Overall Content Rating: Parents Strongly Cautioned PG-13
This is a contemporary private-eye mystery with football and campus ties. Expect steady moderate profanity and occasional strong language during investigations, arrests, and fights. Sexual content is mostly thematic—sex trade figures, insults, adult media, a raucous party with explicit devices on recording, and discussion of forcible assault—rather than lengthy explicit sex scenes; some readers note romantic tension without graphic bedroom detail. Violence fits the genre: shootings, punches, blood, and crashes tied to multiple deaths, without torture emphasis called out in reviews. One scene includes a racial slur in anger. Romance appears in subplots according to reader comments, but the book is mystery-driven. Parents weighing language and mature themes against relatively restrained gore may land around PG-13, with stronger language pushing some passages toward R.
Reviews first uploaded September 29, 2026 10:14 pm. Revised October 7, 2026 1:33 pm. Page updated October 7, 2026 1:33 pm.
These summaries are AI-generated from relevant Amazon reviews of this book.
Crude Mild
14Characters call each other foolish or contemptible names in heated dialogue; sampled matches for one common word are not used in a vulgar sexual sense.
Amazon reviews mentioning crude
Specific words
- idiot: 7
- stupid: 7
Fbombs Moderate
12A dozen strong swears appear in tense exchanges, arrests, and physical altercations rather than as constant filler.
Amazon reviews mentioning swearing
Specific words
- fuck: 12
Profanity Moderate
162Crude and insulting language runs through detective banter, police scenes, and confrontations. Mild expletives appear very often; stronger compound insults show up regularly but are not on every page.
Amazon reviews mentioning profanity
Specific words
- hell: 67
- damn: 34
- ass: 31
- shit: 12
- bitch: 7
- bastard: 6
- bullshit: 3
- butt: 2
Racism Mild
1A single outburst uses a racial slur during an angry exchange.
Amazon reviews mentioning racism
Specific words
- spic: 1
Sex Moderate
24The mystery involves prostitution, adult magazines, and party footage with explicit toys and shaming language. Some reviews describe little on-page sex compared with typical thrillers, but sexual themes and a stated forcible assault factor into the plot; there is unwanted touching and party harassment rather than prolonged explicit intercourse scenes.
Specific words
- hooker: 7
- dildo: 4
- slut: 4
- whore: 4
- porn: 2
- grope: 1
- porno: 1
- rape: 1
Violence Moderate
69Murder investigation drives scenes of gunfire, fistfights, bloody injuries, and vehicle crashes. Football action adds physical contact without graphic gore; several reviewers describe the violence as lighter than many detective novels.
Amazon reviews mentioning violence
Specific words
- blood: 22
- punch: 21
- kick: 19
- smash: 6
- bleed: 1
About this book
Three murder mysteries -- but the theme always comes down to sex and money… From a USA TODAY Bestselling Author -- David Chill’s colorful and well-crafted mystery series captures both Raymond Chandler’s gritty vision and Robert B. Parker’s biting humor. Set in Los Angeles, the critically acclaimed and award-winning Burnside Series delivers clever plots, crackling dialogue, and fascinating characters. A great choice that subscribers of Kindle Unlimited mysteries will appreciate! The First 3 Novels In The Burnside Mystery Series (Boxed Set # 1) Includes: POST PATTERN FADE ROUTE BUBBLE SCREEN POST PATTERN (Book 1): On a dark Los Angeles freeway, someone fires a gunshot at a local football star. His family turns to Private Investigator Burnside, a former football star himself, who has recently left the LAPD. As he battles his way through the investigation, Burnside's own life is repeatedly placed in jeopardy, and the body count starts to pile up. Burnside encounters beautiful girls, wayward athletes, and overworked cops on his way toward finding a killer who knows he's looking for them. And as he navigates this perilous path, Burnside also comes to grips with a betrayal from his past, one that keeps returning to him, no matter how hard he tries to avoid it. Set against the sun-drenched backdrop of a hot Los Angeles summer, Post Pattern provides readers with an engaging, action-packed story. The novel delivers a smart, sexy plot with crackling dialogue and fascinating characters. FADE ROUTE (Book 2): A candidate for mayor has been murdered and there's one obvious suspect. But Burnside, the former football star turned private investigator, pushes forward into a harrowing investigation that reveals more and more possible culprits, all with their own motives. As the action intensifies, Burnside himself becomes embroiled in a case that goes beyond just one murder. And when the police suspect he's a person of interest, Burnside must race against time to find the killer. With little more to go on than his gut feeling, Burnside pokes at everything around him. Desperately trying to untangle a web of deceit that threatens to destroy him personally, he is also faced with a scenario that could take down an entire community. BUBBLE SCREEN (Book 3): It starts with some missing warehouse inventory, but the case quickly moves beyond simple larceny. And when theft turns to murder, the stakes rise dramatically, and the action intensifies. The story leads Private Investigator Burnside onto the trail of some people who will do anything to acquire money -- and they will use any means necessary to keep it. And as he plunges into the investigation, Burnside also has to make a life-altering decision about his own future. Interweaving the world of business with the world of football, Bubble Screen is set in the heart of Los Angeles. It is a captivating thrill ride that combines fascinating characters, wry humor, and an explosive ending that is both stunning and unexpected. Read the entire Burnside Mystery Series: Book 1: POST PATTERN Book 2: FADE ROUTE Book 3: BUBBLE SCREEN Book 4: SAFETY VALVE Book 5: CORNER BLITZ Book 6: NICKEL PACKAGE Book 7: DOUBLE PASS Book 8: TAMPA TWO Book 9: FLEA FLICKER Book 10: SWIM MOVE Book 11: HARD COUNT Book 12: JET SWEEP Book 13: BULL RUSH Read more
