Novel Ideas

J. C. Allen's Novel Ideas is the most profound futuristic novel I have read in a long time.
It begins as an adventure when Penny Reed refuses to become a ward of the state after her father's death. She steals her father's sailboat and travels across the Pacific to find a grandfather she has never known.
Forrest Reed, a well known author, has withdrawn from the world and has refused to write books for publication for a public who considers reading passe. He doesn't know he has a granddaughter and does not believe the fiery twelve-year-old who breaches the defences of his secluded island and bruised heart.
Set in the year 2044 of absolute socialism when all personal assets belong to the state, their personal conflict and resolution are the bone structure of a complex novel with intricate themes.
When finishing it I remembered a joking statement I made to our state representative when my home state passed an educational reform act still in place today. I asked him if education officials were going to stand outside of the hospital delivery room door to assume control of a child before it was placed in its crib.
An old friend, he understood my penchant for sarcasm. Today he is deceased, just before he died he attended a book signing and say, "You were right." I'm left watching an educational establishment holding citizens hostage.
Novel Ideas is the perfect gift for readers of any age who relish an intriguing read, It is available on Amazon Kindle for $2.99.
Nash Black, author of SANDPRINTS OF DEATH

When the Past Haunts You

L. C. Hayden's When the Past Haunts You will keep you up at night as Harry Bronson confronts his past relationship with a sister he blames for their parent's early deaths.Carol Bronson, Harry's wife, makes him answer a phone call from his estranged sister, Lorraine. She has frantically been calling him for a week with a plea for help before she is murdered.Harry flies to PA to confront her. She has asked that they meet on a covered bridge in a state park that was part of their childhood. An assassin kills her as she rushes to Harry's arms. He holds her as she dies and her last words to him are, "Don't leave me."
Harry is assisted by his friend from the Dallas Police Force, Mike Hoover, as he hunts for a killer while learning about a sister he never knew who was loved by many people.
L.C. Hayden is an award winning author who delivers a great detective novel with enough twists and turns to draw a county road map. You can visit her at http://www.lchayden.com. Her books are available in bookstores and on Amazon.
Nash Black, author of Sandprints of Death.

Slow Curve on the Coquihalla

R.E. Donald, a Canadian author, introduces a unique character in Hunter Rayne in Slow Curve on the Coquihalla. Hunter is a twenty-year veterin of the Mounties who had worked his way up through the ranks to detective when he made a major change in his life's work to become a long haul truck driver.
Randy Danyluk, a trucker/owner, is discovered dead at the foot of a ravine. His daughter is struggling to keep her father's business afloat and her marriage from going sour when her husband's brakes fail on the same wicked stretch of road that claimed her father.
Although Hunter intended to leave the investigating behind and seek a new life the daughter begs him to find the answers behind the mysterious accidents.

The series is set in British Columbia and western Washington as Hunter and crime crosses international boundaries with the spinning hum of eighteen wheels burning up the blacktop.

Ice on the Grapevine is the second offering in this new series that has been nominated for several awards and received outstanding reviews.
The second story finds two hard-luck individuals who have found each other and are making a new life for themselves. That is until they arrive in the US with a frozen corpse in their trailer. Arrested and held in separate seclusion they both clam up as they are afraid they will incriminate the other. They refuse to give the police any information and put their freedom at risk to save each other.
Ellie, Hunter's dispatcher, asks him to finish deliving their load and discover who left a man to freeze to death while the couple was on the road.
R.E. Donald is garning legions of fans with her new entry in traditional semi-amateur detective fiction with fast page turners, intricate ploting, and memorable characters. Her books are avilable as Kindle editions.
Nash Black, author of Sandprints of Death.

 

Cold Comfort

Ellis Vidler's Cold Comfort crosses several genres to provide the reader with an exceptional romantic/suspense read.
Claire Spencer's comfortable life as the owner a small Christmas shop in Williamsburg, VA that was written up in Southern Living turns upside down with violence when she meets a mugger in her own driveway.
After a trip to the hospital for stitches in her head and treatment for a sprained arm, she returns home to discover her house and business have been burglarized.
Her sales assistant suggests that Claire seek help from Mary's brother, Ray when quotes from private detectives prove more expensive that Claire can afford. Ray suggests his friend, Ben Riley.
Riley doesn't want a female client, he wasn't fast enough to save a young woman in Bosnia and his former wife left scars over his soul. He agrees to meet Claire because he owes Ray a favor, but all of his self-preservation instincts tell him to run.
After he pulls Claire from the path of a speeding car in the alley behind her shop he understands this woman needs help. The problem is where to begin, someone with muscle wants Claire dead, but there isn't an obvious motive.
Each step they take rips the foundations of Claire's life apart, but the killer is always one step ahead of them. Cold Comfort is fast moving and packed with a host of characters who each have a story of their own to tell. The reader will not know what happens next until they turn the last page.
Ellis Vidler's Cold Comfort is available in paperback or Kindle edition on Amazon.com. You can visit with Ellis at http://ellisvidler.com/ or http://theunpredictablemuse.blogspot.com/.
Nash Black, author of Sandprints of Death

Don't Take My Lemonade Stand

Janie Johnson's Don't Take My Lemonade Stand: An American Philosophy accomplishes with simple words and graphic illustrations a definitive exploration outside the sneering media clamor against American conservatism. She wrote with a difficult purpose: to explain a position in a language that is both lucid enough to appeal to adults and simple enough to be understood by students who have been denied an education in the fundamentals of government designed by the Constitution of the United States.
Yesterday, Standard & Poor down graded the credit rating of three European countries, an act that was long coming as the United States had achieved this reevaluation of credit in 2011.
Our own fiscal situation has not improved at this date. Rather than 'reinvent-the-wheel' I'm going to use Ms. Johnson's own words as to the fiscal behavior one should follow to achieve financial creditability from page 130.
"Did our elected politicians not understand the five basic rules of fiscal responsibility?
1. Don't spend more than you make.
2. Don't borrow more than you can repay.
3. Don't print so much new money that the currency is devalued.
4. Don't tax achievers so much that they lose the incentive to achieve.
5. Plan and save for a rainy day."
Today, one of the most vital issues before the American public is our national debit which grows exponentially every minute. Ms. Johnson defines three common sense areas that must be addressed before a solution to the problem can be achieved.
1. Limited Resources: ascertain how much can be siphoned off from tax payers before the entire system enfolds in upon itself.
2. Priorities: Congress must be spend time to set priorities of government.
3. Performance Measurement: Congress never outlined how to measure the effectiveness of their programs.
This review examined the question of fiscal responsibility in Don't Take My Lemonade Stand. You owe it to yourself and your children to read this title and consider its implications.
Janie Johnson's Don't take My Lemonade Stand can be found on Amazon and other book outlets.
Nash Black, author of Sandprints of Death.

White Jade

Alex Lukeman's White Jade is an espionage thriller that is as plausible as today's headline news. This novel earns the phrase, "you can't put it down" and you wonder about its implications long after the story is finished.
Ungovernable ambition and the quest for power are a combination that wreaks havoc across the annals of humankind as does the suppression of the masses to achieve those goals.
A millionaire's cruel death trigger events that range across the Pacific Ocean and deep into the mountains of Tibet.
Selena Conner is the niece of the murdered man. She is content with her life of study and teaching of ancient languages until she meets Nick Carter, an operative for the low profile Project. Project personnel answer only to the president of the United States. Selena knows the location of an ancient text her uncle was tortured to obtain. Together they set out to obtain the text, prevent it from falling into enemy hands, and to unravel its significance to a modern regime.
The fine details of ancient history, combat, terrain, and equipment set White Jade above its competition. I found myself laughing during a tense scene when the author mentioned "GE turbofans" engines. My husband transported and x-rayed those jet engine fan blades in the 70s to insure they were perfect prior to assembly.
White Jade is a thriller that lives up to its genre to join the legions of Clancy and Flemming. This is one you won't want to miss, I enjoyed it so much I bought the sequel, The Lance to find out what happens next.
Visit with Alex @Alexlukeman on Twitter. His exciting stories are available on Amazon Kindle for $.99. Its a big bank for your buck.
Nash Black, author of Visitors and Sandprints of Death.

E-Force

James D. Kellogg's E-Force is a genuine thriller. Many titles are labeled with the term thriller, but fall far short of being any thing more than an ordinary mystery/suspense works. Not so with E-Force.
Make sure you reserve a block of time sufficient enough to finish the novel. If you don't you will find yourself reading well into the night and early dawn.
Colt Kelly's employer EcoFriends is moving to the far left with its philosophical trends. Mixed with a change in direction is the misappropriation of contributions that has reached money laundering proportions. Colt pledged his loyalty to the group, he is guilty of transfering funds, and it now caught in a fraud scheme which could send him to prison.
E-Force is a ecoterror group that vows to destroy the resort communities built by AmeResorts. The group operates outside the law, their attacks are well planned, well financed, and have acquired the support of Marla Wells, a local TV reporter. In her broadcasts, she portrays the commandos as victims of the establishment who have been pushed beyond the edge.
E-Force is a political thriller that draws the reader deep into the lives of each individual well-drawn character. No thread, subplot, or scene is isolated, each leads to a satisfying whole of plot integration, which is writing at its best when the reader can live within the pages of the story.
Politics aside this is one of the finest thriller novels to reach the public in a long time. I'm delighted James D. Kellogg found me and requested a review. I'll be back for the sequel.
E-Force is available from Barnes & Noble and on Amazon.com both in print and as an e-book. Visit with James D. Kellogg at http://jamesdkellogg.com/
Nash Black, Sandprints of Death.