The Past Never Ends

Jackson Burnett's The Past Never Ends is a treat for fans of traditional mysteries. The reader learns all the facts at the same time Chester Morgan uncovers them. The clues along with the red herrings are there, but Burnett's twists gives an experienced reader a challenge.
Tanya Everly, stripper/prostitute, had few friends, but those who loved her want answers as to why she died.
Alan Kinman has little money, but he is willing to hire Chester Morgan to gain access to records of her death, which are marked "accidental death-closed."
Chester spends valuable-billable time on the case to the despair of his helpmates, but each way he turns his way is blocked. In frustration he turns to the law and the courts.
This is were Mr. Burnett lifts a complex legal mystery above the ordinary. He executes a skill in turning 'the law' into a character in its own right. This technique is so exceptional it makes for fascinating reading.
Enjoy The Past Never Ends. It is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kindle.
Nash Black, author of Sandprints of Death.

Cover of Snow

Thriller, chiller, suspense, or literary mystery, it doesn't matter what genre it's finally labeled. Jenny Milchman's Cover of Snow will be one of the most talked about must reads of 2013. It is a unique debut novel that covers all the emotional bases with the sharp finesse of a seasoned craftsman.
Nora Hamilton endures her worst nightmares when she discovers her policeman husband's body. He hung himself after spending a never-to-be-forgotten evening making love to her. They were close and shared their lives with a deep understand of strength of their love for each other. His chosen career was on track and her small business was growing. Brendan had no reason to commit suicide.
Goaded out of her grief laden stupor by her sister Nora demands answers of those she has come to accept through Brendan as family and friends. Her faith in her husband is fractured when she begins to ferret out long held secrets that have held residents of Wedeskyull, NY in a morass of hatred and fear.
When the reader is presumptuous enough to anticipate a relationship or a result Ms. Milchman will execute a 300 degree turn toward the unexpected. Cover of Snow is not a thriller that travels previously explored roads, it's as treacherous as the ice and snow buried back roads that are never plowed in upstate New York. They are the perfect physical and symbolic enhancements of the storyline.

Cover of Snow will be released January 15, 2013 by Ballantine Books wherever books are sold. You can visit with Jenny on her website http://www.jennymilchman.com or contact her on Twitter @jennymilchman.
Nash Black, author of Sandprints of Death. 

Time of Death

Ellis Vidler's Time of Death had me hooked from the beginning because of an experience I shared with Alex Jenrette, the protagonist.
Not withstanding having a tree fall on your home and the displacement of its aftermath this second title that uses the psychic abilities of the McGuire women is excellent.
The terrorist tension Ms. Vidler creates with the murders, conflict of interest, budding romance and the well-crafted narrative makes a compelling read.
Alex, an artist, who has inherited psychic tendencies when violence is near her comes to the island home of her aunt, Isobel Devore.
Wanting to occupy her time recording the natural beauty of the protected landscape she takes her camera and sketchbook to the beach.
She climbs a tree to use an overhead perspective for her studies and becomes a hidden witness to a murder even she does not know has occurred, but her hands recognize violent death.
Alex's "gift" has brought her pain and trouble, but when a killer seeks to eliminate all witnesses her life and that of her beloved aunt are endangered. Her car is forced off the road and they are nearly killed. She garners her resources to fight back.
A failed marriage in her recent past protects her from the charm of a man she meets by chance. This is the one man she cannot have.
Connor Moran is a federal attorney who has been working for over a year to bring a man to justice. He will not jeopardize his case to listen to a woman, no matter how personally fascinating, who sees things.
Time of Death is a read that will keep you up at night turning the pages. It did me.
You can visit with Ellis Vidler at http://ellisvidler.com  or @EllisVidler on Twitter . Her good reads are available from Amazon.
Nash Black, author of Sandprints of Death.

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

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.

Dumpster Dying

Lesley A. Diehl's Dumpster Dying is a cozy/traditional mystery set in Florida's interior where cattle and cowboys are the treat of the day. No beach bikini bimbos or sand fleas, instead a fun mystery where the older generation must face their past to stop a killer and stay out of jail.
Emily Rhodes was all set to live out her golden years with Fred Costa, her long time companion when Fred went for a run from which he didn't return. Fred "the rat" never managed to write a new will and his ex-wife inherits their assets including a portion of Emily's down payment on their home.
To keep a roof over her head and pay the bills Emily acquires the skill of mixing drinks and takes a job at the local country club. She is taking out the trash when she discovers the body of Marcus Davey in the dumpster.
Snow bunnies are not welcome in rural Florida, their only value to the natives is what money they can be induced to part with before leaving.
Characters may be slightly stereotyped but they read like real people you'd meet in the grocery store or at the local watering hole.
Did I mention no psychics, no recovering drunks , no vampires, etc? Plain fun for a great read without of the quirks, but a well paced whodunit with a surprising twist. Maybe just a touch of romance, no bed of roses, but then no matter how sweet they smell roses have thorns.
Delight with Emily and her friends as they hunt for a killer before he finds them.
Nash Black, Sandprints of Death

Spycatcher

Matthew W. Dunn's Spycatcher is an espionage novel that reads like reading eye-witness newspaper reports from the Middle East.
Due to be released in July, Mr. Dunn brings years of experience in the field as an M16 operative who writes under his own name. Spycatcher is not a biography, but fiction that will keep you glued to you chair as Dunn sweeps you from Central Park across Europe and back again in an outstanding thriller of the dark side of undercover work.
Will Cochrane knows he must kill his contact to Iran before the man is captured and tortured to reveal secrets no man must divulge. The contact is not a friend in Will's friendless world, but his job and the safety of many others demands he must act with hesitation.
Will is wounded in the resulting gunfire and pulled from the fray in time to save his life. He awakens in a blank room and is confronted by a man who knows about his entire life. As they sit on the floor of a bare room Will knows the stranger must be a CIA operative who has a use for him outside of the conventional bonds of spying.
Patrick knows of his code name, Spartan. This is a position that can be held by no other man while he lives. His controller, Alistair is one of the most senior officials of M16. Only the British prime minster authorize the release this name. Patrick is a powerful and trusted man in the world of international intrigue.
Between Alistair and Patrick they send Will on a mission that will uncover his own past to flush out an operative high in the Iranian command to convince him to "betray" his country or die. Betrayal is a two-way street when power and wealth beyond imagination are at stake.
Spycatcher moves with the speed of jet planes and each character has an agenda that must be completed. The innocent become embroiled in the morass of empire decaying and rebuilding. No life is too valuable to be allowed to be a hindrance to success. I lost count of the bodies that fall across the landscape as Will endeavors to bring Megiddo out of hiding before he can complete his plans for world domination.
Nash Black, author of Sandprints of Death.

Sandprints of Death

Nash Black's Sandprints of Death opened to a five star review from Alina Holgate, a resident of Australia. I normally talk about other writer's work on Bird's Eye View, but this time I want to toot our own horn and share with you Alina's review.

"Set a While"

"The best thing about this book for this Australian was that reading it was like going on holiday. I was transported to an island off South Carolina, rich in unique history where various members and neighbors of the Young clan have congregated to lick their various wounds. A series of murders occurs on the island thus trapping them together. They are further trapped by the weather. In the course of dealing with these challenges the Youngs become integrated into the local community and the history of the Young clan and the island is revealed.
"The murder mystery, which is the occasion for all these different characters being thrown together in a particular locale, could have been more carefully plotted and its resolution seemed rushed. However the strength of the book is not a great murder mystery. The strength of the book is the beautifully drawn characters and their intricately portrayed clan stories that make you feel connected to them like family. The strength of the book is in the incredibly atmospherically drawn portrait of this island, its history, its inhabitants, and the constantly shifting mood ot the weather and the sea that seeps into our characters bones. The strength of this book is that it makes you want to set a while and just listen to the cadences of the stories and the voices in which they are expressed and watch as island life passes you by.
"I think if you like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: a Novel you would like this. It has a similar feel in terms of becoming drawn in to an isolated, self-reliant community of loveable people who have a tough life but who welcome the right kind of strangers into the fold.
My best recommendation is that I immediately rushed off to buy more of Nash Black's books. And there is a recipe at the end of this book that's worth the price of admission alone."

Thank you, thank you Alina.

Nash Black (Irene & Ford)

Traveling with Pomegranates

Sue Monk Kidd's Traveling with Pomegranates written with her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor is a writer's memoir about traveling (physical and metaphysical) and relationships.
This reader does not have children and does most of her traveling in an armchair, but the experiences of Ms. Kidd were easy to identify with from a writer's point of view.
Greece is their destination, both mother and daughter are caught up in the history and the myths of the islands as they explore the ruins. On the first journey they are locked within themselves as they attempt to make life changing decisions.
I read The Secret Life of Bees several years ago and as I read Ms. Kidd's narrative of the visceral development of the book I was tempted to retreat and read it for a second time now that I understand the nuisances of its development.
Their second trip to Greece is about the awakening of communication between the mother and daughter. The trip through France in search of the black Madonnas is fascinating from both an artistic and a cultural standpoint.
A good read at anytime, for any reason, and you don't have to agree with Ms. Kidd's conclusions to appreciate their expression.

Nash Black author of Sandprints of Death coming soon.

Tide Water Talisman

Glynn Marsh Alam's current addition to the Luanne Fogarty series is Tide Water Talisman.

A rag-taggle group of survivors from Hurricane Katrina have settled in an abandoned motel near the coast of North Florida. They eek out a substance existence the best way they can to survive while they put their lives back together.
Dorian Pasquin inveigles Mama of Mama's Table and Luanne to visit the site where one woman is busy cleaning to open a cafe offering Cajun and coastal foods for fisherman. Pasquin wants his ladies to help the woman and her family get established.

After a trip down the river, when they land on shore Pasquin must identify the body of his old friend, Jimpson who was found lying in his store. His death was not an accident and other boatmen disappear to turn up underwater as Luanne and her lover, Vernon search the depths of the river for clues as to what happened to the dead and why.

The huddle of hurricane survivors was never a community, but the fine threads that bind them together begin to unravel as no one can connect the living with the dead. Death has been their constant companion since the winds and water destroyed their lives.

Glynn Marsh Alam devises a mystery of originality and suspense with the honed craftsmanship of one who has lived with both the rivers and the swamps of Northern Florida. The characters she has develped through eight novels come alive before your eyes and they have no peer in crime fiction. The ambiance she concocts is complete down to the sweat and the mosquitoes of the Gulf Coast.
Visit award winning Glynn Marsh Alam at http://www.glynnmarshalam.com. Her books are available in Florida at independent book stores and on Amazon.com.

Nash Black, author of the forthcoming Sandprints of Death.