Thomas D. Cooke

THE MEMOIRS OF BEAR: Nueces Means Nuts is a mystery novel penned by first time novelist Thomas D. Cooke.  Imagine Bob Newhart playing Mike Hammer with angst or Max Schulman writing as Raymond Chandler.

This is the story of Bear Williams; half breed Apache Private Eye whose grandfather was a tribal holy man.  Despite years of training by his grandfather, Bear's mystic abilities are nominal and he solves most of his cases the old fashioned way, by hard work and, in Bear’s case, good friends and dumb luck.

The case's genesis, a deadly boring missing persons case, quickly turns into a cruel and grisly murder and a scandal of gigantic proportions. As the scandal is revealed it unwaveringly involves the cream of Texas society, a crazed preacher, an oil theft, homicide and rudeness, the last of which is regarded by some as a Capital Offense in Texas.

Despite two attempts on his life, Bear and his team of allies plod steadily forward and start to stack fact on top of fact until a preponderance of evidence starts to point to a surprising suspect.  Even more surprising is how abruptly justice is meted out and by whom.

The well defined and likeable characters in this tale will draw the reader into the complex web of crime and scandal that surrounds the likeable Bear and his friends as they strike fear into the hearts of the perpetrators of the crime…eventually!

From the very beginning, it wasn't your typical missing person's case. First of all, Chrissy Goodrich, the beautiful daughter of a rich Corpus Christi businessman, had been in and out of trouble all her life. Second, considering her unusual set of friends and somewhat rocky life style, Detective Bear Williams wasn't even sure that Chrissy was missing. Perhaps, she'd only gone on an extended vacation or run off with her latest boyfriend. Then, Chrissy's best friend, accountant Kathy Cuevas, turned up horribly beaten and dead in a local creek and all of the puzzle pieces began to fit together.

Mr. Cooke weaves an intricate story about Bear Williams, a part Apache and rough-around-the-edges detective, who takes on, what on the surface, seems to be a simple and wonderfully lucrative missing persons case. Joining him are his friends Brenda,the lovely and intelligent owner of the Spotlight, a local wateringhole, and Doc Hamish, a Vietnam veteran and former journalist with a rather unique set of friends in special forces. Add to these Dave Escobar, a seasoned cop, Rags, a giant Pistolero, and Karen Cuevas, the attractive sister of the accountant, and you have the makings of one great detective story. This is a novel about money and power, love, lust, strategy, deceit, greed and murder, which will horrify and puzzle the reader as he/she is swept along in a mounting torrent of clues.

He writes in a frank and often amusing style that captures the reader from the very beginning. His characterizations are marvelous and his descriptions so gloriously detailed and emotional that they border on being downright poetic. Bear's adventures could easily turn into additional novels and I hope to read much more of Thomas D. Cooke's work in the future. I shall enjoy every moment of it. Six stars to this outstanding new author and this real page turner!

I look forward to the next case, good Tom. Lead on, sir!

Ann B. Keller
Author/Screenwriter