(Harry James Krebs, Vengeance Is Mine, Peak City Publishing, 2014, ASIN B00IH8H0KA)

Not really a who-did-it but who-IS-it, this exciting mystery is suspenseful and entertaining fun, its protagonist a bit of Spenser, Lincoln Rhyme, and Alex Cross all rolled into one.  You shouldn’t miss reading this one, although it’s not for the squeamish.

I suppose that more than who-IS-it, the ubiquitous why is also part of the discovery in this mystery.  The author spins both of these questions out in classic mystery-thriller-suspense fashion.  Readers will love this; writers should take note.  You would never find Agatha Christie doing it this way, but this is how modern books in this genre should be written.  We have a case study about the violent depravity existing in some individuals and how much damage they can do to innocent people.  Fortunately, these cases are exceptional, but the exceptions, even in fiction, provide a warning: watch your back—there are evil people out there.

I’m also impressed that the author resists the temptation to make his protagonist a two-dimensional bastion of virtue.  He’s complex, conflicted, and at times comically confused.  He has mental hang-ups about his past, has gone through a bad divorce, and is a bit of a Don Juan, although his philandering causes more self-doubt than pleasure in the long-run.  In many ways, he’s just your average Joe muddling through life, taking what it gives him the best he can.  And, in the few weeks the novel covers, life throws a lot at him.

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(Sandra Parshall, Poisoned Ground, Poisoned Pen Press, 2014, ISBN 9781464202247)

Although Sandra Parshall is an Agatha-award winning author, she exemplifies how much mystery writing has evolved since Ms. Christie penned her characters Miss Marple and Hercules Poirot.  The lines between mystery, thriller, and suspense have blurred, not only in more hard-core police procedurals but also in books that focus on the quiet, rural violence so prevalent in Ms. Christie’s books.

Dr. Rachel Goddard, veterinarian and protagonist in the author’s series, belongs to that old class of sleuths, neither cop nor agent but concerned citizen.  All the action takes place in a rural mountain community in Virginia, but this book has plenty of action and misdirects to keep any reader of the mystery genre intrigued and entertained.  Goddard is married to Sheriff Tom Bridger, and the two form a mystery-solving power couple.

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Believe it or not, this is a book review (see later), but first a bit of history.  I’m not into fancy GUIs and sliding icons.  The work in my old day job required mostly UNIX workstations.  There was a GUI, but it was primitive compared to today’s Apple and smart phone GUIs.  No sliding icons or touch screens, but there was enough firepower to handle terabytes of data.  That’s science, or, at least, the dirty kind where you’re given lots of data and you’re supposed to make sense of it.

I hate to admit it, but I don’t have a smart phone.  My fingers are too big and I’m too much of a touch typist to use the primitive keyboards they contain (I suppose touch typing will disappear as people’s thumbs grow longer in future generations).  In fact, touch typing and speed reading were the most useful skills I learned in high school, discounting the ability to run fast when a gang member whipped out his switchblade, or resisting the temptation of getting on the back of that Harley when the driver was stoned (I couldn’t afford my own–Harley, that is).

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[Note from Steve: This is the third post in preparation for Tom Pope’s and my Socratic dialogue on writing thrillers.  It’s more about reading, though, not writing.  The title is a bow to Pete Seeger.]

I read and review in many genres, including non-fiction.  Every author should be an avid reviewer.  And, if you want to give something back to the community of readers and writers, honest reviews help those readers who are looking for new and interesting books to read.  Of course, they help writers too, but I’m pleased when I receive that note from Amazon saying that one of my reviews helped a reader make a reading decision.  That’s my reward.  (I never charge for reviews because money can’t beat that kind of reward.)

Many writers don’t share my views on reviews!  Some will say that they’re busy writing and that they can’t take time to write a review.  Some will say that they have a policy of not reviewing other authors because they’re afraid of being accused of practicing review exchanges, aka a you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours review policy.  Whatever the reasons, I respectfully disagree with them.  Authors should write reviews.  They can do them on review websites or places like Amazon and Smashwords and avoid the review exchange criticism (many accept clever pseudonyms for their reviewers).  They can be technical without being erudite.  And their reviews will be useful to the reading public.  Above all, writing reviews shows that the author is also a reader and not just a person interested in selling books.

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(David Freed, Voodoo Ridge, The Permanent Press, 2014, 978-1-57962-355-5)

This novel is not your classic mystery.  The days of Conan Doyle and Christie are long past.  The modern reader of mysteries expects more grit, suspense, and thrills mixed in with the classic elements of who-done-its or police procedurals—discovering the perp through possibly multiple crimes and many misdirects.  Author Freed has delivered, and it’s a fun read.

Yet the main character, Cordell Logan, an ex-special ops fellow, is more introspective and restrained here, in spite of his action-packed past.  His mellowing is helped along by first forgiving an ex-wife, falling in love with her again, and then desiring to remarry in order to participate in his unborn offspring’s future life.  That perhaps sounds more like a romantic mystery, but a trip to Lake Tahoe to marry takes a turn for the worse.  As the mystery unfolds, Logan is caught between his dark desires for revenge and the precepts of his new Buddhist religion.

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[TANSTAAFL: Do you read this blog?  I’m not asking if you like the posts, just whether you read them!  If so, don’t be passive.  React.  Write a comment—chew me out if you like (no foul language, please).  You can even receive a free ebook—see the bottom of the “Free Stuff and Contests” webpage; or write an honest review of one of my ebooks in exchange for the ebook.  In general, buy, read, and review some of my books.  Your participation motivates me and helps defray the costs of this website and my ebook releases.  Be active.  Help indie authors provide you with inexpensive entertainment.  It’s a two-way street, folks!]

(D. E. Wittkower and L. Rush, eds., Ender’s Game and Philosophy, Open Court, 2013, ISBN 978-0-8126-9834-3)

Good sci-fi stories are often morality plays.  That’s what made the original version of Star Trek exciting and revolutionary—many of the stories, often lifted from sci-fi literature—focused a spotlight on moral issues by reducing them to their bare essence.  Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, is an example of a novel-length morality play that contains many moral ambiguities, as analyzed in this collection of philosophical articles.

I found the articles very readable, entertaining, and informative but often wondered if the writers were over-thinking and/or second-guessing Mr. Card.  I was reminded of my English class long ago with N. Scott Momaday when I could ace his TA’s quizzes simply by mentioning something Freudian.  One can say, though, that at least no article here has become a launching platform for a PhD in philosophy…so far.

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(Damien Dsoul, The Rabbit’s Man, CreateSpace, 2013, ISBN 978-1492841173)

First, the positives.  This is one hell of a story.  The plot is suspenseful and the characters are complex and well drawn.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and can recommend it to anyone interested in mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels, with one caveat I add at the end of this review.

Although technically a setting, Nigeria, the country, is one of the main characters.  I learned more about it in this book than in the sum total of many non-fiction books on modern Africa I’ve read.  Like all good characters, Nigeria is complex, and the author, a Nigerian, captures this complexity well.

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[Reminder: No Amber Waves of Grain and Pasodobles in a Quantum Stringscape are freebies on Amazon, Oct. 17-Oct. 21.  Download and enjoy!]

(DK Halling, Pendulum of Justice, Quantum Dot Publishing, ISBN 978-1491264225)

Like some real roller coasters, this book starts slowly but soon becomes a thrill ride.  As a writer of sci-fi thrillers, I was immediately attracted to the concept.  Hank Rangar, entrepreneur and engineering genius, and friends try to file a patent and begin a start-up.  The apparatus will solve a problem with stents, namely that some arteries are just too small for stents.  This problem occurs around the heart as well as in leg stents.

I’m not sure I completely understand the science and engineering behind the device, but a stent company wants to torpedo it to avoid losing business (why wouldn’t the two technologies complement each other?).  Added to the mix are a crooked senator and a sleazy patent office head.  Hank’s personal stake in the patent appears when, after successful animal trials, his sister Janine is a first candidate for human trials.  Events soon get out of hand, and Hank learns that the patent office head has hired a shadowy organization to eliminate him after he talks to the reporter Christine.

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(Roderick Craig Low, England 2026, Amazon UK Authors, 2.0 edition, 2013, ASIN B00BU80YBQ)

England 2026 is what I call neo-dystopian.  It portrays England “after the Discord,” a bleak police state in economic collapse.  It’s a collection of diverse city-states glued together by a brutal and scheming Gestapo-like force, the CLIP, aided by a network of citizen spies, the Harkers.  The “neo” means that there are glimmers of hope for a better future.  I recommend the book for all lovers of this genre.

The story follows Robert Oliver, a PV (Paperless Vagrant), as he returns from France to look for his daughter.  At seventy-plus years, the man is in no shape to make the journey, mostly on foot, but he doggedly perseveres.  If this brings to mind Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, let me say that Low’s book has better prose and is not nearly as depressing.  It’s more akin to John Christopher’s No Blade of Grass (see below), although not as lean.

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(John Betcher, The Critical Element, Amazon Digital Services, ASIN B00EARNQ2I)

This author continues to release entertaining and interesting thrillers in his James Becker series.  For those readers not familiar with previous books, the protagonist Beck, now a lawyer, was a special ops type.  He’s aging now but still managing to get into trouble.

This time Beck is dueling with North Korean agents in home state Minnesota.  They are intent on carrying out their revered leader’s plan for mass murder on American soil.  Confusing the issue is a financially stressed veterinary supplies salesman bent on initiating a plague of foot-and-mouth disease in U.S. livestock.  The first plan is more of a stretch than the second (except for the target), but the reader will find Beck’s analysis of a terrorist’s mindset at the end of the book is spot on.  This analysis effectively explains that no idea is too absurd for a sick, psychotic person with his mental wires frayed and crossed.  (The “underwear bomber” offers more real-life evidence if you need it.)

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