and Colorado in a large Irish-Catholic family of seven brothers and sisters. The family moved to Denver where Gary attended parochial high school, graduating in 1967.

He served two years in the army, including a tour in Vietnam as a military policeman.

After discharge, Gary majored in English at Colorado State University and continued studies at the Denver campus of the University of Colorado.

All along, his overarching ambition was to write fiction. And he did, prodigiously. His first published short story, The Biography Man, was included in the Pushcart Prize Award anthology in 1979.

Later he turned to novels, several based on his army experiences. While he wrote both serious and genre fiction, his greatest invention was the character, Murph, a likable, bohemian Denver cab driver. Starting with The Asphalt Warrior, Gary cranked out eleven Murph novels.

His dedication to writing did not include self-promotion. Instead of seeking agents and publishers, he focused on his craft, writing and rewriting, polishing to perfection. He wrote well over twenty novels before he thought he was ready to make his work public.

Unfortunately, he passed away in March 2011, before he could realize that dream.

Friends and family remember Gary as a fun-loving, generous soul who always had time for other writers, helping them shape their work, getting it ready for print.

Now, through Running Meter Press and Big Earth Publishing in Boulder, Colorado, Gary’s fiction is finally coming to bookstores in Colorado and across the nation.

Website: TheAsphaltWarrior.com

Twitter    @Asphalt_Warrior   Facebook   The Asphalt Warrior  Goodreads  Gary Reilly

Review: Ticket To Hollywood

Ticket To Hollywood by Gary Reilly

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Comedic mystery
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Anyone who likes to laugh
Trigger Warnings: Excessive laughter? You know, if you have a weak bladder or something you might want to be careful.

My Thoughts: This book was hilarious. Murph was a wonderfully fun character, full of wisdom and wisecracks and strange, random thoughts that cause startled outbursts of laughter. This review will consist to a huge degree of quotes from the book, which I think will do a much better job of expressing exactly why it was I loved this book than all the nonsense I might babble. For instance:

Murph on work:

I hate competition. It’s one of the seven warning signs of work. I’ve spent most of my life trying to figure out ways to make money without working. I don’t know what I could do to get money besides driving a cab, except robbing banks. Both occupations have their pros and cons. For instance, bank robbery isn’t quite as dangerous as cab driving, but it pays better.

My fake weekend has begun. I always take Tuesday off, unless my rent is due and I need to pick up some extra cash. I always take Thursday off, too. I have two fake weekends and one real weekend per week. Sometimes I wish there were eight days in a week just so I could squeeze in an extra weekend. But we all have our crosses to bear.

...like I always say, “Now is as good a time as any to start not doing things.”

I wandered the sidewalk watching all the street performers doing their juggling acts, playing their musical instruments, busting their asses to avoid work. I liked that. But I wanted to tell them there were easier ways to avoid work, like cab driving.

That was how I was going to get things back to normal—by working. I never thought I would use the words “working” and “normal” in the same sentence, but I’ll try anything to avoid facing reality.

Murph on writing and writers:

I have completed and uncompleted screenplays, but they both fall into the category of “unsold.” I’ve seen quite a few movies where the screenplays seemed to be in the “uncompleted” category yet still got sold and made into movies, so I generally refer to all screenplays as “sold” or “unsold.” But that’s just my own filing system.

Writers, even unpublished writers, have a tendency not to notice what’s going on around them when they are the center of attention.

Most of the ideas I’ve gotten for novels or screenplays have occurred to me while I was either shaving or taking a bath. A number have occurred to me while I was driving 127. I rarely get ideas when seated in front of my typewriter, which I find ironic because I have always suspected that typing somehow plays a key role in writing.

It’s a funny thing about writing. You get so balled up in a story idea that you lose your perspective and forget that human beings might read your words someday.

My imagination was running amok again. Twice in one night. This never happens when I’m sitting in front of a typewriter.

My big dream back then was to buy an IBM Selectric. I still have that dream. I really ought to buy a word-processor. Half the cabbies at Rocky own computers. They tell me they can write failed novels ten times faster on a PC.

I was through with screenwriting.... I figured it was time to stop fooling myself. I was no screenwriter. I was going to stick with novel writing...

Murph on LA:

I was in the land of fakes and frauds and phonies—I felt like saying “Howdy cousin,” to everybody who walked by.

I expected Los Angeles to be slick and modern, but overall it had a rundown look and feel to it. Sort of like Denver. Sort of like every city in America I’ve lived in, except San Francisco, which looks cool.

The clerk was... a young man with a goatee and an earring, both on his chin.

I was driving pretty much the way everyone drives in LA, like elephants dancing on each others’ backs at a circus.

Murph on dating:

When I was a teenager, most fathers tended to go berserk when I asked their daughters on a date.... I discovered that all fathers go berserk when their daughters start dating. I have to assume this was because all fathers were once teenagers at some point in their lives, so they had no illusions about whether or not the boys were “up to something.”

She looked confused. She looked off-balance. That’s a technique I employ to get dates, and it always works.

I have a lot more quotes highlighted, and accompanying comments, but I think that’s probably enough. I hope that gives you a good idea of exactly why I enjoyed this book so very, very much. As I finished reading it, I gave one last chuckle and had a huge smile on my face, if that tells you anything about how very much I enjoyed this book. I absolutely must have my own copy of the first book in this series, The Asphalt Warrior, and I will definitely be watching for additional books in this series. Highly recommended to folks who enjoy a good laugh!

Disclosure: I received an ARC e-book copy of this book from JKS Communications (the author’s publicist) in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: In Ticket to Hollywood, the second of 11 comic novels about Denver cab driver Brendan Murphy, a.k.a “Murph,” a young woman on the way to a showing of The Great Gatsby leaves her purse behind in Murph’s Rocky Mountain Taxi Cab #127—and then goes missing. Murph finds himself confronted by police and loses his job. He becomes entangled with filmmakers and makes his way to Los Angeles in search of the lost woman and in desperate need to restore his reputation and regain normalcy, which in Murph’s case means doing as little as possible. Ticket to Hollywood follows the June, 2012 debut of The Asphalt Warrior. The first volume of Murph’s adventures rose to #3 on The Denver Post bestseller list.

View all my reviews