KN Magazine: Reviews

8/19/15 8/19/15

Ice Cold by Andrea Maria Schenkel / Reviewed by Kelly Saderholm

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Ice Cold or read other reviews through Killer Nashville's affiliate, Amazon.com*

Ice Cold by Andrea Maria Schenkel (Quercus) is short, dark, and haunting. Set against the backdrop of 1939 Germany, Ice Cold is the intertwining story of a serial killer, identified on the first page as Josef Kalteis, and the young, naively confident Kathie who is desperate to escape small village life and seek her fortune in Munich.

This is an unusual novel. The story is told through a collage of character viewpoints, including police transcripts and interviews as they work the case, mixed with internal monologue of Josef Kalteis, and the not quite as intimate narration of Kathie's journey from her village to the bright-lights and seedy dark corners of Munich. In the hands of a less skilled writer, this would be a jumbled mess, but Schenkel handles it beautifully. The short sections, often just a page or two, move the story along quickly, and the interweaving of different character's viewpoints builds tension so that this book is difficult to put town.

The writing is gorgeous, but quite dark. There are some disturbing graphic scenes, which one would expect from a story about a serial killer, but they are not at all gratuitous. The subject and tone place the novel in the mystery genre, but the style and structure are more literary. This is not an escapist tale, but rather a thoughtful, haunting one. I read the book in one rainy afternoon, and then, after several days, went back and read parts of it again.

Schenkel has written six novels, (her sixth novel will be released in the Fall of 2015). Only her first two novels,The Murder Farm and Ice Cold have been published in the United States, both by Quercus.

Kelly Saderholm has written, blogged and lectured about aspects of the mystery novel. She is currently shifting from writing about mystery fiction to writing actual mystery fiction and is working on a novel, as well as a non-fiction book dealing with Folklore in the American South. She lives in South Central Kentucky with her family and feline office assistants.

(If you have a book you would like featured, send an ARC for consideration. The Killer Nashville Book Reviews are coordinated by Clay Stafford with the assistance of Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, and credited guest reviewers. For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com)

*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

With over 24,000 visits monthly to the Killer Nashville website, over 300,000 reached through social media, and a potential outreach of over 22 million per press release, Killer Nashville provides another way for you to reach more people with your message. Send a query to books@killernashville.com or call us at 615-599-4032. We’d love to hear from you.

8/18/15 8/18/15

Dragonfish by Vu Tran / Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Dragonfish or read other reviews through Killer Nashville's affiliate, Amazon.com*

Dragonfish, like Gone Girl, is two interconnected stories in one – and both are thoroughly engrossing. Written by Vu Tran, the novel is part noir-crime thriller and part literary memoir.

At the heart of both stories is Suzy, a Vietnamese woman haunted by her past and her own inability to find true happiness with either of the men in her life. Her mood swings—from attentive and loving wife to sullen and mysterious stranger—baffle both men, Oakland police officer Robert Ruen and Vietnamese gangster Sonny Van Nguyen, neither of whom can let her go once she decides to leave them. Robert’s off-duty investigation takes him into the seamy warrens of casinos and gambling dens of Las Vegas, with Sonny’s sadistic son “Junior” shadowing his every move.

The story takes on a grim tone of mystery, lost love, and the slim hope of atonement for Robert, who is forever remorseful for having struck Suzy during one of their arguments. That tone is reflected further in Suzy’s own story, told in a collection of letters to her daughter, recounting her journey of discovery from a refugee camp in Malaysia after the fall of Saigon to her life in America. Tran, himself a Vietnamese refugee, easily captures the cultural anxiety of leaving home and trying to establish new roots in a strange land, lending a sense of authenticity to the story.

Robert’s story is told in a more traditional noir style, with sharp dialogue, violent action, and a dark atmosphere. The narrative moves swiftly as the mystery of Suzy’s disappearance deepens and the looming threat of Junior and his goons grows. Suzy’s story, by contrast, takes a more introspective, though still haunting, literary tone. While not as dramatic as Robert’s story, Suzy’s story is an emotional exploration of who she is, where she came from, and her place in the world.

Mystery-thriller readers may balk at the idea that a good portion of the book is told as memoir. But Tran successfully pulls off both stories thanks in part to his skill as a literary short story writer. And, certainly, the climax holds plenty of violence to make up for any detours along the way.

“At the end of the day, it’s still about writing great sentences and drawing convincing and compelling characters,” Tran explains. “I think one of the great virtues of genre narratives like the detective novel is that, when it’s written at its best, it offers a heightened version of reality that allows or forces its characters to reveal themselves in ways they normally would not.”

Tran’s fiction has previously appeared in the O. Henry Prize Stories, the Best American Mystery Stories, The Southern Review, Harvard Review and other publications. He has received honors from Glimmer Train Stories and the Michigan Quarterly Review. Dragonfish is a novel expanded from Tran’s short story “This Or Any Desert”, originally published in the Las Vegas Noir anthology (Akashic Books) and later included in the 2009 edition of Best American Mystery Stories.

G. Robert Frazier is a former journalist and editor, having worked at several newspapers in Middle Tennessee. He is a reader for the Nashville Film Festival’s annual screenwriting competition, serves on the La Vergne Library Board, and is an active member of the Nashville Writers Meetup and Tennessee Screenwriters Association. He is currently working on a mystery/thriller novel and a screenplay. You can locate him online at https://twitter.com/grfrazier23 and https://grfrazier.wordpress.com.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

8/12/15 8/12/15

The Well by Catherine Chanter / Reviewed by Kyla Marlin

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase The Wellor read other reviews through Killer Nashville's affiliate, Amazon.com

Catherine Chanter’s debut novel, The Well, is nothing short of spectacular. With words that flow as easy and as magical as in author Alice Hoffman’s novels, I was beyond impressed. This novel had me from the mysterious and gut-wrenching beginning to the thrilling end.

Ruth Ardingly is just an ordinary, 40-something grandmother, who is struggling to keep her marriage alive after a scandal involving her husband, Mark, and child pornography charges. Although Mark is found innocent, the couple struggles with the aftermath of bad publicity within their community.

Seeking refuge from the discomfort and scrutiny of London life, a pervasive drought overtaking the country, and her touch-and-go drug addict daughter and grandson, Mark and Ruth seek sanctuary at an oasis… a farm called, The Well.

The Well is seemingly untouched by the drought that grips the rest of the country. It remains fruitful, vibrant, and green. This seemingly magical farm strikes jealousy and hate in the hearts of their neighbors and fellow townspeople. And while Ruth and Mark make strides towards salvaging their marriage, they soon encounter mounting challenges from the death of their grandson to people who perceive the farm as either scandalous or magical.

Soon public knowledge of this oasis soars and The Sisters of Jericho, a group of women who have created a female-based religion that worships The Rose and its power over the rain and the earth, flock to The Well, and create even more havoc for Ruth and her family.

With religious overtones that capture the heart and the mind, Chanter takes you on a whirlwind adventure with a woman who believes in hope for a better life and finding faith in something no one can explain. In the meantime, she toils for a better future with her husband and her daughter, and to find the truth of who killed her grandson.

I highly recommend this novel for anyone seeking mystery, thrills, struggle, and murder. This novel will bring you hope, tug on your heartstrings, and make you feel the struggle of guilt, grief, and acceptance.

5 out of 5 stars!

Kyla Marlin is a quirky and awkward post-grad of ETSU who writes obituaries for the Johnson City Press by day and poetry for her blog meanderingsatmidnight.wordpress.com by night. She is just an average post-grad trying to navigate the confusing path of adulthood whilst becoming an expert in the art of chips/salsa paired with wine.

(If you have a book you would like featured, send an ARC for consideration. The Killer Nashville Book Reviews are coordinated by Clay Stafford with the irreplaceable assistance of Clay Janeway, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, and credited guest reviewers. For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com)

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

8/6/15 8/6/15

Dead Girl Walking by Christopher Brookmyre / Reviewed by M.K. Sealy

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Dead Girl Walking or read other reviews through Killer Nashville's affiliate, Amazon.com

Photo Credit: Tricia Malley and Ross Gillespie

With plots likened to those of director and writer Quentin Tarantino, Scottish author Christopher Brookmyre delivers a complex, engaging mystery masterpiece with his newest novel Dead Girl Walking.

Somewhat reminiscent of Stieg Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Dead Girl Walking is chock full of suspense and nail-biting tension. In Dead Girl Walking Brookmyre tells the story of a missing girl, murder, vice, the alternative music business, and the things that can come back to haunt you.

Dead Girl Walking opens with Heike, a musician with the world at her feet, who vanishes. And, for journalist Jack Parlabane, who has lost his career and marriage, finding Heike is the last opportunity to regain what little scrap of dignity he has left. But to unravel the complicated web surrounding Heike’s disappearance, Parlabane must begin by breaking down the secrets shared by Heike and her band, Savage Earth Heart.

But uncovering the band’s secrets may be more difficult than expected, regardless of the public’s crazed obsession of the band and the much-touted relationship between Heike and new band member Monica. Things are never as they seem and it turns out that Monica’s feelings toward Heike are less than favorable. As Parlabane uncovers the jealousy and anger behind the public façade, finding Heike becomes even more important.

Dead Girl Walking is superbly written, the suspense building from page one and culminating in an excellent dénouement that leaves readers with the undeniable aftertaste of a satisfying read.

Aside from the general intrigue and thrills, Brookmyre’s in-depth exploration of the alternative music scene is brought to life through both plot and form. Dead Girl Walking is an intense, wild ride, and one that I would highly suggest for readers of mysteries and thrillers.

M.K. Sealy earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in literature from a Nashville university. She is a copyeditor for a Nashville-based publication, but also writes poetry, fiction, and is currently attempting a screenplay, all while working to obtain a Master of Education.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

8/6/15 8/6/15

Dead Girl Walking by Christopher Brookmyre / Reviewed by M.K. Sealy

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Dead Girl Walking by Christopher Brookmyre / Reviewed by M.K. Sealy

Purchase Dead Girl Walking or read other reviews through Killer Nashville's affiliate, Amazon.com

Dead Girl Walking is superbly written, the suspense building from page one and culminating in an excellent dénouement that leaves readers with the undeniable aftertaste of a satisfying read.

[hr color="dark-gray" width="100%" border_width="2px" ]

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

[hr color="dark-gray" width="100%" border_width="2px" ]

8/5/15 8/5/15

Little Pretty Things by Lori Rader-Day / Reviewed by Kelly Saderholm

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Little Pretty Things or read other reviews through Killer Nashville's affiliate, Amazon.com

Lori Rader-Day Photo Credit - Oomphotography

There is nothing little about Little Pretty Things by Lori Rader-Day. The plot revolves around a ten-year reunion of two high school friends, who were teammates as well as rivals, and things go terribly wrong.

One friend, Madeline Bell, a high school track star, ends up dead. The other friend, Juliet Townsend, is the lead suspect. Maddy, as it turns out, left her Indiana hometown, and achieved what seems to be a glamorous life in Chicago. Juliet stayed behind and stagnated, barely making ends meet, working as a maid in a cheap one star motel.

As with the best mystery novels, Little Pretty Things is more than just a whodunit. It is also a beautifully written psychological thriller. Juliet is unable to resist taking little pretty things that guests have left behind in their rooms: a glittery barrette, a sparkling earring, a glass perfume bottle. To solve Maddy's murder, and absolve her own guilt over Maddy's death, Juliet has to solve the puzzle of her own inability—or unwillingness—to move ahead in her own life. As she does this, she discovers that others are taking little pretty things, in the form of underage female students and exploiting them, with grim results.

Dealing with such dark subjects, this novel could have easily plunged into a preachy or heavy social commentary, but it does not. Rader-Day's deft writing and wry humor shines through and provides a thoughtful, yet entertaining read. She is able to make the mundane ins and outs of running a squalid hotel interesting. This reviewer was captivated by the first sentence:

The walkie-talkie on the front desk hissed, crackled and finally resolved into Lu's lilting voice: “At what point,” she said, “do we worry the guy in two-oh-six is dead?”

Little Pretty Things is Ms. Rader-Day's second novel, following her award winning debut novel The Black Hour, both of which are published by Seventh Street Press, an imprint of Prometheus Books. In addition to her two novels, Ms. Rader-Day has also written award winning short fiction.

Kelly Saderholm has written, blogged and lectured about aspects of the mystery novel. She is currently shifting from writing about mystery fiction to writing actual mystery fiction and is working on a novel, as well as a non-fiction book dealing with Folklore in the American South. She lives in South Central Kentucky with her family and feline office assistants.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

7/29/15 7/29/15

Stone Cold Dead by James Ziskin / Reviewed by Jonathan Thurston

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Stone Cold Dead or read other reviews through Killer Nashville's affiliate, Amazon.com

Ellie Stone is back!

In James Ziskin’s third installment in the Ellie Stone Mystery series, Ellie Stone appears to have not received the fame she expected from her previous case. But Stone has quite a reputation in New York as a bothersome and nosy female reporter.

And, when teenage girl Darleen Hicks goes missing right before Christmas, the cops don’t want Stone involved. After all, the girl probably went off with her boyfriend or a close friend, right? Darleen’s mother is far from convinced and seeks out Stone herself, enlisting her help in finding the missing girl. What Stone finds, however, is more than she probably bargained for. This time, she could be out of a job, out of luck, and out of time.

James Ziskin, as always, brings out amazing characters that defy the stereotypes and archetypes readers will try to place on them. However, Ziskin brings something new into his third installment: he brings a deeper level of his own linguistic studies into the text itself, making each word full of intent and meaning, reminiscent of the mystery icon Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. The characters are given unique life with their words, and Ziskin’s descriptions come alive. The plot itself hinges on the meanings of words.

Stone. The very word itself can make the rocks that pound us, or it can form the steps that lead us out of the pit. Find out if Ellie Stone’s nature will bring her salvation or suffering in this must-read series for any mystery lover.

Jonathan W. Thurston is a literary studies graduate student. Aside from his studies, he owns a small publishing house called Thurston Howl Publications and serves as its editor-in-chief. He has written several books on his own and always enjoys reading a good horror novel. When he’s not busy with grad school or his business, he is often found reading a good book with hot tea in one hand and his dog Temerita curled up at his feet (she often thinks she is a cat, you see).

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

7/28/15 7/28/15

Cop Job by Chris Knopf / Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Cop Job or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

When Alfie Aldergreen, a paranoid schizophrenic helplessly bound to a wheelchair, is brutally murdered, friend Sam Acquillo takes it personally in Cop Job, the forthcoming novel from author Chris Knopf and The Permanent Press.

Acquillo isn’t your typical detective, and that’s what makes reading this adventure so fun. A former corporate troubleshooter and pro boxer turned carpenter, Acquillo’s headstrong attitude doesn’t make his investigation any easier.

Fortunately, his bullish attitude is tempered somewhat by the cool wit and sharp analytical mind of his friend, attorney Jackie Swaitkowski, who also happened to be an advocate for the recently departed Alfie Aldergreen. Together, the pair begins methodically interviewing anyone and everyone who may have known Alfie, past and present, in an effort to determine who had it in for him.

They have a decent relationship with the investigating officer on the case and are able to launch their own line of inquiry with little police backlash. They even have the blessing of District Attorney Edith Madison, who confides in them that Alfie was acting as a confidential informant for the police department. What’s more, they learn Alfie’s death was only one of three murders of late involving confidential informants. Suspicion immediately points to a possible police cover-up and the plot, as they say, thickens.

Knopf handles the ensuing narrative with deft skill as Acquillo and Swaitkowski follow breadcrumbs to Alfie’s former associates: a wild assortment of oddball characters who demonstrate varying degrees of cooperation. The parade of suspects and questions seem to be going nowhere fast before Acquillo’s world is rocked a second time after his daughter is subjected to a brutal attack.

After seeing to her safety, Acquillo jumps back on the case, ultimately connecting all the dots, including his daughter’s attack, to the perpetrators in an action-packed finale on the high seas.

Cop Job is the sixth novel from Knopf to feature Acquillo, but readers don’t need to rush out and buy the others before diving into this one. Knopf easily sets the stage – in the upscale Hamptons where Acquillo makes his home -- without burdening readers with what has gone on before.

Robert Frazier is a former journalist and editor, having worked at several newspapers in the Midstate. He is a reader for the Nashville Film Festival’s annual screenwriting competition, serves on the La Vergne Library Board, and is an active member of the Nashville Writers Meetup and Tennessee Screenwriters Association. He is currently juggling work on a mystery novel and a screenplay, along with a half dozen short stories in various phases of incompletion.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

7/16/15 7/16/15

Missing by Sam Hawken / Reviewed by Kimn Hinkson

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Missing or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Sam Hawken’s Missing takes readers to the borderlands of the United States and Mexico. Widowed but hardboiled Jack Searle resides with his two stepdaughters in Texas, where he’s a workingman who enjoys a beer when the sun goes down.

Despite a strict routine, he retains a curious and sympathetic approach to human nature. That is until his two daughters go missing during a concert while visiting their family in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and Jack is faced with the truly cruel and avaricious side of human nature.

A dramatic and vicious novel, Hawken’s sense of objectivity gives the book the winning cold-cut edge of a revenge-thriller.

Jack Searle is a father-knows-best kind of man who doesn’t cast the bad or the ugly a second glance. Serrated with expressive dynamo, Hawken is climactic in his writing and hardly shies away from the gruesome reality of Nuevo Laredo’s darker sides. Hawken’s vision of an underground Mexico sustained by drugs and heat, and like his last two novels set on the Mexican-U.S. border, this novel prompts attention to the crime and violence that takes place on a global platform.

While hinting unforgivably that catastrophe could be a family-visit away, Hawken’s work is nonetheless a feat in storytelling, and endeavors to strike at the reader’s most tender fears.

Gritty.

Kimn Hinkson is like most over-caffeinated, introverted bibliophiles: indifferent to most other items on the planet. Finding that works of literature, opposed to human beings, lend their gifts absolutely free to those who brave the page, she has procured a sense of forbearance via reading in order to survive this otherwise impoverished existence. Other readers are already familiar with the pretty words they give to the most adverse, uncongenial characters. Somewhere between an insurrectionist and a mereological nihilist, Kimn is one of them.

*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

7/15/15 7/15/15

"Ruthless" by John Rector / Reviewed by Kyla Marlin

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Ruthless or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

John Rector’s Ruthless is a classic example of a man being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Enter Nick White, a shell of a man who is heartbroken over his failed marriage brought on by his own weaknesses, including an addiction to gambling. While drinking away his sorrows, Nick finds himself mistaken for a hit man by a blonde woman at a local bar.

Nick, seeing a conquest, plays along, but soon finds himself with a whole lot of cash, a password protected USB drive, and instructions to murder a young woman named Abigail Pierce. By the time Nick realizes what’s happening, the woman is gone, and the real hit man shows up.

Worried for a woman he has never met, Nick attempts to warn Abigail Pierce, but instead leads the hit man right to her, including putting himself in the path of the real hit man and his team, their demand for answers, and worse… his cooperation in their scheme!

Full of secrets, plot twists, survival, and money, “Ruthless”, is amazing from start to finish. Nick is an average man just trying to do the right thing and not drown in the process. Thrown around between the strong female characters in this story, Nick tries to uncover the truth, but will he discover it in time to save Abigail and himself?

John Rector’s writing is captivating and intense. I truly enjoyed being caught up into the whirlwind of danger and quick-wittedness of Nick’s character and the predicament he has found himself in. A solid 4 out of 5 stars!

Kyla Marlin, 23, is a quirky and awkward post-grad of ETSU who writes obituaries for the Johnson City Press by day and poetry for her blog meanderingsatmidnight.wordpress.com by night. She is just an average post-grad trying to navigate the confusing path of adulthood whilst becoming an expert in the art of chips/salsa paired with wine.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

7/14/15 7/14/15

"Picture Them Dead" by Brynn Bonner / Reviewed by Kimn Hinkson

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Picture Them Dead or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Picture Them Dead is the third “whodunit” mystery from Brynn Bonner, who brings to the shelves a family mystery set in the social media age featuring duo professional genealogists, Sophreena McClure and Esme Sabatier. These two local-ladies are drawn into a bizarre mystery when detectives ask for their help.

But Sophreena and Esme’s prowess as a team is put to the test when an unidentified corpse is discovered in a glass coffin. And, as curious parties descend upon the macabre sight, soon the body of a young woman is found near the memorial and the team is pushed along into a full-scale inquiry of the history behind the house where the coffin was found and its previous owners.

A tidy writing style with courteous dialogue, Brynn Bonner’s characters teem with family flavor; even the criminals emit a sense of cloying concern. Moreover, surrounded by chaos, the protagonists manage to keep up their personal lives in spite of the crazy clutter.

Bonner depicts these women’s lives with a show of balance between maintaining romances and relations by day and exploring suspicious activity by night. For example, in connection to the case, they root out strange past activities of a primal and exotic community of youths who seem to change overnight from bohemians to mystics.

While Bonner’s supernatural undertone manifests ridiculously somehow it adds a naïve charm to the personalities of her novel while rationally keeping within the bounds of explained crime, and hinting at witchery.

This book is worth checking out.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

7/9/15 7/9/15

Remember Me This Way by Sabine Durrant / Reviewed by Meaghan Hill

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Remember Me This Way or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

How well do you know your significant other? After reading “Remember Me This Way”, Sabine Durrant will have readers second-guessing those with whom they share their lives.

“Remember Me This Way” is the story of Zach and Lizzie Carter and their tumultuous relationship as told through the couple’s alternating points of view. But Zach’s mental illness and controlling ways leads Lizzie to leave Zach and their life together. For fear of telling him in person, Lizzie writes Zach a good-bye letter; the next day Zach is found dead.

Dealing with the grief and guilt from her husband’s death, Lizzie returns to the place of Zach’s accident one year later. Expecting to close this chapter of her life, Lizzie is surprised to see a bouquet of flowers and a note addressed to her late husband from a mysterious woman, Xenia. Who is this woman and how does she know Lizzie’s husband?

More questions surface when even stranger events unfold. She finds a pair of Zach’s boots. An art studio is destroyed, a mysterious MacBook Air is left behind, and several household items are missing. Lizzie becomes convinced that Zach is still alive and has come back into her life to stalk her. And, with two of Zach’s past lovers dead, could Lizzie become Zach’s next victim?

Lizzie sets out to find out Zach’s secrets by reading his diary, and what she finds will leave her and readers in a heart-pounding suspense. Will she find Zach before he finds her?

A thrilling cat and mouse game, “Remember Me This Way” will leave readers looking over their shoulders.

Meaghan Hill is a Tennessee native navigating post-college life. She is a writer, traveler, coffee addict, and adventurer. When she is not busy pursuing her graduate degree at MTSU, she can be found searching for and renovating antiques.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

7/7/15 7/7/15

The Friendship of Criminals by Robert Glinski / Reviewed by Cole Meador

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase The Friendship of Criminals or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Reminiscent of mobster classics such as Mario Puzo’s The Godfather and Nicholas Peliggi’s Casino, newcomer Robert Glinski brings the heat to the streets with his debut novel The Friendship of Criminals. Drawing upon his real-life experiences as a criminal defense attorney, Glinski adds dashes of grittiness and darkness to a wonderfully violent and absolutely thrilling story.

Set in the sin-soaked streets and high-rises of Philadelphia, the book follows several gangster groups, each notorious for their white and blue-collar crimes. Race is a dominant theme in The Friendship of Criminals, with Italians, Poles, and Cubans clawing at one another’s throats while also making backhanded deals under the table. A seedy underworld filled with dangerous individuals, Philly becomes a playground for the mob, with gun battles and heists galore.

Port Richmond, populated by the Polish mob, is particularly a place any decent person would want to avoid at all costs. A neighborhood run by the hardened Bielakowski family and a gruff, no-BS gun supplier, Port Richmond sets the stage for a pulse-racing plot that explodes near the end with a satisfying finish. After the conclusion, I was left wanting more and will be impatiently waiting for Robert Glinski’s next novel, be it mobster-oriented or not. A voracious literary appetite can only be held back for so long!

As for Robert Glinski’s personal writing style, I was thoroughly impressed with the entrancing way he is able to weave together a first person narrative while still showing a broad outside view of the conflicts in his story. I felt like I was reading from a seasoned author, a writer who knows his way around the words like familiar friends. This led me to enjoy Mr. Glinski’s story even more, as I became immersed in its various plotlines and twisted characters. I would easily recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an intense crime thriller with a taste of old-fashioned justice.

Cole Meador is a full-time student pursuing a B.A. in Creative Writing. When he isn’t writing poems or short stories, he spends his time frequenting Nashville coffee shops, planning his next road trip, and attending any and all concerts he can. Cole aspires to work in the music industry, while continuing to pursue his passionate love for the written word.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

7/2/15 7/2/15

Flame Out by M.P. Cooley / Reviewed by Briana Goodchild

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Flame Out: A Novel or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Ice Shear is the first book of the June Lyons series

The smell of gasoline creeps through the air as ex-FBI, turned small-town police officer, Juniper “June” Lyons drives past the old Sleep-Tite Factory; the Factory is in flames. As the fiery scene erupts in chaos, a mysterious and badly burned woman emerges from the building. Who is this woman, and what is she doing in the abandoned factory?

In the charred aftermath of the fire, the investigation for arson and of “Jane Doe” begins, where officers soon find barrels of Tris, a toxic chemical banned in the 1970’s, behind a false wall. With the help of June’s partner Dave and forensic specialist Annie, the barrels prove to hold more than just toxic chemicals as they discover the mangled body of a woman.

DNA results reveal that the “Jane Doe” burn victim is in fact Louisa Lawler, local woman believed to have been murdered by her husband in 1983; the same infamous murder case that June’s fathered worked as the lead investigator at the time. With Louisa confirmed alive, the reader is left with many questions. If Louisa is alive, then where has she been all these years? Who is the dead woman in the barrel? Could Louisa be a murderer?

As the pieces begin to fall into place, June is faced with unwavering loyalties, hidden political agenda’s, and bloody family ties. Flame Out will leave readers hanging on the edge of their seats. This novel proves unforgiving in its plot, but is just too good to put down.

Briana Goodchild is on the verge of becoming a bibliophile and is currently a student of English Literature and Drama. Like any book reader she enjoys a strong cup of tea and an enticing story to match. Occasionally, when diving into the Mystery Genre, caffeine is required.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

7/1/15 7/1/15

The Long High Noon by Loren D. Estleman / Reviewed by Brianna Goodchild

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase The Long High Noon or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Loren D. Estleman Credit: Deborah Morgan

The Long High Noon by Loren D. Estleman
Reviewed by Brianna Goodchild

In Loren D. Estleman’s latest novel, The Long High Noon, Randy Locke and Frank Farmer are dead set on killing one another. Since their early twenties, they have been locked in a notorious, yet entertaining duel throughout the untamed West. Whenever one of them comes into shooting range of the other, one can expect gunfire within seconds.

Besides their wounded egos, Randy has a permanent limp from a horse riding accident and Frank has constant pain in his chest as well as a prosthetic ear. Both gifts bestowed onto one another via bullets after their first encounter in BlueBottle Saloon in El Paso.

Perhaps the duel started over the affections of a mystery woman, or related to finances, or a claim to a desirable piece of land? Whatever the reason, Abraham Cripplehorn (a.k.a. Jack Dodger) wants in on the action. An entrepreneur and professional liar with a handcrafted ivory eye, Cripplehorn is set on making a fortune from Locke and Farmer’s feud after reading about them in the Chicago Tribune.

After yet another duel in the woods outside of Oakland, California, Cripplehorn convinces the men to finish the fight in San Francisco, where he promises glory and fame to the winner.

However, the men are met with a new law posted by the Governor of California, who promises execution to anyone who participates in contests that could result in human death. So, the men go farther south to perform in an “Exhibition of the Century” for the ultimate duel to the death.

Who will be the last man standing?

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

6/30/15 6/30/15

"Gun Street Girl" by Adrian McKinty / Reviewed by Maria Giordano

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Gun Street Girl or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty
Reviewed by Maria Giordano

Detective Sean Duffy is man out of water, or under water, depending on how you view this pack-a-day smoker using vodka gimlets and recreational drugs just to get by.

Still, there’s something endearing about this no-nonsense sleuth author Adrian McKinty has created. In this third book of the Detective Duffy series, the Irish-Catholic detective has some bad habits, but he is tough, maybe stupid tough at times. But he proves time after time, he’s the guy you want by your side to solve crime.

Gun Street Girl begins with the murder of an affluent couple supposedly killed by their embattled son, except he ends up dead, too. As the bodies start piling up, Duffy and his motley crew uncover layer upon layer of the the crime that takes them from North Ireland to London and back, face-to-face with an oddly familiar American operative, vengeful union leaders, and the mysterious disappearance of dangerous missiles, all during a tumultuous time in Northern Ireland’s history.

Set during the mid-1980s after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, Duffy also serves as an unlikely historian educating the reader about the chaos transpiring in his country. His investigation is stymied when he and his team must serve as riot police, often becoming targets of civil unrest. In addition, Duffy is a Catholic working among mostly Protestants making him also a target of prejudice.

While all this might sound like complex stuff, McKinty serves up Gun Street Girl simply with deadpan humor, and a lot of booze. It’s also action-packed with glimpses of the Irish culture and countryside. From blacked-out helicopters and MI6 associates, there’s truly never a dull moment.

McKinty also masterfully sets the tone nicely and subtly with Duffy’s musical taste. From the blues to punk to classical, music is the conveyance that drives both the reader and this melancholy detective onward.

Maria Giordano is wannabe superhero. She loves reading, seeing films, and catching the eclectic sounds found in Nashville, Tennessee.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

6/25/15 6/25/15

"Method 15/33" by Shannon Kirk / Reviewed by Garrett Crowell

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Method 15/33 or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk
Reviewed by Garrett Crowell

The female victim revenge fantasy is as old as male writers and artists splattering their misogyny across art. (Probably older.) Sometimes this is subtext and sometimes not, and the response to it from women artists ranges from simply cathartic to over-the-top violence.

From the classic movie I Spit on Your Grave to this book Method 15/33 as an endpoint (until someone moves the line further out), the tradition dictates that the woman at the heart of the situation be victimized before she can overcome, in order to provide motivation. Part of the suspense for the reader in these situations would presumably be hand-in-hand with wondering if our heroine's plan for revenge will be successful, but Kirk makes the unusual decision to reveal the “whether or not” right away

Her protagonist, whose name we do not learn until late in the game, is a sixteen-year-old pregnant genius, abducted from roadside. From the start, we are urged to look at her as an uncommon breed of girl who will attempt to triumph over what would, for anyone else, be a horrible situation. The book dovetails from her experiences in the hands of her captors to the activities of the FBI team investigating her disappearance, using the chapter divides to switch back and forth between the actions throughout.

Kirk’s protagonist’s mental lists of “assets” keep us abreast of the plan until its fully revealed, and the subsequent events then tumble into an arc of justice for the characters that unfolds until the final page. A lot of action is interspersed with the dynamic thinking of the main character, and the book will hold some charm for fans of James Patterson, MacGyver, and Silence of the Lambs.

Garrett C. Crowell is a Nashville native, Murfreesboro Librarian, husband, and father of two. He reads more than 100 books a year and likes some of them.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

6/23/15 6/23/15

"My Sunshine Away" by M.O. Walsh / Reviewed by M.K. Sealy

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase My Sunshine Away or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
Reviewed by M.K. Sealy

The New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist, alongside authors like Anne Rice, Tom Franklin, and Kathryn Stockett have given M. O. Walsh’s My Sunshine Awayaccolade upon accolade, yet I found describing the novel to be difficult. Hailed as a Southern gothic piece of art, My Sunshine Away (Walsh’s debut novel), is, by far, one of the best pieces of fiction that I have encountered in months and utterly beyond the fumbling words of this reviewer.

The writing style of My Sunshine Away is crisp, clear, unique to Walsh, and so hypnotizing that I did not realize that I was consuming it so quickly until I came to the final page, astonished and with the satisfaction that only an extraordinary novel can provide.

Here’s why: Within the first five pages, we discover in 1989, a girl was raped in a seemingly quiet, friendly neighborhood in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a hot, tepid place; no arrests were made; and our narrator was one of four suspects in the rape case. Immediately, the storyline, the prose, and the narrator grip us, as we are engulfed in the humid air, sounds of children playing, and the tragedy and mystery of what happened to Lindy Simpson and how our narrator was involved.

Written with the narrator contemplating the events in hindsight, My Sunshine Away allows Walsh to incorporate important emotional and psychological elements into the story that, admittedly, were greatly influenced by his own childhood. Less concerned with nostalgia and more interested in the wonder of childhood, My Sunshine Away is an excellent novel and one that I highly recommend.

M. K. Sealy earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in literature from a Nashville university. She is a copyeditor for a Nashville-based publication, but also writes poetry, fiction, and is currently attempting a screenplay, all while working to obtain a Master of Education.

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

6/22/15 6/22/15

"Nagasaki" by Éric Faye, Translated by Emily Boyce / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase Nagasaki or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

Portrait de Eric Faye, dans son appartement de Saint-Mand, pour les ditions Stock

Nagasaki by Éric Faye, Translated by Emily Boyce
Reviewed by Clay Stafford

“Only eight centimeters of juice remained, compared to fifteen when I had left for work. Someone had been helping themselves to it. And yet I live alone.”

Once I read that blurb, it pulled me in.

Nagasaki is a novella based loosely on a true story. I read it in one sitting. It is the story of a man who lives alone, but has the strange feeling that someone else might be in the house when he is away. He buys a security camera and sets it up. What he sees surprises him.

The story is told initially from the point-of-view of Shimura Kobo, a fifty-year-old Japanese bachelor who feels ostracized from the rest of the world, as he tries to discover whether someone is invading his home or not. Towards the end of the book, a different perspective is revealed with a story all its own.

I’m not going to say what happens for fear of spoiling. It is a short book. Why not let it unfold on its own? But I will say that I felt for the characters I met. In different ways, they were alone. And maybe sometimes the greatest mystery is what is hidden inside our own hearts. It is this that is explored.

In 2010, the book – originally written in French, but set in Japan – won the Grand Prix from the Academie Francaise. For us, that’s kind of like the French national book award. Our English version has been translated beautifully by Emily Boyce, an in-house translator at Gallic Books. She did a tremendous job. The text flowed. I felt the nuances. It felt, for lack of a better word, very haiku-ish Japanese. I couldn’t have asked for more.

This is a story that you will think about time and again as it addresses the loneliness that each of us feels at times. This is this character’s journey, but in reading it, you might even see your own. Sometimes a soul mate is out there waiting for us. Sometimes it is too late before we realize it. Sometimes we might even realize it just in time.

Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com), founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com) and publisher of Killer Nashville Magazine (www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com). In addition to selling over 1.5 million copies of his own books, Stafford’s latest projects are the documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and writing the music CD “XO” with Kathryn Dance / Lincoln Rhymes author Jeffery Deaver (www.JefferDeaverXOMusic.com). He is currently writing a film script based on Peter Straub’s “Pork Pie Hat” for American Blackguard Entertainment (www.AmericanBlackguard.com).

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

6/18/15 6/18/15

"The Immune System" by Nathan Larson / Reviewed by Mel Hiers

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Purchase "The Immune System" or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*

The Immune System by Nathan Larson
Reviewed by Mel Hiers

I love dystopian fiction. The Handmaid’s Tale, I Am Legend, Divergent, it’s all good stuff. The Immune System by Nathan Larson provides the creepiest image of a fallen society out of everything I’ve read of the genre to date: the main branch of the New York Public Library with its “damp marble stairs”, “dead computer monitors”, its bathroom sinks “overflowing with musty river water.” Larson’s main character, Dewey Decimal, can now sit in his underwear and contemplate piles of microfiche in this once iconic institution of learning and culture without being asked to kindly put on pants. Because there’s no one else there to care.

Dewey Decimal’s New York City doesn't seem to have a use for libraries. Its infrastructure is crumbling, the air is noxious, its boroughs controlled by violent gangs. Ordinary people are more focused on the business of surviving. They don’t have the luxury of seeking out information, culture, or entertainment.

Having started with the third book of the trilogy, I feel like I missed out on a lot of the world building that usually occurs in the first one, as well as two-thirds of the story arc. When we first meet Dewey, he’s in the middle of killing a soldier who did the same to one of Dewey’s friends, Dos Mac, in a previous book. He goes on to have a meeting with his employer, a corrupt and evangelical senator who gives him tasks that puts him at odds with his conscience and eventually leads him to a lot of truths about himself, the government, and his world. It bothered me to not know the full significance of Dos Mac's death, or how Dewey came to be under the power of the senator. I wanted to know more about the Valentine’s Day cataclysm that brought the city down and whether it affected the rest of the country. Despite the confusion, it was all compelling enough to make me want to get my hands on the first two to fill in those gaps.

As lost as I sometimes felt in the world and as many plot threads that I missed, I knew I had the complete and complex Dewey right from the start. He is equal parts librarian, professor, soldier, and gangster. He will outright tell the reader as well as other characters exactly who he is and what he’s feeling at any given time. “It’s a disgusting f---ing world. I’m just the narrator, cheesecake.” He’s quick-witted and profane in a very lyrical way. He’s brutal and empathetic. He sometimes sacrifices safety for style, admits it’s a bad idea and does it anyway. This book was well worth reading just to get to know him.

The tone and style of The Immune System very much matches Dewey and his NYC. Brutal, fast-paced, insistent, sometimes confusing, it took me a few chapters to fully integrate myself into the rhythm of the prose. Dewey narrates with a mixture of street slang, profanity, and educated discourse, almost creating his own custom language that, once you acclimate yourself to it, is perfect for the story.

If you’re sensitive to profanity and violence, you might want to give this one a pass. However, readers who enjoy noir or hardboiled mystery, dystopian fiction, or gritty urban fantasy should absolutely try the series. I do recommend starting with The Dewey Decimal System followed by The Nervous System before moving on to this one.

Mel Hiers spends her days at Smyrna Public Library's circulation desk, pushing books on the good people of Rutherford County. She also writes for Linebaugh Library System's Read This Next blog.

(If you have a book you would like featured, send an ARC for consideration. The Killer Nashville Book Reviews are coordinated by Clay Stafford with the irreplaceable assistance of Meaghan Hill, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, and credited guest reviewers. For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com)

Want to review books for the Killer Nashville family?

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:

SUBMIT YOUR WRITING

KN Magazine: Reviews

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Dead Girl Walking by Christopher Brookmyre / Reviewed by M.K. Sealy

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

The Long High Noon by Loren D. EstlemanReviewed by Brianna Goodchild

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKintyReviewed by Maria Giordano

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Method 15/33 by Shannon KirkReviewed by Garrett Crowell

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

My Sunshine Away by M.O. WalshReviewed by M.K. Sealy

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

Nagasaki by Éric Faye, Translated by Emily BoyceReviewed by Clay Stafford

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

The Immune System by Nathan LarsonReviewed by Mel Hiers

Submit Your Writing to KN Magazine

Conference

Awards / Scholarships

2025 Sponsors

The Long High Noon by Loren D. Estleman
Reviewed by Brianna Goodchild

Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty
Reviewed by Maria Giordano

Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk
Reviewed by Garrett Crowell

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
Reviewed by M.K. Sealy

Nagasaki by Éric Faye, Translated by Emily Boyce
Reviewed by Clay Stafford

The Immune System by Nathan Larson
Reviewed by Mel Hiers