Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

That was the problem, wasn’t it? In relying on other people and using them as a foundation for your life? When the floor breaks, you fall.

Aspiring author and father-to-be Neil Dawson finds himself a bit overwhelmed with the idea of being tied down with a wife and child. It’s not that he doesn’t want them, he’s just not entirely sure how he will manage both them and his job, and still find time to devote to his writing.

To let off a little steam, Neil writes a story about the Goblin King. In Neil’s story, the Goblin King grants a young man his wish… that his girlfriend’s pregnancy conveniently disappear. Neil feels slightly guilty about the topic, but still, better to write a story than say things out loud that can’t be taken back, no? Eager for some feedback, Neil sends the story off to his father, himself an author, for review.

It’s not until several days later when he receives a call from his father’s agent that Neil realizes he hasn’t heard back from him. The agent is concerned she hasn’t gotten a response from Dawson in awhile, so Neil pays a visit to his father to touch base. What he finds is an empty house, with a message on the answering machine from the police asking someone from Dawson’s family to call them. Neil’s father, it turns out, has been found dead in a neighboring town.

Enter Detective Sergeant Hannah Price. Price has built her career around trying to live up to the standard set by her father, who also rose to the rank of Detective Sergeant on the very force on which Price now serves. Having recently lost her father, when she’s assigned to investigate the apparent suicide of Christopher Dawson she’s particularly attuned to what Neil is going through struggling to cope with his father’s untimely death. What she doesn’t realize is that she too will soon be struggling once again with her own father’s death, but for reasons she couldn’t ever possibly have anticipated. (more…)

“Listen as if your life depended on it because you’ve entered a very strange and murky world, and things won’t be the same for you again…” – Frank Castle

Detective Chief Inspector Frank Castle knows what he’s talking about, having descended deep down into a strange and murky world 28 long years ago. When he was still a young officer Castle was involved in the hunt for the “Woodlands Killer,” so named because of the location the horribly mutilated victims were found.

Though Castle was convinced the killer was a man named Karl Black, not only could Castle not gather enough evidence to have Black arrested, but Black was able to play mind games with Castle that had devastating consequences. Determined to prove Black was the killer, Castle spiraled into an obsession that cost him his marriage, a great deal of respect among his colleagues, and very nearly his sanity.

The “Woodlands Killer” was never caught.

Now, 28 years later, a new series of killings are occurring that mimic those from long ago. His colleagues think it the work of a copycat, but Castle isn’t so sure. Especially not with Karl Black still in the area, now running a sinister cult and every bit as willing to jump back into playing mind games with Castle. This time, however, Castle isn’t alone in his pursuit of Black. His young partner, DI Jackie Stone, is ready and willing to help Castle tackle the case. But as Castle sees Stone starting to fall into the same pattern of obsession and self-destruction he went through Castle is forced to make a tough choice: pursue Black at all costs, or save Stone – and himself – from a descent into the depths of madness? (more…)

I am not the person I thought I was when I woke this morning. – Christine Lucas

Christine Lucas is having more than some existential “Who am I?” moment when she says she’s not the person she thought she was when she woke up. She honestly doesn’t remember the majority of her life.

Severe head trauma has left Christine with both anterograde amnesia, in which the sufferer can’t form new memories, and retrograde amnesia, in which the sufferer can’t remember events from the past. She literally wakes up each day as a new person, a blank slate, having to discover over and over again who she is and what happened to her.

As disturbing as that is in and of itself, once Christine starts keeping a journal of her daily activities and discoveries at the behest of her doctor she begins to realize something even more disturbing; she’s not getting the same story consistently from those around her… including her husband.

Sometimes the variations on detail are subtle, other times she’s told outright lies. With a building sense of dread Christine begins to wonder if anything she’s been told has been true, even the version of events about the accident that caused her condition to being with. Now, not only can’t Christine trust herself, she’s not sure she can trust anyone else either. (more…)

“There are enough problems in life as it is, Will. You don’t have to go looking for them.” – Laurie Magowan

That’s a lesson Will Magowan actually seemed to learn after his brief but intense stint as the Chief of Police of Haydenville, California in author Ken Mercer’s debut, Slow Fire. And though he’s out of a job in law enforcement in East on Sunset, Magowan is back in his hometown of L.A. and things finally seem to be heading in the right direction.

He’s kicked his drinking problem, is back with his wife, who’s pregnant, and has landed a job with security for the Dodgers. Of course, you don’t have to go looking for problems for them to find you, and Mercer throws a hell of a roadblock in Magowan’s path to happiness in the form of ex-con Erik Crandall.

Crandall, a small time dealer whom Magowan sent to prison during his time as a Narcotics Detective in the LAPD, is fresh out of the joint and confronts Magowan with the accusation that Magowan stole nearly a pound of fentanyl from Crandall during his arrest. Now he either wants it back or the cash equivalent… half a million dollars.

Problem is, Magowan spent his last bit of time with the LAPD in a drug induced haze and he’s actually a little fuzzy on exactly how the bust of Crandall went down. Knowing that he can’t very well tell Crandall that, and that he doesn’t have half a million dollars lying around in any event, Magowan blows Crandall off, warning him not to come around again. That goes over about as well as you’d expect it to, and with that the snowball that is East on Sunset is sent plunging on its way downhill. (more…)

“No way do I let it go, not after tonight. They drew first blood, and now it’s game on.” — Cobb Kuzawa

If you found yourself out on bail waiting trial for a murder you didn’t commit you’d think it would be hard for things to get much worse. Of course, you’re not nineteen-year-old Brendan Fishback.

After a night of partying Brendan woke up in a motel room to find his companion dead, apparently from a drug overdose. Unfortunately for him the girl, Ashleigh Sizemore, was the daughter of the wealthiest man in their little town of Umpire, Tennessee. Eager to please the town big shot, the police seem content to pin the death on Brendan, especially after some highly potent angel dust is found hidden in the room.

Now out on bail and not optimistic about his chances at trial, Brendan heads out to Lake Charles with his twin sister, Edna, and best friend, Cobb, for what may be his last hurrah as a free man. While Brendan and Cobb try their luck bass fishing, Edna strikes out on her jet ski. When she doesn’t return as dusk begins to fall the guys go looking for her. After coming up empty in their search of the lake they return to shore and begin scouring the shoreline on foot.

Instead of finding Edna, however, they stumble into a clandestine marijuana growing operation, and the two heavily armed men guarding it. A shootout ensues during which Brendan is hit and one of the marijuana growers is killed. Suddenly what began as an afternoon out to celebrate his remaining freedom has turned into a life or death struggle and race against the clock to find Edna, whom Brendan and Cobb now fear has fallen into the drug gang’s hands. (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…)

Murder is only murder when it robs the world of innocence. – Edward Pritchard Caine

To say Ed Caine has some interesting views on life, and death, is putting it mildly. He could be forgiven though, given the tragedy he has endured. His wife, Jill, was one of the nine victims of the Solemn Stalker serial killer. That Ed was inside watching game shows when she was murdered just across the street while gardening only adds to the crushing intensity of his loss.

Perhaps not unexpectedly, Ed spirals down into a deep depression. He quits his job, rarely leaves the house, and retreats into his own head, obsessing over Jill’s murder. Over time, and with tremendous effort, he slowly pulls himself out of his dark hole, moves to another town, and begins a new relationship.

Just when things seem to be resuming some semblance of normalcy, while on a camping trip Ed again loses the woman he loves. Except this time he is responsible through more than just negligence. Ed is the instrument of her death, and not only does he not feel guilt this time, he feels it was his duty. Ed, you see, has discovered he is a One Percenter. (more…)

Bobby had been right — in official lingo, this case was a clusterfuck. – D.D. Warren

Boston Police Sergeant Detective D.D. Warren and her partner, Massachusetts State Police Detective Bobby Dodge, are called to the scene of what initially appears to be a routine domestic disturbance turned deadly. However, it quickly becomes apparent there is nothing routine about the case.

Brian Darby lies dead on the floor of his kitchen, shot three times by his wife, who happens to be a Massachusetts State Trooper. Though Trooper Tessa Leoni shows obvious signs of having been beaten, D.D. is curious as to why Leoni went straight for her service revolver instead of trying something less lethal, like her taser or baton, first.

And she’ll have to keep wondering because Leoni isn’t talking, not even to help the police locate her six-year-old daughter, Sophie, who’s missing. Why wouldn’t a mother do everything in her power to help locate their missing child, D.D. wonders, unless they had something to do with it?

And with that setup Lisa Gardner puts into motion the runaway train that is Love You More, the fifth book in the D.D. Warren series. (more…)

“If I’d blinked, I would have missed it.” – Troy Chance

The blink of an eye. That’s just how quickly freelance writer Troy Chance’s life irrevocably changes in Learning to Swim, the debut novel from Sara J. Henry.

While on the deck of a ferry bound for Vermont, Troy sees what she believes to be a small child fall from the deck of a ferry traveling in the opposite direction. Instinctively Troy dives in and swims to where she saw the object enter the water.

Several frantic dives under later Troy discovers it was indeed a child, a boy about six years old, and she’s shocked to discover a sweatshirt tied around him binding his arms to his body; clearly the boy was meant to drown.

No one from either ferry saw the events, so Troy has to make an arduous swim to shore with the boy in the ice cold water. Upon reaching shore she can’t shake the feeling that taking the boy to the police is the wrong thing to do, and the decision she makes to take him home with her instead sets in motion a chain of events that turns Troy’s comfortably low key life upside down.

Living for the most part with no close friends, only minimal contact with the majority of her family, and involved in a relationship that’s more friends than lovers, Troy is used to moving through the world with minimal attachments. Therefore the strength of the feelings awakened in her when she saves the boy overwhelms and takes her completely off guard. In fact, Troy finds herself obsessed with the mystery of who tossed the boy from the ferry, so much so that even after the boy is reunited with his father and the police are finally involved Troy refuses to stand down on her own investigation, despite the increasingly dire consequences of her continuing. (more…)

If you are unlucky enough to have known the dark as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for darkness is a movable feast.
- Adam Lee

There’s enough darkness following Adam Lee, the main character in Grant Jerkins’ debut novel A Very Simple Crime, to fuel a Thanksgiving sized feast.

The book opens with Adam on trial for the murder of his wife, Rachel. As we learn through Adam’s narrated flashback to the events that brought him to this point in his life, it seems that darkness has followed him like a specter from the time his parents were killed in a car accident when he was a child.

He grows up only to marry a woman whom turns out to be seriously mentally disturbed, and with her has a son, Albert, who is born severely developmentally disabled. Though he doesn’t grow much mentally, Albert does grow to be a very physically large young man, one prone to violent outbursts. After nearly killing his mother during a confrontation Albert is finally institutionalized.

Trying to get some breathing space from his suffocating home life, Adam begins having an affair with one of Albert’s attendants at the institution. To occupy his wife while he sneaks away with his mistress for the weekend Adam brings Albert home from the institution for a visit. Upon his return home from the tryst, however, he finds Rachel dead and Albert nearly nearly catatonic, rocking back and forth in a corner of the room.

With Albert the only one present, and having a history of violence against his mother, the police conduct a perfunctory investigation; it’s clear to them what happened. The setup and majority of the backstory established, it’s at this point A Very Simple Crime turns from pure Southern Gothic into a legal thriller that just happens to be set in the South. And, if possible, it gets even darker.

Assistant Prosecutor Leo Hewitt is a man with some hefty baggage of his own. Once the seeming heir apparent to the District Attorney’s chair, his botching of a high profile case has delegated him to paper pushing and occasional appearances in traffic court. Seeing the Rachel Lee murder case as his last shot at redemption, Leo elbows his way into the investigation and convinces his superiors Albert isn’t the one they should be looking at, Adam is.

Back where we started, with Adam on trial, finds Adam in the company of the one bright spot in his life, his older brother Monty. Handsome and charming, Monty also happens to be a successful defense attorney, and Adam is counting on the big brother he’s looked up to and idolized his whole life to get him clear of the murder charges he’s up against.

As the trial unfolds, Adam’s stoic, matter-of-fact narration of the burdens he carries initially paints him as a noble man trying to make the best of a crappy lot in life. As the story progresses, however, it becomes increasingly apparent that Adam’s dispassionate demeanor is in fact a direct reflection of his soul, cold and empty. Ah, but does that necessarily mean he’s a killer?

Author Grant Jerkins has crafted a masterfully Hitchcockian story in A Very Simple Crime. Every time you think you know where things are headed and what a character is about, Jerkins throws in another twist that leaves you shaking your head at its diabolical cleverness. This is not, however, a book for the faint of heart or those easily offended. There are very graphic descriptions of both sex and violence, and virtually every character in the book is hiding something, working some angle, or trying to manipulate the people around them.

Jerkins’ writing is both brilliant and brutal in its take no prisoners look at the spectacularly dysfunctional Lee family. Every layer of their apparent normalcy is mercilessly peeled back to reveal the deeply damaged and delusional personalities hiding, sometimes not so deeply, underneath. These are not pretty people, but they are endlessly fascinating. A Very Simple Crime is a very impressive debut. Grant Jerkins has serious skills, and you’ll be kicking yourself if you don’t jump on board his bandwagon and get a comfy seat now because there’s going to be standing room only soon.