Flame Out by M.P. Cooley / Reviewed by Briana Goodchild

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Flame Out: A Novel or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Ice Shear is the first book of the June Lyons series

The smell of gasoline creeps through the air as ex-FBI, turned small-town police officer, Juniper “June” Lyons drives past the old Sleep-Tite Factory; the Factory is in flames. As the fiery scene erupts in chaos, a mysterious and badly burned woman emerges from the building. Who is this woman, and what is she doing in the abandoned factory?

In the charred aftermath of the fire, the investigation for arson and of “Jane Doe” begins, where officers soon find barrels of Tris, a toxic chemical banned in the 1970’s, behind a false wall. With the help of June’s partner Dave and forensic specialist Annie, the barrels prove to hold more than just toxic chemicals as they discover the mangled body of a woman.

DNA results reveal that the “Jane Doe” burn victim is in fact Louisa Lawler, local woman believed to have been murdered by her husband in 1983; the same infamous murder case that June’s fathered worked as the lead investigator at the time. With Louisa confirmed alive, the reader is left with many questions. If Louisa is alive, then where has she been all these years? Who is the dead woman in the barrel? Could Louisa be a murderer?

As the pieces begin to fall into place, June is faced with unwavering loyalties, hidden political agenda’s, and bloody family ties. Flame Out will leave readers hanging on the edge of their seats. This novel proves unforgiving in its plot, but is just too good to put down.

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Briana Goodchild is on the verge of becoming a bibliophile and is currently a student of English Literature and Drama. Like any book reader she enjoys a strong cup of tea and an enticing story to match. Occasionally, when diving into the Mystery Genre, caffeine is required.

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(If you have a book you would like featured, send an ARC for consideration. The Killer Nashville Book Reviews are coordinated by Clay Stafford with the irreplaceable assistance of Clay Janeway, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, and credited guest reviewers. For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com)

*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.

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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.

"Lila" by Marilynne Robinson / Reviewed by M. K. Sealy

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase “Lila” or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Marilynne Robinson,
Photo by Kelly Ruth Winter

"Lila" by Marilynne Robinson
Reviewed by M. K. Sealy

In a breathtakingly stunning work of literary art, Pulitzer-prize winning Marilynne Robinson has graced readers with the third and final installment of novels set in Gilead, Iowa, the intricate town of Robinson’s design.

Written largely in a Joyce-like third-person stream-of-consciousness narrative, "Lila" follows its eponymous main character and the tender relationships she establishes with several characters, especially Gilead’s Reverend Ames.

While the style and language of the novel are masterpieces in and of themselves, it is the novel’s main character, Lila, who makes this work truly stunning. "Lila"leads the audience through the tumultuous early life of the savage little girl, hooking readers from the very first page as we follow her story into adulthood.

And while readers may assume that this is a novel that follows the cliché metamorphosis expected in a girl going from the “wild” into civilized society, this is not Robinson’s focus. Instead, and more importantly, the audience is made privy to Lila’s innermost struggles as the good wife of the town’s kind and gentle Reverend Ames.

Throughout the course of the novel, Lila must attempt to reconcile her strange past and her current state of being, neglecting the impulses that were once normal but that are no longer appropriate. Due to societal restrictions and the moral conflict of right and wrong, she must not fulfill these strange desires that are influenced by her past.

Already receiving mighty praise from Publishers Weekly and the Kirkus Review, Robinson’s newest masterpiece has been hailed as an instant American classic. "Lila"is a novel that requires full attention to its decadent language—Lila’s accent nearly drips off her tongue—and loping narrative, and it deserves a place on readers’ shelves immediately.

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M. K. Sealy earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in literature from a Nashville university. She is a copyeditor for a Nashville-based publication, but also writes poetry, fiction, and is currently attempting a screenplay, all while working to obtain a Master of Education.  

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(If you have a book you would like featured, send an ARC for consideration. The Killer Nashville Book Reviews are coordinated by Clay Stafford with the irreplaceable assistance of Meaghan Hill, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, and credited guest reviewers. For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com)

*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.

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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.

"The Family Hightower" by Brian Francis Slattery / Reviewed by Summer Starkie

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase “The Family Hightower” or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Brian Slattery by Desirea Rodgers

"The Family Hightower" by Brian Francis Slattery
Reviewed by S.B. Guy

For decades, authors have told the story of the American dream, of the young man turning his rags into riches, but none have done so quite like Brian Francis Slattery. His recent novel, "The Family Hightower", follows generations of a family sewn together with threads of deceit, violence, and, most importantly, staggering wealth. With brilliant savagery at the heart of his tale, Slattery reveals each character’s desires to leave the past of poverty, of crime, of violence, or of the disappointment of the family name and their willingness to commit whatever act it takes to do so.

"The Family Hightower" flows through history, characters, and countries fluidly, gracefully jumping from one Peter Henry Hightower to the next, from the Ukrainian famine to the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run and from Kiev to Cleveland.

Blood reigns throughout the tale: a young girl, Madalina, enters the stage as a corpse whose internal organs and eyes have been removed; scumbag Joe Rizzi, plans to dismember and scatter the body of the young daughter of the man he attempts to blackmail; a Ukrainian boy from the South Side of Cleveland quickly learns the ways of the mob and slits the throat of his first boss.

Slattery spins his story around brutality, guile, and crime on an international and local level, his characters’ decisions beating against each other with blunt force and slicing through ties of loyalty like a razor against an unguarded artery.

With quick, clever pacing and a superb narrative voice of reason, Slattery combines history, grisly crime, family ties, and the money that spurs it all along. Smart, insightful, satisfying, exceptional—a tale that captures the attention and holds it down with a loaded pistol, worried only about spilling blood on its lavish Italian shoes.

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S.B. Guy studies Journalism & Creative Media. They serve as a staff writer for their University’s newspaper and conduct research for a local true crime blog. S.B. loves the puzzle of a good mystery as much as they love the puzzle of a perfect sentence. One day, they hope to have written both. 

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*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.

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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.