All Comments on 'Hammered: A Jewel to Die For'

5 Stars! Well done! Great story and terrific ending.

Great story! Thanks for sharing it. Cheers. Frankie

Well done. Thank you.

Excellent, really great character development!

Excellent story. Well written and structured. Many thanks. Cheers.

A fine follow up to last year’s great piece in this series. Only false note was the first sex between them when he supposedly thought he was dreaming. In vigorous sex, people know the difference between dream and reality. I know why the author did it—avoid the hero having knowing sex with his possible daughter—but it simply doesn’t ring true. But that’s a small point in a really good story. Easy five stars two years in a row.

I would have probably been about 7 years younger than the fictional character Diamond in this story. But the things that you mentioned brought a flood of memories back to me from my teenage years:

"Until the ringing started, anyway, and it went on without stopping. One open eye, the lit numbers on my clock radio, and some quick math told me I'd been in bed for all of thirty-nine minutes. The little tile flipped over for the next minute just a second later as I reached for the damn phone."

OH MY GOD!!! I had an AM/FM clock radio exactly like that as a teenager! Those were the days long before the first digital numbers that were segmented "8" to create all ten numbers of Zero through Nine by illuminating certain individual segments. The clock you described had 12 individual tiles on the hour side and 60 individual tiles on the minutes side, each mounted on its own horizontal shaft that slowly rotated. Each side had a pin made from spring steel to hold the tile in place until the shaft had rotated enough for the pin to lose its grip on the tile. The tile fell down revealing the next tile behind it once every 60 seconds for the minute side. The tiles were illuminated with grain of wheat bulbs that glowed sort of amber or orange. My mother bought me a newer electronic digital version ten or fifteen years later as a birthday or Christmas gift, so I packed up the old one and put it in the storage cabinet in my mom's house. I suppose that she eventually threw it into the trash because I never saw it again. But even though I put it away, it still worked just fine when I got rid of it. It would be great to see it in a museum instead of a landfill. 😥

The description of the urethane skate wheels brought back memories too! I had one of those skateboards from 1974 to 1978. I never tried to learn anything elaborate in the way of tricks. But I often did the Marty McFly thing where I was towed by a car. I don't actually consider it purely luck that I never got hurt. I knew my limits and had a considerable amount of skill to boot.

The only thing that disappointed me with the story was the unresolved issue of Diamond's paternity. Even getting a blood test could have shed some light on the issue. I felt like I was left hanging on the side of the cliff. Fantastic job and I think that I actually liked it better than Big City, Dark Nights. 5/5

Remembered the gist of the original story as I continued to read. The new story continued the flow and ended perfectly. Case closed !

But who doesn't fantasize about exactly that? Sex while "dreaming", only to "wake up" later.

Great story, thank you!

This is a fine story in the “Hardboiled Detective” genre. It has all the elements that I enjoy: a vivid setting, likable believable characters, and an enjoyable plot. You’ve done your usual great job!

As always, thank you for writing and thank you for sharing your work.

Terrific flow from the first story! 5 again.

Excellent Yarn! I always look forward to your stories!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Excellent story. You captured the mood of the 70’s. Clutch pedal, clock with flip numbers, :38 caliber revolver instead of automatic, etc. Really like that hero was bald on top. Will read mote of your stories

Very well written, 5 stars. I'm curious as to who Di's father was (i'm kinda reading between the lines as being Jack?)

Also, this isn't in LW, but Jack deserves a lot of damage for cheating on his wife.

Well done!!! I was wondering who DI's father is too as another wrote in their comment. Good job with the time too.... very lifelike story!!

Good job and well done! It was an enjoyable reading time and I was especially entertained so top marks!

I so enjoy a blend of fact and fiction in story - nice job on the time placement.

Please do keep writing and I will keep reading

Great story that warrants a sequel on their relationship. With respect to Diamond's parentage, I'm assuming we're led to infer it's Jack?

G

_Good_ story.

I agree with others - Jack is the father.

So, who's Her daddy? Is there a part two coming?

Good story liked it allot.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ great story!

Some stories grab you by the scruff of the neck and don't let go until you've finished reading it. This is one of them.

Excellent. I historical fiction and in way this qualified. Must read!

I really enjoyed this story. I learned of you via thecelt, another very good author. Keep up the good work!

Author's Response:

Thank you to all who've read this story and given it such a great score, and many thanks to those who've favorited or commented on it. In response to the comments, yes, there is a conclusion to this trilogy in the works, with it hopefully being completed by next year's Hammered event. Yes, Diamond's father will be revealed, as will—well, we'll see then!

Thanks,

SC