NEW YORK TIMES & AMAZON #1 BEST SELLING AUTHOR
Death Threat
A BUDDY STEEL MYSTERY
Buddy Steel's maverick behavior as a police officer has won his commander's respect and a promotion to LAPD homicide detective. Almost immediately, he is asked to join a task force working to bust a major meth shipment to LA from Mexico. One of the two undercover agents on the case has gotten himself killed by the Mexican cartel but not before spilling that a female agent is deeply enmeshed within their organization. The agent in question―Kara Machado―barely learns that her true identity may soon be exposed to the cartel when she is whisked abruptly to their family compound in Mexico, cut off from any communication with the outside world.
But Buddy has personal history with Kara, and he's determined to bring her home safely. Enlisting the aid of three friends from his military days and working through back channels, Buddy launches an off-the-books foreign invasion to find not only Kara but also the storage location of the drugs bound for LA. With the odds and time against them, Buddy and his team know it will take a miracle to accomplish either objective―and another to get them all out alive.
"Buddy shines as an investigator, tough guy, and observer of the human condition."
-- Publishers Weekly
Risk Factor
A BUDDY STEEL MYSTERY
A new breed of brazen criminal forces Buddy Steel into unfamiliar territory.
Buddy Steel, acting Sheriff of Freedom, California, is enjoying some well-deserved R&R at a friend's mountain hideaway when he's called home to investigate a home invasion―at his father's address. The break-in is just one in a series, perpetrated by ingeniously inventive burglars. To complicate matters, Buddy must also investigate a spate of cyber crimes targeting local businesses and individuals―an area well outside of his experience and comfort zone.
Already on the trail of the cybercriminals is LAPD Gang Enforcement's foremost computer geek, Detective Quinn Anthony. Buddy teams up with the unconventional―and much younger―female brainiac to trace the convoluted trail of the hackers. From the adjunct of a vicious LA-based cartel to outside of U.S. borders, Buddy and Quinn race to take down the hackers and recover the spoils. The closer they get, the more danger they face; and the more danger they face, the closer they become...
"Vivid characters, a flawed but very likable hero who exudes grit, a meaty plot with plenty of twists, and a satisfying ending make this a thoroughly enjoyable read."
-- Booklist
"Screenwriter Brandman uses snappy dialogue to keep the pace quick and the action kinetic. This series is a natural for TV adaptation."
-- Publishers Weekly
"The perfect substitute for that good-time trip to California you’ve decided not to take after all."
-- Kirkus Reviews
Wild Card
A BUDDY STEEL MYSTERY
When San Remo County Acting Sheriff Buddy Steel is deputized by the California Coastal Commission to investigate a reclusive Russian billionaire who has repeatedly violated state law by obstructing public access to his vast beachfront property, he makes a shocking discovery.
At the same time a string of random murders in the normally sleepy town of Freedom place the Sheriff's department on high alert as it seeks to apprehend a mysterious serial killer.
Unconventional and obtuse in his methodology, wild card cynic Buddy Steel barrels his way through the myriad obstacles that defy him and threaten his quest to serve the cause of justice.
"An amazing third novel. What a ride! I love Mr. Brandman’s style of writing…sarcasm, humor, brief dialog and action that will keep you cheering for Buddy as he solves things his way." 5 stars out of 5
-- A Net Galley Review
One On One
A BUDDY STEEL MYSTERY
The quiet of a pastoral spring morning is shattered for Buddy Steel by the discovery of a much favored High School sports coach, brutally murdered in his office.
The ensuing investigation leads Buddy into a clandestine universe of sexual deception involving play parties, unwitting athletes, over-privileged youths, treacherous bullies and shocking malfeasance.
And when a sudden outbreak of widespread graffiti desecration threatens the bucolic beauty of Freedom township, the Sheriff's department, led by Buddy in his father's absence, is forced to find new and challenging ways in which to thwart it.
Irreverent and smart-mouthed, Buddy Steel wends his way through a maze of misdirections and chicanery until he discovers the horrendous truth lurking beneath the coach's murder, all the while tracking down and apprehending the so-called graffiti artists.
ONE ON ONE is an unpredictable adventure, filled with twists and turns and a surfeit of stunning shocks and surprises.
"Readers will enjoy this fast-paced mystery. With well-developed characters and a plot that takes issues straight from the headlines, this is a good read."
-- Elise Cooper, Crimespree Magazine
Missing Persons
A BUDDY STEEL MYSTERY
MISSING PERSONS is the first book in the new Buddy Steel mystery series by New York Times best selling author, Michael Brandman.
Steel... smart, aggressive, ironic, spare and cynical... has been content working homicide at the LAPD until his father, the legendary Sheriff Burton Steel, falls ill with Lou Gehrig's disease.
Sheriff Steel is headquartered in Freedom, a privileged coastal community located a hundred miles north of Los Angeles. His health failing, he asks his son Buddy to come home to cover his back and to groom him to be his successor.
Buddy reluctantly agrees. He returns to Freedom despite having outgrown its small town limits, wary of his father's authoritarianism.
No sooner does he hit town than Buddy learns the wife of the high-flying star of a Freedom based world-renowned television ministry has gone missing. A visit to the woman's home leads to a hostile confrontation with her husband's family and Buddy's realization that something greater than simply a missing person is at stake.
Allegiance between father and son provides the backdrop for Buddy's complex investigation of twisted families, avaricious con artists, violent gangs, drugs, corruption, and murder. And added to the mix is an enigmatic femme fatale who succeeds in upending Buddy's tenets regarding contemporary relationships.
MISSING PERSONS is its own book, yet crime fiction fans will find it a joy to trace its literary lineage from Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker through to Sue Grafton and Michael Connelly.
"A terrific read. Buddy Steel is my kind of Sheriff."
-- Tom Selleck
"Brandman, the author of three 'Jesse Stone' mysteries based on a Robert B. Parker series sleuth and a coproducer with Tom Selleck of nine Jesse Stone TV movies, takes a cinematic approach in this laconic debut. Fans of Parker’s work will appreciate Buddy, another irreverent, complex lawman."
-- Library Journal
