Read Series: Jack Liffey
by Author Otto Penzler
Streets on Fire (2002)
In the gripping fifth novel of what the Philadelphia Inquirer calls a "lean and literate" crime series, Jack Liffey—the rough-edged, compassionate private detective who garners even more enthusiastic reviews and fans with each new case—once again searches the volatile and dangerous ethnic communi...
City of Strangers (2003)
In the sixth novel of this best-selling private-eye series, Jack Liffey probes the complex ethnic mix—Muslim, Jewish, Baha'i, Christian, and secular—of the Persian communities in Los Angeles. A gripping tale that confronts youthful idealism with perfervid fundamentalism, it lands bright, earnest ...
Terminal Island (2004)
Terminal Island is the latest book from top mystery writer John Shannon. While detective Jack Liffey is convalescing from a collapsed lung from his last case, he is called to his hometown of San Pedro, shipyard to Los Angeles, where an inexplicable string of mysterious accidents have befallen loc...
The Poison Sky: Jack Liffey Mystery No. 3 (2015)
It is my third John Shannon's book, and I still have several to go. "The Poison Sky" is a strange mystery. From a quiet, Ross Macdonald-style (albeit set in the age of Internet) mystery, it morphs into a cinematic disaster thriller. The characters are somewhat believable and there is less pop psy...
Concrete River (1998)
The Concrete River by John Shannon is the first of a series set in modern-day Los Angeles CA. Jack Liffey is a former aerospace engineer, now a 'child finder' (not a licensed PI). He's divorced, not allowed to see his daughter because he is months behind in child support, and has a problem with a...
The Cracked Earth (2015)
"The Cracked Earth" is the second book in John Shannon's series about Jack Liffey, a sort of private detective, who specializes in finding missing kids. In this novel, Jack is hired by an aging famous Hollywood actress (whom he idolized in his youth) to find her missing teenage daughter. The plot...
The Orange Curtain (2001)
Average ratings of John Shannon's Jack Liffey series are rather low and no wonder - these are not your typical mystery novels. Usually, readers of mysteries go for the plot and rate books by intricacy, twistedness, speed, and unpredictability of the stories. Mr. Shannon. instead, is a sort of a m...