Author Ross Dunbar kindly sent me a copy of Click Clack Boom, the first in his Blackjack Harrigan Files series. Harrigan is an intelligence officer who specializes in finding unusual people who are just right for a military challenge. In this case it’s Hank O’Malley, a skilled worker at the Royal typewriter factory who’s been classified as 4-F despite his desire to do his part for his country in World War II. His asthma keeps him tied to a bench. But as it turns out, General Eisenhower is superstitiously attached to his Royal Quiet De Luxe with a tilted “V” slug, and Hank is the only one who can fix it. Unless he can get behind enemy lines in Normandy and get that QDL running, Ike won’t issue the orders for D-Day!

If you can accept that wild alt-history premise, you’re in for an exciting adventure complete with a valiant female French Resistance fighter, a giggling Nazi officer, claustrophobic tunnels, and characters who aren’t quite what they seem.

This is a fun read for for any typewriter lover, although sometimes the technical descriptions might make you scratch your head. (Typebars are called typebars, keys, arms, and strikers.) But hey, Blackjack Harrigan, the narrator, isn’t himself a typewriter repairman, and he can be forgiven a little vagueness.

Harrigan’s voice was my favorite part of the book. He issues hardboiled apothegms such as:

Together with fast-paced action, these quotable quotes make Click Clack Boom a memorable experience.

Ross Dunbar has a website, and he’s on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. You can buy Click Clack Boom here. The next Blackjack Harrigan File will feature Lucille Ball!