“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

“Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures” by Emma Straub / Tuesday, October 23, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures by Emma Straub.

A star is born.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

This novel takes me back in time. Maybe it is my own personal past experiences in summer stock, but I was immediately pulled into the setting of “Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures” by Emma Straub. I felt the barn, the family, the summer camp, the carefree life of the young. And the egos. “No one in the theater liked to be around people who were better-looking than they were.” Oh, yes. I recognized the egos.

The story is told from the point of view of Elsa who later becomes Laura Lamont. “Hildegard got to be Hildy, but Elsa only got to be Else, as in Someone Else, a human afterthought.” That is how Elsa’s life starts out: the youngest, the overlooked. A chance suggestion puts her onstage, however. Elsa learns “there was power in pretend.” And she uses it throughout the rest of her career.

The novel is full of great lines. If you’ve spent any time in Hollywood, you’ll recognize the personality types. It is about so many actors and actresses I know who have difficulty separating the reality of a role from the reality of…well…reality. The stretching of the truth. As an ex-actor, some of it is downright painful to read especially the character arc relating to the man she left Wisconsin with. I feel for these poor characters. Even Elsa has a bit of the non-reality to start: “She was going to step off the bus into the waiting arms of the world.”

Hollywood is near a collective main character itself in this novel. You get an introduction to Method Acting, what goes on during movie-making (including the endless waiting), the lives influenced by movie successes and movie flops, the jealousies, and – if you are Hollywood history savvy – you might recognize what could be identifiable composite characters under a different name: Rock Hudson, Jack Warner, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Louis B. Mayer, Lucille Ball. And, of course, there is Irving Green, the Hollywood Boy Wonder. “Irving Green had an idea every thirty-five seconds.” It’s not difficult to see the personage of Irving Green to be a representation of Irving Thalberg.

“Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures” is one woman’s lifetime saga with exhilarating peaks and painful valleys within the ever-changing evolution of Hollywood itself. If a reader finds the main character’s choices a bit mercurial at times, it is probably because same reader has never dated an actress. The plot is straightforward and Straub attempts to cover a lot of ground in the 300 or so pages. And, not giving anything away, the story goes full circle. “Was it possible that she’d finally gotten old, when she had always been the youngest?” Old Hollywood was a grand and glorious place. I can see what attracted Straub to the subject.

From Amazon:

“The enchanting story of a midwestern girl who escapes a family tragedy and is remade as a movie star during Hollywood’s golden age.

In 1920, Elsa Emerson, the youngest and blondest of three sisters, is born in idyllic Door County, Wisconsin. Her family owns the Cherry County Playhouse, and more than anything, Elsa relishes appearing onstage, where she soaks up the approval of her father and the embrace of the audience. But when tragedy strikes her family, her acting becomes more than a child¹s game of pretend.

While still in her teens, Elsa marries and flees to Los Angeles. There she is discovered by Irving Green, one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood, who refashions her as a serious, exotic brunette and renames her Laura Lamont. Irving becomes Laura’s great love; she becomes an Academy Award­-winning actress—and a genuine movie star. Laura experiences all the glamour and extravagance of the heady pinnacle of stardom in the studio-system era, but ultimately her story is a timeless one of a woman trying to balance career, family, and personal happiness, all while remaining true to herself.

Ambitious and richly imagined, Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures is as intimate – and as bigger-than-life – as the great films of the golden age of Hollywood. Written with warmth and verve, it confirms Emma Straub’s reputation as one of the most exciting new talents in fiction.”

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

“Rebecca” by Daphne Du Maurier / Monday, October 22, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

It’s classic, gothic, romantic suspense at its finest.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” One of my absolute favorite opening lines. And the book never takes a downtown. This is classic, gothic, romantic suspense at its finest. Most of you have probably read it, but for those who have not, it is a classic. I won’t belabor the review because I know most have probably read it, but maybe this will inspire you to go to your bookshelf and pull it off for another read. The critics panned it when it came out in 1938 (what do they know?), but it won the National Book Award in that year despite them. After 65 years in publication, in 2003 it was still listed as number 14 on the UK survey of The Big Read. Alfred Hitchcock won an Academy Award for the film version of it in 1940. Just writing about it makes me want to go read it again. If you’ve never read it, add it to your list.

From Amazon:

“With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten – a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house’s current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim’s first wife – the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.

This special edition of Rebecca includes excerpts from Daphne du Maurier’s The Rebecca Notebook and Other Memories, an essay on the real Manderley, du Maurier’s original epilogue to the book, and more.”

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 Sleeping and The Dead” by Jeff Crook / Friday, October 19, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is The Sleeping and the Dead by Jeff Crook.

From the first page, I was hooked.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

I started Jeff Crook’s first mystery “The Sleeping and the Dead” and couldn’t put it down. Crook has previously written several fantasy books. In this, he goes full mystery except for one element: the main character can see ghosts. As a reviewer, rarely do I find characters and plot both equally compelling. It makes it hard to know which to address first. Toss a coin. We’ll begin with character.

Jackie Lyons is a former vice detective with the Memphis Police Department with a drug problem that won’t go away. She is about as messed up and flawed as a person can get. Her life is a wreck and she seems determined day-by-day to keep it that way and make it worse. It is punishment for her. It is punishing to read. There is conflict and potential loss on every page. You’re hooked from the start. “This is my life,” she says. “It sucks, but it’s all I have.” As the book begins, the train engine has already slammed into the wall. We begin in the action. On page 300, we’re still watching the freight cars pile up. As it was written in first person (without a he/she gender indicator), I first thought on page 1 that she was a man, but as the story went along (I realized she was a woman by page 2), I began to see the female side. At times, both sides are admirable and, at others, neither is pretty, There is much pain in this story’s past and, once you know this, you understand why it is so hard for the main character to find a firm foundation. Plus, there is that ghost sitting at the foot of the bed. Lyons can’t convince herself that she is imagining things. She’s had this problem her entire life. “The dead don’t die,” she informs us. “They stay with you.” True. I guess some more than others. And even when everyone is in denial. (And maybe because everyone is in denial.)

The cast of supporting characters are varied, well-drawn, and individually represented. All distinct. A eunuch who has a crime scene death fetish, amateur ghost researchers, drugged and homeless homosexuals, a drunk landlord, psychic associations, flawed police (but in a good way), and – of course – the ghosts.

I loved how I continued to discover new info about the characters as I went along. Crook is not tempted to tell us everything about a character when we first meet him/her. In fact, we may not learn an integral story point until we’ve near finished the book. But the grand thing is that he has anticipated our questions and answers all by the end. There is nothing forced in this novel, even the ghosts. In the context of the characters, you’ll believe the characters see them, whether you believe they are there or not.

The crimes in the story are grisly and dark. When the first one hit me, I had to stop and reread it to make sure I was reading what I thought I was reading. Very graphic. The Playhouse Killer, a psychotic serial killer, is well-versed in the game he wants to play with the cops. He is in control. The mystery portion of the plot is one of the fairest and most hidden – yet right in your face – that I have seen. There are twists and turns and the great thing is that you don’t see them coming.

In tone, the entire book is troublesome. Some readers said it was too graphic for them. If you don’t like your murders served on the grill with a red-hot poker, then it may be. I was sucked in. If there is any part of you that might remotely believe in ghosts, then there are elements in this book that will definitely make the hair stand on the back of your neck.

In the end, though, it is not about the crimes. It is about what we suppress. As stated by the main character’s father: “If you really love somebody, you shut your mouth and live with the guilt, even if it kills you. Sin is compounded by confession. Confession may comfort the soul, but only because it forces other people to bear the burden of your guilt, and that’s hardly fair to them. Ignorance is bliss, and half of communicating is knowing when to shut your cake hole.” To the characters in this book, that applies to life experiences, ghosts, murderers, and anything else one could conjure. “What is seen cannot be unseen, innocence lost is lost forever. Eventually we become accomplices.” There is no innocence in this book.

I hated to see it end.

From Amazon:

“A new mystery series starring a Memphis crime scene photographer with ghostly assistance

Jackie Lyons is a former vice detective with the Memphis Police Department who is trying to put her life back together: her husband has sent divorce papers, she’s broke, and needs a place to live. But a failed marriage, unemployment, and most recently a fire in her apartment aren’t her only problems: she also sees ghosts.

Since Jackie left the force, she’s been making ends meet by photographing crime scenes for her old friends on the force, and for the occasional collector. When she is called to the murder scene of the Playhouse Killer’s latest victim, she starts seeing crime scenes from a different perspective — her new camera captures images of ghosts. As her new camera brings her occasional ghostly visitors into sharper relief, it also points her toward clues the ex-detective in her won’t let go: did the man she has just started dating kill his wife? Is the Playhouse Killer someone she knows?

As Jackie works to separate natural from supernatural, friend from foe, and light from dark, the spirit world and her own difficult past become the only things she can depend on to solve the case.”

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

“Taken” by Benedict Jacka / Thursday, October 18, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is Taken by Benedict Jacka.

No evidence, no witnesses, no suspects.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

We’re veering from the normal (“normal world,” that is) in today’s Killer Nashville Book of the Day.

“Taken” by Benedict Jacka is an urban fantasy thriller. A thriller / mystery series set in the world of magic, this is the third installment in what started out – and continues to be – a great series. Even if you don’t like fantasy, you can latch on to this one. I found myself caught up in the world and, at no point, did I find myself questioning the reality of it. I might compare it to a “Harry Potter” for adults.

I chose “Taken” for three reasons: the plot, the realistic portrayal of the characters, and – for the writers in our group – an example of how theme can be used to enhance the reading experience for the reader.

Like the other two books in the series, the plot is elaborate enough to keep even the most active thriller and mystery sleuth guessing. In this installment, the story centers around the disappearances of several trainees in magic. They just disappear. The main character is asked to find out what is happening to them. “You don’t know whom to trust,” the main character Alex Verus tells a senior member of the Council. “But you trust me?” And the Council should. In a world of Dark Mages and Light Mages, the main character is a good guy, an outsider, and a defender of those who are in need, but he is also vulnerable in his own powers and abilities and that is what makes the reader want to cheer for him. Mages have different powers, like chess pieces. Not all are equal, but all are strong in their own way if played with skill. In battle, being weaker than many, there are no guarantees that our main character will win. That ups the thrill element. Plus, I like his attitude. As he says of himself, as an investigator, “to be honest, I don’t actually think I’m all that good.” Can’t argue with humility. There’s a great set of support characters, as well: Light and dark mages, manticores, ogres, nightmares, vampires, and more. Their seamstress is a huge spider. How more appropriate can you get than that? Don’t many hands make the work go faster?

For our writers, I wanted to use this book as an excellent example of incorporating theme. Subliminal themes tend to raise the quality of any work, you’ll find them in any great book, and any writer looking to “up” the theme element in their own works would benefit from studying how Jacka uses them here.

Though not heavy handed – and if you’re not looking for any “message,” then you’re probably not going to see one – the theme elements are there. The mages “protect normal humans from the magical world.” As you read the book, look at how those in the society are portrayed and compare that to the hidden forces in real life that protect us and give security regarding our national and international vulnerabilities. In another example, reminding us of even the best-intentioned governments in the world, “the Council’s old purpose is pretty much gone these days. It’s still the biggest power in magical society but nowadays people join it because they want to be in power, not because they believe in what it does.” Sound familiar? Using analogies of current events, but disguising them within the story world of the novel, causes the reader – consciously or not – to personally identify with basic truths and thus lifts the connection and common understanding between reader and writer. There are other themes, as well. But “theme” in this novel being so applicable and easily visible, I thought it best to comment should anyone wish to study it more.

Though number three in the series, this novel stands alone. However, when you read this one, you will want to read the previous two. Thankfully, Amazon does that wonderful little bundling thing so you can buy all three books for a discount, if you decide to go that route. If you’re like the main character and can see into the future, then you might as well go ahead and buy all three and then read them in sequential order.

From Amazon:

“This time last year, I could go weeks without seeing another mage. In mage society I was an unknown and, all in all, that was how I liked it. It’s hard to say what changed. Whatever it was, I got involved in the magical world again and started getting myself a reputation.

Alex Verus’s insights into the future used to be the best-kept secret in London. Now, with the aid of his apprentice, Luna, his unique investigative talents are all the rage. He just has to be careful about picking his employers, because everyone-even the beautiful woman who practically begs him to run security for a prestigious tournament-has motives that can be hard to predict. And Alex doesn’t do unpredictable.

But his latest gig just might be impossible. Apprentices have been vanishing without a trace-and someone on the Council could be involved. Alex has no evidence, no witnesses, and no suspects. All he knows is that someone is keeping tabs on him. And after assassins target Luna’s classmate, Alex sees that he doesn’t know the half of it-and that he could be the next to disappear.”

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

“Cat in a White Tie and Tails: A Midnight Louie Mystery” by Carole Nelson Douglas / Monday, October 15, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is Cat in a White Tie and Tails: A Midnight Louie Mystery by Carole Nelson Douglas.

Sometimes it takes a cat to sniff out the bad guys.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

I picked up Carole Nelson Douglas’s “Cat in a White Tie and Tails” and we immediately set off on a new feline adventure. With the first line, I thought I was reading something from Michael Connelly or Dashiell Hammett, but – in this case – the protagonist is a cat! Call it a hard-boiled kitty cozy. Fans of the series will love this continued adventure. It is a back-and-forth between the action of the people in the story and the points-of-view of the cats with many twists and turns. Throughout, the cats are privy to continued capers of the humans. In this 24th adventure in the series, Midnight Louie, the central reoccurring ex-stray cat character, accompanies owner and PR agent Temple Barr and her fiancé, upcoming media star Matt Devine, to Chicago to meet Devine’s family. What Barr finds is a to-be-mother-in-law with ties to the past best left uninvestigated because – wouldn’t you know it – with twists and turns, there is a catnapping and the perp trail leads back to a series of unsolved cold-case murders connected to Barr’s previous relationship Max Kinsella who – interestingly enough – is dead (or at least Barr thinks so) and has been commissioned by homicide lieutenant C. R. Molina to investigate one of the murders Molina suspects amnesia stricken Kinsella committed a couple of years before. The whole thing is rather convoluted, but then told partly from the perspective of a bunch of cats, what would one expect? Realism aside, the plot is tight. All the characters are fettered together in some fashion and everyone is tied into the plot in some important way. The plot threads are ongoing with much from previous books and loose ends left in this one (presumably to be resolved in future books), but if you haven’t read the previous books, there is still enough backstory included in this novel that you won’t be alienated. The cats do a good job of summing things up. With all the dangers going on, it is a good thing that some of the characters have nine lives. If you’re in the mood for a cozy cat-told mystery, I can think of none better.

From Amazon:

“In Carole Nelson Douglas’ “Cat in a White Tie and Tails,” Midnight Louie goes along as chaperone when PR whiz Temple Barr and her fiance, rising media star Matt Devine, head to Chicago so she can meet his family. Matt’s mother has a tragic past primed to rise and bite anybody in reach, even the ex-alley cat sleuth. When Louie is snatched, the catnapping’s surprising motive loops back to Vegas and a string of unsolved murders connected to magic…and ex-magician Max Kinsella, Temple’s former significant other.

Skeptical homicide lieutenant C. R. Molina has commissioned Max to investigate the cold case murder she suspects he committed two years earlier. With traumatic amnesia from a recent attempt on his life, the once infallible Max is more sitting duck than predator. It will take an alliance of frenemies to solve the serial deaths before one of them joins the fatality list.”

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

“A Land More Kind Than Home” by Wiley Cash / Wednesday, October 10, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash.

Evil cannot be hidden behind newspaper-covered windows.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

Told from three points of view, “A Land More Kind Than Home” by debut author Wiley Cash chronicles a tragic incident in Marshall, North Carolina, a small bump in the road in Madison County adjacent to the Tennessee border. A death occurs, people look away, but atonement for that death will not be ignored.

You can’t have a Southern novel without a church because in many parts of the South, the church is the hub of town life. Used to be and, in many places, still is. As one of the characters states: “People out in these parts can take hold of religion like it’s a drug, and they don’t want to give it up once they’ve got hold of it.”

It is tempting for me to detail events in this story, but it would only ruin the story build should you decide to read the book. Instead, I want to chronicle my reaction.

This book will tear your heart out. I read it in one sitting. I think I passed through every emotion possible. At times my eyes watered. At times I wanted to jump into the book and backhand someone. I felt myself mentally screaming, “No! No! No!” to characters about to do something. Rare is the prose that can evoke that kind of visceral passion. It has been a long time since I’ve read anything this demonstratively intoxicating. It covers the gamut: The rush of power. The need to believe. The desire to protect. The yearning to forget. Forgiveness. And hope. Maybe that’s the strongest.

In a reference to all the bad things that happen to good people, one character explains, “You can’t make sense of everything. That ain’t the job of a man.” By the end, my shoulders were tense. I felt like I’d been beaten up, almost as though I was waiting for something else to jump out and grab me.

This is one of the most powerful stories I think I have ever read. It is Southern fiction – and literature – at its finest. You will not be able to put this book down. You have to read this book.

From Amazon:

“A stunning debut reminiscent of the beloved novels of John Hart and Tom Franklin, A Land More Kind Than Home is a mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and the evil they face in a small western North Carolina town

For a curious boy like Jess Hall, growing up in Marshall means trouble when your mother catches you spying on grown-ups. Adventurous and precocious, Jess is enormously protective of his older brother, Christopher, a mute whom everyone calls Stump. Though their mother has warned them not to snoop, Stump can’t help sneaking a look at something he’s not supposed to – an act that will have catastrophic repercussions, shattering both his world and Jess’s. It’s a wrenching event that thrusts Jess into an adulthood for which he’s not prepared. While there is much about the world that still confuses him, he now knows that a new understanding can bring not only a growing danger and evil – but also the possibility of freedom and deliverance as well.

Told by three resonant and evocative characters – Jess; Adelaide Lyle, the town midwife and moral conscience; and Clem Barefield, a sheriff with his own painful past – A Land More Kind Than Home is a haunting tale of courage in the face of cruelty and the power of love to overcome the darkness that lives in us all. These are masterful portrayals, written with assurance and truth, and they show us the extraordinary promise of this remarkable first novel.”

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

“Don’t Ever Get Old” by Daniel Friedman / Tuesday, October 9, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is Don’t Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman.

Growing old doesn’t have to mean a life watching the Fox News Network.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

When you read the first chapter of “Don’t Ever Get Old,” the debut novel by Daniel Friedman, I’m not sure you are going to like the main character as he visits the bedside of a dying man. Read the second chapter. If you still haven’t seen through him, read the third. At some point along the way, you’re going to find, as Buck admits later, “I was grumpy more for sport than out of necessity.” Behind a lot of deprecating grumpy, you find a lot of hurt.

The main character, Buck Schatz, is an octogenarian. He used to be “one hard-ass son of a bitch” cop. He’s an ex-police Jewish detective from Memphis, Tennessee. Apparently, he was effective, though he describes himself as “a mediocre detective in a department that was more concerned with spraying fire hoses at colored folks than it was with solving murders.” He’s a man of simple joys: ““My heart leaps with joy,” I said. “I’m going to have myself a crap.” “You have a good time, Grandpa.” “I intend to. Best part of my morning.”“

But it is a dying man’s last words that send Buck on a trip he never expected at his age. Buck, who did what he had to do to perform his detective job well, finds karma coming back. “There are some things a gun can’t protect you from.” Through a series of plausible events, Buck finds himself going treasure hunting and also seeking revenge. With his sidekick, his grandson, he sets off to find the German SS officer who nearly killed him in a concentration camp after Buck was captured trying to liberate the Jews in Germany. Buck’s wife (Rose), who is also in her 80s, duly informs him, “You can’t run off to Europe or South America or Egypt chasing after a phantom. How are we going to keep track of your medications?” It is wife Rose who brings out the emotion. Friedman’s use of all the characters is amazing. He fleshes function so thoroughly, we don’t realize the path he is carrying us down as every character arcs and morphs. By the end of the book, these people will be family members.

Centrally, the goal of the story is to find Heinrich Ziegler, a fictitious German Nazi who escaped with a trunkload of gold after faking his death. It seems – believably, too – that Buck doesn’t have to go that far to reach his goal. But then, of course, it has to get personal and things have to go wrong. “There are certain realities that you can’t shout down, that you can’t bully, that you can’t beat into submission.”

At first, one might think the premise of the novel is a bit campy. The book is full of one liners. It is clever. Which is probably why it is receiving such grand reviews. The writing is a pleasure to read. Part of it, to me, was reminiscent of the old Woody Allen books I used to read when I was younger. When I first received this book for review, I was thinking it was going to be some sort of farce making fun of old men. It’s not. It’s brilliant. Author Daniel Friedman, a young man, has gotten inside Buck (the main character) and really sees what makes him tick. And he doesn’t tell us. He shows us. The plot is laid out in a believable fashion. There are no author conveniences. And it is amazing and inspiring to watch what this old retired detective is able to pull off.

At his age, Buck could have easily sat at home in his chair with his wife Rose making him coffee while they both basked in the Fox News Network. As Buck says, “When you have the option to do nothing, you should always take it.” I’m glad he didn’t. This book was rollicking good fun. If you want a laugh, if you want to believe in adventure at any age, and you want to accept that we can all be needed, wanted, effective, and useful no matter how old we are or where we are in life, then this is a great book to read.

“What I learned from being a cop is that nobody’s innocent,” Buck says. As you read the book, yes, watch everyone. It’s a mystery. But as I wrote at the very start: it is also much more. “You don’t care about anything,” Buck says. “And that’s what you end up regretting.” By the end of the book, you’ll be caring about Buck Schatz more than you ever thought possible. He may not have good bedside manner, but there is something about him that will resonate. In fact, he may remind you an awful lot of you.

From Amazon:

“When Buck Schatz, senior citizen and retired Memphis cop, learns that an old adversary may have escaped Germany with a fortune in stolen gold, Buck decides to hunt down the fugitive and claim the loot. But a lot of people want a piece of the stolen treasure, and Buck’s investigation quickly attracts unfriendly attention from a very motley (and murderous) crew in Daniel Friedman’s Don’t Ever Get Old.“

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

“A Sunless Sea: A William Monk Novel” by Anne Perry / Monday, October 8, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is A Sunless Sea: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry.

For the brutal murder of one woman, an innocent woman may hang.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

Real. That’s the word I would use to describe Anne Perry’s newest novel, “A Sunless Sea.”

The astonishingly consistent author of at least 66 novels, Anne Perry is a staple of many Victorian London mystery fans and the experience of this novel explains why. This is not just a novel; it is a world.

Perry’s use of the River Police is fresh and unique and brings an unusual literary device into play, opening the stage for new characters, settings, dangers, and points-of-view which are intriguing from the first page and carry nonstop throughout the book.

The story centers around the murder of a middle-aged “prostitute” (used loosely in the nineteenth century definition of any kept woman who has intercourse outside of marriage) and is reminiscent of other “sentimental” literature such as “Oliver Twist” and “Mary Barton,” though in context we are more in the world of “Jack the Ripper.” It would be so easy in the context of the novel to go overboard on the gruesome, but instead, Perry chooses it to make it human. The plot brings forth an interesting perspective that I rarely see and that is when the police detective arrests a person who by all accounts is guilty, but the detective doubts her guilt, but must arrest her anyway. That doesn’t keep him – even though his duty is to prosecute – from also attempting to exonerate. Perry handles that complex balance deftly. The beginning was incredible: I was there. Perry explores the delicacy and brutality with equal sensitivity, not only in the portrayal of the victim, but in the relationships of the other characters including Monk (the series’ main character), his wife Hester, their friend Oliver Rathbone, and the turmoil between Rathbone and his wife Margaret.

The characters are believable including the examination of old conflicts between characters. One does not need to read the previous books in the series to become immersed in this one. Perry references previous incidents in the series without being obtrusive. The personal stories transcend all genres. Every page is full of conflict and honest, empathetic emotions.

The dialogue is straight on. The dialogue and accents are so clear I could hear the characters talking in different voices in my head. It is amazing when a writer can pull that off.

Greed, the love of money, and the disrespect of human life outside of one’s own family or personal interests are powerful motivators. Prior to this novel, I was not familiar with the Opium Wars, which are referenced throughout the novel. Taking a diversion and researching that subject on my own, I was struck with the similarity of the greed associated with that and events in our own times. I won’t be specific in my own conclusions, but will allow you to draw your own parallels. Seeing this, though, and comparing it in the context of my own time, gave Perry’s novel a contemporary context and parallel-significance for me, making it all too real.

“A Sunless Sea” is an enthralling story that will weigh on your mind even when you are not reading. The characters are real, their world is real, and I felt a part of them. I hated coming to the last page. Good thing this is a serial because at the end of the book, I was dying for more. Complex characters, elaborate plot, pristine pacing, and unusual environs all make this one of the most flawless mysteries in the Victorian historical genre.

“Many people appeared different in public from the way they might be in private, in the darkness of a backstreet far from where they lived.” Perry doesn’t just write these words, she shows us. In setting and tone, Dickens (one of my favorite and most influential authors of all time) would be proud. Few mystery authors have captivated my interest or imagination as has Anne Perry.

From Amazon:

“Anne Perry’s spellbinding Victorian mysteries, especially those featuring William Monk, have enthralled readers for a generation. The Plain Dealer calls Monk “a marvelously dark, brooding creation” – and, true to form, this new Perry masterpiece is as deceptively deep and twisty as the Thames.

As commander of the River Police, Monk is accustomed to violent death, but the mutilated female body found on Limehouse Pier one chilly December morning moves him with horror and pity. The victim’s name is Zenia Gadney. Her waterfront neighbors can tell him little – only that the same unknown gentleman had visited her once a month for many years. She must be a prostitute, but – described as quiet and kempt – she doesn’t appear to be a fallen woman.

What sinister secrets could have made poor Zenia worth killing? And why does the government keep interfering in Monk’s investigation?

While the public cries out for blood, Monk, his spirited wife, Hester, and their brilliant barrister friend, Oliver Rathbone, search for answers. From dank waterfront alleys to London’s fabulously wealthy West End, the three trail an ice-blooded murderer toward the unbelievable, possibly unprovable truth – and ultimately engage their adversaries in an electric courtroom duel. But unless they can work a miracle, a monumental evil will go unpunished and an innocent person will hang.

Anne Perry has never worn her literary colors with greater distinction than in A Sunless Sea, a heart-pounding novel of intrigue and suspense in which Monk is driven to make the hardest decision of his life.”

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

“Hiss and Hers: An Agatha Raisin Mystery” by M.C. Beaton / Tuesday, October 2, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is Hiss and Hers: An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M.C.Beaton.

Snakes, snakes, everywhere, snakes!

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

It was raining last night and I thought, as I listened to the rain patter against the window glass, that it was time for a good cozy. And what could have been more perfect than M.C. Beaton’s latest novel, “Hiss and Hers” about someone killing off the locals with deadly English adders? Listening to the rain and reading the novel, I began to think I was seeing snakes crawling along the shadows of the baseboards. For those not familiar with the series, Agatha Raisin owns a detective agency. The agency does everything from finding missing cats to solving murders that, of course, the police cannot solve. In this installment, Agatha decides to take a sabbatical from the detective agency to pursue the domestic life and hopefully find a husband. When the object of her love dies, then she is back in the grind, trying to discover the culprit, which – as it should – puts her and the rest of her meddling staff in danger, and thus the novel unfolds. As mysteries would have it, the gardener (George) was not what he had appeared to be and that adds more conflict to the mix. I felt for the main character, Ms. Raisin. She is an mature woman and has developed feelings, which dually makes her giddy and embarrassed, as well as adorable and embarrassing. Love has left her blind and after the murder, she realizes just how nearsighted she actually is. Plot-wise, it’s “Murder She Wrote” but not with your expected Jessica Fletcher. Agatha is not the stereotypical up-and-up detective: she’s hot headed, sometimes crass, impulsive, tactless, co-dependent, desperate, unscrupulous, dysfunctional, and sometimes her activities might even be illegal. But she is human. You may not like her at all times, but you know her as well as yourself. There is something to be said for character honesty and something that you don’t always find in the perfect heroes and heroines of most cozy fare. The points-of-view bounce around in James Patterson terseness. Little time is wasted. As with most cozies, there is a great deal of “coincidence,” but that’s part of the genre. It’s to be read for fun. At times, the police are a bit incompetent and fudging on procedure, but then – if they weren’t – the detective agency wouldn’t have much to do other than find stray cats. There are some good scenes. The one with Agatha getting the box of chocolates being one of my visual favorites and a scene in the graveyard will have you laughing. A line of Agatha’s sums up her strategy aptly: “I haven’t the resources of the police, so I usually just blunder about until something breaks.” If you want a cozy to tear apart to see how to put one back together again, then this one is perfect for a look under the hood. M.C. Beaton has written at least 32 novels, many bestselling, under the M.C. Beaton pseudonym alone (not counting those books written under her at least 7 other pseudonyms). She is obviously – like Ms. Agatha – doing something right. If cozy is your genre, learn from the best.

From Amazon:

“If only the bossy, beloved Agatha Raisin were as lucky at finding the right man as she is at catching killers in M. C. Beaton’s New York Times bestselling mystery series

Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of everyone’s favorite sleuth, M. C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin is as feisty as ever – armed with her famous wit and biting sense of humor. This time, though, there’s some biting of a whole other sort going on. Agatha has fallen head over heels in love – again. This time, she has her eye on the local gardener, George Marston, but so do other women in their little Cotswold village. Shamelessly determined, Agatha will do anything to get her man – including footing the bill for a charity ball just for the chance to dance with him. And then George doesn’t even show up. Only partly deterred, Agatha goes looking for him, and finds his dead body in a compost heap. Murder is definitely afoot, but this killer chose no ordinary weapon: A poisonous snake delivered the fatal strike.

Rising to the occasion, Agatha rallies her little detective agency to find the killer, only to learn that George had quite a complicated love life. But murderously complicated? Well, if she can’t have George, at least Agatha can have the satisfaction of confronting the other women and solving the crime. With Hiss & Hers, once again, “M. C. Beaton has a foolproof plot for the village mystery” (The New York Times Book Review) in the irresistible adventures of the irrepressible Agatha.”

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 Ritual Bath” by Faye Kellerman / Friday, September 28, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is The Ritual Bath by Faye Kellerman.

A woman is brutally raped at a remote, sheltered religious institution.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

From 1986, this book started the Faye Kellerman phenomenon. Taking place at a remote, sheltered yeshiva (Jewish educational institution) community in the Hollywood Hills area of California (Jewtown as the police call it), a young bride-to-be leaving the ritual bath (the mikva) is brutally raped. Hard-boiled detective Peter Decker of the LAPD (a Jew by birth, but a Baptist by adoptive parents) arrives to find a community of noncooperative witnesses focused more on Jewish religious law than catching the actual criminal. It becomes frustrating for Decker to say the least. Full of information and conflict on many levels. A great crime-solving mystery with believable character dynamics between the cop and the deeply religious Jewish woman who heads the facility, the only person willing to assist him, and possibly the next crime victim. You’ll finish the book knowing much more than you ever thought you would about Jewish tradition and ritual; it’s one of those books in which you will gain even more from a subsequent reading. I dare you to read this one and not want to follow it up with all 19 books currently in the series.

From Amazon:

“Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutally raped as she returned from the mikvah, the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.

The crime was called in by Rina Lazarus, and Decker is relieved to discover that she is a calm and intelligent witness. She is also the only one in the sheltered community willing to speak of this unspeakable violation. As Rina tries to steer Decker through the maze of religious laws, the two grow closer. But before they get to the bottom of this horrendous crime, revelations come to light that are so shocking, they threaten to come between the hard-nosed cop and the deeply religious woman with whom he has become irrevocably linked.”

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

“No Sale” by Patrick Conrad / Thursday, September 27, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is No Sale by Patrick Conrad.

A serial killer is loose in 1998 and taking his cues from old movies.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

Wow. Having just read this, I’m dumbfounded. Incredible. From the first page two things happened: I was pulled in and I was stumped. This is a grand mystery in the finest of forms, complicated and solid. The story jumps right in with the investigation into the death of American film noir professor Victor Cox’s wife. The prose is fast and clipped. Descriptions of the characters and their world are truly visual. “…touching up her lipstick in the reflection of her knife blade.” Or when a suspect asks, “Do I look like a serial killer?” then the other character’s reply, “You look too normal not to look like one.” After putting away the book, I still saw the characters and their world, hauntingly, like my own memories of an old movie. And why not? Conrad is one of Belgium’s most famous thriller writers and filmmakers. You can visualize why his works translate so easily to the screen (his previous novel “Limousine” is being made into a film with Kelsey Grammar, to be released this year). I loved the lines: When told that his wife is dead, the husband replies, “Shelley has been dead for years.” And later, “Once again there is a woman in the house, which smells of love and coffee.” I can feel that. It hits me viscerally. As a character says, “It’s not easy to strip naked before complete strangers,” but that’s exactly what these characters do. Point by point, their exterior coverings are removed showing their strengths and their foibles. “Shall I drop you home?” the detective asks his girlfriend (who is a hooker) when he has to leave on a call. “No,” she replies to him, “The weather’s fine. I’ll walk and maybe pull a few tricks.” I read that and thought that I shouldn’t find that so believable and yet, in context of the characters, every word Conrad writes, rings true. It is a mystery novel, true, but it is more than that. It is a psychological thriller. There is a love scene that is both erotic and as maturely touching as anything anyone could write in any genre. I felt the character – I felt myself being there and feeling what he was feeling – in every word. The plot goes back and forth. Just when I thought I knew the killer, I immediately began to doubt myself. It plays like a Hitchcock film itself. Looking deeper, it is a study of the fallibility of memory, even of one’s own life, and how even our own regrets and pains can be nothing more than our own fictionalizations. It is this underlying current that elevates it. Brilliantly translated from the Dutch by Jonathan Lynn (incidentally, this is Lynn’s first book translation and he has done a smashing job) this is a “must read.” “No Sale” is the winner of Belgium’s Diamanten Kogel (Diamond Bullet). It is only a matter of time before you will also see this one in theaters, as well. But I wouldn’t wait. Read the book from Bitter Lemon Press.

From Amazon:

“For Victor Cox, a professor of film history, the Hollywood films noirs of the 1940s and 1950s are more real than his daily life. When his wife is found drowned, Cox is the first murder suspect. He falls in love with a student who looks like the 1920s film star Louise Brooks, but she disappears at a Belgian seaside resort. Smeared in lipstick in their hotel room are the words “No Sale,” the same words Elizabeth Taylor wrote on a mirror in Butterfield 8. Subsequently, a series of gruesome killings of young women, all modeled on violent deaths in films that he knows and loves, lead the police back to Cox, who starts to doubt his own sanity and innocence.

With its stylish writing, pointed references to cinema classics, and blend of horror and humor, this is a powerful psychological thriller. It won the Diamond Bullet Award, the Edgar Award for Belgium.”

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

“Blades of Winter” by G.T. Almasi / Monday, September 24, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi.

Move over James Bond. There’s a new girl in town, 19 and unstoppable.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

Today’s Book of the Day is non-stop action and fits solidly in the alternate history subgenre of science fiction. The first line was enough to hook me and also make me chuckle: “Nothing pisses me off more than being shot at while I’m eating.” Half action story, half comic book tale this book reveals an alternate U.S. history set in our time, but with changes, such when we kicked Castro out of Cuba and made it a state. Don’t worry that the history is not matching our own. You’ll get history lessons along the way clarifying why things are as they are.

The story is set in the world that goes on without our knowledge (much like our real spy world). We go along happily in our little lives; these people are working behind the scenes so we can do just that. “Shadowstorm” is a covert war being fought by agents of the four super-powers of this novelistic world (set nearly identical to our own, but not quite and with not quite the same history of events). The story’s protagonist is a nineteen year old modified super woman with every imaginable gadget and prosthetic limb abilities you can imagine. Professionally, she is following in her father’s footsteps and in this book’s assignment she literally follows where he went before he disappeared. The story question becomes, “Will she find her father who appears to still be alive.” Between her personality and her equipment, she is a mythic spy and an invincible soldier. Her Eyes-Up Display tells her micro-second to micro-second everything about her inner body functioning and exterior world happenings so she can adjust or alter for maximum kill power. Emotions, if needed, are available from a hormone injection she self-administers simply by a quick command. This allows her to be collected in all situations. Like when she is hanging on the back of a car that goes down a set of stairs. While I would be dying of fear, she remarks, “This maniac is a really lousy driver!” Or when she’s chasing a bad guy? “It’s like cowboys and Indians. I let out a war whoop and pound up the stairway.” Realistic? Not really. Fun? Yes. Laugh out loud because some of the character’s lines completely catch me off-guard? You bet. For those seeking more realistic spy fiction, this might be a little too James Bond for them. No matter what situation the main character finds herself in, she seems to have some sort of gadget to solve the problem. You can complain about “writer’s convenience,” but with stories such as this, you either accept it or you don’t.

The action is nonstop. As I read it, I was reminded in style, not content, of some of my son’s video games: This happens, this choice is made, new enemies appear, clear them out, fight several of these, defeat the Boss, the go to the next level. It has that same kind of feel. The storytelling is a bit like the movie “The Matrix.” Remember when the bullets start flying around in slow motion? That’s what it’s like here. Except instead of just the slow motion bullets, we get the inner commentary from the main character about what is happening, info we need to know, or how certain technology works that the main character throws into motion. I was intrigued at how well these interjections worked without really slowing the forward motion of any of the scenes. Normally if a character jumped off the Eiffel Tower after a villain with no parachute, there would be a sense of panic. Not with this girl. She has enough time as she goes over the rail to turn around and shoot a V for Victory sign at the tourists in case any of them happen to have their cameras focused on that spot at that particular time. After a while, you get used to this sort of thing and think nothing of it. That’s how the novel flows. You’re not going to find “literature” here. You’re going to read this (if you like this sort of thing) for the action, the imagination, the fun – all the reasons that some of us grew up hooked on pulp fiction, those old dusty books that I still have gently stacked on my bookshelves. Because the story is moving so fast and there is so much thrown at you at once, you almost miss the brutality of the violence. But it is there. And a great deal of it. In fact, that’s just about all there is. But even while things are falling apart or the end looks near, the main character is cool and calm throughout.

Younger readers would find an immediate hero in the same way that I thought I was “The Bionic Man,” except her covert operations are much more intense. When I say “younger,” I’m unfortunately not talking about preteens (who would have loved this book), but the language and violence are too intense for that age group, the legal drug taking and excessive alcohol use also not recommended. However, it is still a coming of age story that latter teens and sci-fi fans will enjoy.

This is the first book in the series. “Hammer of Angels,” the sequel, is already scheduled to be released at the first of next year. I”m looking forward to it.

From Amazon:

“In one of the most exciting debuts in years, G. T. Almasi has fused the intricate cat-and-mouse games of a John le Carré novel with the brash style of comic book superheroes to create a kick-ass alternate history that reimagines the Cold War as a clash of spies with biological, chemical, and technological enhancements.

Nineteen-year-old Alix Nico, a self-described “million-dollar murder machine,” is a rising star in ExOps, a covert-action agency that aggressively shields the United States from its three great enemies: the Soviet Union, Greater Germany, and the Nationalist Republic of China. Rather than risk another all-out war, the four superpowers have poured their resources into creating superspies known as Levels.

Alix is one of the hottest young American Levels. That’s no surprise: Her dad was America’s top Level before he was captured and killed eight years ago. But when an impulsive decision explodes—literally—in her face, Alix uncovers a conspiracy that pushes her to her limits and could upset the global balance of power forever.”

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 Absent One” by Jussi Alder-Olsen / Friday, September 21, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is The Absent One by Jussi Alder-Olsen.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

“The Absent One” is my first introduction to Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen and only the second of his books to be published in English. He is a bestseller in Europe. His books hit the bestseller list and stay there. The two books in print in English are both “Department Q” novels, with “The Absent One” being the second in the series. I haven’t read the first book so I can’t compare this to the other, but not having read the first one didn’t harm the storytelling of this one in the least. This is easily a strong – very strong – standalone. This is a cold case story, around 25 years old. The story locks you in like quicksand. It’s hard to pull yourself away. There are concurrent stories playing out which gives the novel the feel of a thriller movie. This happens here, then something else happens there, all converging towards the ultimate climax. There is little mystery. You watch the chess game being played out. Several angles are taking place all at the same time: the police are trying to find the killers, the killers are trying to find the person who can betray them, and someone the killers betrayed is trying to get revenge by killing the killers. Some characters you just frankly want to die (and very painfully). Definitely a demographic span from the sadistically rich to the impoverished, homeless opportunists; these are ruthless people all around. The storytelling is tight. Personal conflicts and biases are introduced subtlety, but obviously definitely planned in every section. The imagery has been carefully chosen, setting the tone. For example, I love the slithering factor of one character where she doesn’t just change clothes (or disguises). She will “slough her skin” instead. From this, you sense her reptilian characteristics. These types of visual descriptions give the novel a texture that just telling us alone does not. However, they are not overdone. This is not a “literary” novel by any means (saying that as a compliment), but one well-paced and composed reminding me of a great recipe: just enough spice to make it pleasurable, but not overdone. Having read the book, I’m a new fan of this writer.

From Amazon:

“New York Times bestseller Jussi Adler-Olsen returns with the second book in his electrifying Department Q series.

In The Keeper of Lost Causes, Jussi Adler-Olsen introduced Detective Carl Mørck, a deeply flawed, brilliant detective newly assigned to run Department Q, the home of Copenhagen’s coldest cases. The result wasn’t what Mørck – or readers – expected, but by the opening of Adler-Olsen’s shocking, fast-paced follow-up, Mørck is satisfied with the notion of picking up long-cold leads. So he’s naturally intrigued when a closed case lands on his desk: A brother and sister were brutally murdered two decades earlier, and one of the suspects – part of a group of privileged boarding-school students – confessed and was convicted.

But once Mørck reopens the files, it becomes clear that all is not what it seems. Looking into the supposedly solved case leads him to Kimmie, a woman living on the streets, stealing to survive. Kimmie has mastered evading the police, but now they aren’t the only ones looking for her. Because Kimmie has secrets that certain influential individuals would kill to keep buried . . . as well as one of her own that could turn everything on its head.

Every bit as pulse-pounding as the book that launched the series, The Absent One delivers further proof that Jussi Adler-Olsen is one of the world’s premier thriller writers.”

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

“St. Petersburg Noir” Edited by Julia Goumen & Natalia Smirnova / Thursday, September 20, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is St. Petersburg Noir Edited by Julia Goumen.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

ST. PETERSBURG NOIR / Julia Goumen & Natalia Smirnova, editors

The short story collection, “St. Petersburg Noir,” was an absorbing trip for me. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you completely why without taking the fun away for you. A short story is a one-punch treatise so if someone gives away what the story is really about, especially if it falls into the categories of mystery, suspense, or thriller (as these short stories do), they’ve given away the goods. There’ll be no spoilers here. I will say this anthology of Russian short stories is a riveting collection. An insightful “tour” of St. Petersburg. And a spellbinding introduction to Russian literature and perspective. I like the idea of taking in the literary flavor of different areas and find this whole series of “noir” books from Akashic Books intriguing. These stories are grown indigenously and give such a regional flavor that I feel I’ve been to the places in this series and know them as I know my own. Some of these stories were so interesting, the voices so clear, that I looked up the authors hoping to find more of their books in English, but alas, I’ll have to wait until some translator takes mercy. Until then, we have “St. Petersburg Noir.”

From Amazon:

“The Russian soul is well suited to a style defined by dark, hard-edged moodiness in underground settings. With St. Petersburg, the tsar’s ‘Window on Europe,; we get European-style existential angst as well – not to mention the scary sociopolitical realities of the new Russia … For all sophisticated crime fiction readers.” – Library Journal

Fourteen uniformly strong stories in this outstanding noir anthology devoted to Russia’s second city, St. Petersburg. With its rich if often tragic history, deep literary traditions, inspiring landscape, famous architecture, and an aging population stuffed into overcrowded ‘kommunalkas’ amid a post-Soviet decline and soaring crime rates, the city provides an ideal backdrop for crime fiction …The diversity of these skillfully crafted tales testifies to the vigor of contemporary Russian writing.” – Publishers Weekly

Original stories by: Lena Eltang, Sergei Nosov, Alexander Kudriavstev, Andrei Kivinov, Julia Belomlinsky, Natalia Kurchatova, Kseniya Venglinskaya, Evgeniy Kogan, Anton Chizh, Konstantin Gavrilov, Vladimir Berezin, Andrei Rubanov, and others.

Natalia Smirnova was born in 1978 in Moscow, Russia. In 2006 she co-founded the Goumen & Smirnova Literary Agency with Julia Goumen, representing Russian authors worldwide. She and Goumen were also the co-editors of Moscow Noir.

Julia Goumen was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1977. With a PhD in English, she has been working in publishing since 2001, and since 2006 has run the Goumen & Smirnoval Literary Agency with Natalia Smirnova.”

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 Riddle of the Sands” by Erskine Childers / Wednesday, September 19, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS / Erskine Childers (1903) – Google for info, notably http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Riddle_of_the_Sands.

While in my “classics” state of mind before going back to some contemporary fare, “The Riddle of the Sands” by Erskine Childers (1903) is considered by many to be the first influential British spy novel. It was very popular prior to World War I and, when published, it was an instant bestseller. It is a thriller about two men who are on a “yachting holiday” who come upon a fleet of German warships assembling to invade England. The story might sound dull and possibly overused, but that’s only because there have been so many dull and overused stories based upon the concept. Go with the original. From a writer’s perspective, the reality of the book is heightened by the details. It’s a great study just to see how Childers makes what I would probably write as boring nautical terms so captivating. Interestingly, this is Childers one and only novel. A little history: how does fiction influence reality? Answer: A lot. We can all probably think of several examples. In this case, none other than Winston Churchill himself said that “The Riddle of the Sands” was the major reason that the British decided to establish three new naval bases (Rosyth, Scapa Flow, and Invergordon) in the North Sea to protect itself from possible invasion from Germany. When the war broke out, writer Childers, because of his military knowledge and imagination was given a naval seat in Parliament! What eventually happened to Childers, the English patriot who helped England prepare for and defend itself against Germany? He was executed by a firing squad in 1922 as a traitor by the British government for his part in the evolving belief that Ireland should be self-ruling. Interestingly enough, his son would later become the fourth President of Ireland. Before his execution (which hastily happened before his appeal had a chance to be ruled upon), Childers shook hands with each of the members of the firing squad. When it was time for them to pull the trigger, he remarked as his last words, “Take a step or two forward, lads. It will be easier that way.” Certainly a colorful character and a wonderful writer. “The Riddle of the Sands” is definitely something that any “invasion” thriller writer should be familiar with.

From Amazon:

“While on a sailing trip in the Baltic Sea, two young adventurers-turned-spies uncover a secret German plot to invade England. Written by Childers—who served in the Royal Navy during World War I—as a wake-up call to the British government to attend to its North Sea defenses, The Riddle of the Sandsaccomplished that task and has been considered a classic of espionage literature ever since, praised as much for its nautical action as for its suspenseful spycraft.”

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 Thirty-Nine Steps” by John Buchan / Thursday, September 13, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915).

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

Today’s Killer Nashville Book of the Day is one of those classics all thriller writers should be familiar with because, whether you know it or not, you have been influenced by it. “The Thirty-Nine Steps” was first published in 1915 and has had several incarnations in film and television, including a film in 1935 by Alfred Hitchcock (which is considered the best film made from the book), while I consider a 1978 film by Don Sharp to be the closest to the book in terms of adaptation. Like many older classics, this book first appeared as a serial, in this case in Blackwood’s Magazine, which published stories that heavily influenced the later writings of writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, and the Bronte sisters. “The Thirty-Nine Steps” is the first book in a series of five to feature character Richard Hannay. The novel is set in 1914. The first World War is about to begin and there is a German plot to murder the Greek Premier and steal Britain’s plans for the war. Hannay learns this from a spy named Scudder right before Scudder is murdered. Hannay now knows the secret that can get him killed, but also a secret that could have a drastic impact on all of Europe (note the high stakes). Unfortunately, Hannay is a suspect in the murder of Scudder so Hannay cannot simply go to the authorities for help. He becomes a fugitive, running from both the good guys and the bad while at the same time trying to prevent the looming doom. And, thus, the chase begins. The importance of this book (other than that it is a good book regardless) is that this book marked one of the earliest uses of the “fleeing hero” and “high stakes” devices that have been used many times since. Interestingly enough, Buchan – who published many successful books – considered himself an amateur writer. He was a politician by trade (1st Baron Tweedsmuir) and remained so all his life until he died in office in 1940. Writing was something that he did on the side for fun. Since the initial publication of “The Thirty-Nine Steps,” it has been a major influence on spy novels either directly or indirectly ever since its initial release.

From Amazon:

“Considered by many to be one of the greatest adventure novels of all time, “The Thirty-Nine Steps” is John Buchan’s most successful work. Set during the First World War, it is the story of Richard Hannay, an ordinary gentleman who finds himself mixed up in a plot to undermine the British war effort. A fugitive from the law, Hannay must race against time to try and stop the plot. “The Thirty-Nine Steps” is an exciting adventure of mystery and espionage that will thrill and delight readers both young and old.”

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