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Controlled
Conclusion
Walter Ihlefield
PageFree Publishing, www.pagefreepublishing.com, 2002
Paperback, 181 pages, $16.95
ISBN:1-58961-051-2
Controlled Conclusion is the second in a series of mystery novels involving
Mitchell Parks. If you read the first novel, Banshee Rising (Xlibris Press,
2001), you will better understand the characters and history leading up to
this book.
Two years have passed since we last heard from Mitchell Parks, former SEAL,
codename: Banshee. He has been promoted to police chief of Bridgeway,
Virginia. He and his partner, Detective Dana Warren, have married and
settled into a quiet, comfortable life in the small town. They are planning
a trip to Kentucky to attend the wedding of Parks' closest friend and former
SEAL team member, Owen "Hawk" Taggart.
The adventure quickly begins when two federal agents arrive with the news
that Hawk has been murdered. The killer left a list of names in his pocket -
all former SEALS - with Mitchell Parks at the top. His brother, Michael,
codename: Truck, has also made the list. Mitchell must scramble to find this
brother, an explosive's expert who disappeared upon returning from Vietnam,
before the unknown killer.
Different family members in various regions of the country raised these
brothers after their parents were killed in an automobile accident. Yet,
each has felt his Lakota blood call and has learned the Way of the Warrior.
While Mitchell had the benefit of formal Lakota training by his grandfather,
Michael has reached his through individual seeking. Both are formidable
opponents for the best-trained assassins.
Mitchell is reinstated to his position as Lieutenant with the Navy and heads
up the search for the killer, assisted by a hand-picked squad of the Teams'
best current SEALS. He locates each former SEAL on the list and they work to
develop plans to catch this assassin before he strikes again.
Walter Ihlefield has again produced a spectacular masterpiece of action and
mystery. I read this book with the critical eye of a former "spec
ops" troop and found nothing negative. The facts are on the money and
he has produced a well-researched, entirely credible novel. The characters
are what you would expect from former SEALS, especially the Parks brothers -
both dealing with nightmares and the guilt of lost team members. The women
are dealing with their own issues of love and admiration pitted against
confusion and lack of understanding.
Ihlefield has a special knack for layering the plot with several subplots.
He keeps your interest peaked and your fingers turning the pages. He is
consistent with books that force you to read the entire story before putting
them down.
I expect this series to continue for a long time simply due to the demands
of readers. Walter is especially open to the desires of his audience and
will be kept busy by those of us that demand to know what happens next with
the Banshee.
If you like a good murder mystery, have an interest in Native American
culture, or need a new hardcore veteran hero, this book is a must read. You
will not be disappointed.
Alicia Karen Elkins, GWN Reviewer, Native American Column Editor
1-22-03
The
Million Dollar Mysteries: A Penny for Your Thoughts
Mindy Starns Clark
Harvest House Publishers
July 2002
$10.99 USD
ISBN: 0-7369-0992-3
Meet attorney and business investigator Callie Webber, former criminal
investigator extraordinaire. Following the tragic death of her beloved
husband, Callie was offered a dream job, working for J.O.S.H.U.A., an
organization issuing grants to legitimate charities, created and founded by
the elusive Tom, a young philanthropic multi-millionaire.
After a 3 week investigation, she delivers a "whoopee" $300,000.00
check to a mother/son operated small charity in Chicago, before heading home
for a well-deserved rest.
Even though she is totally exhausted, she doesn't fail to call Tom from the
plane on her way back to Washington DC, eager to report about her last
assignment.
She is stunned to hear that her eagerly awaited rest will have to be
postponed. Tom asks her to perform an emergency task as a very personal
favor. How could she refuse? Even though she has never met Tom, Callie
thinks of him more as a friend than as a boss, and the fact that the
assignment is totally different than her regular routine makes it difficult
if not impossible to refuse. After all, as Tom said, it's only a daylong
assignment.
She is to deliver an "emergency grant" to one of Tom's dear old
friends, Wendell Smythe, head of the worldwide hunger relief organization
"Feed the Need" in Philadelphia.
How could she know that the day will turn out to be much more than she and
Tom could ever have imagined?
As a Private Investigator during her college days, Callie grew accustomed to
dealing with crime and dead bodies, but how could she have foreseen the
incredible web she is caught in when the man she was supposed to help is
found murdered in his own office?
Unable to return home, as she is a material witness to the murder (and
perhaps even more than that), she is offered hospitality by Marion, Wendell
Smythe's widow, in their out of town mansion. There she meets the rest of
the family and staff: son Derek, estranged daughter-in-law Sidra, grandson
Carlos, rebellious daughter Judith, chauffeur/cook Nick and his sister
Angelina, the maid.
Callie thought her only task was to be there to support Marion until being
given permission to head home, but then she was not counting on Tom's other
plans for her. As soon as he gets the news, he asks Callie to conduct her
own investigation of the murder.
What she discovers is not a simple murder, and some of the characters seem
to have decided that she might know too much for their own safety, changing
Callie from the hunter to the quarry. Her survival instincts will save her;
and, despite being shaken by the brutal attempts on her life, she'll finally
unearth the truth, while helping the family to become united again,
straightening out their misunderstandings and catching the villains -- or
what is left of them.
"A Penny for Your Thoughts" is a catchy story. Beware, readers,
you've better start this book on a weekend when nothing will stop you from
staying up to the wee hours of the morning trying to finish it. Mindy Starns
Clark's style is very clear and neat, she doesn't go into convolutions and
pages of unnecessary descriptions. Her characters are alive and easy to
visualize. A great first novel, which, I am sure, will be followed by many
more. I am looking forward to Callie's next adventure in Don't Take and
Wooden Nickels.
4.98 copper pennies!
Johana Smith, GWN Book Reviewer
Don't
Take Any Wooden Nickels
Mindy Starns Clark
Paperback
Harvest House Publishers -
January 2003
300 pages - $10.99
Series: The Million Dollar Mysteries
ISBN: 0-7369-0993-1
Mindy Starns Clark's new novel, "Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels,"
is another winner!
J.O.S.H.U.A. Investigator Callie Webber, stops at the Glenn Oaks Cemetery,
on the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee, before going on vacation. She has
been looking forward to delivering a grant to Commander Davis, Head of the
Greater Nashville Honor Guard, a volunteer group providing full military
honors to veterans.
Callie is thrilled about delivering the good news, and, of course, the
reaction of the whole group, when they find out that the grant is more than
they could ever have imagined.
Her excitement is nonetheless overpowered by the thoughts that, on her way
home, what she had dreamed of since she started working for J.O.S.H.U.A. is
really going to happen. Tom had stopped in Washington on his way to NYC,
then to Singapore for an extended stay, and God willing, they will soon meet
in the Executive Club of the Reagan National Airport.
After arriving at the club, instead of being greeted by Tom, Callie's beeper
goes off, displaying the number of Shayna Greer, a young woman she has been
helping through another charitable organization unrelated to the J.O.S.H.U.A.
foundation. Shayna is beside herself: her less than perfect boyfriend Eddie
Ray is missing, she really needs Callie's help. They will meet at the store
operated by the Charity around 3:30 p.m.
Worry replaces joy when there is no sign of Tom. Instead, a gorgeous
statuesque blonde delivers a message to Callie. Her message states that an
emergency prevents Tom from attending the meeting. He is already on his way
to New Orleans, the trip to Singapore has been postponed indefinitely, and
so is Callie's hope of seeing him.
After a stressful trip to Osprey Cove, Callie has very little time to catch
up with the manager of the charity's store before Shayna arrives. The poor
girl isn't feeling any better than when she rang Callie in the morning.
There's still no sign of Eddie Ray. No one has seen him since he left the
local bar the night before. Callie does her best to reassure Shayna, because
it's not the first time he's acted this way.
Unfortunately, she has to admit that Shayna's fear was warranted when Eddie
Ray's body is later discovered in the trunk of Shayna's old car; all the
evidences pointing to Shayna, the Police will arrest her for Eddie's murder.
Callie is convinced Shayna is innocent, but she fails to convince the local
Police Force and the 2 FBI agents dispatched to solve the murder. She'll
have to work on her own to find the evidence, which will exonerate Shayna.
She has absolutely no idea that she is going to be caught into an
inextricable international web of intrigue, which will be a hair short of
costing her her life.
Mindy Starn Clark takes you on a roller coaster ride from that point on. You
will uncover villains… who are not, Law Enforcement Agents… who haven't
been able to resist the promise of riches even if it means compromising
their integrity… everyday folks… whose greed is so intense that they
have no remorse about being part of a smuggling rig.
The ending will satisfy Murder/Mystery lovers.
Once again, Mindy Starn Clark has produced an absolute WINNER. Expect more
readers to join her "Fan Club." I'm looking forward to reading
Callie's next adventure.
4.99 out of 5 Wooden Nickels.
Johana Smith, GWNOnline Reviewer.
http://www.johanasmith.com/home.html
You will not want to miss Mindy Starn Clark's next book, starring Callie and
other now familiar characters in "A Dime A Dozen", available SOON.
Heavenly
Detour
By Joanne Meyer
Kensington Books
262 pages
Feb. 2003
Mystery
ISBN 0-7582-0260-1
$23.00
Real Estate Agent Annie Edelstein Dowd had been caught in some tough
situations in her life, but drowning in a pool in Long Island beats them
all. Her soul is released upon death and the light leading to Heaven is no
where to be found. In order to find peace and move on, Annie searches for
the truth to determine if her death was an accident or murder.
With her personality intact, telepathic transportation ability and instincts
primed, Annie begins her extraordinary investigation. She visits the estate
of Agnes Spurgeon, the former head of the real estate brokerage firm dealing
in high priced Manhattan rentals and subleases. Attempting to piece together
her fragmented memories leading to her death, she recalls driving on the
Fourth of July to the Spurgeon mansion with her co-workers: Roger Franklin,
Matt Sterling and Marian Hingis. Franklin is a 40 something bachelor, now 8
years with Royal Roosts, Inc. Sterling is a 21-year-old hunk on payroll
who's caught the eye of agent Claudia Harmon. Harmon has an agenda, that
being getting her greedy claws on Spurgeon's son, Harold. Annie remembers
the guests playing lawn games, swimming, eating a buffet lunch, dinner in a
formal dining room and being attracted to Agnes' cousin, Michael Rheims, an
executive on the British side of the family. Later that night there was a
ruckus at the front gate, numerous celebrants from a nearby country club
mistaking the Victorian mansion for a friend's home. After Michael and a
number of servants investigated the situation, guests prepared to leave and
Annie realized she wasn't one of them. Her body was floating in the pool and
the only place she was headed was the morgue.
Knowing that she can't succeed alone, Annie seeks someone to communicate
with. After two unsuccessful attempts with her family, her grieving mother
and sister, she learns that Detective Louis Martola's partner, Charlene
Williams, is able to hear her and so begins a different type of partnership.
Though he is on his own, Annie's ex-husband Frank leaves his post as an
investigative reporter in Saudi Arabia to conduct his own investigation. In
time Frank joins the detectives, presenting them with valuable leads.
HEAVENLY DETOUR captures your interest with the title alone. You become
Annie's shadow sharing in her memories of her life with Frank, from
attraction, to love, to reality that his career stood in their way. You
follow every step of the investigation never sure who is the guilty party
until the end. Meyer provides a difficult situation, seldom explored weaving
in elements of intelligence, frustration, uncertainty, greed, desire and the
paranormal. This afterlife conflict allows us to see past the mortal veil of
our lives and explore forbidden territory with hope for peace.
Five reporter notebooks out of five
Denise Fleischer, Gotta Write Network Book Reviewer
April 20, 2003
Liberty
Stephen Coonts
St. Martin’s
Thiller
353pp
$25.95
ISBN:
031228361X
Russian
General Petrov sells four decaying from age nuclear warheads for two million
American dollars to Islamic terrorist Ashruf, known more often as infidel
killer Frouq al-Zuair. Anna “Modin” Mickhailova observes the sale and
later notifies her boss Russian spy chief Janos Ilin about it.
Ilin informs retired Rear Admiral Jake Grafton about the sale and
that the four warheads are heading to America.
Grafton briefs the President.
The
Greek freighter carrying the warheads vanishes while a terrorist cell in
Florida waits for further instructions.
Meanwhile Jake ignores the ranting of the absurd bureaucracy
demanding he follow the rules (and a few laws too) when he orders the
military and Coast Guard to use radiation detectors at the East Coast ports
of entry. He knows the
consequences if he fails to catch the terrorists before they disembark.
LIBERTY
is an action packed thriller that is at its best when it focuses on either
of the testy testosterone twins Frouq or Jake.
A subplot involving an irate maniacal Vietnamese seems inane and the
stereotyping of the government agencies as inept seems too easy and trite.
Still fans of complex multiple sub-plots will appreciate this
high-octane tale.
4
out of 5
Harriet Klausner, GWN Reviewer
3/2/2003
Until
Next Time
Linda Alexander
PublishAmerica Book Publishers
www.publishamerica.com
2002
Paperback
243 pages
$19.95 USD
Suspense
ISBN: 1-59129-679-X
Until Next Time is a wicked book! I loved it! Linda Alexander bases her
story on the age-old battle between good and evil. She interweaves several
subplots into the primary plot to keep the reader enmeshed in the story and
feeling a tight level of tension throughout the book.
There is an "Author's Acknowledgment" at the beginning of the book
that states her purpose in writing this book as: " to try and make
believers of those who just can't seem to accept the truth of good versus
evil. Both are just at the tips of our fingertips." She goes on to
present a passage that will stand your hair on end. Before you even begin
the actual story, you are already thinking of all the evil things you have
ever witnessed or heard about. This is an extremely strong author's foreword
and is highly effective in setting the mood for the book. It demonstrates
Alexander's straight forward, in-your-face style and power in writing.
The main character is Perry Conners, a highly successful businessman with an
eye on the Senate seat for the next term. He is forty-five years old, in
perfect health, well-built, good looking, down-to-earth, and convinced that
he is having a breakdown. He cannot get any rest and he is declining
quickly. He has lost all interest in sex and does not understand why. His
searches for answers result in medical and psychological testing that only
confirms that there is nothing wrong.
Perry's wife, Mollie, has left, even though she still loves and desires him,
and is filing for divorce. She manipulates the legal system to get a female
judge, Annette Black, who is bitterly vengeful because Perry turned down her
advances. Together they plot to ruin him, with the assistance of Mollie's
father, a well-respected judge that will readily take up for his only child,
even though he knows she is wrong.
The only three persons Perry can turn to are a new acquaintance, Michaele
Vincente, a psychiatrist; his sister, Senator Barbara Satterly; and his
personal assistant, Lillia. Unfortunately, Lillia has her own agenda for
revenge, acquisition of Perry's fortune, and the disposal of Perry once her
plan is completed. She will utilize any weapon and go to any length to see
her scheme through. She is evil personified.
Perry's trust for this woman combines with his distraction by the other
elements in his life to leave him wide open and vulnerable to this evil
woman. Will she achieve her goals? Will he learn the truth before it is too
late?
Linda Alexander has skillfully created a superb story that captivates the
reader's attention and takes them on a trip through the mind of the most
evil creature on this planet. She feeds you just enough information to keep
you turning pages to learn more. The ending provides a satisfactory closure,
while leaving an opportunity for a sequel, which I do hope to see. This is
one story that is simply too marvelous to end here! Get a copy and dive into
the horrors of evil today. You will never look at your neighbor the same way
again!
Linda Alexander is the author of two nonfiction books, The Unpromised Land
and Dorothy From Kansas Meets the Wizard X. She has written for several
magazines and has appeared on Oprah and The Sally Jesse Raphael Show.
Alicia Karen Elkins, GWN Reviewer
13 February 2003
Johnny
Blade
By Phillip Tomasso III
Barclay Books
Sept 2002
$15.95 USD
299 pages
ISBN 1931402299
Martin Wringer punched his supervisor in the face and lost his job, but he
doesn't fault himself, he blames his boss. He has sex with a
prostitute and contracts a venereal disease, but he doesn't impute himself,
he accuses the hooker. When his wife finds out and throws him out of
the house, he goes to Jack's Joint where the hooker hangs out and kills
her. He finds he likes killing prostitutes so much that he keeps going
to the area around Jack's Joint where they hang out and starts killing them
one by one.
Michael Buzzelli works for the Rochester Chronicle, writing obituaries and
doing research, but he wants to scribe some juicy stories. He takes a
job at Jack's Joint as a bartender, hoping to write a human-interest story
about the dead prostitute. As he gets to know the people on the fringe
who hang out there, he begins to like them, especially Felicia, who seems to
reciprocate his feelings. As the killer dubbed JOHNNY BLADE by the
press keeps on killing prostitutes, Michael is determined to be first on the
scene to get
the scoop or die trying.
Almost every person who hangs out at Jack's Joint has an interesting story
to tell and readers will find themselves wanting to hear it. The two
lead police officers on the case are fascinating characters and should be
featured in future books by Phillip Tomasso III. The villain is three
dimensional, totally believable, and pure evil. The romance between
the reporter and the prostitute is sweet and charming. On a scale of
one to ten, the plot scores an eleven.
Harriet Klausner, GWN Book Reviewer
Feb. 4, 2002 |