Bad Scene

Max Tomlinson

Aug 2021 · Oceanview Publishing

About this ebook

USA Today Best-Selling Author

1978 San Francisco—a cult leader in Ecuador—one woman's struggle to reconnect with her lost daughter before it is too late

When PI and ex-con, Colleen Hayes, learns that a local neo-Nazi group is talking about shooting the mayor, she thinks it's just another rumor—until her source, a humble street newspaper vendor, winds up in SF General, beaten to a pulp.

To add to her grief, she discovers that her runaway daughter, Pamela, might have joined a shadowy religious group, building a church in South America near a volcano that is about to erupt. Death is the path to perfection according to the charismatic young preacher—and the date is fast approaching.

Colleen is desperate to find a way to stop her daughter from making the ultimate mistake before she—along with hundreds of others—lose their lives.

Perfect for fans of Harlan Coben's gritty noir suspense

While all of the novels in the Colleen Hayes Mystery Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is:

Vanishing in the Haight
Tie Die
Bad Scene
Line of Darkness

Ratings and reviews

I received a free electronic copy of this excellent historical novel as a Goodreads Giveaway. Thank you, author Max Tomlinson, publisher Oceanview Publishing, and Goodreads for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Bad Scene of my own volition and this review reflects my honest opinion of this novel. I am most pleased to recommend Max Tomlinson to friends and family. Though the third in a series, this novel is stand-alone, the pace fast, the protagonists honorable for the most part, and the place, SanFrancisco in the fall of 1978, is portrayed with a clear but sympathetic eye. The fall of 1978 was a horrific time to get through for San Franciscans. The Peoples Temple, headquartered in SF, saw the tragedy of Jonestown in Guyana, with the suicide deaths of 918 members of that religious sect. The murders of Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk by a former supervisor, Dan White, were a shocking wake-up call to a community that considered themselves open-minded and tolerant. It was a wake-up call to all Americans to find honesty and humanity in both community and religion. Our story brings into play the elements that the city endured that fall, with feisty ex-con and unlicensed PI Colleen Hayes and several members of the Blue Line. This is a book that is over too soon but I hope there will be another chapter in the life of Colleen coming around soon.

A most interesting read as it describes how life was before cell phones, and the internet, and provides a funny review of how we used to dress. The plot is very good, the story is beautifully written and it brings to our memory tragic events that happened around that time as the death of cult followers. I found it refreshing to read a story where the PI is an ex-convicted inmate who has paid her due to society. Entertaining!

About the author

Born in San Francisco, with its rich literary history and a public transport system teeming with characters suitable for crime novels, the stage was set for Max Tomlinson to become a mystery writer. His time abroad has inspired a variety of flavors in his writing. His published work includes a crime series set in South America, an international espionage series, and now the USA Today best-selling Colleen Hayes Mystery Series, set in 1970s San Francisco. Bad Scene is the third novel in the series, following Tie Die and Vanishing in the Haight.