Saintly Remains

Tony Perona has stepped over to the dark side of the human experience with the forthcoming addition to his Nick Bertetto mystery series, Saintly Remains.

A shooting spree at the high school of Nick's wife, Joan leaves five students and the killers dead. The small town of Jasper, IN in shock and parents of all the young victims devastated.

Nick, Joan, and their daughter, Stephanie return for a well-earned vacation six months after the tragedy, but a residue of confusion and loss clouds their home coming.

When Joan's mother opens the back door for her cat Mr. Jangles, the horror is overwhelming; someone has skinned the pet and left him to die. While Nick and his mother-in-law are in the vet's office they learn of another mutilated pet in the neighborhood plus several dogs and cats who have disappeared. Nick vows he will find the vicious person who is practicing these vicious acts of cruelty on helpless victims. His search for the truth uncovers rumors of the existence of a Satanic cult, which emerged during the police investigation of the killings at the high school.

The reporter in Nick shouts "no" to coincidence.

The next blow to the close knit community comes when the body of the young girl who said she believed in Jesus before she died in the massacre is stolen from her grave. The grave has become a point of reverence as friends and believers leave tokens of faith, while her parents cope with pickers who are stealing their garbage to recover a possession of Keri's to sell on the illicit trade in saintly artifacts.

Are the seemingly random acts connected? The reporter in Nick again shouts "no" to coincidence.

Page after page will slip by as your eyes race across the type to follow the adroit narrative of Tony Perona as he covers a dark subject. Nick, his family, and friends dig deep to write the true story behind the deaths of Jasper's young citizens.

Who hides in the dark and commits acts of revenge against the unsuspecting? Who will kill and kill again to protect a deadly secret?

If you haven't met Nick Bertetto, a father who works from home and cares for his daughter while Joan follows her career try Saintly Remains, which will be available on March 17th on Amazon.com. Then you will want to go back and enjoy Second Advent and Angels Whisper for a good visit with a nice guy who gets a little help from above.

Visit with Tony at http://tonyperona.com/ to learn more about Nick Bertetto.

Nash Black, author of Indie finalists Writing as a Small Business and Haints.

Deadly Dues

Have you paid your dues? Lulu Malone's are paid-in-full, but that doesn't exempt her from greater hassles with Stan Pope, her repulsive union representative.

Linda Kupecek's new character in the annals of crime fiction will steal your heart from the first page of Deadly Dues. Clear space on your shelf for Lulu and her friends to reside when you want a break from the heavy noir/thrillers that are abundant in the current crime fiction scene.

This is a delightful caper filled with sly allusions to our current culture, which will have you laughing out loud. It is a world of label fashion where no actress can step out her door unless she is well shod, even if her shoes are bargain purchases from thrift and consignment shops. Lulu's condo (bought when she was in the money) is furnished in the same style, which now in her reduced circumstances she is slowly selling off to meet the cost of living until the next break comes along.

Lulu and four friends receive a call from Stan to meet to resolve their differences. When they reach his HAMS (Honourable Association of Minstrels and Singers) office, someone has been there before them and ended their controversy by knifing Stan in the back. Where he had planted his own invectives in theirs. This crew does not want to acknowledge they were near that office as they each had a motive for eliminating the decreased. They exit the scene, flee, and reconvene at Murphy's to plot their next next course of action.

For Lulu it gets worse as thugs and killers invade her home demanding "a key," but taking her dog. Bodies appear in Lulu's home, but Stan's body disappears. Who killed him and removed his body? Who is master minding the attacks on Lulu?

A girl can't even shop the mall without getting mauled.

Lulu Malone and her quirky actor friends are an excellent group to fill the shoes of the late Charlotte MacLeod and Donald E. Westlake in the realm of humorous mystery fiction. Lulu's next adventure is Trashing the Trailer.

Linda Kupecek is a Canadian author, a retired actress with a slew of credits to her name and she knows the world of which she writes.

Her books: Deadly Dues, Rebel Women: Achievements Beyond the Ordinary, Rebel Cook; Entertaining Advice for the Clueless and Fiction and Folly for the Festive Season are available on Amazon.

Deadly Dues is worth the purchase price of $9.95, it will last longer than Lulu's job at McDonald's.

Nash Black, author of Sins of the Fathers.

When Death Intervenes

L.C. Hayden's third addition to the Harry Bronson series, When Death Intervenes will keep you turning the pages to the satisfying conclusion.

Harry Bronson is a retired Dallas police detective who has promised his wife, Carol a real vacation vie their motor home. A campground is South Dakota leads to his downfall when he senses a fellow traveler is in deep trouble.

Linda Randig is running to protect her estranged son and her 18 month-old grandson from a ruthless killer who holds their lives in his hands unless she follows his instructions. Photographs of the accidents that killed her parents and husband's deaths were left at her home so Linda would know they were murdered. Harry is unable to let the desperate mother travel alone after finding tracking and listening devices in her coach.

Benjamin Carrier has a long history with the Dallas police department; he tricks Harry into sending his fingerprints to Mike Hoover. The former partners learn a vicious killer escaped death and is now leaving a trail of violence for them to follow in his brutal game.

The pace is swift as the body count builds to a frenzy, while Harry and Mike delve through a mass of lies and deception to discover Carrier's link to a multi-million dollar scam and blackmail. The threads of the plot wrap together to support a distinctive police procedural.

Look for When Death Intervenes by L.C. Hayden at bookstores everywhere and visit with the award nominated author at http://lchayden.com/.

Nash Black, author of Indie finalists Writing as a Small Business and Haints.

The Bone Chamber

Multiple award winning Robin Burcell's The Bone Chamber is a first class bone chilling romantic/suspense/thriller, which will keep you glue to each page.

Sydney Fitzpatrick is a forensic artist who is pulled from her last session at the FBI Academy and asked to take on a new assignment on the eve of a well deserved vacation with her family in San Francisco. Sydney doesn't want to job or the aggravation, but a friend invites her to dinner and persuades her to take the assignment.

It isn't until Sydney is finishing what seems to be a routine facial identification of a young women does Sydney learn her friend is dead. Dr. Natasha Gilbert was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. She is furious with Special Agent Zachary Griffin who kept the information from her. Who is Agent Griffin who can enter the portals of Quantico with impunity and change lives at his command?

Sydney is not without resources and investigates Agent Griffin, whose identity and employment circumstances become stranger and stranger. Fueled by her anger with him and her grief for Tasha, Sydney follows him to Rome and a case that is definitely not a vacation.

The sparks fly between Sydney and Zack, but neither has the time or inclination to indulge in personal affairs while they are fighting to stay alive. The twists and turns of plot and relationships will propell the reader the tombs of ancient slaves to the final page.

The Bone Chamber is title I acquired through Amazon's Vine Review program, which I consider worthy of a broader review. It is available in bookstores and online everywhere. Comments are welcome at Harper@harpercollins.com.

This review is in compliance with FTC rules of September, 09.

Nash Black, author of Indie finalists Writing as a Small Business and Haints.

The Crossing Places

I came across British author Elly Griffiths's The Crossing Places through the Amazon Vine program where I also write reviews for new books.

Seldom do I read a book from cover to cover at one sitting, but this cozy/suspense is a page turner from the first word.

Ruth Galloway is an archaeologists with a deep love for the lonely salt-marsh country where she did her early internship working on the resurrection of a henge. The mudflats, when the tide recedes reveal evidence of human activity back to the Iron Age.

A chance discovery of the bones of a child prompts Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson to ask for Ruth's help as to their identity. He is hoping they are the remains of a child who has been missing for ten years, but Ruth identifies the bones as those of a Bronze Age child who was allowed to die in a ritual sacrifice.

Since the kidnapping Detective Nelson has been taunted by letters as to the location of Lucy Downey's remain, but when another child goes missing the hunto is on by all parties to locate a killer before he can strike again.

With a masterful pen Ms. Griffiths creates word pictures to draw the reader into the bleakness of the English coast and the lives of her characters who populate the windswept Norfolk marshes. Each has a spark of life that shines through to enthrall the reader.

The Crossing Places is not Ms. Griffiths first novel, but it is the first in a new mystery series that will have this reader coming back for more. The book will be available on Amazon.com some time in the new year. Visit Elly Griffiths and Ruth at http://ruthgalloway.com/.

Nash Black, author of Indie finalists Writing as a Small Business and Haints.

Red's Hot Honky-Tonk Bar

Pamela Morsi's Red's Hot Honky-Tonk Bar is a May/December love story along the line's of Kirk Douglas's The Gift, but there the similarity ends.

Red Cullens has always done what she had to do to provide for herself and her illegitimate daughter, but this request could be more than she can handle.

Staff Sergeant Bridge Lujan is calling from Kabul. Her mother-in-law has had a major stroke, her ex-husband is in Korea, and there is no one else to care for her two children.

The last thing Red wants is to become an overnight grandmother to a ten and six-year-old. Red's home is not suitable for children. She lives in a small apartment above her bar where the jamming vibrates long into the night. She is a night person who sleeps during the day with her current "boy toy" lover who plays in the band. Besides, Cam isn't aware that the "hot mama" with flaming red hair down her back and skin tight jeans has family responsibilities.

Red admits Bridge raised herself while she was doing what she could to provide a roof over their heads and put food in their mouths. Bridge has been careful with her children and the advent of Red in their lives upsets their ordered existence. Daniel refuses to speak English, his sister tries to assume the burden of their care until their mother comes home, but Red will not shirk her duty.

Where does the role of room-mother, cookies & cupcakes fit into the life of a tavern owner who is watching the urban renewal progress of San Antonio consume her livelihood? The upper crust will never be the same when Red steps up to the plate.

Maybe getting what you never wanted is the best thing that ever happens to you, but it will take major adjustments on all sides before the matter reaches its conclusion.

Red's Hot Honky-Tonk Bar is the perfect romance to renew an interest in a genre filled to overflowing capacity with boy-meets-girl-happy-ever-after-tales. Its a great read with finely drawn flawed characters who will steal your heart.

Visit with Pamela Morsi at http://www.pamulamorsi.com and visit bookstores everywhere for Red's Hot Honky-Tonk Bar.

Nash Black, author of Sins of the Fathers and Qualifying Laps.

Merry, Merry Ghost

Carolyn Hart brings back the most delightful ghost in mystery land, Bailey Ruth Raeburn in Merry, Merry Ghost to decorate the season with fun and fantasy.

Bailey Ruth has a new assignment from the Department of Good Intentions: "to protect a little boy" from his greedy faux relatives.

A return trip from Heaven to Adelaide, OK during the holiday season is just the ticket Bailey Ruth has been anticipating. A short side trip to check on her children and she's off to do her duty to little Keith Flynn who has lost both his mother and father.

Keith is left on the doorstep of his grandmother's home; she was not aware of his existence, yet his papers prove he is the son of her estranged son, Michael.

His arrival is not greeted with joy from all the members of his grandmother's extended family and someone is willing to kill to prevent her from signing a new will in Keith's favor. It is up to Bailey Ruth to enlighten the authorities there has been a murder, bring the culprit to justice, and protect Keith's inheritance.

Merry, Merry Ghost is just the book to enjoy for yourself after all your holiday chores are finished and give to friends that deserve a bit of cheer on cold winter days.

Merry, Merry Ghost is available on line and at bookstores everywhere. Visit with numerous award winning author Carolyn Hart at http://www.carolynhart.com/.

Nash Black, author Indie finalists Writing as a Small Business and Haints.

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