KN Magazine: Reviews
The Whispered Word by Ellery Adams / Review by Joy Gorence
The Whispered Word
Secret, Book & Scone Society (Book 2)
By Ellery Adams
Kensington
$26.00
ISBN 978-1496712400
Publication Date: November 27, 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
It isn’t that Nora Pennington, owner of Miracle Books, looks for souls to comfort, but they seem to find her and the members of her Secret, Book, & Scone Society, comprised of a small group of caring women, each learning to live a life despite a painful past. In The Whispered Word, a young girl and obvious victim of abuse, Abilene, seeks secrecy and solace from Nora and her friends. Soon, however, Abilene becomes the focus of murder. With determination, skill, and intuitiveness, Nora unravels the mystery of the events that shake the foundation of Miracle Springs, North Carolina, which is also trying to survive a recent economic downturn.
The second book in the series of the Secret, Book and Scone Society, Ellery Adams keeps the reader thoroughly engaged. Although this is the second in a series, it is a solid stand-alone story. The fast-paced novel lures readers to ignore everyday chores in order to uncover the basis for the mysteries that have entangled the town and its residents, both established and recent. With the pervasive aura of mystery and a light touch of romance, there is little that can be done to improve this book. Adams skill as a writer entices readers to become invested in the characters and their stories. In addition, her placement of literary quotes in this cozy mystery is a bonus for devotees of literary fiction.
As the mystery unravels and the conclusion of The Whispered Word becomes evident from the number of pages left, readers will find this book evokes nostalgia for small towns and cozy bookstores.
Joy Gorence is new to Killer Nashville. She is an author, world-traveler, English professor (ret.), and avid reader. Originally from Long Island, NY she now lives in South Florida with her husband, Bill and their two pampered kitties.
The Darkest Time of Night by Jeremy Finley/Review by Liz Gatterer
The Darkest Time of Night
By Jeremy Finley
St. Martin's Press
$26.99
ISBN 978-1250147301
Publication Date: June 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
The Darkest Time of Night by Jeremy Finley is one of the scariest books I have read in quite a while (and I am a big fan of both the sci-fi and horror genres). I am sure that because it is set right here in Nashville, amongst places quite familiar to me, and centered around the abduction of a 7-year-old boy (I am also the mother of a 7-year-old boy) had a lot to do with upping the personal unease I felt while reading it. Still, I am sure that others will enjoy all of the spine-tingling chills that Finley has in store for them
Lynn Roseworth is the wife to the U.S. Senator from Tennessee, mother to three grown daughters and purveyor of a small flower shop on the edge of the woods. The woods where as a child she was forbidden to go; the woods where the mysterious gravestone of a young girl has stood for nearly a century; the woods where her grandson William has just disappeared from (into?). But with the help of her dear friend, a man from her past, and a few new friends – Lynn just might be the only person who can find him.
Finley put his real-life background as an investigative journalist to work in this exciting, scary and very entertaining story. The characters are exceptionally well developed and true to Nashville. Having lived in the area for the past 20 years, I think I may have actually met “Lynn” and her side-kick, “Roxy” (who is probably my favorite character in this novel). The storyline, likewise, is well thought-out, logical and feels like a real investigation. I think it is that these are real people and real places that makes the more science fictional elements seem believable. For fans of The X Files, this is your book. I usually have trouble buying into the amateur sleuth idea, but Finley fixes this by giving the main character a very credible back story.
I truly enjoyed reading this book, but I will be just a little bit worried when I see those darn ladybugs gathering...
Liz Gatterer attended Tulane University while living in New Orleans. It was there that she first began working with authors in the printing industry. Originally from Upstate New York, she moved to Nashville with her husband to pursue their careers (his being music). Three (absolutely fabulous) children later, she has returned to the working world in the industry she loves. She currently lives in Spring Hill with said husband and children, dogs, cats, and various other creatures. The necessity of multitasking has led her to an addiction to audio books – but, when able to, she still prefers to curl up with a good book (and a child in her lap).
Trust Me by Phillippi Ryan/Review by Sharon Marchisello
BOOK OF THE DAY
Trust Me (Forge 2018) is Hank Phillippi Ryan's first standalone novel, and it stretches her talents to the next level.
Mercer Hennessey, the protagonist, has been paralyzed by grief since her husband and three-year-old daughter were killed in a car accident on a rainy night over a year ago. Her grief is so overpowering that every morning, she tracks the number of days since their deaths by drawing the figure in the condensation left on the mirror from her shower.
When the story opens, Mercer's editor friend Katherine offers her an opportunity to heal by diving back into her profession as a journalist to cover the sensational trial of Ashlyn Bryant, a young woman accused of killing her three-year-old daughter and dumping the body into Boston Harbor. The plan is to turn the story into an instant bestseller.
What kind of monster would kill her own child? Ashlyn's despicable act resonates particularly hard with Mercer as she reflects on her own anguish at the tragic loss of her daughter. The evidence seems to point overwhelmingly to Ashlyn's guilt, yet the jury acquits her.
And just like that, the book project takes a new direction.
Katherine arranges for Ashlyn to give Mercer an exclusive to the "real" story. To facilitate progress on the book and keep Ashlyn safe from the derisive public eye, Ashlyn moves into Mercer's home.
As a reader, I found myself as frustrated with Ashlyn as Mercer surely was. Every day Ashlyn makes up a new lie or conspiracy theory, contradicting herself and changing her story at every turn. She manipulates Mercer's grief and survivor's guilt. Although Mercer keeps trying to coax and trick Ashlyn into revealing the truth, Ashlyn makes Mercer question everything she thought she knew about her own life.
The author did a great job delving into the protagonist's emotions and illustrating how many versions of truth can exist for the same set of circumstances.
Hank Phillippi Ryan still works as an investigative reporter, a career that has won her 34 Emmys and 14 Edward R. Murrow Awards. She writes the award-winning series starring investigative reporter Jane Ryland, as well as the Charlotte McNally series, also featuring a female journalist.
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 disease. 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, GA, 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/.
Every Wicked Man by Steven James/Review by G. Robert Frazier
Every Wicked Man
By Steven James
Berkley
$9.99
ISBN 978-1101991596
Publication Date: September 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
There’s so much going on in Steven James’s new Patrick Bowers thriller, Every Wicked Man, you may need a cheat sheet to keep track. From the mysterious, live-streamed suicide of a senator’s son to the threat of a new designer drug on the market to a twisted novelist-turned-serial killer, James’s novel is loaded with intrigue and suspense.
Bowers is initially presented with looking into the suicide of a senator’s son, which takes an unexpected turn when the shadow of a person is seen on video tape observing the suicide. Evidence that the victim may have used a possible new designer drug opens a deeper investigation into the distribution of the drug. And when a longtime criminal rival’s henchman is spotted at the scene of the victim’s suicide, the investigation takes another unexpected turn.
Even as all of these plot threads unravel and, ultimately, intersect, Bowers struggles to connect to his new stepdaughter, who has a knack for getting into trouble (she’s a fan of our aforementioned serial killer novelist), and wife, who has secretly learned that she has cancer.
James has explained in a recent interview how he approaches his characters from three avenues: the external, internal, and interpersonal. The external issue revolves around solving the crime at hand, the internal focuses on how he’ll get to that solution and what he’ll do to get there, and the interpersonal keys in on the relationships in his life while everything else is happening. The result is a richly layered, character-oriented novel full of emotional highs and lows to keep readers fully engrossed.
Touted as his final Patrick Bowers novel, Every Wicked Man is actually the third in the 11-book series from a chronological standpoint. It’s not necessary to read the others in the series, but after reading Every Wicked Man you may find yourself hunting them down.
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.
Dark Tide Rising by Anne Perry/Review by Sharon Marchisello
Dark Tide Rising
By Anne Perry
Ballentine
$28.00
ISBN 978-0399179914
Publication Date: September 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
This was the first time I'd read one of Anne Perry's novels, and I was excited to find this book so soon after hearing her speak at last summer's Killer Nashville conference.
I was a little concerned I might be late to the party, with Dark Tide Rising being #24 in the series, but the author provided enough background information about the characters and their relationships so I didn't really need to have read the previous books to follow the story.
Her writing is splendid, and she did a good job of evoking Victorian London. I could feel that cold winter wind blowing off the Thames.
The story opens when William Monk, commander of the Thames River Police, is called to facilitate a ransom payment for a kidnapping. Wealthy businessman Harry Exeter asks for assistance from the river police to deliver payment in exchange for the release of his wife, Kate. But the mission goes terribly wrong; Exeter and the police are ambushed, the ransom money is collected, and Kate is tragically killed. Exeter appears devastated, and Monk blames himself.
Worse, the only explanation is that one of Monk's men betrayed their position. A good bit of the story is spent agonizing over who might be the traitor, and what dark secrets each man might harbor that would cause him to sell out his colleagues. Some of the agonizing is repetitious, which slows the plot down in places.
Every time they get a lead in the case, someone else gets killed. There are some good twists toward the end, which picked up the pace and made this a satisfying read.
British historical novelist Anne Perry is the author of two long-running, critically-acclaimed detective series. One features Victorian policeman Thomas Pitt and his wife Charlotte; the other, of which Dark Tide Rising is the most recent, stars Detective William Monk and his clever wife Hester, a Crimean War nurse. In addition, Anne Perry has published numerous short stories, a World War I series, and over a dozen Christmas novellas.
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 disease. 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, GA, 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/.
The Witch Elm/Review by Tana French/Review by Clay Stafford
BOOK OF THE DAY
Clay's Pick
Toby Hennessey is not much different from you or me. He’s just an average guy going through his life. He’s a resilient sort, lucky one would say, and barely escapes losing his job at work when he is caught in a little discrepancy. But matters are about to get worse. Toby’s apartment is robbed and he is beaten to human pulp. As happens, his brain and memories are not what they used to be. He can’t work and to pass his time while he is healing, Toby’s mother suggests that he temporarily stay with his dying uncle at the old family home, the Ivy House. The two can keep each other company. The therapy seems to work and is going along swell until a skeleton is literally found in the backyard. At that point, it becomes a question of how did it get there and, without memories to help him remember, Toby is at a loss for how to deal with it.
“The Witch Elm” is a detailed character study. I was drawn immediately into the character and point of view of Toby. It’s a longish book (over 500 pages), but one that kept me engaged throughout. French is a writer whose sense of place and character are unmatched. An international bestseller with her Dublin Murder Squad series, this is a standalone that does not disappoint. Because you’ll be so involved, you’ll want to read it quickly, but you’ll also find you’ll want to slow down just to savor the language and nuances of the story. It is not often a story can be told as much with dialogue, more so than even with description. Tana French writes a tale that makes you want to read it again immediately after the first time through.
Tana French is the author of six New York Times bestselling books (this one will make seven) and is the winner of the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry Awards. She lives in Dublin, Ireland with her family.
Clay Stafford is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He has sold over 1.5 million hardcover copies of his children’s adaptations and has seen his film work distributed internationally in over 14 languages. Four of his five staged murder mysteries have had Los Angeles premieres. He has reviewed books, plays, and films, writes near-daily book reviews for the Killer Nashville Book of the Day, has been quoted on book jackets, and has edited several PBS companion books associated with national series. Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13). He is the founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) and publisher of Killer Nashville Magazine (www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com). He has served on the board of numerous nonprofits. Clay has a B.A. and M.F.A. and has been a professor or lecturer to several major universities. His list of current projects includes the award-winning feature-length documentary “One Of The Miracles: The Inge Meyring Smith Story” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” with fellow mystery writer Jeffery Deaver (www.JefferyDeaverXOmusic.com). Previously associated with Universal Studios and PBS, he is currently President / CEO of American Blackguard, Inc. (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), a publishing/film and television/ music/entertainment company near Nashville, Tennessee. More information can be found at www.ClayStafford.com.
You Were Always Mine by Nicole Baart/Review by Mandy Dugan
You Were Always Mine
By Nicole Baart
Atria Books
$28.00
ISBN 978-1982108113
Publication Date: October 16, 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
Currently separated from her husband, Jessica Chamberlain is barely holding things together for herself and her two boys. 13-year old Max has been uncharacteristically acting out, an agreement to clean up his graffiti on the middle school wall hanging over his head. Gabe, sunny and six, greets his mother with a smile every day but struggles to deal with loud noises and navigate friendships. Although we see her as a teacher, a daughter, and a friend as well, Jessica sees herself first and foremost as a mother, and the idea that she might be failing at that haunts her from the very beginning of this story.
When her estranged husband, Evan, turns up inexplicably dead from an apparent shooting accident, Jessica’s nerve slips further, and the foundations of her carefully constructed life seem to fall apart. Baart artfully weaves in recollections of the Chamberlains life together as Jessica grieves. And though Jessica initially attempts to, like the duck, keep paddling frantically under the surface while maintaining a serene appearance, the weight of circumstances and her grief is simply too much, and the careful scaffolding she has constructed to support her fragile life begins to crack and fall down.
Amazingly, into the rubble slip moments of grace. Jessica learns that she can confront things she could never look at straight on, but only glance at out of the corner of her eyes: her suspicions of her husband’s infidelity, the way her relationship with her father has changed since her mother died, and most devastatingly for Jessica, the identity of Gabe’s birth mother and an understanding of his need for connection to her. Gabe’s mother lies at the heart of the mystery of Evan’s death, and what he was doing in the dark and cold three hours from home on the night he died. But Jessica has never been able to even acknowledge her existence.
Jessica’s struggle to reconcile her memories of her husband with the emerging picture of his death is poignant and real. So too, is the way she stubbornly refuses help in the face of incredible need. That desperation to be everything that her children need has to be painfully crushed before she learns that letting go is sometimes the only way forward and that other people (her father and step-mother, her friend, her son, even her rival) sometimes hold the key to life and freedom.
You Were Always Mine charts the mysteries of a mother’s heart and a father’s search for justice. It shows just how much we all need each other, and how the assumptions that we make can hamstring our happiness and that of others. By pushing through the darkness and acknowledging the pain, by trusting others and forgiving ourselves, things can come right in the end.
Mandy Dugan lives in Brentwood, TN with her husband and three children (and a dog, a gecko, and three fish). She loves words and projects, and still has a great deal to learn from life and the people (and animals) around her. Find her at mandy@duganeditorial.com.
Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci/Review by Laura Hartman
Long Road to Mercy
By David Baldacci
Grand Central Publishing
$29.00
ISBN 978-1538761571
Publication Date: November 13, 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
FBI special Agent Atlee Pine is a loner. She specifically requested an assignment in a tiny office in Shattered Rock, just outside of the Grand Canyon. Pine began her life as a team with her twin sister, but no longer works well with others. Just her and her administrative assistant are perfect for her loner lifestyle. She doesn’t mind hard work or long hours. As a matter of fact it suits her well, leaving less time to think about the serial killer that abducted and most likely killed her twin sister Mercy when they were young children.
Pine gets a call that there is a missing person and a dead mule at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. A missing person is not that unusual. Hikers wander off and go missing, but it is extremely unusual to have someone from a group disappear leaving a dead mutilated mule in his wake. As Pine begins investigating she begins to see the disappearance is just the tip of the iceberg in a much bigger plot with huge ramifications.
It sounds like an impossible riddle: What do the Grand Canyon, a dead mule, the Russian and Korean governments, a possible kidnapping and/or murder and a lone FBI Agent have in common? Baldacci weaves an intricate tale full of action, adventure and intrigue. His characters travel the United States in their quest to find the truth, trying to live long enough for justice to prevail.
I have read many books by Baldacci, and am very excited to find he has begun this new series featuring Atlee Pine. She is a character that has many sides and secrets. Some of them are hers, and some are truths that have been kept from her. I am anxious to find out more.
Baldacci’s latest page-turning thriller lives up to his reader’s expectations and beyond. It is hard pressed to find anyone who has not heard of this award winning, NYT Best Selling author. There is a reason for the accolades; his books are complex yet easy to read. I learned more interesting facts about the Grand Canyon than I’ve heard before, making me want to visit the only one of the Seven Natural Wonders that is located in the United States.
READ KILLER NASHVILLE'S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MR. BALDACCI HERE
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from the publisher/author in connection with Killer Nashville in return for my review. Copyright © 2018 Laura Hartman
Laura Hartman is a short story author and book reviewer. She has work appearing in A Woman’s Touch: 11 Stories of Murder & Misdemeanors and The Killer Wore Cranberry, A Second Helping. She began reviewing books for GenReviews in 2011 and currently reviews for publicist Maryglenn McCombs, Penguin First to Read and NetGalley. She is a writer by day and a reader by night.
Paris in the Dark by Robert Olen Butler/Review by Clay Stafford
Paris in the Dark
By Robert Olen Butler
The Mysterious Press
$26.00
ISBN 978-0802128379
Publication Date: September 2018
Clay's Pick
BOOK OF THE DAY
It is the Fall of 1915 and Germany is bombing France. Woodrow Wilson has kept Americans out of the war up to this point, but that does not stop young American men and women from volunteering to help France in their war effort. One such volunteer is Christopher “Kit” Cobb, a Chicago reporter who moonlights as an undercover agent for the U.S. government. He is in France to do a story on the volunteer ambulance drivers servicing the war front. Unexpectedly, someone begins bombing Paris cafes in an act of terrorism. Kit is assigned to find out who is doing it. It is not an easy task as the city is full of refugees and any one of them could be a German agent in disguise or a Parisian with German sympathies.
The story begins explosively. After only the first several pages, I was hooked. The plot progressed steadily and believably and gave a more than satisfying (and nail-biting) ending, but even more than the plot, it was the relationships that kept me engrossed. I felt thankful to get to know the nurses, doctors, and ambulance drivers, but it was the love story that especially appealed to me, which in tone was old-fashioned and romantically straight out of Casablanca. Not being an expert on this time period, I have no clue as to the historical accuracy of the novel, but it read real and I felt that I came away from it with a deeper understanding of the time period and the city. Paris came alive for me and I was transported there through the eyes of Kit. The writing itself is well-crafted and poetic, to the point and lean. This is an intelligent reader’s novel. It is genre fiction that feels like a literary masterwork. It’s one of the best books I have read this year.
Robert Olen Butler is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of seventeen novels, six short story collections, and one nonfiction book on the creative process.
Clay Stafford is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He has sold over 1.5 million hardcover copies of his children’s adaptations and has seen his film work distributed internationally in over 14 languages. Four of his five staged murder mysteries have had Los Angeles premieres. He has reviewed books, plays, and films, writes near-daily book reviews for the Killer Nashville Book of the Day, has been quoted on book jackets, and has edited several PBS companion books associated with national series. Publishers Weekly has named Stafford one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” (PW 6/10/13). He is the founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) and publisher of Killer Nashville Magazine (www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com). He has served on the board of numerous nonprofits. Clay has a B.A. and M.F.A. and has been a professor or lecturer to several major universities. His list of current projects includes the award-winning feature-length documentary “One Of The Miracles: The Inge Meyring Smith Story” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” with fellow mystery writer Jeffery Deaver (www.JefferyDeaverXOmusic.com). Previously associated with Universal Studios and PBS, he is currently President / CEO of American Blackguard, Inc. (www.AmericanBlackguard.com), a publishing/film and television/ music/entertainment company near Nashville, Tennessee. More information can be found at www.ClayStafford.com.
Dead Ringer by Kate Kessler/Review by Sharon Hopkins
BOOK OF THE DAY
Dead Ringer by Kate Kessler (Redhook, October 23, 2018) is a definite page-turning thriller with a twist.
One day when a teenage Rachel Ward and her identical twin Hannah switch places, Hannah is abducted and never heard from again. Rachel’s guilt and determination propel her into law enforcement and eventually into the FBI eighteen years later. There she becomes part of the team assigned to solve the Gemini murders, involving a brutal kidnapper who abducts one identical twin and leaves the other. Rachel believes the Gemini murderer is the same person who took her sister, and who taunts her every year on the anniversary, by sending her pictures. Rachel believes her twin is alive and is still being held, prisoner.
Rachel does not start out as a character you immediately like, but as the story moves forward, Rachel earns your respect and admiration.
The book is dark and has some graphic scenes, but those scenes definitely aren’t gratuitous. Rachel and her partner, “Trick,” who is also her lover, defy the odds and corner the kidnapper. That’s when things take a really strange turn and keep turning right to the surprising end.
The story is well written, and the plot has a lot of twists, even though the perp is identified early on. It’s the kind of story you keep thinking about long after you reach the end.
I’d love to see a follow-up book!
Sharon Woods Hopkins' mystery series featuring mortgage banker Rhetta McCarter and her '79 Camaro hits close to home. Sharon is a former branch manager for a mortgage office of a Missouri bank. She also owns the original Cami, a restored '79 Camaro like Rhetta's. Sharon's hobbies include painting, fishing, photography, flower gardening, and restoring muscle cars with her son, Jeff. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Guppies, Thriller Writers of America, the Southeast Missouri Writers' Guild, Heartland Writers, and the Missouri Writers' Guild.
A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss/Review by Pam De Voe
A Shot in the Dark
By Lynne Truss
Bloomsbury
$17.00
ISBN 978-1635572742
Publication Date: November 6, 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
I admit that I chose to review A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss because I so admire Eats, Shoots and Leaves. I thought anyone who could make a grammar book amusing and engaging must be able to write a good novel. A Shot in the Dark—a comedic, dark mystery—more than meets my expectations.
The tale begins in 1950s Brighton with a cast of delightfully irritating characters: such as the pompous Inspector Steine, the earnest but bumbling Sergeant Brunswick, the clever Constable Twitten, the endearing Mrs. Groynes, the unfathomable Bobby Melba, and the malodorous theatre critic A. S. Crystal. The story unfolds as a classic mystery--that is, as a detective story presented as a puzzle. At the same time, it gives the reader the sense of watching an old British radio show, one where the narrator intersperses funny and now-pay-attention side comments into the ongoing action. (Which as it turns out makes a lot of sense, because Truss also writes radio comedy-dramas.)
Throughout the book, the reader will probably solve the puzzle of who did what through a series of logical deductions rather early on. But that is not the point. A Shot in the Dark is as much a dance as a mystery. The dance involves the perception of reality. Who has the power to define what is true and what is not true? Whose version of the facts will emerge as the more credible and, therefore, believable? This question adds an exciting dimension to the classic mystery structure.
A Shot in the Dark is definitely a must-read for anyone who loves mysteries and has an adventurous spirit. I highly recommend it.
P.A. De Voe is an anthropologist and Asian specialist who writes historical mysteries and crime stories immersed in the life and times of Imperial China (Hidden, Warned, and Trapped). She’s also published short stories, From Judge Lu’s Ming Dynasty Case Files, in anthologies and online.
Under My Skin by Lisa Unger/Review by Danny Lindsey
BOOK OF THE DAY
Lisa Unger’s latest, Under My Skin (Park Row Books, 2018), is dark, deep, and full of desperation. Poppy Lang has come unglued. In the year since her husband was murdered while on his morning run she has vacillated between guilt (for staying in and letting him run alone), grief (he’s ever-present in her life, still), and periods of blackout, paranoia, and hallucination. In short, she’s a total mess.
On top of all that, someone is stalking her. She thinks. The tall man with a hood is ephemeral, much like her dreams and wakeful visions of Jack. Is he really there? She thinks so, but the detective assigned to investigate Jack’s murder isn’t so sure. Neither is her best friend or her therapist. He first appeared to her in the time immediately after Jack’s funeral, the time she can’t remember or account for, except in stray snatches of flashback. Did I mention that she’s a mess?
Unger’s tale is that of a tortured soul who is wrestling with both her ghosts and her sanity. After a year she still finds herself running to the controlling arms of her best friend all too frequently, and ingesting a mixture of pills from her friend’s stash along with those prescribed by her therapist. Adding alcohol is always a bad idea, but unconsciousness is preferential to mental anguish.
It’s difficult to imagine that Unger could create Poppy from thin air. Most would have had to experience the fractured inner world related in the first person by Poppy to be able to share it in print, but Lisa pulls it off in stellar fashion. It’s my first experience with this writer, but certainly not my last. I especially enjoyed the introspective nuggets buried here and there: “Grief can be so myopic. You forget about what other people have lost.” And about her and Jack: “How well do we really ever know each other?”
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's 2017 Claymore Award winning manuscript Serial Justice is now available on Amazon!
The Ghost Photographer by Julie Rieger / Review by Laura Hartman
The Ghost Photographer
By Julie Rieger
Atria/Enliven Books
$25.00
ISBN 978-1501158896
Publication Date: October 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
The Ghost Photographer takes the reader along on Julie Rieger’s cosmic course of self-discovery. Her journey of is not always an easy choice, but she jumps in with both feet willing to take the ride wherever it takes her. But her newly found psychic powers allow her to be at peace with herself and others. Isn’t that about all anyone can ask for?
Julie is often bawdy, funny and willing to share both the good and bad parts of her life with her readers. She explores the reason for her grief but realizes grief comes to others in different forms that are just as devastating as the loss of her mother was to her. She knows she needs to dig deeper to figure out the person she will be now that she is really on her own for the first time in her life.
Her journey begins when she discovers pictures of ghosts in photographs she has taken. (The pictures are included at the end of the book for you to decide for yourself). She works to develop her psychic gifts with close friends who have clairvoyant abilities. She also references famous people who were prophetic, second-sighted and/or were precognitive. They include Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill to name a few.
The thing that may surprise readers about Julie is her reliance on religion throughout her journey. She repeats how often she uses the power of prayer to protect herself and others from evil spirits. It should not surprise us that good and evil go hand in hand, and protecting yourself with a higher power is often necessary when delving into the unknown. There are a few things that might give you goosebumps. The chapter about “Old Scratch”, whom the Bible says is a stand-in for the devil, is pretty creepy.
This is a very interesting, funny and thought-provoking book. It is fast to read and full of things that you may or may not believe could ever happen. If so, take it at face value for your entertainment. That is okay, it is Julie’s journey to document and share. If you are a fan of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert or Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Sheryl Strayed you need to read this book. Journey and self-discovery come to different people in different ways, each of them unique and interesting to read about.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from the publisher/author in connection with Killer Nashville in return for my review. Copyright © 2018 Laura Hartman
Laura Hartman is a short story author and book reviewer. She has work appearing in A Woman’s Touch: 11 Stories of Murder & Misdemeanors and The Killer Wore Cranberry, A Second Helping. She began reviewing books for GenReviews in 2011 and currently reviews for publicist Maryglenn McCombs, Penguin First to Read and NetGalley. She is a writer by day and a reader by night.
Dig Your Grave by Steven Cooper/Review by Danny Lindsey
Dig Your Grave
By Steven Cooper
Seventh Street Books
$15.95
ISBN 978-16333884809
Publication Date: October 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
Dig Your Grave (2018 by Seventh Street Books) is one of those that grabbed me right away and held on to me all the way to the (unexpected) end. Somehow Steven Cooper’s style, characters, ,and pace clicked the sweet spot in my brain. I’m not sure if it was Gus Parker’s mysticism and his long-term relationship with a rock star, or if it was Alex Mills’ approach to crime solving and his “real person” attributes and actions. Whichever, or both, this book was a genuine pleasure to read.
Prominent men are being killed in Phoenix. They are apparently forced to walk into a cemetery, dig a shallow grave, and with a marker write their own epitaph on cardboard. Seemingly unrelated, the murders have one thing in common – success. It is Mills’ job to link them and solve the cases, and his relationship with Gus Parker is called into play when clues and motive are elusive.
Cooper blends the right amounts of setting and character development with a strong plot line. The reader still gets to use his or her imagination instead of being fed endless detail, which permits personal engagement with the story, one of the reasons we read instead of only watching television or streaming movies. It’s refreshing to become involved with the writer’s narration.
Dig Your Grave is the second Gus Parker and Alex Mills novel, and should not be the last. Strong characters and good writing make me want to go back and read the first, and eagerly wait for the next in the series.
I recommend it heartily.
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's 2017 Claymore Award winning manuscript Serial Justice is now available on Amazon!
Firefly by Henry Porter/Review by Bill Hopkins
Firefly
By Henry Porter
The Mysterious Press
$27.00
ISBN 978-0802128959
Publication Date: October 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
FIREFLY (The Mysterious Press; October 2, 2018) is a thriller that pays its dues overall. It’s about a young man, Luc Samson, who is running from the Muslims during the Syrian civil war. He is cast adrift (literally) into the ocean and washes up on a Greek island. Then he begins his trek northward to find a place he can live in Europe. He is a quasi-intelligence agent, having been strong-armed (not literally) into working for the Brits.
This is a cat-and-mouse game in the style and genre of lots of spy novels. The Brits are excellent at writing spy novels. The pace moves quickly here.
As usual, we (the readers) are urged to not fall in love with the spy agencies. In fact, there isn’t any particular group who is endearing. The different people the young man runs into are none any too moral. They have a job and they plan to get it done. This isn’t a slam against anyone in the book. That’s just the way life works.
Generally, I liked this book. I love spy novels. When I read, for example, a James Bond novel, I know there is a lot of fantasy there. The same here. Coincidence and happenstance play a large role in the plot.
There are two main nits I have to pick with this book: The pronouns sometimes are difficult to pin down to the people they belong to. I found myself going back and re-reading pages to figure out who was doing what to whom. The other nit is that the word “Firefly” is overused in the book and gaming world. I had a difficult time finding this book on Amazon.
However, both of these nits can surely be laid at the feet of the publisher.
Nonetheless, for a smashing good read, you won’t be sorry you read this!
Many thanks to Justina Batchelor from Grove Atlantic for providing me with the hardcover edition for review. It has been donated to the Bollinger County Library in Marble Hill, Missouri.
Bill Hopkins is retired after beginning his legal career in 1971, serving as a private attorney, prosecuting attorney, an administrative law judge, and a trial court judge, all in Missouri. Bill is a member of Horror Writers Association, Heartland Writers Guild, and Sisters In Crime. Bill and his wife, Sharon Woods Hopkins (a mystery writer!), live in Marble Hill, Missouri, with their dogs and cats. Courting Murder was his first novel and his second novel River Mourn won first place in the Best Novel of 2014 from the Missouri Writers Guild. His latest novel, Harvest Death is available from Amazon, with a new novel coming soon!
Learn more about Bill at his website, deadlyduo.net
Last Seen Leaving by Catherine Lea / Review by Danny Lindsey
Last Seen Leaving
By Catherine Lea
Brakelight Press
$11.99
ISBN 978-0473449773
Publication Date: August, 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
NEW FROM CLAY STAFFORD BOOKS
Catherine Lea has become a master storyteller. In Last Seen Leaving (Brakelight Press, 2018) she tackles a unique and very difficult protagonist, and succeeds nicely. Syd Schaeffer, former assistant District Attorney, has been blinded by a rogue virus. Her promising career has become little more than a subsistence practice, fed the occasional case from Walt Vander, a police detective. Syd suspects that even the cases he refers are from a sense of pity.
All that changes when her former fiancé disappears in New Zealand. He’s been caught up in an international tug of war over plans to retrofit the targeting software on an A4 Skyhawk, and apparently kidnapped. Syd is determined to not only solve the case, but to travel alone to New Zealand and solve it in person, over the objections of both her assistant and Walt Vander.
Lea describes the hurdles encountered by Syd at each step as though she has personal knowledge of the constant obstacles visually impaired persons must overcome routinely. She makes the reader aware of just how difficult every move can be.
If the telling is done well, the plot is even better. Without becoming so convoluted that the reader needs a program to tell the good guys from bad, Lea weaves an intricate thread, all the while giving Syd the correct doses of pluck and luck to move the storyline along at a good pace.
U.S. readers will find a few words here and there (e.g., lorry) that are not in use in America, but none that need be looked up. In fact, their use often blends right in with the location. All in all, this is a good one. Catherine Lea has once again stepped up her game.
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!
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins/ Review by Sharon Marchisello
INTO THE WATER
By Paula Hawkins
Riverhead Books
$11,85
ISBN 978-0735211209
Publication Date: May, 2017
BOOK OF THE DAY
Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Nominee
Into the Water, the latest novel by Paula Hawkins, author of the international bestseller The Girl on the Train, was nominated for a Silver Falchion award.
For more than three centuries, the Beckford Drowning Pool has seen the demise of "troublesome" women. From Libby Seeton, accused of witchcraft in 1679, to Katie Whitaker, a popular, well-adjusted 15-year-old high school student who unexpectedly commits suicide, the river has swallowed inconvenient women and their secrets along with them.
Nel Abbott was always fascinated with the river's power and the women who met their ends in its quiet bend beneath a cliff. She begins researching the questionable suicides and compiling their stories into a book with the help of psychic Nickie Sage. But then Nel herself becomes a victim of the water.
When Into the Water opens, Nel's estranged sister Jules returns to Beckford to settle the estate and look after Nel's hostile 15-year-old daughter Lena. While packing up Nel's things and perusing her writings, Jules finds the missing pieces to their broken relationship and is able to unravel some of Beckford's mysteries.
Master of "the unreliable narrator," Hawkins tells the story through the eyes of 10 different characters, all looking at events from different angles, alternating between first, second, and third person. Woven through the narrative are excerpts from Nel's unfinished manuscript. Just like the characters, sometimes the reader doesn't know whom to trust. The pace is steady through to the twist at the end.
Into the Water is the second novel by Paula Hawkins, whose debut psychological thriller, The Girl on the Train, was published in 50 countries, sold 20 million copies worldwide, and was made into a major motion picture. She currently resides in London.
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 disease. 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, GA, with her husband and cat, does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society, and writes a blog about personal finance, Countdown to Financial Fitnesshttps://sharonmarchisello.blogspot.com/.
PAULA HAWKINS worked as a journalist for fifteen years before turning her hand to fiction. She is the author of two #1 New York Times bestselling novels, Into The Water and The Girl on The Train. An international #1 bestseller, The Girl on the Train has sold almost 20 million copies worldwide and has been adapted into a major motion picture. Hawkins was born in Zimbabwe and now lives in London.
Tripleye by John Hegenberger / Review by Frank Reed
TRIPLEYE
By John Hegenberger
Black Opal Books
$12.97
ISBN 978-1626946835
Publication Date: June, 2017
BOOK OF THE DAY
Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Nominee
Tripleye (Black Opal Books, 2017) has at least triple layers of intrigue. John Hegenberger has co-mingled bits and pieces of Bond, Bourne, and the occasional smidgen of other familiar “tagonists,” both pro- and an- in his sci-fi fantasy. Murder, theft of military weapons, double agent Manchurians (or New New Yorkians?), they’re all present and sometimes accounted for. He nails it—duplicity, greed, and ego have no boundaries. The final frontier is just as wild and dangerous as the Old West back on Earth three centuries ago.
The Weave Corp, headed by Van Loon, is set on taking over the entire extra-terrestrial enterprise, complete with geo-therm stations, sand mines, and a thriving population. The Corp has also managed to infiltrate Tripleye, the government’s private investigation entity, which enables them to interfere with Tripleye’s ace in the hole, a mind meld technology called the Link.
Throughout, it is apparent that regardless of location, time, technology, or other advancements, certain basic attributes continue to drive humans. Love, hate, anger, fear, jealousy still are prime motivators. Most anything can be purchased (for credits, the new cash), no one can be taken at face value, and the coin of the realm still rules behavior.
Did I mention that there is evidence of intelligent life on Mars? Did I forget to say that much of the conflict centers around the theft of “Snot,” the acronym for the tangible life form? Did I get so caught up in the action that I omitted that little tidbit? Oh, well.
But perhaps the best nugget, though easy to miss, is the fare on the thirteen hour shuttle from Ceres to Mars. The featured menu item? Microwaved hegenbergers, of course.
Born and raised in the heart of the heartland, Columbus, Ohio, John Hegenberger is the author of upcoming Stan Wade LAPI series from Black Opal Books, father of three, tennis enthusiast, collector of silent films and OTR, hiker, Francophile, B.A. Comparative Lit., Pop culture author, crime-fighter, comedian, ex-lead in the senior class play, ex-Navy, ex-comic book dealer, ex-marketing exec at Exxon, AT&T, and IBM, happily married for 45 years.
Active Member of SFWA, PWA and ITW.
The Bricklayer of Albany Park by Terry John Malik / Review by Sharon Wood Hopkins
THE BRICK LAYER OF ALBANY PARK
By Terry John Malik
Blank Slate Press
$16.95
ISBN 978-1943075348
Publication Date: August 22, 2017
BOOK OF THE DAY
Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Nominee
The Bricklayer of Albany Park is a name the Chicago area police give to a serial killer. It is Detective Francis Vincenti’s job to apprehend him. Frank is totally consumed with finding the killer, that, as his marriage and sanity are at risk, he turns to his mentor, retired detective Thomas Foster for help. Will Frank find the killer before he loses everything?
This gripping debut thriller is told in fast-moving alternating chapters between Frank and the killer. Their paths must cross, but the suspense builds trying to figure out when.
The plot snags you from the start, so do not overlook any sentence, any nuance, because there are clues everywhere in this masterfully crafted psychological thriller.
Hold on to your seat as the story skids to a surprising conclusion. It will leave you breathless.
Give Place to Wrath by Steven Harms / Review by Sheila Sobel
GIVE PLACE TO WRATH
By Steve C. Harms
KCM Publishing
$12.99
ISBN 978-1939961723
Publication Date: October 28, 2017
BOOK OF THE DAY
Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Nominee
After sinking the putt of a lifetime, Mary Hale is dead. The explosion that killed her left little evidence. The assassin that killed her left behind one obscure clue. Detective Roger Viceroy and his Midwest Region Special Crimes Unit team have virtually nothing to help them solve her murder. Tension builds as the assassin strikes again and again. The killings appear to be random because each murder is different, but Viceroy soon discovers that every crime scene contains a similar, solitary clue. The killer is clever and highly motivated. He thwarts and teases Viceroy and the Special Crimes Unit with each new victim. As Viceroy and his team piece together the puzzle, they uncover the thread that binds the crimes—Curwood, Wisconsin, a sleepy little town with a dark, hidden past. Viceroy, believing that Governor Kay Spurgeon is the next target, is up against a ticking clock. Give Place to Wrath will leave the reader wanting a quick release of a second book in the series.
After three decades as a professional sports business executive across the NBA, NFL, and MLB, Steven C. Harms has knocked it out of the park with his debut novel, Give Place to Wrath by combining sports with a police procedural. He resides in Oxford, Michigan, a rural suburb of Detroit. For more information about Steven C. Harms: http://stevencharms.com/
After thirty-three years and seventy films (including Harry Potter, The Matrix trilogy and Batman, The Dark Knight), Sheila stepped away from the film business to complete her Young Adult novel. Her debut novel Color Blindwon the 2017 Killer Nashville Reader's Choice Award for Best Fiction YA and was a Finalist for the 2017 Silver Falchion Award for Best Fiction YA. Sheila was also nominated for the 2016 Allegra Johnson Prize in Novel Writing through UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.
Sheila is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and Women in Film. She lives in Beverly Hills with her husband, two dogs and a cat. www.sheilasobel.com
Submit Your Writing to KN Magazine
Want to have your writing included in Killer Nashville Magazine?
Fill out our submission form and upload your writing here: