Book ~ "Hell and Gone" (2021) Sam Wiebe

From Goodreads ~ In one moment of public violence, everything changes for Dave Wakeland. When masked men and women storm an office building in Chinatown, leaving a trail of carnage, the Vancouver PI and his partner, Jeff Chen, find themselves caught up in a mystery that won't let them go. 

The police have a vested interest in finding the shooters and so does the leader of the Exiles motorcycle gang. Both want Wakeland's help. The deeper he investigates, the more connections he uncovers: a reclusive millionaire with ties to organized crime, an international security company with a sinister reputation and a high-ranking police officer who seems to have a personal connection to the case. When the shooters themselves start turning up dead, Wakeland realizes the only way to guarantee his own safety, and that of the people he loves, is by finding out who hired the shooters and why. 

What Wakeland uncovers are secrets no one wants known - a botched undercover operation, an ambitious gangster and a double-crossing killer who used the shooting to cover up another crime. With a setup like this, anything can go wrong, and does. Skill and luck are needed for Wakeland and Chen to emerge with the killers, the money, and their own lives.

Dave Wakeland is a former cop and now a private detective in Vancouver, BC. He is in partnership with Jeff Chen, who is the opposite of him. They are based in Jeff's more professional space but Dave hasn't let go of his rundown office space in another building. It's at his rundown office early one morning that Dave witnesses people masked, running out of a building and jumping into a van but not before innocent bystanders are shot and killed. He races down to help those he can. Once the police and paramedics arrive, not wanting to get involved, Dave says he didn't see what happened and only went down to help. But the police and a local gang leader don't believe him and when his life is put in danger, that spurs him into finding out what happened and why.

This is the third book in the Wakeland series (I'd read the first two a couple years ago) ... you don't need to have read the previous ones as it works as a stand alone (I didn't remember anything from the first two). It is written mostly in first person perspective from Dave's point of view but also in third person perspective when a couple characters are telling their stories. As a head's up, there is swearing and violence. I found there was a lot going on and it was hard to keep up with all the characters and it was a bit convoluted.

Book ~ "Never Going Back" (2020) Sam Wiebe

From Goodreads ~ Before she went to prison, Alison Kidd was the best thief in the city. But Ali has changed. All she wants now is to clean up her act and work in her brother Dean's restaurant. She never wants to go back inside. On the day she gets out, Dean is supposed to pick her up. But he never shows. Ali makes her way to Dean's apartment and uses her unique skill set to let herself in. Dean is missing. After some investigation, Ali discovers that he was kidnapped and is being held hostage by powerful crime boss, Lisa Wan. Lisa is the reason that Ali was in prison and wants Ali to work one last job in exchange for Dean's safety. 

Now, to save her brother and her own future, Ali must pull off the toughest job of her career. 

Since she was in high school, Alison was a thief.  She eventually started working for Lisa, who she'd met in detention.  Lisa double crossed her and Alison ended up going to prison for a year.  She's just getting out and looking forward to staying clean and working in her younger brother Dean's restaurant.

Dean was supposed to pick her up at prison but doesn't show up.  Alison goes looking for him and discovers that Lisa had kidnapped him because she wants Alison to do one last job for her.  Alison can't say no because she wants to save her brother.

This is the fourth book I've read by this author and it was okay.  It was a quick read at about 130 pages so it's pretty high level.

Book ~ "Cut You Down" (2018) Sam Wiebe

From Goodreads ~ Tabitha Sorenson is missing. The bright but unstable student disappeared in the aftermath of a scandal involving millions of dollars in college funds. Professor Dana Essex doesn't think the missing money and the missing student are connected but she hires Vancouver PI David Wakeland to find Tabitha, with whom she is in obsessed.

When Wakeland discovers Tabitha has, in fact, stolen the money and is hiding out with her lover and reports back to his client, Essex is crushed to learn that Tabitha is in love with someone else. The next morning, Tabitha has been murdered and Essex has disappeared.

Meanwhile, Wakeland has his own problems. His former girlfriend, police officer Sonia Drego, believes her partner is corrupt. With her job - and possibly her life - on the line, Wakeland may be her best hope of uncovering the conspiracy in the department before it brings her down.

Hounded by Tabitha's friends, the police, the press and his own troubled conscience, Wakeland tries desperately to find Essex and make sense of what happened. Could it all have been a ruse from the start and is Wakeland just another in a long line of suckers?

While searching for Essex and investigating Sonia's partner, Wakeland encounters criminals, anarchist, and crooked authority figures - all of them desperate people who will stop at nothing to guard their secrets. 

Dave Wakeland is a former cop and now a private detective in Vancouver, BC.  He is in partnership with Jeff Chen, who is totally the opposite of him.  They are based in Jeff's more professional space but Dave hasn't let go of his rundown office space in a building that is going to be demolished for condos soon.  Dave isn't afraid to use violence to get the answers he needs, which isn't Jeff's style.

Dave has been hired by a meek professor named Dana to find a student named Tabitha.  Though not implicated, Tabitha was part of a scandal involving college funds and hasn't been seen since.  Tabitha has awaken feelings in Dana and she wants to know if Tabitha feels the same.  When Dave locates Tabitha, Dana is heartbroken to learn that Tabitha is happy in a relationship.  Then Tabitha is found murdered and Dana disappears.

In the meantime, Dave is asked by his ex-girlfriend, a police officer named Sonia, to follow her partner, Chris, but she doesn't tell him why.  Though they haven't spoken in a long time, he doesn't hesitate to help her out.  As he does, Dave discovers Chris is involved with a Chinese mobster who he has a history with.

This is the third book I've read by this author and I liked it.  It's the second in the Wakeland series (I read the first one too) ... you don't need to have read the first one as it works okay as a stand alone.  I liked the writing style ... it was humorous at times (Dave can be sarcastic).  It is written in first person perspective from Dave's point of view.  As a head's up, there is swearing, violence and adult activity.

I think the story lines were interesting but found there was a lot going on.  I think both stories could have been made into separate books as each was compelling enough on its own.

Book ~ "Invisible Dead" (2016) Sam Wiebe

From Goodreads ~ Dave Wakeland isn't the usual PI. A 29-year-old ex-cop, he makes a habit of bad ideas. Chelsea Loam falls squarely into that category. 

Chelsea disappeared eleven years ago, leaving a trail leading towards career criminals and powerful men. Taking her case quickly starts to look like a good way to get killed. Whatever ghosts drive Wakeland, they drive him inexorably, addictively toward danger and the allure of an unsolvable mystery.

Dave Wakeland is a former cop and now private detective in Vancouver, BC.  He is in partnership with Jeff Chen, who is totally the opposite of him.  Dave wears a suit when he has to and has an old table in his office instead of a fancy desk.  He isn't afraid to stick his nose in things and use violence to get the answers he needs.

Dave has been hired to find a hooker and drug addict named Chelsey who disappeared eleven years ago.  Her mother, who is dying, feels that no one cares about finding her and is hoping Dave can find out what happened to her.  As Dave starts digging into Chelsey's past, he discovers that her clients included lawyers, artists, rich businessmen and bikers.  Any of them might have gotten rid of her.

This is the second book I've read by this author and I liked it.  I liked the writing style ... it was dark and humorous at times (Dave could be sarcastic).  I liked Dave.  Even when everyone tells him to forget about looking for Chelsey and he is viciously assaulted, nothing deters him.  It is written in first person perspective from Dave's point of view.  As a head's up, there is swearing, violence and adult activity.

This seems to to be the start of a series (I hope so) and I look forward to reading future books by this author.

Book ~ "Last of the Independents" (2014) Sam Wiebe

From Goodreads ~ Twenty-nine-year-old Michael Drayton runs a private investigation agency in Vancouver that specializes in missing persons - only, as Mike has discovered, some missing people stay with you. 

Still haunted by the unsolved disappearance of a young girl, Mike is hired to find the vanished son of a local junk merchant. However, he quickly discovers that the case has been damaged by a crooked private eye and dismissed by a disinterested justice system. Worse, the only viable lead involves a drug-addicted car thief with gang connections. 

As the stakes rise, Mike attempts to balance his search for the junk merchant's son with a more profitable case involving a necrophile and a funeral home, while simultaneously struggling to keep a disreputable psychic from bilking the mother of a missing girl. 

Mike Drayton is a former cop and is now a private detective in Vancouver, BC.  He has a couple cases open ... an ongoing one of a missing girl who disappeared years ago and the other is to figure out who is having sex with dead bodies in a funeral home.  He is then hired to find a young boy who disappeared a couple months ago.  The boy's father is abrasive but Mike promises to do what he can, picking up where the first private detective the father hired and the cops left off.  Also on Mike's team is his part-time assistant, Katherine, who is a student, and Ben, a bored video game designer and the brother of the girl who disappeared years ago.

Mike lives with his grandmother and his dog.  He loves his dog, which is old and sick and should be put down but Mike doesn't have the heart to.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I liked it.  I liked the writing style ... it was dark and humorous.  It is written in first person perspective from Mike's point of view but at times it's also written in third person perspective when Mike wasn't around.  As a head's up, there is swearing, violence and adult activity.  I liked the characters.  Mike has a big heart and doesn't take any crap from anyone.

I look forward to reading other books by this author.