Book Review: Three Seconds by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström

Thursday 6 January, 2011 By 12 Comments


Title: Three Seconds
Authors: Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström
Publisher: SilverOak
Publication Date: January 4, 2011
Hardcover: 496 pages
ISBN: 978-1402785924
Genre: Mystery & Thriller

From the Publisher:

Dark, suspenseful, and more riveting than any thriller at the local cineplex, THREE SECONDS is the latest novel from best-selling Swedish duo Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström-heirs apparent to Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell as the masters of Scandinavian crime.

Piet Hoffman, a top secret operative for the Swedish police, is about to embark on his most dangerous assignment yet: after years spent infiltrating the Polish mafia, he’s become a key player in their attempt to take over amphetamine distribution inside Sweden’s prisons. To stop them from succeeding, he will have to go deep cover, posing as a prisoner inside the country’s most notorious jail.

But when a botched drug deal involving Hoffman results in a murder, the investigation is assigned to the brilliant but haunted Detective Inspector Ewert Grens–a man who never gives up until he’s cracked the case. Grens’s determination to find the killer not only threatens to expose Hoffman’s true identity-it may reveal even bigger crimes involving the highest levels of power. And there are people who will do anything to stop him from discovering the truth.

Winner of the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ 2009 award for Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year, and a #1 bestseller there, THREE SECONDS captures a nefarious world of betrayal and violence, where a wise man trusts no one and even the most valuable agent can be “burned.”

My Review:

Positively electrifying, Three Seconds by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellström is not the typical police procedural or thriller, but rather an intense and suspenseful labyrinth of good and evil and the lines that can all too easily blur. Roslund and Hellström open with drug mules smuggling amphetamines into Sweden via Poland and the reader is taken into the deep dark side of drug trafficking, infiltrators, undercover agents, ex-cons, and every stage of the country’s corrections department. The reader is quickly drawn deep into the Stockholm Police and Corrections facilities where the Polish mafia, Wojtek, is infiltrating the prisons with drugs and an undercover ex-con who is willing to put his life in the hands of his handler in order to bring down Wojtek. Three Seconds is told in many different voices primarily through the characters of Piet Hoffmann, Erik Wilson, and Detective Superintendent Ewert Grens. The characters are brilliantly created, rich in character and the reader is continually kept wondering who is caring for whom. Without any spoilers, and it is truly difficult to craft this review without any, the story includes a Detective who is also an informant handler, informants, and law enforcement personnel ranking from prison guards to the head of the Security Ministry, all claiming to be working toward the same goal. But what happens when the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing? Three Seconds jumps right into the storyline and contains enough twists, turns, red herrings, and double crosses that one loses count, culminating into an unexpected and heady ending. It is quite fair to say I did not want the book to end. I do not currently know if Roslund and Hellström have their other novels translated into English, regardless if in Swedish or English, I will be reading them. I cannot praise this book enough and without reservation recommend Three Seconds to all readers who like to stay up until the early hours of the morning reading.

About the Authors:

Award-winning journalist Anders Roslund and ex-criminal Börge Hellström are Sweden’s most acclaimed fiction duo. In 2009, Three Seconds was awarded the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award for Swedish Crime Novel of the Year, previously won by both Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell, and it was a top 10 best-seller in Sweden for eight months.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of Three Seconds by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström from FebruaryPartners to review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: The Final Reckoning by Sam Bourne

Friday 31 December, 2010 By 1 Comment


Title: The Final Reckoning
Author: Sam Bourne
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: December 7, 2010
Hardcover: 432 pages
ISBN: 978-0061875748
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Thriller, Mystery

From the Publisher:

From the number one international bestselling author of The Righteous Men and The Last Testament comes a chilling thriller about a clandestine brotherhood and a sixty-year-old secret—the last great mystery of World War II.

Tom Byrne has come a long way since his days as an idealistic young lawyer. Now he’ll work for anyone—as long as the money’s right. So when a UN official asks him to take on a dubious job, he accepts. A suspected suicide bomber shot by UN security staff has turned out to be a harmless old man, and Tom must placate the family. But it soon emerges that the victim was not quite the innocent man he seemed to be.

Alongside the dead man’s daughter, Rebecca, Tom discovers a hidden brotherhood united in a worldwide mission that has caused hundreds of unexplained deaths. Pursued by those ready to kill to stop him, Tom must unlock a secret buried for more than sixty years—the last great secret of the Second World War.

Based on the true story of a group of Holocaust survivors who sought revenge for Nazi crimes, The Final Reckoning is an atmospheric, emotionally engaging, and twisting thriller that moves at light speed from the first page to the last.

My Review:

The Final Reckoning by Sam Bourne is an intriguing mixture of historical fact turned into fiction, a mystery within a mystery, riveting, thrilling, and suspenseful. A suspected terrorist is murdered on UN territory and Tom Byrne is called in to follow the NYPD investigation and more importantly to placate the murdered man’s family. The case appears straightforward, misinformation led to the murder of an innocent 77-year-old, but not everything is as it first appears. To further complicate the situation for the UN, the murdered man is not only a holocaust surviour, but also a true hero for the résistance. Again, not all is as it appears as Byrne learns more about the victim, Gerald Merton, born Gershon Matzkin. Bourne creates an intense setting, fast-moving plot, and a cast of truly brilliant characters along with the words left behind of the deceased, his testament to what happened to himself, his family and the Jews in the 1940s and the group Matzkin joined after the war. The Final Reckoning is a political thriller intermixed with historical fact, fictionalised enough to create a brilliantly intense page-turner, which I for one was unable to set down. Bourne will take the reader on an intense political thrill ride from the first page until the very end. After the book is concluded, Bourne points out which parts are fact and which were fictionalised and why. I enjoyed this book immensely and not only found an author worth following but also learned a bit more about the resistance movement that I was not aware of before reading this book. I would not hesitate to recommend The Final Reckoning to any and all readers.

About the Author:

Sam Bourne is the literary pseudonym of Jonathan Freedland, an award-winning British journalist and broadcaster. He is a weekly columnist for the Guardian (UK), having served as that paper’s Washington correspondent. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek, and the New Republic. He is a regular contributor to the Jewish Chronicle (UK) and presents BBC Radio 4′s contemporary history series The Long View.

Bourne is the author of the New York Times and number one UK bestseller The Righteous Men, which has been translated into twenty-eight languages, and The Last Testament. He has also written two nonfiction works, Jacob’s Gift and Bring Home the Revolution. He lives in London with his wife and two children.

For more information about the author or his works, please visit his website.

I received a complimentary copy ofThe Final Reckoning by Sam Bourne from Harper Collins to review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Christmas At The Mysterious Bookshop Edited by Otto Penzler

Saturday 18 December, 2010 By 3 Comments


Title: Christmas at The Mysterious Bookshop
Author: Otto Penzler
Publisher: Vanguard Press
Publication Date: October 12, 2010
Hardcover: 256 pages
ISBN: 978-1593156176
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Anthologies

From the Publisher:

Each year, for the past seventeen years, Otto Penzler, owner of the legendary Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, has commissioned an original story by a leading mystery writer. The requirements were that it be a mystery/crime/suspense story, that it be set during the Christmas season, and that at least some of the action must take place in the Mysterious Bookshop. These stories were then produced as pamphlets, 1,000 copies, and given to customers of the bookstore as a Christmas present. Now, all of these stories have been collected in one volume—Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop. Some of the tales are humorous, others suspenseful, and still others mystifying. This charming one-of-a-kind collection is a perfect Christmas gift, appropriate for all ages and tastes. Contributors include: Charles Ardai, Lisa Atkinson, George Baxt, Lawrence Block, Mary Higgins Clark, Thomas H. Cook, Ron Goulart, Jeremiah Healy, Edward D. Hoch, Rupert Holmes, Andrew Klavan, Michael Malone, Ed McBain, Anne Perry, S. J. Rozan, Jonathan Santlofer, and Donald E. Westlake.

My Review:

Christmas at The Mysterious Bookshop ‘Tis the Season to be Deadly, Stories of Mistletoe and Mayhem from 17 Masters of Suspense, edited by Otto Penzler is a compilation of seventeen short stories commissioned by Otto Penzler, the owner of The Mysterious Bookshop who each year would ask a well known author to write a Christmas mystery incorporating his bookstore into the story. These commissioned short stories where then printed up and given to his clients as Christmas gifts. Penzler’s book includes the short stories spanning the years of 1993-2009 with a wide range of authors including Ed McBain, Anne Perry, Rupert Holmes, and Mary Higgins Clark to name but a few of the fine authors whose works grace the pages of this unique Christmas book. Each story meets the three criteria set up by Penzler; the story must be a mystery, the story must incorporate Christmas, and the story must involve The Mysterious Bookshop in some manner. Each short story is vastly different, with the only similarities being the three requirements. Each short story has a wonderful title and an intriguing twist or angle making for a delightful book to read in one sitting or for leisurely reading by choosing a short story a day. Christmas at The Mysterious Bookstore will make for a delightful Christmas read as well as a wonderful gift for any mystery lover.

About the Editor:

Otto Penzler is the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop, the founder of The Mysterious Press, the creator of Otto Penzler Books, and the editor of many books and anthologies. He lives in New York City.

I received a complimentary copy of Christmas At the Mysterious Bookshop Edited by Otto Penzler from Over the River Public Relations. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review and Tour: Talion by Mary Maddox

Tuesday 7 December, 2010 By 3 Comments


Title: Talion
Author: Mary Maddox
Publisher: Cantraip Press
Publication Date: March 27, 2010
Paperback: 296 pages
ISBN: 978-0984428106
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller, Suspense

Book Synopsis:

The dying body has a thousand voices, and all of them speak to Conrad (Rad) Sanders. Fifteen-year-old Lisa Duncan has no idea she has attracted Rad’s interest. At a mountain resort in Utah, he watches as vivacious Lisa begins an unlikely friendship with Lu Jakes, the strange and introverted daughter of employees there. Lu enters his fantasies as well. He learns she is being abused by her stepmother and toys with the notion of freeing her from her sad life and keeping her awhile as his captive. Lu seems like an easy conquest who could be persuaded to act out his fantasy by turning against her new friend.

But someone else is watching over Lu.

Talion appears to Lu as an angelic vision. He offers her love and counsel, the courage to defend herself from bullies at school and a way to free herself from her stepmother’s violence. He seems to know beforehand what will happen. But Talion’s true nature is unclear. His guidance leads Lu into dark places, moving her inevitably closer to the world inhabited by Rad. When she and Lisa are thrust into that darkness, will Talion come to her aid? Or will he become the killer’s ally?

My Review:

Talion by Mary Maddox contains an intriguing premise with diverse characters such as Rad (Conrad Sanders), a serial killer posing as a guest at the Hidden Creek Lodge where Lisa Duncan is currently visiting her Aunt Debbie and Uncle Hank, the owners of Hidden Creek Lodge, due to a misunderstanding with her parents.  While visiting, Lisa meets Lu, an unusual girl who is severely abused by her stepmother, Noreen, and her father Duane does not protect her from Noreen’s abuse.  Talion is narrated by most of the characters and does not run in a linear timeline.  Parts of the book read as though it is about teen angst and at other times it is an intriguing thriller, but unfortunately the book did not truly come together for me until near the end.  Talion does not fit easily into just one genre.  I think it is too graphic to classify as a young adult novel, yet it is primarily told through the eyes of two 15-year-olds, one rich and spoiled, the other poor, abused and who has three imaginary protectors; Black Claw a vampire type female, Delatar a male shape shifter of sorts, and Talion Lu’s hero.  Considering these three beings take up a large part of Lu’s identity, the book is also part fantasy and then there are the gruesome acts performed by Rad along with some strong adult content that I would not personally deem appropriate for young teens.  Ignoring the genre, Maddox creates several different story lines, rich in detail and imagery and cleverly intertwines them.  The book could use some polishing yet it holds a lot of promise.  I would recommend Talion to adults who enjoy the genres of young adult, fantasy, and thriller.

About the Author:

Mary Maddox grew up in Utah and California. A graduate of Knox College and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she now teaches composition and literature at Eastern Illinois University.

She lives in Charleston, Illinois with her husband, film scholar Joe Heumann. Her interests include riding her horse, Tucker, and playing club and tournament Scrabble. Mary’s short stories have appeared in a number of magazines including Farmer’s Market, Yellow Silk, and The Scream Online. Her writing has been honored with awards from the Illinois Arts Council.

For more information please visit Mary Maddox at her website or her blog.


Mary Maddox’s TALION VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘10 officially began on November 1 and will end on December 17 ‘10. here during the months of November and December to find out more about this great book and talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of Talion by Mary Maddox from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review and Tour: The Remains by Vincent Zandri

Monday 6 December, 2010 By 4 Comments


Title: The Remains
Author: Vincent Zandri
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink; 1 edition
Publication Date: November 30, 2010
Paperback: 375 pages
ISBN: 978-0982770504
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Suspense

Book Synopsis:

Thirty years ago, teenager Rebecca Underhill and her twin sister Molly were abducted by a man who lived in a house in the woods behind their upstate New York farm. They were held inside that house for three horrifying hours, until making their daring escape.

Vowing to keep their terrifying experience a secret in order to protect their mother and father, the girls tried to put the past behind them. And when their attacker was hunted down by police and sent to prison, they believed he was as good as dead.

Now, it’s 30 years later, and with Molly having passed away from cancer, Rebecca, a painter and art teacher, is left alone to bear the burden of a secret that has only gotten heavier and more painful with each passing year.

But when Rebecca begins receiving some strange anonymous text messages, she begins to realize that the monster who attacked her all those years ago is not dead after all. He’s back, and this time, he wants to do more than just haunt her. He wants her dead.

My Review:

Delightfully creepy, The Remains by Vincent Zandri is a wonderfully suspenseful psychological thriller. Zandri has once again masterfully created a fast-paced non-stop thrill ride filled with brilliantly placed plot twists and false leads. The Remains will take the reader on a psychological journey with expertly crafted characters that will keep the reader fully engaged and unable to set the book down. Zandri has proven he can indeed continue to write intriguing and diverse suspenseful thrillers. I truly enjoyed Zandri’s Moonlight Falls and recommended it to my readers and anxiously waited for my copy of The Remains to arrive and it was well worth the wait. I can honestly say I enjoyed The Remains even more than Moonlight Falls, which I was not expecting. I would recommend The Remains to any reader who enjoys psychological suspense thrillers.

About the Author:

Vincent Zandri is an award-winning novelist, essayist and freelance photojournalist. His novel As Catch Can (Delacorte) was touted in two pre-publication articles by Publishers Weekly and was called “Brilliant” upon its publication by The New York Post. The Boston Herald attributed it as “The most arresting first crime novel to break into print this season.” Other novels include the bestselling, Moonlight Falls,Godchild (Bantam/Dell) and Permanence (NPI). Translated into several languages including Japanese and the Dutch, Zandri’s novels have also been sought out by numerous major movie producers, including Heyday Productions and DreamWorks. Presently he is the author of the blogs, Dangerous Dispatches and Embedded in Africa for Russia Today TV (RT). He also writes for other global publications, including Culture 11, Globalia and Globalspec. Zandri’s nonfiction has appeared in New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, Game and Fish Magazine and others, while his essays and short fiction have been featured in many journals including Fugue, Maryland Review and Orange Coast Magazine. He holds an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College and is a 2010 International Thriller Writer’s Awards panel judge. Zandri currently divides his time between New York and Europe. He is the drummer for the Albany-based punk band to Blisterz.


Vincent Zandri’s THE REMAINS VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘10 will officially began on November 1 and will end on December 17 2010. here during the months of November and December to find out more about this great book and talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of The Remains by Vincent Zandri from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: The Emperor’s Tomb by Steve Berry

Tuesday 23 November, 2010 By 3 Comments


Title: The Emperor’s Tomb
Author: Steve Berry
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: November 23, 2010
Hardcover: 464 pages
ISBN: 978-0345505491
Genre: Fiction, Thriller

From the Publisher:

The tomb of China’s First Emperor, guarded by an underground army of terra-cotta warriors, has remained sealed for more than 2,000 years. Though it’s regarded as one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world, the Chinese government won’t allow anyone to open it. Why?

That question is at the heart of a dilemma faced by former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone, whose life is shattered when he receives an anonymous note carrying an unfamiliar Web address. Logging on, he sees Cassiopeia Vitt, a woman who’s saved his life more than once, being tortured at the hands of a mysterious man who has a single demand: Bring me the artifact she’s asked you to keep safe. The only problem is, Malone doesn’t have a clue what the man is talking about, since Cassiopeia has left nothing with him. So begins Malone’s most harrowing adventure to date—one that offers up astounding historical revelations, pits him against a ruthless ancient brotherhood, and sends him from Denmark to Belgium to Vietnam then on to China, a vast and mysterious land where danger lurks at every turn.

My Review:

A fast-paced political thriller, The Emperor’s Tomb by Steve Berry is the eighth Cotton Malone book and the first I have reviewed. I found it fairly easy to navigate the lives of Cotton Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt without having previous knowledge of the two and their earlier cases together, however I think the reader will want to read the previous works due to Berry’s brilliant style, choices of topics, and brilliant characters. Berry keeps the story moving at a fast clip while giving extraordinary detail of the cultures and countries as well as historical facts and history of China. Berry goes so far as to include a map, a Chinese history time-line for those not quite up on Chinese history as well as my personal favourite, a section at the end of the book where he further separates fact from fiction. The reader will quickly be drawn into the story as Cotton begins his quest to find the artifact in exchange for Cassiopeia’s life. Berry will take the reader on a wonderful archeological adventure filled with suspense and fraught with danger and delightful plot twists and turns. I found The Emperor’s Tomb to be highly engaging and entertaining and look forward to reading much more from this clever and brilliant author. I highly recommend The Emperor’s Tomb to any reader who enjoys an excellent suspense thriller.

About the Author:

Steve Berry is the New York Times bestselling author of The Balkan Escape, The Paris Vendetta, The Charlemagne Pursuit, The Venetian Betrayal, The Alexandria Link, The Templar Legacy, The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, and The Amber Room. His books have been translated into 37 languages and sold in 50 countries. He lives in the historic city of St. Augustine, Florida and is at work on his next novel. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have founded History Matters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving our heritage. To learn more about Steve and the foundation, visit www.steveberry.org.

I received a complimentary copy of The Emperor’s Tomb by Steve Berry from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. to review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review and Tour: The 19th Element by John L. Betcher

Monday 8 November, 2010 By 7 Comments


Title: The 19th Element
Author: John L. Betcher
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication Date: June 23, 2010
Paperback: 326 pages
ISBN: 978-1451521016
Genre: Fiction, Suspense/Thriller

Book Synopsis:

Al Qaeda plans to attack Minnesota’s Prairie River Nuclear Power Plant as a means to return the down-trodden terrorist organization to international prominence.

In addition to their own devoted forces, the terrorists enlist some homegrown anarchists, and a Three Mile Island survivor with a pathological vendetta against the nuclear establishment, to assist in the assault.

James “Beck” Becker is a former elite U.S. government intelligence operative who has retired to his childhood hometown of Red Wing, Minnesota – just six miles down the Mississippi from the Prairie River nuclear facility.

Possessing wisdom born of experience, Beck suspects the terrorists’ intentions as soon as the body of a university professor turns up on the Mississippi shore – the clear victim of foul play.

He recognizes connections between seemingly unrelated incidents – the murdered agronomy professor, a missing lab assistant, an international cell call, a stolen fertilizer truck – but can’t piece it together in enough detail to convince government authorities that a larger threat exists. Only his American Indian friend, “Bull,” will help Beck defuse the threat.

So it’s Beck and Bull versus international terror.

My Review:

John L. Betcher chose a fascinating title for his second novel, The 19th Element, considering all humans carry it inside their body and in extremely high concentrations can prove quite deadly as will later be shown in this action packed suspense thriller. I did not read Betcher’s premier novel, The Missing Element, which I think was released after The 19th Element, however The 19th Element is a stand-alone novel. The story takes place in the sleepy town of Red Wing, Minnesota where people are accustomed to going about their own business, or they were until the first body washes ashore from the Mississippi River. The protagonist, Beck, is a retired government operative who has returned with his wife Beth, to his hometown to practise law. Betcher creates an excellent cast of characters, an extremely likeable protagonist and the motley team that forms to solve a series of unrelated crimes pointing towards the Prairie River nuclear facility. It is up to Beck, Bull, and Gunderson (now that is a Minnesotan name) to connect the dots and solve the crime before the terrorists succeed in their plans. The 19th Element will keep the readers on their toes as they follow the same clues as Beck and with some intriguing plot twists and turns, Betcher keeps the reader fully engaged in his novel until the very end. While this is a suspense thriller it often reads as a whodunit. The 19th Element makes for an intriguing and thought provoking read.

About the Author:

John L. Betcher is a University of Minnesota Law School graduate and has practiced law for more than twenty-five years in the Mississippi River community of Red Wing, Minnesota. He possesses substantial first-hand knowledge of the Prairie River Nuclear Plant’s real world counterpart, as well as Red Wing’s airport and the flight rules around the nuke plant.

In addition to The 19th Element, he has published a second book in the “Beck” series entitled, The Missing Element, A James Becker Mystery. The second book is available everywhere.

The author has also been a long-time supporter and coach of youth volleyball in and around Red Wing and has authored three feature articles for Coaching Volleyball, the journal of the American Volleyball Coaches Association. His most recent article was the cover story for the April/May, 2009 Issue.

His book on volleyball coaching philosophies entitled The Little Black Book of Volleyball Coaching is available at www.johnbetcher.com.


John L. Betcher’s THE 19TH ELEMENT VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘10 officially began on November 1 and end on December 17, ‘10. You can visit John’s blog stops here during the months of November and December to find out more about this great book and talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of The 19th Element by John L. Betcher from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Shedrow by Dean M. DeLuke

Thursday 21 October, 2010 By 4 Comments


Title: Shedrow
Author: Dean M. DeLuke
Publisher: Grey Swan Press
Publication Date: August 1, 2010
Hardcover: 256 pages
ISBN: 978-0980037760
Genre: Fiction, Medical Thriller

Book Synopsis:

From rolling pastures in Lexington, KY to darkened alleyways in Newark, NJ, from Manhattan’s posh ‘21’ Club to a peculiar and mysterious landfill in Eastern Kentucky, and from Saratoga Springs, NY to the tiny island of St. Lucia, Shedrow portrays a collision of characters from many divergent worlds. High society and the racing elite, medical and veterinary specialists, mob figures, and Kentucky hill folk become entangled in this unique twist on the medical thriller.

Dr. Anthony Gianni, a prominent Manhattan surgeon, becomes involved in a racing partnership as a diversion from a thriving surgical practice and an ailing marriage. The excitement builds when the partnership acquires Chiefly Endeavor, a two-year-old colt with the breeding, the spirit, and enough early racing success to qualify for the Kentucky Derby.

When a new partner with an unsavory background appears and a breeder’s nightmare becomes real, Dr. Gianni and a dedicated veterinarian must confront organized crime and solve a complex mystery that threatens to destroy both of their careers, and possibly a great deal more.

My Review:

A suspense thriller that will capture the readers attention from beginning to end, Shedrow by Dean M. DeLuke is a masterful debut novel. DeLuke takes the reader deep inside horse racing, no worries, the reader does not need to know a thing about it, I certainly did not, yet found myself captivated by DeLuke’s increasingly complex plot and dead ends. Dr. Anthony Gianni is quite familiar with horse racing and part owner of Chiefly Endeavor, a horse that continually wins against the odds, until the horse is found dead. DeLuke offers up many suspects, the most likely being the newest part owner of Chiefly Endeavor who learned the horse was worth far more dead than alive, even more than as a stud horse as others hoped to use Chiefly Endeavor for. Shedrow is a fast-paced, heart-pounding thriller and DeLuke masterfully creates some of the most inventive and frighteningly realistic characters from a variety of backgrounds giving the appearance that some characters would definitely be candidates for guilt and others impossible to believe they would go to the depths needed to achieve their end desire. DeLuke’s debut into the world of suspense thriller novels is a powerful and excellent one and with his use of vivid imagery, strong characters, and cleverly placed clues, dead ends, and plot twists, I believe DeLuke is an author to continue to watch. I would recommend Shedrow to anyone who enjoys horses as well as a well-written suspense thriller.

About the Author:

Dr. Dean DeLuke is a graduate of St. Michael’s College, Columbia University (DMD) and Union Graduate College (MBA). He completed residency training at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and also participated in a fellowship in maxillofacial surgery at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, England.

He currently divides his time between the practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery and a variety of business consulting activities with Millennium Business Communications, LLC, a boutique marketing, communications and business consulting firm. An active volunteer, he has served on the Boards of the St. Clare’s Hospital Foundation, the Kidney Foundation of Northeast New York, and the Albany Academy for Girls. He has also performed medical missionary work with Health Volunteers Overseas.

He has a long history of involvement with thoroughbred horses—from farm hand on the Assunta Louis Farm in the 1970s to partner with Dogwood Stable at present.

His latest book is Shedrow, a medical thriller with a unique twist.

Dean DeLuke’s SHEDROW VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘10 officially began on Sept. 7 and ends on Oct. 29 ‘10. You can visit Dean’s blog stops here during the months of September and October to find out more about this great book and talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of Shedrow by Dean M. DeLuke from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Cold Kiss by John Rector

Friday 15 October, 2010 By 7 Comments


Title: Cold Kiss
Author: John Rector
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication Date: September 10, 2010
Paperback: 288 pages
ISBN: 978-1849830683
Genre: Fiction, Thriller

From the Publisher:

Nate and Sara are broke — and on the run from the past.
When a shady hitchhiker offers them cold hard cash for a lift, they can’t afford to say no.
But very soon they’ll be wishing they had. Because picking him up is about to become the biggest mistake they ever made — and the price they’ll have to pay will be greater than they ever could have imagined…

My Review:

John Rector’s debut novel Cold Kiss is a riveting story from beginning to end. While the story may sound vaguely similar to other works, Rector’s flawed yet believable characters, his superb use of dialogue and his eloquent writing style sets him apart from similar type novels. Set in Nebraska, Nate and Kate are down on their luck and happen upon a hitchhiker offering to pay them for a ride. Needing the money, they agree, but soon thereafter, their wayward traveler is discovered quite dead with a few million dollars in his suitcase. The couple is broke and they decide to keep the money and naturally there are others not only searching for the money but also willing to kill for it. As I mentioned, it is not an ordinary outline, yet the brilliance comes in Rector’s telling of his story and he does indeed make this outline distinctly his own through his descriptive backdrop of Nebraska in the dead of winter, the threat of impending doom, and the heart-pounding escapades Nate and Kate go through to protect their lives. I was unable to set this book down. It is a quick-paced thriller and I am hoping to read more works from Rector. I would without hesitation recommend Cold Kiss to any reader looking for a thriller to keep them up at night.

About the Author:

John Rector’s short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and won several awards including the Porterhouse prize. His first novel, The Grove, was a bestselling e-book and will be soon be published for the first time in print form. He lives in Omaha, Nebraska and is currently working on his next novel.

I received a complimentary copy of Cold Kiss by John Rector from Simon & Schuster UK. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Beyond Justice by Joshua Graham

Monday 11 October, 2010 By 4 Comments


Title: Beyond Justice
Author: Joshua Graham
Publisher: Dawn Treader Press
Publication Date: April 27, 2010
Paperback: 440 pages
ISBN: 978-0984452606
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Book Synopsis:

THE DESCENT INTO HELL IS NOT ALWAYS VERTICAL…

Sam Hudson, a reputable San Diego attorney, learns this when the authorities wrongfully convict him of the brutal rape and murder of his wife and daughter, and sends him to death row. There he awaits execution by lethal injection.

If he survives that long.

In prison, Sam fights for his life while his attorney works frantically on his appeal. It is then that he embraces the faith of his departed wife and begins to manifest supernatural abilities. Abilities which help him save lives– his own, those of his unlikely allies–and uncover the true killer’s identity, unlocking the door to his exoneration.

Now a free man, Sam’s newfound faith confronts him with the most insurmountable challenge yet. A challenge beyond vengeance, beyond rage, beyond anything Sam believes himself capable of: to forgive the very man who murdered his family, according to his faith. But this endeavor reveals darker secrets than either Sam or the killer could ever have imagined. Secrets that hurtle them into a fateful collision course.

BEYOND JUSTICE, a tale of loss, redemption, and the power of faith.

My Review:

Beyond Justice by Joshua Graham is an edge of your seat thrill ride from beginning to end. I was decidedly hooked by the third paragraph and at times caught myself griping the book too tightly out of tension as well as shouting to myself at the injustices throughout the book. Graham has masterfully woven together one of the best suspense thriller novels I have read in quite some time. I shall not go into too much detail considering the story is outlined above, however I would like to mention that Sam was most definitely fortunate to have the people in his life that he did. Framed for the rape and murder of his wife and daughter, being sued for custody of his comatose four-year-old son, and then sentenced to death, Sam never gave up. Most people would fall apart at just finding their loved ones as Sam does, however, with an inner strength, caring friends, and faith, Sam is determined to continue to seek justice. Beyond Justice delves into the sick world of child pornography, murder, scandal, abuse of the legal system, and to balance it out, the novel is also about love, redemption, and truth. Graham crafts a brilliant thriller filled with unforeseen plot twists and character behaviour changes unlike any other. Graham’s cast of characters is not only diverse, but also extraordinarily believable. I quite literally was unable to set this book down and was amazed at how quickly time passed. Joshua Graham is definitely a name to keep an eye on, for he is one talented writer. I recommend Beyond Justice to all my readers, especially those who like a good suspense thriller.

About the Author:

Joshua Graham grew up in Brooklyn, NY, where he lived for the better part of 30 years. He holds a Bachelor and Master’s Degree and went on to earn his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. During his time in Maryland, he taught as a professor at Shepherd College (WV), Western Maryland College, and Columbia Union College (MD).

Today he lives with his beautiful wife and children in San Diego. Several of Graham’s short fiction works have been published by Pocket Books and Dawn Treader Press under different pen names.

Joshua Graham’s BEYOND JUSTICE VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘10 officially begin on Sept. 7 and will end on Oct. 29, 2010. You can visit Joshua’s blog tour stops here during the months of September and October to find out more about this great book and talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of Beyond Justice by Joshua Graham from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

Filed Under: Book Review, Book Tour Tagged With: ,
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