Review of The Wages of SIN (Paperback)

The twisting saga of greed and mayhem intermeshed with political and police corruption continues in this powerful sequel to the author's first crime novel, SIN.A well-constructed plot and a finely-honed writing style make this thoroughly mesmerizing book impossible to put down.

Product Description
D.C. Police Officer Jacob "Doc" Holloway was recruited to work as a narcotics undercover operative for the federally funded Janus Project, working in conjunction with federal law enforcement agencies' entire Special Investigations Network (SIN). Eighteen months later, he discovered that he had merely been a pawn of corrupt government and law enforcement officials seeking to eliminate their competition and ensure the continued success of their own criminal enterprises.

Now Doc Holloway has vowed to bring down these corrupt individuals and to see to it that they reap what they have sown.

The wages of sin is death.

About the Author
Quintin Peterson is the author of several plays and screenplays. He resides in Washington, DC and is a native Washingtonian. As a junior high school student, he attended the Corcoran School of Art on a scholarship. While still in high school, he was honored with the University of Wisconsin's Science Fiction Writing Award and the National Council of Teachers of English Writing Award. Upon receiving the Wisconsin Junior Academy's Writing Achievement Award, his name was included in Who's Who Among American High School Students of 1975.

As an undergraduate communications major at the University of Wisconsin, he wrote and performed in two plays for stage and videotape and received a Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation grant for his play project, Change. A National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship and a playwriting grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities followed. Subsequently, two of his radio plays were aired on WPFW-FM Pacifica Radio as productions of the Minority Arts Ensemble's Radio Drama Workshop '79.

Mr. Peterson is a 20-year-veteran police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department and is currently assigned to its Office of Public Information as a media liaison officer. He is also a liaison between the department and members of the motion picture and television industries, acting as a script consultant and technical advisor.

His debut novel, SIN, was published in October of 2000. THE WAGES OF SIN is his second novel.

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Review of Unsafe Harbor (Paperback)

Heard about this book from some friends on Long Island.
I have read all the books from the so called well known authors and I was looking for something fresh. This hit the spot. Great story and an easy read.
Well done

Product Description
At an exclusive Long Island yacht club, a police lieutenant and his investigatorare trapped in a web of disappearances and deaths that link club members toWashington, the Coast Guard, and the underworld.

An excerpt from Unsafe Harbor-

Cautious, he headed for shore and shallow water dragging the line. Themagnet and object moved without encountering rock. Having no desire to sharehis treasure, Luke searched the shore, the bluffs and tree line to assure no onewatched. This will be a secret for now. Seeing no one, he smiled from greed andscolded himself.

At 6-feet depth, he saw the magnet attached to a long, dark object. Whatwas it? The object did not look like a treasure chest. Images distortedunderwater. Was it British cannon from the Revolutionary War? A British basewas in Huntington Harbor. The cannon had to be valuable to a collector. Historymade it treasure.

Wild with curiosity, Luke stared at the catch seeking identification as itmoved towards shallow water until the depth was 3-feet.

Then Luke's eyes widened and his breath stuck.

The magnet attached to a chain wrapped around a man with his hands tiedbehind his back.

About the Author
Gus Leodas. Unsafe Harbor is his second mystery suspense to takeplace on Long Island. Author of The Forgotten Mission, he is nowworking on his third novel. He is a member of Mystery Writers ofAmerica and the Directors Guild of America. He lives on Long Island.

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Review of The Alukam (Paperback)

This is certainly one of those cases of don't judge a book by its cover. The cover art looks like a ten year old did it and does nothing to portray the quality of this story. This is an excellent police procedural novel that pits a police detective, who also happens to be an Orthodox Jew, against a cunning centuries-old serial killer.

This book was fascinating in all the details, and not just in the exploration of Judaism, both historical and modern. The author is obviously extremely well read and constantly adds interesting tidbits of information about almost everything. I learned a lot from reading this book like the fact that embalming fluid is bright pink, the difference between a clinical pathologist and a forensic pathologist, that you can tell an unmarked police car from the heavy duty locking gas cap. So much extraneous information, although all of it interesting, that the author came across as somewhat of a know-it-all trying to show off. Despite that, the book will certainly satisfy the lovers of Vampire fiction, adding an entirely new chapter to an already huge vampire mythology, and at the same time will intrigue the mystery lovers, with its realistic approach. The Alukam is certainly a book that vampire lovers don't want to miss.

Product Description
From 17th Century Poland to 1993 Florida, this fascinating novel seamlessly combines the matter of fact style of a police procedural with the horror and eroticism of the vampire. Drawn from obscure stories in the Jewish mystical tradition, The Alukam presents an entirely new type of vampire, one unaffected by crosses, sunlight, or any of the usual remedies, and who can rest in his coffin only on the Sabbath.

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Review of The Adagio: A Mystery (Paperback)

Alan K. Austin has created a masterpiece. "The Adagio" is a well-written piece that takes the reader for a ride of a lifetime. A simple tale of a record containing a single misplaced note, a scream, weaves into an astonishing story of a man determined to prove his innocence.

Jack Duncan begins a casual affair with no clue of the drama that would result from it. With murder victims falling all around him, he must prove his innocence to the authorities and to his self.

This is a story that you will remember long after reading. It starts out with a bang. You may find yourself drifting off slightly in the middle, but hang in there because the ending brings everything together in a nice tidy bow, leaving you satisfied. This is an entertaining piece and I look forward to seeing more work from this talented writer.



Product Description
Jack Duncan likes women-even married ones. An amateur actor in 1960s Omaha, Nebraska, he's started a steamy affair with his married costar, Louise Thompson. But when her husband discovers them in flagrante dilecto, Robert Thompson takes a peculiar revenge on Duncan, giving him his prized recording of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings.

While listening to the record, Duncan is disconcerted by a scream he hears embedded in the climactic chord. And when he discovers the bodies of Louise and Robert, he knows instantly that their murders and the eerie recording must somehow be connected.

Duncan is suspected of killing the couple and becomes both the pursued and pursuer as he flees to New York City, beginning a hellish four-year mission to discover the source of the scream. He hides among derelicts near Shea Stadium, prowls Carnegie Hall where the Adagio was recorded, and learns of a strange, reclusive man who once lived in Carnegie's tower. Hunted by the law and his own past, Duncan has one chance to prove his innocence-if only he can stop the scream from echoing in his brain.

Lush with the language and attitude of the 1960s and 1970s, The Adagio is a gritty, hardboiled detective novel that will haunt you long after the last page is turned.

About the Author
For thirty years, Alan K. Austin has reported for PBS, Frontline, Nova, and CBS affiliates in Topeka, Kansas, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. His documentaries have won ten national Emmys, Peabodies, Dupont-Columbia, and Sigma Delta Chi awards. Austin recently tracked down his junior-high-school flame, and they currently live in Rogers, Arkansas.

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Review of Barking! (A Grace Smith Investigation) (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved the laughs from the situations and the British jargon.
Grace Smith is an ex-policewoman who is sassy and crass, but
has a bit of a conscience. The plot is interesting, although
the story does drag a little in the middle. Over all Liz Evans
does a great job. How can you not like a story that starts with
the main character accidentally knocking out her future client
with a cow bone while trying to catch a lost dog. He then hires
her to find out if he ever murdered someone in a past life.
When you need a break from the serious British writers try this
series. Its fun!!



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Review of Callie & the Dealer & A Dog Named Jake (Paperback)

We have vacationed in Nags Head a lot over the last 6 years.I felt like I was right there again.This was a great first mystery.I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Callie is a great character.She has a haunting past which by the end of the book she is starting to put behind her.I do hope that in future books she will start to make friends who can help her sleuth.

A restaurant at Nags Head is a great location for a mystery series and look forward to a long running of this series.

Highly recommend this book.

Product Description
Callie, a restaurateur on North Carolina's Outer Banks, has problems.Someone is stealing from the storeroom, her past is haunting her and a hurricane is blowing in...but things really get interesting when she finds a dead man in her freezer.

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Review of Now You See Me (Mass Market Paperback)

Sixteen years ago, Olivia Howe was kidnapped by a madman, and though she was rescued, lost her sight from a blow to the head. However, she gained another kind of sight, one that has allowed her, over the years, to tap into the emotions of other children in trouble and lead to their rescue. It has happened again, ironically sixteen years to the day after how own kidnapping. Olivia is the first to know that little Phaedra has been taken, somehow by the same maniac who stole her sight.

Although telling the police what she knows brings Olivia into focus and the prime suspect, she is compelled to do all she can to save another child's life. Lead detective, Max Callahan is drawn into believing her, and to the psychic herself. As he grows closer to her and more involved in the case, Max discovers an eerie connection he has to the case and to Olivia herself. Past demons reach out to grip all involved, and a race against time ensues to prevent the kidnapper from becoming a killer.

***** Unexpected twists and heart stopping suspense make this a book you will want to read in one sitting. Beyond that, you are offered unique insights into the world of the blind with a fascinating and believeable heroine that is portrayed by Olivia. Max is a tower of strength who has overcome a terribly scarred past to live life as a true hero. You will definitely put this on your keeper shelf. *****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore



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Review of The Orange Curtain: A Jack Liffey Mystery (Hardcover)

I'm not normally much of a mystery reader. I guess I'm a bit of a prose snob. I confess. For my taste, mysteries tend to be a bit insipid. Characters are too often one-dimentional: overly described and under-developed. Plots may be clever but are so totally predictable. Atmosphere is too often written in little florid slashes, in a kind of straight-jacketed prose brought in specially just to set the scene.

Not so with John Shannon's Jack Liffy series. Wow. These books rock. This man can write. His sentences are beautiful and thought-provoking, yet he can slash through a scene, leaving you breathless and needing more, as well as anyone I've read. And Shannon gives the reader real characters and a true sense of place, not just walking cartoons and specially engineered atmospherics.

This new book, The Orange Curtain, may be the best yet in the Jack Liffy series, but all of Shannon's Jack Liffy mysteries have been well done. The first book, Concrete River really captured for me a section of the slimy underbelly of Los Angeles. No mystery writer since Chander has sliced LA open and spilled out its guts as compellingly as Shannon has. LA is a huge place. There are lots of corners to explore. This new book, The Orange Curtain, takes in, among other things, Orange County and its huge Vietnamese population. It's a great book, whether you want to disappear into it on the coast-to-coast airliner or want to take it in over several days and savor its wonderful prose and interesting characters. It's a great book, and this is a series that just keeps getting better.

There is plenty of punch in this book for you mystery addicts, plenty of hard-boiled sentiment and riveting, page-turning action. But between the lines--in the lines--there is also some superb writing.

I can't wait for the next one.



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Review of Greatest Hits: Original Stories of Hitmen, Hired Guns, and Private Eyes (Hardcover)

Short attention span?Don't have the time to devote to a full-length novel?Or maybe you just want to sample the genre with a book that contains multiple writing styles.This may be the book for you.

I was in the library with my wife recently and was strolling past the isles looking for something to pass the time.The cover of this book alone is enough to grab your attention.

After I saw it was short stories, it was perfect to pass the time with and something I could be interrupted while reading.However, before I knew it I was half way through the book devouring each story.My wife was finally ready to leave but I wasn't ready to leave the book!

I picked up a copy on Amazon because I knew it was something I would probably go back and reread in the future.For someone who might get bored with a novel that has the same writing style throughout, this may just keep your attention.The first few stories start out with small narratives following just the day-to-day activities of a hitman "on the job."

But before you get bored it moves on to stories following their inner thoughts, personal relationships, life "off the job", and a few stories that will throw you for a loop at the end in true mystery story style.

The book ends with stories about private investigators where clients hire them not just for their ability to kill someone but their ability to judge based on the client's criteria whether they should be killed.

This is a truly large collection of stories that share a theme on the surface only but each story is a new adventure that is totally unrelated to any other story in the book.You will start fresh with each narrative and will ask yourself at the end of each one, "How can it get better than that?"



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Review of Murder Among Friends (Kate Austen Mystery) (Paperback)

I just finished this book and must say I really enjoyed it. The characters seem so real and the plot was very good. This is a good book to read if you want something not to dark and heavy with a little humor. Love Kate Austenand can't wait to read the next books in this series. I would like to knowwhat will happen with her relationship with Michael. If your looking for aquick read pick up Jonnie Jacobs books as soon as you can. They will notdissapoint you.

Product Description
Becoming fast friends with Mona Sterling after their divorces, Kate Austen is shocked when Mona is found dead and refuses to accept suicide theories when she analyzes the clues at the scene. Reprint.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Review of A Perfect Grave (Paperback)

Seattle Mirror Reporter Jason Wade is back in the third thriller featuring him. He is again in Dutch with his boss and pressured to get more news stories on his crime beat. Sister Anne, a much loved nun is brutally murdered by a knife-wielding assailant and the city is in an uproar. He scoops the other newspapers when he reports the bloody knife found outside Sister Anne's apartment, but his boss still is riding him for more. It turns out that his father and a widow with a young son are eventually involved in the story. Jason's relationship with a female detective on the Seattle Police force is also brittle and falling apart. The author skillfully weaves all these story elements into a great story that keeps you guessing right up to the final chapter.
Also recommended: Any other thriller by Rick Mofina. Creepers and Scavenger, both by David Morrell


Product Description
A PERFECT GRAVE is the third installment in Rick Mofina's internationally acclaimed new series featuring rookie crime reporter Jason Wade of The Seattle Mirror. The gritty Wade series debuted with THE DYING HOUR, which the International Thriller Writers named a finalist for a 2006 Thriller Award. It was followed by EVERY FEAR. In A PERFECT GRAVE, Wade, a troubled loner from the wrong side of the tracks, pursues the story of a murdered Seatle nun. The case leads him to a hermit nun who founded a mysterious religious order; and ultimately to the dark secret that has tormented his ex-cop father for decades. It culminates in a life and death struggle against the clock. With time running out, Jason and his father battle the odds to confront a terrible truth. Catch this heart-pounding thrill ride of a series and discover why Mofina, a former reporter and two-time winner of the Arthur Ellis Award, counts James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly, David Morrell, Sandra Brown and Kay Hooper among those who have praised his books.

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Review of Nutty As a Fruitcake (Bed-And-Breakfast Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

It's Christmas time, and Judith Flynn has decided that she and the neighbors on her cul-de-sac should celebrate by decorating their houses.Eveyone thinks it's a great idea except for the crabby Enid Goodrich who seems to be lacking in Christmas spirit.She has been a detriment to the neighborhood for some time and it's hard to find genuine sympathy among her neighbors when she is killed with a hatchet just before Christmas.Of course this means that there are lots of suspects because Enid has offended almost everyone she has come in contact with.This includes her rather unsavory relatives who dislike her as much as everyone else.Judith and her cousin, Renie, do their usual sleuthing job and Judith finally comes up with the identity of the killer.This is enjoyable reading for fans of this genre.



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Review of Found in the Street (Highsmith, Patricia) (Paperback)

Normally, I don't pay much attention to books that already have several reviews (I'm tryin' for that gift certificate!); but when I saw that this fine book had two 2-star reviews, I just had to pitch in my dissenting vote.It shouldn't take any sane reader long to figure out that Highsmith's final novel has no intention of being the typical suspense thriller that she is known for.There's plenty of the old-fashioned "apprehension" here that Graham Greene first identified as the hallmark of her work; but this is a NOVEL in the finest modern sense, replete with convincing characters, complex relationships, and richly textured themes.As long as I live I'll never forget the character of Ralph Lindermann, and how he turned out to be RIGHT, damn him, in his annoyingly pessimistic reading of events. Among other things, this is a brilliant exploration of urban life in the eighties, and one of Highsmith's most assured and sophisticated works; like so many of her other works, it's painful and deeply moving.



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