KN Magazine: Reviews
Room Full of Night by TR Kenneth/Review by Bill Hopkins
A Room Full of Night
By TR Kenneth
Oceanview Publishing
$26.99
ISBN 978-1608093229
Publication Date: March 5, 2019
BOOK OF THE DAY
A spy novel is the highest form of the thriller genre. A successful spy novel is one that slaps you in the face at the start, then throws you down a greased slide that twists and turns and never lets you go until the end where your destination is a surprise.
You’ll receive that treat when you read TR Kenneth’s first thriller novel, A Room Full of Night.
The premise is that a “determined gimp” winds up in a jigsaw puzzle of death and destruction left over from World War II. After a life full of misery, the point arrives when Stag Maguire “...should have stayed home and re-enacted the family tradition by slipping a needle in his arm and sinking into sweet oblivion.”
Things were horrible for Stag. Then they got worse.
Instead of giving up, though, he offers to help another loser in closing down his bar after it’s been foreclosed by the county sheriff. During the decision-making on what should stay and what should be stolen from the sheriff’s view, the two men find a secret message, crying for help. But the message is on a piece of silk, removed from the back of a picture of a nasty person who may be an ancestor of the bar owner.
The message leads Stag to an apartment in Berlin, where he finds that the National Socialists (i.e., Nazis) are still alive and as dangerous as ever.
Silk played an important part in World War II as a means of sending and receiving secret messages. (That’s explained in the book. No spoilers from me!)
After the discovery that the bad guys are still around, the race is on with the prize being a world free from nuclear war. And such a war would last years, not seconds. As one character points out, “A megaton ground burst [of a nuclear weapon] to the most fertile part of the Great Plains would ...disperse and contaminate the US’s [and Canada’s] most vital food source....”
Who doesn’t love the twists and turns of a conspiracy novel? And this one has a conspiracy going back to World War II that connects with conspiracy in the 21st Century!
That, my friends, is a platinum win!
Buy this book. Read it. Review it.
Bill Hopkins is retired after beginning his legal career in 1971, serving as a private attorney, prosecuting attorney, an administrative law judge, and a trial court judge, all in Missouri. Bill is a member of Horror Writers Association, Heartland Writers Guild, and Sisters In Crime. Bill and his wife, Sharon Woods Hopkins (a mystery writer!), live in Marble Hill, Missouri, with their dogs and cats. Courting Murder was his first novel and his second novel River Mourn won first place in the Best Novel of 2014 from the Missouri Writers Guild.
Learn more about Bill at his website, deadlyduo.net!
Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan / Review by M.J. Corner
Anatomy of a Scandal
By Sarah Vaughan
Atria
$26.00
ISBN 978-1501172168
Publication Date: January 23, 2018
Book of the Day
charming, and successful. She has two perfect children and the perfect house. Everything is perfect–until the evening her husband comes home and says the words that strike terror in the heart of any wife, "we have to talk".
Barrister Kate Woodcroft's life is not perfect. She is divorced with no children. She lives alone. And she has just lost another case. Everything is falling apart–unit the afternoon when her clerk walks into her office and says the words that make any attorney's pulse race, "I've got just the case you need".
Anatomy of a Scandal is the latest novel by Sarah Vaughan. With the world being rocked almost daily by the revelation of sexual assaults committed by powerful men, this is a most timely read. It is, on the surface, the story of a politician being accused of a heinous crime, an ambitious lawyer willing to do almost anything to win the case that will make her career and a wife desperate not to let anything destroy her family. But there is more. This novel is about trust and doubt, sex and power, entitlement and social structure.
Written from the alternating points of view of the main characters, each chapter adds a new layer to the drama. Vaughn's experience as a political correspondent shows in her understanding of the subtleties of British Parliment. She is a very talented writer. I found myself questioning my own position on this turbulent subject. I highly recommend this book to... just about everyone.
The Take by Christopher Reich / Review by Jim Biggs
THE TAKE
By Christopher Reich
Mulholland Books
$28.00
ISBN 978-0316342353
Publication Date: January 16, 2018
Book of the Day
Who better to catch a thief than another thief? Simon Riske has played both sides of the game and has the skills (as well as connections) to hunt down a former acquaintance who has stolen a large amount of cash from a Saudi Arabian princ–as well a letter that could turn that could upset the balance of power in the western world. I love a good spy vs. spy novel!
Christopher Reich's latest novel, The Take is a high-speed thriller with an all the bells and whistles.Well written, with characters that are unexpectedly novel yet still fit the bill. Yes, there is a sexy Russian assassin, but she is not Natasha Fatale (and for you youngsters that don't get the reference, Google it). I actually read this one through in one go and I hope there are more to come.
The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz / Review by Liz Gatterer
The Silent Corner
By Dean Koontz
Bantam Books
$28.00
ISBN 978-0345545992
Published June 20, 2017
Book of the Day
The Silent Corner
Review by Liz Gatterer
The Silent Corner is the first in the thrilling new series by Dean Koontz. Touching and terrifying, it is the story Jane Hawk, a young widow that will not accept that her husband committed suicide, even though she was the one to discover his body. The man she loved would never abandon her or their son—never. And she will risk everything prove it.
As a trained FBI agent, Jane Hawk has the resources and training needed to thoroughly investigate her husband's death. She sells her house and her car, cashes out her bank accounts and secrets away her son. She buys a car that has been illegally modified to be untrackable by GPS. She buys disposable cell phones and acquires fake identification. She steps into the silent corner - a place where she should be invisible to all of the tracking capabilities of modern society. Step by step she follows a trail that may give her answers—or may take her life...
Fans of Dean Koontz will understand that he has two types of "scary stories". On one side you have books like Ticktock, Odd Thomas, or Ashley Bell—tales that have a touch of the paranormal. They are fun and they will get your heart racing, but, they are not terrifying. Voo-doo dolls, Elvis' Ghost or using "Scrabble-mancy" to devine the future isn't "real". We are protected by the bubble of suspended disbelief. Then, there are the books that could very well be real. For me, these are by far the scarier of the two. That is the kind of book The Silent Corner is. This could really happen. Many of the things that Jane Hawk discovers—are really happening! I now fear of all the tech in my life.
The Silent Corner is very well written. The characters are very well developed with detailed backstories that support their abilities and personalities. Even the minor characters are well defined and their roles are clear. This is where Koontz really shines. He paints with a very fine brush. But, he is never course. Although his stories have a sharp edge, the language and sexual content are more implied than stated. And, of course, there are plenty of dog references. The man does love his Goldens!
The second book in the Jane Hawk Series, The Whispering Room will be released 11/7/2017. Look for that review soon!
Dig Two Graves by Kim Powers / Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier
Killer Nashville Book of the Day
Find Dig Two Graves at Killer Nashville's affiliate, Amazon.com*
Kim Powers
Dig Two Graves by Kim Powers
Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier
Ethan Holt’s greatest accomplishment, winning the decathlon at the Olympics in his 20s, also proves to be his greatest undoing in Kim Powers’ thrilling, suspense-filled debut novel, Dig Two Graves (Tyrus Books).
Nicknamed “Hercules” for pulling off the heroic task of being an Olympian, Ethan’s success on the field translates into a coveted teaching position at his ivy-school alma mater, where he’d just as soon as forget about the Olympics and get on with his life. His biggest challenge is simply relating to his teenage daughter, Skip, whose rebellious attitude tests him in more ways than any pole vault or long-distance jump ever could.
When Skip is kidnapped, Ethan realizes she is the most important thing in his life and he will do anything to get her back. To do so, however, means Ethan will have to push himself to his athletic, and academic, limits as he must solve a series of increasingly cryptic riddles and tasks at the behest of the kidnapper.
Each test is a modern-day version of one of the Twelve Labors of Hercules, as the perpetrator uses Ethan’s past Olympic accomplishments against him. The tasks grow increasingly more difficult and the stakes exceedingly higher as the novel progresses, keeping both Ethan on his toes and readers on the edge of their seat at all times.
Complicating things is the fact the kidnapper knows seemingly everything about him, including a long-buried scandal surrounding Ethan’s Olympic games. And unlike the stories of Hercules, the kidnapper’s desire for revenge against Ethan is all too real.
Powers alternates the action between Ethan’s point of view and that of his daughter, who strives to gain her freedom against her unseen kidnapper. As a result, readers are easily able to sympathize with Ethan over the loss of his daughter as well as experience Skip’s terror firsthand.
Powers is the senior writer for ABC’s 20/20 and the series What Would You Do?, as well as numerous primetime specials with Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Robin Roberts and Katie Couric. He has won both Emmy and Peabody Awards for his 9/11 reporting for Good Morning America. He previously wrote a pair of nonfiction books in Capote in Kansas and The History of Swimming.
G. Robert Frazier is a writer and avid reader living in La Vergne, Tenn. He reads for the Nashville Film Festival and Austin Film Festival screenwriting competitions and is an active member of the Tennessee Screenwriters Association, Nashville Writers Meetup groups, and La Vergne Library Board. Follow him on Twitter @grfrazier23, and visit his Adventures in Writing blog at https://grfrazier.wordpress.com.
If you have a book you would like featured, send an ARC for consideration. The Killer Nashville Book of the Day Reviews are coordinated by Clay Stafford with the assistance of Emily Eytchison and credited guest reviewers.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, 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.
MemoRandom by Anders de la Motte / Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove
Killer Nashville Book of the Day
Find MemoRandom at Killer Nashville's affiliate, Amazon.com*
Anders de la Motte
MemoRandom by Anders de la Motte
Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove
On the first page of Anders de la Motte’s latest thriller MemoRandom, David Sarac is trying to figure out who he is, why he’s being chased by the police, and what is stopping him from controlling his own car. Before Sarac’s high-speed crash, the reader learns that he is a policeman himself who has just done something unforgivable. A few quick pages later, after the introduction of several more interesting players, Sarac awakens with amnesia, à la Jason Bourne. He recognizes longtime friends and colleagues from the Stockholm Police Force, but has no memory of the last year.
De la Motte uses this somewhat simple and convenient mystery-building plot tool to its utmost, keeping readers hungry for answers about Sarac as he develops other threads with a diverse cast of characters. An imposing Iranian policeman arrives in Sweden looking for those responsible for his brother’s death. Leaders of Stockholm’s criminal underworld meet in an effort to ferret out the identity of a police informant threatening their profits and their lives. A power-hungry politician covers up the circumstances of his mistress’s death.
While De la Motte keeps the pace quick, he only lets details of Sarac’s recent past leak out as if through a dripping IV, keeping the reader desperate for more. By revealing early on that Sarac is a talented detective assigned to handling top-secret criminal informants, de la Motte allows the many storylines to merge effortlessly. Each time a criminal or corrupt cop is connected to the protagonist, the danger builds.
The book prompts the reader to question who is good, who is evil, and to cheer for characters regardless of what is revealed. The story’s setting and the hero’s quest to solve a complex puzzle elicit memories of reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Sarac is on the run, putting the pieces of his fragmented memory back together until the answers come crashing down in a violent finale that satisfies the reader and sets the stage for another book.
MemoRandom cements de la Motte’s reputation as a master of thrills. Readers unfamiliar with the author are sure to track down his previously lauded Gametrilogy.
Clay Snellgrove is the author of The Ball Player. He’s a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University. A former professional baseball player, Clay holds an MFA in creative writing from Converse College.
If you have a book you would like featured, send an ARC for consideration. The Killer Nashville Book of the Day Reviews are coordinated by Clay Stafford with the assistance of Emily Eytchison and credited guest reviewers.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, 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.
"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!
"Frame-Up" by Jill Elizabeth Nelson / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Frame-Up by Jill Elizabeth Nelson
From snowstorm to the frying pan, nothing like being saved and then becoming a murder suspect. Good thing she has a great man by her side to rev up her tingles.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!
"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!
"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!
"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!
"The Deadly Streets" by Harlan Ellison / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
A collection of stories every short story writer and reader should know about: Harlan Ellison’s The Deadly Streets.
Subterranean Press is the epitome of cool. I have thought so for years. Books such as The Deadly Streets a reissue by Harlan Ellison continue to confirm it. This is a wonderful collection of visceral short stories, all with the take of violence on the street.
This is the second reissue of Ellison’s classic 1958 collection. (The first reissue was in 1975 when Ellison added five additional stories.)
Harlan Ellison is an incredible storyteller and there is not a dud in the mix. I personally consider these stories classics, among them a tied-up man terrified of rats; a boy who wants to kill a cop; a gang that takes care of their own, even their dead; a man who talks too much; a girl trying to hold her own against the rest of a male gang. In all, sixteen thematically connected original and violent stories. Though most are written prior to 1958, the writing, the characters, the plotting, and the situations still hold true. The “daddy-o’s” didn’t bother me a bit and the prose goes down like a teenager in a log flume.
After reading this collection, you philosophically will never view city sidewalks the same, but just as importantly for our Killer Nashville writers, studying these stories is one of the best lessons in learning how to write a short story. Harlan Ellison can write. The stories contained in this volume are one of the best short story writing textbooks you’ll ever find, and one I would encourage every short story writer to study. Have a mental dialogue with Ellison as you go along. He will teach you well.
Tune in next time when I talk about a new psychological mystery series I’ve discovered and why I’m now hooked. (As though I don’t have enough to read.)
Until then, 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!
"Deadly Harvest" by Michael Stanley / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
I was absolutely intrigued by the idea behind “Deadly Harvest” by the writing duo pseudonym Michael Stanley. I had just come back from San Diego where I learned that rhino horns are no different than human fingernails or hair and that those who kill rhinos thinking their horns produce some sort of medicinal value would do just as well to eat their own hair clippings after a trip to the beauty shop. Still scratching my head at the stupidity of people, I find a book based upon the – I assume – true premise that human remains and body parts are being used for witchcraft in the sub-Saharan portion of Africa. I remember seeing such a “magic” shop on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. No doubt the basis is true.
I was immediately pulled into the story, not just because of the imminent danger of the ten-year-old girl, but by the truth of the writing. I immediately found myself in that world and the relationships so foreign maybe to us here in America, but supported by the stories of missionary friends from Africa I have personally known.
I was engrossed in the characters, sympathetic to those in pain, and attracted totally to the characters of both Samantha Khama and David Bengu (also known as Detective Kubu). Kubu is a man of integrity and Khama is a warrior. Both incredible traits and working together they are a pleasure to read.
The story was incredible and I couldn’t stop reading. The detective work was plausible and first-rate. There was no sensationalism about it as is often found in our more commercial thriller crime fiction; the story itself elevated it beyond any commercial fiction formula and I credit the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip (the authors’ real names) for not feeling they need to take the cheap shot, but for letting the story simply tell itself.
Even with my genuine lack of belief in curses, the witch doctors gave me the creeps. I like it that those who have been harmed become involved in solving the case. So many times in mystery stories, it is all left to authorities. Rage, hate, and revenge are wonderful motivators and I’m glad to see them employed here. I do like the way that the various characters and different points-of-view are worked into the narrative.
This is an incredible book that will leave you thinking about it for days.
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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