Radio Rage
by Ron Danklefs
Writers Club Press, 2001
www.iuniverse.com
Thriller/Suspense
Paperback 175 pages
ISBN 0-595-08975-5 $12.95
Setting: San Francisco
Someone is attacking "different" people in San Francisco, and Benny Taylor is not going to take it. This is the premise behind Radio Rage, a novel of suspense written by first-time author Ron Danklefs. Benny Taylor is an old-school hippie with a deep love of pot and everything San Francisco stands for. When someone begins attacking those who make San Fran special, Benny notices a connection between the notes he leaves behind and the ranting of Chris Kodiak, a nationally syndicated radio host who hates everything not "middle America." After the attacker focuses on Benny's ex-fiancé (and lost love) Janet Stewart, he can't hold himself back any longer. Benny decides to take on this mystery attacker, and to try and figure out his connection to America's most vocal conservative.
Radio Rage has a great premise and intriguing plot; unfortunately, the characterizations and dialogue leave something to be desired. The dialogue seems contrived and stiff at times, and some of the phrasing is awkward, causing the reader to stumble and move outside the story, even if for only a moment. The characterizations of Benny and Chris are more like caricatures rather than fleshed-out characters. Benny is the pot-smoking hippie who only works temp jobs; Chris is the fat bully who lashes out at everyone.
Bottom Line: A good plot with less than stellar character development, Radio Rage is less of a rage, and more like a temper-tantrum.
--2 out of 5 stars
--Elizabeth Westlake, Gotta Write Network reviewer
5/13/2002
Two
Sisters and Louis Kincaid
An Interview with the author PJ Parrish
HOST WRTR Pale and I were conducting our Writer to Writer chat
on AOL as usual one Tuesday. As always when the chat flow is stable I glance
over to the "who is in the room" box. One name among our guests looked pretty
familiar. I tried to place the name PJParish and it finally hit me. Hadn't
I just seen a PJ Parrish book behind the Barnes and Noble counter that day?
So I got brave and checked out the AOL member directory profile on PJ and
sure enough, it was the author herself. Actually, it was one of the
authors.
Kristy Montee and her sister Kelly Montee wrote "Dead of Winter," published
in Jan. 2001 by Pinnacle. Not your average thriller, it follows Detective
Louis Kincaid as he leaves his haunting past behind him to a new life in
the tourist town of Loon Lake, Michigan. Problem is he dives into another
investigation that leads him to one body after another and they aren't warm.
The killer can be anyone. It's a mystery.
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Kelly and Kristy went their separate
ways in college. Kristy graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a
teaching degree, but focused on Journalism instead. She was a police reporter
and the features editor for the Southfield and Birmingham Eccentric newspaper
chain in suburban Detroit. After moving to South Florida in 1973, she became
a reporter, editor and eventually an assistant managing editor for the
Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. She also served as a dance critic for 18
years before leaving Journalism in 1985 to write fulltime. She currently
lives in Fort Lauderdale with her husband, Daniel, who is a deputy managing
editor with the Sentinel. According to her sister, when Kristy's not writing
she's trying to "tame her jungle garden" and learn how to play the piano.
As for Kelly, she attended Northern Michigan University in the state's remote
Upper Peninsula. She moved to Arizona and later settled in Laughlin, Nevada.
For the last 15 years, she worked in the gaming industry "doing everything
from tending bar to dealing blackjack." Several years ago, she moved to
Philadelphia, Mississippi where she's employed in the human relations department
of a Native American casino. She's just relocated outside of Memphis. When
she's not at work, she's taking classes in criminology or spending time with
her two daughters, son and three grandchildren.
Kristy and Kelly are currently trying to meet their publishers' deadlines
for their third and fourth Louid Kincaid novels and working on a second series
set in the Las Vegas' casino world featuring a female detective.
Time to learn about Kelly, Kristy and the man they call Louis Kincaid.
Denise: Did you feel that if you combined your skills you would be increasing
your writing capabilities? How does your writing schedule work for both of
you?
Kelly: Combining talents was the best thing we ever did. On the advice of
our agent-then her agent-Kris decided to tackle mystery/thrillers. It's a
tough jump for most people to change genres, so she contacted Kelly, who,
in addition to her desire to write herself, had some law enforcement contracts
and a major interest in cops and what they do.
Denise: Have you always been followers of fast-paced thrillers?
Kelly: Kris prefers a slower-paced mystery and heralds Joyce Carol Oates
as her favorite. I lean toward the quick read, ala John Sandford and in past
years, Sidney Sheldon. But that's for reading. In our books, we work hard
to make them page turners, but we place great emphasis on other aspects of
the book as well.
Denise: How did two nice sisters create soul-deep fear in the tourist town
of Loon Lake, Michigan? In a book, of course.
Kelly: We're so glad you asked. You must have felt the fear. It's difficult
to say exactly how an atmosphere is created. It's done with a phrase…a
character's actions..or often in the subtle things, like the weather or an
animal. And it builds. We get many comments on the atmosphere created in
"Dead of Winter" and are pleased our readers felt the 'chill.'
Denise: Tell us about your killer and what's driving him to commit crime
after crime.
Kelly: That's difficult to answer without giving something away. We will
tell you all our villains are three-dimensional and we hope our readers,
while not necessarily finding sympathy with them, will at least understand
a bit of the 'why' behind their crimes.
Denise: So Detective Louis Kincaid has come to Loon Lake hoping to forget
all the horrors of his past. Wrong move, huh?
Kelly: It certainly was. Louis will travel a common road throughout the first
few books as he searches for a home. He will continue to hope for that 'big
city' job, but it will elude him for awhile. Part of the underlying theme
for "Dead of Winter" was that things are not always as they seem.
Denise: I understand that you carried over Kincaid's character from book
one. Are you moving in the direction of a series?
Kelly: Yes, this is definitely a series. We've just signed for book 3, titled
"Paint it Black" and a 4th. Hopefully, we will see many more adventures with
Louis. We have also completed the first book of a different series that features
a witty female amateur sleuth as its protagonist. This series still awaits
submission, so it's on the back burner for awhile longer.
Denise: Can you share the plots of both books and tell how they differ?
Kelly: "Dark of the Moon" was a story written from the heart and actually
birthed Louis as an investigator and cop. Because the book carried heavy
racial overtones, it was difficult to write and get involved in a growing
process for both the authors and Louis. "Dark of the Moon" was extremely
personal for Louis. The second was more procedural and affected him less
as a man and more as a cop, which is often a distinction Louis has difficulty
making.
Denise: Where do you begin these days in terms of research when writing
mystery/suspense/crime novels?
Kelly: It depends on what type of plot we're involved in. Research is very
important and we work diligently to make sure the ballistics, gun models,
locales and other incidentals are accurate. However, even the best laid plans
go awry. For example, in "Dead of Winter," we have Louis and his partner
listening to Loons. As one reader told us: "They may be loony (the birds),
but unlike me, they go to Florida for the winter." Oh, well.
Denise: Are you both members of Sisters in Crime?
Kelly: We belong to The Mystery Writers of America. We are not members of
Sisters in crime.
Denise: Do you leave your readers breathless? What do you hope to deliver
- a chilling tale, a compelling story or a character your readers will never
forget?
Kelly: All of the above. We work hard at making our books page turners, but
harder at making sure it is the characters who make the pages worth
turning.
- --Denise Fleischer, GWN Online, editor
Netera@aol.com 5/10/2001
SLEUTHFEST 2001
by J. Hal Forbes
After a hiatus in the false Millennium year two thousand, between
March 16, and 17 this year, the Mystery Writers of America's Florida Chapter
kicked off the twenty first century with a humdinger writer's conference.
The chapter's trench coated, meerschaum smoking, Pink Flamingo oversaw a
two-day schedule of no nonsense, get down to the nuts and bolts of the craft
presentations and panel discussions leavened by fun and camaraderie with
south Florida tropical panache.
The Conference Committee provided a palette to engage serious
writers from the aspiring "pre-published " to the veteran wordsmith.
Panels discussed the advent of E-pubs and Print-On-Demand houses, and the
latest twists in the electronic rights fandango between writers and their
publishers.
Hour long sessions ranged from pragmatic, Surviving in a Shrinking
Market, to esoteric, The Religious and the Profane-Religion in Mysteries.
The neophyte could listen to Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Keyes discuss the
writing process. Or, best selling author Barbara Parker get down to
the basics of organizing a manuscript, and Elaine Viets give tips on synopsis,
and query letters. The full program schedule can be reviewed
and audio tapes of the sessions requested at
http://www.mwa-florida.org
This writer, having committee duties and two presentations, can
share personal observations on a few of the events and sessions.
Friday evening's cocktail hour and 100 Hundred Favorite Mystery Game Show
proved cordial, entertaining, and informative. Teams competed in a mystery
trivia contest derived from this century's favorite mysteries. My good
friend, Aileen Schumacher's team won.
Saturday morning's Breakfast with the Editors provided the realistic,
if less than pleasant taste of mainstream publishing's party line.
The fiction market is shrinking. They really rather not be bothered with
lots of new authors. Only those with proven best seller track records
should presume to take up their precious time with manuscripts. Unless
of course one can assure them one's manuscript is the next breakout million
copy seller. After the session they tried unsuccessfully to explain
to this writer the rational relation between an asserted ten percent drop
in market and a fifty percent constriction of their "list". One should
check the statistics now available on 1999 and 2000 at
http://www.publishersweekly.com/ and http://www.bookweb.org/ before
accepting there is actually a shrinking fiction market. A final
note on the Editor's breakfast. Don't bother sending Genny Ostertag(New
American Library) any manuscript with cats, in it. She made her preferences
in that regard all too clear. Though Ms. Ostertag did not speak
to her feelings toward canines, I'm sure one can expect a decision based
on the literary merit of one's manuscript if one eliminates all feline
references.
Harlan Coben's Keynote address at Saturday's lunch lingered on
the palate fine and pleasing . The Edgar winner reminded us that writers
should write what we love and, thereby, love writing. His humorous
recount of why the covers of his first three novels caused his wife to call
them the "Bloody Balls" series instructed us that we shouldn't let the publishing
turkeys grind us down.
Sunday's Brunch gave us a smorgasbord of insights from booksellers
into to marketing realities from shelf space allocation to coordinating
signings.
While this writer actually attended the two sessions he presented,
I wouldn't presume to objectively assess my scintillating
oratory.
Get a refreshing tropical exposure to the world of publishing.
Experience the exhilaration of learning from a master of the creative process,
Daniel Keyes ( thirty year professor of creative writing, author of Pulitzer
prize winning ‘Flowers for Algernon'). Shiver from the cold arrogance
of a New York editor sharing the insight that she reads every new manuscript
looking for a reason to reject. Set aside the last two weeks of March
2002 for a trip to balmy South Florida and SLEUTHFEST 2002.
.Storm Warning
by Dinah McCall
Dinah McCall creates an environment of chilling suspense in her new novel,
STORM WARNING, from MIRA Books. The mystery unfolds when a secret, buried
deep in the subconscious minds of a group of seven children, comes back to
haunt them as adults.
Ginny Shapiro, a reporter for a St. Louis newspaper, can hardly believe the
letter and clippings she receives from her girlfriend, Georgia, now Sister
Mary Theresa of the Sacred Heart Convent. Five of their schoolmates from
the prestigious Montgomery Academy are dead - and Sister Mary believes she
and Ginny might be next!
According to the newspaper reports, each of the five women - living in different
parts of the country and all seemingly in good health and spirits - received
a mysterious phone call and, virtually minutes later, each was dead. The
only thing that links them together is their attendance in a special Gifted
and Talented Class at the Montgomery Academy.
Ginny moves quickly to contact her old friend, only to discover the most
compelling proof of the theory: Sister Mary is dead.
Ginny stares at the photograph of the seven smiling schoolgirls from the
exclusive school. Now, six of them are dead and only she is still alive.
The phone rings…and Ginny knows she cannot risk answering. She must
flee her normal surroundings until she can figure out how to solve the
mystery.
As Ginny prepares to go into hiding, she is unaware that FBI Agent Sullivan
Dean has also received the photo and information from Sister Mary. Tracking
Ginny to an isolated cabin in Mississippi, he's determined to keep her from
becoming the next victim and to discover what happened to the seven young
girls twenty years ago.
The answer is locked deep in Ginny's memory; and the key is somewhere in
the dangerous world of mind control, where a sound, a word, a voice, can
trigger death. As they wait out the killer in the FBI safe house, Ginny and
Sully are drawn closer and closer together.
With an entire task force on the job, new clues are uncovered - but the world
is closing in. As the passion between them explodes, they know that death
is within arm's reach…every time the phone rings.
STORM WARNING by Dinah McCall will be available wherever paperbacks are sold
or through www.mirabooks.com. An audio recording is also available from dh
audio.
MIRA Books
ISBN # 1-55166-808-4
May 2001
$6.50 U.S/$7.99 Canada
Mahogany Row
by Wayne J Keeley
215 pages-© 2000
ISBN 1-58124-671-4
Paperback
Mark McCoy is a lawyer with a problem. His boss has been murdered and he is the prime suspect. He had motive, opportunity and no alibi. While being pursued by the law, his own lawyer advises him to turn himself in to the authorities. McCoy's life is threatened several times while gathering evidence that would not only clear his name, but bring the murderer to justice.
We follow McCoy through the streets and subways of New York in search of any information that will clear him, while he is pursued by an unknown entity that is dead set on his destruction. Death follows McCoy in his search for the truth as he tangles with forces on both sides of the law.
While this scenario is sturdy and has witnessed many renditions, the writer here has failed to engross this reader. Much of the content of the story is concerned with explaining the legal system and its procedures. Mr. McCoy is pronounced "guilty" without explanation and the evidence he seeks to uncover is not established as a valid avenue. It seems the writer wants to keep the story's concept a secret until the very end.
The people appear shallow, having no particular personalities, and the dialogue offers little insight to their character traits. The pursuit for justice is noble, but this story takes the reader into the little-understood world of legal procedures, while expounding the writer's understanding of these procedures. We see McCoy trying desperately to clear himself, but the evidence uncovered is vague in its relevance to the story. McCoy knows what he is going after, but the reader has no clue as to why this avenue was chosen.
As an avid reader for many years, when comparing this work to the efforts of other writers, I can offer only one Dagger out of five.
Walter Ihlefield, GW Online Book Reviewer
"Banshee Rising"
"Controlled Conclusion"
MAHOGANY ROW, A LEGAL THRILLER, MAKES THE PAPER GRADE
FROM E-BOOK TO PAPERBACK
Mahogany Row, a legal thriller penned by entertainment attorney
and Emmy award winner, Wayne J. Keeley, was upgraded from E-Book to Paperback
version by The Fiction Works, one of the first publishers of e-books.
The upgrade occurred because of the tremendous demand for this gritty,
“being real” novel about the legal profession. Keeley has chosen
to tell it like it is, much to the chagrin of the legal brotherhood.
Set on the streets of New York, the novel spins a yarn about an associate
who is framed for the murder of his boss. The protagonist, attorney Mark
McCoy, has a credibility problem. Everyone, including his lawyer, thinks
he brutally killed his boss. He had motive, opportunity and no alibi. His
only chance is to remain a fugitive and prove his innocence. Not an easy
task with a relentless detective, a killer and a Goliath law firm out to
take him down. The body count rises as he uncovers dark and sinister secrets
about his kinky boss, his loyal girlfriend and his white shoe firm.
THE MYSTERY TAKES YOU TO THE FINAL PAGE AND A SURPRISE ENDING THAT RIVALS
THE SIXTH SENSE.
From first page to last page, the novel is a non-stop, roller-coaster ride
of twists, turns and red herrings.
Soon to be followed by Mr. Keeley’s second novel, RIGHT TO LIFE, which,
as its name implies, is right out of today’s headlines.
Contact: Wayne J. Keeley at www.medialawman.com
Ray Hoy at
www.fictionworks.com
Night Crimes
by Judith Woolcock Colombo
AmErica House, Baltimore
ISBN: 1-58851-174-X Released in April 2001
Review by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
NIGHT CRIMES is as much about love as it is about insanity, as much about
psychology as it is about crime. It's also about soul, self-expression
and art.
All that makes it a lot more than a tense thriller for a lonely
night. Still, although no one gets cannibalized in NIGHT CRIMES in
terms of pure terror, this is a novel that will give Silence of the Lambs
a run for its money.
Colombo not only writes us into the heads of a sweet-souled cop, an
artistically-edgy mother and wife, but also into the very minds of a psycho
or two. Well, OK. More than two. One is an artist, the other
a poet; both love their victims. As readers we get to compare their
motives, their reasoning, their modus operandi. We come to respect
their talents and their humanity; we are angered by their lapses in reasoning,
their uncontrolled insanity.
My favorite villain--if you can call him that--is an observer of the
night. He is a poet, though he may not be aware of this talent
(He views himself as God's instrument for death). Still, he treats
us to simple poetic descriptions of his world: "The moon paints patterns
on the water's surface," he says. He is a bard with an intimate
knowledge of death: "The desire for death cannot be a passing whim.
It is an unreturnable gift." He knows death up close, can feel it,
express it, smell it. If you are a curious sort, you'll want to experience
death the way he sees it and tells it.
If some Hollywood producer doesn't pick this up to chill the summer of 2002,
it's their loss. It can be ordered at
www.publishamerica.com.
(The reviewer, Carolyn Howard-Johnson, is the author of THIS
IS THE PLACE, a novel about love, prejudice, and redemption set in Utah in
the 1950s. For more information go to:
www.tlt.com/authors/carolynhowardjohnson.htm.)
Cat in a Leopard Spot
A Midnight Louie Mystery by Carole Nelson Douglas
Forge
Hardcover
384 pages
April 2001
ISBN: 031285370X
$24.95
On the Spot Reading
I'm not a cat person or holy moly Batman a cat woman, but I love
to read mysteries where cats solve the crimes. From the Koko and Yum Yum
series by Lillian Jackson Braun to the Sneaky Pie series by Rita Mae Brown,
frisky felines are often smarter than their human counterparts. Both the
cat and the humans are great in Carole Nelson Douglas' Midnight Louie series.
The latest is Cat in a Leopard Spot. If you look at all the titles,
you'll notice colors are featured in the titles whether it's Cat in a Golden
Garland or Cat in a Crimson Daze. The only colorless titles are the first
two books, Pussyfoot and Catnapped.
For the unfamiliar readers, the first chapter in Leopard Spot
summarizes all the action and characters so far. Temple Barr, a freelance
public relations person, lives in Las Vegas with her cat Midnight Louie.
Her boyfriend Max Kinsella, a magician, lives a cloak and dagger life as
a former CIA operative. His enemies are Matt Devine, an ex-priest turned
telephone counselor turned radio personality and Carmen Molina, a single
mother detective who is trying to arrest Max for something, anything and
who resents Temple's meddling in her cases. Las Vegas is the perfect setting
for kooky characters and murder with its garish hotels and nightlife. It's
also a perfect place for a Sam Spade wannabe-like Louie to look for clues.
In this particular book, a leopard is kidnapped from the Cloaked
Conjurer, a magician whose trade is to expose what really happens on the
magician's stage. He enlists Max's help in finding the leopard, and of course,
nosy Temple helps. They finally trace the leopard to a "canned hunt" business
where animals are easily killed off by amateur hunters who proudly display
their kills in their homes and offices. Cyrus and Leonora Vanderleo (who
has had plastic surgery to resemble a lion) are the eccentric owners of this
place. Cyrus is murdered, and suspects include Leonora and animal rights
activists. While Max and Temple try to get the leopard back and solve the
murder, Midnight Louie and his cohorts Midnight Louise (who claims to be
Louie's daughter) and Golda and Groucho, twin terries with amazing sniffing
powers, do the same. Meanwhile, Devine has to deal with a stalker from previous
books, and Molina, in addition to her normal police work, is on the lookout
for her crooked ex-husband and child's father.
Since I've kept up with reading the series, I obviously like the
books. This book is just as good as the other ones. The humor (especially
in the chapter titles) and the character development stand out. The mystery
series is like joining old friends for another adventure. The only problem
might be that so much is going on, and unrelated subplots, such as Temple
going on a Judge Judy-like TV show, are thrown in that distract from
the rest of the book. Yet like old friends, I can forgive them.
Niki Taylor, GWN Online Book Reviewer
6/13/2001