Category: Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller Page 70 of 153

Pub Day Post: Famous in Cedarville by Erica Wright: Small Town Life and Hollywood Glamour Collide in this Mystery

By HCNewton

On October 22, 2019

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Famous in Cedarville

by Erica Wright

eARC, 320 pg.
Polis Books, 2019

Read: October 16, 2019

Reading this book made me think of that overused 90’s-era sitcom line: Who are you, and what have you done with Erica Wright? Famous in Cedarville and its protagonist, Samson Delaware are so far removed from Kat Stone and her world, it’s hard to believe they come from the same mind. That said, as much as I want to see more of Kat Stone, if Wright’s going to give us more like this? I won’t complain too loudly.

I’m getting ahead of myself, we should start with the beginning when Samson Delaware joins some fellow citizens of Cedarville, TN to carry the body of Barbara Lace from her home. Lace left her small town home at a young age to pursue fame and fortune in Hollywood. She found it, too—she wasn’t a superstar, she didn’t reach the heights of fame or craft; but she was someone that people all over the country knew. And the only person from Cedarville that anyone not from the area knew was alive. After decades in California, she retired from film and television and basically became a recluse.

Delaware is a carpenter and probably the area’s antiques expert. He appraises pieces, advises buyers, in addition to buying and restoring pieces to sell. While in Lace’s home, he can’t help himself from looking around more than he ought. While it’s nowhere near his expertise, something doesn’t seem right about the scene to him, and he starts to think that Lace didn’t die peacefully in her sleep.

A few days later, Lace’s personal assistant is murdered (no ambiguity about that one), leading Delaware to step up his unofficial investigation—which soon becomes official, as the local authority (note the singular, Cedarville is just that small) and State investigators are both stymied. The sheriff is desperate enough to grant official status to anyone who can help.

Looking into Lace’s murder takes Delaware on a journey through time and space—the key to it has to be in Lace’s past (she saw so few people recently, it has to be in the past). And Lace’s past is in Los Angeles, so Delaware heads out to L.A. to do some footwork and talk to those who knew the actress during her heyday (and after it, too).

Delaware’s own investigation pulls double duty—not only will it hopefully bring the community some answers about their favorite daughter, but it also distracts him from the all-consuming grief following his wife’s death. More than once, he has to wrestle with the question of whether he’s pursuing justice for justice’s sake or if it’s because it helps him not deal with his wife’s death.

As its protagonist looks into a by-gone era of film, the novel takes on the feel and atmosphere of that era while retaining a feeling of fresh and contemporary. Don’t ask me how Wright does that, but it’s great to see it done. Beyond that, there’s a depth to the emotion and characters that you don’t see every day. It’d be easy to argue that Delaware coming to grips (in whatever way he does) to his current state, how he got there and where he’s going is more important to the novel than showing what happened to Lace and her assistant (it’d be easy to argue against it, too, but that’s my point).

I’m not doing a good job describing how different this book comes across—not just from Wright’s previous work, but from most of what’s out there in the genre at the moment. Hopefully, others can articulate it—I’m confident any reader will feel what I’m getting at.

There were two distinct “What the —!?!” moments (there are a few more surprises, but two that you won’t forget soon). One of which, technically, is the result of Wright cheating. But it’s such a cool development and Wright reveals it so deftly that I couldn’t complain. The other one was completely honest and caught me completely flat-footed. Far from clearing everything up, both of these added layers and complexity to this already intricate plot.

A complex mystery, rich characters (I don’t have time to talk about Lace’s long-time agent or the people of Cedarville), a nostalgic yet timely feeling novel that looks to Hollywood’s glamorous past and the very human, very real present. Wright knocks this one out of the park and will earn herself some new fans with this one.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Polis Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

4 Stars

The Dead Don’t Sleep by Steven Max Russo: No need to teach these old dogs any new tricks

By HCNewton

On October 21, 2019

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Dead Dont Sleep

by Steven Max Russo

eARC, 292 pg.
Down & Out Books, 2019

Read: October 11-14, 2019

This is one of those thrillers that within a chapter or three, you know pretty much how things are going to go for the rest of the book. That’s me being descriptive, not evaluating anything. There’s nothing wrong with this type of thriller—the fun is in seeing the author execute what you know (and think you know) is coming, and just what kind of surprise is in store for the ending. It’s like playing Mousetrap—everyone knows what’s going to happen when you start the machine going, it’s still fun to watch (see also almost every functional Rube Goldberg machine).

That said, there was one death/serious injury that I predicted at least three different times in my notes (one “he” was ambiguous, I really need to be more specific) that didn’t happen and another that I fully expected that didn’t materialize. So I’m not saying that Russo didn’t have any tricks up his sleeve—there were more than those, too. It’s just that on the whole, you know what this book is going to give you pretty soon (see also: just about every Jack Reacher novel).

So what is this set up?

Frank Thompson’s wife died pretty recently, and he’s not dealing well with the loss. After holing up by himself for a while, he visits a nephew (Bill) in New Jersey—really, his first social contact after her death. Frank’s getting up in years himself, but he’s doing pretty well, all things considered.

Frank and Bill go to the shooting range one day. While there, someone confronts Frank, claiming they know each other—Frank pleads ignorance (a white lie), but the stranger soon figures out who he is. They knew each other back in Vietnam while part of a special combat unit. The stranger (Jasper) and his friends are convinced that Frank did a bad thing to one of their own back in ‘Nam. Frank wouldn’t argue with them, but they all were involved in doing very bad things (as they were ordered to), he’d add. Besides, that was a lifetime ago, and he, Jasper and the rest of the unit have all moved on to civilian life and put those atrocities behind them.

If that were true, this would be a much shorter book. Thankfully for us readers, Jasper and his friends carry a grudge. Two of them—Birdie and Pogo (no, really)—are nearby and available. So after Frank goes home to his house on the outskirts of a small Maine town, the three of them head up to pay him a visit. And it ain’t a social call.

Frank knows that Jasper and others (no idea how many others) are coming, and takes steps to prepare. And then the fecal matter hits the rotary impeller.

That’s a little more long-winded than I’d intended, but I haven’t given too much away. So basically, you’ve got 4 septuagenarians carrying small arsenals in the Maine woods drawing on the training they all received decades ago (one or two of them may have been keeping those skills sharp, but that’s beside the point). None of these guys are in their prime anymore, and more than once I wondered if natural causes would beat an act of violence to the punch (I won’t say if I was right).

Don’t go thinking that this is any kind of comic novel—it’s not Grumpy Old Men III: Locked and Loaded, these are hard men doing violent things. After the trio arrives in Maine, the questions that need to be answered are: how many of these four are going to walk away from this showdown, and what kind of collateral damage will there be?

Not all the characters are as well-rounded as they could be, but they’re all close enough that no one’s going to complain—especially when the action kicks in. You can’t say there are really good guys or bad guys here. Well, that’s not true—there are bad guys and some less-bad guys. No one wears a white hat in this book (at least not those at the center of the action), the hats are all black or dark gray.

This next paragraph contains a spoiler—or something spoiler-adjacent. Feel free to skip it and move on.
There’s a [insert your own Latin-y word here] ex machina element to the last action scene of this novel. I don’t think it was necessary (they almost never are), and a resolution was still possible that would’ve satisfied novels without it. The more that I think about it, what that element means for Frank’s world is pretty disturbing—more than anything else that happened in the book, really. As I write this, it occurs to me that if there’s a sequel, this element is likely going to play a central role, and I’ll retract the last 97 words. Still, I’d have liked to have seen things play out without the ex machina. But that could just be me.
Back to the no-spoiler zone:

This is the kind of thing that should appeal to fans of Gregg Hurwitz, Brad Meltzer, Joseph Finder or others in that vein. The pacing is tight, the action scenes are well-handled, and the tension is real. This is a great way to spend a couple of hours with some good escapist reading. It’s possible (probable?) for Russo to return to the survivors for a sequel—if he does, I’ll be at the front of the line for it.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Down & Out Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this ride.

3.5 Stars

A Few Quick Questions With…F J Curlew

By HCNewton

On October 17, 2019

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

I appreciate Curlew taking the time to do this Q&A, I hope you enjoy it and she says something to tempt you to give her work a try. I didn’t ask her everything I wanted to, because it would’ve spoiled things for the rest of you (and, frankly, I need the mystery).

Tell us about your road to publication — was your plan/dream always to become a novelist and your education/other jobs were just to get you to this point, or was this a later-in-life desire?

I would love to be able to say that I had always dreamed of being a writer, but no. I was a primary school teacher who had barely enough energy to read at the end of the day, let alone write! I got sick, could no longer work, but was determined not to allow that to take over my life. I decided to study creative writing at the Open University, predominantly to keep my brain active. I found out that I was quite good at it and completed the standard and advanced courses with distinctions. I haven’t stopped since. Not only has writing given me a purpose, I also absolutely love it. Whatever else is going on in my life my stories can take me away to places of my imagination. How fantastic is that? I can’t not write!

I don’t want to ask “where do you get your ideas?” But out of all the ideas floating around in your head, why’d you latch onto this one — what was it about these characters, this idea that drove you to commit months/years to it?

I lived in Ukraine for four years and was left with so many stories, feelings, experiences. To say the country touched me would be an understatement. I used what I had seen and heard to write some short stories for my OU coursework.They were well received and I knew there was more to come. A novel was scratching away at me. In Kyiv I had met, and spent time with, quite a few street-kids. Two of them have haunted me ever since – the two who would become Sasha and Alyona in the story. Their lives were…awful, and yet they had this innocence and grace to them. I placed them in a feasable scenario around which I could write a thriller and sprinkled them with a little bit of magic because I felt they deserved it. I hope my story has done them justice.

The Holodomor provides a lot of background to one of the stories here. As I told you before, this is the second book I’ve read this year influenced by that. You have a character say why we don’t know much about it in the West – could you tell us a little more about our lack of awareness about it, and why it captured your attention?

The Holodomor was something that Stalin wouldn’t show to the West, or own up to. It didn’t happen. It was all lies. And that carried on through the subsequent Soviet years. Anti-soviet propoganda would result in a stint in the gulags or death. Best to keep quiet. Despite having lived there I hadn’t heard of it myself. It wasn’t until I was researching more about the lives of Ukrainian street-kids on You-tube that I came across the Holodomor. I was horrified. My social conscience is strong and I am politically motivated. Of course I had to use it! It wasn’t until 2006 that the Ukrainian parliament recognised the Holodomor as a deliberate act of genocide. There is now a Holodomor monument in Kyiv.

What kinds of research went into the construction of this concept and the world? What was the thing you came across in your research that you loved, but just couldn’t figure out how to use? (assuming there was one)

A good deal of the events are actually based on things that I had first hand experience of, or stories I had been told. Of course there was also a hefty amount of research done. I read accounts of the Holodomor, Misha Glenny’s non-fiction book “McMafia” helped greatly with facts about the Mafia, and I spent hours trolling through videos and news clips about all things Ukrainian. I read Shevchenko and listened to Yarmak (Ukrainian rap) to get me in Ukrainian mode. There actually wasn’t anything I came across and loved that I couldn’t use, except perhaps a horse-riding, sword-yielding Cossack!

(yeah, that’d have been hard to fit in)

Who are some of your major influences? (whether or not you think those influences can be seen in your work — you know they’re there)

Andrei Makine, Leif Davidsen, Sofi Oksanen. Of course there are many others, but for Eastern European stories, definitely them!

One of the things I appreciated most about the cast of characters was Maggie. Most books like this would have Nadia befriend a fun-loving local woman, instead, you provide her an Austrialian friend. Can you tell us anything about that choice (or anything else you want ot say about Maggie)?

Ah, Maggie! I hadn’t factored her into the story at all to begin with. Planning isn’t something I do very much of as I prefer my stories to unfold as I write; my characters to lead the way. Maggie popped up and said, “Hey! Over here! Write me!” She was a lot of fun to work with. A wise woman who lives life to the fullest and offers her own unique perspective on everything from men to politics. I think it was important for Nadia to be able to have that in this story. A friend, a confidante, an opposite. Someone to guide her strength to the surface. The expat in her becomes a core element of the story. A local wouldn’t have had the same impact.

What’s next for F. J. Curlew?

I seem to be working my way through the countries I have lived in! I am currently writing a novel involving Estonia’s journey from Independence to Soviet occupation and back to independence again. It’s quite a challenge because Estonia is important to me. I lived there for seven years and I love the wee place. I want, no need, to do it justice. Suffice to say hefty amounts of research are being done. My central characters are an old lady and a young drug addict. That’s all I can say for now!

Thanks for your time—and thanks for Don’t Get Involved, I enjoyed it, and hope you have plenty of success with it.

My thanks to F J Curlew for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book) provided for it.

Don’t Get Involved by F J Curlew: Hardship and Joy in Kyiv

By HCNewton

On October 17, 2019

In Book Tour, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Don’t Get Involved

by F J Curlew

Kindle Edition, 255 pg.
2019

Read: October 7-9, 2019

…Are you okay?’

‘I will be. The first layer of gauze has been wrapped around the pain.’

‘Gauze?’

‘Grandpa said that grief was like a wound. Time was like a dressing. A piece of gauze. At first the blood, the pain, flows through. Then, as the dressing gets thicker and stronger the flow stems, until it can no longer be seen. Sometimes a scab breaks. The blood seeps through again with a memory, but the dressing holds. With time.’

This book Kyiv, Ukraine in 2001, a time of unrest and change. The author lived there for awhile in 2001, and found her inspiration from that experience for this book. That gives it a level of authority, confidence, and authenticity than would probably have been present otherwise.

There are two stories that run throughout this book—there’s a little bit of overlap here and there, but primarily, they’re independent. The first of these focuses on three street kids (beggars) who come into possession of a very large amount of a controlled substance. This is easily one of the biggest things to happen in their young lives and will have a significant voice about whether they escape this life they’re in or find themselves in something worse.

The other storyline focuses on a Scottish teacher, Nadia, who has just arrived to help meet the large educational meet they have. The tone and overall feel of this storyline is so different than the other that you may find yourself wondering why they’re in the same novel—but given a little patience, you’ll see why. Nadia is befriended by an Australian teacher in Kyiv for the same reason and she meets and is pursued a young Ukrainian man with plenty of charm.

It’s not easy to see where this gives you a Crime Novel, but there is one here—just not the kind anyone’s used to. I’m not sure I’d have given it that label, probably opting for “General Fiction” instead, but that’s the way it’s being marketed, and I can see it. There’s also a flash of magical realism or fantasy (I could make the case for either label) but there’s a foundation laid for it so that when the flash comes, it’s easy to accept. This is typically the kind of thing that annoys me in Crime Fiction, but Curlew prepares for it well—and it’s such a nice way for things to go, that I enjoyed it.

Back in February, I blogged about Seraphina’s Lament by Sarah Chorn. It’s a fantasy novel and nothing like this book at all. But much of it was inspired by the Holodomor—a genocide that took place in Ukraine in the 1930’s. Part of Don’t Get Involved‘s narrative is shaped by and reacts to the Holodomor. I never would have predicted that I’d read one book exposing me to this horrific time this year, much less, two widely divergent works. I’d be glad for this book for this reason alone.

None of these characters have easy lives—even those that chose to be in Kyiv. But there are moments of lightness and joy for all of them, as well as darker realities. It’s a good reminder that there is joy to be found in all kinds of circumstances if you will look for them. One of the kids, in particular, is gifted at this.

There is one sex scene that is longer and far more detailed than is necessary, but otherwise, Curlew will let that happen behind closed doors. There are suggestions and hints about child prostitution, but nothing explicit—this is not done for exploitation, but to show the harsh conditions and the extreme actions these kids have to take to survive.

I will admit that I spent a lot of time early on wondering why I was reading this novel, while I liked the characters and was curious about their lives, I just didn’t get the book. But it grew on me slowly and without me really noticing. Ultimately, I found it to be pretty effective and affecting and I was wholly invested in it. I’m not entirely certain I liked the way the storylines resolved, but that’s just taste—and I’m pretty sure I would’ve complained if she’d gone that way.

I ended up enjoying this novel a lot more—and in more ways—than I expected to early on. The setting, characters and story are just different enough from what I usually get that I think it’ll stick with me longer than some novels, too. I do recommend this to readers of all types for a change of pace and an exposure to things you won’t easily find elsewhere.

3.5 Stars

My thanks to F J Curlew for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book) provided for it.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Don’t Get Involved by F J Curlew

By HCNewton

On October 17, 2019

In Book Tour, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Today I welcome the Book Tour for the XXX Don’t Get Involved by F J Curlew. Along with this spotlight post, I’ll be giving my take on the novel here in a bit, and then I’ll be posting a Q&A with the author. But before I get to talking about Don’t Get Involved, let’s start by learning a little about this here book, okay? Be sure you scroll down to the bottom of this post for details on the Giveaway!

Book Details:

Book Title: Don’t Get Involved by F J Curlew
Release date: October 6, 2019
Format: Ebook/Paperback
Length: 255 pages

Book Blurb:

A missing shipment of cocaine
Three street-kids fighting for their lives
A Mafia hitman intent on killing them
A naïve expat who gets in their way
Who would you bet on?

Ukraine, 2001. A time of lawlessness and corruption. Three street-kids stumble upon a holdall full of cocaine, belonging to the Mafia. Mafia hitman, Leonid, is given the job of retrieving the cocaine and disposing of the street-kids. To do so he is forced to step back into his old life and he doesn’t like it. The children run on their wits. Leonid hunts them down. Nadia, a young woman with her own dark past, arrives in Ukraine looking for a fresh start. She wasn’t expecting this!

“She had no idea of what, or who, she was supposed to be running from. Right now everything was a threat. Definitely militsiya, but who else? Everyone. Right now it felt like everyone.”

About F J Curlew:

Fiona spent fifteen years working as an international school teacher, predominantly in Eastern Europe. Much of her inspiration comes from her travels. Her writing has been described as, “Human experience impacted upon by political situation, interwoven with a love of nature.”

She now lives on the East Coast of Scotland with Brockie the Springer, and Fingal the rescued Portuguese street-cat. Her days are divided between dog-walking in beautiful places and working on her stories. Not a bad life!

Don’t Get Involved is her third book.

Links:

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Website

F J Curlew’s Books:

Don’t Get Involved ~ Dan Knew (a fictionalised account of her travels told through the eyes of Dani, her Ukrainian rescue dog) ~ To Retribution (a love story set in times of turmoil)

My thanks to F J Curlew for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book) provided for it.

Pub Day Repost: Ghosts of You by Cathy Ulrich: The thing about murder victims is . . .

By HCNewton

On October 15, 2019

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Ghosts of You

by Cathy Ulrich

eARC, 150 pg.
Okay Donkey Press, 2019

Read: September 23-30, 2019

This collection of 31 pieces of flash fiction shouldn’t work. This is probably not the sentence that the author and her publicist want me to start with, but hear me out. It shouldn’t, but it does.

Why shouldn’t it work? For starters, each story has essentially the same title. “Being the Murdered _____.” Earle Stanley Gardner got away with it, as did Lilian Jackson Braun—but I can’t see how anyone else does. Add Ulrich to the list.

Secondly, each story starts with the same sentence:

The thing about being the murdered [word/phrase from title] is you set the plot in motion.

Outside of “Once Upon a Time,” that should not be done (it’s arguable that it shouldn’t be done there, either). But it does work.

From these nearly identical launching pads, Ulrich spins 31 incredibly distinctive tales about what happens after various women are murdered. I should probably clarify a bit, about what I mean about the various women (and the blanks above). These stories focus on people like the murdered Girl, Wife, Lover, Homecoming Queen, Babysitter, Mother, Extra, Jogger—mostly the kinds of women you read about/see in the beginning of a murder mystery. Ulrich also goes for some unexpected types, e.g.: Politician, Mermaid, Muse, Chanteuse (she probably deserves extra points for using that word in the Twenty-First Century), and Taxidermist.

Their murders change the lives of those around them, those who knew them, knew of them, investigated their deaths both immediately and for years to come.

Now, as the word “plot” in the topic sentences indicates, these are primarily reactions to/depictions of/commentaries on the way that the homicides of fictional women are portrayed in Crime Fiction (or even “Literary” Fiction), TV, Movies, etc. I think it has a lot to say about those depictions, but I think there are a lot of weaknesses to Ulrich’s approach, too. Too often, her critiques are overgeneralized, inflammatory and outdated—while retaining a kernel worth chewing on.

Thankfully, the book is about more than that (or I’m not sure I’d have bothered to finish it). I frequently felt like my reaction to the stories was not what it was intended to be. When she’s telling a story (as abbreviated as they are), describing human reactions to situations that “tragic” doesn’t quite begin to apply to—these pieces shine. For someone who shuns self-help books, I’ve read a lot about grief in the last couple of years—these stories contain some of the best portrayals of it in all its varied expressions—that I can remember. If your heart doesn’t break a little at least twice while going through this collection, you need to go listen to some community singing in Whoville, so they can help yours grow.

Beyond that, there’s the obvious strength of the economy of words here—these stories are lean, without a wasted word, and are pound-for-pound some of the most effective stories I’ve read this year.

As with any collection, there are stronger pieces and weaker pieces—some that will satisfy some and other readers will be stupefied by or indifferent to the same ones. I do think there’s a better hit to miss ratio in this collection than I’m used to. For what it’s worth, “Being the Murdered Bride”, “Being the Murdered Student” and “Being the Murdered Mama” were the high-points for me.

While these are all very different (Ulrich almost never plays the same note twice), I don’t recommend reading too many in one sitting (I limited myself to three at a time, for example)—beyond that, you risk robbing them of their impact.

I heartily recommend this collection that works far better than it should. It’ll cause you to stop and think, stop and feel, and hopefully change your perspective on a few things.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from the author via Lori @ TNBBC Publicity in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

4 Stars

The Dead of Winter by A. B. Gibson: A Creepy Tale Perfect for October Reading

By HCNewton

On October 15, 2019

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Dead of Winter

by A. B. Gibson

Kindle Edition, 154 pg.
Consolidated Gibson, 2017

Read: October 10-11, 2019

I’m going to preface this post with this: The Dead of Winter is not my kind of book. That’s not an evaluative statement—I didn’t read the blurb as carefully as I should’ve, it’s just not the kind of thing I’d typically read. Like collections of haiku, Amish Romances, or Military Fiction. Given that, take what I’m going to say with the appropriately-sized portion of salt, it’s probably better than I think it is.

When I was in junior high/high school, I remembered we’d frequently find ourselves watching some Horror/Thriller kind of movie where a handful of teens/young adults would go on a trip, find themselves in a remote area being terrorized/hunted/killed by locals. Sometimes they’d get away (sometimes they wouldn’t); sometimes they’d stop the locals (sometimes they wouldn’t); more often than not, it’d be a mixture of the two and any victory would be Pyrrhic.

In this case, we have 5 twenty-somethings who agree to meet at the Pumpkin Patch Bed and Breakfast for a weekend of picking apples and pumpkins and having fun with hayrides and the Giant Corn Maze.

One of their number (the one who was supposed to arrive first), isn’t around when the others check-in, they assume she’s uncharacteristically decided to not come at the last minute. Then another guest comes to them with a warning about strange happenings and disappearances around the B&B, which they just laugh off. The hayride features some horror F/X that’s disturbingly real and the scarecrows are dressed really fashionably.

Which gets the friends set on edge and starting to wonder if the other guest was on to something—if only she hadn’t left in the middle of the night so they could ask her some questions.

Before they realize what’s happening, the four are separated and largely isolated; Ma and Pa seem to be less hospitable and down-homey; and their children are less eccentric and not-well-socialized and more menacing and disturbing. Things get worse from there.

The plot was at the same time exactly what you know it’s going to be, yet it kept going in unexpected directions with unexpected results. It plays to the conventions of the genre but not always in the ways you’d predict.

The young professionals and other guests weren’t as fleshed out and developed as you might hope—but they don’t need to be for this kind of story. Their antagonists aren’t either, but they are more multifaceted and are the embodiment of hazardous. Which is exactly what you want.

As I said, the book was never really going to work for me. But it kept me engaged, kept me turning the pages, and kept me wondering just how messed up the ending was going to be (the answer: very). The Dead of Winter didn’t make a fan out of me, but I can easily see where it’d make fans of many other people. I hope it finds its audience—and if you’re the kind of reader who likes this sort of story, you should really give it a shot.

3 Stars
—
My thanks to Love Books Group for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book) they provided.

EXCERPT from The Dead of Winter by A. B. Gibson

By HCNewton

On October 15, 2019

In Book Tour, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Quotations

PROLOGUE

STILL FOLLOWING. SHE KNEW BECAUSE when she stopped to check a moment or two ago, she could still hear him chasing her. She was hardly making any noise as she raced through the cut paths of the maze, but her predator was barreling directly through the corn and his heavy boots made a loud crunching. The snapping and rattling sound following in his wake as he crashed through the dry, brittle corn stalks was terrifying. And, because it was becoming louder, she could tell he was getting closer.

The woman had rushed into the maze too quickly to even notice what direction she was going. She was paying more attention to the gash in her ribs than anything else, and she didn’t care about finding their so-called exit, anyway. She only wanted one thing—out. The first frost came early, and there had been a few more since, and the icy turns made it hard to go fast. The sun, which was just beginning to rise, barely illuminated the paths. But she couldn’t slow down, and she dared not fall.

A treetop loomed over the field straight ahead, and she used it as a reference point, when the only choice was to go left or right. Without breaking stride, she followed her instinct and turned left this time, thinking if she kept changing directions, maybe she could lose him. Her legs wobbled from speed and exhaustion, and she choked on the biting wind that stirred the corn stalks. By now she had lost a lot of blood from her deep wound and she was feeling faint, so she had to dig in mentally to keep running at full speed.

Read the rest in The Dead of Winter by A. B. Gibson.

My thanks to Love Books Group for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book) they provided.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Dead of Winter by A. B. Gibson

By HCNewton

On October 15, 2019

In Book Tour, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Today I welcome the Book Tour for the seasonably creepy and unsettling The Dead of Winter by A. B. Gibson. Along with this spotlight post, I’ve got an excerpt to share, and then I’ll be giving my take on the novel here in a bit. But before I get to talking about the book, let’s start by learning a little about this here book, okay?

Book Details:

Book Title: The Dead of Winter by A. B. Gibson
Release date: September 30, 2017
Format: Ebook/Paperback/Hardcover/Audiobook
Length: 154 pages

Book Blurb:

Four young professionals pick the wrong weekend to visit a popular Pumpkin Patch Bed and Breakfast. It’s the last day of the season, and the weather and the farm are picture-perfect. Ma and Pa Winter are the consummate hosts, and they immediately win over Dillon, Tara, Josh and Julia with their homespun authenticity. Like the thousands of other visitors to Winters Farm and Orchard, the four are eager to pick apples and pumpkins and take the challenge of the Giant Corn Maze. But Ma Winter has other plans. A scary moonlight hayride spirals into a frantic twenty-four hours of deception and mayhem, and the group find themselves unwilling participants in a horrific family tradition.

Book Trailer:

About A. B. Gibson:

A. B. Gibson has lived a wondrous life jam-packed with exotic adventures, unusual living spaces, and terrific friends. A brief stint as a copywriter led to an exciting lifelong career in advertising. For many years, Alan and his partner lived with their dogs in a rambling old farmhouse in the middle of an apple orchard, surrounded by a giant corn maze. Sometimes at night neighbors complained of noisy chainsaws, but any further similarity with Ma and Pa Winters’ operation is, of course, purely coincidental.

A. B. Gibson’s Social Media:

Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Website

My thanks to Love Books Group for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book) they provided.

Universal Monster Book Tag

By HCNewton

On October 11, 2019

In A. Lee Martinez, Book Tag, Books, Constance Verity, Fantasy, Fiction, Ian Patrick, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin, News/Misc., Rex Stout, Robert B. Parker, Sam Batford, Science Fiction, Seanan McGuire, Spenser, Wayward Children

Witty and Sarcastic Book Club tagged me in her little creation—a tag based on Universal’s Classic Movie Monsters. There’s a lot of recency bias in my pics, but oh well—I liked the list. I really need to do more things like this, it was fun.

While trying to come up with the last couple of entries for this, I took a Facebook break and read a couple of posts on a Nero Wolfe fan group, and realized I could fill my blanks from that Corpus. Then it occurred to me that I could do one of these with entries only from the Nero Wolfe series. Or, the Spenser series. Huh. (I’d have trouble with some other series depending how you define “sequel” below). Watch me control the impulse.

bullet Dracula: a book with a charismatic villain

My Pick: Gotta go with Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, every other charismatic villain I can think of pales in comparison.
Bonus Nero Wolfe Pick: (yeah, so much for restraint—this was a fun additional challenge) Paul Chapin in The League of Frightened Men (my post about the book)
Bonus Spenser Pick: The Gray Man in Small Vices

bullet The Invisible Man: A book that has more going on than meets the eye

My Pick: The Last Adventure of Constance Verity by A. Lee Martinez (my post about the book)
Bonus Nero Wolfe Pick: Even in the Best Families
Bonus Spenser Pick: Early Autumn

bullet Wolf-Man: A complicated character

My Pick: Doc Slidesmith in Needle Song (my post about the book)
Bonus Nero Wolfe Pick: Can I just use Nero Wolfe? Eh, Orrie Cather in A Family Affair
Bonus Spenser Pick: Patricia Utley in Mortal Stakes

bullet Frankenstein: A book with a misunderstood character

My Pick: The Luidaeg in The Unkindest Tide by Seanan McGuire (my post about the book)
Bonus Nero Wolfe Pick: Over My Dead Body (my post about the book)
Bonus Spenser Pick: Hawk, A Promised Land

bullet The Bride of Frankenstein: A sequel you enjoyed more than the first book

My Pick: Stoned Love by Ian Patrick (my post about the book)
Bonus Nero Wolfe Pick: The League of Frightened Men (yeah, that’s the second time this shows up, but it’s the sequel…) (my post about the book)
Bonus Spenser Pick: God Bless the Child

bullet Creature from the Black Lagoon: An incredibly unique book

(there’s a better cover now, but this is the first)

My Pick: A Star-Reckoner’s Lot by Darrell Drake (my post about the book)
Bonus Nero Wolfe Pick: Some Buried Ceasar (my post about the book)
Bonus Spenser Pick: A Savage Place

bullet The Mummy: A book that wraps up nicely (see what I did there?)

My Pick: Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (my post about the book)
Bonus Nero Wolfe Pick: This applies to almost every one of them, I’m going to go with The Doorbell Rang
Bonus Spenser Pick: The Judas Goat

I’m not going to tag anyone, but I’d encourage any reader to give it a shot. I’d like to see your lists.

Also, I’ve been thinking for awhile I needed to do a re-read of the Spenser series. This post has convinced me I really need to get on that.