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Journal Entry 1 by AceofHearts from Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Thursday, December 15, 2011
 Amazon Editorial Review
"From first line to last, Speak of the Devil moves with a rare combination of intrigue and intensity. Its engine runs on high octane adrenalin. Richard Hawke delivers a winner."
--Michael Connelly
It’s a beautiful Thanksgiving morning in New York City. Perfect day for a parade, and Fritz Malone just happens to have drifted up Central Park West to take a look at the floats. Across the crowd-filled street he sees a gunman on a low wall, taking aim with a shiny black Beretta. Seconds later, the air is filled with bullets and blood.
Fritz isn’t one to stand around and watch. A child of Hell’s Kitchen and the bastard son of a beloved former police commissioner, Fritz is all too familiar with the city’s rougher side. As the gunman flees into the park, Fritz runs after him. What he doesn’t know is that he is also running into one of the most shocking and treacherous episodes of his life.
Though Fritz assumed that chasing down bad guys is perfectly legal, the cops hustle him from the scene and deliver him to the office of the current commissioner, who informs Fritz that someone dubbed “Nightmare” has been taunting the city’s leaders for weeks, warning of an imminent attack on the citizenry. What’s worse, Nightmare has already let the officials know that the parade gunman was a mere foot soldier and that there’s more carnage to come unless the city meets his impossible demands. The pols don’t dare share this information with anyone–not even the NYPD. What they need for this job is an outside man. And in Fritz they think they’ve got one.
Racing against the tightest of clocks, Fritz finds himself confounded by Nightmare’s multiple masks and messengers. The killer is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere. But as Fritz’s frantic investigation takes him from a convent in the Bronx to a hookers’ haven in central Brooklyn, the story behind the story–complete with wicked secrets on both sides of the law–begins to emerge. As Fritz zeroes in on the terrible, gruesome truth, the killer retaliates by making things personal, forcing Fritz to grapple with his deepest fear: sometimes nightmares really do come true.
In his brilliantly paced and stunningly original debut, Richard Hawke delivers a tale of flawed and unforgettable people operating at the ends of their ropes. It’s literary suspense that doesn’t let go until the last page.
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Journal Entry 2 by AceofHearts at Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Fritz Malone, a private investigator and bastard son of a former police chief decides to go out for bagels on a beautiful Thanksgiving morning. He lingers to watch the parade and suddenly sees a gunman taking aim on the princess on a float. Fritz throws the bagels at the princess , saving her life and takes after the gunman. Both Fritz and the gunman are apprehended by the police and instead of being driven to the local precinct are driven to a building near police headquarters.
Fritz learns that the city as been under the threats of Nightmare for awhile and this is one of those threats being carried out. The gunman turns out to be only a messenger and the current police commissioner asks Fritz to take this case on before any more threats are carried out.
Speak of the Devil is an intrigue and thriller that reels the reader in and keeps him turning the pages. I did not see the end coming and this makes it a great whodunit for me. Fritz is an engaging detective with loads of baggage and his girlfriend Margo is a perfect counterpoint for him. I will look forward to the next in the series.
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Journal Entry 4 by HoserLauren at Toronto, Ontario Canada on Sunday, January 08, 2012
Fritz Malone is the bastard son of the former police commissioner in New York City and knows a thing or two about the job. Rather than becoming a cop though, he became a private investigator. Fritz goes out to get his girlfriend some bagels and finds himself in the middle of a Thanksgiving day massacre at the parade. He takes a gun from a fallen cop, chases the shooter, and shots him in the arm before police take him and the gunman in to custody. Fritz finds himself in the middle of a blackmail scandal of the mayor that the police don't want the media to find out about. He's asked to quietly investigate when another bomb goes off and another note is received from the blackmailer. Fritz needs to find this guy, and fast, to stop more people from getting hurt.
Fritz has a great dry sense of humor that easily enamors him to the reader. Even in stressful situations, he always has a comeback or a quip. I really enjoyed him as a character and felt that his relationship with his girlfriend was quite believable.
In terms of the mystery, it was a fast-paced thriller. Hawke leaves clues for the reader throughout the story but the twist at the end is still surprising. I would pick up Hawke's next novel for Fritz Malone.
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Journal Entry 6 by  loriped at Keizer, Oregon USA on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
After reading your reviews I will have to move this one up the TBR list. Thanks for sending me another wishlist book.
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Speak of the Devil: A Novel of Suspense
