KN Magazine: Reviews
Broken Ground by Joe Clifford / Review by Danny Lindsey
BROKEN GROUND
By Joe Clifford
Oceanview Publishing
$26.95
ISBN 978-1608092437
Publication Date: June 5, 2018
Book of the Day
Jay Porter doesn’t want to be an investigator. If he did, he’d get a license. But clients keep finding him. In Broken Ground (Oceanview Publishing, 2018), the latest in Joe Clifford’s Porter series, the client, and Jay have a history, of sorts. She crashes an AA meeting he’s attending, he an alcoholic and she bearing the tell-tale marks of more serious drug use.
Her sister is missing, and the police are not an avenue she’s willing to pursue. The retainer she hands over goes straight into child support, as his “Sanford and Son” estate cleaning business is in as big a slump as his personal life.
Things aren’t as they seem, right from the onset. Her sister either was or was not a user, dependent upon whomever he asks. She either was or was not accepted, then summarily discharged from a local treatment center. The answer becomes moot when people start dying, and the trail leads all the way back 5 years to a former case, a prominent family, big money and an epidemic of cancer. Jay finds himself embroiled in his own brother’s death a year before, his client’s case, a family with whom he’s crossed paths before and who has engaged local law enforcement to keep him at arm’s length, and a toxic piece of real estate.
The plot takes one through unsuspected twists, much closer to home than even Jay Porter would have wanted, had he been the writer instead of the protagonist. Don’t look for the clues that give the ending away. You’ll only find them after the fact.
Joe Clifford writes with authority and authenticity. His characters’ fatal flaws are not imagined by him – they’ve either been lived by him or observed first-hand by him. Broken Ground, along with the other books in the Jay Porter series are frighteningly real, almost to the point that the reader keeps checking to see whether they are fiction, historical fiction or non-fiction.
Danny Lindsey keeps trying to retire. After a 20-year Army career and a 25-year second one in the private sector, he’s finally settled down. His current gig is as the Veteran Employment Services Manager for a Huntsville, A.L. based non-profit, Still Serving Veterans. Both full careers were characterized by numerous writing assignments, from war plans to operating policies and procedures, then on to white papers, analyses of alternatives and competitive contract and grant proposals. Now his writing consists of blogs for the website www.ssv.org, podcasts for the local NPR affiliate, and a half dozen Pulitzer-worthy, albeit unpublished novels.
Update: Danny won the 2017 Killer Nashville Claymore Award with his manuscript Serial Justice – so he will not be unpublished for long!
The Girl Who Lived by Christopher Greyson / Review by Sharon Marchisello
THE GIRL WHO LIVED
By Christopher Greyson
Greyson Media Associates
$28.00
978-1683993025
Nov. 4, 2017
BOOK OF THE DAY
Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Nominee
Wall Street Journal bestselling author Christopher Greyson has created a thriller on par with The Girl on the Train, only with more suspects, more danger, and more agony for the young heroine. The Girl Who Lived takes the reader inside the head of a girl who narrowly escaped a massacre, complete with survivor's guilt, second-guessing, and fantasies of suicide.
Ten years earlier, Faith Winters and her sister Kim were on their way to their family's cabin to celebrate Faith's thirteenth birthday with their father; Faith's best friend, Anna; and Anna's mother. On their way from the parking area, Faith noticed a creepy-looking, rat-faced man watching them. Kim entered the cabin first and emerged seconds later, bleeding from a fatal stab wound, and screamed for Faith to run.
The police concluded that Faith's father and Anna's mother were having an affair. Something went terribly wrong—perhaps she was about to break up with him—which caused him to snap and kill her, with their daughters as collateral damage, and then shoot himself in the back of the head. Faith doesn't want to believe it, but her memory of the event is hazy. Except for a clear image of the man from the parking lot whom she has nicknamed Rat Face, and whose existence the police are unable to confirm.
Since the murders of her sister, father, and friends, Faith's life has been purgatory. She has suffered bullying, fought addiction, tangled with the law, and been in and out of mental institutions. Her mother, a therapist, dealt with her own grief by writing a memoir, ironically titled The Girl Who Lived, which exposes Faith's struggles. The therapy exercise became a bestseller, so Faith can't go anywhere now without being recognized, pitied, and feared.
When the story opens, Faith is being released from her latest confinement, trying to ease back into society under the watchful eyes of her mother, probation officer, and sponsors of several 12-step programs. Despite admonitions from everyone, she is determined to track down Rat Face and find her sister's killer. Just when she thinks she has an ally, a cloud of suspicion is cast over that character, and she pulls back. Items disappear or are moved, causing Faith to doubt her sanity. Bad things keep happening, and Faith looks guiltier and guiltier. She doesn't know whom to trust…not even herself.
The author beautifully captures the raw emotions and chilling terror of the troubled heroine. This page-turner will keep you guessing until the end, because, as a reader, you won't know who can be trusted, either. And then you will be shocked.
Christopher Greyson (ChristopherGreyson.com) is the author of the bestselling Detective Jack Stratton mystery/thriller series. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Katherine, who is also an author, and their two children.
Sharon Marchisello (sharonmarchisello.com) is the author of Going Home, (Sunbury Press, 2014) a murder mystery inspired by her mother's battle with Alzheimer's. She earned a Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is a member of the Atlanta Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Peachtree City, GA, with her husband and cat, does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society, and writes a blog about personal finance, Countdown to Financial Fitness https://sharonmarchisello.blogspot.com/.
River City Dead by Nancy G. West / Review by Sharon Marchisello
BOOK OF THE DAY
Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Nominee
River City Dead (Henery Press 2017) is the fourth installment of Nancy G. West's Aggie Mundeen mystery series, and it has been nominated for a Silver Falchion award.
I haven't read the first three books in the series, but not to worry, the reader is quickly brought up to speed. Aggie Mundeen, the protagonist, is an advice columnist exploring a budding romance with San Antonio Police Detective Sam Vanderhoven. Aggie's amateur sleuthing and insertion into Sam's cases often lands her in danger and strains their relationship.
When the story opens, Aggie and Sam are meeting at the Casa Prima Hotel on San Antonio's Riverwalk for a romantic Fiesta week getaway. Except there's a dead woman in the suite they're supposed to have. And Aggie knows her.
Pleasure is put on hold, and Sam is called to duty. Because Aggie is friends with the aunt of the victim, Monica Peters, she is tasked with breaking the devastating news. And investigating Monica's past in the hope of finding a motive.
The point-of-view alternates between Aggie (first person) and Sam (third person) as they each encounter suspects and discover clues. They share their findings and strategies… mostly.
I've visited San Antonio a few times, but I gained a greater appreciation for the destination from the descriptions and historical facts the author wove into the story. The setting truly becomes another character and plays an essential role in the comedic climax.
Besides her award-winning Aggie Mundeen series, Nancy G. West has written poetry, book reviews, articles, and another novel, Nine Days to Evil, in which Aggie is a minor character. She grew up in Texas and currently resides in San Antonio.
Sharon Marchisello (sharonmarchisello.com) is the author of Going Home, (Sunbury Press, 2014) a murder mystery inspired by her mother's battle with Alzheimer's. She earned a Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is a member of the Atlanta Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Peachtree City, GA, with her husband and cat, does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society, and writes a blog about personal finance, Countdown to Financial Fitness https://sharonmarchisello.blogspot.com/.
The Cutting Edge by Jeffery Deaver / Review by Gary Frazier
THE CUTTING EDGE
By Jeffery Deaver
Grand Central Publishing
$28.00
978-1455536429
April 10, 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are back for another head-scratching puzzle in Jeffery Deaver’s newest novel, The Cutting Edge. This one – the fourteenth in the series to feature the intrepid, quadriplegic detective – begins with a shocking triple murder during an apparent holdup in New York City’s diamond district–where diamonds are cut from raw stones into tiny, expensive baubles. When a witness walks in on the murders in progress and is almost killed before he can get away, the novel becomes a game a cat and mouse as both the murderer and the cops race to find the witness first.
After a hearty bowl of soup (apparently, detective work can’t be done on an empty stomach), Rhyme dispatches Sachs to the scene of the crime where the bodies and initial evidence await her perusal. As Sachs follows the clues, Rhyme, assisted by a team of officers, examines video evidence that can help track the potential witness, who, naturally, doesn’t want to be found by anyone. The victims, a highly respected diamantaire and the young couple that had come to him for their engagement ring, seemed to have been tortured before they were killed leading Sachs to believe this was more than a robbery gone wrong. The culprit, meanwhile, begins taking the lives of other young lovers buying engagement rings and searching for the only witness that could possibly identify him.
Sachs’s investigation takes her to a nearby geothermal construction site where she survives an earthquake, which in turn causes gas line leaks and explosions in the city. Around the same time, Rhyme is approached by the legal defense team representing an alleged cartel leader, El Halcon, who claims he was set up by cops and want Rhyme to help prove their case. As is typical of a Deaver novel, there are connections within connections here. In this case, Rhyme manages to link the three plots together into a complex master plot.
Deaver’s prose is straightforward and the action comes fast and furious. Tight chapters keep readers from getting bored. And there is more to the story than just solving the crime. Of course, Rhyme, Sachs, and all of the regular characters are wonderful, but even the characters specific to this novel are so well developed and have such interesting lives that are completely unforgettable. The reader will also benefit from a master class full of information about the diamond industry as well as an inside look at the lives of diamond cutters; how family, tradition, and religion drive them. The Cutting Edge is a great installment in the Lincoln Rhyme's series. It is an exciting thriller with plenty of good guys, bad guys, and nail-biting moments that will keep you reading late into the night. It is also a novel that touches on many of the social, political, environmental, and ethical issues that surround the diamond industry. You may find that the pretty, sparkling, bauble that you wear cost far more than you think.
Note: Jeffery Deaver will offer a master class on Plotting the Novel at the 2018 Killer Nashville Writer’s Conference.
Wicked Deeds by Heather Graham / Review by Tim Suddeth
BOOK OF THE DAY
Murders, ghosts, a lot of romance, and Poe, as in Edgar Allan, what more could a mystery reader ask for? Heather Graham hits the sweet spot with her latest, and the twenty-third installment in her Krewe of Hunters series, Wicked Deeds, (MIRA Books). She has written over two hundred novels including suspense, historical romance, occult, and vampire fiction.
An elite group of FBI agents, the Krewe of Hunters is called in when a case includes the paranormal. With a setting like Baltimore and a restaurant with an Edgar Allen Poe theme, it’s a quick call.
Historian Vickie Preston and FBI Agent Griffin Pryce look forward to starting their lives together. Vickie is looking forward to becoming a member of the Krewe when she completes FBI training. They make a quick stop in Baltimore for a weekend getaway. But their rest is cut short when the body of a noted author is found in the basement of the restaurant.
The reader gets more than they bargained for as the couple becomes involved in not one but two cases, the current murders in the restaurant and the murder of Poe, himself.
The author does a great job of introducing us to Baltimore as it is now and taking us to its streets in the mid-1800’s.
An easy reader with likable characters and a gothic feel, it will have you staying up late turning the pages to see who-dun-it.
Tim Suddeth attended the 2017 Killer Nashville Internation Writers’ Conferences as the Jimmy Loftin Memorial Scholarship winner. He has started a series of a young law school graduate starting her career in Charleston, SC. He lives in Greenville, SC with his wife, Vickie, and his 20-year-old autistic son, Madison. He can be reached at timingreenville@gmail.com and is a regular contributor at The Write Conversation and www.timingreenville.com.
Coyote Zone by Kathryn Lane / Review by Sharon Marchisello
COYOTE ZONE
By Kathryn Lane
Pen-L Publishing
$16.95
978-1683131083
September 27, 2017
BOOK OF THE DAY
Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Nominee
Kathryn Lane, winner of two 2017 Silver Falchion awards, has delivered another engaging thriller. Coyote Zone (Pen-L Publishing, 2017) is a follow-up to her debut novel, Waking Up in Medellin, which was named Best Book of the Year for 2017 and Best Adult Suspense Fiction.
Spunky Mexican-American heroine Nikki Garcia is back, as well as several other characters from Lane's debut novel. When the story opens, Nikki is vacationing in the Yucatan with her fiancé Eduardo, but their lovefest is interrupted by a call from her new boss, Floyd, to investigate a kidnapping in San Miguel de Allende. Nikki is uniquely qualified to handle the job because she is a woman, speaks Spanish fluently, and is already in the country.
Bibiana Lombardi, the 10-year-old daughter of Italian immigrant restaurant owner Sofia Lombardi, disappears in a crowded market when her mother turns her head for a moment. No one can provide any information except for a maligned bag lady, Juana la Marihuana, who claims to have seen the child nabbed by a coyote, i.e., human trafficker.
Sofia assumes her estranged husband, Paolo, and his domineering mother, Chiara, have taken the child, and she refuses to listen to the crazy street woman, but Nikki and Eduardo are determined to follow all leads. Nikki ends up going undercover and walking right into the coyote's den, putting her own life in jeopardy to save Bibiana and other children from a terrible fate.
Not only is this a page-turning thriller with twist after heart-wrenching twist, but it brings awareness to the very real issue of human trafficking. Lane's research is apparent and the reader feels a strong sense of place.
In addition to the two novels in the Nikki Garcia Thriller Series, Kathryn Lane has published a collection of short stories, Backyard Volcano. Originally from Mexico, she has a background in accounting and international finance, which allowed her to travel extensively. She and her husband reside in The Woodlands, Texas, where she serves on the Montgomery County Literary Arts Council. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers.
Sharon Marchisello (sharonmarchisello.com) is the author of Going Home, (Sunbury Press, 2014) a murder mystery inspired by her mother's battle with Alzheimer's. She earned a Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is a member of the Atlanta Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Peachtree City, GA, with her husband and cat, does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society, and writes a blog about personal finance, Countdown to Financial Fitness https://sharonmarchisello.blogspot.com/.
Oath of Honor by Lynette Eason / Review by Tim Suddeth
BOOK OF THE DAY
If you are looking for a story that combines romantic suspense and police procedural, Lynette Eason’s Oath of Honor may be just what you’re looking for. Eason won the 2017 Readers’ Choice Award for Best Fiction Adult Suspense for Always Watching from her Elite Guardians series.
Oath of Honor is the first in her Blue Justice series. Think Castle (if he had been a cop) meets Blue Bloods.
Police officer Isabelle St. John is from a large police family headed by her mother who is the chief of police. But Izzy learns that, sometimes, family can get in the way. Like when your partner is shot to death while staking out a criminal location while off-duty. Or when you don’t know if your family are all on the right side. But when attempts are made on her life, where else can she turn to?
Her dead partner’s brother, homicide detective Ryan Marshall, knows he should stay out of the investigation, but it’s his brother. And, Izzy had always been part of his family. If she’s in danger, he wants to be there to help.
Eason takes the reader on a wild ride with lots of twists and surprises. She has created two real and likable characters. The big question is, will they still be alive at the end?
Tim Suddeth attended the 2017 Killer Nashville Internation Writers’ Conferences as the Jimmy Loftin Memorial Scholarship winner. He has started a series of a young law school graduate starting her career in Charleston, SC. He lives in Greenville, SC with his wife, Vickie, and his 20-year-old autistic son, Madison. He can be reached at timingreenville@gmail.com and is a regular contributor at The Write Conversation and www.timingreenville.com.
The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza / Review by Holly Chaille
THE GIRL IN THE ICE
By Robert Bryndza
Grand Central Publishing
$12.99
978-1538713426
April 24, 2018
BOOK OF THE DAY
A cold night, fog in the air, and moonlight casting unreliable shadows. She’s upset to the point of wandering so far no one will hear her cry for help. This is the kind of prologue with layers of description that create an atmosphere so tense I was instantly transported to the setting of the crime. Even knowing something terrible was gaining on her, I couldn’t look away. And I didn’t until the last page of this sprint-paced story, which lands perfectly at an ending that satisfies the whodunit faithful.
A British crime mystery that hit several bestseller lists, Robert Bryndza’s The Girl in the Ice introduces a strong female protagonist in Detective Erika Foster. A woman with very recent demons still haunting her, Erika expects to be on desk duty for the foreseeable future. But an old friend, feeling she needs to get back in the game, calls her into a high profile murder investigation of a young socialite whose influential parents seem hell-bent on preventing Foster from solving the case.
Navigating her new team—not all of whom are thrilled to bring her on—adds tension to an already stressed out Foster, whose disdain for authority and fragile psyche take a few chapters to figure out. As protagonists go, she’s well-written and believable, giving the reader more than enough personality to connect with.
With the body count rising Detective Foster challenges those around her to dig deeper to find the common denominator. But the closer she gets the more pressure she gets from her higher-ups to reroute her investigation away from the socialite’s famous family. Foster is abruptly removed from the case and, as strong women are wont to do, seizes the opportunity to go even harder toward her goal. She’s a brilliant, fearless strategist with no apologies for her direct approach, and this is why the series has sold millions of copies.
The dialogue is the strongest aspect of the story, giving the minor characters dimension and depth. Bryndza threads the kind of nuance throughout the dialogue that makes everyone seem like a viable suspect. Fans of Elizabeth George and Ruth Rendell will appreciate the uncompromising style and British elegance of his writing and character building.
Though this was Bryndza’s first in the Erika Foster series he’s just released number six so fans are advised to select a good bottle of red and hunker down with a stack of these page-turning thrillers and get to know Detective Erika Foster.
Holly Chaille is a member of Sisters in Crime and the daughter of a librarian. Growing up in the stacks cultivated her lifelong love of suspense and thrillers, and she's currently querying her first mystery and developing her blog at HollyAChaille.com.
A Matter of Chance by Julie Maloney / Review by Sheila Sobel
BOOK OF THE DAY
When it comes to your children, everything has the potential to become your worst nightmare. Like most parents, Maddy Stewart kept those fears locked away until the day Vinni, her eight-year-old daughter, went missing. In her debut novel, A Matter of Chance, Julie Maloney deftly weaves loss, love, terror, and hope together in a story that will keep the reader turning pages.
From the Jersey Shore to Manhattan to Germany, Maddy searches not only for her daughter but for herself. The adjustment from wife and mother to single mom was difficult. But now, as the mother of a missing child, Maddy’s world has capsized. She doesn’t know where her daughter is. She no longer knows who she is, or how she fits into this world. Her faith in humanity is shaken. Everyone Maddy ever trusted failed her, her mother, her ex-husband Steve, her childhood friend Kay. Added to the growing list is the kindly German couple, Hilda and Rudy, who, as chance would have it, lived down the beach from her summer rental. There was no reason for Maddy to suspect that Hilda and Rudy had ulterior motives when they showed interest in her daughter.
As the years pass without news of Vinni, Maddy’s new normal begins to take shape. She finds an ally in Detective John D’Orfini. She takes comfort in a return to her artistic roots through her mentor Evelyn. She rebuilds her once-broken friendship with Kay.
Julie Maloney’s debut is an adult coming of age novel beautifully wrapped in a mystery. A Matter of Chance is a reminder of how fragile our existence is, how life can change instantly from a sunny day at the beach to the depths of despair. It is also the reminder that, like Maddy, we all have untapped inner strength and hope that can carry us through the mysteries of life.
Sheila Sobel’s debut novel Color Blind was the winner of the 2017 Killer Nashville Reader’s Choice Award for Best Tween/YA Fiction and Finalist for the 2017 Silver Falchion Award for Best YA Fiction. She was also nominated for the 2016 Allegra Johnson Prize in Novel Writing through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.
As a Senior Auditor for Warner Bros., Sheila oversaw production costs for films including “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the “Matrix” trilogy, “The Dark Knight” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” After working on 70+ Independent and Studio movies, Sheila stepped away from the film business to complete her first YA novel.
Sheila is a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW), Sisters in Crime (SinC), Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Children’s Book Writers-LA (CBW-LA) and Women in Film (WIF). She lives in Southern California with her husband, two rescue dogs and one rescue cat.
Forever Young by Henry Hack / Review by Sheila Sobel
BOOK OF THE DAY
Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Nominee
Together again in book four of the A Danny Boyland Novel series, Detective Danny Boyland and his partner, Virgil “Spider” Webb catch, then solve a murder in record time. When the shooter confesses and pleads guilty, the chief is content to close the case. Add another one to the department’s best closers’ record. Danny and Spider recognize that almost always, murder is messy, and this one is just a little too neat. When FBI Agent Mike Havlek informs the duo that the victim was in witness protection, the fourth protected witness to be murdered, their instincts are validated.
On loan to the FBI, Danny and Spider team up with Agent Havlek and the chase begins before a fifth witness becomes the next victim. Who is leaking the witness list and why? Conspiracy theories and a search for the Fountain of Youth lead the trio, along with the U.S. Marshalls and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, pregnant wife of Mike Havlek, from the depths of humanity to the highest offices in the nation. The Fountain of Youth, science fiction or fact? Worth killing for? Definitely. Billions could be made. The rich could control everyone’s lives forever. Power and greed propel this fast-paced police procedural to a satisfying conclusion.
Author Henry Hack’s twenty-two years in the Nassau County, NY Police Department serve him well, as Forever Young possesses an authenticity that keeps the reader turning the pages and hungry for the release of the next book in the A Danny Boyland Novel series.
Danny Boy (2009), the first novel in the series featuring NYMPD Detective Daniel Boyland, was followed by Cases Closed (2012), Mommy, Mommy (2013), and now, Forever Young (2017).
Sheila Sobel’s debut novel Color Blind was the winner of the 2017 Killer Nashville Reader’s Choice Award for Best Tween/YA Fiction and Finalist for the 2017 Silver Falchion Award for Best YA Fiction. She was also nominated for the 2016 Allegra Johnson Prize in Novel Writing through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.
As a Senior Auditor for Warner Bros., Sheila oversaw production costs for films including “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the “Matrix” trilogy, “The Dark Knight” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” After working on 70+ Independent and Studio movies, Sheila stepped away from the film business to complete her first YA novel.
Sheila is a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW), Sisters in Crime (SinC), Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Children’s Book Writers-LA (CBW-LA) and Women in Film (WIF). She lives in Southern California with her husband, two rescue dogs and one rescue cat.
Bluff by Michael Kardos / Review by Janet Brantley
BOOK OF THE DAY
Bluff, by Michael Kardos, gave me pause. Perhaps I should have seen it coming, the final act, but I didn’t. I was so stunned by it that it’s taken me a while to write this review. I had to distance myself from the action to realize just how good this book is, what a satisfying story Kardos has told.
Bluff is the first-person account of a gifted young magician who, at twenty-seven, seems to be going nowhere fast. After dazzling the world of magic a decade earlier, Natalie Webb is trying to convince herself and everyone else she’s ready for a comeback. Unfortunately, one of her simple card tricks goes awry and she is soon fending off a lawsuit that seems destined to drive her all the way into the poor house.
Enter Ellen—another woman who can do amazing things with her hands, this time at the poker table—with an offer Natalie can’t afford to refuse. Together the two women will infiltrate a high-stakes poker game and come away with a cool million dollars. All Natalie must do is turn her back on everything she loves about being a magician—and become a card cheat of the highest order.
Kardos does a masterful job of taking us inside two always intriguing worlds—magic in all its glamorous sleight-of-hand intrigue on the one hand, and extreme card playing on the other.
Speaking of hands, Natalie’s are magical. At least that’s what onlookers like her new attorney, Brock, believe. It’s hard for him to accept that she won’t tell him her card secrets, but when she carries out the explanation in her mind (“…learning the palms and passes and false shuffles…over many years and thousands of hours…until…you’d be fooled from a foot away”), we fully understand and are somewhat offended ourselves when he offers her $100 for the secret.
Bluff revolves around Natalie’s hands, from first page to last. What starts out as a seemingly innocent series of encounters become, over time, a dark and sinister look into a game of bluff gone terribly wrong. The denouement gives new meaning to the term “all in.” Surprisingly, Natalie perseveres, and though she’s not in the best of places at the end of the book, we are able to classify her as a survivor who can make the best of a bad (horrible, really) situation.
Kardos has left the door open for a sequel. If he writes one, I will certainly read it.
Last Stand by Mickey Spillane / Review by G. Robert Frazier
BOOK OF THE DAY
Mickey Spillane lives again! The grand master of mystery/pulp fiction and creator of private detective Mike Hammer may have passed away in 2006, but fans will be pleased to celebrate what would have been his 100th birthday on March 20 with a new novel. Billed as his final completed, unpublished novel, The Last Stand hits bookstores courtesy of Hard Case Crime.
While it’s not the gritty, in-your-face detective noir Spillane was famous for, and Hammer is absent from its pages, The Last Stand is nonetheless an entertaining adventure. The novel begins when pilot Joe Gillian’s BT-13A plane inexplicably loses power during an old-timer’s cross-country junket, forcing him to land in a desert somewhere in the U.S.
Joe’s arrival doesn’t go unnoticed, as Native American Sequoia Pete, abandoned by his own horse while searching for artifacts, comes upon him. Together, the men are forced to hike fifty miles back to Pete’s village where Joe hopes he’ll find help to get his plane airborne again. The men learn more about each other along the way: Pete’s not a very good Indian in the traditional sense, his sister has an engineering degree, and rattlesnake makes a decent dinner when there’s nothing else to be had.
But it’s the discovery of an unusual glass-like arrowhead of unknown substance and origin that provides the mystery, and impetus, for the remainder of the story. The shard draws the attention of both ruthless businessman Maxie Angelo and a cadre of federal agents, all of whom want the shard and any similar artifacts at any cost. Joe, meanwhile, has problems of his own as his attraction to Pete’s sister, Running Fox, draws the ire of jealous boyfriend Big Arms. All of the plotlines come to an action-packed finale filled with a wild airplane ride, explosions, guns, and, yes, rattlesnakes.
The adventure takes a lot of unexpected turns and Spillane weaves in a lot of threads in just a couple hundred pages, but that’s all part and parcel of Spillane’s brilliance. Combined with his trademark sharp dialogue and simple prose style, he keeps the tale moving at an entertaining clip.
For Spillane fans yearning for more traditional crime fare, The Last Stand includes the novelette “A Bullet for Satisfaction,” written early in his career. Reminiscent of early Hammer novels, Bullet involves a dishonored police detective gunning for justice against the mob and a corrupt police force.
Longtime Spillane collaborator and 2017 Killer Nashville guest of honor Max Allan Collins writes the introduction, recounting the origins of both stories for this centennial publication.
Robert Frazier is a freelance writer and former reporter and editor at several Middle Tennessee newspapers. He also reviews books for BookPage and BloggingforBooks and has served as a script reader for both the Austin Film Festival and Nashville Film Festival screenwriting competitions.
Cut You Down by Sam Wiebe / Review by Tim Suddeth
BOOK OF THE DAY
Cut You Down (Quercus, 2018) is the follow-up to the best-selling Invisible Dead and second in the Wakeland series by Sam Wiebe. It follows PI Dave Wakeland as he’s hired by a college professor to search for one of her students who she may or may not have feelings for. The girl’s disappearance becomes much more than he expected when he discovers that several million dollars have also gone missing and she was connected to a notorious family of criminals with a penchant for violence.
He is helped by the police officer and on-again-off-again lover, Sonia Drego, who has her own problems. She has doubts about her partner but doesn’t feel free to go to anyone. Wakeland is an ex-cop himself and any bridges to the force have been burned long ago.
Wakeland encounters more than his share of threats, beat-downs, and double crosses. Everyone around him has their own agendas. Although he’s alone and lost, he’ll never give up.
Set in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the author lives, the city becomes another character contributing the right amount of atmosphere and darkness. Wakeland harkens back to such private eyes as Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and other crime noir detectives by Dashielle Hammett, Raymond Chandler, et al, where the lines between good and bad were blurred at best, they never knew whom they could trust, and the criminals were as colorful as the good guys. With fast action and numerous twists, the reader will find themselves wanting to get to the next page.
Sam Wiebe has built a reputation for creating PIs who seem straight out of the pulp fiction classics. Cut You Down will only add to it. I’ m looking forward to seeing if Wakeland is able to get back on his feet or what kind of haymaker life throws at him next.
The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley / Review by Bree Goodchild
BOOK OF THE DAY
"Today the world moves on, and I must find new ways to turn the truth into stories. The graveyard bears more mushrooms, clustering in soft wet shapes, yellow folds and rivulets, in the outlines of the women beneath the soil."
Whiteley's The Beautyis a powerful punch of 112 pages. It has been described as "weird," "speculative," and "disturbing." Recommended for lovers of Margaret Atwood and the late Ursula Le Guin this compelling novella tackles themes like feminism, gender relations, and age-related power struggles. Once you fall into the rabbit hole of The Beauty you will not come back the same.
Whiteley’s world is told through the voice of a young storyteller within the Group in the Valley of the Rocks. Nathan is the reader's eyes and ears among the men in the Group. Nate composes poetic tales of how men and women from all places came looking for sanctuary from a chaotic, technology-driven world. How all the women were now gone, eaten alive slowly by an incurable disease.
Nate also knows the forest holds a terrible secret. Within the shadows of the trees, beneath the soil in which the mushrooms grow, there lives an "other," a new Group that will rattle the lives of the men in the Valley. Is this alien "other" the missing piece to a crippled humanity, or a sinister being with its own agenda?
"Terror, hatred, panic and those stranger, softer feelings: they are there, but they do not crowd me or make me their puppet."
Weaving a story of science fiction, mystery, and post-apocalyptic thrills writer Aliya Whiteley challenges her readers to think beyond traditional storytelling, and to open their minds to the great "what if..." A myth in its own weight, The Beauty is a short story which keeps its readers up at night. You’ll be far too captivated by the strangeness to put it down for even a moment. Embrace the weird, surrender to the beauty.
Bree Goodchild is a recent graduate of Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville with a BA in English and Theatre Arts. She currently lives in Washington state with her beagle mix, Molly. A fan of a wide genre of books and authors, most recently Temple Grandin, Ira Glass, Terry Moore, Sebastian Barry, and Zora Neale Hurston.
The Devil Has A Black Dog by Jonathan Thurston / Review by Liz Gatterer
From the very first page, I felt sure that this was going to be an intriguing read. There are several letters that have been stylized with a dramatic font. It doesn’t take long to figure out that if you connect the letters, they spell out the message – “We need the key”. And just like that, I was hooked. The temptation to scroll through the pages and find all of the letters was almost overpowering – but I resisted. The special effects on the pages continued. Some pages were different shades, some had text arranged in different ways but it was never distracting, it helped to draw me into the story and in some cases, made the link between the what was written and what was being said much clearer. I believe when an author manipulates the text that way, it technically changes it from prose to poetry. I couldn’t agree more.
The main character in this novella is Titus Anderson. Titus has had a bad day. He lost his boyfriend, his job, his dealer want to kill him, the landlady will most likely evict him, the townspeople see him as a pariah, oh… and he drives a Prius. You would have to be a pretty cold-hearted person to not feel for Titus. He is cast as the anti-hero that would really have liked to be the hero but thinks he can’t be. I think this is a trap many people fall into and can’t see a way out of on their own. It’s an example of the “whether you think you can or think you can’t – you’re right” type of situation.
The people of Hollow Rapids, Massachusetts are split into two groups “Church Folk” and “Night Folk”. The former being those that conform to conventional standards of “good” but aren’t necessarily good people, and the later are those that won’t or can’t fit in that box. Titus is “Night Folk”. He recalls how when he was young, the world was full of color. But, as an adult – the world shifted to just black and white and he fell into the black category. More than once, he wishes he could be clean again. The hopelessness and isolation he feels are reflected in the background as the pages begin to darken from pure white to black. It is heartbreaking. Titus is tempted to just drive his car off the road and end it all. That is when he runs over the dog. But this is no ordinary dog. It is a demon. It is a demon sent to Earth by God to stop other demons. But should one trust a demon?
The Devil Has a Black dog is a fantastic read. For those of us that like stories that require a bit of thought and reflection to really appreciate, it is a rare treat. Fans of Neil Gaiman, Stephen King and maybe A.N. Roquelaure should really enjoy this updated parable about perils of vice and vengeance and the cost of sacrifice and virtue.
Black Wings of Cthulhu 5 edited by S. T. Joshi / Review by Todd Stailey
BLACK WINGS OF CTHULHU 5
Edited by S. T. Joshi
Titan Books
$14.95
ISBN 978-1785656910
Publication Date: January 16, 2018
Book of the Day
First of all, a big thank you to Clay Stafford and Katharine Carroll from Titan books for giving me the opportunity to review this book.Where shall I begin?...For starters, I will most definitely order the previous books in this series. This book was fabulous. I knew Black Wings of Cthulhu was going to be good when I saw that S.T. Joshi was the editor. He is the leading authority on all things Lovecraftian today. This tome contains a wonderful collection of stories that test one's sanity. Tales of otherworldly beings and cosmic horror that would have made Howard Phillips Lovecraft proud. It might have even made him smile. If you know Lovecraft, you'll get that. Wink, wink. These authors have proven that the Old Ones, the Elder Gods are alive and well.
One of my favorite stories from this book is by W. H. Pugmire titled "In Blackness Etched, My Name". It is only four and a half pages and they just ooze with Lovecraft's influence on his writing. Another great story is by Jason C. Eckhardt titled "The Walker in the Night". It's about a restaurant owner that becomes friends with Lovecraft. Very well done. Other wonderfully done tales included in this book are "The Black Abbess" by John Reppion, "The Organ of Chaos" by Donald Tyson, "Casting Fractals" by Sam Gafford, "The Red Witch of Chorazin" by Darrell Schweitzer and a poem titled "Lore" by Wade German. If you are a Lovecraft fan, this book is a must-have for your collection. I can't wait to get the first four volumes in my hands."I am Providence" H.P. Lovecraft Book 6 in the series is due to be released in October 2018, so you have a few months to get caught up!
Awkward Squad by Sophie Hénaff / Review by Grace Miller
AWKWARD SQUAD
By Sofie Hēnaff
Quercus
$24.95
ISBN 978-0857055767
Publication Date: April 3, 2018
Book of the Day
The perfect beach read for any Francophile has arrived! Sophie Hénaff’s The Awkward Squad (MacLehose Press) is the story of Anne Capestan whose once shining star in the Paris police force has dimmed after she fires one too many questionable shots. Instead of getting booted from the force, however, Capestan finds herself in charge of a new department: composed entirely of castoffs and rejects—including the detective who investigated her after her most recent incident—who are expected to babysit the city’s unsolvable cold cases. Capestan’s former mentor doesn’t even pretend the new division has any hope of solving a case; the detectives are expected to twiddle their thumbs, collect a paycheck, and, most importantly, stay out of trouble.
The Awkward Squad is a lighthearted police procedural that’s easy and fun to read. The clever banter and the story’s humor keep this novel upbeat, a nice alternative to gritty crime novels that focus and highlight the heinous details of a crime. Though there are a lot of French names to keep up with, the ensemble of characters is well drawn, each person (and one pampered pup) interesting and quirky in their own ways, making it easy for readers to remember who is who. In fact, the characters are my favorite part of the story. Hénaff has a grand ability to draw unique characters with humorous flaws that stop just short of being too hyperbolic. If you’re looking for something fun to read on the beach, this is it! Plus, the fact that the novel is originally French provides a nice change of pace from American police procedurals.
The Awkward Squad is the shelf—or, more specifically, the drafty apartment—where careers go to die, but underneath Capestan’s tarnished reputation, she’s still the hard-working bulldog who refuses to let a criminal go free and, soon, she and the few of her detectives who actually show up are investigating cases and transforming from misfits that don’t belong into a unified team, albeit a strange one.
But when the squad arrests the son of an important politician for dealing drugs, Capestan begins to suspect why the squad was created at all. The first arrest suggests that not all of the cases they’ve been given are as hopeless as they’ve been led to believe. Then, when the team discovers connections between two murders separated by almost a decade, Capestan and her team of misfits have to wonder if they’re being manipulated by the powers that be. Whatever the reason behind their banishment, the detectives in the new division won’t go quietly into obscurity after all.
Punishment by Scott J. Holliday / Review by E.J. Boyd
PUNISHMENT
By Scott J. Holliday
Thomas & Mercer
$24.95
ISBN 978-1503949058
Publication Date: February 1, 2018
Book of the Day
Let the punishment BE the crime...
Punishment is the first in a new detective series by Scott J. Holliday featuring Detective John Barnes. In this techno-thriller, there is a machine that can transpose the memories of one person to another - including the memories of the dead. The memories are not just what the person saw–they don't play like a movie–they are complete memories, including all the senses and what the person felt (fear, excitement, pleasure, pain, etc.). This is not a passive experience but one that seriously affects the person that has taken them on, they do not wear off. Like a real experience, they remain within the person's psyche. There is a commercial side to this new technology. Celebrities and prostitutes can sell their experiences and this has created "munkey's", the new addicts that cannot get enough. There is the practical side, where law enforcement can use the memories of victims (including the dead) to find the perpetrators of the crimes. And finally, there is the punitive side, where the machine is used as the punishment for a criminal. What could be worse than to actually experience the pain, suffering, panic, that you inflicted on someone else?
This is the third novel by Holliday, but the first one I have read. I think he is a very creative writer with a good character development and sense of story arc. There were a few instances where the story seemed to veer off course a bit, but all-in-all I very much enjoyed this novel. It was a quick but satisfying read. It is available for purchase, of course, but if you have a Kindle Unlimited membership you can give it a try for free! The second book in the series, Machine City is due to be published in October of this year.
The Disappeared by C.J. Box / Review by Danny Lindsey
THE DISAPPEARED
By C.J. BOX
G.P. Putnam's Sons
$27.00
ISBN 978-0399176623
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
Book of the Day
Who would have thought that a Wyoming Game Warden could be embroiled in so much murder, mayhem, and mystery that it would take at least 18 books to cover all of it? In C.J.Box’s latest in the Joe Pickett series, The Disappeared, (G.P. Putnam's Sons, March 2018) Joe once again finds himself in unfamiliar and potentially dangerous territory.
Wyoming’s new governor is different. Where his predecessor used Joe Pickett as a valuable asset in solving some of the most difficult cases, the new chief executive governs by threat and coercion. He sends Joe to investigate the months’ old disappearance of a female British executive, who failed to return from a week’s stay at a high-end guest ranch.
The more Joe learns the more complex and sinister the case becomes. Despite the fact that his oldest daughter is a working wrangler at the ranch, clues are few and far between. No one wants to talk about the missing woman, least of all the ranch manager. His position is that any publicity linking the ranch to her or her disappearance is bad publicity.
Joe’s closest friend and one-time federal fugitive Nate Romanowski follows Joe, for more than a single reason. A master falconer, he needs Joe’s help with a licensing situation; plus he is well aware that Joe’s special assignments more often than not require his own special brand of assistance, sometimes (always) outside of the legal ways of obtaining information.
Matters are complicated by the appearance of the disappeared woman’s sister and a British journalist, although the term journalist is utilized in its most all-embracing definition. He is little more than a muck-raking, headline-seeking hack, who spares no opportunity to disparage the area, the people, the state, and even the weather. He manages to so meddle in the investigation that Joe and the local law officials are sent into the wilderness on a wild goose chase which ends up an embarrassment for all involved except the journalist, who delights in its conclusion.
The Disappeared is well-told by an experienced storyteller, although not one to be the first Joe Pickett to read. Occasional references to people and places are best understood by having read some or all of the seventeen previous books in the series. But Joe Pickett fans will not be disappointed – this one is vintage Joe.
Danny Lindsey keeps trying to retire. After a 20-year Army career and a 25-year second one in the private sector, he’s finally settled down. His current gig is as the Veteran Employment Services Manager for a Huntsville, A.L. based non-profit, Still Serving Veterans. Both full careers were characterized by numerous writing assignments, from war plans to operating policies and procedures, then on to white papers, analyses of alternatives and competitive contract and grant proposals. Now his writing consists of blogs for the website www.ssv.org, podcasts for the local NPR affiliate, and a half dozen Pulitzer-worthy, albeit unpublished novels.
Update: Danny won the 2017 Killer Nashville Claymore Award with his manuscript Serial Justice – so he will not be unpublished for long!
Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich / Review by Danny Lindsey
HARDCORE TWENTY-FOUR
By Janet Evanovich
G.P. Putnam's Sons
$28.00
ISBN 978-0399179198
Publication Date: November 14, 2017
Book of the Day
Zombies are loose in the Burg, and Stephanie Plum is on the lookout for them. In Janet Evanovich’s latest in the Stephanie Plum series (Hard Core Twenty-Four, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2017) it’s a tossup whether bounty hunter Stephanie and plus-sized sidekick Lula will be squeezed to death by a 20-foot boa constrictor or have their brain sucked out through a straw by zombies. Neither prospect slows the familiar duo as they eat their way through chicken, donuts, sandwiches, and pizza on their way to apprehending a series of bail jumpers.
No Stephanie Plum tale is complete without a continuation of the “which man will it be next?” quandary that Steph finds herself in regularly. A semi-committed relationship with plainclothes cop Morelli is in her comfort zone, but the mysterious and oh-so-sexy Ranger is a constant temptation. If that weren’t enough, the newcomer Diesel takes her breath away and sends her hormones into orbit. It doesn’t help that she occasionally wakes up with him in the bed with her, naked.
For those not already fans of the series, Stephanie hunts bail jumpers for a living, for her cousin Vinnie’s bail bonds business. She’s been beaten up, rolled in various nasty substances, captured, tied up and left for dead, and shot at. Somehow either Morelli or Ranger, sometimes both, manage to rescue her and send her on to her next misadventure.
A girl with many talents, Stephanie excels at original ways to destroy cars, both hers and loaners from Ranger’s security fleet of luxury vehicles. Burned, bombed, crashed, filled with concrete, smashed by a garbage truck, stolen, drowned (without her in it), and filled with exploding animal carcasses are but a sampling of the ways she ends up on foot or driving her late grandfather’s indestructible ’53 Buick.
If you’re not a fan, you should be. If you only read serious fare, change. If you aren’t entertained by Evanovich’s female protagonist, you probably take life way too seriously. Have a donut (or six), grab a cold beer and a sandwich, and prepare to chuckle a lot and laugh out loud several times
Danny Lindsey keeps trying to retire. After a 20-year Army career and a 25-year second one in the private sector, he’s finally settled down. His current gig is as the Veteran Employment Services Manager for a Huntsville, A.L. based non-profit, Still Serving Veterans. Both full careers were characterized by numerous writing assignments, from war plans to operating policies and procedures, then on to white papers, analyses of alternatives and competitive contract and grant proposals. Now his writing consists of blogs for the website www.ssv.org, podcasts for the local NPR affiliate, and a half dozen Pulitzer-worthy, albeit unpublished novels.
Update: Danny won the 2017 Killer Nashville Claymore Award with his manuscript Serial Justice – so he will not be unpublished for long!
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