KN Magazine: Reviews
"Death Canyon" by David Riley Bertsch / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Debut author. Great new mystery/thriller. This book is the start of a series; but this story is so good, I’m not sure how Bertsch is going to top it using this scenario and these characters following this much fictional destruction.
The beginning gets my attention: earthquakes in Wyoming, men getting rid of the body of a friend of theirs in a watery gorge, and a group of half-naked Native Americans participating in a “relations” dance, which to this reviewer of Irish decent, looks a lot like the Celtic rituals of old.
Death Canyon is much better than the initial generic blurbs offered. This is an intertwined story of species’ rage and greed – both human and nonhuman. I really didn’t see in advance where this story was going (didn’t see it coming until page 157), which made it fun. This isn’t a story about fly-fishing and murder set in Jackson Hole; this is a story of avarice to the point of annihilating the human race, the propulsion to the end of the world as we know it. What starts small blows up to world-ending proportions. The backstory plays out with perfect pacing; not too much at the beginning, and then only peppered nicely when the explanation is needed. And add all the crazy and unexpected elements: Rocky Mountain wildlife, ex-lawyer, politics and corruption, Mafia thugs, real earthquakes in Wyoming (what’s up with that?).
In the beginning, Bertsch thanks his wife and family for giving him the courage to write this book. I thank them, too. There is a long career ahead for this new writer. Someday, I would like to take a little trip to Jackson, Wyoming and do a little fly-fishing with Bertsch. When the ground starts shaking, he would be a good one to have nearby.
Well, this should give you a few eclectic titles to read over the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, and tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.
And remember, if you buy your books through the links on Killer Nashville, you’ll still get the great Amazon discount prices, but – better yet – a portion of the proceeds goes towards the educational events sponsored by the good volunteers at Killer Nashville. So support Killer Nashville while you’re supporting our featured authors!
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com). As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family? With over 24,000 visits monthly to the Killer Nashville website, over 300,000 reached through social media, and a potential outreach of over 22 million per press release, Killer Nashville provides another way for you to reach more people with your message. Send a query to books@killernashville.com or call us at 615-599-4032. We’d love to hear from you.
"Killer's Island" by Anna Jansson / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
I’m a fan of the differing perspectives in foreign novels (yes, my fellow Americans, there is a world outside the U.S.) and I’m a particular champion of the dark world of Swedish mystery writers. Killer’s Island is the action-packed seventh Detective Inspector Marian Wern book and the second of Anna Jansson’s – I think – translated into English, this one skillfully retold by Enar Henning Koch. I wish I spoke Swedish because – after reading this book – I’d love to read the rest in the chronology and also view the Swedish TV series based upon the character of Wern.
The story starts with a decapitated young nurse dressed in bridal clothes (hopefully not from Jansson’s part-time life as a nurse herself). Killer’s Island is part mystery and part scientific thriller. The supertech villain does a tremendous job playing cat-and-mouse with the police and Wern. What drew me in were my feelings for the victim. This is one of those books where, if you can figure out the motive, you can possibly figure out the killer. All deaths in this novel are taking place on an island – I love confined places stories.
What I got from this book: I have a new author to explore. With over 2 million copies of Anna Jansson’s books in print in over fifteen countries, I can only read two of them! We definitely need more translators and more publishers like Stockholm Text to get onboard sharing works such as this around the world.
Well, this should give you a few eclectic titles to read over the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, and tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.
And remember, if you buy your books through the links on Killer Nashville, you’ll still get the great Amazon discount prices, but – better yet – a portion of the proceeds goes towards the educational events sponsored by the good volunteers at Killer Nashville. So support Killer Nashville while you’re supporting our featured authors!
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com). As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"The Last Time I Died" by Joe Nelms / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Okay, this one made me pause. Highly different from my normal fare. At first, I wasn’t fond of the novel, but I couldn’t stop reading. That’s crazy. The reason is because the writing is just too darn good. Then after I got sucked into this character’s mad descent, the character was so complexly written that I couldn’t give the guy up. You’ve got to read this book! The last book I read that did this to me was Fight Club. I read that book once, but when the movie came out (starring a young Brad Pitt), I saw it (literally) six times at the 99-cent movie theater. This novel had the same effect on me. It’s a story I don’t think I would ever be able to write and it amazes me authors such as Nelms can turn out a world such as this.
This is a first-person novel of a man looking back at his unraveling life while his present life falls apart. The psychological first person format helps the reader view it from the main character’s perspective, even the fantasy of his detached self, where I began to wonder – and this is what the book is about – what is real and what is not? Sometimes I think the guy is going out-of-body for a detached third-person, which is freaky unto itself. It’s a dark book filled with caverns of repressed memories. The main character is a man focused on the negative who clearly sees the negative in others and acerbically – even laugh out loud – describes them. Reading this book is like watching a slow death. I can only imagine how tired Nelms was at the end of each day as he worked on this novel. For character studies, you don’t beat this one. It brings new meaning to the old phrase, How do I make you love me? As I read, I kept hearing Elton’s Blue Moves album in the background. You know, citing this character and in my own armchair-psychologist’s opinion, sometimes forgetfulness can be a good thing; I’m convinced that it is not always best – and I’m sure health professionals would disagree – to go digging in old tired mental graves. Obviously, this is a thrilling story that interested Nelms and one that he cathartically needed to write, definitely one you need to read, and a new author whose next book you should eagerly await.
Well, this should give you a few eclectic titles to read over the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, and tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.
And remember, if you buy your books through the links on Killer Nashville, you’ll still get the great Amazon discount prices, but – better yet – a portion of the proceeds goes towards the educational events sponsored by the good volunteers at Killer Nashville. So support Killer Nashville while you’re supporting our featured authors!
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com). As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Love is Murder" by Sandra Brown / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
From International Thriller Writers, a short story anthology from authors such as Lee Child, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Heather Graham, Allison Brennan, and more. These will pull at your heart: bodyguards, vigilantes, stalkers, serial killers, men and women both in jeopardy, cops, thieves, P.I.s, and killers all in the midst of romance, love, or downright lust.
This should give you something to read for the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, check out their other series, and buy their books. And tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com). As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Megan's Mark" by Lora Leigh / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
For those who really want to go out there, this is a world where altered Breeds and the humans who created them cross the boundaries of desire. Murders and passion go hand in hand and Cupid gets on the run. Read this one in private.
This should give you something to read for the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, check out their other series, and buy their books. And tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com). As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"The Search" by Nora Roberts / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
A canine search and rescue volunteer who finds love in the Pacific Northwest wilderness. Be wary of the puppy eyes. This is Nora Roberts doing what she does best: being Nora Roberts.
This should give you something to read for the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, check out their other series, and buy their books. And tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com). As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Sweet Surrender" by Maya Banks / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Nothing like a cop getting close to his suspect. She’s everything a man could want. Maybe more than he can handle. This should leave the bathroom mirrors steamy.
This should give you something to read for the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, check out their other series, and buy their books. And tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com). As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Beewitched" by Hannah Reed / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Dead witches in a corn maze. What could be finer? Written by author Deb Baker under her “Hannah Reed” moniker, this is Book 5 in a series about a quaint town and a beekeeping business set in Moraine, Wisconsin. In this installment, a self-proclaimed witch moves into town followed by a whole coven in which one witch ends up dead in a cornfield. I rarely find my name in books so when I find a series where the main character’s womanizing ex-husband’s name is Clay, it always jolts me to attention and makes me want to follow to find where he pops back up again. (I’m nothing like him. Seriously.) Beewitched is a cozy delight. I love the town of Moraine (probably named after Kettle Moraine). I love the small town feel and the Wisconsin references.
This should give you something to read for the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, check out their other series, and buy their books. And tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com). As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Books, Cooks, and Crooks" by Lucy Arlington / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Down in Inspiration Valley, North Carolina – don’t you just love the name? – the kitchen blows up and the mystery hits the fan. The problem is not finding the killer, but eliminating everyone who would like to see the deceased dead. Ellery Adams and Sylvia May are the writing team behind “Lucy Arlington” and, boy, do they work well together. Distance is no barrier for this creative team: Adams lives in Virginia and May lives in Bermuda. (I’d love to have a collaborative partner somewhere in the Caribbean; would love to get a tax write-off on that get-together.) “Books, Cooks, and Crooks” is the third book in their series. In this episode, Inspiration Valley is having their annual Taste of the Town Festival. Lila Wilkins is a literary agent in town (the Novel Idea Literary Agency) and sleuth, who happens to be helping to put this event together. She’s probably not the first agent to think she has a killer client. (I know my agent thinks that about me…yeah, right.) Anyway, living in an idyllic little town myself, I can relate completely to these annual town gatherings. If you like a book about crazy agents…well, I won’t go there. Arlington writes clever mysteries with characters I can completely understand. It’s always a pleasure spending an evening in Inspiration Valley.
This should give you something to read for the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, check out their other series, and buy their books. And tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com). As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Days of Wine and Roquefort" by Avery Aames / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Murder, like Roquefort, stinks. I love it. Moving westwardly, we go to the fictional town of Providence, Ohio for the Agatha Award-winning Cheese Shop Mysteries. In this series, you have people who eat cheese and drink wine. For a guy (me) who thinks wine is for drinking, not sniffing, and can’t taste the difference between a $6 bottle and a $600 dollar bottle, this series is a trip with characters I can definitely be amused by. In this third installment, a guest arrives at the house of cheeky cheese shop owner Charlotte Bessette and then drops dead. Written by multi-faceted author Daryl Wood Gerber under the pseudonym of Avery Aames, the delightful plotting of this series and the equally gratifying town of Providence, make this an incredibly fun series to read. We all have such relatives.
This should give you something to read for the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, check out their other series, and buy their books. And tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com). As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Styx & Stone" by James W. Ziskin / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Styx & Stone by James W. Ziskin
Today’s Killer Nashville Featured Books take me around the world, but they all have two things in common: non-stop suspense and brains.
And now our tour comes back to New York in the 1960s to a mystery debut and the start of a new series. Sexism is common in the 1960s and author James W. Ziskin uses this as his backdrop in Book One, “Styx & Stone.” His main character Ellie Stone wants to be a reporter in a time when this was an all-boy’s club. However, when her father’s life is threatened, she begins to exert herself to find out why. It becomes obvious when another of her father’s contemporaries is murdered and she starts learning all she can from her father’s university colleagues only to discover not everything one hears or reads in college can be considered the truth especially when dealing with some manuscripts that seem to be worth their weight in blood. Look for the surprise ending that really brings this 1960s murder mystery alive.
This should give you something to read for the next few days. Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an Author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com), business owner (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) with over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Death on Demand" by Paul Thomas / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s Killer Nashville Featured Books take me around the world, but they all have two things in common: non-stop suspense and brains.
Duplicitous characters are not only on a national level, but within the local New Zealand police department in Paul Thomas’s twisted “Death on Demand.” Set in New Zealand, this is the fourth police procedural featuring vigilant Detective Sergeant Tito Ihaka. He’s not popular and his colleagues would love to see him go, especially when he starts revealing the unsavory underbelly of the department as he moves through police diplomacy with the same force of a herd of rampaging cattle. Some have called author Paul Thomas, “Elmore Leonard on acid.” Pay special attention to the believable characters and the dialogue, both excellent and droll.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an Author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com), business owner (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) with over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"The Girl In Berlin" by Elizabeth Wilson / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s Killer Nashville Featured Books take me around the world, but they all have two things common: non-stip suspense and brains.
Class differences are once again at play in “The Girl from Berlin,” the third novel set in the 1950s from spy writer Elizabeth Wilson. There is Communist paranoia everywhere, along with defections, and then murder. As one would expect in a tale of espionage, characters are not what they seem. Paranoia will haunt you as you try to make sense of who you can and cannot trust, not only on an international level, but also personal. Be careful of Wilson’s misdirection; she’ll lead you away. This is the third novel from Wilson set in the same 1950s timeframe involving duplicitous characters playing various major and minor roles as the series unfolds.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an Author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com), business owner (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) with over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Killer's Art" by Mari Jungstedt / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
"Killer's Art" by Jari Jungsteadt
Today’s Killer Nashville Featured Books take me around the world, but they all have two things in common: non-stop suspense and brains.
“Killer’s Art” comes to us from one of Sweden’s most popular crime fiction writers Mari Jungstedt. The theft of a painting and the battered and naked body of an art dealer set this mystery in order. This well-crafted police procedural is the fourth in the series and features ongoing characters police superintendent Anders Knutas and reporter Johan Berg and takes place on a Martha’s Vineyard-type island on the Baltic Sea called Gotland where we see the contrast between the glittering art world and the shadowy, savage Gehenna underground surrounding it. As usual with Jungstedt’s books, this is a thriller that will make you care about the characters as you explore those from different economic and erudite worlds.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
- Clay Stafford is an Author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com), business owner (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) with over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Roots: The Saga of an American Family" by Alex Haley / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Like most of Americans in the 1970s, I was riveted to the mini-series “Roots.” Also probably like most Americans, I had never read the book even though “Roots” by Alex Haley had won the Pulitzer Prize. That changed last night.
I finished “Roots,” all 688 pages in my hardcover version, though some editions go over 899. I was blown away. Comparing my memories of the mini-series (of which, frankly, there have never been any better unless it was arguably “The Thornbirds” or “Winds of War”), the filmed version (which had 37 Emmy Award nominations – winning nine – among others) does little justice to the novel itself. Translated: the book is better. That should tell you how good the book is.
Getting the controversy aside: There were charges and settlements of plagiarism along with accusations of sloppy and untraceable research against Haley following publication. I’m including this not as a muckraker, but – if I don’t – someone will post this background in the comments section for me as if the rest of us didn’t know and the questionable accusations unto themselves could be accepted as fact. Long story short, it may have been a research assistant’s error without proper attribution (who knows). Such things have happened with no knowledge of the writer. This matter was settled out of court, which means someone made a deal and we’re not really sure what that deal was. I take plagiarism and false claims seriously – as do most – which is why most people now consider this book to be a book of fiction versus a biography or nonfiction. I think it an unfortunate black eye.
After reading “Roots,” there were sections I would like to have had more of. I would like to have known what happened to certain characters (black and white) after the narrative moved beyond them. As I read (and this was before I knew of the legal controversies), I wondered that if this information was taken from census polls and public records, why didn’t Haley include what happened to certain individuals after the narrative left them? For the whites, those records would continue to show where they had lived. For the blacks, it would continue to show who owned them or where they were after their freedom. I would have even been happy with the “oh, by the ways” at the end of the book in a wrap-up section if Haley felt that including what happened to these characters in the narrative was disruptive. Didn’t Haley want to know what eventually happened to Kunta Kinte? Last I read of him, he was running after a wagon. What happened to these individuals up to their deaths would be just as easy to discover as what was included about them in their lives. After noting the controversy, it made me wonder – as did others – about the validity of the research. That being the case, we have to look at this (unfortunately like many biographies of today) as a work of fiction.
Let’s make this Elephant-in-the-Living-Room other point over genealogy, as well, and the reason that most of us who aren’t members of the Whatever Whatevers of Some Revolution find those people who view ancestry research as a given fact rather amusing: Not every child is who their mothers say their fathers are. I personally take birth certificates with a grain of salt. Give me blood tests and now DNA, of which you saw little in the 1800 and 1700’s. Nothing to do with genealogy could be anything more than speculative to begin with. ‘Nough said.
So, looking at “Roots” by Alex Haley as a work of fiction…
This book was incredible. It completely opened my eyes on these savage blacks that Europeans rescued from the forests of Africa to bring out of the jungles and try to civilize (isn’t that the misconception). Frankly, I knew of slaves, but never really thought about slaves. Or examined slavery in my own heart or compared it to something in my own experience. I imagine most don’t, including those who say they really do. There is nothing in my life to compare it to. What this book showed me and made me empathize with was a proud and religious people who were taken (as was custom in that part of the world, not just by Europeans, but by other black African tribes and nations, as well) from their homes and families and transported cold-heartedly (in the case of European history) to an unknown world where their pasts, traditions, and sense of who they were was completely denied and suppressed. It showed me a representative story of representative characters who sought nothing more than to just have the choice to walk across a street if they wanted to without having to have a written pass from the massa in order to do it. It showed me the dignity of a previously proud and moral character forced to live in squalor and filth because those who owned him (not putting it in italics because at the time they did own him, just as they might have owned a horse or chicken) viewed him as something less than human. I read “Roots.” I was engrossed in “Roots.” I went to sleep thinking about “Roots.” It is easy to say one is against slavery – which I and most are – but it is another to feel the vileness of it, the indignity of it, the shame of it. I lost sleep over it. Frankly, the treatment of these people made me sick.
To my knowledge, none of my ancestors owned slaves. As far as I know, we were the po’ white crackers the slaves made fun of in the book. But it made me wonder. What is back there in my past? Though I know the skeptic in me will always view my family tree as a work of fiction, it might be worth the contemplation. As abhorrent as I have always viewed slavery, this book actually made me feel it. What else is back there that may shake me to the core?
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is a husband, father, author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com), business owner (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) with over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"SNAFU" by Glen C. Allison / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
For years I have been a friend of Glen C. Allison; now, I’m a fan.
Glen has created an incredible series with New Orleans bodyguard Al Forte, a former Navy SEAL. The action continues in SNAFU, the third installment in the series.
I’m a little mousey, mousey, mousey.
How can you not like a man who rescues children? In this case, Forte is asked to find the child of the man who murdered his wife and what he finds is a plot so thick that it goes all the way back to tying the hands of the governor of Louisiana.
Everyone loves New Orleans – ghost stories, old history, gothic architecture, unusual people, water, darkness, smoky rooms – and “Forte” creates a sense of this place. A few times I felt smothered and thought I might need to step outside on the back porch to get some fresh air.
Following the first two novels in the series, SNAFU delves deeper into Forte’s troubled past and bruised psyche. Forte is messed up, but he tries hard to make it right. He’s a hero, but I think there is more. Forte is not cowardly, but jumps into situations, even to the point of making me think he is sometimes on a suicide mission, which – considering his past – could very well be the case. But he doesn’t act alone. Forte works with a great team. I love the characters. The cast is there because what they are doing is important to them, not because they are working a job or filling an author’s function. What they are hoping to achieve is worth dying for.
I’m a little mousey, mousey, mousey.
Running through the housey, housey, housey.
SNAFU is anything but predictable including a most unexpected ending; yet, there was no other way to end it. Some of it reminds me of a Western with the troubled hero riding off into the sunset at the end. Only, in this case, the man has yellow eyes. No doubt, he’ll be back.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is a husband, father, author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com), business owner (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) with over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"A Killing At Cotton Hill" by Terry Shames / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
A retired chief of police is pulled into the investigation of an old friend in a Texas small town in A Killing at Cotton Hill, a debut novel you won’t want to miss.
This review for A Killing at Cotton Hill by Terry Shames has a special meaning to me: the manuscript was a finalist for 2010’s Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award (www.claymoreaward.com). In Terry’s words: “I got a two-book contract for my Texas mystery series. BOTH of them were finalists for the Claymore Award. The first, The Art of Murder (now A Killing At Cotton Hill), was a finalist two years ago. Shortly after the announcement I got an agent I really wanted.” Killer Nashville (www.killernashville.com) does get results and here is the proof.
Samuel Craddock is the former chief of police in the small town of Jarrett Creek, Texas where the current chief of police doubles as the town drunk. When a murder is committed, it is not the real chief of police who is contacted to solve the crime, but Craddock. This launches a whole new mystery series involving this tough and irascible, but all heart ex-cop.
This is a mystery in the traditional sense. It is a small town, yet there are numerous unforgettable characters who would have every reason to kill the woman in question, an old friend of Craddock’s. In solving the crime, Craddock exposes the very real characters of Jarrett Creek, which serves as a great literary device for revealing the setting. Interestingly enough, this is a personal novel for Shames; the character of Samuel Craddock is based loosely upon her maternal grandfather who served the town he lived in off-the-books long after his term of mayor had ended.
Out of hundreds of manuscripts at the 2010 Claymore Awards, this manuscript rose to the top. And out of all the books on your shelves, this will be one of your favorites.
I am so proud of Terry Shames and what is yet to come. This is a great time to discover a new author. One of the backstories I love about this manuscript is that Terry wrote it while floating around on her catamaran. Now that’s the life. Forget Key West and the five-toed cats.
I look forward to many other books from Terry Shames and Seventh Street Books. Terry is a success story, but more than that, she’s a great storyteller and a wonderful lady. Her next book, The Last Death of Jack Harbin, is scheduled to be released January 2014. I can hardly wait.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is a husband, father, author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com), business owner (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) with over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Theodore Boone: The Accused" by John Grisham / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
A young wannabe lawyer finds himself on the wrong side of the law in “Theodore Boone: The Accused” by John Grisham. Read my review.
I grew up reading John Grisham books. Now my son has the same opportunity. We read this one together.
Theodore Boone is the son of two attorneys. He wants to be an attorney when he grows up. And, though he is still a kid, he is already practicing law amongst his friends and even representing llamas in court. In this third installment of this Young Adult series, John Grisham trumps Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. My son and I have read the first three books and we can’t wait to read the fourth. My son can’t get enough of it and neither can the other kids at his school. The library can’t keep the several copies there in stock.
In “Theodore Boone: The Accused,” young Boone finds himself on the wrong side of the law. He gets to feel what it is like to be suspected by the police and, since they are convinced that he has committed the crime, it is up to him and his disbarred Bob Dylan-humming uncle to clear Theodore’s name before it is too late.
What I love first about the series is that you can’t put it down. Secondarily, it teaches legal process to kids in a truthful and fair way. By fair, in this installment, the police who are normally the good guys are characterized as two jerks, my son’s opinion. It’s a good lesson that just because the newspapers say someone is arrested does not mean that they are guilty and sometimes detectives want credit for wrapping up a case greater than they want delayed justice. Just because someone is in uniform doesn’t make them the good guy. (My son and I kept waiting for the detectives to officially apologize for falsely maligning Theodore, but it never came. That’s when my son decided they were jerks.)
John Grisham has made a career out of the legal mystery. In fact, some say he created the genre. I believe, when we are long gone, that what Grisham will be remembered for is Theodore Boone and creating a whole new generation of avid readers. I’ve seen it in my son. I’ve seen it in the other kids at my son’s school. I’ve seen it in myself. These books are hot and, like a Disney film, they transcend numerous generations. My opinion? Theodore Boone is Grisham’s best.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is a husband, father, author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com), business owner (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) with over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Until She Comes Home" by Lori Roy / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
A murder and disappearance destroy the essence of a once-respectable neighborhood in "Until She Comes Home" by Lori Roy.
Until She Comes Home by Lori Roy
Winning an Edgar for your first novel is a hard setup for your second one. It better be good. Lori Roy, author of her Edgar Award-winning debut novel, Bent Road, does not disappoint. This is a spellbinding suspense novel in which a pair of seemingly unrelated murders crumbles the façade of a once respectable Detroit neighborhood.
This is a community that lives for family, church, and work. But – like all of America in 1958 – their world is changing. A black woman is murdered. A white woman disappears. Their neighborhood is falling apart.
The characters in this story are incredibly layered with special attention focused on the characters of a longsuffering pregnant wife, a social butterfly, and a woman who wishes to hide her pain behind humor. As the characters are revealed following the murder and disappearance, jolting elements of their lives will be exposed as their individual façades also come crashing down.
The writing is well-conceived and poetic. As the characters race to find the truth regarding the woman who has disappeared, readers will be second-guessing just like the neighbors all the way to the very end. However, there is no end. Even after you stop reading, the story and the theme of lives forever altered by events will stay with you. You’ll be reflecting on it for days.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is a husband, father, author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com), business owner (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) with over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages. Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13)
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Tell Me" by Lisa Jackson / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Who murdered a pregnant teenage girl? Her mother is not talking.
Thriller author Lisa Jackson’s new book “Tell Me” sucked me in and disabled me like a snakebite. Out of nowhere, from the first page of the Prologue, she had me.
The mystery is multi-layered. In Savannah, Georgia, a mother is about to be released from prison. The story questions are numerous. Was she wrongly incarcerated for killing her child, or are they about to release a guilty woman? Who murdered a young girl and shot two other children, paralyzing one? Who is the father of the girl who was murdered? Who fathered the unborn child the teen died carrying? And who is the stalker who keeps appearing? The angle is reporter and detective working together (they’re also engaged, which creates the romantic suspense), but the point-of-view for the most part is shared by the two interchangeably.
This is the third in the Detective Pierce Reed and journalist Nikki Gillette series and joins the over 75 Lisa Jackson novels, many of them New York Times bestsellers.
The cast of characters are related to each other to some degree or other. The snake scenes, which are peppered throughout, will give you the willies. Lisa Jackson has written several books for Silhouette and you can see that in the love scenes, which were a little over the top for me (I think there were 3 of them I could do without), but my wife says those were there for the women in the audience, not the men. For you guys, though, there is enough suspense, thrills, dangers, guns, knives, murders, and whodunit to keep you going, just don’t stay too long in the shower scene.
From the first page, the story is suspenseful and open-ended. The culprit could be anybody. Jackson plays fair, but she’s tricky. Pay attention as you read: the plot is tight. Lisa Jackson wraps it up nicely and, frankly, I read a lot of books, but I didn’t see the tie-up of this one coming. Masterful. Full of energy. A delight to read. I rushed to the ending and then hated myself for getting there so fast. This is one of the best romantic suspense novels I’ve ever read. If on-the-edge-of-your-seat, I-can’t-sleep suspense is what you’re after, Lisa Jackson is the author and “Tell Me” is the book for you.
Now that Killer Nashville 2013 is over, I’m back to reading books again. Looking forward to sharing what I find.
Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.killernashville.com). He reviews books daily for Killer Nashville’s Book of the Day. Publishers Weekly has named Stafford and Killer Nashville as one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13) Having over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print, Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.oneofthemiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.jefferdeaverxomusic.com).
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
Visit our bookstore for other similar books.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
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