Kalteis is a hidden gem. Someone who writes lean , mean and exciting crime novels. Sort of a throwback to the thrillers of the fifties and the Elmore Leonard’s of the eighties. And his characters are great and the books are plain fun to read. Highly recommended as are all of his other books.

If you’re still gathering books for this year’s summer reading club there’s no better way to start than with Dietrich Kalteis’ exceptional new foray into the world of bad people doing dumb things, #Nobody From Somewhere. Kalteis, who has become one of my favorite thriller writers, plots us a slam bang novel featuring a cast of characters enmeshed in the criminal justice system making us keep turning the pages. # Nobody From Somewhere should delight crime fiction aficionados as well as those who are just looking for a superbly crafted story, and should add many new readers to the Dietrich Kalteis fan club. Five stars.

Nobody should count Fitch out. He might be retired, he might be walking with a cane, he might have visions of his dead wife, he might be living in an RV and he might be dying of cancer but when he spots Wren, a 16 year old runaway from foster care who has tangled with bad guys, he sets in to rescue her. The circumstances behind Wren's plight are complex- bad guys and scams- but this is really about the relationship between Fitch and Wren, an odd couple who go on the run (of sorts). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Great atmospherics, good characters and the fact that Kalteis avoided a trope made this a fun fast read.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately though I just didn't connect with it, and didn't enjoy reading it the characters didn't grab me . I feel very sorry that it just wasn't up my street.

Oftentimes, there are some novels that are just perfect for release during the warmer weather months, trips, or vacations, and Nobody From Somewhere by Dietrich Kaleties is one of those books.

Nobody From Somewhere takes place in Canada and within it, we find retired police officer Fitch Henry Haut coping with terminal cancer while living in his recreational vehicle. Fitch, who walks with a cane and is clearly not as spry as he once was, enjoys his simple repetitive life, which includes eating the weekly meatloaf offering at his favored diner. After being diagnosed with cancer, the widowed Fitch has grown stubborn when it comes to treatment and as a result, is haunted by spectral visits by his deceased wife expressing displeasure at his reluctance toward treatment.

While Fitch is being introduced, the reader is also introduced to fifteen-year-old Wren. Wren turns out to be a resourceful, mostly state-raised teenager, that decides to flee her foster home and travel to California in hopes of a better life.

Along the way, Wren encounters two dangerous thugs named Cooder and Angel. Cooder and Angel are two misfits, with Cooder being the more viscous of the two and Angel, while despicable in his own way, the lazied eyed sad-sack of the two.

When Cooder and Angel enlist the third-party help of an attractive flim-flam artist and their scam goes awry, a chance meeting with Wren and Fitch starts a deadly game of search and destroy between the schemers and newly paired teenager and infirm retired police officer. Even more, mayhem arises when an even deadlier participant becomes involved in the chase because of the failed scam.

Kalties spends a good amount of pages developing the main characters in the novel rather than introducing typical characters found in thriller novels. The time spent on the characters allows for the development of more fleshed-out characters which adds to the enjoyment of the novel.

Nobody From Somewhere is slated for a June 2022 release and is recommended to those that favor novels with well-developed characters in a good hunt and chase tale.

Netgalley provided an advanced reader copy for the return of a fair review.

This review was originally published at MysteryandSuspense.com.

This was full of action…. long-retired cop gets wrapped up with a girl on the run. A really enjoyable thriller, that kept me guessing until the end!

Great book. A quick read. I'm not sure where the title comes into play.
Nobody from somewhere tells the story of a homeless teenager and a vagabond ex-cop, known as a boondocker. Basically widowed and living in an RV, he's just found out he has cancer.
I loved the book; all the characters well-rounded, even the dog-walker, scurrying along, talking on her phone and not cleaning up after the dog.
I really hope this book is just the beginning. I hope there are many more adventures of Fitch and Wren.

This is my first time reading Dietrich Kalteis and I'll be sure to read his other work. This book Nobody from Somewhere was a quick read and while it's not a surprising plot, it's an entertaining book. Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press for this advanced copy.

In Nobody From Somewhere, Kalteis returns to Canada's West Coast and offers us a gritty Elmore Leonard-esque that brings together six characters from Vancouver's rough side. It starts with a retired police officer, now widowed, cancer-stricken, and walking with a cane, looking forward to the weekly meatloaf special. That's Fitch. It continues with two hard cases who think they can make a living heisting cars until a hot number named Valentina involves them in a scheme to rip off high rollers at the casino, high rollers backed by Chinese triad money, that is. And, the enforcer ain't going to be too happy about their game. Finally, we get Wren, a fifteen year old runaway who breaks into the wrong car, looking for a warm place to spend the night. In a classic crime novel sense, all these parties for better or worse cross paths. Not a big picture novel, but a smaller story about what it takes to come out alive when you cross paths with the wrong people.