Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Crime thriller

DIGGER: SIERRA and the CASE of the CHIMERA KILLER by Robert D. Calkins – YA, Mystery/Thriller, Crime Fiction

Artfully constructed with lightning pacing, Robert D. Calkins’ Digger: Sierra and the Case of the Chimera Killer is a must read for mystery/thriller fans and for animal lovers alike, especially those who know that a dog well-trained can be much more than just a pet.

Teenager Bryce Finn and his Golden Retriever Sierra share the spotlight as the novel’s human hero and canine heroine. As a determined duo doing SAR (search and rescue), they are just about the best in their Washington state region, time and again proving Sierra’s reliability and wholehearted enthusiasm for the often grisly “game” of locating decomposing corpses.

There’s a serial killer on the loose in Kitsap County, targeting young female runaways, drug users, and prostitutes. Sheriff Elroy Patterson asks for some extra funds from the county council, above the objections of the hard-nosed conservative councilor, Garrison, who mockingly calls the supposed killer a “chimera”– an imaginary monster. The council overrides him and grants Patterson the money, and the press latches onto Garrison’s weird term – so the hunt for the Chimera Killer is on.

Tracking down the serial murderer becomes the new shared obsession of Bryce and Sierra, although one rescuer, Alan Granger, seems curiously determined to make the pair look bad – but with no success. Whenever Bryce tells his pet to “find Digger” she’s all too willing to please, knowing that a ball game will be her reward.

But Bryce has another obsession: he’s finally getting a chance to woo Katie, his first foray into young love. Katie is reciprocating by taking an active role in SAR, a romantic interest in Bryce, and developing a fondness for his amazing canine. Meanwhile, more bodies are being discovered, which as Bryce notes, is both a victory for law enforcement and the SAR team, but a sad day for the victim and family.

Author Robert D. Calkins, himself a SAR dog handler in the very county where this multi-layered plot takes place, has set out to educate as well as entertain. He offers fascinating details of the canine/human relationship, even to the tone of voice (high-pitched and childlike) that is best used to reward one’s dog for success in locating the sought-after person or object. Anyone interested in effective dog training will find this book a manual of best practice, as numerous tips are cleverly embedded in dramatic scenarios that will keep you turning the pages.

This book will interest YA readers through adults with its teen characters out-doing many of the grown-up pros in solving crimes. More seasoned readers will also find themselves charmed and intrigued by the subtleties of a mystery well-conceived and cinematic.

Calkins’ earlier works centering around this subject are suitable for the middle-grade readers and includes Digger, Sierra Becomes a Search Dog, and Sierra the Search Dog Finds Fred. The author’s fourth book is Bryce Bumps His Head, a chapter book for beginning readers. Although Digger: Sierra and the Chimera Killer could be considered a flagship novel, the author tells us he is working on a sequel. Now that’s something to be excited about!

May 30, 2017
The FURNACE: The Tanner Sequence, Book 1 by Timothy S. Johnston – SciFi/Thriller/Suspense

Accidents happen on a space station. But when a body’s head and hands go missing, that’s when top investigator, Kyle Tanner rushes in to solve the heinous crime before more of the crew lose their heads. More detective mystery than sci-fi, Timothy S. Johnston’s hero is the only one who can stop the villain before he or it destroys everything in The Furnace.

The year is 2401. Homicide investigator Kyle Tanner has seen his fair share of the galaxy’s obscenities. Most notably he’s responsible for the capture of its most infamous rogue, popularly dubbed the “Torcher,” in a manhunt that propelled him into the cultural consciousness, though he couldn’t care less. In fact, he’s never felt more alone in the universe after his oversight led to the death of a fellow investigator, and the closest thing to a friend he has ever had.

But it’s his former exploit that will forever mark his career, and ultimately what has him assigned to investigate SOLEX One, a space station collecting solar energy on the warmer side of Mercury. The case: Jimmy Chin, a crewman aboard SOLEX, killed outside the station when his vac-suit is mysteriously lacerated and decompression finishes the job. Not the grisliest of murders, but when the head and hands are removed from the body twelve hours later, the case falls within the realm of complication Tanner is known for untangling.

Now Tanner has fourteen remaining suspects aboard the station, any of whom could potentially be guilty of the crime. And though the rest of the crew widely consider Jimmy’s death an accident and the tampering of the body a prank, albeit an odd one, Tanner doesn’t share their sense of humor. He also knows something else: if there is indeed a murderer on the station, he’ll have to work fast to find them as their surroundings are far too claustrophobic and perilous for the potential victims, including himself, to rest easy.

Sure enough, the bodies begin piling up, and Tanner’s life is directly threatened. Were it the work of another maniac like the Torcher, Tanner might be able to get his head around the situation. Only there’s a secret that makes this case different than anything he’s ever experienced, and with implications that reach far beyond an isolated space station. It soon becomes clear that any one of them would count themselves lucky to make it out alive.

With a premise that’s virtually Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None meets John Carpenter’s The Thing meets Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, there’s some cross-pollination that could appeal to enthusiasts of multiple genres. This is not a straight Sci-fi, and it isn’t a straight mystery.

The author does face a challenge of blending a meaningful and entertaining story. Though there is plenty of intrigue piled into the first half of the book, the unwinding during the second half does take on a different pace. Some readers may find the technical aspects of the plot that point to plausibility a bit over complicated, lessening the tension and strength of the work. However, for those who crave Sci-fi/Thriller/Romance with the dial turned up to violent, this is your perfect read.

Don’t lose your head – even if someone or something tries to take it! Timothy S. Johnston’s The Furnace will have you checking your spacesuit for lacerations and keep you looking over your shoulder for what goes bump in outer space.

April 24, 2017
AFTERMATH by Marilynn Larew – Mystery Suspense/Thriller/Female Sleuth

Mystery maven Marilynn Larew has devised a can’t-put-down thriller with a female lead who can handle everything from flying bullets, dead cats, and snakes in the jungle, with only the occasional meltdown in Aftermath.

It’s a normal day for private investigator Annie Carter when handsome, Irish, and possibly crazy “Don’t call me Charlie” Magee shows up at her townhouse/office/home claiming someone is trying to kill him. For one thing, a body fell out of a window and landed near him. But even more convincing, someone shoots a hole through Annie’s front window just as Magee arrives on her doorstep – and not long after that, they find a dead cat on the stoop.

But can Magee be for real? His stories are garbled, and sometimes he seems to be dodging the truth, but when she lets him move in (for his own protection) it turns out he’s a decent cook and, well, let’s say his interest in her is hard to resist.

Meanwhile, Annie’s lawyer daughter Elizabeth is bugging her because her boyfriend wants to get married, which is against Elizabeth’s feminist principles, and for some reason, it’s all Annie’s fault. Added to this chaotic, action-crammed and often witty mix is Annie’s newest client, Vivian Rowlandson, whose husband has disappeared without a trace. A complex inheritance means the client must find her spouse or lose all financial support for her over-sized mansion and ten horses. And just as all these mysteries build, Elizabeth is kidnapped.

Threading her way through other people’s bizarre problems is what Annie signed on for when she became a private investigator. It was the job best suited for a single parent. But now her mothering skills are questioned and her own life is in danger.

Eventually, the hunt for Vivian’s errant husband will take Annie to the shadowy, steaming jungles of Southeast Asia where human and reptile killers lurk around every tree—and where the charming Magee will prove a stalwart bodyguard—in more ways than one.

Practiced mystery novelist Larew (Dead in Dubai, The Spider Catchers) presents a plot that brings her expertise to the fore. With teaching and publishing credits in American and Vietnamese military history, she has also visited Hanoi and other far-flung places. Her Annie is a heroine for the mid-life generation: a gritty divorcee with a penchant for adventure and a secret passion for unruly older men. Larew sculpts Annie with just the right proportions of savoir-faire, guts, and a few moments of unabashed girly-ness.

Sure to please Larew’s fans and attract new ones, Aftermath is a welcome addition to the female detective mystery/thriller genre steeped in exotic locales, alluring hints of romance, bullets flying, people disappearing, and just enough humor to wrap it all together for the perfect read.

April 14, 2017
The CLUE Awards for Suspense/Thriller Fiction 2016 First Place Category Winners
The CLUE Awards Writing Competition recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Suspense/Thriller Fiction. The CLUE Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Novel Writing Competitions.

Congratulations to the 2016 CLUE Awards First In Category Award Winning Suspense/Thriller Fiction Novels:
- Detective: A Matter of Justice by Keith Tittle
- Private Eye/Noir: The Innocent Dead by Keith Dixon
- Legal Thriller: Almost Mortal by Christopher Leibig
- Suspense: The Sage Wind Blows Cold by Clint Hollingsworth
- International Espionage: Epstein’s Pancake by Bjarne Rostaing
- U.S. Political Thriller: Do Not Assume by Elaine Williams Crockett
- Undercover Work: Behind The Mask by Dana Ridenour
- Eco/Natural Resources Thriller: Seed of Control by Lawrence Verigin
- Investigative: Striking Blind by Lonna Enox
CLUE Award Winners: Dana Ridenour, Keith Tittle, Lawrence Verigin, Clint Hollingsworth, Elaine Williams Crockett, and Lonna Enox

CONGRATULATIONS to Keith Tittle author of the CLUE GRAND PRIZE winner — A Matter of Justice!

The 2016 CLUE Short Listers competed for these First Place Category Positions. The CLUE First Place Category Award Winners’ novels have competed for the CLUE Grand Prize Award for the 2016 Suspense/Thriller Fiction Novels. These winners were announced and recognized at the annual Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala, Bellingham, Wash., on April 1st, 2017.

The First In Category award winning titles will receive an award package including a complimentary Chanticleer Book Review of the winning title, digital award badges, shelf talkers, book stickers, and more.

Congratulations to those whose works made the CLUE Awards 2016 FINALISTS and SHORT-LISTERS lists.

More than $30,000 worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to the 2017 Chanticleer Novel Writing Competition winners! Fifteen different genres to enter your novels and compete on an international level.

We are now accepting entries into the 2017 CLUE Awards. The deadline is September 30, 2017. Click here for more information or to enter.

More than $30,000 worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to the 2017 Chanticleer Novel Writing Competition winners! Fifteen different genres to enter your novels and compete on an international level.

More than $30,000 dollars in cash and prizes are awarded to Chanticleer International Blue Ribbon Awards Winners annually.

Please note that Global Thrillers and Lab Lit fiction entries were moved to the newly offered Global Thrillers Awards 2017.
April 6, 2017
Sati and the Rider by Winslow Eliot – Cozy Mystery/Woman Sleuth

Do you need a little mystery in your life? It may be in your cards with Winslow Eliot’s new book, Sati and the Rider!

Just when she thinks she’s lost her juju, Satyana, the heroine of Winslow Eliot’s new mystery series, finds it in a most unexpected way.

Satyana and the Rider opens with Satyana – just Satyana – a fortune teller, coming to grips with the possibility that she has lost her ability to tell fortunes. After a horrendous loss, misdirection, and failed attempts to rescue a child, she has packed her bags and moved into a brownstone smack dab in the center of a posh neighborhood in New York City. How does she afford the home? A wealthy client willed it to her when she died.

But with no money to speak of, no clients lining up on her steps, and grappling with her gift that seemingly has flown the coop, Satyana is lonely and depressed – until a sexy young delivery man slips on her stairs and fractures his ankle.

Cue motherly instincts – or a keen sense of responsibility – or an instant attraction – cue whatever you like, Sati (Satyana) is bound to care for the hapless delivery man, Percy is his name, until he can to walk up the five flights of stairs to his apartment across town… which, you know, he never does!

This is the set-up for Winslow Eliot’s first book in the Satyana Mystery Series. A cozy, fast-paced, fun read, Eliot has set the stage for future adventures. Is it perfect? Not quite. There are some continuity issues, but not enough to stop a reader cold. The author, a card reader herself, utilizes the troupe of cards in her title and throughout the book. Here, the Rider indicates the following: News, a delivery, a young man, perhaps a lover. A new person or situation entering your life. A visit. A horse, a car, or other means of transportation. Opportunity. Things moving quickly. A vibrant social life. Elegance. Energy. Comings and goings. 9 of Hearts: a wish fulfilled. Timing: Soon, in a day, next week, in January.

The above description is mentioned at the beginning of the book and skillfully woven in throughout the work. Ultimately, Sati and the Rider is well-written and engaging. A perfect escape from reality for readers of the cozy mystery genre.

February 19, 2017
St Louis Affair: The Adventures of Herbert Falken by Michael Scheffel – Historical Thriller/Detective

This tantalizing whodunit is set in 1899 St. Louis and revolves around the heinous murder of a prominent wealthy citizen, Charles Garrett, whose body is discovered on the banks of the Mississippi River. Because the crime scene is devoid of clues and political pressure for a fast resolution abounds, the city police turn to professional Inquiry Agent, Herbert Falken, for assistance.

Falken, also known by the public as Major Falken from his heroic exploits fighting renegade raiders along the US – Mexican border, is well respected for his deductive abilities and previous success in solving a perplexing string of grisly crimes. What the public doesn’t know is that Falken is haunted by his own personal and professional demons.

Not long after departing from this crime scene, however, Falken discovers a curious fact: Charles Garrett’s public and private personas are polar opposites. Faced with a growing list of suspects and demands from the Governor on down to the average citizen for an immediate arrest, Falken feels the pressure. If it weren’t for James Westfall (former army officer mustered out due to a permanent leg injury) Falken’s aide-de-camp, our hero would be in dire straights. Westfall not only records critical crime scene and subject interview information, but he also cares for and tries to protect Falken—sometimes from himself.

A strong cast of well-drawn and individually distinctive characters who aid, circumvent, and forestall Falken’s pursuit of justice adds richness to the story.

Scheffel’s use of architectural design, clothing and accouterments, individual and class attitudes, and various character traits and dialects to resurrect old St. Louis is a true highlight of the book. He deftly crafts different scenes in smooth, articulate detail without hindering the story’s pace. Whether it’s inside Falken’s dining room, traveling across uneven paving bricks in a horse-drawn buggy, trudging along the muddy banks along the river, descending into a seedy opium den, or watching Falken get his butt kicked in a bare-knuckle brawl, the reader is right there. Another treat is the seamless placement of real-world news events into dialogue, which adds both authenticity and consistency to the setting.

Overall, St Louis Affair: The Adventures of Herbert Falken is an entertaining turn-of-the-century page-turner with plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing to the end. Michael Scheffel grabs the reader’s attention from the first sentence and doesn’t let go until the very last in St. Louis Affair: The Adventures of Herbert Falken, a fast-paced, page-turner that will have the reader hoping that he is hard a work penning a new tale involving Herbert Falken, Inquiry Agent.

February 19, 2017
Age of Order by Julian North – YA Dystopian SciFi

In the not too distant future, one girl races to save the ones she loves in Julian North’s Age of Order.

Daniela Machado, a young Latina from Bronx City, is smart and successfully athletic – especially on the track – but she has more than a few secrets. She’s learned to be very protective of herself and those she cares about, her blood, in an environment where others frequently die. Aba, her grandmother, and her older brother Mateo, along with her sister of choice, Kortilla, are the only ones she fully trusts.

Daniela knows something must be behind the sudden offer she receives to attend a very prestigious and selective school in another part of the Five Cities, and she’s reluctant to accept. Attending the new school and leaving Kortilla behind, however, may be the only chance Daniela has to save Mateo’s life.

In this school environment, North skillfully weaves in multiple references to other dystopian works frequently taught in high school. The reader will be reminded of Orwell, Huxley, and William Golding, as Daniela reads them for class. Something else becomes abundantly clear: Daniela and most of her classmates don’t get along.

It’s more than just a question of money and social standing, though. It’s genetics.

Set in the near future of the United States, the action is often thrilling, complete with high-tech rivalries, partisan politics, chase scenes, and class conflicts. While most of the major characters are teens, North’s insights into their thoughts and feelings can apply to any age, lending an ageless quality to this otherwise clear morality tale. Their conflicts, confusions, and pain are more than any child should have to encounter. But in this world, those lucky enough to survive must grow-up quickly.

Daniela finds her one solace in running, and she fights her way onto the school track team. No one, not even the school star, can easily beat her when she runs. Daniela, it becomes apparent, has a gift which, after being honed throughout childhood, is now formidable.

It’s on the track when she feels completely free, even when the competition seems unfairly rigged against her. North does a fine job of writing these athletic scenes and the reader will feel their feet pounding and gasping for breath as Daniela runs against others – and her hidden past.

As that past comes into conflict with what she is experiencing at school, Daniela and her allies (the other misfits at school) begin to see the true shape of the reality around them. Only through courage and steely resolve will they be able to do what must be done to prevent the genocide those in power have already begun. It’s up to Daniela to find her true self, when she needs it most, to save the people she loves.

Age of Order is powerfully charged with rich characters and a dynamic storyline. One of the BEST new YA books we’ve reviewed!

February 9, 2017
A DANGEROUS DESCENT: A Sarah McKinney Mystery by Marian Exall – a contemporary cosmopolitan mystery

A hectic life, a missing daughter, love lost and found come together in this spellbinding mystery thriller, Marian Exall’s second book in the Sarah McKinney series, A Dangerous Descent.

Sarah McKinney, a witty, hard-working New Yorker, is whisked off to France to help her old mentor find his long-lost daughter in the second book of this thrilling mystery series.

Sarah McKinney was happy with her chaotic life as a mediator in New York, where the most complicated thing she had to deal with was her love life. When she meets up with an old mentor, she doesn’t expect the meeting to end with her hoping a plane and flying halfway across the world.

But hop that plane she does, to help out her mentor fulfill his promise to his dying wife: locate their estranged daughter living in France. But finding Chantal isn’t easy. She’s not where she’s supposed to be. With urgent business back home, Sarah’s mentor pleads with her to find his daughter. She agrees and with the help of an old flame, she’s off to locate the missing girl.

But finding Chantal proves more difficult than expected and Sarah finds herself chasing leads down dangerous paths.

Marian Exall’s A Dangerous Descent is a captivating mystery that skillfully keeps the reader glued to the page. The book starts out with a light tone that tricks readers into thinking they are following the witty escapades of a New Yorker, only to find the journey darkening and becoming much more dangerous as the story progresses.

But the immediate likeability of Sarah, as well as her touching relationships, keeps the novel positive. Readers will smile as often as they grip the seat of their chairs.

Indeed, Sarah’s narration is perhaps the best part of the novel, and she remains worth rooting for throughout the story. Her traumatic childhood has left her tougher than a bed of nails, and she keeps her wits about her during terrifying situations. Exall masters the characterization of Sarah, portraying her as a sharp, collected professional against the foil of Chantal’s bizarre disappearance.

Exall’s writing is sharp and well-paced, with natural dialogue and gorgeous descriptions of setting. So much so, the reader is bound to feel as if they are in France as well!

A Dangerous Descent is Book 2 of a thrilling mystery series with a soft spot for tender-hearted lovers.

December 16, 2016
SPECIAL AGENT FRANCESCA (Undercover FBI Book 1) by Mimi Barbour – entertaining wild ride

From the city that never sleeps to Sin City, Mimi Barbour’s “Special Agent Francesca: Undercover FBI” is a thrill-fest, rapid-paced investigative novel with a lot of heat.

Mimi Barbour takes her reader in a rush to Sin City, piling on the intrigue and mystery within the first few pages, and, of course, introduces FBI Agent Frankie Donovan. Miss Fran Murphy, an alias our heroine uses while posing as a new hotel owner in order to fight the thugs who threatened the last owner. All in the chase to get Mr. D, an evil and violent crime boss in the city that never sleeps.That isn’t all Frankie has on her back: part of her undercover background is Sean Collins, her fake fiancé, so-called body-guard, and all heart-throbbing desire. As an initial series of bad impressions melt away, along with Frankie’s rigid professional control, she is able to help Sean realize his deepest dreams.

Frankie is struggling to leave the shadow of her icy, overbearing, type-A mother behind in New York City while wrapping her head around the recent, sudden revelation that her father is actually alive and living in Las Vegas as a detective – with a wife and three more daughters. As they plunge into building the father-daughter bonds denied to them for more than twenty years, professional intrudes on the personal, and Frankie heads for Los Angles to investigate a pair of kidnappers for her father. Sean takes co-pilot, until Frankie lets loose a little more control, and their impromptu vacation heats up fast.

Author Mimi Barbour does not pull punches in the drama and keeps the tension wound, throwing Frankie, who deplores violence, into fight after fight, culminating in a prize-fight challenge that could put Frankie in way over her pretty head.

And she’s not the only one with mysteries to solve and confrontations to face: something is going on with Sean’s best friend, and he’ll bring all his experience as a psychologist to figure it out. Anticipation and action ride high and higher still in this rapid pace investigative novel, dangling the hope of happiness for Special Agent Francesca over the threat to her life.

Barbour professes to enjoy cop TV shows and that was what inspired her to create her FBI agent series. She placed the first in the series in the hotbed of Las Vegas, the gambling capital of North America. The story explodes with steamy scenes, gritty language, and a lot of action – a lot of page turning action in this entertaining debut.

December 16, 2016
DEATH at the END of the ROAD by John Morsell – an Alaskan murder mystery

If you enjoy being transported to the last frontier, and want to be taken for a dramatic plot ride on a boat called the Otterly Ridiculous, with DEA agents, a character named The Mole, and a couple of dead bodies, then you’re in for a treat with John Morsell’s novel “Death at the End of the Road.” A semi-retired biologist and environmental consultant, Morsell draws from his more than 30 years working and living in Alaska to craft this engaging and well-written piece of mystery fiction.

As the story goes, Charlie Skyler, a boat-dwelling eco-tour guide and some of his unusual comrades, get tangled up in an adventure that involves murder, an eccentric drug lord, psychopathic assassins, and mysterious government agents. What makes the book even more compelling and appropriate, is that it’s set in Homer, Alaska, population 5,000, a small town known as a docking station for artists, fishermen, and ex-hippies.

Often tagged “quirky,” Homer also has been referred to as “the end of the road” due to its geographical location on the Kenai Peninsula about a 220-mile drive south of Anchorage. And perhaps you know Homer from hometown notables like singer Jewel or writer Tom Bodett (it’s his voice in the ads for Motel 6). See? It’s quirky.

With a knack for storytelling, first-time author Morsell is especially adept with dialogue, one of the most challenging aspects of fiction. Rather than revealing his characters through straight narrative, Morsell resorts to lively banter, in this case between two federal agents, one of whom is cranky, and an easy-going caretaker:

“Do you mind if we look around?” [Agent Milford] Beverly asked. “Actually, we have a search warrant, so it doesn’t matter whether you mind or not,” Agent March interjected.
“Help yourselves. You can spend the whole winter here if you want,” Don [the caretaker] said as he handed Beverly a ring of keys and winked lasciviously.

In some instances, Morsell shows further literary talent by employing alliteration (“The Lieutenant signaled the spooked soldiers…”). Also, he uses metaphor to disguise what could otherwise be construed as explicit language, as in this episode between two characters, one of whom has consumed a bit of herb:

“Frank was not at all interested in the details of Brett’s horrible night. After colorfully suggesting that Brett perform[s] various anatomically impossible acts, he told Brett to make himself permanently scarce by leaving the state or possibly the country, implying that if either he or the authorities caught him he would likely not be long for this world.”

Originally from Wisconsin, Morsell has taken a circuitous (read: quirky) route to fiction himself. In the mid-1970s, he moved to Alaska to work as a Field Environmental Specialist for the company building the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline and ended up staying for 30 years. He eventually formed his own small consulting company researching fish and aquatic habitats and went on to travel extensively throughout all regions of Alaska. Today, he lives in Washington state with his wife.

“The characters are loosely based on actual people and events,” Morsell said in an interview on The Whatcom Wordsmith podcast. Further inspiration came in the form of Seldovia, another Alaskan city with its natural beauty, as in this passage halfway through the novel:

“…Facing north toward the mouth of Seldovia Bay, Kate could see across Cook Inlet to the other side, where two volcanic peaks were visible, sunlight glinting off their snowy slopes. Artistic wisps of remnant fog completed the picture. A sea otter floated off the bow in casual nonchalance. A dozen gulls squabbled over a piece of food.”

A delightful suspense with splashes of humor, and some romance, “Death at the End of the Road” is a book you won’t want to miss, especially if you yearn to live vicariously through characters of nontraditional lifestyles and appreciate the natural scenery of one of the most beautiful places in the US.

September 23, 2016