Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

Following the success of their first collaborative collection, Terminal Damage, the talented crew from Do Some Damage is back with another anthology that will knock your socks off. Just as the stories in the first collection were centered around a common theme, a horrendous visit to the airport, so are the stories in Collateral Damage thematically related.

This time the focus for the eight tales of revenge, mystery, murder, and mayhem all revolve around Father’s Day. And while every story in the collection is worth the price of admission, each showcasing the author’s unique voice, there were a few that stood out for me.

Reunion – The collection gets off to a rollicking start in this story from Joelle Charbonneau. After years of estrangement from her family because of the horrendous treatment she received at the hands of her sadistic mother, a grown daughter returns home to give her dying father a special Father’s Day present. There’s an old saying that revenge is a dish best served cold, but Reunion proves that a long, slow simmer is much more likely to pay off handsomely in the end.

Modern Father – In this chilling story from Sandra Ruttan dedicated husband and father, Tom, discovers that his wife, Mary, hasn’t actually been working late all those evenings like she claims. Coldly, methodically, Tom hatches a plan to give himself a Father’s Day present Mary will never forget. (more…)

“Y’know, there’s just something remotely fascinating about cutting off another man’s legs with a chainsaw. Especially if he’s still alive.” – Nick Valentine

To say Nick Valentine is a unique individual would be putting it lightly. Along with his partner Frank Sinatra – no, really – he works as a private detective in St. Louis. He likes to think there’s no case he can’t solve, and he’s damn sure there’s no drink or drug he doesn’t like.

When a credit union is robbed and the police have trouble picking up a decent lead Valentine finds himself front and center on the trail of the robbers…and the money. And he’s not the only one, as an oddball assortment of the worst examples of humanity St. Louis has to offer are all hot on the trail as well.

From dealer and go-to guy Big Tony and his partner Doyle, to local heavy hitter Mr. Parker and his enforcers Sid and Johnny No Nuts, author Matthew McBride has populated Frank Sinatra in a Blender with one of the most colorful cast of characters you’ll ever run across.

Before you know it Valentine is up to his ass in double crossing bad guys, suspicious police officers, and enough liquor and Oxycontin to drop an ox. Add to that copious amounts of strippers, car chases, and shootouts and you’re in for one hell of a no-holds-barred ride. Oh, and don’t forget that chainsaw. (more…)

Yesterday I reviewed Julia Madeleine’s latest book, the psychological thriller No One To Hear You Scream, and today I am pleased to welcome her for a guest post to share the story behind the story.

My new thriller, No One To Hear You Scream, was inspired by actual events that happened to my family and me following the purchase of a house in foreclosure. While my husband and I are city people, both born and raised there, we had this country dream about buying a house with some acreage. I’ve since learned that it’s not an uncommon dream and a lot of people who make the move to the country end up selling and moving back to the city a year later, which is exactly what we did.

After several years of planning and dreaming, in 2008 we found our dream house on a 30 acre wooded property out in the middle of nowhere. This was in the Niagara region in Ontario. The property was magnificent and I fell in love with the peace and tranquility of the place right away. There was a beach within walking distance, a mile down the road, and our property had a huge pond where our dogs eventually learned to swim. I knew immediately living in that environment that my creativity would explode.

And I was right…but it just wasn’t in the way I had expected. (more…)

“If you don’t want to play ball that’s your choice. But you’re not going to like what’s coming next, buddy.” – Rory Madden

What’s coming next in author Julia Madeleine’s No One To Hear You Scream is a world of manipulation, suspense, and terror, all of it orchestrated by Rory Madden. Originally from Belfast, Ireland, Rory has made a life for himself in upstate New York in a beautiful house set on twenty acres of secluded land.

Of course the fact he financed it all by selling drugs comes back to bite him when he’s busted in a sting and sent to jail. Unable to keep up the payments on the house, it’s foreclosed on and put up for sale. Enter the Jamesons.

Brett and Pamela are fed up with city life and looking for a place in the country. They think it would be a great change of scenery not only for them, but for their seventeen year-old daughter Justine too, especially since she’s just had a baby and is a bit overwhelmed by it all.

When they’re shown Rory’s beautiful house, standing empty and for sale at a steal of a price, they think they’re finally on the way to fulfilling their dream. What they get instead is a nightmare when a screwup by police springs Rory from jail on a technicality after only six months and he immediately heads back to upstate New York intending to get the house back that he worked so hard to build…no matter what it takes. (more…)

- Book Country: A Genre Fiction Community -

It’s a hell of a thing to meet your heroes, let alone find yourself working with them. – Simon Pegg

So why’s an ardent reader of crime fiction and noir reviewing the autobiography of a comedic actor? Because I absolutely adore Simon Pegg, that’s why.

There are very few television shows or films these days that I actually find amusing, most straying too far into lowbrow high jinks centered around arrested adolescence. Everything of Pegg’s I’ve seen, however, manages to strike just the right balance between intelligent and irreverent, clever and crass.

In Nerd Do Well Pegg gives readers a look at the upbringing and influences that shaped the sense of humor and talent we’ve all come to know and love through his work in films such as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul, and the rebooted Star Trek.

Early on Pegg notes that he doesn’t find it easy to talk about himself and his family, yet he does so in such a candid, disarming way that the book reads much more intimately than I think Pegg believed he was capable of writing. Far from coming across like a stuffy memoir, Nerd Do Well has the feel of a casual conversation held while downing a couple of pints discussing shared experiences and influences. (more…)

The last thing Casey Woods wanted right then was another gut-wrenching case. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what she got.

What could be more tragic than having your twin sister kidnapped out of your shared bedroom when you were six years old? Having your own five-year old daughter kidnapped thirty-two years later. That’s the situation facing Judge Hope Willis, who goes to pick up her daughter from school one day only to be informed by those at the school that “she” already picked her up.

Given her high profile position as a judge, and her husband Edward’s as a controversial defense attorney with a prestigious firm, the local police and FBI descend on the case in record time. Not content with that, however, Hope calls in Forensic Instincts, a privately run organization that specializes in high profile and hard to handle cases.

Headed up by Casey Woods, a behavioral analysis specialist, the team also includes former Navy SEAL and FBI agent Marc Deveraux, and tech wizard Ryan McKay. Add to that mix intuitive – please don’t call her psychic – Claire Hedgleigh and retired FBI agents Patrick Lynch, who headed the investigation into Hope’s sister’s kidnapping thirty-two years ago, and Hero, an FBI certified human scent evidence bloodhound, and there is quite a full compliment of law enforcement on the case… but will it be enough to locate the missing girl before it’s too late? (more…)