Beautiful, blond Russian photographic models and half-sisters, Anna and Vika, are excited, but also a bit nervous, as their trans-Atlantic flight reaches its destination of Los Angeles. Vitaly, their photographer in Russia, has sent them at the request of his brother, Mikhail, who will photograph the sisters at beach locations along the Pacific Coast near Santa Barbara.
Mikhail—a fiftyish-looking bodybuilder with a salt and pepper goatee—meets the sisters, and they are soon heading north, the girls transfixed by the sights of Los Angeles and the California terrain en route to their new venue. Mikhail drops them off at a motel, suggesting that they rest up. This they do, but they awaken to growing needs for a fix—alcohol for Vika, heroin for Anna. Mikhail returns and takes Vika with him to pick up the necessary booze, needles, and drugs. He’ll pick them up in the morning for a shooting day at the beach.
In this suspense-filled novel, board-certified 25-year veteran criminalist John Houde shares his knowledge in this field—much of it published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences and other professional venues—with both young adult and older readers seeking an exciting tale of crime and murder investigated at crime scenes and in crime labs of California’s police and sheriffs’ departments. Evidence gathered by these organizations comes to be used by the FBI to bring down an international ring of criminals engaged in human trafficking of young women. The crime and mayhem are lightened by a little American-Russian romance and the close relationships that develop among the ‘good’ characters.
Houde intricately weaves many threads into his story, with parts played by colorfully crafted characters, among them the Russian trio; Santa Barbara Police Department criminalist Paul Connert, who is determined to help Vika find her missing sister; SBPD officer Kyra and her partner, Tina, a University of California-Santa Barbara graduate student, whose thesis involves research on the method of nanoparticle-mediated medication delivery to treat drug and alcohol addiction; and a crime investigator turned criminal right under his coworkers’ noses.
What makes Houde’s novel most fascinating, however, is his skillful use of accessible language to enable his readers to enter the contemporary world of criminal investigation and see how forensic evidence is collected, examined, and used to solve crimes that might otherwise never be solved. If this book piques your interest in this scientific field, you’ll want to read Houde’s Crime Lab: A Guide for Nonscientists.
If you liked Alice in Wonderland as a child, To Dream the Blackbane: A Novel of the Anomaly may captivate you now. While not suitable for children, this dark fantasy engages the reader with strange and unique characters, gritty, Sam Spade-like dialogue, and fanciful imagery.
In 2063, sixty years after The Anomaly, during which everything changed, in a world now populated by pedigreed humans, hybrids, and a whole gamut of imagined and legendary creatures from other planes of existence, the canis sapien, Wolfgang Rex, operates as a private eye in Chicago’s hybrid ghetto. He is assisted by his secretary, Sally Sandweb, a fun-loving faerie with blue and black wings, and green-tinged skin.
One evening, two locally venerated vampires barge into Wolfgang’s office to enlist his services. Like the Templar’s treasure was stolen from Jerusalem, a sacred vampire scroll was taken from their lair atop the Sears Tower whilst they slept. After they make him an offer he can’t refuse, Wolfgang agrees to recover the scroll, and a disapproving Sally draws up the contract.
Shortly after, he has another visitor, Charlotte Sweeney-Jarhadill, from Beggar Creek, Louisiana, who wishes to hire Wolfgang to exorcize the ghost of a Confederate soldier who’s been hanging around her home and bothering her. After another offer he can’t refuse, and deciding he has some leeway on time with the vampires, Wolfgang agrees to do the exorcism.
Little does he know that these two cases would involve life-threatening danger, and ultimately change the course of his life forever—whatever and wherever forever may be.
The ensuing story takes Wolfgang to stygian places in Chicago, and to rural Louisiana where Wolfie learns that reality is elusive, whom you can trust isn’t always clear, and there’s no safe place.
Like the 2063 reality imagined in this story, its tone and mood fluctuate. At times, Richard J. O’Brien’s story seems merely a dark fantasy—a kind of 21st century American gothic with unique settings and characters that keep the reader engaged. At other time, it feels more like a tongue-in-cheek, “gotcha” kind of yarn where the author uses satirical humor, exaggerated characters, and intriguing situations, to entertain fantasy fans. The story’s ambiguous ending contributes to this perception. We hope this means there is more to come!
One thing is certain, though, when you close the book a haunting suspicion may just well remain: has O’Brien used this genre as a vehicle for a symbolic allegory, addressing certain long-held religious beliefs and currently trending social and political events? In short, To Dream the Blackbane: A Novel of the Anomaly is a curious, provocative read that lingers on. One that we recommended.
The Moving Blade by Michael Pronko won GRAND PRIZE in the CIBA 2018 Global Thriller Awards for Lab Lit and High Stakes Thrillers!
What exactly was Bernard Mattson up to when he committed seppuku* at his Tokyo home – or, was it murder? This is just one of many questions Michael Pronko incites in readers in his latest novel, The Moving Blade.
Another set of questions: What was so important about Mattson’s collection of rare Japanese shunga—centuries-old erotic art—that someone ransacked the house for it while his family attended his funeral? Or was it all about the significant role that the elderly Mattson had in formulating, then turning against, the SOFA** agreements, and the book he intended to publish about the unfairness of the agreements to Japan today?
This is a rich serving of a thriller, a well-cooked and tasty sukiyaki of a novel, written by an American who knows Japan well. He does the magic trick of giving us his Japan with little compromise—the Tokyo settings, subtle cultural difference, and, most exquisitely, thefood—always ensuring his U.S. readers understand and accept shunga, ikizukuri, oyasumi-nasai, and meishi as easily as we understand hot dogs and Mom’s apple pie.
The Moving Blade does more than most procedural crime novels; this one is enriched by carefully drawn portraits of both political and cultural differences between Western and Eastern culture. It outlines without proselytizing the concerns of a range of Japanese citizens with the SOFA agreements. But if you think this book is more political than action, think again. The ongoing appearance of Japanese swords are given proper attention to their historical, social and monetary value, as well as their appearance in a killing that is best explained as ritualistic slice ‘n dice.
Hiroshi Shimizu, the Tokyo police detective with an American education is the lead character among a rich cast of Japanese and American men and women. His interior monologues about his career, a few women in his life, and the investigation aren’t quite as dark as thrillers from Scandinavia, but this is Japan, and he dishes out enough angst to make us care about who he is and what he does.
Most novels about contemporary Japan seem to be written by Japanese writers and translated into English. One of the accomplishments of this book is its distinctly American style that communicates Japanese life with equal clarity. And while some characters play the part of stock players, understand this, The Moving Blade delivers a solid punch to the gut (make that a well-placed thrust of a wakizashi sword) that readers look for in other-worldly thrillers.
This is the second book in Pronko’s series with Detective Hiroshi Shimizu, in a planned series of five books: the first, The Last Train, was published in 2017.
*Seppuku (hari-kiri): 1: ritual suicide by disembowelment practiced by the Japanese samurai or formerly decreed by a court in lieu of the death penalty; 2: SUICIDE: Merriman-Webster online dictionary.
**SOFA refers to the binding arbitration between Japan and the U.S. following World War II allowing the U.S. to establish permanent military bases governed by American laws
“A rich serving of a thriller, The Moving Blade is a well-cooked and tasty sukiyaki of a novel, written by an American who knows Japan well.” – Chanticleer Reviews
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]September brings countless clues and unsolved mysteries! Who will crack the case and emerge a winner? Stay tuned…
The game’s afoot this September with thrilling adventure, nail-biting suspense, keen detective work, and more. Perhaps you’ll need a private eye on the case or follow police procedural to the letter. What’s certain, while authors work hard at crime solving, when September draws to an end, all of our cases will be closed!
What are the CLUE Awards? Thrillers, Suspense, the grip of Mystery. CLUE is all about the uncertain– detectives and private eyes, cops and criminals; those who have something to hide and those who hunt to bring those dark secrets to light. CLUE novels thrive on questions and build suspense with each turning of the page. For writers who scatter pieces of a mystery throughout their stories, and readers who enjoy putting those pieces together, CLUE is the genre of choice.
The deadline is just around the corner! Who will survive the Slush? Who will be Longlisted and Shortlisted?
Who will take home the prize at CAC19 on April 27th?
Kaylin McFarren, CLUE Grand Prize Winner
Avoid the crime of letting this deadline slip by!Send in your stories of thrilling detectives, super sleuths, daring and flawed police detectives today. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
As the September 30th deadline for submissions draws closer, don’t miss this opportunity to earn distinction for your novel. Enter today!
All category winners have the opportunity to attend our Awards Ceremony on April 27, 2019, that will take place during the 2019 Chanticleer Authors Conference. First Place category winners will be whisked up on stage to receive their custom ribbon and await to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting and electrifying evening of dinner, networking, and celebrations!
First Place category winners and Grand Prize winners will each receive a stunning awards package well worth the price of entry into the CLUE Awards competitions.
The CLUE Awards for the best Thriller & Suspense Fiction novels
HALL of FAME
The Grand Prize CLUE Winner in 2017:
Twisted Threadsby Kaylin McFarren won the “Suspense/Thriller” category in the Clue Awards and then took home the Clue GrandPrize! Twisted Threads is the fourth book in her Threads Series set on a cruise ship, “With killers on the loose and no avenue for escape, tension is ratcheted to a breaking point, forcing everyone to choose between love and loyalty – or deeply held honor – in order to survive.”
Kaylin McFarrenis a multi-award winning author who has earned more than forty national literary awards. “She keeps a glass of wine close by while writing love scenes, Kleenex on her desk while writing heartbreakers, and has been known to empty a box of chocolates when she’s completely stumped.“
1st Place Category Winners in 2017:
Do Not Askby Elaine Williams Crockett
100 Days of Terrorby Larry Temple
The Butcher’s Billby SMartin Roy Hill
The Criminalist: A Novel of Forensic Science Suspenseby John Houde
Aged in Charcoalby Jeffrey Ridenour
Grand Prize Winner of 2016:
A Matter of Justice by Keith Tittle won the “Suspense/Thriller” category in the 2016 Clue Awards and went on to win the Grand Prize! “Author Keith Tittle rings all the challenges in this complex, gripping mystery. His story combines diverse elements lending the story opportunity for multiple mayhems. Jeff Dawes is a believable hero – determined, diligent, dogged by past failures that spur him to try harder. The setting – Portland, Oregon, with its scenic natural environs makes for a variety of well-staged scenarios.“
Keith Tittleis “…a lifelong history buff, baseball fan, and resident of the Pacific Northwest, and lives with his wife in southwest Washington.” Keith is working on the second novel in this series.
In 2015, Lonna Enox’s Blood Relations won the CLUE Grand Prize. This is the second book in Lonna’s Sorrel Janes Mysteries series set in the contemporary Southwest. In Blood Relations, “… a tangled web of mystery and lies, [proves that] the truth can only be discovered if the seeker can survive.“
Lonna Enox says this about herself, “I’m a ‘what if’ person. I’m also curious, and ask lots of questions, read about things, try things, & always investigate.”
The Red Ribbon by Rachel B. Ledge won the 2014 Clue Grand Prize. This historical fiction thriller set in London 1773 about a young woman who struggles to adjust to life after witnessing the murder of her closest friend by the man she loves.
“Rachel B. Ledge is an award-winning author of historical novels with elements of suspense, romance, and time travel. She grew up in Idaho, Texas, Utah and California due to circumstances that didn’t involve the military. An expat since 2008, she and her husband lived in Sydney for five years before sailing to Singapore, where they lived on a boat for a while before transitioning onto terra firma. She can be found sitting up late at night, reading anything with a compelling storyline.”
True Crime: Gayle Nix Jackson forOrville Nix: The Missing JFK Assassination Film
Grand Prize CLUE Winner in 2013:
In 2013, Clyde Curley took home the Grand Prize for his novel Raggedy Man, the first in the Detective Toussaint Novels. Here’s a top-notch detective murder mystery set in the Pacific Northwest, Portland Oregon, to be exact. “His novels are prodigious—yes they come in at more than 500 pages, but you will be wishing it were longer—and are page-turners that tackle and explore the big ethical and societal issues of today. Curley’s deft use of murder mysteries to microscopically explore society’s ethical issues is nothing short of brilliant.” – Chanticleer Reviews
Clyde Curley tells us “…this is all that matters: I’ve grown up and now I’m an author. For me, the permanence of art stands as a bulwark against the slings and arrows of outrageous real life. The highest, richest form of art is that which is formed from words—the first and most important attribute of humans striving to behave less like animals and more like gods.”
Pamela Beason’s Mystery/Thriller, The Only Witness tied for Grand Prize in 2012. The Only Witness is a marvel of story-telling. Pamela Beason’s novel is one of those rare gems that is intelligent and informative but also embracing and charmingly accessible.
A former private investigator, Pamela Beason “…lives in the Pacific Northwest. Pam challenges the human assumption that we are the superior species. Each of her titles takes readers on an adventure while reminding us that drifting through life is not enough; you have to live it…”
1st Place Category Winners in 2012:
Shadow Gamesby Jeanette-Marie Mirich
Corporate Insanity by Tom Pors
New Smyrna Swing by D.D. Queens
Made in Chinaby Mark Reutlinger
Mrs. Kaplan in the Soup; The Matzoh Ball of Death by Mark Reutlinger
Murder Strikes a Pose, A Downward Dog Mystery by Tracy Weber
Your book could earn a place in our CLUE hall of fame for the CIBA 2018 Best Books.
All you have to do is to enter your manuscript or published novel.
We are looking for the best books featuring suspense, thrilling adventure, detective work, private eye, police procedural, and crime solving, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For light-hearted Mystery and Suspense entries see our Mystery & Mayhem Awards) [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_5″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_size=”1px” border_color=”#606060″ border_style=”solid” padding=”10px” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]
Our Chanticleer Review Writing Contests feature more than $30,000.00 worth of cash and prizes each year!
All First in Category Winning Titles will be placed in the queue to receive a covetedChanticleer Book Review Package (value $395) for the winning title (reviews are non-transferable)and go on to compete for the genre Grand Prize and the Overall Grand Prize.
The Overall Grand Prize Winner is namedChanticleer Reviews Best Book of the Yearand awarded the$1000 prize
All Winners receive a Chanticleer Prize Packagewhich includes a digital badge, a ribbon and a whole assortment of goodies
All Sorrel Janes wants to do is vanish. And for a while, she does just that.
As a former television crime reporter in Houston, Sorrel is surrounded by danger, but after her husband’s murder by a drug cartel, she flees her life of minor stardom, changes her name, and moves to the usually quiet town of Saddle Gap, New Mexico.
After opening a small shop selling consigned crafts and beginning a career as a nature photographer, Sorrel thinks she finally has what she wants most: a peaceful life. It doesn’t hurt that she’s caught the eye of handsome sheriff’s deputy Chris Reed, either. But when an old photograph from her days as a reporter shows up on a body found murdered “cartel-style,” she is suddenly thrust back into her old life. Soon the violence spreads. She receives a mysterious package, and though she fears for her fragile new existence, her curiosity won’t let her rest until she knows the truth about her connection to the victim. This adventure, however, may be more than she can handle.
Striking Blind has a depth of characters that please and intrigue. Even characters not featured in the main storyline have significant development. From Teri, Sorrel’s pregnant best friend and star employee to the murder victim in the prologue, characters have extensive backstories, creating round, believable personas that enhance the featured mystery. As Chris Reed points out, Sorrel, like her equine namesake, is stubborn and feisty, the trademark of a great protagonist and detective.
The extensive history given in the previous two novels won’t be overwhelming if this is the reader’s first experience with the series. With the descriptions of Sorrel’s everyday-life, her inability to cook and her cantankerous cats, the reader feels a real connection to Sorrel. Persistence and curiosity make her a believable former reporter and a victim unwilling to stand still while someone threatens her and her new life.
Lovers of romance and paranormal won’t be disappointed either. The flirty banter and interaction with hunky cop Chris Reed make for a pleasant distraction in the action, and with the promise of more romance to come, readers will want to continue this series. To add supernatural flavor, Sorrel is commanded by a dream entity to help the “weeping child,” and though she never fully finds the answer to this midnight task, it haunts her until the end.
From the gruesome death in a mysterious cave at the opening until the very end, this edge-of-your-seat mystery will keep readers following the Sorrel Janes Mysteries series just as the lead character follows every clue – to the end.
Striking Blind by Lonna Enox won 1st Place in the 2016 CLUE Awards.
We are excited and honored to officially announce the Grand Prize Winner and the First Place Category Winners for the 2017 CLUE Book Awards for Thriller, Suspense, and Investigative Fiction Novels at the fifth annual Chanticleer Authors Conference and Chanticleer Book Awards Ceremony. This year’s ceremony and banquet were held on Saturday, April 21st, 2018 at the Hotel Bellwether by beautiful Bellingham Bay, Wash.
We want to thank all of those who entered and participated in the 2017 CLUE Book Awards, a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.
When we receive the digital photographs from the Official CAC18 photographer, we will post them here and on the complete announcement that will list all the genres and the Overall Grand Prize Winner for the 2017 Chanticleer International Book Awards. Please check back!
Lawrence Verigin,the author of the 2016 CLUE Winner, Seed of Control, announced the First Place Award Winners and the Grand Prize Winner for the 2017 CLUE Book Awards at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony.
Congratulations to the First Place Category Winners of the 2017 CLUE Book Awards.
An email will go out to all First Place Category Winners and Grand Prize Winners with more information, the timing of awarded reviews, links to digital badges, and more by May 21st, 2018 (four weeks after the awards ceremony). Please look for it.
2017 CLUE Book Awards First in Category Winners for Thriller, Suspense, and Investigative Fiction Novels are:
Do Not Askby Elaine Williams Crockett
100 Days of Terrorby Larry Temple
Twisted Threadsby Kaylin McFarren
The Butcher’s Billby SMartin Roy Hill
The Criminalist: A Novel of Forensic Science Suspenseby John Houde
Aged in Charcoalby Jeffrey Ridenour
And now for the 2017 CLUE Grand Prize Book Awards Winner for Thriller, Suspense, and Investigative Fictional Novels is:
The CLUE Book Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Thrillers, Suspense, & Investigative Fiction. The CLUE Book Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Novel Writing Competitions.
Congratulations to these authors for their works moving up from the 2017 CLUE slush pile to the Short List. These novels will now compete for the First Place Category positions!
Each of the titles belowhasearned the CLUE BOOK AWARDSSHORTLISTbragging rights!
More than $30,000.00 dollars worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to Chanticleer Book Reviews 2017 writing competition winners!
The CLUE Book Awards FIRST IN CATEGORYsub-genres are Detective/Crime, Suspense/Thriller, Private Eye/Noir, Legal/Medical/Police Procedural, Investigative, Spy/Espionage, and Political Thrillers.
The following titles will compete for the FIRST IN CATEGORY Positions and Book Awards Packages.
NOTE: This is the Official List of the CLUE 2017 SHORT LIST.
This is the Official 2017 Shortlist for the 2017 CLUE Book Awards:
Triveen Nair – Land of Seekers
Jeffrey A. Lockwood – Poisoned Justice
Carl and Jane Bock – Death Award
Hubert Crouch – The Weight
Martin Roy Hill – The Butcher’s Bill
Kara Lumbley – As the Ribbons Fall
Jeffrey Ridenour – Aged in Charcoal
Kaylin McFarren – Twisted Threads
John Houde – The Criminalist: A Novel of Forensic Science Suspense
Patrick Clark – The Monroe Decision
Clint Hollingsworth – Death in the High Lonesome
Elaine Williams Crockett – Do Not Ask
Deborah Rich – Under the Radar
Lisa Malice – Lost & Found
Robert D. Calkins – Digger
Barb Warner Deane – Killing Her Softly
Lou Dischler – Beneath the Frozen Waves of Steel
Larry Temple – 100 Days of Terror
Elizabeth Crowens – Dear Mr. Hitchcock
Zach Fortier – Cachibache
Dana Ridenour – Beyond The Cabin
K. A. Davis – A Game of Deceit
Avanti Centrae – VanOps – The Lost Power
John L. DeBoer – When the Reaper Comes
Bruce Graham – Member From Devon
Murray Lee Eiland Jr – A New Family (The Bart Northcote Series Book 3)
The CLUE SHORTLISTERS will compete for the CLUE First-In-Category Positions, which consists of Seven Judging Rounds. First Place Category Award winners will automatically be entered into the CLUE BOOK AWARDS GRAND PRIZE competition. The CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse.
Lonna Enox awarded Clue Grand Prize for BLOOD RELATIONS
All ShortListers will receive high visibility along with special badges to wear during the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com.
Congratulations to the Short Listers in this fiercely competitive contest!
Good Luck to each of you!
The CLUE Grand Prize Winner and the Five First Place Category Position award winners along with all Short Listers in attendance will be announced at the April 21st, 2018 Chanticleer Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2018 CLUE Awards writing competition. The deadline for submissions is September 30th, 2018. Please click here for more information.
There are mysteries to solve and ticking time bombs to defuse in Timothy Johnston’s second book in The Tanner Sequence. Readers, grab onto your seats for richly crafted, multi-genre novel in a world set 400 years into the future.
Homicide Detective Lieutenant Kyle Tanner has been diverted from a trip to Pluto with his soul mate (Shaheen) to investigate a murder at Ceres, a base on the largest asteroid in The Belt. A doctor is dead, one of three that had recently transferred from a research station called The Freezer on Europa, a moon of Jupiter. An autopsy reveals the doctor died of an aneurysm of his aorta – natural causes. The case is solved almost before it starts, and Tanner can catch the next shuttle to Pluto to join his love. Then word comes that Shaheen is dead, having just suffered a catastrophic aneurysm of her aorta.
One death by a rare medical condition is unlucky. Two within days is more than suspicious.
Tanner orders a new autopsy on the doctor. Remnants of an exploded nano-bot are discovered. The death was not natural; it was murder. And the murderer has also taken his love, Shaheen. (Or was she collateral damage from an attempt on his life?) He orders a medical scan on himself. Inside his aorta, next to his heart, a nano-bot slowly saws at the walls of his largest artery. Doctors tell him he has four days left. Four days to find a killer. Four days to find a way to disable the bot systematically killing him (ticking time bomb.)
He suspects the two colleagues of the slain doctor from The Freezer. And he suspects the answers he seeks are linked to their time at the research facility on Europa. Once at Europa, with his two suspects in tow, Tanner finds resistance, hostility, and secrets no one wants to be revealed.
All the while his time is running out.
The Freezer is well written, and the characters are fleshed out in a world where claustrophobia and a constant chill from living on a frozen, hostile world dependent on airlocks and environmental suits for survival, are routine. For science fiction lovers, the new world of the future is masterfully crafted, and the reader is there, in Tanner’s shoes half a solar system away. For mystery lovers, there are plot twists, lies, misdirection to wade through, and secrets to be revealed in pursuit of the truth. So many secrets. For thriller lovers, the clock is ticking. Tanner has four days to unravel the truth hidden in The Freezer to solve the crime and save his own life.
Just when you think you have everything figured out, Johnston piles on more, and more, and more.
Highly suspenseful and intricately woven, James Weber’s Jehovah: A Novel, will have you guessing until the very last page.
Austin, Texas is not just the setting of Jim Weber’s novel with vivid descriptions of the overall landscape and the individual neighborhoods, the people, the city’s crime history, the music, even the allergies people suffer from “cedar fever”; the city is more of a character. Weber does a superb job of immersing the reader in this urban environment in the early 1980s, that it’s easy to forget you’re not there.
The protagonist, Detective Sam Cain, knows the city as well as he knows his co-workers and the family he doesn’t see often enough when heading up a murder investigation. What he doesn’t know is who is killing mobsters, drug dealers, rapists, arsonists, drunk drivers and other unsavory types who have cheated the justice system. The victims are found in prayer position, on their knees, shot in the back of the head, the name of an Old Testament figure pinned to the fronts of their shirts.
The Old Testament figures prominently in this novel. The killer, referring to himself as Jehovah, sends typed letters filled with biblical references about unleashing his wrath on the wicked to the local newspaper. Of course, our protagonist’s surname clearly alludes to Cain, the Biblical figure who slew his brother, Abel, and readers are right to expect a mighty showdown between the killer and the detective.
The victim count rises as Cain races to piece clues together with the help from some and problematic interference from others. A most impressive feature of the book is the convincing details regarding police procedures and the internal politics of an investigation. The sections on forensics and criminal profiling are fascinating, while Cain’s meeting with a psychic is understated but nevertheless chilling.
There’s a large cast of minor but memorable characters, from the undercover cop who turned in his gun and chose to become a homeless person to “The Angel,” a shadowy figure of the night whose objectivity has motivated people to confide in him.
Given the religious zealotry evidenced in Jehovah’s letters, it’s appropriate that there’s also a priest, a member of the Holy Cross order of priests, who has his own political past having spent time in South America preaching liberation theology. As in all excellent mysteries, the concluding revelations make you reconsider everything you thought you knew. Weber leaves no loose ends, a feat considering the scope and complexity of the novel, making Jehovah a most satisfying mystery.
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.
In 2015, Lonna Enox’s 
“
In 2013, Clyde Curley took home the Grand Prize for his novel 
Clyde Curley tells us “…this is all that matters: I’ve grown up and now I’m an author. For me, the permanence of art stands as a bulwark against the slings and arrows of outrageous real life. The highest, richest form of art is that which is formed from words—the first and most important attribute of humans striving to behave less like animals and more like gods.”
There are mysteries to solve and ticking time bombs to defuse in Timothy Johnston’s second book in The Tanner Sequence. Readers, grab onto your seats for richly crafted, multi-genre novel in a world set 400 years into the future.
