KN Magazine: Reviews
"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!
"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!
"Dead Insider" by Victoria Houston / Friday, May 17, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
There is so much to like about Victoria Houston’s new novel, “Dead Insider,” I almost don’t know where to begin.
Plot-wise, it is what I might call a suspenseful cozy, or maybe a rural mystery, or a light mystery: It takes place in a remote area where the ones who solve the case are the locals with some non-law enforcement personnel recruited to handle certain duties (all overseen by a chief of police, however). No serious violence is written about directly, all found second-hand, though the crimes are a bit grisly even if second-hand. The main characters are not in that much danger, though we are constantly wondering what will happen next. And there are, of course, suspects you hope are not, but have every reason to believe are red-handed guilty.
Here’s where the novel jumps its competition: It’s one of the most well-plotted and character-nuanced rural mysteries I have ever read. In fact, its one of the best mysteries I’ve ever read, period. I was blown away. Everything about it is plausible and the plot develops so subtlety you don’t realize Houston is only reeling you in. Those who usually don’t like cozies or non-law enforcement populated mysteries should stop immediately and read the first 10 pages of “Dead Insider.” That’s all it will take. Ten pages. Like a fish on the line, they will be hooked.
The plot involves the death of a prominent local woman running in her father’s footsteps for the U.S. Senate. She is brutally murdered. Jurisdiction falls under the local police department, which – because it is a remote fishing area – is understaffed. A local dentist routinely fills in when the coroner is unavailable, which he isn’t at the time of the crime. Friends and family associated with the Loon Lake Chief of Police are brought in to fill certain duties. In effect, the police do the police work, but they rely on a small group of seasonal help (for lack of a better word) when crimes do occur in an area where crimes rarely, if ever, occur. These few hold down the fort until other authorities – if need be – have a chance to get there. Having spent much time in rural areas such as this, all of this is as plausible as it can get.
It is the interconnection of all the characters in this small fishing community in Wisconsin that makes it work. Author Houston has assembled the perfect cast for solving just about any crime that could be committed in this village. The Loon Lake Fishing Mystery Series rivals anything I’ve seen come out of Cabot Cove. I love the portrayal of the autumn relationship of Osborne and Ferris and the sensitively handled comparison between their relationship and Osborne’s past marriage. Being a Southerner, I could also not help but be attracted at the dichotomy between the political elite and the folks they are supposed to represent.
“Dead Insider” is the only book I’ve read in the Loon Lake Fishing Mystery Series and I’m a fan. For 206 pages, I missed Wisconsin. I’m hoping sometime if Victoria Houston is as good a fly-fisherman as she is an author should the Killer Nashville gang ever make it to the proverbial Loon Lake that she’ll loan us a pair of waders and take us up one of those beautiful rivers she writes about. Just reading “Dead Insider,” I heard the loons calling and found myself perusing Travelocity.
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker and founder of Killer Nashville. Stafford’s latest projects are the documentary “One of the Miracles” and the music CD “XO”.
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!
"Another Sun" by Timothy Williams / Tuesday, May 14, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
I love taking trips to places I’ve never been and I think this is the first novel I’ve read set in Guadeloupe. It is an underdog tale with a twist.
“Another Son” by Timothy Williams is a gripping story of a judge who takes it upon herself to prove a man innocent whom everyone else thinks is guilty. The twist is that the accused has no interest in helping his counsel because she is a woman and he is a man. This is a story of an area flavored by old politics, gender bias, and racial prejudices against a backdrop of French colonialism. The story is set in Guadeloupe in 1980 and Timothy Williams says that he has been working on this novel for 30 years meaning, I guess, that he started it back around the time that the story is set.
In the novel, the elderly Hegesippe Bray has been charged with the murder of a white landowner who was running him off his property. The landowner had few friends and most were glad to see him die. Still, justice must be done. The French view the case as open-and-shut, but not French judge Anne Marie Laveaud. The big question is whether or not the accused is guilty. The larger theme, though, is the political and historical structure of this little island within which Laveaud must navigate. Bray is a grouchy curmudgeon whom one has to eventually like. Laveaud grows on the reader as she pursues justice in her own objective way; you admire her tenacity. The feel of the novel is gritty like sand, which – I guess – is how crime novels should probably feel, especially when set on an island.
The UK Observer calls Timothy Williams one of the “Ten Best European Crime Writers.” The title is well-deserved. If you would like to spend a little time on an island this spring seeing if you can out-sleuth Williams, this book is up to the challenge. Few, I think, will predict the outcome before they get there.
– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker and founder of Killer Nashville. Stafford’s latest projects are the documentary “One of the Miracles” and the music CD “XO”.
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 Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I" by Stephen Alford / Monday, March 4, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
“Assassinations, espionage, torture, spies, double agents, cryptography, indignities. Page turning. Well-researched. This could be a spy novel, but it’s not; it happened. The Elizabethan world has never been more real to me. For those interested in history or writers of the Elizabethan world, this is a must read.”
– Clay Stafford, author and founder of Killer Nashville
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
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!
"Bonded Labor: Tackling the System of Slavery in South Asia" by Siddharth Kara / Friday, March 1, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
“Brings new meaning to owing your soul to the company store. A study of debt bondage and violent enslavement of men, women, and children in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Eighteen million bonded laborers owe their souls to the “man” generating over $17.6 billion in profits every year. Their life is not their own, but the products they make are ones that we purchase everyday: hand-woven carpets, tea, rice, frozen shrimp, more. For individuals, this is a study of the commerce chain and a questioning of who really made this product? What was the true human cost for my convenience? For writers setting anything in South Asia, this is a great resource for the human plotline. It will make you feel angry, sad, and helpless from page 1. Read it to be enlightened.”
– Clay Stafford, author and founder of Killer Nashville
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
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!
"And When She Was Good" by Laura Lippman / Monday, February 25, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
“A mom’s sacrifices for her only child. A mom’s secret Heidi Fleiss life behind a gated community. A suicide that might be murder. Washington D.C. politicians and power managers. Betrayal. Lies. Distraught choices. The constant fear of discovery. And the threat someone is coming for her. What will she do to protect her son? Highly suspenseful. This is why Laura Lippman is…well, Laura Lippman.”
– Clay Stafford, author and founder of Killer Nashville
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
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 Facility” by Simon Lelic / Tuesday, December 11, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is The Facility by Simon Lelic.
A novel that will leave you questioning everything.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
About the first page of the first chapter, I thought, “What the…” Yet, I was riveted.
The story takes place in a growing English police state more concerned with napping terrorists – and innocents that they think are terrorists – than they are in protecting the innocent.
“My husband is not a terrorist, Mr. Clarke. Whatever he’s into, I can assure you it’s not terrorism. He’s a dentist.” That’s no deterrent. All it takes is someone to point the finger.
I found the novel so real, it was frightening. I feel myself in Arthur Priestley’s shoes, a man with no rights and finally no name (just a number) and being at the mercy of the whims of guards and officials who no longer have to even supply a charge. “Who are you? Are you the police? This isn’t legal, you know. You can’t hold me like this.” National Security covers all actions. “We cannot afford to take risks.”
Interestingly enough, the central character (Arthur Priestly) is not a stand-out character. In fact, he’s rather dull. Opposite to what you might think, this makes it even more harrowing. He’s a boring person who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Somewhere as you read, you realize: This guy could be me. Don’t get me wrong. The characters are great, but the story is about what could happen, not about the characters. It is the situation itself that is all wrong.
The novel is full of government pawns and by the time you get to the end of the book, you see them in real time in real life all around you. “No one opposes the act any more because no one can see how it’s being used.” I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but think Guantanamo. This is Guantanamo U.K. “They arrested him under anti-terrorism legislation. How could you possibly have considered that routine?” “But that’s my point! These days it is routine. Or it can be, at least in terms of how information is fed to the press.” And that’s the lynchpin. We trust the press. The press gets information from the government and then makes the case to the people. Can anyone say Nazi? “They leak information because they want us to have it.” And they want what the press gets to be very specific. Think of the wonderful sounding Freedom of Information Act, the product of an open government. Request something sometime. You’ll get a piece of paper, but it will be covered with crossed-out black lines “for National Security.”
Looking at it outside this book and in the last ten years in the U.S., using anti-terrorist, national security laws, the government can arrest anyone at any time. Technically. Not that they do, but technically. Can a health issue become a matter of national security? Maybe. If you need to protect the population. And, if so, then it falls under (in the U.S.) Homeland Security. So, in effect, something that has nothing to do with terrorism (the basis for Homeland Security) now becomes a concern and is able to be off the grid because it now falls under the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security. Then you realize that it doesn’t have to be a health issue. It can be anything! Label it a security issue and no one can ask a single question. “How I can tell how a law is being used when the whole point of that law is to prevent me finding out?” As long as it falls under anti-terrorist, national security laws, the government is not required to make a charge. If you make a charge, you might lose. Solution, use the laws and don’t make a charge. When that happens, “‘There is every chance you will remain here until – ‘” You die.” At the very least, you bide your time. “The usual rules, at this facility, do not apply. There is no board, no oversight committee. There is just me and the rules I set. So you will behave, please, as I instruct you to behave or you will suffer the punishment I choose.”
There is a strong cast of characters, each one supplying a vital function and thematic consciousness. Thankfully, there are those in the press who can’t be bought. When you’re up against the big machine, “What else do you think you can do?” “Keep digging.” There is a Josef Mengele mad doctor who views patients as lab rats rather than humans. And a more homophobic group (intentionally written that way) you’ve never read. (By the way, I love the improvised baby monitor. I don’t know that I would have the nerve to try it, but it is a clever idea.)
As you read, you wonder who, if any, will do the right thing? The thriller then is not about the lives in jeopardy, but of moral backbone, something that can’t be legislated. Who will do the right thing? Who will stand up and object? “They’re locking up innocent people using laws they said would protect us.” This is Orwellian, if I’ve ever read Orwellian. What makes this scary, though, is that this is not the future as the publisher’s publicity department states on the back of the book; this is what could be happening now, maybe not with disease, but with anything else a government would decide would be threatening. It’s terrifying. In Hollywood, we would call this “high concept.” The plot is so simple, yet overpowering.
“That’s one lesson this government has learnt. They’ve learnt that if they show it, they can’t spin it. If they can’t spin it, they can’t control it. And if they can’t control it, the truth will eventually come out: about what they’re doing; about why they’re doing it in the first place.” The only way, then, is to make it appear that it never happened or use the press to spin it.
This is blow your mind away powerful.
From the publisher:
“In a near-future dystopian Britain, democracy has been undermined. Emboldened by new anti-terrorism laws, police start to “disappear” people from the streets for unspecified crimes. But when unassuming dentist Arthur Priestley is snatched and held prisoner at a top-secret facility, his estranged wife, Julia, and a brave but naive journalist named Tom Clarke embark on a harrowing quest for the truth. Following a trail that leads to the very top of government, they soon find themselves fighting for their lives. Well-crafted, fast-paced, and totally compelling, “The Facility” is a brilliant thriller that resonates eerily with the timbre of our times.”
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!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“L’Assassin: A Thriller” by Peter Steiner / Tuesday, December 4, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is L’Assassin: A Thriller by Peter Steiner.
Anti-terrorist fanaticism can be as dangerous as the real thing
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
Today’s Book of the Day comes from fellow University of Miami alum (had to plug it) Peter Steiner. Peter was first known to me as a cartoonist for The New Yorker for 25 years before he turned novelist. If you’ve read a copy of The New Yorker, you had to have seen his work.
“L’Assassin” is set in France and is the second novel in the Louis Morgon international thriller series. The first novel was fantastic. This one is even better. Are we so obsessed with terrorism, we frame an innocent man for personal revenge? This novel gives a plausible, “Yes.”
It is a smart series. There is incredible plotting and a cast of unforgettable characters. Here are the elements: Ex-CIA officer, terrorist accusations, Osama bin Laden associate, a traitor to the U.S., mass manipulation, cat and mouse. I think you have the picture. I don’t want to give too much away in case you want to read it. All is not as it seems, though. It starts as a simple burglary, but it is never simple, is it?
Reading this, you can tell that Steiner enjoys what he is doing and the fun transfers irresistibly across the page.
From the publisher:
“In this exceptional follow-up to the highly praised Le Crime, ex-spy Louis Morgon is in France living a quiet life of good food, good wine, and good friends. When his house is burglarized, he thinks nothing of it. But neither the burglar nor the motive for the burglary is as simple as it seems. And the consequences of the seemingly trivial break-in will lead Louis and his loved ones to the ends of the earth – and quite possibly to the ends of their lives.”
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!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“Luther: The Calling” by Neil Cross / Monday, November 12, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Luther: The Calling by Neil Cross.
Womb raiders. A missing child. A serial killer.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
I’m a speed reader. I read one book a night. This one I had to take slowly like bites of a great home-grilled steak. It was too good to rush through. Even at a slower pace, though, once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. Frankly, the book is nightmarish. The bad guy will give you the willies. He’s a madman. He’s a genius.
Here’s the freaky part: as author Cross writes, “People put so much of their lives out there. On Facebook and wherever. There’s so much information on who we are, how we’re feeling, what we’re doing,” who is in our family, who we have as friends, even where we are going to be tonight. For those paranoid people such as crime writers like myself, I started looking at what I’ve been posting here and there in social media and thinking I need to cancel my Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress accounts. Unarguably, someone could learn all about you from the public information you give them and then do you in. Or worse: your family. Think about this the next time you post, for example, a picture of your child on Facebook.
For those who don’t know: “Luther: The Calling” is the prequel for the BBC highly popular “Luther” TV series. This is not for the squeamish. It is about a person who is stealing children for the most godawful reasons. It is also about a cop pushing the edge of acceptability. I wouldn’t call it vigilante fiction, but it comes very close. About page 179 of the edition of the book I was reading, you’ll be feeling the same emotions as the police detective. There are times, as you read, you wouldn’t mind grabbing a baseball bat and going along with him because it just feels justified. There are slimes in this novel with no redeeming characteristics: lots of thugs and one woman who, incidentally, is more morally disgusting though understandable than the thugs themselves. Disagree if you like, but my opinion holds. And there’s humor; for example, there’s a woman has been burglarized so she tells the police, “I’d like a dog. I’m scared to get one in case I take a fall and can’t feed it.” This stuff has to be there. You need it to break the tension.
Neil Cross is an Edgar winner and sole writer / creator of the BBC TV series, “Luther.” It’s not surprising he is an Edgar winner. “Luther: The Calling” is written in present tense so there is a sense of immediacy about it. The use of present tense when writing (for academic reasons not discussed here) doesn’t work in most fiction. It works wonderfully here. It gives the gritty piece an extra edge. (It’s also the form for screenplays, which may be a carry-over from Cross’s day job.)
In “Luther,” I love the personal story. The personal story is deep and is not just busy activity showing the personal life of the character. Lots of times, for me, the personal stories in thrillers and mysteries don’t help deepen my understanding of the character; to me, they’re a drag on the story, things best to be skipped. That’s because they are done poorly, thrown in because some editor tells some unequipped author you need some personal B stories to flesh out the characters, or some author throws it in on his/her own thinking it will help the reader identify with his/her protagonist. I’ve seen the advice in writing books and it is blatantly wrong. If the personal stories are not coming out of the spine of the story itself, then they shouldn’t be there. They become nothing more than filler. Here is an example of how it is done right. In “Luther,” the personal stories are moments to be savored for even the personal stories of the main characters relate directly to the progression of the story, the heinousness of the plot. I feel for Luther. And the way Cross has written it, you can see how Luther has become who he is. I became engrossed, watching John Luther’s life fall apart. It was like watching a train wreck. As his wife observed, looking at pictures of Luther as a younger man when they had met, the wife (Zoe) thinks “Somewhere along the line, that boy had joined the dead, and Zoe had spent years waving to him from a far shore, trying to call him back.” The story is just so real that you can’t help but empathetically self-reflect. “Our choices reveal us, don’t they?” It’s funny that, no matter how much we dream, life may not turn out that way. As Cross writes, “Closure may never come. And if it does come, it may not be what you were hoping for.”
This is one of the best crime novels I’ve read this year. The suspense keeps you riveted until the very last page. There are doubts, even as you near the end, about whether Luther will succeed or fail. I will not be a spoiler, but I will say author Cross does not care if he takes your favorite character out. If Luther wins, great. If he fails, we have to accept that, as well. Life isn’t always tied up in perfect ribbons. Regardless, this is one of those novels I’m going to have to read again just to appreciate all the workings under the hood. I can tell you: there are many.
From Amazon:
“In this stellar debut by journalist turned Washington insider and political writer Charles Robbins, an eager politico finds himself on the rise only to discover the perilous costs of success.
When Henry Hatten wangles a job as communications director for Nebraska SenatorTom Peele’s presidential campaign, he breathes a huge sigh of relief. Smarting over a recent gubernatorial campaign in which his pulling a political punch may have cost his boss the race, he’s thrilled to be back in action.
This time around, Henry is determined to shuck his ethical qualms. But he soon finds he’s facing more than he imagined. The new gig turns out to be rife with scandal and corruption – just the kind of politics Henry so fervently sought to banish. Events go from bad to worse as the depths of greed emerge, tracking the acceleration and excitement in the campaign itself. Led by a ruthless chairman and filled with warring aides, hired thugs, fractious union bosses, and snooping reporters, the Peele campaign is shaping up to be quite the circus. And that’s before Henry’s ex arrives on the scene . . .
But when someone close to the campaign is murdered, Henry can no longer turn a blind eye. As he conducts his own covert investigation, still more secrets emerge. So deeply entrenched in the politics and manipulation, Henry must face a staggering reality in which his values are no longer his own. But can he extricate himself and salvage the career he loves? And can he do so with his soul intact? A brilliantly plotted and characterized political novel, The Accomplice takes readers into the guts of a brutal presidential campaign. “
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join ourFacebook 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!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“The Accomplice” by Charles Robbins / Thursday, October 25, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is The Accomplice by Charles Robbins.
If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
In the race for a new president, this is a political thriller in the truest sense, a behind-the-scenes look at the America we have become. Not since “Primary Colors” have I had so much fun reading a politically based novel. Written in fast-flowing detail that only a Washington insider could provide, this is a tour de force of characters and plotting, choices and decisions.
The story revolves around Henry Hatten, communications director of Republican Senator Peele’s bid for the White House. “Just saying the words, ‘I’m running for President of the United States’ is an awesome act. The sheer gall, to stand up and say you can lead the free world better than anybody else.” Peele is a centrist in the race and “about the only moderate Republican.” Peele appears to be the Golden Boy, another Teflon Man, but “up close, Henry noticed that Peele hadn’t shaved the back of his neck, leaving stubble that extended from hairline to collar. The guy wasn’t perfect.” Thus, the foreshadowing to come.
I was immediately lost in the world and found it easily accessible because of the way it was written. Charles Robbins is definitely the author to write this story. It is his debut into fiction. Prior, his beat has been nonfiction. He has co-written three nonfiction books with co-writers former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and former Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter. He has run press shops for two Congressman, a Senator, a gubernatorial campaign, and one presidential election. As a navy reserve officer, he was a speech writer for the Secretary of the Navy. He has the background to get it right. All of this explains why this book is so good.
Peele not only has to take on the opposing party, but also members of his own. “Rise and stifle the shrill cries of the extremist right that hijacked the party.” It certainly shows the absurdity that is within politics as in the suggestion, “Build an Iowa steering committee.” “What does a steering committee steer?” “Doesn’t steer anything. Doesn’t do anything. We put a checkbox on fund-raising letters inviting donors to join the committee. They feel important and we look like we got a wide, deep bench.” It dives into the shallow minds of the voters informing us via those in power that “people don’t vote for you. They vote for the character you play. For the image, the icon, the Mattel action figure.” And it explores the conflict, even between the various factions of government (attributed to LBJ) such as “the difference between the Senate and the House is the difference between the chicken salad and the chicken shit.” As Truman once stated, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”
This is one of those must-read books. Even after this current election, this is a timeless American novel that should be a part of every library collection and should be read at least once every four years. Charles Robbins is definitely an author to watch. He is currently working on an upcoming historical political novel involving the U.S. Senate. I think he has found his genre and his audience. I hope to be reading his work for a very long time.
From Amazon:
“In this stellar debut by journalist turned Washington insider and political writer Charles Robbins, an eager politico finds himself on the rise only to discover the perilous costs of success.
When Henry Hatten wangles a job as communications director for Nebraska SenatorTom Peele’s presidential campaign, he breathes a huge sigh of relief. Smarting over a recent gubernatorial campaign in which his pulling a political punch may have cost his boss the race, he’s thrilled to be back in action.
This time around, Henry is determined to shuck his ethical qualms. But he soon finds he’s facing more than he imagined. The new gig turns out to be rife with scandal and corruption – just the kind of politics Henry so fervently sought to banish. Events go from bad to worse as the depths of greed emerge, tracking the acceleration and excitement in the campaign itself. Led by a ruthless chairman and filled with warring aides, hired thugs, fractious union bosses, and snooping reporters, the Peele campaign is shaping up to be quite the circus. And that’s before Henry’s ex arrives on the scene . . .
But when someone close to the campaign is murdered, Henry can no longer turn a blind eye. As he conducts his own covert investigation, still more secrets emerge. So deeply entrenched in the politics and manipulation, Henry must face a staggering reality in which his values are no longer his own. But can he extricate himself and salvage the career he loves? And can he do so with his soul intact? A brilliantly plotted and characterized political novel, The Accomplice takes readers into the guts of a brutal presidential campaign. “
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join ourFacebook 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!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?” by Christopher Buckley / Wednesday, October 17, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is They Eat Puppies, Don’t They? by Christopher Buckley.
“They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?” by Christopher Buckley
Washington, D.C. has gone upside-down.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
This book cracked me up. In honor of the political season, today’s Killer Nashville Book of the Day is “They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?” by Christopher Buckley. “They” refers to the Chinese. It is a satirical look at Washington, D.C. and the fears of some regarding the world domination of China (or Red China, as this book says). All the Washington types are there. Frankly, when I picked up the book, I was expecting it to maybe be a bit one-sided, but it is knee-slapping funny across the entire political spectrum. For those who don’t know Christopher Buckley, he is the New York Times bestselling author of “Boomsday” and “Losing Mum and Pup” (among others). And if the name sounds familiar, yes, he is the son of William F. Buckley, a man I grew up with via “Firing Line,” an excellent orator who taught me many tricks, and one of the best vocabulary teachers I ever had. The fruit, as they say, does not fall far from the tree. Christopher Buckley is the perfect scion of a dynasty of parody and wit.
From an insider’s viewpoint – and this family does have incredible access – all Washington types are represented. A more well-represented group of political suckups and Machiavellian conquerors you have never read. “Who needs evidence when you’ve got the Internet?” From political foundations hiding true advocates of certain agenda, to PR firms hoping to rule the world, to actors who take their political ideas (and maybe political aspirations) from movies that they have played, to war mongers, peace mongers, passive-aggressive nutcakes, political camera chasers and boy toys, talk show hosts, vacuous political appointees, they are all duly represented. The idea centers around turning world opinion against China because of fears that China is taking over the U.S. Does that sound like a current political issue? “This country is going to come to its sense about China if I have to smash every dish in the cupboard.” You’re not going to learn much about our current candidates in this little story, but it will help you see through some of the silliness that accompanies national elections every four years (and all the activities in between). You get to see the characters onstage and off when they think no one is looking. “You do such a wonderful job supervising all those nice Mexicans.” How do they plan to achieve their end? If they can’t start a war or blow up something, then somehow make it look like the Chinese want to kill the Dalai Lama. Everyone loves the Dalai Lama, right? That should turn world opinion. “These are people with taste,” one character says. Another replies, “No, darling, they’re people with money.”
I love the lines and the way Buckley phrases, especially when he is offering a mocking send-up to political correctness, for example: “I love you – in a heterosexual way. If I were of the gay persuasion, I have no doubt that I would be attracted to you physically. I would want you to be my civil partner and for us to adopt an African orphan.” If that doesn’t make you laugh, you don’t need to read this book. But if it does, then this book is definitely for you.
From Amazon:
“In an attempt to gain congressional approval for a top-secret weapons system, Washington lobbyist “Bird” McIntyre teams up with sexy, outspoken neocon Angel Templeton to pit the American public against the Chinese. When Bird fails to uncover an authentic reason to slander the nation, he and Angel put the Washington media machine to work, spreading a rumor that the Chinese secret service is working to assassinate the Dalai Lama.
Meanwhile in China, mild-mannered President Fa Mengyao and his devoted aide Gang are maneuvering desperately against sinister party hard-liners Minister Lo and General Han. Now Fa and Gang must convince the world that the People’s Republic is not out to kill the Dalai Lama, while maintaining Fa’s small margin of power in the increasingly militaristic environment of the party.
On the home front, Bird must contend with a high-strung wife who entertains Olympic equestrian ambition, and the qualifying competition happens to be taking place in China. As things unravel abroad, Bird and Angel’s lie comes dangerously close to reality. And as their relationship rises to a new level, so do mounting tensions between the United States and China.”
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!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“Only One Life” by Sara Blædel / Tuesday, October 16, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Only One Life by Sara Blædel.
A dead teen and an ethnic community wishing autonomy.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
Today’s Killer Nashville Book of the Day is an introduction to author Sara Blædel, Denmark’s designated “Queen of Crime.” You may not be familiar with her. This is only her second book to be translated into English. However, she is a novelist that I think you ought to get to know. Not only is she an internationally best-selling author, but she also founded the first crime fiction publishing house in Denmark. Good to know for you authors who are looking to expand into some foreign territories.
“Only One Life” is a bare bones police procedural. As one would suspect, it is set in Denmark. A young girl is found submerged in water. The cause of death is unknown. An investigation follows. For the would-be crime writer, this is a good story to study and take apart because the investigation is straight-forward and procedural. It reminds me of a Patricia Cornwell novel, but from a detective’s perspective rather than a forensic scientist’s stance. As writers, we buy a lot of books to learn proper procedure. Here is one in action.
The character’s (basically the detective and a newspaper reporter are the key catalysts in the story) are well-written and believable. Like all of us, they have their strengths and weaknesses. You learn some about their personal lives, but not to excess. Both women are more focused on their career tasks than on domestic relationships, which is what gives this novel such a streamlined structure.
Set in Copenhagen’s closed immigrant neighborhoods, this novel is a case of the outsiders trying to infiltrate complex ethnic family and community relationships. What the detectives find is a thriller filled with imported customs and values, indigenous expectations, obsession, family honor, and jealousy. What the reader will find is a great “new” author to follow.
As of this writing, Amazon is running a special on this book. Hardcover. Regularly priced at $25.00. Only $4.43 and ships free if you have a Prime account. And, if you order through the Killer Nashville site, you’ll also be supporting Killer Nashville.
From Amazon:
“Jealousy, obsession, and family honor have fatal consequences for an immigrant community on the fringes of seemingly idyllic Copenhagen society.
It was clearly no ordinary drowning. Inspector Louise Rick is immediately called out to Holbraek Fjord when a young immigrant girl is found in the watery depths, a piece of concrete tied around her waist and two mysterious circular patches on the back of her neck.
Her name was Samra, and Louise soon learns that her short life was a sad story. Her father had already been charged once with assaulting her and her mother, Sada, who makes it clear that her husband would indeed be capable of killing Samra if she brought dishonor to the family. But she maintains that Samra hadn’t done anything dishonorable. Then why was she supposed to be sent back to Jordan? Samra’s best friend Dicte thinks it was an honor killing. A few days later Dicte is discovered, bludgeoned to death, and Samra’s younger sister has gone missing.
Navigating the complex web of family and community ties in Copenhagen’s tightly knit ethnic communities, Louise must find this remorseless predator, or predators, before it is too late.”
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join ourFacebook 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!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“The Story of My Assassins” by Tarun J. Tejpal / Friday, October 12, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is The Story of My Assassins by Tarun J. Tejpal.
Whores, waifs, politicians, venture capitalists, and a journalist who must investigate himself.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
Today’s book of the day takes us on a thrilling and erotic ride in India with the literary novel “The Story of My Assassins” by journalist, publisher, and novelist Tarun J. Tejpal. At the beginning of the novel, police intercept five hitmen intent upon killing a journalist, the protagonist. The journalist, at first, has no interest in this intrusion on his life and his new affair, but as the publicity continues, he is forced – being a journalist and also via the influence of his mistress, a “progressive” woman in Indian society – to investigate who these men are and why they wanted him dead. The reason that I chose this book for “Killer Nashville’s Book of the Day” is because of its sense of place, its diversity, depth of characters, and the character arc of the protagonist.
I felt illuminated by reading this book as much as I found myself engrossed, though absorbed, I was. It is promoted as an “awesome adventure into the heart of India.” I’ve never been to India so I don’t know. What I do know is that I feel I know the caste system of India more – if this is it – from the poorest hovels to the beau monde palaces including a level of corruption, bribery, inequality, and inhumanity that I had not realized before. Tarun Tejpal is a powerful communicator and I became lost in his sense of place and his literary unpredictability. The novel has humor and some of the things that I laughed at, I really shouldn’t have. It is also merciless and brutal, a portrait of the powerful and defeated. I empathetically felt for the conquered in the refashioning of modern-day India. I felt a loss for the erroneous spiritual peace I have always associated with that country and its people. The divisions of rank, tongue, and affluence were ripplingly exposed.
After reading, I felt that – in the transition from Older India to the New India – something special was lost in the evolution. And then I made the leap. This is a novel that can change anyone’s perception because it doesn’t just highlight “over there.” It could also be a reflection or mirror of “over here.” It is a novel that makes us give thought: how do we view ourselves, our work, our families, the people in our lives, and the world in which we live?
From Amazon:
“Based on actual events, “The Story of My Assassins” tells the story of a journalist who learns that the police have captured five hitmen on their way to kill him. Landing like a bombshell on his comfortable life, just as he’s started a steamy affair with a brilliant woman, the news prompts him to launch an urgent investigation into the lives of his aspiring murderers – a ragtag group of street thugs and village waifs – and their mastermind. Who wanted him dead, and why?
But the investigation forces him to reexamine his own life, too – to confront his own notion of himself, his job, and his treatment of the women in his life, as well as his own complex feelings about the country that crafted his would-be killers.
Part thriller and part erotic romance, full of dark humor and knife-edged suspense, The Story of My Assassins is a piercing literary novel that takes us from the lavish, hedonistic palaces of India’s elite to its seediest slums. It is a novel of corruption, passion, power, and ambition; of extreme poverty and obscene wealth.
It is an awesome adventure into the heart of today’s India.”
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join ourFacebook 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!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
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