KN Magazine: Reviews
The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza / Review by Holly Chaille
THE GIRL IN THE ICE
By Robert Bryndza
Grand Central Publishing
$12.99
978-1538713426
April 24, 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
A cold night, fog in the air, and moonlight casting unreliable shadows. She’s upset to the point of wandering so far no one will hear her cry for help. This is the kind of prologue with layers of description that create an atmosphere so tense I was instantly transported to the setting of the crime. Even knowing something terrible was gaining on her, I couldn’t look away. And I didn’t until the last page of this sprint-paced story, which lands perfectly at an ending that satisfies the whodunit faithful.
A British crime mystery that hit several bestseller lists, Robert Bryndza’s The Girl in the Ice introduces a strong female protagonist in Detective Erika Foster. A woman with very recent demons still haunting her, Erika expects to be on desk duty for the foreseeable future. But an old friend, feeling she needs to get back in the game, calls her into a high profile murder investigation of a young socialite whose influential parents seem hell-bent on preventing Foster from solving the case.
Navigating her new team—not all of whom are thrilled to bring her on—adds tension to an already stressed out Foster, whose disdain for authority and fragile psyche take a few chapters to figure out. As protagonists go, she’s well-written and believable, giving the reader more than enough personality to connect with.
With the body count rising Detective Foster challenges those around her to dig deeper to find the common denominator. But the closer she gets the more pressure she gets from her higher-ups to reroute her investigation away from the socialite’s famous family. Foster is abruptly removed from the case and, as strong women are wont to do, seizes the opportunity to go even harder toward her goal. She’s a brilliant, fearless strategist with no apologies for her direct approach, and this is why the series has sold millions of copies.
The dialogue is the strongest aspect of the story, giving the minor characters dimension and depth. Bryndza threads the kind of nuance throughout the dialogue that makes everyone seem like a viable suspect. Fans of Elizabeth George and Ruth Rendell will appreciate the uncompromising style and British elegance of his writing and character building.
Though this was Bryndza’s first in the Erika Foster series he’s just released number six so fans are advised to select a good bottle of red and hunker down with a stack of these page-turning thrillers and get to know Detective Erika Foster.
Holly Chaille is a member of Sisters in Crime and the daughter of a librarian. Growing up in the stacks cultivated her lifelong love of suspense and thrillers, and she's currently querying her first mystery and developing her blog at HollyAChaille.com.
A Matter of Chance by Julie Maloney / Review by Sheila Sobel
BOOK OF THE DAY
When it comes to your children, everything has the potential to become your worst nightmare. Like most parents, Maddy Stewart kept those fears locked away until the day Vinni, her eight-year-old daughter, went missing. In her debut novel, A Matter of Chance, Julie Maloney deftly weaves loss, love, terror, and hope together in a story that will keep the reader turning pages.
From the Jersey Shore to Manhattan to Germany, Maddy searches not only for her daughter but for herself. The adjustment from wife and mother to single mom was difficult. But now, as the mother of a missing child, Maddy’s world has capsized. She doesn’t know where her daughter is. She no longer knows who she is, or how she fits into this world. Her faith in humanity is shaken. Everyone Maddy ever trusted failed her, her mother, her ex-husband Steve, her childhood friend Kay. Added to the growing list is the kindly German couple, Hilda and Rudy, who, as chance would have it, lived down the beach from her summer rental. There was no reason for Maddy to suspect that Hilda and Rudy had ulterior motives when they showed interest in her daughter.
As the years pass without news of Vinni, Maddy’s new normal begins to take shape. She finds an ally in Detective John D’Orfini. She takes comfort in a return to her artistic roots through her mentor Evelyn. She rebuilds her once-broken friendship with Kay.
Julie Maloney’s debut is an adult coming of age novel beautifully wrapped in a mystery. A Matter of Chance is a reminder of how fragile our existence is, how life can change instantly from a sunny day at the beach to the depths of despair. It is also the reminder that, like Maddy, we all have untapped inner strength and hope that can carry us through the mysteries of life.
Sheila Sobel’s debut novel Color Blind was the winner of the 2017 Killer Nashville Reader’s Choice Award for Best Tween/YA Fiction and Finalist for the 2017 Silver Falchion Award for Best YA Fiction. She was also nominated for the 2016 Allegra Johnson Prize in Novel Writing through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.
As a Senior Auditor for Warner Bros., Sheila oversaw production costs for films including “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the “Matrix” trilogy, “The Dark Knight” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” After working on 70+ Independent and Studio movies, Sheila stepped away from the film business to complete her first YA novel.
Sheila is a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW), Sisters in Crime (SinC), Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Children’s Book Writers-LA (CBW-LA) and Women in Film (WIF). She lives in Southern California with her husband, two rescue dogs and one rescue cat.
Forever Young by Henry Hack / Review by Sheila Sobel
BOOK OF THE DAY
Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Nominee
Together again in book four of the A Danny Boyland Novel series, Detective Danny Boyland and his partner, Virgil “Spider” Webb catch, then solve a murder in record time. When the shooter confesses and pleads guilty, the chief is content to close the case. Add another one to the department’s best closers’ record. Danny and Spider recognize that almost always, murder is messy, and this one is just a little too neat. When FBI Agent Mike Havlek informs the duo that the victim was in witness protection, the fourth protected witness to be murdered, their instincts are validated.
On loan to the FBI, Danny and Spider team up with Agent Havlek and the chase begins before a fifth witness becomes the next victim. Who is leaking the witness list and why? Conspiracy theories and a search for the Fountain of Youth lead the trio, along with the U.S. Marshalls and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, pregnant wife of Mike Havlek, from the depths of humanity to the highest offices in the nation. The Fountain of Youth, science fiction or fact? Worth killing for? Definitely. Billions could be made. The rich could control everyone’s lives forever. Power and greed propel this fast-paced police procedural to a satisfying conclusion.
Author Henry Hack’s twenty-two years in the Nassau County, NY Police Department serve him well, as Forever Young possesses an authenticity that keeps the reader turning the pages and hungry for the release of the next book in the A Danny Boyland Novel series.
Danny Boy (2009), the first novel in the series featuring NYMPD Detective Daniel Boyland, was followed by Cases Closed (2012), Mommy, Mommy (2013), and now, Forever Young (2017).
Sheila Sobel’s debut novel Color Blind was the winner of the 2017 Killer Nashville Reader’s Choice Award for Best Tween/YA Fiction and Finalist for the 2017 Silver Falchion Award for Best YA Fiction. She was also nominated for the 2016 Allegra Johnson Prize in Novel Writing through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.
As a Senior Auditor for Warner Bros., Sheila oversaw production costs for films including “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the “Matrix” trilogy, “The Dark Knight” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” After working on 70+ Independent and Studio movies, Sheila stepped away from the film business to complete her first YA novel.
Sheila is a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW), Sisters in Crime (SinC), Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Children’s Book Writers-LA (CBW-LA) and Women in Film (WIF). She lives in Southern California with her husband, two rescue dogs and one rescue cat.
Bluff by Michael Kardos / Review by Janet Brantley
BOOK OF THE DAY
Bluff, by Michael Kardos, gave me pause. Perhaps I should have seen it coming, the final act, but I didn’t. I was so stunned by it that it’s taken me a while to write this review. I had to distance myself from the action to realize just how good this book is, what a satisfying story Kardos has told.
Bluff is the first-person account of a gifted young magician who, at twenty-seven, seems to be going nowhere fast. After dazzling the world of magic a decade earlier, Natalie Webb is trying to convince herself and everyone else she’s ready for a comeback. Unfortunately, one of her simple card tricks goes awry and she is soon fending off a lawsuit that seems destined to drive her all the way into the poor house.
Enter Ellen—another woman who can do amazing things with her hands, this time at the poker table—with an offer Natalie can’t afford to refuse. Together the two women will infiltrate a high-stakes poker game and come away with a cool million dollars. All Natalie must do is turn her back on everything she loves about being a magician—and become a card cheat of the highest order.
Kardos does a masterful job of taking us inside two always intriguing worlds—magic in all its glamorous sleight-of-hand intrigue on the one hand, and extreme card playing on the other.
Speaking of hands, Natalie’s are magical. At least that’s what onlookers like her new attorney, Brock, believe. It’s hard for him to accept that she won’t tell him her card secrets, but when she carries out the explanation in her mind (“…learning the palms and passes and false shuffles…over many years and thousands of hours…until…you’d be fooled from a foot away”), we fully understand and are somewhat offended ourselves when he offers her $100 for the secret.
Bluff revolves around Natalie’s hands, from first page to last. What starts out as a seemingly innocent series of encounters become, over time, a dark and sinister look into a game of bluff gone terribly wrong. The denouement gives new meaning to the term “all in.” Surprisingly, Natalie perseveres, and though she’s not in the best of places at the end of the book, we are able to classify her as a survivor who can make the best of a bad (horrible, really) situation.
Kardos has left the door open for a sequel. If he writes one, I will certainly read it.
Last Stand by Mickey Spillane / Review by G. Robert Frazier
BOOK OF THE DAY
Mickey Spillane lives again! The grand master of mystery/pulp fiction and creator of private detective Mike Hammer may have passed away in 2006, but fans will be pleased to celebrate what would have been his 100th birthday on March 20 with a new novel. Billed as his final completed, unpublished novel, The Last Stand hits bookstores courtesy of Hard Case Crime.
While it’s not the gritty, in-your-face detective noir Spillane was famous for, and Hammer is absent from its pages, The Last Stand is nonetheless an entertaining adventure. The novel begins when pilot Joe Gillian’s BT-13A plane inexplicably loses power during an old-timer’s cross-country junket, forcing him to land in a desert somewhere in the U.S.
Joe’s arrival doesn’t go unnoticed, as Native American Sequoia Pete, abandoned by his own horse while searching for artifacts, comes upon him. Together, the men are forced to hike fifty miles back to Pete’s village where Joe hopes he’ll find help to get his plane airborne again. The men learn more about each other along the way: Pete’s not a very good Indian in the traditional sense, his sister has an engineering degree, and rattlesnake makes a decent dinner when there’s nothing else to be had.
But it’s the discovery of an unusual glass-like arrowhead of unknown substance and origin that provides the mystery, and impetus, for the remainder of the story. The shard draws the attention of both ruthless businessman Maxie Angelo and a cadre of federal agents, all of whom want the shard and any similar artifacts at any cost. Joe, meanwhile, has problems of his own as his attraction to Pete’s sister, Running Fox, draws the ire of jealous boyfriend Big Arms. All of the plotlines come to an action-packed finale filled with a wild airplane ride, explosions, guns, and, yes, rattlesnakes.
The adventure takes a lot of unexpected turns and Spillane weaves in a lot of threads in just a couple hundred pages, but that’s all part and parcel of Spillane’s brilliance. Combined with his trademark sharp dialogue and simple prose style, he keeps the tale moving at an entertaining clip.
For Spillane fans yearning for more traditional crime fare, The Last Stand includes the novelette “A Bullet for Satisfaction,” written early in his career. Reminiscent of early Hammer novels, Bullet involves a dishonored police detective gunning for justice against the mob and a corrupt police force.
Longtime Spillane collaborator and 2017 Killer Nashville guest of honor Max Allan Collins writes the introduction, recounting the origins of both stories for this centennial publication.
Robert Frazier is a freelance writer and former reporter and editor at several Middle Tennessee newspapers. He also reviews books for BookPage and BloggingforBooks and has served as a script reader for both the Austin Film Festival and Nashville Film Festival screenwriting competitions.
Cut You Down by Sam Wiebe / Review by Tim Suddeth
BOOK OF THE DAY
Cut You Down (Quercus, 2018) is the follow-up to the best-selling Invisible Dead and second in the Wakeland series by Sam Wiebe. It follows PI Dave Wakeland as he’s hired by a college professor to search for one of her students who she may or may not have feelings for. The girl’s disappearance becomes much more than he expected when he discovers that several million dollars have also gone missing and she was connected to a notorious family of criminals with a penchant for violence.
He is helped by the police officer and on-again-off-again lover, Sonia Drego, who has her own problems. She has doubts about her partner but doesn’t feel free to go to anyone. Wakeland is an ex-cop himself and any bridges to the force have been burned long ago.
Wakeland encounters more than his share of threats, beat-downs, and double crosses. Everyone around him has their own agendas. Although he’s alone and lost, he’ll never give up.
Set in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the author lives, the city becomes another character contributing the right amount of atmosphere and darkness. Wakeland harkens back to such private eyes as Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and other crime noir detectives by Dashielle Hammett, Raymond Chandler, et al, where the lines between good and bad were blurred at best, they never knew whom they could trust, and the criminals were as colorful as the good guys. With fast action and numerous twists, the reader will find themselves wanting to get to the next page.
Sam Wiebe has built a reputation for creating PIs who seem straight out of the pulp fiction classics. Cut You Down will only add to it. I’ m looking forward to seeing if Wakeland is able to get back on his feet or what kind of haymaker life throws at him next.
The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley / Review by Bree Goodchild
BOOK OF THE DAY
"Today the world moves on, and I must find new ways to turn the truth into stories. The graveyard bears more mushrooms, clustering in soft wet shapes, yellow folds and rivulets, in the outlines of the women beneath the soil."
Whiteley's The Beautyis a powerful punch of 112 pages. It has been described as "weird," "speculative," and "disturbing." Recommended for lovers of Margaret Atwood and the late Ursula Le Guin this compelling novella tackles themes like feminism, gender relations, and age-related power struggles. Once you fall into the rabbit hole of The Beauty you will not come back the same.
Whiteley’s world is told through the voice of a young storyteller within the Group in the Valley of the Rocks. Nathan is the reader's eyes and ears among the men in the Group. Nate composes poetic tales of how men and women from all places came looking for sanctuary from a chaotic, technology-driven world. How all the women were now gone, eaten alive slowly by an incurable disease.
Nate also knows the forest holds a terrible secret. Within the shadows of the trees, beneath the soil in which the mushrooms grow, there lives an "other," a new Group that will rattle the lives of the men in the Valley. Is this alien "other" the missing piece to a crippled humanity, or a sinister being with its own agenda?
"Terror, hatred, panic and those stranger, softer feelings: they are there, but they do not crowd me or make me their puppet."
Weaving a story of science fiction, mystery, and post-apocalyptic thrills writer Aliya Whiteley challenges her readers to think beyond traditional storytelling, and to open their minds to the great "what if..." A myth in its own weight, The Beauty is a short story which keeps its readers up at night. You’ll be far too captivated by the strangeness to put it down for even a moment. Embrace the weird, surrender to the beauty.
Bree Goodchild is a recent graduate of Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville with a BA in English and Theatre Arts. She currently lives in Washington state with her beagle mix, Molly. A fan of a wide genre of books and authors, most recently Temple Grandin, Ira Glass, Terry Moore, Sebastian Barry, and Zora Neale Hurston.
The Devil Has A Black Dog by Jonathan Thurston / Review by Liz Gatterer
From the very first page, I felt sure that this was going to be an intriguing read. There are several letters that have been stylized with a dramatic font. It doesn’t take long to figure out that if you connect the letters, they spell out the message – “We need the key”. And just like that, I was hooked. The temptation to scroll through the pages and find all of the letters was almost overpowering – but I resisted. The special effects on the pages continued. Some pages were different shades, some had text arranged in different ways but it was never distracting, it helped to draw me into the story and in some cases, made the link between the what was written and what was being said much clearer. I believe when an author manipulates the text that way, it technically changes it from prose to poetry. I couldn’t agree more.
The main character in this novella is Titus Anderson. Titus has had a bad day. He lost his boyfriend, his job, his dealer want to kill him, the landlady will most likely evict him, the townspeople see him as a pariah, oh… and he drives a Prius. You would have to be a pretty cold-hearted person to not feel for Titus. He is cast as the anti-hero that would really have liked to be the hero but thinks he can’t be. I think this is a trap many people fall into and can’t see a way out of on their own. It’s an example of the “whether you think you can or think you can’t – you’re right” type of situation.
The people of Hollow Rapids, Massachusetts are split into two groups “Church Folk” and “Night Folk”. The former being those that conform to conventional standards of “good” but aren’t necessarily good people, and the later are those that won’t or can’t fit in that box. Titus is “Night Folk”. He recalls how when he was young, the world was full of color. But, as an adult – the world shifted to just black and white and he fell into the black category. More than once, he wishes he could be clean again. The hopelessness and isolation he feels are reflected in the background as the pages begin to darken from pure white to black. It is heartbreaking. Titus is tempted to just drive his car off the road and end it all. That is when he runs over the dog. But this is no ordinary dog. It is a demon. It is a demon sent to Earth by God to stop other demons. But should one trust a demon?
The Devil Has a Black dog is a fantastic read. For those of us that like stories that require a bit of thought and reflection to really appreciate, it is a rare treat. Fans of Neil Gaiman, Stephen King and maybe A.N. Roquelaure should really enjoy this updated parable about perils of vice and vengeance and the cost of sacrifice and virtue.
Black Wings of Cthulhu 5 edited by S. T. Joshi / Review by Todd Stailey
BLACK WINGS OF CTHULHU 5
Edited by S. T. Joshi
Titan Books
$14.95
ISBN 978-1785656910
Publication Date: January 16, 2018
Book of the Day
First of all, a big thank you to Clay Stafford and Katharine Carroll from Titan books for giving me the opportunity to review this book.Where shall I begin?...For starters, I will most definitely order the previous books in this series. This book was fabulous. I knew Black Wings of Cthulhu was going to be good when I saw that S.T. Joshi was the editor. He is the leading authority on all things Lovecraftian today. This tome contains a wonderful collection of stories that test one's sanity. Tales of otherworldly beings and cosmic horror that would have made Howard Phillips Lovecraft proud. It might have even made him smile. If you know Lovecraft, you'll get that. Wink, wink. These authors have proven that the Old Ones, the Elder Gods are alive and well.
One of my favorite stories from this book is by W. H. Pugmire titled "In Blackness Etched, My Name". It is only four and a half pages and they just ooze with Lovecraft's influence on his writing. Another great story is by Jason C. Eckhardt titled "The Walker in the Night". It's about a restaurant owner that becomes friends with Lovecraft. Very well done. Other wonderfully done tales included in this book are "The Black Abbess" by John Reppion, "The Organ of Chaos" by Donald Tyson, "Casting Fractals" by Sam Gafford, "The Red Witch of Chorazin" by Darrell Schweitzer and a poem titled "Lore" by Wade German. If you are a Lovecraft fan, this book is a must-have for your collection. I can't wait to get the first four volumes in my hands."I am Providence" H.P. Lovecraft Book 6 in the series is due to be released in October 2018, so you have a few months to get caught up!
Awkward Squad by Sophie Hénaff / Review by Grace Miller
AWKWARD SQUAD
By Sofie Hēnaff
Quercus
$24.95
ISBN 978-0857055767
Publication Date: April 3, 2018
Book of the Day
The perfect beach read for any Francophile has arrived! Sophie Hénaff’s The Awkward Squad (MacLehose Press) is the story of Anne Capestan whose once shining star in the Paris police force has dimmed after she fires one too many questionable shots. Instead of getting booted from the force, however, Capestan finds herself in charge of a new department: composed entirely of castoffs and rejects—including the detective who investigated her after her most recent incident—who are expected to babysit the city’s unsolvable cold cases. Capestan’s former mentor doesn’t even pretend the new division has any hope of solving a case; the detectives are expected to twiddle their thumbs, collect a paycheck, and, most importantly, stay out of trouble.
The Awkward Squad is a lighthearted police procedural that’s easy and fun to read. The clever banter and the story’s humor keep this novel upbeat, a nice alternative to gritty crime novels that focus and highlight the heinous details of a crime. Though there are a lot of French names to keep up with, the ensemble of characters is well drawn, each person (and one pampered pup) interesting and quirky in their own ways, making it easy for readers to remember who is who. In fact, the characters are my favorite part of the story. Hénaff has a grand ability to draw unique characters with humorous flaws that stop just short of being too hyperbolic. If you’re looking for something fun to read on the beach, this is it! Plus, the fact that the novel is originally French provides a nice change of pace from American police procedurals.
The Awkward Squad is the shelf—or, more specifically, the drafty apartment—where careers go to die, but underneath Capestan’s tarnished reputation, she’s still the hard-working bulldog who refuses to let a criminal go free and, soon, she and the few of her detectives who actually show up are investigating cases and transforming from misfits that don’t belong into a unified team, albeit a strange one.
But when the squad arrests the son of an important politician for dealing drugs, Capestan begins to suspect why the squad was created at all. The first arrest suggests that not all of the cases they’ve been given are as hopeless as they’ve been led to believe. Then, when the team discovers connections between two murders separated by almost a decade, Capestan and her team of misfits have to wonder if they’re being manipulated by the powers that be. Whatever the reason behind their banishment, the detectives in the new division won’t go quietly into obscurity after all.
Punishment by Scott J. Holliday / Review by E.J. Boyd
PUNISHMENT
By Scott J. Holliday
Thomas & Mercer
$24.95
ISBN 978-1503949058
Publication Date: February 1, 2018
Book of the Day
Let the punishment BE the crime...
Punishment is the first in a new detective series by Scott J. Holliday featuring Detective John Barnes. In this techno-thriller, there is a machine that can transpose the memories of one person to another - including the memories of the dead. The memories are not just what the person saw–they don't play like a movie–they are complete memories, including all the senses and what the person felt (fear, excitement, pleasure, pain, etc.). This is not a passive experience but one that seriously affects the person that has taken them on, they do not wear off. Like a real experience, they remain within the person's psyche. There is a commercial side to this new technology. Celebrities and prostitutes can sell their experiences and this has created "munkey's", the new addicts that cannot get enough. There is the practical side, where law enforcement can use the memories of victims (including the dead) to find the perpetrators of the crimes. And finally, there is the punitive side, where the machine is used as the punishment for a criminal. What could be worse than to actually experience the pain, suffering, panic, that you inflicted on someone else?
This is the third novel by Holliday, but the first one I have read. I think he is a very creative writer with a good character development and sense of story arc. There were a few instances where the story seemed to veer off course a bit, but all-in-all I very much enjoyed this novel. It was a quick but satisfying read. It is available for purchase, of course, but if you have a Kindle Unlimited membership you can give it a try for free! The second book in the series, Machine City is due to be published in October of this year.
The Disappeared by C.J. Box / Review by Danny Lindsey
THE DISAPPEARED
By C.J. BOX
G.P. Putnam's Sons
$27.00
ISBN 978-0399176623
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
Book of the Day
Who would have thought that a Wyoming Game Warden could be embroiled in so much murder, mayhem, and mystery that it would take at least 18 books to cover all of it? In C.J.Box’s latest in the Joe Pickett series, The Disappeared, (G.P. Putnam's Sons, March 2018) Joe once again finds himself in unfamiliar and potentially dangerous territory.
Wyoming’s new governor is different. Where his predecessor used Joe Pickett as a valuable asset in solving some of the most difficult cases, the new chief executive governs by threat and coercion. He sends Joe to investigate the months’ old disappearance of a female British executive, who failed to return from a week’s stay at a high-end guest ranch.
The more Joe learns the more complex and sinister the case becomes. Despite the fact that his oldest daughter is a working wrangler at the ranch, clues are few and far between. No one wants to talk about the missing woman, least of all the ranch manager. His position is that any publicity linking the ranch to her or her disappearance is bad publicity.
Joe’s closest friend and one-time federal fugitive Nate Romanowski follows Joe, for more than a single reason. A master falconer, he needs Joe’s help with a licensing situation; plus he is well aware that Joe’s special assignments more often than not require his own special brand of assistance, sometimes (always) outside of the legal ways of obtaining information.
Matters are complicated by the appearance of the disappeared woman’s sister and a British journalist, although the term journalist is utilized in its most all-embracing definition. He is little more than a muck-raking, headline-seeking hack, who spares no opportunity to disparage the area, the people, the state, and even the weather. He manages to so meddle in the investigation that Joe and the local law officials are sent into the wilderness on a wild goose chase which ends up an embarrassment for all involved except the journalist, who delights in its conclusion.
The Disappeared is well-told by an experienced storyteller, although not one to be the first Joe Pickett to read. Occasional references to people and places are best understood by having read some or all of the seventeen previous books in the series. But Joe Pickett fans will not be disappointed – this one is vintage Joe.
Danny Lindsey keeps trying to retire. After a 20-year Army career and a 25-year second one in the private sector, he’s finally settled down. His current gig is as the Veteran Employment Services Manager for a Huntsville, A.L. based non-profit, Still Serving Veterans. Both full careers were characterized by numerous writing assignments, from war plans to operating policies and procedures, then on to white papers, analyses of alternatives and competitive contract and grant proposals. Now his writing consists of blogs for the website www.ssv.org, podcasts for the local NPR affiliate, and a half dozen Pulitzer-worthy, albeit unpublished novels.
Update: Danny won the 2017 Killer Nashville Claymore Award with his manuscript Serial Justice – so he will not be unpublished for long!
Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich / Review by Danny Lindsey
HARDCORE TWENTY-FOUR
By Janet Evanovich
G.P. Putnam's Sons
$28.00
ISBN 978-0399179198
Publication Date: November 14, 2017
Book of the Day
Zombies are loose in the Burg, and Stephanie Plum is on the lookout for them. In Janet Evanovich’s latest in the Stephanie Plum series (Hard Core Twenty-Four, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2017) it’s a tossup whether bounty hunter Stephanie and plus-sized sidekick Lula will be squeezed to death by a 20-foot boa constrictor or have their brain sucked out through a straw by zombies. Neither prospect slows the familiar duo as they eat their way through chicken, donuts, sandwiches, and pizza on their way to apprehending a series of bail jumpers.
No Stephanie Plum tale is complete without a continuation of the “which man will it be next?” quandary that Steph finds herself in regularly. A semi-committed relationship with plainclothes cop Morelli is in her comfort zone, but the mysterious and oh-so-sexy Ranger is a constant temptation. If that weren’t enough, the newcomer Diesel takes her breath away and sends her hormones into orbit. It doesn’t help that she occasionally wakes up with him in the bed with her, naked.
For those not already fans of the series, Stephanie hunts bail jumpers for a living, for her cousin Vinnie’s bail bonds business. She’s been beaten up, rolled in various nasty substances, captured, tied up and left for dead, and shot at. Somehow either Morelli or Ranger, sometimes both, manage to rescue her and send her on to her next misadventure.
A girl with many talents, Stephanie excels at original ways to destroy cars, both hers and loaners from Ranger’s security fleet of luxury vehicles. Burned, bombed, crashed, filled with concrete, smashed by a garbage truck, stolen, drowned (without her in it), and filled with exploding animal carcasses are but a sampling of the ways she ends up on foot or driving her late grandfather’s indestructible ’53 Buick.
If you’re not a fan, you should be. If you only read serious fare, change. If you aren’t entertained by Evanovich’s female protagonist, you probably take life way too seriously. Have a donut (or six), grab a cold beer and a sandwich, and prepare to chuckle a lot and laugh out loud several times
Danny Lindsey keeps trying to retire. After a 20-year Army career and a 25-year second one in the private sector, he’s finally settled down. His current gig is as the Veteran Employment Services Manager for a Huntsville, A.L. based non-profit, Still Serving Veterans. Both full careers were characterized by numerous writing assignments, from war plans to operating policies and procedures, then on to white papers, analyses of alternatives and competitive contract and grant proposals. Now his writing consists of blogs for the website www.ssv.org, podcasts for the local NPR affiliate, and a half dozen Pulitzer-worthy, albeit unpublished novels.
Update: Danny won the 2017 Killer Nashville Claymore Award with his manuscript Serial Justice – so he will not be unpublished for long!
The List by J.A. Konrath / Review by Jim Biggs
Book of the Day
All good thrillers have a murder, a mystery, and a conspiracy. The List by J.A. Konrath is no exception. The tale begins with a wonderfully gruesome murder, a curious tattoo, and a late-night phone call to a senator that must behind it all.
The decapitated and de-digited body of librarian Tom Jessup had been discovered (the woman living in the apartment below noticed blood seeping through her ceiling and called 911). Detectives Tom Mankowski and Roy Lewis are in charge at the murder scene. They find the head, note that it appears to have been removed in one fell swoop and that the stumps of the fingers are tourniquet-ed with twist ties. But the one discovery that brings this case home for Mankowski is a tattoo of the number 7 on the victims left heel. For Mankowski also has a tattoo on the heel of his left foot–the number 5. He has had it his whole life and has no idea where it came from or what it might mean. Meanwhile, in California, a film executive, Joan DeVilliers is shaken by a voice message from someone who has scheduled her tattoo removal for that evening. Joan does have a tattoo–the number 2 on the heel of her left foot. But she is sure no one knows about it (she doesn't even know where it came from) and she never scheduled its removal. But this is just the prelude to the horrific scene that awaits her at home.
Part mystery, part horror, part comedy, The List reads like a Lethal Weapon movie script written by Stephen King. It is fast paced and fun! Okay, maybe the premise is a little far-fetched, but that’s ok. There is a perfectly reasonable (albeit maybe not scientifically plausible) explanation for it all. It is like an extended late night "what if ..." debate with good friends over a few beers. The characters are well crafted and quickly feel like old friends. The villains are very creative and perfectly flawed so as to not garner even one iota of your sympathy. So, go exercise your suspended disbelief and hang on. It is well worth the ride. There are 12 more books in The Konrath Horror Collective and I can’t wait to read them all.
J.A. Konrath is a Guests of Honor at the 2018 Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference if you’d like to meet the man in person!
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn / Review by Liz Gatterer
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW
By A.J. Finn
William & Marrow
$26.99
ISBN 978-0062678416
Publication Date: January 2, 2018
Book of the Day
Unless you have been living under a literary rock, you have heard of A.J. Finn’s debut novel The Woman in the Window (William Marrow 2018). Hailed as a “love letter to classic Hitchcock”, it certainly delivers … I read this novel in one of my obsessive/compulsive reading sessions (employing the audible version for those moments when one cannot hold a book–driving, cooking, or showering) that often leave me physically exhausted the next day, which, indeed I was, but I also found myself a bit emotionally exhausted as well.
Dr. Anna Fox is an agoraphobic/alcoholic/addict that is living alone in a refurbished 4-story townhouse in New York. Formerly a successful child psychologist. She fills her days with old movies, wine, capturing her neighbors comings and goings with her digital camera, pills, chat rooms, wine, conversations with her estranged husband and daughter, pills, ogling her tenant, wine, interrupted only by the weekly visits from her psychotherapist, her physical therapist and the deliveries of groceries, medications, and wine. She is psychologist herself, but no longer practices. Obviously, none of this is good for her–but together they are a slow form of suicide. But which one will be her demise? What will tip the balance and push her over the edge? Ah… the delight of the psychological thriller. The tension that builds as you know, just KNOW that this train is going to crash. It is racing down the tracks, the impossibly tight curve is up ahead…and… BAM! It gets hit by a meteorite falling from space. As you are trying to recover from that shock– you realize there is another train is barreling up behind you.
Red herrings, MacGuffins, unreliable narrators… Finn knows the tricks of the trade and utilizes them to their fullest. He is not new to the business. He was a successful editor for over a decade with a major publishing house and his clients are some of the giants of fiction. In one of the interviews, I read he stated that he had not tried to write a novel before because the type of novel he wanted to write was not commercially viable at the time. But, with the success of the “Girl” novels, he decided the time was right. Apparently, he was correct.
There may be moments when you think you know what is going to happen (and you might be right) but it is still a great read. Everyone is talking about this book and it’s already being developed into a movie so even if this type of book isn't your normal read, you should read it anyway so that you don’t look like an idiot when people start referencing it in conversation. And they will.
Liz Gatterer is the Special Events Coordinator for Killer Nashville. She is blessed to be employed at a job that encourages her addiction to books and allows her to actually speak to her favorite authors.
Look for Me by Lisa Gardner / Review by Holly Chaille
LOOK FOR ME
By Lisa Gardner
Dutton
$27.00
ISBN 978-1524742058
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Book of the Day
In Gardner’s latest book in the Sergeant D.D. Warren series, readers return to the Boston streets as Warren again teams with Flora Dane, a former victim of a violent crime (Find Her), to track down a killer. An entire family has been murdered except the oldest daughter, Roxy. She’s missing, as are the family’s two dogs. Warren naturally pings her as suspect number one and drives the police procedural side of the book in that direction. Dane, a vigilante who understands survival instincts, uses her skills to help other survivors get back to living. She believes Roxy’s hiding from the real killer and her first-person narrative takes us along as she tracks the girl.
Finding her will either mean a killer is caught, or the last living family member’s life is saved. With her familiar storytelling style Gardner tacks between Ward’s investigation into the life of her suspect, and Flora, whose dead set on finding Roxy alive and safe.
With Gardner’s hefty bibliography fans expect the twists and turn she routinely carves into her writing and Look for Me provides them in spades. Although some are predictable red herrings and dead ends, she doesn’t fail to pull the rug out from under readers and keep them guessing until the last possible moment.
In another of Gardner’s signature moves, Look for Me creates the opportunity for readers to find themselves in a moral dilemma as she zooms in on the over-crowded foster care system and the nightmares formed in a foster home packed with more than one troubled kid. Something bad is bound to happen. But could it have been prevented? And, who’s really at fault here?
Gardner’s characters are each carrying heavy baggage, and it’s their flawed natures, their need to rescue, to retaliate and to rectify that makes them dangerously unpredictable. Some characters linger with readers after the story is over. These characters haunt. Gardner’s fan base has come to expect each new book will have characters who are simultaneously victims and victimizers, and storylines that shine a light into the dark places of those characters.
The layering of subplot seamlessly stitches in hot-button topics like domestic violence and bullying, while deftly pulling back the camera before we start to suspect a sermon on morality is coming soon. Fans will recognize the strong female protagonists, the survivors, and the moral struggles, and they won’t be disappointed in this fast-paced and literally, right out of the headlines read.
Gardner’s respect for the suspense genre is evident throughout, and in particular in the continued unreliability of two of her ongoing character, D.D., and Flora. An author who consistently touches on topics close to her heart, Gardner’s knack for penning a taught thriller brings issues to the page that many readers can empathize with. The pacing and voice Gardner employs keep the story vibrating with excitement, and the change in POV guarantees the reader won’t get bored or mired in one perspective.
With a passion for research and her own experience volunteering with an agency serving at-risk and special needs kids, Gardner easily articulates the sad truths of our failing foster care system. But while social issues are ever-present she still keeps the reader turning page after page to get to the final answer.
Holly Chaille is a member of Sisters in Crime and the daughter of a librarian. Growing up in the stacks cultivated her lifelong love of suspense and thrillers, and she's currently querying her first mystery and developing her blog at HollyAChaille.com.
Beneath the Surface by Lynn H. Blackburn / Review by Lois Schmitt
BENEATH THE SURFACE
By Lynn H. Blackburn
Revell
$15.99
ISBN 978-0800729387
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Book of the Day
Beneath the Surface is the first book a new series by award-winning author Lynn H. Blackburn. It features homicide investigator Ryan Parker and Leigh Weston, a nurse in the local hospital. Leigh has returned to her hometown of Carrington, NC after a terrifying incident with an obsessed patient. When someone tampers with her breaks she reaches out to her old high school friend, Ryan. The first few pages have a lot of backstory and information, but the action begins on page four with the discovery of a mutilated body in the lake. From that point on, the action, suspense, and romance create a thrill ride of a book.
The relationship development between Ryan and Leigh was my favorite part of the story. Both characters are extremely likable, and their blossoming romance adds as much to the suspense the novel as the murder and its investigation does. Lynn’s enviable talent of making the reader really care about the characters is not something to be taken lightly.
The story is full of tension and surprises. Several attempts at murder are unexpected and catch the reader off guard. The dialogue is realistic and moves the story along at a good pace with the romance and mystery intertwined. The identity of the killer is well hidden and keeps the reader guessing until the end.
The book is categorized as a Christian Mystery and there is no question that the “good guys” in this story believe in God and the Bible–and behave accordingly. It is not "preachy" in any way or overly dogmatic. The suspense, mystery, and romance are exciting but the reader will not have to worry about inappropriate content. In our tumultuous world, this reader found this to be a comforting aspect of the book.
This is the first book in the Dive Team Investigation series. Actual diving only occurs in the first chapter, so readers who would like more underwater activity will have to wait for book 2 in the series.
Beneath the Surface is a good read that keeps the reader wanting more. I am hoping for a sequel. I would rate this book 4½ stars. So, dive right in–the water is fine!
Night Moves by Jonathan Kellerman / Review by Danny Lindsey
NIGHT MOVES
By Jonathan Kellerman
Ballantine Books
$28.99
ISBN 978-0345541468
Publication Date: February 13, 2018
Book of the Day
Jonathan Kellerman has written more than 30 Alex Delaware thrillers. Night Moves, the latest in the series, (Random House, 2018) is vintage Delaware. With characters so familiar to readers that each has his own biography and fan base, Alex and Lieutenant Milo Sturgis are once again on the trail of an ephemeral murderer, one whose MO is shotgun and band saw. Identification is not easy, nor is the actual crime scene obvious. Add a completely dysfunctional family and no apparent motive, and Alex and Milo are left to concoct a series of scenarios, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, none of which appear to bring the perpetrator closer to justice.
A second murder does little to clarify matters. In fact, the waters are if anything, murkier than ever. Who is the target? What do the victims have in common besides the obvious? Serious detective work is called for, but never to the extent that they interfere with Milo’s gustatory habits.
Solid police work, nosy, reclusive and sometimes helpful neighbors finally develop enough information for Alex to begin to see a more clear picture and to develop a profile of the killer that he and Milo can pursue. Kellerman’s skill is such that no reader will solve the mystery before it’s time to reveal the killer and the motive. Like the real-life psychologist that he is, he brings the reader toward a conclusion slowly, bit by bit, emulating his fictional alter-ego.
Night Moves is an altogether enjoyable read, another in a long string of sure hits for Kellerman. Any review would be incomplete, however, without quoting a few of the more poetic lines he has penned into this one:
“A starless sky sagged like a rain-soaked tarp, a malnourished moon cast anemic light.”
“The flame turned into sprinkles of earthbound stars plummeting to the ground.” (tossing a lit match away)
“Tattoos ran up his neck, flirting with his carotid.”
Kellerman devotees may not be surprised with his use of imagery, but occasional readers will undoubtedly be.
Many thanks to Sharon Propson and Random House for providing Killer Nashville with the advance review copy.
Danny Lindsey keeps trying to retire. After a 20-year Army career and a 25-year second one in the private sector, he’s finally settled down. His current gig is as the Veteran Employment Services Manager for a Huntsville, A.L. based non-profit, Still Serving Veterans. Both full careers were characterized by numerous writing assignments, from war plans to operating policies and procedures, then on to white papers, analyses of alternatives and competitive contract and grant proposals. Now his writing consists of blogs for the website www.ssv.org, podcasts for the local NPR affiliate, and a half dozen Pulitzer-worthy, albeit unpublished novels.
Update: Danny won the 2017 Killer Nashville Claymore Award with his manuscript Serial Justice – so he will not be unpublished for long!
The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding / Review by Sharon Marchisello
THE BAD DAUGHTER
By Joy Fielding
Ballantine Books
$27.00
ISBN 978-0399181535
Publication Date: February 27, 2018
Book of the Day
Joy Fielding's new psychological suspense novel, The Bad Daughter, explores complex familial relationships and chilling secrets. Robin Davis, the heroine, works as a therapist but suffers from panic attacks, a dysfunctional family background, and insecurity about her romantic future. Her fiancé, Blake, has been spending long hours at his law office, and Robin speculates he may be having an affair with his pretty new assistant.
Robin has a toxic rapport with her older sister, Melanie, who still lives in their hometown of Red Bluff, in Northern California, with her teenage autistic son, Landon. It has been five years since Robin last spoke to their father, who married her former best friend, Tara, just a few months after their mother died from cancer. Tara had been engaged to Robin's younger brother Alec, whom she jilted in favor of his wealthier father. Robin and Alec remain cordial, but since she lives in Los Angeles and Alec lives in San Francisco, their communication is infrequent.
In the opening chapter, Robin receives a call from Melanie, which she allows to go to voicemail while she struggles to focus on her patient during a therapy session. When she finally returns Melanie's call, she learns their father, Tara, and Cassidy, Tara's 12-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, have all been shot in an apparent home invasion. Tara is dead, and the prospects for survival of the others are grim.
Robin feels duty-bound to return to Red Bluff, despite her fear that leaving Blake alone in Los Angeles will hasten the end of their engagement. She wouldn't dream of imposing on his career aspirations by asking him to accompany her.
As Robin and Melanie work with the local sheriff to figure out who committed such a heinous crime, they uncover clues that suggest the assault was more personal than random. Greg Davis, their father, had business enemies, and rumors are circulating that both he and Tara were having affairs. But what kind of psychopath would try to kill a 12-year-old girl?
Also estranged from the family, Alec refuses to come home, despite the crisis. However, his car was spotted in Red Bluff on the night of the shooting, and he soon becomes a suspect. Landon won't speak about that night, but Robin notices him constantly rocking back and forth, staring out his bedroom window at his grandfather's house next door, and she wonders what he might have seen… or done.
Cassidy wakes up and is able to provide some answers, but how much of her story can be believed? She tells Robin she's the only one she can trust, and she wants to leave Red Bluff and live in Los Angeles with Robin and Blake if her stepfather does not survive.
Secrets, past and present, abound. Relationships are not as they appear. Long-lost relatives show up, smelling a pay-out. Robin pieces together a disturbing truth she never saw coming, even as it stares her in the face.
Joy Fielding is the New York Times bestselling author of Someone is Watching, Charley's Web, Heartstopper, See Jane Run, and other acclaimed novels—25 and counting. Before embracing a full-time writing career, she earned a BA in English Literature and dabbled in acting. She divides her time between Toronto and Palm Beach.
Many thanks to Cindy Murray and Random House for providing Killer Nashville with the advance review copy.
Sharon Marchisello (sharonmarchisello.com) is the author of Going Home, (Sunbury Press, 2014) a murder mystery inspired by her mother's battle with Alzheimer's. (It was not a New York Times bestseller.) She earned a Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is a member of the Atlanta Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Peachtree City, Georgia, with her husband and cat, does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society, and writes a blog about personal finance, Countdown to Financial Fitness https://sharonmarchisello.blogspot.com/.
Force of Nature by Jane Harper / Review by Anna Oneonta
FORCE OF NATURE
By Jane Harper
Flat Iron Books
$25.99
ISBN 978-1250105639
Publication Date: February 6, 2017
Book of the Day
We spend 8 hours a day with our co-workers. In some cases, that’s more time than we spend with our families, at least while we are awake. We think we know a lot about them… but do we? Would you trust them with your life?
Force of Nature by Jane Harper is her latest psychological thriller featuring Federal Agent Aaron Falk, a tough but likable character. He and his partner, Agent Carmen Cooper are in the final stages of a money-laundering investigation. All they need are the documents from their informant, Alice Russell, an executive at the firm of BaileyTennets. But Alice is missing. She left a mysterious voicemail on his mobile at 4 am the morning of her disappearance. It was mostly static, but at the very end, barely audible are the words “hurt her”.
The employees of BaileyTennets are on an executive retreat in the Australian bush. The ten employees are split into two groups; the men’s group is comprised of five men and is led by the head of the firm, Daniel Bailey. The women’s group is led by his sister, Jill and included Alice Russell, Lauren Shaw, and twin sister, Bree and Beth McKenzie. They have three days to make their way through the mountains (unguided) to a rendezvous point on the other side. With only a map, compass and basic camping supplies and no way of contacting the outside world, the most inexperienced teams set out. Three days later, cold, tired, and hungry, the men make it to the rendezvous. But, the women are late. As the day goes on their irritation becomes worry and the retreat guide finally calls in the search crews. After nightfall, when the crews are packing it in for the day, Jill, Lauren, Beth, and Bree stumble out of the woods. They are injured, dehydrated, exhausted and Bree has a nasty snake bite. The women thought for sure Alice would have made it out first. She broke off from the group after the second night. Falk and Carmen are desperate to help find Alice and it is critical that they find her alive.
Jane Harper has created a very intense psychological thriller. But there is more to the story than just the mystery of the missing woman. The relationships between the women, their histories, and hang-ups, their children–it all plays a part in their survival both in the woods and in the office. And to add just a bit more tension, there is the shadow of a decades-old serial killer that might play a part… It is a great read, with plenty of twists and turns and an ending that is unexpected-but satisfying. Told in alternating points of view from the women as the events unfolded and from Falk and Carmen’s side trying to piece the bits together. This is the second book in the Agent Falk series, but it read well as a stand-alone. I have already started to read the first book, The Dry. I just love the characters and the setting. I sincerely hope there will be more from Ms. Harper.
Many thanks to Amelia Possanza and Flat Iron Books for providing Killer Nashville with the advance review copy.
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