KN Magazine: Reviews
"And When She Was Good" by Laura Lippman / Monday, February 25, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
“A mom’s sacrifices for her only child. A mom’s secret Heidi Fleiss life behind a gated community. A suicide that might be murder. Washington D.C. politicians and power managers. Betrayal. Lies. Distraught choices. The constant fear of discovery. And the threat someone is coming for her. What will she do to protect her son? Highly suspenseful. This is why Laura Lippman is…well, Laura Lippman.”
– Clay Stafford, author and founder of Killer Nashville
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Splendors and Glooms" by Laura Amy Schlitz / Friday, February 22, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
“I picked it up to give to my son to read and loved it myself. Written by a Newberry Medal Winner who never delivers a less-than-stellar book. A confused little girl. A master puppeteer. A missing child. A witch. Betrayal via a criminal past of one you trust. Dickens-era locale. Mystery. Magic. Written for ages 9 and up, but caution for kids: the initial premise begins with reference to the death of children and the guilt of the child who survived. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down.”
– Clay Stafford, author and founder of Killer Nashville
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies" by David Thomson / Thursday, February 21, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
A comparative history of moving images from around the world by one of the film world’s best living film authorities. Great prose. Reads like a personal conversation. Reflective. First film book I’ve read that ties in everything from Eadweard Muybridge (what an odd man) to today’s videogames, commercials, and cable TV while at the same time giving significant thought to not ‘what happened’ or ‘when it happened,’ but ‘what does it mean’? You don’t have to be a filmmaker to appreciate it; it’s written for all of us who live in a world of tiny, private screens, for all of us who sometimes feel the tail might be wagging the dog. I liked it because it made me ask the question, ‘Why do I watch?’”
– Clay Stafford, author and founder of Killer Nashville
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"Resurrection Express" by Stephen Romano / Wednesday, February 20, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
“Filmic in scope (written by a screenwriter). Debut novel. High-tech code hacking. A dead wife. (Maybe.) The fate of billions of lives. A death run. Action packed with unexpected twists. One you’ll recommend to friends.”
– Clay Stafford, author and founder of Killer Nashville
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
"All the King's Men" by Robert Penn Warren / Tuesday, February 19, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
“A classic. Pulitzer Prize winner. Modern Library’s 36th greatest novel of the 20th Century. The fictional rise of governor Willie Stark and the self-discovery of Jack Burden. Written in the classic voice of a true Southern writer. Prose reads like poetry.”
– Clay Stafford, author and founder of Killer Nashville
Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
“Death of a Neighborhood Witch: A Jaine Austen Mystery” by Laura Levine / Thursday, December 13, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book isDeath of A Neighborhood Witch (Jaine Austen Mystery) by Laura Levine.
Who says you can’t mix murder with laughs? And some candy?
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
This book was released by Kensington in time for Halloween. I picked it up, loved it, and decided great fiction needed no holiday.
This is the 11th installment of the cozy Jaine Austen mystery series. Fictional character Jaine is a freelance writer living in the less prestigious part of Beverly Hills. As usual, Jaine is after sugar and Halloween is the perfect excuse.
There are basically two concurrent plots running in this episode, though the murder takes precedence. Mean old Eleanor Jenkins, a crotchety ex-actress, is stabbed in the chest like a vampire on Halloween night with her own “Do Not Trespass” sign bringing the concept of trick-or-treat to a new height. Of course Jaine is suspected of the crime and thus must exonerate herself. The lesser plot is the shenanigans of Jaine and her male neighbor trying to impress a new neighbor whose sexual preferences leave room for doubt. And, of course, there are her elderly parents in Tampa, which are in a plotline all to themselves.
This is a humorous novel, nothing serious about it. It reads like a sitcom and there’s a reason. I’ve known of Levine a long time before she ever started writing this series from her work with 18 episodes of “Out of This World,” several others for “Private Benjamin,” “We’ve Got It Made,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” Three’s Company,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “The Love Boat,” and one of my all-time favorites, an episode of “The Jeffersons,” the last one featuring an appearance by Mother Jefferson (George’s mother). I grew up on her stuff. And not just the TV fare. I ate the cereal she created as an advertising guru: General Mills’ Count Chocula and Frankenberry. My first introduction to her mystery novel collection was “Death of a Trophy Wife,” one of my favorites, though I think “Death of a Neighborhood Witch” tops them all. Everything Levine writes is top-notch: the movement is fast, the dialogue quick and witty, the characters are off-the-wall, the set-ups are crazy, and the situations incongruous.
If you like cozies on the funny side, get “Death of a Neighborhood Witch,” even out of season. I guarantee you’ll laugh out loud.
From the publisher:
“Halloween is just around the corner, and between cauldrons of candy and a deliciously cute new neighbour, Jaine Austen is struggling to resist her sweet tooth. But this year, her once humdrum neighbourhood seems to be handing out more tricks than treats…When her faithful feline Prozac unwittingly scares to death a parakeet belonging to the neighbourhood’s resident curmudgeon, Jaine finds herself knee-deep in toil and trouble. The cantankerous Hollywood has-been once played the part of Cryptessa Muldoon, television’s fourth most famous monster mom. Now a bitter, paranoid old dame, Cryptessa spends her days making enemies with everyone on the street, and accidental bird killer Jaine is no exception. So when the ornery D-lister is murdered with her own Do Not Trespass sign on Halloween night, the neighbourhood fills with relief – and possible culprits. With a killer on the loose, Jaine hardly has time to fall under the spell of her yummy new neighbour Peter. As the prime suspect, she summons her sleuthing skills to clear her name and soon discovers that everyone has a few skeletons in their closets – and the motives for murder are endless. Could it have been Cryptessa’s next door neighbours, the barracuda husband and wife realtors whose landscaping Cryptessa had bulldozed? Or the seemingly sweet old lady whose beloved dog was the object of Cryptessa’s wrath? Or perhaps the crotchety actress was done in by her own nephew in a desperate attempt to get his hands on her money? As the masks come off, Jaine’s search for sweet justice turns up more questions than answers. And just when she thought nothing could be scarier than her run-in with a tortuous Tummy Tamer, she closes in on the killer and learns the true meaning of grave danger…”
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
“The Facility” by Simon Lelic / Tuesday, December 11, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is The Facility by Simon Lelic.
A novel that will leave you questioning everything.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
About the first page of the first chapter, I thought, “What the…” Yet, I was riveted.
The story takes place in a growing English police state more concerned with napping terrorists – and innocents that they think are terrorists – than they are in protecting the innocent.
“My husband is not a terrorist, Mr. Clarke. Whatever he’s into, I can assure you it’s not terrorism. He’s a dentist.” That’s no deterrent. All it takes is someone to point the finger.
I found the novel so real, it was frightening. I feel myself in Arthur Priestley’s shoes, a man with no rights and finally no name (just a number) and being at the mercy of the whims of guards and officials who no longer have to even supply a charge. “Who are you? Are you the police? This isn’t legal, you know. You can’t hold me like this.” National Security covers all actions. “We cannot afford to take risks.”
Interestingly enough, the central character (Arthur Priestly) is not a stand-out character. In fact, he’s rather dull. Opposite to what you might think, this makes it even more harrowing. He’s a boring person who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Somewhere as you read, you realize: This guy could be me. Don’t get me wrong. The characters are great, but the story is about what could happen, not about the characters. It is the situation itself that is all wrong.
The novel is full of government pawns and by the time you get to the end of the book, you see them in real time in real life all around you. “No one opposes the act any more because no one can see how it’s being used.” I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but think Guantanamo. This is Guantanamo U.K. “They arrested him under anti-terrorism legislation. How could you possibly have considered that routine?” “But that’s my point! These days it is routine. Or it can be, at least in terms of how information is fed to the press.” And that’s the lynchpin. We trust the press. The press gets information from the government and then makes the case to the people. Can anyone say Nazi? “They leak information because they want us to have it.” And they want what the press gets to be very specific. Think of the wonderful sounding Freedom of Information Act, the product of an open government. Request something sometime. You’ll get a piece of paper, but it will be covered with crossed-out black lines “for National Security.”
Looking at it outside this book and in the last ten years in the U.S., using anti-terrorist, national security laws, the government can arrest anyone at any time. Technically. Not that they do, but technically. Can a health issue become a matter of national security? Maybe. If you need to protect the population. And, if so, then it falls under (in the U.S.) Homeland Security. So, in effect, something that has nothing to do with terrorism (the basis for Homeland Security) now becomes a concern and is able to be off the grid because it now falls under the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security. Then you realize that it doesn’t have to be a health issue. It can be anything! Label it a security issue and no one can ask a single question. “How I can tell how a law is being used when the whole point of that law is to prevent me finding out?” As long as it falls under anti-terrorist, national security laws, the government is not required to make a charge. If you make a charge, you might lose. Solution, use the laws and don’t make a charge. When that happens, “‘There is every chance you will remain here until – ‘” You die.” At the very least, you bide your time. “The usual rules, at this facility, do not apply. There is no board, no oversight committee. There is just me and the rules I set. So you will behave, please, as I instruct you to behave or you will suffer the punishment I choose.”
There is a strong cast of characters, each one supplying a vital function and thematic consciousness. Thankfully, there are those in the press who can’t be bought. When you’re up against the big machine, “What else do you think you can do?” “Keep digging.” There is a Josef Mengele mad doctor who views patients as lab rats rather than humans. And a more homophobic group (intentionally written that way) you’ve never read. (By the way, I love the improvised baby monitor. I don’t know that I would have the nerve to try it, but it is a clever idea.)
As you read, you wonder who, if any, will do the right thing? The thriller then is not about the lives in jeopardy, but of moral backbone, something that can’t be legislated. Who will do the right thing? Who will stand up and object? “They’re locking up innocent people using laws they said would protect us.” This is Orwellian, if I’ve ever read Orwellian. What makes this scary, though, is that this is not the future as the publisher’s publicity department states on the back of the book; this is what could be happening now, maybe not with disease, but with anything else a government would decide would be threatening. It’s terrifying. In Hollywood, we would call this “high concept.” The plot is so simple, yet overpowering.
“That’s one lesson this government has learnt. They’ve learnt that if they show it, they can’t spin it. If they can’t spin it, they can’t control it. And if they can’t control it, the truth will eventually come out: about what they’re doing; about why they’re doing it in the first place.” The only way, then, is to make it appear that it never happened or use the press to spin it.
This is blow your mind away powerful.
From the publisher:
“In a near-future dystopian Britain, democracy has been undermined. Emboldened by new anti-terrorism laws, police start to “disappear” people from the streets for unspecified crimes. But when unassuming dentist Arthur Priestley is snatched and held prisoner at a top-secret facility, his estranged wife, Julia, and a brave but naive journalist named Tom Clarke embark on a harrowing quest for the truth. Following a trail that leads to the very top of government, they soon find themselves fighting for their lives. Well-crafted, fast-paced, and totally compelling, “The Facility” is a brilliant thriller that resonates eerily with the timbre of our times.”
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“Imitation of Death” by Cheryl Crane / Monday, December 10, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Imitation of Death by Cheryl Crane.
Pruning sheers right in the chest.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
What could be finer on a cold winter day than a cozy from sunny California?
“Imitation of Death” by Cheryl Crane is the second mystery featuring Nicolette “Nikki” Harper, a Hollywood celebrity realtor who is also the daughter of fictional Hollywood star Victoria Bordeaux (just as author Cheryl Crane is the actual daughter of film legend Lana Turner).
The present-day murder mystery begins with a pair of pruning sheers. Nikki is not a detective by trade, but she can’t help but get involved to defend the gardener she knows in her heart is innocent. Using her influence as the child of a famous Hollywood actress to gain access to her mother’s rolodex, the investigative techniques of the mother / daughter partnership falls somewhere between “Murder She Wrote” and Nancy Drew. I appreciated the purposeful plotting and excellent end revelation, along with the long list of certainly flawed suspects on all echelons of Hollywood social strata.
Just by growing up in that bubble, children of celebrities know many skeletons in the Hollywood closet and Cheryl Crane fictionalizes them delightfully here. A most-enjoyable couple of hours of amateur sleuthing through Beverly Hills.
From the publisher:
“Cheryl Crane, daughter of movie icon Lana Turner, brings her Hollywood insider expertise to the second book in a star-studded mystery series featuring celebrity realtor-turned-sleuth Nikki Harper and her screen goddess mother, Victoria Bordeaux…Nikki Harper is a superstar among Hollywood realtors. Among private investigators however, she’s strictly amateur, and her first case was a Waterworld-sized disaster. But when a body turns up in a dumpster behind Victoria Bordeaux’s mansion, Nikki feels duty-bound to get involved. Before his demise, Eddie Bernard was the uber-privileged son of one of the biggest TV producers of all time, and a spoiled, violent, party-boy loser. The list of people glad to see him gone could stretch from one end of Bel Air to the other. In fact, about the only person Nikki’s sure is innocent is the prime suspect: Jorge Delgado, her childhood friend and the son of Victoria’s housekeeper. With the D.A. and the media throwing the words “death penalty” around, Nikki has to help. Victoria, of course, can’t wait to delve into another Tinseltown scandal, and soon Nikki is submerged in a secret world of celebrity drug-dealing, dangerous cults, conniving stars, illegal aliens and, of all things, the Food Network. With the aid of a voyeuristic neighbour and some good old-fashioned bribery, Nikki starts to close in on the truth. But can she keep Jorge from facing the final curtain…while keeping herself out of a killer’s spotlight?”
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
“Last to Die” by Tess Gerritsen / Friday, December 7, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen.
Save the kids.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
Let’s hope there is no “three’s the charm” in this book. Twice in a row, Teddy Clock has survived a massacre of his family: first his real family and then his foster family. Was this coincidence or was something amuck? Come to find out, it was not only Teddy’s two families that were being stalked. Other children have lost their families. Finally, we learn, it is not the families being stalked, but the kids and not only Teddy. This is a story with more twists and turns than a carnival fun house.
Detective Jane Rizzoli, Medical Examiner Maura Isles, and some smart fellow orphans work together to keep the orphaned children safe. But they must find the killer before something happens that no one can take back. Readers of Gerritsen will happily note some reappearances of characters from previous novels and Rizzoli and Isles, of course, from their own TNT breakout television series. (Oddly, these two characters have almost grown more famous than their creator.)
Because kids were involved, this was a fast page-turner for me. I couldn’t wait to get to the end of the story, not because I wanted it to end, but because I wanted to know how it turned out. I’m not going to tell you the ending, but it did come and I did have to stop.
Here’s my only gripe.
For years, I’ve been a fan of Tess Gerritsen. Nobody writes a thriller better. I’m like a kid when I finish her books. I want to sit down on the floor and start screaming until she gives me more. In this case, I was screaming while I was reading because she was torturing me with suspense. And then, of course, I screamed when I had to close the book because there was no other place to go.
What better gripe can you have than that?
Beginning with her first novel that went straight to the bestseller list, Tess Gerritsen has only given the best. For many reviews, I note that someone’s last book is their crowning glory. In Tess Gerritsen’s case, they’ve all been out of the park. “Last to Die” is no exception and continues her exceptional norm. If you like suspense, this is a book you need to read.
From the publisher:
“For the second time in his short life, Teddy Clock has survived a massacre. Two years ago, he barely escaped when his entire family was slaughtered. Now, at fourteen, in a hideous echo of the past, Teddy is the lone survivor of his foster family’s mass murder. Orphaned once more, the traumatized teenager has nowhere to turn – until the Boston PD puts detective Jane Rizzoli on the case. Determined to protect this young man, Jane discovers that what seemed like a coincidence is instead just one horrifying part of a relentless killer’s merciless mission.
Joining forces with her trusted partner, medical examiner Maura Isles, Jane is determined to keep these orphans safe from harm. But an unspeakable secret dooms the children’s fate – unless Jane and Maura can finally put an end to an obsessed killer’s twisted quest.”
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
“Far North” by Michael Ridpath / Thursday, December 6, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Far North by Michael Ridpath.
What if greedy investors wiped out your life’s savings and walked away unscathed?
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
What if greedy investors wiped out your life’s savings and walked away unscathed? Well, this is a rather timely book no matter what continent you are on. This story just happens to be set in Iceland.
I enjoy discovering new authors. Such is the case with Michael Ridpath and “Far North.” I am familiar with Michael Ridpath through Killer Nashville and the British Crime Writers’ Association. However, I (shamefully) have never read one of his books until now. This was an incredible introduction.
I’m enthralled with what he has done with what he had to work with. I’ll explain. The advice to writers has always been “write what you know.” He is an Englishman, proper, polite, and humble, as one might expect. Ironically, he writes about an American (Boston-based) detective of Icelandic heritage returning “Far North.” The amount of research put into it to pull it off is impressive. Even more impressive is that this was a #9 bestselling book in Iceland. They loved it! If you can sway the locals, you have to be doing something right.
This is Ridpath’s second foray into mystery. Prior to this series, he has written financial thrillers. The first in this series was “Where the Shadows Lie.” In “Far North,” there are several unrelated murders (appearing that way on the surface) that are neatly tied together through the ample efforts of Detective Magnus Jonson. There is also a backstory murder that at first may seem in odd coherence to the plot, but makes sense nicely in the end.
I’m not sure I have ever read a mystery set in Iceland before, in a land where police officers do not carry guns. As an American, police not carrying firearms boggles me. The plotting is full of such details. For learning the culture of a different country mixed with a blast of a suspense story (trying to stop future killings), this is a wonderful introduction to a wonderful writer. I wish I had experienced Ridpath’s work sooner.
From the publisher:
“In Iceland, revenge is best served at arctic temperatures… Iceland 1934: Two boys playing in the lava fields that surround their isolated farmsteads see something they shouldn’t have. The consequences will haunt them and their families for generations. Iceland 2009: the credit crunch bites. The currency has been devalued, banks nationalized, savings annihilated, lives ruined. Grassroots revolution is in the air, as is the feeling that someone ought to pay…ought to pay the blood price. And in a country with a population of just 300,000 souls, in a country where everyone knows everybody, it isn’t hard to draw up a list of exactly who is responsible. And then, one-by-one, to cross them off. Iceland 2010: As bankers and politicians start to die, at home and abroad, it is up to Magnus Jonson to unravel the web of conspirators before they strike again. But while Magnus investigates the crimes of the present, the crimes of the past are catching up with him in Far North, the newest heart-stopping mystery from acclaimed author Michael Ridpath.”
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“L’Assassin: A Thriller” by Peter Steiner / Tuesday, December 4, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is L’Assassin: A Thriller by Peter Steiner.
Anti-terrorist fanaticism can be as dangerous as the real thing
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
Today’s Book of the Day comes from fellow University of Miami alum (had to plug it) Peter Steiner. Peter was first known to me as a cartoonist for The New Yorker for 25 years before he turned novelist. If you’ve read a copy of The New Yorker, you had to have seen his work.
“L’Assassin” is set in France and is the second novel in the Louis Morgon international thriller series. The first novel was fantastic. This one is even better. Are we so obsessed with terrorism, we frame an innocent man for personal revenge? This novel gives a plausible, “Yes.”
It is a smart series. There is incredible plotting and a cast of unforgettable characters. Here are the elements: Ex-CIA officer, terrorist accusations, Osama bin Laden associate, a traitor to the U.S., mass manipulation, cat and mouse. I think you have the picture. I don’t want to give too much away in case you want to read it. All is not as it seems, though. It starts as a simple burglary, but it is never simple, is it?
Reading this, you can tell that Steiner enjoys what he is doing and the fun transfers irresistibly across the page.
From the publisher:
“In this exceptional follow-up to the highly praised Le Crime, ex-spy Louis Morgon is in France living a quiet life of good food, good wine, and good friends. When his house is burglarized, he thinks nothing of it. But neither the burglar nor the motive for the burglary is as simple as it seems. And the consequences of the seemingly trivial break-in will lead Louis and his loved ones to the ends of the earth – and quite possibly to the ends of their lives.”
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“Valley of Ashes” by Cornelia Read / Monday, December 3, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Valley of Ashes by Cornelia Read.
Nosey joking gets you burned.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
For those who have followed the writer/sleuth character Madeline Dare, she’s moved again. From Syracuse, NY (“A Field of Darkness”) to the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts (“The Crazy School”) to New York City (“The Invisible Boy”) and now Boulder, Colorado (“Valley of Ashes”), Madeline changes locale, but she can’t stop her inquisitive spirit nor her smart-mouthed sense of humor. This time, it aims to burn her.
“Valley of Ashes” is the story of Madeline’s attempt to capture a serial arsonist. Madeline – bored out of her gourd after having moved to Boulder from New York City to follow her husband’s job – can’t help but move in on the suspect. As one would expect, when Madeline gets close, the culprit kicks back.
I’ve enjoyed all of Cornelia Read’s books. They’re suspenseful, smart, sassy, and funny, but they have a point, usually deep. There is a character breadth to them that holds you, as well as chock-full laugh-out-loud one-liners. Since the first book, which Oprah Winfrey called one of the “Nine Mysteries Every Thinking Women Should Read,” author Read has been consistent in all her books. What I like about the series is the movement of the character. She’s a fish out of water in every tale. Her movements introduce new characters, bring out her own character when pushed, and causes her to rely on her own skills and brains to solve the crimes that get her piqued. With lines like “I’m fat, my marriage is tanking, and I want to run away with the circus,” you can’t help but like her. And understand. Male or female. And, as a parent, I get it: “Contrary to popular opinion, your butt does not make Play-Doh.” Kids, don’t play with it or smear it on the table. Or when she’s vacuuming to please her overbearing husband and she’s under the sofa “wondering how long it had actually been since I’d last vacuumed, considering the thick ruff of velveteenish furry stuff growing along the edges of the petrified hummus.” And, in the midst of all this, she attempts to save the day.
“Valley of Ashes” is a book you’ll love (if you like off-beat quirky characters). There is much about these books and characters that any family member will recognize. If you are not Madeline Dare, someone close to you is, which would make this a great book to read over the holidays during family visits. I think that may be why these books tend to resonate so popularly.
From the publisher:
“Madeline Dare trades New York’s gritty streets for the tree-lined avenues of Boulder, Colorado when her husband Dean lands a promising job. Madeline, now a full-time homemaker and mother to beautiful toddler twin girls, has achieved everything she thought she always wanted, but with her husband constantly on the road, she’s fighting a losing battle against the Betty Friedan riptide of suburban/maternal exhaustion, angst, and sheer loneliness. A new freelance newspaper gig helps her get her mojo back, but Boulder isn’t nearly as tranquil as it seems: there’s a serial arsonist at large in the city. As Madeline closes in on the culprit, the fires turn deadly-and the stakes tragically personal. She’ll need every ounce of strength and courage she has to keep the flames from reaching her own doorstep, threatening all she holds most dear.”
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
“12.21″ by Dustin Thomason / Friday, November 30, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is 12.21 by Dustin Thomason.
Read this novel before 12/21/12. After that, it may not be available.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
Conspiracy theories and doomsday predictions do nothing for me in real life, but they are great springboards of fiction. The doomsday prediction in the Maya calendar that the world will end on December 21, 2012 is a case-in-point and the backdrop for the exciting pseudo-science thriller from Dustin Thomason, “12.21″ It didn’t help me that my office manager had a sneezing cold and my family had rare steak on the very night I sat down to read a book about the end of the world via prion disease.
Reminds me of a cross between Michael Crichton and Dan Brown. I do enjoy puzzle novels so this was easy for me to get into. Painstakingly historically researched – even more probably historically than medically – if you will allow yourself to suspend disbelief (which you have to in some spots) and ignore coincidences and just going along for the ride, you’ll find it suspenseful and difficult to put down, if not educational regarding the culture of the Maya. It’s a fast ride with the ultimate stakes: the end of civilization.
I’m drawn to books that have unrelated stories (this has two) that come together tidily in the end. You have to give Thomason credit for attempting to intellectually tackle two big subjects intertwined within the same educated, smart book. If you read it, I’m confident you will enjoy it.
Something I did find interesting about this, which has nothing to do with the book, is that the hardcover is $15.09 with free shipping on Amazon and the Kindle Edition is $13.99. For you math geeks, that’s only $1.10 difference. I don’t recall seeing such a small spread before. Not making a judgement either way, is this the start of a new trend in eBook pricing? As a writer, you hope so. As a reader, it gives you pause.
From Amazon:
“From the co-author of the two-million copy mega-bestseller The Rule of Four comes a riveting thriller with a brilliant premise based on the 2012 apocalypse phenomenon – perfect for readers of Steve Berry, Preston and Child, and Dan Brown.
For decades, December 21, 2012, has been a touchstone for doomsayers worldwide. It is the date, they claim, when the ancient Maya calendar predicts the world will end.
In Los Angeles, two weeks before, all is calm. Dr. Gabriel Stanton takes his usual morning bike ride, drops off the dog with his ex-wife, and heads to the lab where he studies incurable prion diseases for the CDC. His first phone call is from a hospital resident who has an urgent case she thinks he needs to see. Meanwhile, Chel Manu, a Guatemalan American researcher at the Getty Museum, is interrupted by a desperate, unwelcome visitor from the black market antiquities trade who thrusts a duffel bag into her hands.
By the end of the day, Stanton, the foremost expert on some of the rarest infections in the world, is grappling with a patient whose every symptom confounds and terrifies him. And Chel, the brightest young star in the field of Maya studies, has possession of an illegal artifact that has miraculously survived the centuries intact: a priceless codex from a lost city of her ancestors. This extraordinary record, written in secret by a royal scribe, seems to hold the answer to her life’s work and to one of history’s great riddles: why the Maya kingdoms vanished overnight. Suddenly it seems that our own civilization might suffer this same fate.
With only days remaining until December 21, 2012, Stanton and Chel must join forces before time runs out.
Advance praise for 12.21
Dustin Thomason, M.D., will invariably be compared to Michael Crichton, M.D., and 12.21 will be favorably compared to The Andromeda Strain. Both authors have written first-rate medical thrillers, the kind of fact-based fiction that is very scary but also very entertaining. Thomason knows his stuff, and it shows on every page. I truly could not put this book down. – Nelson DeMille”
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
“Run to Ground” by D.P. Lyle / Wednesday, November 28, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Run To Ground by D.P. Lyle.
What would you do if someone brutally murdered your child?
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
The thriller “Run to Ground” is D.P. Lyle’s best work of fiction. I served for four years on the national board of Mystery Writers of America with Doug Lyle. I know him as an incredibly knowledgeable reference for forensic science, one of the most delightful guys I’ve ever been around, winner or nominee of awards to make your head spin, and last, but certainly not least, an incredible writer. He has always reminded me of a bag of potato chips (you can’t read just one). He tops himself here.
The story takes place in Alabama, from whence Doug originally hails. Subject is hard on, focusing on the nightmare of every parent: some sicko kills your child. Just the subject matter alone brings out the emotions, not to mention the subject matter handled deftly as it is here. There are at least two major twists that will flip you around and it’s worth a read just to analyze the plotting.
It’s not all morose, though. There is good laughing banter between the characters and, as with anything Doug does, it is educational as well as entertaining. Needless to say, the bestselling author of “Forensics for Dummies” handles the forensic aspects deftly. This is an incredible book from an incredible writer and an even more incredible man. You’ll do yourself a favor by putting this book on your “next to read” list and, if your interest is forensics, check out his blog (http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/). Every click or page turn will make you – “just one more” – stick your hand into the bag.
From Amazon:
“What would you do if someone brutally murdered your only child, served only months in jail because of a technicality, and continually taunted, even threatened, you from behind bars? Could you hide your growing rage from family and friends? Could you gun the killer down as he left prison? Could you change your ID and leave behind your entire life – family, friends, jobs, house – and just disappear? Could Tim and Martha Foster do this?
Forensic evidence and criminal behavior expert Dub Walker, along with best friend and homicide investigator T-Tommy Tortelli and ex-wife and TV reporter Claire McBride, employ all their skills to track down the Fosters.
But the murder of Walter Whitiker is not as simple as it seems. Tim and Martha are not the only ones who want Walt dead. Someone has twisted the evidence to keep the hot light of suspicion on the Fosters.
Will the real killer please step forward? Sorry, Dub, you’re going to have to work hard to solve this one.”
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
“Death of a Schoolgirl” by Joanna Campbell Slan / Tuesday, November 27, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Death of a Schoolgirl by Joanna Campbell Slan.
Who would have thought Jane Eyre was such an excellent detective?
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
Joanna Campbell Slan’s new historical series stars Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.
“Death of a Schoolgirl,” the first in this historical cozy series, picks up where the classic leaves off. I’m not big on coming-of-age stories (which the original was) and found this definitely more interesting. However, it does pick up where the original story stops, so fans of Jane Eyre will happily devour this, especially since Slan has captured the original voice of Bronte. From the first page, this story quickly pulls you in and Slan wastes no time getting into the meat. I never thought I would read about Jane Eyre getting beaten by thugs, but it does happen. (Beats her fainting on the doorstep of the River’s in the original.)
Jane’s former pupil Adele Varens sends a plea to Jane to come and help. What is at first believed to be a natural death becomes a murder investigation. Slan, best known for her Kiki Lowenstein books, plays fair, dropping clues throughout the novel as to the identity of the killer, but is successful in concealing them until the very end. She’s done an incredible job with the plotting within, what I would consider, to be a character driven novel. One book, the best of both worlds, led by a strong proactive heroine.
It’s always tough to take on an established literary figure. There is always going to be fall-out from devotees. However, I think Slan has done a great job in not only capturing Bronte’s voice, but “Death of a Schoolgirl” is also an excellent example of how to effectively and successfully take on a beloved literary figure.
Whether you’ve read the original or not (whether you like the original or not), if you like historical cozies and light murder, you will enjoy this book. This is a great new series in the making and an incredibly fresh story.
From Amazon:
“In her classic tale, Charlotte Bronte introduced readers to the strong-willed and intelligent Jane Eyre. Picking up where Bronte left off, Jane’s life has settled into a comfortable pattern: She and her beloved Edward Rochester are married and have an infant son. But Jane soon finds herself in the midst of new challenges and threats to those she loves…
Jane can’t help but fret when a letter arrives from Adele Varens – Rochester’s ward, currently at boarding school – warning that the girl’s life is in jeopardy. Although it means leaving her young son and invalid husband, and despite never having been to a city of any size, Jane feels strongly compelled to go to London to ensure Adele’s safety.
But almost from the beginning, Jane’s travels don’t go as planned – she is knocked about and robbed, and no one believes that the plain, unassuming Jane could indeed be the wife of a gentleman; even the school superintendent takes her for an errant new teacher. But most shocking to Jane is the discovery that Adele’s schoolmate has recently passed away under very suspicious circumstances, yet no one appears overly concerned. Taking advantage of the situation, Jane decides to pose as the missing instructor – and soon uncovers several unsavory secrets, which may very well make her the killer’s next target…”
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
“Man in the Blue Moon” by Michael Morris / Monday, November 26, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Man in the Blue Moon by Michael Morris.
The rich get richer and the poor…keep fighting them off.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
You have to ask yourself, what has Michael Morris been doing all these years? Morris is one of our best Southern writers and I think it has been at least 10 years since he released his last book…until “Man in the Blue Moon.” I guess he was storing up the power shot. This is a wonderful book set in Florida during World War I.
A stranger comes to town in one of the most unusual entrances I think I’ve read. “He could never relieve himself of the sins of the father. The past shaded his mind until at times he was certain darkness had overtaken him.” As I read, I was not sure, at times, if it was the stranger’s story or the woman whom he befriends, but by the end, it becomes clear that it is the story of all of them, the entire community. There is a nice mix of quirky characters. Highly emotional. The stranger, the protagonist, the three diverse sons, the caretaker, the balanced ministers, the odd little girl, even the absentee husband, and all the other more minor characters are all well-defined. The plot and characters are in constant forward motion: they are changing characters within a changing world with fundamentals solidly set in the past. “Mark my word, we’re living in the end times.” As a Southerner, I’ve heard that before…actually last Sunday.
It is Southern literature, but it is also a work that breaks out of the box of locality. You’ll find themes of love, community, and forgiveness, which are some of the strongest catalysts in a writer’s toolbox. It takes place outside Apalachicola, Florida in a dying town called Dead Lakes, but it could have just as easily been set anywhere. These are real people. You see it in the way they react to the same singular situations: “Beyond belief.” “Lifesaver.” “Voodoo.” It’s one of those books that will have you wondering about the characters long after you’ve put the novel away.
“Innocence and justice sometimes don’t go hand in hand,” Michael Morris writes, but they certainly are emotional powerhouses to write about. Will she keep her farm? Will she not? Much healing water flows through the Dead Lakes before we finally have that answer.
From Amazon:
“He’s a gambler at best. A con artist at worst, her aunt had said of the handlebar-mustached man who snatched Ella Wallace away from her dreams of studying art in France. Eighteen years later, that man has disappeared, leaving Ella alone and struggling to support her three sons. While the world is embroiled in World War I, Ella fights her own personal battle to keep the mystical Florida land that has been in her family for generations from the hands of an unscrupulous banker. When a mysterious man arrives at Ella’s door in an unconventional way, he convinces her he can help her avoid foreclosure, and a tenuous trust begins. But as the fight for Ella’s land intensifies, it becomes evident that things are not as they appear. Hypocrisy and murder soon shake the coastal town of Apalachicola and jeopardize Ella’s family.”
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
“The Dark Winter” by David Mark / Monday, November 19, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is The Dark Winter by David Mark.
You can cheat death once, but not a second time.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
A sense of place is set. “This chilly, complicated Yorkshire air, laced with the salt and spray of the coast, the smoke of the oil refineries, the burned cocoa of the chocolate factory, the pungency of the animal feed unloaded from the super-container at the docks this morning, the cigarettes and fried food of a people in decline and a city on its arse.” I get the picture. “Cold as the grave.”
A complicated officer, one who starts complicated and stays that way, at odds with his family, his work, his co-workers, his profession, himself. A man who must remind himself that “if he is hunting evil, he must be on the side of good.” A man betrayed by those he thought were for the truth. A giant of an officer who is comfortable sitting at his desk researching on the computer who, “for the first time in as long as he can remember, decides to act on impulse.”
A strong backstory, the fears of which return. Several deaths – murders and appearing non-murders – all seemingly unrelated. And the guilt of borrowed time. “They’re taking away their second chances at life. People who survived when nobody else did. They’re being umped off in the same way that somebody thinks they should have died. That means something.”
British crime journalist David Mark has done a wonderful job with this exciting debut novel, sure to be the beginning of a very successful new thriller series. It was masterfully well-plotted and I wondered how he was going to bring three such unrelated incidents around. I look forward to the subsequent books. I would like to hear more adventures in Hull, a thriving fishing town until the industry went belly-up, “its drunken occupants, its boarded-up shops and litter-strewn doorways.” And Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy, himself a fish out of water, a man not comfortable in his own massive skin.
From Amazon:
“A series of suspicious deaths has rocked Hull, a port city in England as old and mysterious as its bordering sea. In the middle of a Christmas service, a teenage girl adopted from Sierra Leone is chopped down with a machete in front of the entire congregation. A retired trawlerman is found dead at the scene of a tragedy he escaped, the only survivor, forty years ago. An ugly fire rages in a working-class neighborhood, and when the flames die away, a body is discovered, burned beyond recognition.
Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy is sure there is a connection between these crimes, but his fellow officers are not convinced—they would rather get a quick arrest than bother themselves with finding the true killer. Torn between his police duties and his aching desire to spend more time with his pregnant wife and young son, McAvoy is an unlikely hero: a family man more obsessed with being a decent cop, a physically imposing man far more comfortable exploring databases that being gung-ho with his muscle. Compelled by his keen sense of justice, McAvoy decides to strike out alone—but in the depths of the dark winter, on the hunt for a murderer, it’s difficult to forget what happened the last time he found himself on the wrong side of a killer’s blade…”
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
“Death in the Floating City” by Tasha Alexander / Wednesday, November 14, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander.
Venice. Cat fights. Ill-fated love. Murder.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
With “Death in the Floating City,” Tasha Alexander has written what I think is probably her best book in the seventh installment of the Lady Emily Hargreaves series. Lady Emily and her husband Colin are summoned to help solve the murder of Emily’s childhood associate’s father-in-law. Emily can’t stand her childhood friend. “Exchanging social niceties with Emma was far less pleasant than thinking about murder.” Ouch. The dialogue between these two women is delightful.
I’d put this in a more historical cozy category. It is a light book mixing love and murder in 19th Century Venice. Those who like a little romance with their mystery will love the descriptions of “the Floating City,” the parallel story of the 400 year-old family feud, and the zinger thrown in at the end. I won’t write more because I don’t wish to spoil the plot for those who wish to take the gondola ride. Suffice it to say, if you have not read any of Alexander’s work before, this one would be a grand one to push off with.
From Amazon:
“The Huffington Post calls Tears of Pearl author Tasha Alexander “one to watch – and read” and her new Lady Emily mystery set in Venice proves it!
Years ago, Emily’s childhood nemesis, Emma Callum, scandalized polite society when she eloped to Venice with an Italian count. But now her father-in-law lies murdered, and her husband has vanished. There’s no one Emma can turn to for help but Emily, who leaves at once with her husband, the dashing Colin Hargreaves, for Venice. There, her investigations take her from opulent palazzi to slums, libraries, and bordellos. Emily soon realizes that to solve the present day crime, she must first unravel a centuries old puzzle. But the past does not give up its secrets easily, especially when these revelations might threaten the interests of some very powerful people.”
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. For more information on Killer Nashville: A Conference for Thriller, Suspense, Mystery Writers & Literature Lovers go to our website at http://www.killernashville.com.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“Luther: The Calling” by Neil Cross / Monday, November 12, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is Luther: The Calling by Neil Cross.
Womb raiders. A missing child. A serial killer.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
I’m a speed reader. I read one book a night. This one I had to take slowly like bites of a great home-grilled steak. It was too good to rush through. Even at a slower pace, though, once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. Frankly, the book is nightmarish. The bad guy will give you the willies. He’s a madman. He’s a genius.
Here’s the freaky part: as author Cross writes, “People put so much of their lives out there. On Facebook and wherever. There’s so much information on who we are, how we’re feeling, what we’re doing,” who is in our family, who we have as friends, even where we are going to be tonight. For those paranoid people such as crime writers like myself, I started looking at what I’ve been posting here and there in social media and thinking I need to cancel my Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress accounts. Unarguably, someone could learn all about you from the public information you give them and then do you in. Or worse: your family. Think about this the next time you post, for example, a picture of your child on Facebook.
For those who don’t know: “Luther: The Calling” is the prequel for the BBC highly popular “Luther” TV series. This is not for the squeamish. It is about a person who is stealing children for the most godawful reasons. It is also about a cop pushing the edge of acceptability. I wouldn’t call it vigilante fiction, but it comes very close. About page 179 of the edition of the book I was reading, you’ll be feeling the same emotions as the police detective. There are times, as you read, you wouldn’t mind grabbing a baseball bat and going along with him because it just feels justified. There are slimes in this novel with no redeeming characteristics: lots of thugs and one woman who, incidentally, is more morally disgusting though understandable than the thugs themselves. Disagree if you like, but my opinion holds. And there’s humor; for example, there’s a woman has been burglarized so she tells the police, “I’d like a dog. I’m scared to get one in case I take a fall and can’t feed it.” This stuff has to be there. You need it to break the tension.
Neil Cross is an Edgar winner and sole writer / creator of the BBC TV series, “Luther.” It’s not surprising he is an Edgar winner. “Luther: The Calling” is written in present tense so there is a sense of immediacy about it. The use of present tense when writing (for academic reasons not discussed here) doesn’t work in most fiction. It works wonderfully here. It gives the gritty piece an extra edge. (It’s also the form for screenplays, which may be a carry-over from Cross’s day job.)
In “Luther,” I love the personal story. The personal story is deep and is not just busy activity showing the personal life of the character. Lots of times, for me, the personal stories in thrillers and mysteries don’t help deepen my understanding of the character; to me, they’re a drag on the story, things best to be skipped. That’s because they are done poorly, thrown in because some editor tells some unequipped author you need some personal B stories to flesh out the characters, or some author throws it in on his/her own thinking it will help the reader identify with his/her protagonist. I’ve seen the advice in writing books and it is blatantly wrong. If the personal stories are not coming out of the spine of the story itself, then they shouldn’t be there. They become nothing more than filler. Here is an example of how it is done right. In “Luther,” the personal stories are moments to be savored for even the personal stories of the main characters relate directly to the progression of the story, the heinousness of the plot. I feel for Luther. And the way Cross has written it, you can see how Luther has become who he is. I became engrossed, watching John Luther’s life fall apart. It was like watching a train wreck. As his wife observed, looking at pictures of Luther as a younger man when they had met, the wife (Zoe) thinks “Somewhere along the line, that boy had joined the dead, and Zoe had spent years waving to him from a far shore, trying to call him back.” The story is just so real that you can’t help but empathetically self-reflect. “Our choices reveal us, don’t they?” It’s funny that, no matter how much we dream, life may not turn out that way. As Cross writes, “Closure may never come. And if it does come, it may not be what you were hoping for.”
This is one of the best crime novels I’ve read this year. The suspense keeps you riveted until the very last page. There are doubts, even as you near the end, about whether Luther will succeed or fail. I will not be a spoiler, but I will say author Cross does not care if he takes your favorite character out. If Luther wins, great. If he fails, we have to accept that, as well. Life isn’t always tied up in perfect ribbons. Regardless, this is one of those novels I’m going to have to read again just to appreciate all the workings under the hood. I can tell you: there are many.
From Amazon:
“In this stellar debut by journalist turned Washington insider and political writer Charles Robbins, an eager politico finds himself on the rise only to discover the perilous costs of success.
When Henry Hatten wangles a job as communications director for Nebraska SenatorTom Peele’s presidential campaign, he breathes a huge sigh of relief. Smarting over a recent gubernatorial campaign in which his pulling a political punch may have cost his boss the race, he’s thrilled to be back in action.
This time around, Henry is determined to shuck his ethical qualms. But he soon finds he’s facing more than he imagined. The new gig turns out to be rife with scandal and corruption – just the kind of politics Henry so fervently sought to banish. Events go from bad to worse as the depths of greed emerge, tracking the acceleration and excitement in the campaign itself. Led by a ruthless chairman and filled with warring aides, hired thugs, fractious union bosses, and snooping reporters, the Peele campaign is shaping up to be quite the circus. And that’s before Henry’s ex arrives on the scene . . .
But when someone close to the campaign is murdered, Henry can no longer turn a blind eye. As he conducts his own covert investigation, still more secrets emerge. So deeply entrenched in the politics and manipulation, Henry must face a staggering reality in which his values are no longer his own. But can he extricate himself and salvage the career he loves? And can he do so with his soul intact? A brilliantly plotted and characterized political novel, The Accomplice takes readers into the guts of a brutal presidential campaign. “
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join ourFacebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
“The Accomplice” by Charles Robbins / Thursday, October 25, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford
Today’s featured book is The Accomplice by Charles Robbins.
If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.
Why Clay Stafford chose this book:
In the race for a new president, this is a political thriller in the truest sense, a behind-the-scenes look at the America we have become. Not since “Primary Colors” have I had so much fun reading a politically based novel. Written in fast-flowing detail that only a Washington insider could provide, this is a tour de force of characters and plotting, choices and decisions.
The story revolves around Henry Hatten, communications director of Republican Senator Peele’s bid for the White House. “Just saying the words, ‘I’m running for President of the United States’ is an awesome act. The sheer gall, to stand up and say you can lead the free world better than anybody else.” Peele is a centrist in the race and “about the only moderate Republican.” Peele appears to be the Golden Boy, another Teflon Man, but “up close, Henry noticed that Peele hadn’t shaved the back of his neck, leaving stubble that extended from hairline to collar. The guy wasn’t perfect.” Thus, the foreshadowing to come.
I was immediately lost in the world and found it easily accessible because of the way it was written. Charles Robbins is definitely the author to write this story. It is his debut into fiction. Prior, his beat has been nonfiction. He has co-written three nonfiction books with co-writers former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and former Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter. He has run press shops for two Congressman, a Senator, a gubernatorial campaign, and one presidential election. As a navy reserve officer, he was a speech writer for the Secretary of the Navy. He has the background to get it right. All of this explains why this book is so good.
Peele not only has to take on the opposing party, but also members of his own. “Rise and stifle the shrill cries of the extremist right that hijacked the party.” It certainly shows the absurdity that is within politics as in the suggestion, “Build an Iowa steering committee.” “What does a steering committee steer?” “Doesn’t steer anything. Doesn’t do anything. We put a checkbox on fund-raising letters inviting donors to join the committee. They feel important and we look like we got a wide, deep bench.” It dives into the shallow minds of the voters informing us via those in power that “people don’t vote for you. They vote for the character you play. For the image, the icon, the Mattel action figure.” And it explores the conflict, even between the various factions of government (attributed to LBJ) such as “the difference between the Senate and the House is the difference between the chicken salad and the chicken shit.” As Truman once stated, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”
This is one of those must-read books. Even after this current election, this is a timeless American novel that should be a part of every library collection and should be read at least once every four years. Charles Robbins is definitely an author to watch. He is currently working on an upcoming historical political novel involving the U.S. Senate. I think he has found his genre and his audience. I hope to be reading his work for a very long time.
From Amazon:
“In this stellar debut by journalist turned Washington insider and political writer Charles Robbins, an eager politico finds himself on the rise only to discover the perilous costs of success.
When Henry Hatten wangles a job as communications director for Nebraska SenatorTom Peele’s presidential campaign, he breathes a huge sigh of relief. Smarting over a recent gubernatorial campaign in which his pulling a political punch may have cost his boss the race, he’s thrilled to be back in action.
This time around, Henry is determined to shuck his ethical qualms. But he soon finds he’s facing more than he imagined. The new gig turns out to be rife with scandal and corruption – just the kind of politics Henry so fervently sought to banish. Events go from bad to worse as the depths of greed emerge, tracking the acceleration and excitement in the campaign itself. Led by a ruthless chairman and filled with warring aides, hired thugs, fractious union bosses, and snooping reporters, the Peele campaign is shaping up to be quite the circus. And that’s before Henry’s ex arrives on the scene . . .
But when someone close to the campaign is murdered, Henry can no longer turn a blind eye. As he conducts his own covert investigation, still more secrets emerge. So deeply entrenched in the politics and manipulation, Henry must face a staggering reality in which his values are no longer his own. But can he extricate himself and salvage the career he loves? And can he do so with his soul intact? A brilliantly plotted and characterized political novel, The Accomplice takes readers into the guts of a brutal presidential campaign. “
If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join ourFacebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.
Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!
– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville
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