KN Magazine: Reviews

6/30/16 6/30/16

Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley / Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Daniel O'Malley

Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley
Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove

Stiletto, the newest supernatural thriller from Daniel O’Malley, is X-Men meets Mark Millar’s Secret Service (produced as Kingsman: The Secret Service on the big screen). But unlike the blockbuster comics that seem to expect their audiences to suspend disbelief, O’Malley uses his literary parlance to construct an alternate reality that earns the reader’s attention and trust. While his characters possess an array of supernatural powers, everything from telepathy to telekinesis to controlling animals with mere thoughts, O’Malley stays grounded in his story and never lets any of his characters feel invisible. The result is a high stakes page turner that never lets up on the throttle. Stiletto is a sequel of sorts to O’Malley’s earlier effort The Rook; however readers need not read the earlier book to enjoy the newest one.

The Checquy, a clandestine British spy agency, has been protecting Great Britain from supernatural threats for centuries. The agents, highly trained in combat and reconnaissance, have unique super-powers and, unbeknownst to their fellow citizens, often give their life in defense of their country. In the 1600’s the Checquy fought its deadliest battle, fending off an army of genetically modified super humans known as The Grafters. Four hundred years later, the leaders of these two groups will try to negotiate a peace. A series of deadly attacks that carry the Grafter’s signature threaten the peace talks and look to ignite another bloody conflict between the two secret organizations.

Pawn Felicity Clements, a competent Checquy soldier, can leave her body and travel through inanimate objects, seeing the past and identifying threats. Pulled from her normal post, Clements is charged with protecting Odette Leliefeld, a member of The Grafter’s negotiation team. Higher ups in the Checquy distrust the Grafter and suspect she is connected with the current terror attacks. But they understand that if she is harmed, any chance at peace will disappear.

Clements and Leliefeld are an engaging pair. Both are attractive and highly capable mutants, Clements born with her powers, while Leliefeld is genetically engineered. Their relationship is adversarial. Clements’ superior Rook Myfanwy Thomas tells her soldier to prepare for a kill order on Leliefeld. Before the execution order comes down, the two women forge a delicate friendship while teaming up to battle several deadly attacks on Britain.

Stiletto is gruesome and exciting. The author mines every inch of his imagination in bringing the multitude of rich characters to life. O’Malley drops in humor and history as he pieces together an engaging plot. Readers will race to the finish and be more than satisfied, asking only one question, “How long do I have to wait for O’Malley’s next book?”

Clay Snellgrove is the author of The Ball Player. He's a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University. A former professional baseball player, Clay holds an MFA in creative writing from Converse College.

If you have a book you would like featured, send an ARC for consideration. The Killer Nashville Book of the Day Reviews are coordinated by Clay Stafford with the assistance of Bailey Harris and credited guest reviewers.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, 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.

6/22/16 6/22/16

Since She Went Away by David Bell / Reviewed by Kelly Saderholm

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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David Bell

Since She Went Away by David Bell
Reviewed by Kelly Saderholm

Bestselling author David Bell has produced another gripping crime thriller in his newest offering Since She Went Away. This novel, in the best literary mystery fashion, keeps the reader guessing until the final twist, and leaves the reader with much to consider after closing the book, all the while entertaining and informing the reader with a well-written story and engaging characters.

Bell explores the darker side of friendship when Jenna Barton and her best friend Celia Walters plan to meet at a local park for an impromptu night out. But Jenna was running late that evening and when she got to the park, Celia was not there. She was not anywhere. She had completely disappeared. The police are baffled as are Jenna and Celia's husband Ian. Three months later, Jenna is still filled with remorse and guilt when new developments begin to unfold. Jenna's son, Jared, has a new girlfriend, Tabitha, whom no one knows anything about. That is until she, too, goes missing. Slowly, secrets begin to emerge. Celia had secrets that she kept from even her best friend. Tabitha had dark secrets of her own. Celia begins to wonder if the two disappearances are connected in some way.

While keeping the reader fully engaged in the story, David Bell also has much to say about the dark side of relentless 24-hour cable news channels, and the personalities who constantly search for sensational stories—even searching for scoops in small Kentucky towns. Renna Huffman makes on-air insinuations to drive her ratings and she doesn't care what effect it has on people like Jenna, who, along with the rest of the town, feels the effects of constant surveillance and the weight that settles on one’s shoulders in the face of the unknown. Jenna obsessively consults online message boards devoted to Missing Persons but discovers harmful secrets there, as well.

Since She Went Away, by David Bell is published by New American Library, an imprint of Penguin Random House, New York, New York, and is available for sale on June 28t,th 2016.

Kelly Saderholm has written, blogged, and lectured about aspects of the mystery novel. She has moderated panels and presented papers at literary conferences, on both the Mystery Novel and Urban Fantasy. 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 is a recipient of a Kentucky Foundation for Women grant. She lives in South Central Kentucky with her family and two feline office assistants.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

5/31/16 5/31/16

Two for the Show by Jonathan Stone / Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Jonathan Stone

Two for the Show by Jonathan Stone
Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

Two for the Show (Thomas & Mercer, $15.99) by Jonathan Stone is a deceptively good novel that will leave you guessing at every turn.

Stone, who wrote the award-winning short “The Mailman” in last year’s Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded anthology, returns with a thoroughly engrossing tale of false identities, lies, kidnapping, and, maybe, just a little magic for good measure.

The book follows the firsthand account of Chas, who professes to have “the strangest job you’ve ever heard of.” Chas is a detective, but not the kind that scopes out the dirt on extramarital affairs, missing persons, or femme fatales. Rather, our hero is a computer hack whose specialty is garnering just enough information about his targets to make his employer, “Wallace the Amazing,” look, well, amazing.

Wallace, you see, is a supposed clairvoyant who mesmerizes crowds nightly at his Las Vegas show by picking folks from the audience and then proceeding to astound them with facts about their lives that he couldn’t possibly know. Of course, he knows everything because his marks are always carefully pre-identified prior to the show, giving Chas enough time to learn everything about them, and then secretly convey that information to Wallace.

When one of the targeted couples turns the tables on Wallace, Chas’s world is turned upside down. He immediately dreads that he has made a costly mistake that will expose Wallace for the fraud he is.

As Chas investigates the mysterious couple, he soon learns they have their own “Amazing Wallace” tied up in a bathtub at their home.

Confused, terrified, and determined to get to the truth, for the first time Chas begins asking questions about his own boss, leading to a deeper and darker rabbit hole of misinformation. Before long, he’s caught up in a perfectly conceived blackmail scheme, leaving him to perform his own sleight of hand if he’s going to get out of the mess in one piece.

As in “The Mailman,” Stone brilliantly takes a seemingly mundane and harmless profession and manages to turn it on its head. The result is a surprisingly suspenseful and thoroughly intriguing novel that will keep readers mesmerized to the last page.

G. Robert Frazier is an author and screenwriter. Follow him on Twitter @grfrazier23, and visit his Adventures in Writing blog at https://grfrazier.wordpress.com.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

5/19/16 5/19/16

Warlock Holmes: A Study in Brimstone by G. S. Denning / Reviewed by Mary Hankins

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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G.S. Denning

Warlock Holmes - A Study in Brimstone
by G.S. Denning
Reviewed by Mary Hankins

Lovers of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson alike, enter a world where everything you thought you knew is wrong—and one that is infinitely more strange than you can possibly imagine!

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most fantastic fictional characters ever written. He is complex, intelligent, and mysterious, and over 100 years after his creation, still dazzles the imagination of readers and writers alike. Dozens of writers have gone back to Baker Street with a new puzzle for the great detective to crack, with adventures including time travel, space aliens, or even the son of the man himself. Into this mighty multitude steps G. S. Denning, whose take on the classic Holmes story is in a word, unique.

We enter this eccentric tale of crimes and the supernatural via the journal of doctor John Watson, where he begins by apologizing for his part in the downfall of the human race. Really. Expertly nesting himself in the normal Victorian ambiance, Denning takes the familiar story and characters and introduces a new element, one that shifts the entire world on its axis: magic.

The principal players are the same, though not with all of their names and classic characteristics intact. Watson is indeed a doctor who was recently wounded in Afghanistan, and Holmes indeed works with Scotland Yard on strange cases. But in this version, it is Watson who is the deductions expert. Holmes is in fact a sorcerer, named Warlock. His involvement with Scotland Yard has nothing to do with the drive to solve puzzles and put his great mind to work; rather, he works to help hide the existence of other beings who are not considered “normal” by polite Victorian society. Beings such as Detective Inspector Lestrade, a vampire, and Trog Groggson, a troll, enter the sitting room of 221B, much to the chagrin of Watson and their beadyeyed housesitter, Mrs. Hudson.

Fans of John Watson from the original stories will be vindicated in this book, and not because it is Watson who is the genius. Holmes, while extremely powerful in the arcane arts, is a bumbling idiot when it comes to the science of deduction. For many years, when examining the historic duo of Holmes and Watson, people have wondered what was Watson’s use beyond that of chronicler? Indeed, compared to the brilliance of Holmes, he often appears to be an idiot himself, hardly aware of the world around him. I found it extremely satisfying that the dynamic duo was finally depicted as two equals, both with their own unique skills and strengths which compliment each other, and not as a hero and his sidekick.

Magic, demons, and the spirit of Moriarty are only a few of the adventures the two take on in this, the first of what I hope to be many books. Enter into Denning’s London, one full of the strange and unbelievable, hiding in the shadows of Victorian society. His engaging prose and irreverent playfulness with the original source material makes it a book any fan of Sherlock Holmes will enjoy.

Mary Hankins is a recent graduate of Lipscomb University. She is putting her Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree to use in the Nashville community theatre scene. Loves God, her family and friends, and Phantom of the Opera—in that order.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

5/13/16 5/13/16

The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett / Reviewed by Britany Menken

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Laura Barnett

The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett
Reviewed by Britany Menken

In The Versions of Us, by Laura Barnett, step into a beautifully crafted world where destiny and 60 years worth of time, guides a young couple through three different alternate realities. Though each one is quite different than the one before, the focal point always starts with an old nail and a young boy's willingness to help a girl, Eva, fix a hole in her bicycle.

Both in college, the rich feel of the late 50's and beyond is intricately detailed throughout time of each story. When they first meet, Jim regards the planes of her face and dark eyes but only considers her half heartedly, still finding a reason to ask the off kilter girl out for a drink. From there, the boy who dreams of becoming an artist and the girl that aspires to become a writer, grow and falter in three different ways from joining the ranks of motherhood to experiencing short lived relationships that hold no strong connection or value.

Barnett's hand at subtle magical realism is executed in a way that immediately intrigues the reader as each version of their lives are played out. Three roots, split off from one another and move between each line and paragraph are connected by the life force of the story, the tree that as time passes, ages and develops well into 2014. Be prepared for a great read by Barnett. Her grasp on culture from different time periods to her way of humanizing the different realities so well feels like reading stories about real people and their continual loss and gain of love.

Britany Menken graduated from Tusculum College in '14 with a degree in Creative Writing and a minor in British literature. Besides being an avid reader, she enjoys working for different book editing/reviewing outlets online. Other skills include making a mean pot of coffee and being a mom to a gray and orange tabby who occasionally helps her review books. (Said tabby is quite picky.)

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

5/4/16 5/4/16

The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror by Joyce Carol Oates / Reviewed by Britany Menken

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Joyce Carol Oates

The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror
by Joyce Carol Oates
Reviewed by Britany Menken

Stories leap from page to page in true Joyce Carol Oates fashion in her new book, The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror, providing excellent plots that often leave you hankering for more. Each character Oates hones in on is distinct, from a Norman Bates persona to an unreasonable killer who thinks he is justified by God’s law. Each story develops characters and their thoughts in such a way that leaves the reader constantly pondering their true nature.

In the opening act, we read The Doll-Master. At the beginning, we meet a mother, a son, and a little girl, Amy, whose days are numbered due to leukemia. Her doll and its beautiful features entrap the young boy, and he pines for the baby Emily doll, from her blonde curls to the baby booties she dons while joining the other dolls in young Amy’s room. After Amy passes, he takes the doll from her room, the first of many, until adulthood comes, and his one doll has become a collection of dolls from all over. Some forgotten and left, all with different features. By the end, Oates creates a scene that could be put right in the middle of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and leaves the reader wishing there was just one more sentence.

In the story Soldier, a man is on trial for the murder of a black teen; he chalks up the killing to God’s will. Were there really five men attacking him on the street? Had he no choice except to shoot his gun in self-defense? His quiet love life that occasionally, silently speaks in the story also causes for a more perplexing and curious character. The cliffhanger leaves one with curiosity and imagination. If you’re in the mood for crafty endings and a bundle of wonderfully written characters whose stream of consciousness reels you in, then this is the book for you.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

4/28/16 4/28/16

That Darkness by Lisa Black / Reviewed by Shelley Haley

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Lisa Black

That Darkness by Lisa Black
Reviewed by Shelley Haley

As humans, we long for justice to be served. We pull for the underdog to triumph over the schoolyard bully, and for the shy wallflower to become prom queen. Alas, more often than not in our personal realms, justice is rarely served—but when it is, it is glorious.

In Lisa Black’s that darkness(Kensington),the time has come for justice. When a frail young girl is found dead in a cemetery, seasoned Cleveland police detective Jack Renner has finally had enough. Sadly, not one person has even bothered to report her missing. Hot on the trail of this Jane Doe’s killer, he discovers a sealed, windowless apartment full of teenage girls in dismal circumstances and imminent danger.

Renner is closer to the truth than anyone realizes, forging new insight into evil and the motivation behind it… a bit reminiscent of Robin Hood robbing the rich and giving to the poor; except this time, it means killing the bad guy and keeping the city safe.

Meanwhile, Cleveland’s entire investigative team works around the clock, piecing together clues that may shed light on the enigmatic cemetery murder. Forensic investigator Maggie Gardiner frantically hypothesizes scenarios in hopes of leading to an arrest. Time is short and the work is tedious; unfortunately, the gurneys keep rolling into the autopsy room. Maggie continues to collect fibers, hair, and fingerprints, all the while praying for a lead in the increasingly bizarre case.

Eventually, she makes a startling discovery as the fragmented pieces begin to fall into place, leading her headfirst into unimaginable danger. Maggie has no choice but to fight for her life in the company of not one, but two villains, each with an opposite motivation. The stakes are high in a breathless finale in which she is plunged yet again into the depths of horror, struggling against an evil that holds many lives in the balance

From the depths of a forensics lab to the daily hustle-and-bustle of the street, Lisa Black takes the reader on a field trip of Cleveland’s law enforcement and forensics team, culminating in absolute terror with a completely unexpected and intriguing outcome! If nothing else, this page-turner will ensure that you remain vigilant and aware of your surroundings at all times… a C.S.I. thriller for certain!

Shelley Haley is an eccentric artist, reader of novels, and writer of chronicles fueled by an insatiable fascination with history and the lessons that lie therein; prone to wanderlust and born under the sign of Aquarius.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

4/26/16 4/26/16

The Drowning Girls by Paula Treick DeBoard / Reviewed by M.K. Sealy

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Paula Treick DeBoard

The Drowning Girls by Paula Treick DeBoard
Reviewed by M.K. Sealy

Those who read often tend to come across the same tired plot in many novels, as each author tries to put a new spin on worn-out characters and over-used settings. In The Drowning Girls (HarperCollins), however, Paula Treick DeBoard takes a familiar plotline and adapts it to new purposes. From the first few words until the novel’s close, DeBoard reimagines the wheel with this suspenseful, family-oriented drama that sucks the reader into the psyches of the McGinnis family members.

As expected, things are rarely what they seem in The Drowning Girls, as Liz McGinnis, along with her husband and daughter, move to The Palms—a community that feels like it belongs in an upper-class reality TV drama. Spoiled housewives, spoiled children, and materialism are ubiquitous in their new community; money and power rule the realm, and Liz feels like she’s living on the periphery. Things become more tenuous when Liz begins discovering the hard way that no one can be trusted, and that things are never what they appear to be, even in a place where appearance is everything. Then, the character Kelsey enters the lives of the McGinnis family and stays there, creating a rift between not only Liz and Phil, but also between Liz and her daughter, Danielle.

The poisonous atmosphere of The Palms begins to seep into the McGinnis family as secrets are brought to light, alliances formed, and the family begins to crumble, the novel culminating in a brilliant scene that is not only breathtaking because of its content, but also because of the way in which DeBoard writes it. The Drowning Girls is an exceptionally well-executed novel, full to the brim with plot twists and believable dialogue. With a fast pace, The Drowning Girls is an excellent novel for the beach, the bedside, or anywhere that allows for a few hours of reading—because once you pick this book up, you’re not going to want to put it down.

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.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

4/22/16 4/22/16

Sweet Dreams, Baby Belle by Kim Carter / Reviewed by Lyn Farquhar

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Kim Carter

Sweet Dreams, Baby Belle by Kim Carter
Reviewed by Lia Farrell

Lizzie is just barely making it as a waitress when she meets Dr. Grant Chatsworth, and their quick courtship ends in what seems to be a picture-perfect marriage. Not only is Dr. Chatsworth tall and good-looking, but he is also a renowned cardiac surgeon and researcher into a new treatment for congestive heart failure. But when Lizzie moves into Dr. Chatsworth’s estate, things begin to go sour very quickly.

Lizzie soon finds herself a captive, cut off from her sister Maggie—her only family—under Housekeeper Flossie’s increasingly baleful eye. She is miserable and wants to leave: not only does she no longer love Grant, but she is increasingly suspicious that his research might be bogus. During a party intended to lure wealthy investors for her husband’s research, Lizzie faints. Flossie immediately suspects that she’s pregnant, which galvanizes Lizzie into launching an escape plan.

Clara, Dr. Chatsworth’s nurse, also suspects he might be up to something, and joins causes with Lizzie, skimming money from the practice to help Lizzie escape to her sister’s house. Only able to venture outside after dark, Lizzie finds a gravestone in the Old Biloxi City Cemetery, labeled only “Baby Belle”. Feeling that Baby Belle is trying to contact her from beyond the grave gives Lizzie purpose, especially when she realizes the graves in that area are all labeled “Lunatic”. Lizzie is determined to unravel the mystery of Baby Belle and to achieve justice for the little lamb whose gravestone doesn’t even bear her last name.

As Grant Chatsworth’s empire begins to crumble, he becomes determined to find Lizzie and kill her before she can reveal what she knows. Can Lizzie stay hidden long enough to have her baby? Will Grant Chatsworth be shown up for the fraud that he is? Will the mystery of Baby Belle’s life and death save Lizzie, or kill her before Grant Chatsworth can?

Kim Carter'sSweet Dreams, Baby Belle is a fast-paced action story with a subplot of messages from beyond the grave. It’s just the slightly spooky thing for readers who are interested in psychic phenomena.

Lyn Farquhar is the co-author of the Mae DecemberMystery series, under the penname Lia Farrell.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

4/21/16 4/21/16

Dust Up by Jon McGoran / Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Jon McGoran

Dust Up by Jon McGoran
Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

Detective Doyle Carrick is a magnet for trouble. The hero of Jon McGoran’s latest novel, Dust Up (Forge Books), Carrick is at home with his girlfriend when a complete stranger appears frantically pounding on his front door, only to be shot down in cold blood.

Homicide Detective Mike Warren embraces the easy way out by wanting to peg the crime on the victim’s wife, Miriam Hartwell, whom Carrick saw driving away from the scene. Fortunately for readers, the truth is a lot more complicated, as is often the case with Carrick’s adventures.

Carrick is urged to back off the investigation and let Warren handle things, but it’s not that simple. Miriam seeks him out again and fills him in on a biotech cover up of a tainted food program in Haiti. As Carrick has some prior experience in corporate investigations—namely in McGoran’s previous books Drift and Deadout—the Hartwells specifically sought him out to help blow the whistle on their employer, Energene.

Before Miriam can fully relate her tale, however, Carrick and Miriam come under fire from unknown assailants. Forced to work side by side with Energene, who convince Carrick’s bosses that Miriam is guilty of espionage, Carrick tracks Miriam back to Haiti where his investigation plunges them into an international conspiracy of deceit, greed, and corruption.

McGoran keeps the action moving at a frantic pace in a series of tautly written chapters that will have you turning the pages long into the night. Along the way, he never loses sight of Carrick’s down-to-earth wit and intelligence, qualities that make him eminently relatable to readers.

An advocate for responsible food growth and sustainability, McGoran uses his twenty years of experience in the field to relate a complicated plot in an easy to understand action fable.

G. Robert Frazier reads and writes in La Vergne, Tenn. Follow him on Twitter @grfrazier23 or visit his Adventures in Writing blog at https://grfrazier.wordpress.com.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

4/19/16 4/19/16

Impure Blood by Peter Morfoot / Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Impure Blood by Peter Morfoot
Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove

An intriguing opening and an unexpected ending are essential ingredients in great crime fiction. Peter Morfoot writes both into his new novel Impure Blood(Titan Books). A man joins a call to prayer at an over-crowded mosque in Nice, France, and mysteriously dies while kneeling on his piece of cardboard amidst a sea of Muslim congregants. When Captain Paul Darac of Nice Brigade Criminelle takes control of the investigation, he and his team find plenty of suspects.

Their task of finding the killer becomes complicated when a fellow officer is kidnapped and a terrorist threat is made against the Nice leg of the Tour de France. The three crimes begin to intertwine, putting Captain Darac and his fellow investigators into a race against the clock. They struggle to piece the puzzle together in time to save their colleague’s life and assure the country’s biggest sporting event goes off without disruption.

Impure Blood comes in at 544 pages, much longer than most commercial thrillers. But if readers navigate the bevy of minor characters and red herrings throughout, they are rewarded with a dynamite ending. Morfoot hits on a number of compelling themes, including Nice’s pushback against a rapidly growing and frustrated Muslim community. This subject matter strikes a deeper chord with the recent terror in Paris (this novel most likely written before the attacks). Morfoot allows readers to peek behind the current of French law enforcement at their ideals and beliefs—fascinating tidbits for American readers.

Captain Paul Darac appears to have staying power, as he is set to star in two future novels as well. He has what all great literary detectives bring to the squad room: a periodic dislike of following procedure, a rocky romance with a beautiful woman, a bizarre hobby (jazz guitar), and a moral compass that puts lives of others ahead of his own. Darac is smart but combustible, which provides tension throughout the book.

Morfoot has spent his career telling stories, and he makes a smooth transition to the thriller genre, crafting an electric ending that has readers sprinting through the final chapters. If a plane ticket to France isn’t in the budget, Impure Blood can transport readers there for a fraction of the cost. Morfoot turns up the heat and delivers a solid summer read.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

4/14/16 4/14/16

Should Have Played Poker by Debra H. Goldstein / Reviewed by Sharon Marchisello

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Debra H. Goldstein

Should Have Played Poker by Debra H. Goldstein
Reviewed by Sharon Marchisello

At the outset of Debra H. Goldstein’s Should Have Played Poker(Five Star Publishing), Charlotte Martin walks back into her daughter Carrie’s life after a 26-year absence, but before Carrie can get any real answers about why her mother left her, Charlotte is murdered. The scene of the crime is the Sunshine Village retirement home where Carrie’s father, a former preacher in the early stages of dementia, now resides.

Detective Brian McPhillip, Carrie’s former boyfriend, is assigned to investigate, and sparks still smolder. To further complicate things, a little jealousy enters the picture when Michael Shapiro, a widowed lawyer whose mother also resides at the Sunshine Village retirement home, gets involved. Although Brian is more helpful than his law enforcement colleagues, Carrie, who was trained as a police officer before leaving the academy for a career in corporate law, believes he is moving too slowly on the case. She enlists the aid of Michael's mother's group of Mah Jongg players as amateur sleuths. But when their efforts uncover secrets buried in the past, Carrie and the others find themselves in grave danger.

Should Have Played Poker has a fast-paced plot with short chapters, enjoyable characters, and an abundance of red herrings. It touches on issues of aging, family ties, corporate responsibility, and religious tolerance, and culminates in a surprise ending that makes Carrie question most everything she has ever believed in.

Author Debra H. Goldstein is a former litigator and administrative law judge who lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband. A member of Sisters in Crime and author of the award-winning debut novel, Maze in Blue, she has spoken on Killer Nashville panels for the past three years in a row. Should Have Played Poker is the first in a new cozy series featuring Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg players, and it promises to be a winner.

Sharon Marchisello is the author of Going Home, a murder mystery inspired by her mother's battle with Alzheimer's. She has 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, and does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

4/5/16 4/5/16

Panther's Prey by Lachlan Smith / Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Lachlan Smith

Panther's Prey by Lachlan Smith
Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

Remember those old Ellery Queen whodunits that listed an extensive cast of characters at the front of the book to help readers keep track of who’s who? Well, if you read Lachlan Smith’s newest Leo Maxwell mystery, Panther’s Prey(Mysterious Press), you may want to keep such a list handy.

The book opens with Maxwell and fellow attorney Jordan Walker representing a client, Randall Rodriguez, a mentally ill homeless man whom they contend falsely confessed to the rape of a young San Francisco socialite. But once they get the man off the hook, their real trouble begins. Jordan is raped and murdered and Rodriguez, again, confesses to a crime he did not commit. Maxwell, whose gun was used in the murder, comes under suspicion as well and, to clear his name and identify the real killer, he must uncover a trail of clues from both his past and present.

The novel is a thickly layered, old-fashioned gumshoe mystery in which everyone has a motive for murder and a secret to be revealed that could help Maxwell solve his most personal case yet. It’s the fourth installment in the series and, for readers unfamiliar with Maxwell, the story can be a bit complicated at times because there is so much to catch up on. Smith does a good job relating the highlights of past books in the series, but the number of characters and intricate histories makes it a little challenging for the first-time reader to get fully up to speed.

That’s not to say the book isn’t enjoyable. Like a work by Queen, it’s a riveting mystery fraught with peril for our hero, and twists at every turn. The narrative moves at a swift pace, with plenty of action thrown in to keep the pages turning. An attorney himself, Smith uses his expertise in the courtroom to craft a believable and twist-filled plot: the thoughtful execution of clues and Maxwell’s persistence to learn the truth that will keep you guessing.

G. Robert Frazier is a writer and avid reader living in La Vergne, Tenn. He reads for the Nashville Film Festival and Austin Film Festival screenwriting competitions and is an active member of the Tennessee Screenwriters Association, Nashville Writers Meetup groups, and La Vergne Library Board. Follow him on Twitter @grfrazier23, and visit his Adventures in Writing blog at https://grfrazier.wordpress.com.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

3/31/16 3/31/16

The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse / Reviewed by Kelly Saderholm

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Kate Mosse

The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse
Reviewed by Kelly Saderholm

If you plan to read The Taxidermist's Daughter (William Morrow) by New York Times bestselling author Kate Mosse, be sure to allow yourself plenty of time, because once you pick up this Gothic thriller, you will find it difficult, if notimpossible, to put down.

Set in 1912, The Taxidermist's Daughter contains classic Gothic elements to make any fan of the genre happy: a decaying mansion on a remote English Coast; a vulnerable young woman caring for her ailing father; horses, carriages, servants, dashing young men, dark family secrets, moody atmospheres, and villains galore. Mosse also throws in a tantalizingly eerie Taxidermy Museum, a local ghost legend, and more than a hint of madness. But while she gives the reader the comforts of familiar elements, her vivid writing and compelling characters breathes fresh life into an old (and often overwrought) genre.

The eponymous character, Constantia (Connie) Gifford, is living with her addled and often-intoxicated father. After secretly viewing a strange gathering at the local church on Saint Mark's Eve, she finds the strangled body of a stranger. While the woman has obviously been murdered, Connie is surprised that there is no investigation into the crime. Other mysterious strangers are seen walking along the marshes, and Connie becomes convinced that these events are somehow tied to her own mysterious past—if only she could remember what that past was.

Especially compelling in this novel are well-rounded characters like Connie, who is not the typical naïve damsel in distress rushing into danger in a flimsy nightie. She is not helpless, and proves refreshingly resourceful. Other characters are equally interesting: good people with a dark side, a rogue turned hero, and more. We see how seemingly ordinary people react, either positively or negatively, in extraordinary circumstances, as we race along with the characters to the book’s exciting and stormy ending.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

3/29/16 3/29/16

Bloodie Bones: A Dan Foster Mystery by Lucienne Boyce / Reviewed by Kaitlin Chaparro

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Lucienne Boyce

Bloodie Bones: A Dan Foster Mystery by Lucienne Boyce
Reviewed by Kaitlin Chaparro

In Bloodie Bones: A Dan Foster Mystery, Lucienne Boycepulls you in from page one with life-like characters that give feeling and promise to the story. The writing style and description in this work of historical fiction are simple but give you a very clear picture of what each character and setting looks like: I felt that I was right in the middle of everything going on.

The year is 1795, and there has been a murder in Barcombe Wood. Josh Castle, the gamekeeper of Lord Oldfield, has been found dead with fatal a blow to the back of the head as well as broken legs, arms, and ribs. Was it the poachers who feel their rights were taken away when the wood was enclosed? Was it this mysterious, eerie boogeyman “Bloodie Bones” that the townspeople keep talking about? Did the murder occur because of the victim's family history?

Whatever the reason, it is up to Bow Street Runner Dan Foster to figure it out. Dan goes undercover, changes his name, and joins a gang of poachers in order to find out what they know, and how far they are willing to go in order to get their stolen land back. How far will Dan have to go in order to figure out who killed Josh Castle and why? Bloodie Bones will have you staying up into the early hours of the morning alongside Dan Foster to bring the murderers to justice.

Lucienne Boyce, who has always been fascinated by the Georgian era, obtained her MA in English Literature with a special concentration in eighteenth-century fiction in 2006 from Open University. She published her first historical novel To The Fair Land in 2012, which was awarded the Awesome Indies Seal of Approval. She is currently working on the sequel to Bloodie Bones.

Kaitlin Chaparro is an avid reader who loves a good cup of coffee or tea and a book to fall into. A lover of music, she enjoys relaxation music and jazz, but also Spanish and light rock. She plans start a blog where she will regularly review books.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

3/25/16 3/25/16

Perfect Days by Raphael Montes / Reviewed by Will Lasley

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Raphael Montes
Credit: Camilla Maia

Perfect Days by Raphael Montes
Reviewed by Will Lasley

“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”

This quote from Friedrich Nietzsche prefaces Raphael Montes’ new thriller Perfect Days, and it couldn’t be more apropos. This novel follows Teo, an anti-social Brazilian medical student who lives with his invalid mother. The young man soon falls in love, for the first time in his life, with a young writer named Clarice. He kidnaps her and takes her on a cross-country trip, which mirrors that of the character in the screenplay she is writing. As the story progresses, we delve deeper into Teo’s madness and obsession as he attempts to drag Clarice down with him.

Perfect Days is harrowing to say the least, mainly because of the way Teo is written. His most demented thoughts are placed before us on the page in a way that is not only haunting, but also feels uncomfortably realistic. And that is part of what makes it brilliant. It’s the kind of writing that makes you question the author’s mental health, and you better believe I mean that as a compliment.

Special props must be given to Alison Entrekin, who translated the novel into English. Entrekin clearly shares Montes’ way with words and his acute ability to make the reader shiver. There is also an interesting journey in watching Clarice’s innocence dwindle as the stakes become higher and the circumstances more severe.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Perfect Days if you’re looking for a thriller that is creepy and thought provoking, but most of all, may just bring out the madness in you.

Will “Savage” Lasley is a writer and self-described horror junkie who simply loves a good story. He’s also met Bruce Campbell, so there’s that.

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 Emily Eytchison and credited guest reviewers.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

3/24/16 3/24/16

Just Fall by Nina Sadowsky / Reviewed by Emily Eytchison

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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Nina Sadowsky

Just Fall by Nina Sadowsky
Reviewed by Emily Eytchison

When cool, confident, beautiful blonde Ellie Larrabee meets Rob Beauman—Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome himself—they seem to be a match made in New York socialite heaven. That is, until debut novelist Nina Sadowsky gets her hands on them. As Just Fall(Ballantine Books) tracks Rob and Ellie’s love story from meet-cute to disrupted dream wedding and beyond, Sadowsky’s non-linear narrative strips away their Hollywood-perfect façades with the relentlessness of real life itself.

The “Now” portion of the plot starts with Ellie mysteriously lingering in a hotel room with a dead man and a cryptic note from her brand-new husband Rob. What has happened here? the narrator asks, before disappearing as we shift into “Then” flashbacks, which gradually reveal the deeply disturbing stories in our golden couple’s pasts. (Especially Rob—his history of demented father figures could make The Great Santini cry.)

Sadowsky doesn’t ask us to feel sorry for her characters, though. Her focus is on exploring the doubt and disillusionment that often invade long-term romantic relationships, through the heightened circumstances of murder and treachery in St. Lucia. Complex, suspenseful, and character-driven, Just Fall's wild ride through missing persons cases, double-crosses, and severed lips reads like a modern-day Hitchcock thriller.

Although Just Fall is Sadowsky’s first novel, it is far from her first storytelling venture. A veteran screenwriter and producer, her sensibilities are given to sweeping panoramic visions of the island landscape and subtle, striking close-ups of important moments and details. Her opening scene in particular is a sensory experience so vivid it borders on intoxicating, and her capacity to conjure imagery seems to be witchcraft.

The camera may follow Rob and Ellie to bed one time too many, slowing the story’s progression somewhat, but for the most part, the narrative moves forward with the minimalist impatience of an action film. (So much so that the interludes following Detective Lucien Broussard’s subplot occasionally seems to inhibit the “real” story, until close to the very end.)

Just Fallwill be a movie before too long. That’s such a given it’s hardly worth mentioning, except to remind you that if you read it now, you’ll get to mentally cast the leads however you please. (My vote for Rob is Oscar Isaac, in case anyone in Hollywood is listening.)

Emily Eytchisonis a writer, actor, and artist based in Nashville, TN. She recently graduated with a BFA in Directing and a minor in English, and believes in the power of story to give the silenced a voice. You can find her @speaksponiards on Twitter, and @eytchface on Instagram.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

3/22/16 3/22/16

Furious by T.R. Ragan / Reviewed by Lyn Farquhar

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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T.R. Ragan

Furious by T.R. Ragan
Reviewed by Lyn Farquhar

At the open of T.R. Ragan’s Furious, pregnant Faith McMann is driving home on Friday afternoon, looking forward to the weekend. When she arrives, she walks into a nightmare. Two men have bound and duct-taped her children, Lara and Hudson. Her husband is being tortured, as his attackers interrogate him: “Where is it?” Terrified, Faith is forced to watch as the assailants murder her husband. They then take her children and slice her jugular vein, leaving her for dead. When she wakes up, her children are gone and she has lost the baby.

Ten days pass in a drug-induced coma during which time both the police and FBI agents have talked to her, but her mind has become a giant blank slate. Ultimately, she remembers what the killers and kidnappers look like, and draws their faces on the walls of her house. Faith then begins a crusade to find her children. She alerts the media, offers a reward, and consults web sites, as well as the database of missing and abused children.

When she visits the detective assigned to the case, she is infuriated when he doesn’t even remember her daughter’s name. She hits him over the head with a computer keyboard, and is required to live with her parents and attend an anger management course where she meets Beast, a bounty hunter, and his friend, Rage. All the people taking the seminar are encouraged to take nicknames. Faith names herself “Furious”. Faith and her parents suspect that the children have been taken by human traffickers and learn that one locus for the business is in Sacramento, California. Beast and Rage join Faith’s quest to find her children.

Interspersed with chapters in Faith’s voice are chapters related by Miranda, a trafficked teenager held in an out-of-the way farmhouse under the sadistic control of “Mother”. Faith’s ten-year-old daughter Lara is also in the house, having been renamed Jean. Miranda eventually escapes and helps in the quest. As the traffickers learn, there is nothing more dangerous than a mother fighting for her children.

Ragan’s book is a treatise on fighting child sex trafficking. It is not an easy read, but is well written, moves quickly, and sweeps the reader up in Faith’s mission. All parents, grandparents, and anyone who cares for or about children, should read this book. God forbid it should happen to any of us, but if it did, you would want Faith McMann fighting at your side.

Lyn Farquhar is the co-author of the Mae DecemberMystery series, under the penname Lia Farrell.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

3/18/16 3/18/16

The Great Forgetting by James Renner / Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove

Killer Nashville Book of the Day

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James Renner

The Great Forgetting by James Renner
Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove

In his latest novel The Great Forgetting(Sarah Crichton Books), author James Renner once again defies the rules of commercial fiction, crafting a unique tale that will not be pigeon-holed into any specific literary genre. Having already befuddled his marketing team with his dark, time-traveling murder mystery The Man from Primrose Lane, Renner again gives his imagination free reign in The Great Forgetting. The story is an alternative reality where all the world’s great mysteries are explained, while civilization is on the brink of destruction.

The novel hooks readers with itspeculiar opening near the 9-11 crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The mystery of why a severed primate’s hand is cradling a watch belonging to one of the crash victims would be compelling enough, but the fact that the watch has an engraving from 2012, eleven years after the high-jacked jetliner fell, makes said mystery irresistible. The terror attacks that define modern American history are left dangling, as the story moves to Ohio to focus on history teacher Jack Felter.

Returning home to help care for his ailing father, Jack is recruited by his high school sweetheart to locate her missing husband Tony, Jack’s former best friend. Jack quickly discovers that Tony, a psychologist believed to have committed suicide, is alive. His whereabouts are known only to one of his patients, a young kid residing in the local mental facility. Jack partners with him to follow clues purposely left behind, which lead them to an unknown island in the Pacific.

In searching for his friend, Jack uncovers an ongoing global conspiracy to wipe the population’s memory clean of a disgraceful past in order to secure a more productive and fulfilling future. Jack and his friends are faced with the choice of whether to wake the masses to the truth or let the amnesia continue.

Renner will be back at it in May, releasing a true crime memoir of sorts titled True Crime Addict, a book Killer Nashville 2015 Guest of Honor M. William Phelps blurbed. Renner has earned the title “serial killer hunter” from some media outlets because of his extensive reporting on unsolved murders and his past body of true crime work.

For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleBookCon, and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.

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KN Magazine: Reviews

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Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley
Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove

Since She Went Away by David Bell
Reviewed by Kelly Saderholm

Two for the Show by Jonathan Stone
Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

Warlock Holmes - A Study in Brimstone
by G.S. Denning
Reviewed by Mary Hankins

See Also Deception by Larry D. Sweazy
Reviewed by Sharon Marchisello

The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett
Reviewed by Britany Menken

The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror
by Joyce Carol Oates
Reviewed by Britany Menken

That Darkness by Lisa Black
Reviewed by Shelley Haley

The Drowning Girls by Paula Treick DeBoard
Reviewed by M.K. Sealy

Sweet Dreams, Baby Belle by Kim Carter
Reviewed by Lia Farrell

Dust Up by Jon McGoran
Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

Impure Blood by Peter Morfoot
Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove

Should Have Played Poker by Debra H. Goldstein
Reviewed by Sharon Marchisello

Panther's Prey by Lachlan Smith
Reviewed by G. Robert Frazier

The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse
Reviewed by Kelly Saderholm

Bloodie Bones: A Dan Foster Mystery by Lucienne Boyce
Reviewed by Kaitlin Chaparro

Perfect Days by Raphael Montes
Reviewed by Will Lasley

Just Fall by Nina Sadowsky
Reviewed by Emily Eytchison

Furious by T.R. Ragan
Reviewed by Lyn Farquhar

The Great Forgetting by James Renner
Reviewed by Clay Snellgrove