by admin | May 8, 2013 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Law Enforcement, Suspense
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducing
Wounds
B&H Books (May 1, 2013)
by
Alton Gansky
THE AUTHOR:
Alton L. Gansky is the author of 24 novels and 8 nonfiction works, as well as principle writer of 9 novels and 2 nonfiction books. He has been a Christie Award finalist (A Ship Possessed) and an Angel Award winner (Terminal Justice) and recently was award the ACFW award for best suspense/thriller for his work on Fallen Angel. He holds a BA and MA in biblical studies and Lit.D. He lives in central California with his wife.
In addition to his own writing, Alton Gansky has consulted and provided editing/ writing services to several CBA publishers and written copy, video scripts, and other works for the general business market. Through Gansky.Communications he has consulted with publishers and agents, as well as provided editing services. He is “the go to guy” for co-writing having been selected by Penguin, Waterbrook, Broadman Holman, and other publishers to work with their top tier authors.
Gansky is in frequent demand at writer’s conferences having taught and keynoted in California, Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, Delaware, Washington, and Canada. He has also been guest lecturer on suspense writing at Taylor University in Indiana.
Learn more about Alton and his books on his Website.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
A man’s lifeless body is found in the fresh soil of San Diego’s botanical garden. Cause of death is asphyxiation, an easy call for the medical examiner. More mysterious, however, are the tiny drops of blood on the victim’s skin, resulting from hundreds of punctures.
A rabbi leaving his house for work expects a regular day at the synagogue. That quickly changes when he discovers a dead man on his front lawn, clearly beaten to death.
Motorcycle riders racing along the empty streets of an abandoned military base stumble across another man’s corpse, its skin revealing long, red-purple marks of a thrashing given with wood dowels.
The numbers mount. Each week another victim and another mysterious clue in a game of mass murder the police don’t want to lose. The solution rests with Dr. Ellis Poe, a religious professor who only wishes to be left alone with his books and classes.
But evil must be faced, and the choice is no longer his own.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Wounds, go HERE.
MY REVIEW:
An unsolved murder three decades old has shaped the lives of two individuals. Carmen Rainmondi, San Diego homicide detective, has spent her life with one purpose in mind – finding her sister’s killer and putting away others like him. A loner, her private life has very little space for others. Dr. Ellis Poe has spent his life filled with guilt because he witnessed the murder of Carmen’s sister but did nothing to help. Work is his panacea and he too spends his free time alone. When one of Poe’s seminary students is the victim of a bizarre murder, Carmen and Ellis’s paths cross for the first time with Carmen the chief investigator on the case. By the story’s end both Poe and Carmen will be instrumental in solving a rapidly developing case as more bodies are found that seem to be connected.
Wounds is a novel that grabs the reader and takes them for an unforgettable ride with homicide detectives as they attempt to solve a case before more people die. The descriptions are so vivid that the reader sees what the detectives see, hears what they hear, and practically smells what they smell. Very little is left to the imagination yet it was all handled tactfully and non-offensively. The tension mounted with each chapter but brief moments of humor offered some much needed relief. Although the author dropped clues along the way, there were plenty of plot twists and surprises to keep me in suspense until the very end.
Wounds is the perfect book for those who enjoy a realistic murder suspense novel.
by admin | May 1, 2013 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Law Enforcement, Suspense
MY REVIEW:
Recently widowed Mia Quinn is just barely managing to hold things together on her own. Between the two jobs she holds down to keep her head above water financially and two children who need more of her time than she can spare, she doesn’t need more responsibilities. When her friend and colleague Colleen is murdered, Mia’s boss urges her to work with homicide detective Charlie Carlson to solve the case. She agrees to work on the case if she and Charlie are also allowed to work on a case involving school bullies that has grabbed her attention. Both cases throw some big surprises at Mia and Charlie as they work against the clock to find a killer who may be targeting others in the prosecutor’s office.
I have read several novels by Lis Wiehl during the past year and have added them all to my keeper shelf. “A Matter of Trust” has earned its place among them. Its well-crafted plot and realistic characters are characteristic of her other novels and is one reason why I will continue to read anything this author writes. The descriptions of the legal process were both interesting and informational. The suspense built at just the right pace with natural breaks for real life family matters that helped me as a reader to know the characters better, especially Mia. Although “A Matter of Trust” is not an overtly Christian novel, I appreciated both the references to faith and the absence of objectionable subject matter.
I hesitate to say more for fear of spoilers. If you are a fan of legal suspense, do yourself a favor and give “A Matter of Trust” a try. You may find yourself a fan of Lis Wiehl just like I did.
A digital copy of this book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publisher’s BookSneeze program.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
When life is murder, who can you trust?
One minute Mia Quinn is in her basement, chatting on the phone with a colleague at the prosecutor’s office. The next minute there’s a gunshot over the line, and Mia listens in horror as her colleague and friend Colleen bleeds to death.
Mia’s a natural for heading up the murder investigation, but these days she has all she can do to hold her life together. As a new widow with a pile of debts, a troubled teenaged son, and a four-year-old who wakes up screaming at night, she needs more time with her family, not less—and working Colleen’s case will be especially demanding. But Colleen was her friend, and she needs to keep her job. So she reluctantly teams up with detective Charlie Carlson to investigate Colleen’s death. But the deeper they dig, the more complications unfold—even the unsettling possibility that someone may be coming after her.
Lis Wiehl’s signature plot twists and relatable characters shine in this absorbing series debut . . . with an intriguing cameo from her best-selling Triple Threat series.
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.
Noted author Roald Dahl helped New York Times bestselling author April Henry take her first step as a writer. When April was eleven, she sent the famous children’s author a short story about a frog who loved peanut butter. He read it to an editor of an international children’s magazine, who then asked to publish it. April has since written several highly acclaimed mysteries and thrillers. Her books have been short-listed for the Agatha Award, the Anthony Award, and the Oregon Book Award, and translated into several languages. Two have been chosen for BookSense by the independent booksellers of America. April lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and daughter.
by admin | Mar 31, 2013 | Books, Law Enforcement, Romance, Suspense, Texas
This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingScorned JusticeAbingdon Press (April 1, 2013)byMargaret DaleyABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Margaret Daley is an award winning, multi-published author in the romance genre. One of her romantic suspense books, Hearts on the Line, won the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Book of the Year Contest. Recently she has won the Golden Quill Contest, FHL’s Inspirational Readers’ Choice Contest, Winter Rose Contest, Holt Medallion and the Barclay Gold Contest. She wrote for various secular publishers before the Lord led her to the Christian romance market. She currently writes inspirational romance and romantic suspense books for the Steeple Hill Love Inspired lines, romantic suspense for Abingdon Press and historical romance for Summerside Press. She has sold eighty-three books to date.
Margaret was the president of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), an organization of Christia writers with over 2300 members. She was one of the founding members of the first ACFW local chapter, WIN in Oklahoma. She has taught numerous classes for online groups, ACFW and RWA chapters. She enjoys mentoring other authors.
Until she retired a few years ago, she was a teacher of students with special needs for twenty-seven years and volunteered with Special Olympics as a coach. She currently is on the Outreach committee at her church, working on several projects in her community as well as serving on her church’s vestry.
On a more personal note, she has been married for over forty years to Mike and has one son and four granddaughters. She treasures her time with her family and friends.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Texas Ranger Brody Calhoun is with his parents in west Texas when an unexpected attack injures the brother of Rebecca Morgan, Brody’s high school sweetheart. The local sheriff, a good friend, asks for Brody’s help. At first, it seems like an open-and-shut case. However, as Brody digs deeper, he realizes the attack may be related to an organized crime trial Rebecca will be overseeing. With Rebecca’s help, he compiles evidence which involves cattle rustlers, bribery, and dirty payoffs that shatter the entire community and put Rebecca directly in the line of fire.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Scorned Justice, go HERE.
MY REVIEW:
In Scorned Justice the action begins quickly and the drama and suspense do not let up until the very end. Although Judge Rebecca Morgan’s brother’s devastating injuries appear to be from an accident on the ranch, other close calls for her and those she cares for plus some threatening deliveries raise suspicion that the incidents could all be related to a current court case of Rebecca’s. Her brother’s friend Brody, a Texas Ranger, feels that the threats are real enough to provide protection for Rebecca and her brother’s family.
Continually escalating suspense that includes more than one murder, a kidnapping, and other tense scenes made Scorned Justice one of the most riveting novels I have read this year. Although the author dropped some hints and generously revealed one of the culprits fairly early on, there were still many unanswered questions as to motive and whether that person was the only one involved in the threats to Rebecca and those close to her. With several interesting plot twists, a surprise ending, and just the right amount of romantic tension between Rebecca and Brody as they renew their friendship, Scorned Justice was 100% satisfactory on all levels.
I have only read one of the previous novels in this series but this one does not seem dependent upon them for reading enjoyment. The publisher generously provided a copy of “Saving Hope” along with this one and I plan to read it just as soon as time allows. You can also bet that I will be picking up the final book in this series.
by admin | Oct 8, 2012 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Law Enforcement, Romance, Suspense
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Full Disclosure
Bethany House Publishers (October 2, 2012)
by
Dee Henderson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dee Henderson is the bestselling, award-winning author of 15 previous novels, including the acclaimed O’MALLEY series and UNCOMMON HEROES series. She is a lifelong resident of Illinois.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Ann Silver is a cop’s cop. As the Midwest Homicide Investigator, she is called in to help local law enforcement on the worst of cases, looking for answers to murder. Hers is one of the region’s most trusted investigative positions.
Paul Falcon is the FBI’s top murder cop in the Midwest. If the victim carried a federal badge or had a security clearance, odds are good Paul and his team see the case file or work the murder.
Their lives intersect when Ann arrives to pass a case off her desk and onto his. A car wreck and a suspicious death offer a lead on a hired shooter he is tracking. Paul isn’t expecting to meet someone, the kind that goes on the personal side of the ledger, but Ann Silver has his attention.
The better he gets to know her, the more Paul realizes her job barely scratches the surface of who she is. She knows spies and soldiers and U.S. Marshals, and has written books about them. She is friends with the former Vice President. People with good reason to be cautious about who they let into their lives deeply trust her. Paul wonders just what secrets Ann is keeping, until she shows him the John Doe Killer case file, and he starts to realize just who this lady he is falling in love with really is…
Watch the book trailer:
If you would like to read the first chapter of Full Disclosure, go HERE.
MY REVIEW:
It has been far too long since Dee Henderson released a new novel so I was super excited to receive an ARC of “Full Disclosure” to review. And what a book it is! There is so much going on that one could wonder why the author threw in several seemingly inconsequential story lines. But in the end she ties them all up into one neat little package full of surprises. This lady is so good at what she does, she even had me wondering for awhile if the heroine might actually be the villain. (Maybe she was – you’ll have to read the book to find out because I’ll never tell.)
It was fun to revisit characters from Henderson’s earlier novels – and in such a unique way. In fact her earlier novels are discussed quite frequently within the context of this novel in such a way that I have to wonder if “Full Disclosure” might be somewhat autobiographical. Even the title hints at that. Whatever the case may be, this book has a bit of everything – suspense, humor, drama, action, and romance with an abundance of twists and surprises. I’m not sure I have ever gotten to know characters more thoroughly than Ann Silver and Paul Falcon because of the intimate look into their thoughts throughout the novel.
If you have ever enjoyed a book by Dee Henderson, “Full Disclosure” is one you don’t want to miss. If you are not familiar with her work, you might want to start now with the O’Malley series to add another level of enjoyment to the reading of “Full Disclosure” when it releases this fall.
by admin | Aug 31, 2012 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Law Enforcement, Suspense
MY REVIEW:
Having enjoyed “Accused”, the first book in the Pacific Coast Justice series, I was happy to have the opportunity to review “Abducted”, the second installment. I was not disappointed.
“Abducted” begins shortly after the ending of “Accused” with police officer Carly Edwards back patrolling the streets on the night shift with her partner Joe. As a new believer, Carly is carefully learning what it means to walk out her faith and soon finds it being put to the test when Joe’s wife is hospitalized and his baby is kidnapped. Added to the stress of encountering multiple dead ends in the search for Joe’s child, Carly’s promising renewed relationship with her ex Nick suddenly seems to be at a standstill.
“Abducted” is a riveting suspense where nothing is quite as it seems and the many twists and turns keeps the reader puzzled. The book is a realistic look into the lives of law enforcement officers complete with accurately described police procedure and the human reactions to their experiences. “Abducted” is one book I couldn’t put down. Can’t wait to see what Carly and Nick might be up to next.
This book was provided for review by The Tyndale Blog Network.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
After solving the Mayor’s murder and exposing corruption among the top brass in Las Playas, Carly Edwards is happy to be back on patrol with her partner Joe, putting bad guys behind bars. For once everything in life seems to be going just right.
But then everything starts going wrong. Slow to recover from an injury, her ex-husband Nick, begins pulling away just as they were starting to get close again. Meanwhile when Joe’s wife lands in the hospital with a mysterious illness, their baby is kidnapped. As Carly chases down every lead in a desperate search to find the baby, her newfound faith is pushed to its limits.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A retired Long Beach California police officer of 22 years (16 in uniform and 6 as a non-career officer), Janice Cantore worked a variety of assignments, patrol, administration, juvenile investigations and training. During the course of her career in uniform Janice found that faith was indispensable to every aspect of the job and published articles on faith at work, one for a quarterly newspaper called “Cop and Christ”, and another for the monthly magazine “Today’s Christian Woman”.
With retirement Janice began to write longer pieces and several novels were born. She has a two book suspense series in print she calls Brinna’s Heart Series, The Kevlar Heart and A Heart of Justice (Oaktara Publishing). Janice is excited and honored to now be a part of the Tyndale Publishing House family. Accused, the first installment in her new suspense offering, The Pacific Coast Justice Series, is set to be released February 1, 2012 and will kick off a brand new chapter in her writing career. In addition to suspense and action, her books feature strong female leads. Janice writes suspense novels designed to keep you engrossed and leave you inspired.
Janice has bachelor’s degrees in Biology (University of California at Irvine) and Physical Education (California State University at Long Beach). She also completed graduate coursework in Criminal Justice (University of Southern California) and is currently a member of American Christian Fiction Writer’s and Sisters in Crime. She attends Crescenta Valley Community Church in La Crescenta California and while a few years ago she retired to a house in the mountains of Southern California, she currently resides in Glendale California in order to help care for her aging parents. Janice is single and has three Labrador Retrievers, Jake, Maggie and Abbie. Janice’s hobbies are reading, cross-stitching, kayaking, hiking, walking the dogs and trying to stay fit.
Learn more about Janice and her books on her website.
by admin | Aug 15, 2012 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Law Enforcement, Romance, Suspense
MY REVIEW:
FBI agent Raleigh Harmon’s unconventional approach to law enforcement always manages to get the job done but her superiors wish she’d try a little harder to play by their rules. Her life is a mess. Her mother has had a nervous breakdown and refuses to speak to her and her fiance is pressuring her to come back home. Can you say stressed? The FBI has given her one chance to redeem her career by going undercover at a race track. How hard could it be to find out who is behind the mysterious illness among the horses and who might be fixing the races? If only Jack Stephanson were not her FBI contact. Raleigh soon finds that the assignment may be more difficult and dangerous than she expected. Not only that but each lie she is forced to tell to keep her cover weighs heavy on her conscience because of her faith.
I loved the characters in this book. All of them are unique and so well described that I can almost see and hear them. The plot is well paced with lots of action, drama and suspense and laced with unexpected twists and surprises. Little bits of humor along the way enhanced an already good story. Not only was “The Stars Shine Bright” an excellent read, but I felt like I came away from it with some newly found knowledge about geology. Who knew that dirt or other geological material has provenance?!
I had mixed feelings about the men in Raleigh’s life. Although DeMott seemed to be a sweet guy who loved Raleigh, I felt like he would eventually stifle her with his expectations and need to control her. On the other hand, Jack irritated her most of the time but always seemed to be there for her and to encourage her to be herself. I know who I’m rooting for!
Although “The Stars Shine Bright” is part of a series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone novel. I have not had the chance to read the entire series yet and had no problem keeping up with the story. It did make me want to find the time to catch up on the installments I have missed, They are actually sitting on my bookshelf waiting for that time. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to everyone who enjoys a good suspense. Be sure to look for it in your local bookstore or favorite online one.
This book was provided for review by LitFuse Publicity.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
After the FBI suspends her for bending its rules, Special Agent Raleigh Harmon is looking for a chance to redeem her career and re-start her life.
Sent undercover to a thoroughbred horse track, Raleigh takes on a double life to find out who’s fixing the races. But when horses start dying and then her own life is threatened, Raleigh realizes something bigger—and more sinister—is ruining Emerald Meadows.
She’s never felt more alone.
Her one contact with the FBI is Special Agent Jack Stephanson, a guy who seems to jump from antagonistic to genuine friend depending on the time of day. And she can’t turn to her family for support. They’re off-limits while she’s undercover, and her mother isn’t speaking to her anyway, having been confined to a mental hospital following a psychotic breakdown. Adding insult to her isolation, Raleigh’s fiancé wants them to begin their life together—now—precisely when she’s been ordered not to be herself.
With just days left before the season ends, Raleigh races to stop the killing and find out who’s behind the track’s trouble, all the while trying to determine if Jack is friend or foe, and whether marrying her fiancé will make things better—or worse.
Raleigh is walking through the darkest night she’s faced, searching for a place where the stars shine bright. Find out more, read the press kit.
See what other bloggers are saying about “The Stars Shine Bright” HERE.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sibella Giorello grew up in the mountains of Alaska admiring the beauty and nature that surrounded her. She majored in geology at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts hoping to learn more about the landscape she loved back home. From there Sibella followed a winding path, much like the motorcycle ride she took across the country, which led to her true love, journalism.
She found herself in Seattle writing for rock-n-roll magazine and earned a journalism degree from the University of Washington before heading south to the land of great stories.
In Virginia, Sibella became a features writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. It was there she also met her husband and would hear Jesus whispering her name at a tent revival.
Sibella started writing about Raleigh Harmon as a way to keep her love of story-telling alive while staying at home with her young sons. As a journalist and author, her stories have won state and national awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. The Stones Cry Out, the first Raleigh Harmon novel, won a Christy award for debut novel in 2008. Sibella now lives in Washington state with her husband and sons.
Visit Sibella Giorello online at www.sibellagiorello.com, Facebook or Twitter.
KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY:
Sibella is celebrating the release of the next book in her praiseworthy Raleigh Harmon series by giving away a Kindle Fire!
One grand prize winner will receive:
- A brand new Kindle Fire
- The entire 5-book Raleigh Harmon series.
Hurry, the giveaway ends on 8/25/12. The winner will be announced on 8/27/12 on Sibella’s blog!
Just click one of the icons below to enter. Tell your friends about Sibella’s giveaway on FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.
