The Reading Bud

Book Blog by Heena Rathore-Pardeshi

Book Review: Desert Kill Switch by Mark S. Bacon

Author: Mark S. Bacon
Release Date: 30th September 2017
Genre: Mystery
Series:  A Nostalgia City Mystery – Book #2
Edition: Paperback
Pages:
Publisher: Black Opal Books
Blurb:
A Deadly Vegas Pursuit—with a Twist…
On an empty desert road, stressed-out ex-cop Lyle Deming finds a bullet-riddled body next to a vintage mint-condition 1970s Pontiac Firebird. When he returns to the scene with sheriff’s deputies: no car, no body. Does the answer lie in Nostalgia City, the retro theme park where Lyle works?
Nostalgia City VP Kate Sorensen, a former college basketball star, is in Reno, Nevada, on park business when she gets mixed up with a sleazy Las Vegas auto dealer who puts hidden “kill switches” and GPS trackers into the cars he sells to low-income buyers. Miss a payment—sometimes by as little as a few days—and your car is dead. Maybe you are, too.
When Kate’s accused of murder in Reno, Lyle rushes to help his blonde not-quite-girlfriend. Kate and Lyle plow through a deadly tangle of suspects and motives, hitting one dead end after another, as they struggle to exonerate Kate, catch a blackmailer, save a witness’s life, and find the missing car and corpse.
Desert Kill Switch is the second novel in this mystery series set in Nostalgia City, an Arizona theme park that re-creates—in every detail—a small town as it would have appeared in the mid-1970s.

Review

★★★★

Desert Kill Switch by Mark S. Bacon is a unique mystery novel with a nice plot and exceptional settings.

It is a really good book – great pacing, good writing, nice plot twists, decent mystery. But what I enjoyed the most was the setting – Nostalgia City – a theme-park kind of a replica-town in the 1970’s; it was unique, thrilling and very exciting to read about such an unusual location.

The characterization was good and overall I enjoyed the book and like the ending too.

If you love reading mysteries with different and exotic kind of settings, then you really need to give this book a read!

this review is also posted on goodreads and amazon

I love reading your comments, so please go ahead…

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

I’m Heena

Welcome to The Reading Bud, my cosy corner of the internet dedicated to all things books and authors. Here, I invite you to join me on a journey of discovering under-represented books, independent and small press authors, and all things book with a touch of love and loud purrs. Let’s get Reading!

April 2018
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  

Reading is like breathing to me.

Recent Posts

  • Book Review: Operation Dragonhead (PEOPLE MAKING DANGER) by Adam Fike

    Book Details: Author: Adam Fike Release Date: 19 March, 2021Series: PEOPLE MAKING DANGERGenre: Science-Fiction, SatireFormat: E-book Pages: 78 pagesPublisher: –Blurb:MID-CENTURY SCI-FI SATIRE – Early one morning at the end of the 1950s, an impressive, highly coordinated Army training…

  • Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: August 2025

    While Elif Shafak’s writing proved quite disappointing, Augustina Bazterrica’s phenomenal storytelling and world-building completely made up for it. I finally managed to finish the 3rd book in Brandon Sanderson’s epic saga Mistborn (with over 2000+ pages…

  • Book Review: Italian by Default by M.J. Walker

    Book Details: Author: MJ WalkerRelease Date: 25 July, 2025Series:Genre: Memoir, Women’s LiteratureFormat: E-book Pages: 283 pagesPublisher: –Blurb:AN ADOPTION REUNION – based on a true story –Meet Polly, her Italian husband Joe and his identical twin brother Cicero. Polly…

  • Book Review: Into the Mountains: Exploring China’s Sacred Daoist Peaks by Debra Liu

    Book Details: Author: Debra Liu Release Date: 8 July, 2025Series:Genre: Nature Writing, Memoir, PhilosophicalFormat: E-book Pages: 232 pagesPublisher: Earnshaw Books LtdBlurb:In a journey of discovery through China’s sacred mountains, traversing the hidden caves of Huashan, freshwater pools where…

  • Book Review: Burn My Shadow Issue #2 by Sebastiano Lanza

    Book Details: Author: Sebastiano Lanza Release Date: September 22, 2025Series: Burn My Shadow (Book 2)Genre: Graphic NovelFormat: E-book Pages: under 100 pagesPublisher: Markosia EnterprisesBlurb:In Leipzig, Tharmas devises a plan to kidnap Thomas Crowley. To do so, he’ll need…