A New Thriller, An Unforgettable PI

BETA, by Stephen L. Brayton, is the first novel in the Mallory Petersen series of thrillers. In this new mystery thriller, Mallory Petersen, a fourth-degree black belt with her own taekwondo school gets into bone-chilling scrapes, one after the other, with thieves, police, and especially underworld scum and their vicious guard dogs. These scenes are breathtakingly fast, Mallory’s taekwondo technique, expert and authentic. And just when we think Mallory will succeed in wrapping up the case, there are more exciting twists.

Fast-action scenes are offset by the poignant, searing commentary and scenes involving the plight of a kidnapped eight-year-old girl.

The story begins when a woman hires Mallory to find her kidnapped daughter, Cindy McGee, a child forced into the dark world of pornography, rape, drugs, you name it. The trail soon leads to the Quad Cities, where Mallory partners with a delicious-looking Detective Lawrence Cameron to continue her search for the kidnapped girl, and, along with more action and daring, there is the promise of romance.

Mr. Brayton’s writing has a distinctive voice. His characters are fresh and plentiful (I especially liked three of his minor characters: Mallory’s grandmother, the oily Edward Brougham, and the likable snitch, Willy.) Themes include grief and loss surrounding child pornography.

Make no mistake, the subject of BETA is child pornography—sexual exploitation for profit, slavery at its bleakest level. If you have avoided books dealing with this perverse but pervasive underworld in the past, know that in BETA the author handles the subject with tender sensitivity and poignancy.

And the tale of our children’s exploitation needs to be told. Child pornography is one of the fastest growing industries on the internet.

In the quote below, the author switches from the voice of Mallory Petersen’s first-person narrative told in the past tense of storytelling to third-person omniscient. Because he uses the present tense, we feel like we are there:

The girl sits very still in the cold room. Her mind is fuzzy and her eyes can’t focus very well. She wants to forget the last few hours, the feelings, the pain, the sickness in her stomach. Mercilessly, the memories return again and again, distorted, blurry, but all too real.

‘Mallory’ in Old French means ‘Luckless.’ You’ll have to read the book and decide for yourself whether or not the name suits Mallory Petersen, but if you enjoy non-stop thrillers, the fine writing of an unputdownable story, then you won’t want to miss BETA.

About the Author:  Stephen L. Brayton owns and operates Brayton’s Black Belt Academy in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He is a Fifth Degree Black Belt and certified instructor in The American Taekwondo Association.

During his early twenties, while working for a Kewanee, Illinois radio station, he wrote a fantasy based story and a trilogy for a comic book. He has written numerous short stories, written a paranormal mystery, entitled NIGHT SHADOWS. Sequels to NIGHT SHADOWS and BETA are in rewrite/revision stages.

A nail-biting, heart-pumping ride into the wild mind of a serial killer

DARK MIND, the third in the Emily Stone series, is a tightly plotted thriller set in an island paradise. The lush descriptions of Kauai, its trails, ancient rituals, its beaches and forests, soothe or arrest the reader. Most of the time they contrast sharply with the graphic depiction of the brutality Emily and her mates encounter in the hunt for this serial killer. Despite the action, I found myself transported to the peace of this Hawaiian paradise.

But make no mistake: the action and heart pumping start on the first page and never abate.

The novel begins with Emily Stone, a vigilante detective, and her partner, Rick, in the middle of their quest for a kidnapped child. Throughout the novel tension is maintained by the promise of future danger. These promises, usually couched in form of character reflection in the midst of high-wire scenes, have the effect of compounding fear and ratcheting up the tension. Throughout the novel danger and pace never wane. On the contrary, they increase, culminating in the story’s nail-biting climax. In the final scenes, characters are sure of their demise, and so, with a sinking heart, is the reader.

The author’s credentials and experience are impressive, doubtless the reason for the authenticity of the novel’s detail. Jennifer Chase holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology. She also has certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling and is a member of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists.

If at times the prose is stiff, this novel will not disappoint the reader who cannot wait to turn each page, and, on the last page, will long to read Ms. Chase’s next Emily Stone thriller.

Reviewed By Jaime Hypes

Greed, revenge, lust, government corruption, and mystery.  These are all indicators of a fast-paced novel of suspense, and are all present in Karen Keilt’s debut novel The Parrot’s Perch.  When Freddy Lauria gets entangled in the drug trade while a student at Harvard, he thinks he can put it all behind him when he moves back home to Brazil.  However, Jack and Red, dirty cops who are on to Freddy, have a different plan when they follow him to the South American hotspot.

When Freddy arrives back in Brazil he is thrown into the same stressful home life he had managed to escape for years, and is drawn to the life of dealing once again.  Only this time, his sister Caitlin becomes unwittingly involved in his sordid affairs as well.  In Freddy’s quest to hide his past and his dealings from his family, he becomes more enmeshed in a maze of lies and deceit at every turn.

While Jack and Red both begin surveillance on Freddy and his circle, they quickly realize that he may be a better pawn than kingpin in their game of greed.  Meanwhile, Caitlin Lauria is living her seemingly perfect life planning a perfect marriage, when things go extremely wrong in the plans of the Brazilian authorities and the American cops.  Still, she has no idea how she fits into the scheme, and how she will be paying for the crimes and sins of those around her.

The Parrot’s Perch gives us an inside look into the corruption of some foreign justice systems.  Living in a country with fair trials and representation, the brutality and injustices seem unimaginable, albeit all too real.  It is evident that it is much too easy for the innocent to pay for the crimes of the guilty, and that greed is a pervasive tool in such a world.

Keilt gives us a story that is based on real events, although by the end, the reader will be wishing it was entirely fiction.  It is a story that will haunt long after the last page is read, and will make one realize that the political corruption that is seen at home is nothing compared to what others must face daily.  The Parrot’s Perch has been optioned as a major motion picture.  However, it remains to be seen whether reading the words on a page are as harrowing as seeing the images on the screen.  Regardless, this is one story in which you will become entangled with and will never forget.

A bright new sleuth, an unquenchable spirit, a Jersey Shore Mystery Series

Elaine Orr’s APPRAISAL FOR MURDER is a snappy read, with all the ingredients of a first class mystery including a sleuth who will engage your heart and mind.

The book is the first in a series. The second has already been published, thanks to the miracle of Amazon and Smashwords, so you won’t have to wait to read it, and doubtless the third is in the pipeline.

If you’ve been through a divorce or an otherwise gruesome time of your life, you will appreciate the unquenchable spirit of Ms. Jolie Gentil, the protagonist of this series.

In APPRAISAL FOR MURDER Jolie returns to her roots in the Jersey Shore for convalescence following the sudden and surprising financial betrayal (read ‘theft’) by her estranged husband. She interacts with the inhabitants of ‘Ocean Alley’ with wit and verve, brings along her cat, Jazz, and stays with Aunt Madge and her two dogs.

Jolie reacquaints herself with the community, including some former classmates and earns pin money by doing real estate appraisals. When one of Aunt Madge’s friends is murdered, the police are quick to point to a suspect, but at the end of the book Jolie proves them wrong. As a plus there’s hint of a romance bubbling on the burner.

Told from the first-person point of view of Jolie Gentil (“It’s pronounced Zho-Lee Zhan-tee,” the protagonist is quick to tell us), the author, Elaine Orr, brings the Jersey Shore to life. Jolie runs on the boardwalk, takes the dogs on long walks, smells the salt tang of the sea air, reacquaints herself with old high school chums, and slowly uncovers evidence to reveal the perpetrator. She leaves no stone unturned. Evidence, leads, suspects, all are presented logically, slowly, and uncovered completely.

Along the way Jolie is harassed by one of her estranged husband’s thuggish creditors. He is one of the antagonists. Without spoiling the mystery, I won’t say any more, except that he is not out of place on the Shore. The author handles his presence and storyline quickly and deftly, weaving this line into the rest of the story. He is a surprise each time he appears.

Themes include the healing power of humor, the success, if slow, of honest labor. Lucky Jolie, to have her sense of humor and an aunt like Madge; lucky us, to have an author like Elaine Orr.

But don’t look for blinding epiphanies or Sturm und Drang in APPRAISAL FOR MURDER. This is a light mystery, and billed as such.

If you seek a new mystery series with a protagonist who will win your heart, a story that will keep you turning pages, APPRAISAL FOR MURDER is for you.

A word about the cover and the formatting: the cover leaves a little to be desired. This author might sell a lot more if she hired a slick cover designer, paid a little more attention to her Amazon page, and did a little social networking. That being said, she has a winning style, judging from this novel.

I spied only one typo, an article typed twice. Otherwise, the grammar, punctuation, and formatting were clean.

Reviewed by Author Susan Anderson

Sit up, mystery mavens. Get ready for a compelling read.

In THE SAINTMAKER by Mary Carroll Patrick, the murder is introduced in the opening pages, solved at the very end of the novel. In between, evidence is uncovered slowly, cumulatively. Tension builds. The protagonist worries. The authorities rant. Suspects and action abound.

Janet McNally Reed, a widow attempting to get beyond the loss of her murdered son, begins a new job, that of pastoral assistant at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in College Station, Texas. (A pastoral assistant is a business head who runs the parish in the pastor’s absence; a layperson if no other priest is assigned to the parish.)

However, her hopes for peace and healing are dashed when she finds a body in the adoration chapel, a place for prayer usually open to the public twenty-four seven.

The victim is a lawyer seeking to atone for past misdeeds. From the start Janet Reed, keeper of the dead man’s secrets, becomes embroiled in the murder investigation. The prime suspect for a time, she persists with her own investigation, getting herself caught up in some sticky wickets, uncovering evidence until the murder is solved to the satisfaction of the authorities and, in the end, solved for the reader. (Sorry to be so cryptic, but elucidation would spoil.)

The narrative is told in the first person, from the point of view of a thirty or forty-something business woman steeped in her faith, yet not above an occasional salty phrase. (For this reader, the prose could have used a little more salt, especially in the beginning.)

The author’s voice is fresh, strong. The subculture of the Catholic parish is subtly portrayed. In fact the sense of place is so strong that it becomes a character. I felt that I was right there in the chapel praying or in the office dealing with crises or with the bishop.

The two main characters—the protagonist and her long time friend, an atheist—have their own arc, and at the end of the story find a certain if muted sense of peace. They grow.

Themes include a longing for salvation, the vagaries of grace, and the difficulty of uncovering truth.

For this reviewer, the novel was engrossing. If you are a mystery buff, Catholic or not, you won’t want to miss the debut novel of Mary Carroll Patrick, THE SAINTMAKER.

That being said, a word about the text: there were typos and inconsistent formatting, especially in the beginning of the novel. These disappeared about midway through the book.

Synopsis:

For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn’t enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.

Rose realizes she’s wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She’s well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won’t help with number fifteen– do more with a man. Joe’s new to town, but it doesn’t take a vision for Rose to realize he’s got plenty secrets of his own.

Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they’ll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn’t her biggest worry after all.

Review:

I think I’ve said this before, but I love mysteries. I cut my reading teeth on the cozies of Agatha Christie — I have read every single one more times than I or anyone else can count — and it didn’t stop there. After mastering the entire Christie collection, I moved on to the works of P. D. James and her Adam Dalgliesh series, got hooked by Elizabeth Peters and the capers of Amelia Peabody, Vicky Bliss, and Jacqueline Kirby, love the animal antics of Rita Mae Brown’s books written with Sneaky Pie Brown, and have shivered through many a Mary Higgins Clark, and in recent years have added Linda Welch’s paranormal mysteries to my “must have” list.

While my list is a little less than comprehensive, you get the picture. And now, I must add another to the must have list, and that is the southern mystery of Denise Grover Swank’s Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes and her main character, Rose Gardner. As you might be able to tell from my listed reading selections above, I enjoy the characters as much if not more than the mystery aspect. And I’ll admit to loving the fluffy grandmotherly Miss Marple more than the efficient, symmetrically-driven Poirot — although I enjoy both. And with Rose Gardner, Swank gives us a character to root for. Through the book, we get to watch Rose blossom into the woman she wants to become. After being kept firmly under her mother’s thumb for twenty-four years, Rose has had enough. She’s had enough of the small town of Henryetta pointing their fingers at her until she shrinks into the background, she’s had enough of having to hide the person she is inside, and as with all “breaking out” situations, sometimes it takes a bit of forcefulness to make it happen. And with Rose there is no exception.

Only not everyone chooses to break out and start living their life on their own terms at the same time their mother is murdered. And then there’s Joe, the cute next-door neighbor, who wants to help her through the situation of being accused of murdering her own mother, but can she trust him? And of course, there is the whole having-seen-your-own-death-in-a-vision thing — and Rose is never wrong in what she sees. The list is delightful, and yet sometimes bittersweet, and provides the backbone to the story.

I don’t want to give any spoilers, but will say that Swank gives us a character to identify with and takes us on a ride with more curves and twists than a backwoods mountain trail. I read this on Kindle and it is a rare occurrence, but I purchased it in print, so I can have the author sign it when I see her in person.

Reviewed by Author C.V. Hunt

4 out of 5 stars.

ABOUT:

What happens when resources become scarce and society starts to crumble? As the competition for resources pulls America’s previous stable society apart, the “New Normal” is a Soft Apocalypse. This is how our world ends; with a whimper instead of a bang.

REVIEW:

Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh isn’t a book that I normal read. There were no zombies, vampires, werewolves, or even a ghost that went bump in the night within its pages. The story is scary for reasons that monsters cannot compete with. The horror that lays in wait in this book is so close to reality, it’s scary.

The story starts in the year 2023, and follows a single male named Jasper just over the course of ten years, as the economy tanks, society falls apart, and the unemployment rate jumps to over sixty percent. His journey trudged through life, love, murder, and what it takes to survive in a crumbling world.

This is just the beginning of the story.

FROM THE BOOK:

And for the past ten years things had only gotten worse. Blackouts, war, fifty-seven varieties of terrorists, water shortages, plagues. It reminded me of a story about frogs: if you put them in an open pot of water and turn on the burner, they just sit there and boil to death, because they’re not equipped to recognize and respond to gradual changes in water temperature. They could jump out at any time, but there never comes a time when their little brains judge it’s time to jump. So they cook.

Imagine a world where middle-class no longer exists. There are the rich, and the homeless, and then there are those who are fed up. People with college degrees and no jobs for them. It’s a world full of scientists, doctors, researchers, and chemists… all shunned, and living in the streets. They have nothing left to lose and nothing to provide but their knowledge.

While the world is at war with its self, the citizens have decided to turn the terror that is their lives, into special kinds of terrorism to sooth themselves. Now there is a breed of eco-terrorism, bio-terrorism and even viral-terrorism spreading, as groups of vigilante citizens blame the rich, the government, and even fellow citizens for the world falling apart.

One group has invented a virus that won’t cure the world that is falling apart, but to help you forget the hell that the world has become. Homeless tribes must decide between starving to death as world falls apart, or join a group of cultist in their ignorant bliss as the world burns.

If you want to read something truly terrifying, find something that could very easily become reality.

Thrift Store Bounty Hunters

FROM THE BOOK:

Serving divorce papers in a horse track bathroom is one way to make a living. Getting pinned for a murder you didn’t commit is one way to get killed. Now Sal and Buddy must return to San Diego’s mean streets and dive bars to clear their names, and avoid a field trip to the desert. Along the way they’ll get lessons in criminal behavior from Russian mechanics, Elvis impersonators, tattoo artists, and used car salesmen. Full of bad people, foul language, shootouts, and car chases, Thrift Store Bounty Hunters is funny as hell, and will keep you laughing and rooting for the underdog until the very last page.

REVIEW:

I’m not usually into “hard boiled” mysteries or “noir” fiction, but I couldn’t resist Michael Lamendola’s Thrift Store Bounty Hunters after Michael started following me on Twitter.  When I checked out his profile and saw the title of his latest book, and then read the description above, I knew I had to read this for myself.

It’s the story of two losers who are out to make a quick buck wherever they can, and luck seems to always be on their side.  Unfortunately, trouble seems to be on their side too. Our nameless narrator, otherwise known as Buddy Boy (but he hates when you call him that), is drinking his broken heart away when in walks his ole pal Sal who talks Buddy into joining him at the race track to serve some divorce papers on some old rich bastard. But when the suit pulls a gun on them in the men’s restroom, things are about to get messy.

With papers served, it’s time to do some drinking, flirting, and time to lose some money.  But remember what I said!  Luck is on their side.  Buddy Boy cashes in big on the first pick for the glue factory, and just when he’s about to buy dinner and drinks, in walks the suit’s soon-to-be ex-wife with another proposal that the two buds just can’t pass on. But when the tables are turned and the bad guys start playing our guys like puppets on a string, it’s time to sober up and get down to business!

Thrift Store Bounty Hunters is a Discovery Channel Repo reality show gone terribly wrong!  And you can’t turn the channel because you are loving every minute of it. Buddy and Sal’s wry brassy humor will not only have you snorting out loud, but at times, they will make you blush! 

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from early on.

At the race track:

To my surprise, none of the horses have their names written on them, just a bunch of numbers. There aren’t even any sponsors or flame decals… that’s what these horses need: dozens of sponsor logos strewn across their body, saying things like “Follow Me to Big Al’s Chop House.”

My point is accentuated by Hawking kicking open his gate and backing out onto the track, stopping after a few paces to take a piss that could fill a large hot tub… not that I would sit in a hot tub full of piss, but it certainly gives an idea to just how big of a piss this horse is taking.

At the bar:

I glance at my watch and can’t tell what time it is. Maybe that’s because I’m not wearing one. Yeah, that could be it.

I take a swig of beer and stare at the ceiling. I could be out blowing a good chunk of my winnings on cheap booze and fine women, or maybe fine booze and cheap women, but instead I’ll be buying muscle to protect me in lock down from thugs named Bubba who are looking for a new wife.

Or when in trouble:

I lift the towel off her body, and it feels pounds heavier. “Sal, where do we put the dirty towels?” I say as I dumbly look for a trash can or bucket to throw it in. Sal looks up at me as the lifts his blood soaked towel into the air. “Seriously? Think about the shit we’re doing right now and ask yourself if you’re really concerned about this ass hole’s fucking carpet.”

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I knocked a few times, and when you didn’t answer I decided to let myself in.” Finally the cynic in me begins to take over. “Oh that’s fine, but next time let me know ahead of time so I can set out a plate of cookies and a fresh cup of go to hell.”

Filled with fresh dialogue tha moves the story along at an awesome pace, and enough belly-laugh one liners to make happy hour a lot more fun, I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a light and entertaining read, and if you like dead bodies, adult beverages and hot women, Elvis impersonaters, tattoo joints, and don’t mind being mildly offended.  It’s good clean fun!

Night Wonder

From The Book Description:

A murderer stalks the Gateway City. The Central West End Ripper is a Keeper vampire who believes he alone is at the top of the food chain. He slashes his victims to mask his real obsession: drinking blood from humans. His murderous rampage not only threatens the lives of young women, but could also expose a secret community of Freeblood vampires.  Freeblood vampire Theodore Falcon is determined to stop the Ripper and keep his community intact.

Review:

I know what you are thinking!  “Oh, no!  Not another vampire book!” Yep.  I was thinking the same thing until I learned that Linda Kelly’s Night Wonder was about a vampire stalking the streets of the Central West End of St. Louis.  Right in my own back yard!  So, I decided to give it a try.

First, what I liked about the book:

Kelly can definitely write.  Her multilayered novel contains enough interesting characters and detailed plotlines to complete an entire season of a new vampire show for the WB. She parallels the St. Louis Ripper murders to those similar to murders taking place in Africa, and even brings in African vampire doctors who are developing a special blood concoction to sustain the Freeblood vampires who are against killing humans for survival.

The conflicts between the Keepers (real vampires who want to continue killing humans for blood), the Freebloods (civilized vampires who want change and acceptance), and the Ordinaries (humans) is complex and has a rich history here which Kelly spells out for you. Let’s not forget the history of St. Louis.  Kelly takes full advantage of local names and places, the Cardinals, the zoo, Forest Park, wineries, and more which any STL reader will warm up to and appreciate.

Now for what I didn’t like:

There are actually too many characters.  Falcon, our lead. Giselle, his love interest. Zeke, Falcon’s rock star magician brother. A priest. A disabled soldier in a wheel chair. Falcon’s parents. Giselle’s parents. Doctors from Africa. The Midnight Supper Club. Oh yeah, and the Ripper. For the sake of the central story, I felt that too many characters were getting too much spotlight and in the end, not many of them really mattered to the overall outcome.

For the sake of vampires, there really isn’t anything new here.  The politics of the acceptance of vampires into society and their science of creating a blood drink to sustain them so that they don’t have to kill humans has been done already, and actually done better. Falcon gives a lecture about vampire abilities, all of which have been explored in other books and on film. Even our killer here is called the “Ripper.”  I almost thought the ties to Africa would be new and noteworthy, but in the end they just felt out of place here or at least not used to their full advantage.

Kelly uses dialogue among the characters to push the story along, which is fine, but in the end the story as a whole became a bit one-sided.  It was  a  like a soap opera and the reader gets all wrapped up in the vampire politics playing out amongst the group of lead characters, but oh yeah, there’s a killer out prowling the streets that we should be looking for too!  I kept waiting and hoping for some gore or suspence, or at least some chapters from the Ripper’s POV, but got none.

Due to the overuse of dialogue to tell the story, the book does lack a lot of detail leaving it a bit dry.  I wanted a lot more from the St. Louis setting here besides just the mention of places.  Punctuation and syntax were also problems.

Also, the stock photo cover of the bald eagle is a bit odd, especially since two of the characters in the book are named Falcon and Raven. But like I said, Kelly can definitely write and is very creative.  It’s just the delivery and focus that need a bit more effort.

Reviewed by Author C.V. Hunt

4 out of 5 Stars

ABOUT:

Only one man dares to confront the meaning behind the crimes. Only one man sees through the tangled skein to the truth. Only one man knows the answers.

Or, at least, only one man thinks he knows the answers… Follow Professor Wolf, the world’s first Ripperologist, on his delusional journey into the world of the Ripper. Follow his long-suffering friend, Sir Arthur Smythe, who suspects that it will all end in tears.

Gasp at the revelations. Tremble at the truth. Wonder at the sanity of a mind that leaps from conspiracy to conspiracy without ever touching reality.

REVIEW:

A district in London known as Whitechapel, lived in fear of a vicious serial killer know as Jack the Ripper in the year 1888. Those murders are a part of one of the biggest ‘who done it’ in history. The ledged of Jack the Ripper has spawned literally hundreds of theories as to whom and how they were committed. The people that study and research these theories are known as ‘Ripperologist’.

Jon Hartless explores many of these theories in his book Jack the Theorist, and does a great job of keeping the reader engaged. The theories run from a mad man, to a calculated killer, and even a group of people with a political agenda. In the end though, the killer took his secret to the grave.

In this book, Professor Wolf, a self-proclaimed Ripperologist, and his friend Sir Author, a paranormal researcher, originally start their research by fumbling upon the first slaying. The wild guessing and accusations that fall through the rest of the book give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money.

The whole town of London is terrified, but still people are morbidly captivated by the murders, and everyone has their own theory. The papers and the police only seem to encourage the hysteria that fuels the Ripperology, and everyone is becoming an expert.

Ripperology has become a game, but a serious game. New theories, the more outlandish the better, sell very well with the popular press and the paying public, but the game has bred envy and malice, and theories are appropriated by the unscrupulous.

Jack the Theorist is a quick read and a short history lesson. It’s sure to captivate any mystery lover. I’m certain that you will finish it with a mindful of your own theories.