“Waking Hours” is one of those page-turners that are difficult to put down. I found myself up until the wee hours because I didn’t want to stop until I reached the end. Then to my surprise, I found that matters were only partially resolved. I have been left hanging high and dry until the sequel is released. Of course I have mixed feelings about that. On one hand I am delighted that there will be another book in this series to enjoy. On the other hand I have to wait for it!
When a gruesome murder is discovered, the townspeople of East Salem are on edge. Dani Harris, a forensic psychiatrist is determined to find the killer. Tommy Gunderson, former football star and PI in training, is equally determined to help Dani in her quest. When evidence places a group of teens at the scene, none of them can remember being there. Not only is the case increasingly confusing but Dani and Tommy witness some other bizarre incidents and Dani is haunted by nightmares that wake her at the same time each night. With conflicting evidence and red herrings that throw them off track, Tommy and Dani wrestle with a sense of impending doom that threatens to derail their investigation. Will they find that elusive piece of evidence and identify the killer before someone else dies?
Wiehl’s easy-to-read writing style and a plot that progressed at a brisk pace pulled me into the story and wouldn’t let go. The budding romance between Tommy and Dani added a bit of relief in the midst of the darkly intense narrative. Not only is “Waking Hours” a gripping murder mystery but the supernatural undertones added a dark atmosphere that served to increase the suspense. Although there are fairly detailed descriptions of the murder victim and a violent encounter or two, “Waking Hours” is free of the offensive language and intimate scenes that are common in books of this type. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who enjoy this genre. I would advise against sharing it with your children for obvious reasons.
This book was provided for review by BookSneeze.
ABOUT THE BOOK: New from Fox News Analyst and New York Times Best-selling author, Liz Wiehl
All towns have secrets. Some have demons.
Welcome to East Salem. A deceptively sleepy town where ancient supernatural forces are being awakened.
A local high-school girl is found murdered in a park amid horse farms and wealthy homes of northern Westchester County, New York. The shocking manner of her death confounds the town and intrigues forensic psychiatrist Dani Harris, who is determined to unravel the mystery. All the suspects are teenagers who were at a party with the girl—yet none remembers what happened. Could one of them be a vicious killer? Or is something more sinister afoot—something tied to an ancient evil?
But it’s not just her waking hours that challenge Dani. Each night, her eyes open at 2:13 due to troubling dreams. Dreams filled with blood, water, and destruction. Is it a clue—or a supernatural sign?
Across town, former NFL linebacker Tommy Gunderson finds his state-of-the-art security system has been breached by an elderly woman. Mumbling threats in Latin, she attacks him with an uncanny, preternatural strength. Before he has time to process the attack, someone close to him is implicated in the girl’s murder at the park. He agrees to help—and finds himself working with Dani, the only girl who could resist his charms years ago when they were in high school.
A heavy darkness is spreading. Yet a heavenly force is also at work.
It will take astute analysis and forensic skills to solve the crime. But Dani and Tommy suspect there’s more the the mystery than murder, more to their growing friendship than chance . . . and more to the evil they’re facing than a mere human killer.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Lis Wiehl is one of the nation’s most prominent trial lawyers and highly regarded commentators. Currently, she is the legal analyst and reporter on the Fox News Channel and Bill O’Reilly’s sparring partner in the weekly “Is It Legal?” segment on The O’Reilly Factor. Prior to that she was O’Reilly’s co-host on the nationally syndicated show The Radio Factor. She is also a Professor of Law at New York Law School. Her column “Lis on Law” appears weekly on FoxNews.com.
Prior to joining Fox News Channel in New York City, Wiehl served as a legal analyst and reporter for NBC News and NPR’s All Things Considered. Before that, Wiehl served as a Federal Prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s office.
Wiehl earned her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and her Master of Arts in Literature from the University of Queensland.
Wiehl is also the author of The 51% Minority, which won the 2008 award for Books for a Better Life in the motivational category, and Winning Every Time.
She lives with her husband and two children in New York.
Pete Nelson lives with his wife and son in Westchester, New York. He got his MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1979 and has written both fiction and non-fiction for magazines, including Harpers, Playboy, Esquire, MS, Outside, The Iowa Review, National Wildlife, Glamour, Redbook. He was a columnist for Mademoiselle and a staff writer for LIVE Magazine, covering various live events including horse pulls, music festivals, dog shows, accordion camps and arm wrestling championships. Recently he was a contributing editor and feature writer for Wondertime, a Disney parenting magazine. He’s published twelve young adult novels, including a six-book series about a girl named Sylvia Smith-Smith which earned him an Edgar Award nomination from the Mystery Writers of America. His young adult non-fiction WWII history, Left For Dead (Randomhouse, 2002) about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis won the 2003 Christopher award as was named to the American Library Association’s 2003 top ten list. His other non-fiction titles include Real Man Tells All (Viking, 1988), Marry Like a Man (NAL, l992), That Others May Live (Crown, 2000) and Kidshape (Rutledge Hill, 2004). His novel The Christmas List was published by Rutledge Hill Press in 2004. He wrote, with former army counterintelligence agent Dave DeBatto, a four book series of military thrillers, including CI: Team Red (2005), CI: Dark Target (2006), CI: Mission Liberty (2006) and CI: Homeland Threat (2007) published by Time-Warner. A More Unbending Battle; The Harlem Hellfighters’ Struggle for Democracy in WWI and Equality at Home, was published in 2009 by Basic Civitas books. His novel, I Thought You Were Dead, will be published by Algonquin in 2010. He also has two CDs out on the Signature Sounds label, the first entitled The Restless Boys Club (1996), the second called Days Like Horses (2000).
Suspense novelist Kathy Herman is very much at home in the Christian book industry, having worked five years on staff at the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and eleven years at Better Books Christian Center in Tyler, Texas, as product buyer/manager for the children’s department, and eventually as director of human resources.
She has conducted numerous educational seminars on children’s books at CBA Conventions in the U.S. and Canada, served a preliminary judge for the Gold Medallion Book Awards of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association , and worked as an independent product/marketing consultant to the CBA market.
Since her first novel, Tested by Fire, debuted in 2001 as a CBA national bestseller, she’s added sixteen more titles to her credit, including four bestsellers: All Things Hidden, The Real Enemy, The Last Word, and The Right Call.
Kathy’s husband Paul is her manager and most ardent supporter, and the former manager of the LifeWay Christian Store in Tyler, Texas. They have three grown children, five almost-perfect grandchildren, a cat named Samantha. They enjoy cruising, deep sea fishing, and birdwatching—sometimes incorporating these hobbies into one big adventure.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. —Matthew 5:7
When eighty-five-year-old Adele Woodmore moves to Les Barbes to be near the Broussards—and her namesake, their daughter—she wants nothing more than a comfortable, quiet life. Employing men from Father Vince’s halfway house for the homeless to do odd jobs and landscaping, she delights in the casual conversation she has with them, the fledgling friendships, and the idea that she is helping them get back on their feet.
A series of murders in Les Barbes has cast a pall over the town and, in fact, one of Adele’s handymen becomes a person of interest to the police. But Adele cares for these young men, she knows them, and continues to show them kindness in spite of her friends’ concern. And then one day a murderer walks through Adele’s defenses, sits down at her kitchen table…and they begin to talk…
Out of all the books offered by CFBA for review this month, Dangerous Mercy was the one I most wanted to read. Wouldn’t you know it – the book barely arrived in time for its blog tour. What with other things I needed to do and admittedly some piddling around, I am getting my review in by the skin of my teeth. It might even end up a few minutes late.
I always expect a good suspenseful story when I pick up a book by Kathy Herman and Dangerous Mercy did not disappoint. With several murders in one week, the townspeople of Les Barbes are on edge and for good reason. All but one of the crimes seem to have been committed by the same person but one murder does not follow the same pattern as the others. As law enforcement scrambles to put together the clues, one man from the halfway house becomes a person of interest in the seemingly unrelated death. Will the murderer be found before more people die? What about Noah – is he really guilty? And Adele – is she foolish for trusting the men from the halfway house to work in her home? These and many more questions will be answered if you pick up a copy of Dangerous Mercy.
I did manage to figure out who the murderer was fairly early in the story, mainly because the person was just too nice but Kathy did drop a few clues for anyone sharp enough to pick up on them. Suspecting the guilty person did not detract from my enjoyment of the story at all. In fact, I often find that the suspense in Herman’s stories takes a backseat to the human interaction and relationships within the book. That is what makes her books so realistic and makes me continue to read them. The fact that each of her novels contains a valuable spiritual lesson does not hurt either.
As with all Kathy Herman books, I highly recommend Dangerous Mercy. If you are not familiar with Kathy’s books, now would be a wonderful time to try one.
Attracted to Fire is another of DiAnn Mills riveting c0ntemporary novels that feature various branches of law enforcement. In this one, the primary characters Meghan Connor and Ash Zinders are special agents in the Secret Service. The pair meets when they are both assigned to protect the Vice President’s daughter as she once again goes through drug and alcohol rehab because of repeated threats to her life.
Because of past events, hard-nosed Ash has no use for female agents on his team and is unhappy with Meghan’s assignment. As dangerous incidents escalate, Meghan demonstrates her skill, insight, and dedication time and again. Not only does Ash begin to change his mind about her value to the team but begins to view her in an even more personal light.
With expertly developed plot and characters, Attracted to Fire kept me turning the pages. The story contained ample action, danger, suspense, and drama to hold my interest and the romantic elements were an added bonus. Twists and surprises abound. Although the person behind the threats is revealed to the reader fairly early in the narrative, it is still interesting to learn how the agents finally solve the identity of the culprit and accomplices.
I recommend Attracted to Fire as well as the other novels of DiAnn Mills.
This book was provided for review by Tyndale and NetGalley.
ABOUT THE BOOK: Special Agent Meghan Connors’ dream of one day protecting the president of the United States is about to come true. Only one assignment stands in her way. After the vice president’s rebellious daughter is threatened, Meghan is assigned to her protective detail on a secluded ranch in West Texas. Unfortunately, working with Special Agent in Charge Ash Zinders may be as tough as controlling her charge. Ash has a reputation for being critical and exacting, and he’s also after the same promotion as Meghan. But when the threats escalate and security on the ranch is breached, it becomes clear this isn’t the work of a single suspect—it’s part of a sophisticated plan that reaches deeper and higher than anyone imagined. And only Ash and Meghan can put the pieces together before it’s too late.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Award-winning author DiAnn Mills launched her career in 1998 with the publication of her first book. Currently she has over fifty books in print and has sold over 1.5 million copies.
DiAnn believes her readers should “Expect an Adventure.” She is a fiction writer who combines an adventuresome spirit with unforgettable characters to create action-packed novels.
Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA Bestseller Lists. Her books have won placements through American Christian Fiction Writer’s Book of the Year Awards 2003 – 2008 and a Carol Award finalist in 2010. She is the recipient of the Inspirational Reader’s Choice award for 2005, 2007, and 2010, a Christy Awards finalist in 2008, a finalist for the RITA Award in 2010, and winner of the Christy Award in 2010.
DiAnn is a founding board member for American Christian Fiction Writers. She is also a member of the Christian Writer’s Guild, Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope and Love, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is the Craftsman Mentor for Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild.
Enterprising young attorney Tom Crane feels like he has just had the rug pulled out from under him. Believing that he has a partnership in his law firm in his pocket, he is shocked to find that he not only didn’t get the partnership but no longer even has a job. To make matters worse, his girlfriend leaves him a “Dear John” letter and takes his cat. With nothing to hold him in Atlanta, Tom travels to his home town of Bethel to wrap up loose ends of his recently deceased father’s estate and to close his office before returning to the city to find a new job.
Of course nothing goes according to Tom’s plans. His uncle Elias encourages him to return to his spiritual roots but Tom is not interested. Friends and other lawyers in town encourage him to continue his father’s law practice but all Tom wants is to quickly close the office and get back to Atlanta. When Tom finds information in his father’s belongings that does not add up, his investigation leads to a trail of deceit and possibly murder. He soon learns that he cannot be certain who to trust.
Water’s Edge is a riveting legal suspense in the tradition of John Grisham. I personally prefer the novels of Robert Whitlow because the plots are more people centered without the excess legal terminology that tends to bog me down. The characters of Water’s Edge are very realistic. I found myself telling Tom “Don’t do that” on more than one occasion. I wish he had listened but then the story wouldn’t have been nearly as interesting.
I was particularly impressed by the strong message of faith woven unobtrusively throughout the story. Tom’s transformation was truly amazing. The author’s description of “thin places” was of interest to me and I would like to learn more about them.
I would highly recommend Water’s Edge as well as any other of Robert Whitlow’s books, especially to those who enjoy good legal suspense. If you are not familiar with his novels, Water’s Edge would be a good place to start.
This book was provided for review by BookSneeze.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Sometimes the smallest towns hold the biggest secrets. Ambitious young attorney Tom Crane is about to become a partner in a big-city law firm. One final matter has to be cleared from his docket—the closing of his deceased father’s law practice in the small town of Bethel. Killed in a tragic boating accident, John Crane didn’t leave his son anything except the hassle of a bankrupt estate. Then, within twenty-four hours, Tom loses his job, his girlfriend, and his cat. Job didn’t have it much worse. Returning to Bethel with his pride ground to powder, Tom’s plan to quietly shut down his father’s practice and slink out of town runs into an unexpected roadblock—two million dollars of unclaimed money stashed in a secret bank account. Tom follows the money into a tangled web of lies, theft, and off-shore financial transactions manipulated by powerful men who will do anything to stop him from discovering the truth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert Whitlow is the best-selling author of legal novels set in the South and winner of the prestigious Christy Award for Contemporary Fiction. A Furman University graduate, Whitlow received his J.D. with honors from the University of Georgia School of Law where he served on the staff of the Georgia Law Review. A practicing attorney, Whitlow and his wife, Kathy, have four children. They make their home in North Carolina.
Shawn Grady signed with Bethany House Publishers in 2008. He was named “Most Promising New Writer” at the 39th Annual Mount Hermon Writers Conference. He is the author of the novels Through the Fire, Tomorrow We Die & Falls Like Lightning.
Shawn has served for over a decade as a firefighter and paramedic in northern Nevada. From fire engines and ambulances to tillered ladder trucks and helicopters, Shawn’s work environment has always been dynamic. The line of duty has carried him to a variety of locale, from high-rise fires in the city to the burning heavy timber of the eastern Sierras.
After graduating from James Logan High School in Union City, California, Shawn attended Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego as a Theology undergrad. There he found clarity of direction and proceeded on to acquire an Associate of Science degree in Fire Science Technology as well as Paramedic licensure through Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada.
Shawn currently lives in Reno, just outside of Lake Tahoe. He enjoys spending time in the outdoors with his wife, three children and yellow Labrador.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
When hotshot smoke jumper Silas Kent gets his own fire crew, he thinks he’s achieved what he’s always wanted. But a lightning-sparked fire in the Desolation Wilderness of the Sierra Nevadas has his team in a plane before they can even train together.
Pilot Elle Westmore has been called up to drop the crew into the heart of the forest infernos. A single mother of a mysteriously ill six-year-old, she can’t imagine her life getting any more complicated.
It doesn’t take long for things to go very wrong, very quickly. A suspicious engine explosion forces Elle to make an emergency landing. Silas is able to parachute to safety but soon discovers his crew can’t be trusted. They’re hiding something, and now Silas is on a race to save himself and Elle from the flames–and from a more dangerous threat: his own team.
Learn more about Shawn and his books on his Website.
MY REVIEW:
Falls Like Lightning is another action packed page turner from Shawn Grady. Take a ruggedly handsome smoke jumper, a feisty and beautiful pilot and mix them with some unexpected but determined villains with no scruples, then place them in the center of a huge wildfire and what comes out is one riveting tale. Although the story takes place in the Desolation Wilderness as a huge fire gobbles up hundreds of acres, the fire takes a backseat to the action and suspense that progress even faster than the flames.
In Falls Like Lightning pilot Elle Westmore and smoke jumper Silas Kent encounter each other for the first time since he walked out on their summer romance several years in the past. As they spend time together in preparation for battling the raging wildfire, they discover that the strong feelings are still active. Little do they know how they will be tested in the hours to come.
I truly enjoyed everything about this book. The suspense built at the perfect rate and every character was realistic – from the worst to the best of them. The romance between Elle and Silas was an added bonus that complemented the story without overshadowing the action and suspense. I heartily recommend Falls Like Lightning and plan to be on the lookout for future offerings from this author.
J. Mark Bertrand lived in Houston, where the series is set, for fifteen years, earning an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Houston. But after one hurricane too many he relocated with his wife Laurie to the plains of South Dakota. Mark has been arrested for a crime he didn’t commit, was the foreman of one hung jury and served on another that acquitted Vinnie Jones of assault. In 1972, he won an honorable mention in a child modeling contest, but pursued writing instead.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
It’s Christmas in Houston, and homicide detective Roland March is on the hunt for a killer. A young woman’s brutal stabbing in an affluent neighborhood bears all the hallmarks of a serial murder. The only problem is that March sent the murderer to prison ten years ago. Is it a copycat — or did March convict the wrong man?
Alienated from his colleagues and with a growing rift in his marriage, March receives messages from the killer. The bodies pile up, the pressure builds, and the violence reaches too close to home. Up against an unfathomable evil, March struggles against the clock to understand the hidden message in the pattern of wounds.
Learn more about Mark and his books on his Website.
MY REVIEW:
J. Mark Bertrand’s second novel featuring Houston homicide detective Roland March, Pattern of Wounds is another page turner. March finds himself investigating a case that is eerily similar to an earlier case that Roland solved and was later featured in a book. His theory that the crime is a copycat one by someone who has read the book is dismissed by the other officers. Although the original murderer was convicted and is currently in prison, an investigator from another department presents numerous unsolved crimes with similar earmarks that indicate that the wrong man may have been convicted. As Roland becomes embroiled in solving the murder and trying to prove that he got the right man the first time, his personal life and even the relationships with fellow officers become strained. Racing against the clock, he follows a confusing trail of clues that offers more than one possible suspect.
Pattern of Wounds is an attention holding narrative that kept me guessing almost to the end. Once again Bertrand’s characters are realistically portrayed with all their human shortcomings. His inside look at the life of a homicide detective is both informative and chilling. A subtle spiritual message was woven throughout the story and although Roland’s heart might have softened somewhat, the reader will still find him mostly resistant to the gospel.
I enjoyed this book, especially the fact that I didn’t guess the guilty person early in the story. I can also say that the way the story ended pretty much guarantees that I will read the next book in the series (at least I hope there will be another one). I can once again recommend Bertrand’s latest book to all who enjoy a good murder mystery.
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All towns have secrets.
Lis Wiehl is one of the nation’s most prominent trial lawyers and highly regarded commentators. Currently, she is the legal analyst and reporter on the Fox News Channel and Bill O’Reilly’s sparring partner in the weekly “Is It Legal?” segment on The O’Reilly Factor. Prior to that she was O’Reilly’s co-host on the nationally syndicated show The Radio Factor. She is also a Professor of Law at New York Law School. Her column “Lis on Law” appears weekly on FoxNews.com.
Pete Nelson lives with his wife and son in Westchester, New York. He got his MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1979 and has written both fiction and non-fiction for magazines, including Harpers, Playboy, Esquire, MS, Outside, The Iowa Review, National Wildlife, Glamour, Redbook. He was a columnist for Mademoiselle and a staff writer for LIVE Magazine, covering various live events including horse pulls, music festivals, dog shows, accordion camps and arm wrestling championships. Recently he was a contributing editor and feature writer for Wondertime, a Disney parenting magazine. He’s published twelve young adult novels, including a six-book series about a girl named Sylvia Smith-Smith which earned him an Edgar Award nomination from the Mystery Writers of America. His young adult non-fiction WWII history, Left For Dead (Randomhouse, 2002) about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis won the 2003 Christopher award as was named to the American Library Association’s 2003 top ten list. His other non-fiction titles include Real Man Tells All (Viking, 1988), Marry Like a Man (NAL, l992), That Others May Live (Crown, 2000) and Kidshape (Rutledge Hill, 2004). His novel The Christmas List was published by Rutledge Hill Press in 2004. He wrote, with former army counterintelligence agent Dave DeBatto, a four book series of military thrillers, including CI: Team Red (2005), CI: Dark Target (2006), CI: Mission Liberty (2006) and CI: Homeland Threat (2007) published by Time-Warner. A More Unbending Battle; The Harlem Hellfighters’ Struggle for Democracy in WWI and Equality at Home, was published in 2009 by Basic Civitas books. His novel, I Thought You Were Dead, will be published by Algonquin in 2010. He also has two CDs out on the Signature Sounds label, the first entitled The Restless Boys Club (1996), the second called Days Like Horses (2000).
