Friday, March 29, 2013

Contemporary SciFi Studies Cultural Catalyst In Great Adventure

The Eternal Messiah:
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the
 Ahmadiyya movement, considered by
Ahmadis to be the Promised Messiah of the latter days

"We have a chance to witness something amazing,
the precist turning point of an entire culture.
"Why do you believe that?" asked Win.
"Because I've seen it before. Cultures at this stage
in their development are at a critical point, a
teetering, you might say. Do they stay in one place,
technologically and culturally stagnant, or do they
move ahead? I believe the ones that do progress
need some kind of shock, a catalyst if you will.
This catalyst is often religious in nature--almost
always, in fact. It leads to a transformation, one
that moves the people either into an organized
society, or, in a place like K'Turia where an organized
society already exists, the transformation jars them
out of the stagnant ceremonial rules which limit
their development...
"I am explaining cultural development in a scientific
way. Just because it has an element of religion does
not mean that it is not scientific."

Jesus of K'Turia
Cold Maneuvers

By W. R. Pursche and
Michael Gabriele
Click Above, if interested, and Enjoy Gabriele's Relevant Music, Cold Maneuvers...sounding like the Lemians in action... Get it started then Click Back! 

The only negative issue I had with this novel was the usual slow beginning as readers move into another world, another planet and begin to meet strange names, learn about their lives, and try to follow different alien species. For me, since I don't routinely read scifi/fantasy, I had never heard of any of the places, so had no idea of the type of people they were, that may have been identified in some other book, except through actually reading the book. I would like to have known, for instance, more about a Treb, which is the species that Win, the main character, was. This type of information would have helped readers understand better what the words meant rather than trying to interpret what was happening... A glossary of the people and some groups was--but nothing was provided for the words specific to the species...

The best way to describe the story is to picture a place where there is no technology. That alone is hard to imagine, right? K'Tura was town where religion was the most important condition of their life. Individuals were "born" into where they fit in a hierarchy that, of course, had the priests at the top, and the farmers, traders and other workers at the bottom. The priests were the only ones that determined The Way for them to live. There was no free will to choose...anything...

"The Rhean once known as Prome activated the
neural net which would connect its sentient
protoplasm to that of Rhean Ceme, millions
of miles away. After the slightest of hesitations
the link was established...
"This neural connection was their racial secret.
It is what set them apart from virtually all others
in the universe..."
But a man was there... His name was Jesus... And he was telling a different story...

The book centers on a small group of off-worlders who had been sent to find a freighter that had a cargo that must be either destroyed or taken away, but nobody knew what the cargo was. They assumed it was weapons.

Garrick was placed in charge. The three others were from a science vessel and had been pulled into a job that they really weren't prepared for.

Prentiss, in many ways, became the lead character. As a cultural specialist, she had hypothesized that societies remained primitive until a major catalyst, usually a very charismatic individual, became a leader to those in that society.

But she never expected to find Jesus on K'Turia.

Naturally she wanted to learn as much as she could while they were there. She had already studied the story of the earth Jesus Christ and assumed that the man who was there on that planet would take a similar role as had happened on earth.

At the same time on K'Turia, there were representatives of the Lemians, a military group that planned to take over the planet, if not as negotiated, then through military action. Those interactions had just begun...

As in most futuristic scifi stories, there are planets that have merged together, while others have remained independent, seeking to take over other planets. Indeed there were a number of negotiations that were taking place during the book. Readers will need to read carefully to see what was actually happening since the religious activities on K'Turia take center stage in the action adventure. I think the authors have done an excellent job in making religion a central part of the story, while not referring to any actual religions, religious books, or leaders...

And it is the character Jesus himself who proclaims that The Way [used in this book] was for everyone. What this results in is a contemporary novel that can speak to any individual about their needs, their desires, their search for what their life means--hopefully, a life of helping others, a life of sacrifice when required...a life with freedom to choose... Well Done Pursche and Gabrield!


Bill Pursche lives in Orlean, VA, with his wife Kim and their son Ryan. They have two dogs, two rescued orphan horses, and a no-longer-feral cat. He splits his time between writing, painting, providing business advice, and doing whatever he can to help save and care for dogs and other animals. His writing has appeared in numerous publications and magazines, and many of his original "Canine Commandments" have been widely quoted and can be found all over the Internet. He donates 100% of the net proceeds of his book "Lessons To Live By: The Canine Commandments" to animal rescue groups and humane associations. With Michael Gabriele, he is also the author of "The Eternal Messiah: Jesus of K'Turia."

Michael Gabriele is a professional musician and artist in Rhode Island. For information about Mike's music, please visit 

Together they are working on the next two books in the Eternal Messiah series.
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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Andrew Gross' Latest Thriller Awesome Story Based On Fact...
"No chance this is simply your particular spin on foreplay?"
He smiled hopefully. A last-ditch plea.
"I wish it was." I shrugged, pushing the hair out of my face.
"it would probably make the whole situation a lot easier.
"He took the waist of my skirt and shimmied it back up, letting
out a deep sigh, as if to say, I can't believe I'm actually doing this."
"Thank you," I said, "You're really a saint for not making me
feel like a total shit...
"About as awkwardly as I'd felt since maybe back in college, I
scurried around, covering myself up with my bra, and picked up
my sweater off the floor... I closed the door behind me and took
a deep, releasing breath...
"I blew out a final, steadying breath and steeled myself, when
suddenly, over the running water, I heard something coming
from the bedroom.
"Voices...I cracked the bathroom door open and peeked out.
My heart came up my throat at what I saw. There was another
man in the room...he had a gun pointed at Curtis, who was on
the bed..."You're going to shoot me, no matter what I do?"
"I raised the gun at him, two-handed shouting, "I'm an ex-cop!
Put the gun down. Put your hands in the air!..."


No Way Back

By Andrew Gross

Have you ever made one mistake that changes your entire life? Wendy Gould did... She had gone to the hotel to meet her friend and have a drink and talk over her fight with her husband. Her friend never showed up! While she had waited, she had talked with a man at the bar, who surprised her when he left to play the piano. Then Wendy went with him to his room. Only after they had removed their clothes did she come to her senses, back out of the situation and head for the bathroom with her clothes... While she dressed, Curtis, the man she had just met a few hours ago, was murdered in his bed.

On the other hand, Lauritzia Velez had done nothing wrong. She was a devoted nanny, living with a family who cared for her deeply. She did have a secret life, however, filled with much pain, as all living members of her family, except her father had been murdered. She was now separated from her father and also hiding, because she knew that sooner or later, she would be the next to be murdered...

"The doors opened on the ground level. "C'mon,
guys." Lauritzia placed her hands on their shoulders
and started to push them forward.
"That was the moment when her life was rocketed
back to her own private hell.
"A man stood in the doorway. A man who looked like
a thousand men she had seen in her past: dark skin,
black hair knotted into a roll, sunglasses; the all-
too-familiar tatto running down his neck. She saw
him reach inside his jacket.
Lauritzia knew. Even before she watched him search
through the elevator for her eyes, scanning through
the other people getting off. Before she saw him pull
out his weapon. She knew.
"And in the horror of what she knew was about to
happen, her thoughts ran to the one thing she knew
she could not lose. "Taylor, Jamie!" As they stepped
forward, she lunged for them, pulling them behind
her as the first deadly pops rang out...
"If this is my time, let it be so, she said to herself.
But Jesus, Mary, please, not the kids..."
At the end of the book, Gross notes that he started the story based upon an immigrant who agreed to testify against a ruthless killer who was then, along with his family, denied asylum. This story was loosely woven into Lauritzia's. "But to me it became an anthem of not only the innocent victims of narco-terror, but of the horrors of a worldwide criminal enterprise that is out of control."

I applaud Andrew Gross in his recognition and spotlight as
more and more recognition must force action against this seemingly unstoppable "enterprise..." Will we be forced to take our own revenge like the characters in this exciting novel?

Indeed, when Wendy confronted the man who killed Curtis, she was forced to kill him, to save her own life. It was only then that she found a "homeland security" badge on his body! And when she ran, it was another investigator that had given chase and tried to kill her. That same man had followed her home, where Wendy and her husband were just leaving... They then killed Wendy's husband and staged the body to look like she had killed him! There was no way these men were acting on behalf of the U.S. government!

There are more deaths...of innocent people, who just got in the way of a Mexican drug lord...

As well as corrupt government employees who decided they wanted money and power as part of their total compensation package...

It is only close to the end that these two women meet. Wendy had found Lauritzia's picture when she was in the hospital and had been visited by Curtis, who had been a journalist after a major news story...

They seemed to know each other, although they had never met--their loss was the connection...

Watch what happens when these two continue the thrilling hunt! Fantastic finish for a story that, hopefully, will begin to appear in today's headlines--a finish that rarely seems to happen in reality! Highly recommended!


Andrew Gross is the author of the New York Times and international bestsellers 15 Seconds, Eyes Wide Open, The Blue Zone, The Dark Tide, Don't Look Twice, and Reckless. He is also coauthor of five number one bestsellers with James Patterson, including Judge and Jury and Lifeguard. His books have been translated into more than 25 languages.
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Poet Adolfo Caso Visits! Yes!!!

English: The diving observation platform at Ch...
English: The diving observation platform at Chwarel Vivian (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Adolfo Speaks of...Fear; Your Fear May Be Another
type, But His Words Speak For Us...

Fear of Diving

Adolph (Adolfo) Caso

In admiration of those,
High on protruding platforms
And without signs of fear,
Await their single moment of lift
Before their graceful swan-dives
Establish new beauty in motion
At the point
When their arms
Extend their hands into one point
And break the surface of the water
With hardly a splash,
Before the water invigorates their bodies
Being pushed towards the surface
For the needed gulps of air
From floating bubbles,
In gaining another level of freedom.
My eyes in awe of their beauty,
I am left wonderingly envious
Whether each motion is captured
By the divers, conscious of their feat
And free from the fear of diving,
Or whether I am destined
To live with the beauty of each image
Deep in my psyche,
Having to endure one paroxysm after another,
Each paralyzing every cell of my body,
Leaving my eyes transfixed
As if I were a remnant
Of the Petrified Forest.

Each time
I try stepping onto a diving platform,
I am seized by an unexplainable fear
That quickly drives me away
Into a chair
Solidly nailed to the floor
By sledge hammers
Pounding into my brain
As if I were in a catatonic state
Living in the House of Usher--
Doomsday written all over my face!

Was it
The single but scar-less dive
Onto the rocky-bottom of the waterhole
Left behind by a recent rainstorm,
When only ten
With my nude companions
Frolicking about,
As though we had seen water
For the first time in our lives?

Both easy and convenient,
The explanation gives me
Neither, pause!
Nor, peace!
Nor, rest!
Does it assuage
This compulsive desire
Of wanting to dive,
On one hand
And being repulsed
By the very platform
That can make it possible.

This fear is in my DNA.
It is real and resolute,
Stubborn and recalcitrant,
Contradictive and unfair!
Why the two poles in this single human being?
Why the seed of this desire
That cannot be concomitantly fulfilled--
Is it just for me and within me--
This duality of poles destined
To never meet?

No! No!
This un-placating desire cannot continue
Even it means
Overcoming death’s soul,
Succumbing to it.
If I must,
I will have to dive into its soul
Regardless of consequences
To my own!

With my back to the wall,
Kids running around,
Jumping or diving into the pool at will,
My eyes are intent
On one young man
Diving off of the high board,
To the few others on the middle board
And to the several more on the lowest--
Me, un-envious of their feats,
Feeling compelled to challenge my foe,
I decide to take the first step
Of resolving it,
One way or another:
Life bound to freedom
Or death to unchain my soul!

With my secret, deep within,
I make my way
Past strangers and friends
To the young ones in line for their dives.
Two young girls ahead of me
Take theirs, as free spirits,
Without one thought of fear for themselves
Or awareness of the cross I am bearing.
With others behind me,
I am forced either to stay in line
Or give cowardice my face!

On the plank,
My feet turn into lead
As I approach its edge.
I stop;
Look down;
And freeze.
“Dive!” a voice comes from behind.
The surface of the water defying my eyes,
I drop,
Feet first,
Into a diving bomb noisily splashing the surface,
To the vociferous praise of friends’
Approving the result
Completely opposite of my intentions.
I feel my body stiffer,
As it paralyzes my soul’s image
In pending death.
My spectral self reveals itself
Through translucent eyes
Seen and felt only by me.

After a pause,
I walk myself back again
As if I were an automaton
Receiving orders from a virtual command post
Beyond accessibility,
But, not beyond
That ounce
Of defiance
That lives
In every breathing heart
Of every human being
Onto every spark
Of light-giving life!

I am determined
To dive,
Hands clasped together
As in the point of a javelin
On a desired trajectory,
Unconcerned on where it will land!

My feet heavy as lead at the edge of the platform,
Head first, and maybe gracelessly,
I plunge into the pool
Of water with hardly a splash--
Into water that never seemed as refreshing
And life-restoring as at this moment!
I return to my corner
Silently triumphant
And without anyone saying a word
On the secret accomplishment
Of having gained freedom,
By overcoming fear.

Joy at last!
Now, diving on the middle platform,
My body turns to the left,
With my arms stretched out
Before closing to the point on entering the water,
My movements are as smooth
As those of birds on the high seas
Diving to catch their meals below
Neither knowing the aesthetics of their dives
Nor the existence of fear.

Confidence in hand,
The highest platform remains the challenge.
Unaware of time
As though
The universe were reduced
Into the presence of a single moment
Of- or in-time,
I stand at the edge of the platform
In deep silence,
My eyes looking ahead
Not daring to look down.

From afar,
Somewhere in space without an azimuth
A trumpet calls retreat.

Losing consciousness, I fall into the pool,
Unaware of my body’s aesthetics
Or form of entry into the water.

Buoyed to the surface
I hear the last refrain of the trumpet:
Day’s done; another day’s ahead.
Finally, I no longer need to dive
The fear that has haunted my soul
Now belongs to yesterday!
And though the sound of the retreat
Is reverberating in all the cells of my body,
My newly gained passport
Is already hearing the sounds
The bugle calling me
To Reveille!

Publisher, Branden Books, Author, Editor, Poet, and Friend if a regular contributor to Book Readers Heaven...

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Erika Chase's Debut Cozy Series Nominated for Award from Malice Domestic!
"Hey! I came over to meet the star cats!
So where are they?"

A Killer Read:
An Ashton Corners Book
  Club Mystery
Nominated for Agatha Award for Best First Novel!

By Erika Chase

I thought I would do a little "light" mystery reading over the weekend, but this novel, debuting a new series, was much more than you normally get in a cozy... First, readers will notice that there are chapter excerpts, all from other books. What I wondered was whether the excerpt was discovered first and then the chapter shaped to fit it (Yikes!) or whether the book was written and then, somehow, she found appropriate sentences to fit the chapter. Honestly, it seemed that they were very complementary and I couldn't figure out how that could be done. In any event, I applaud the author because this additional touch certainly gave a beautiful "touch of class" to make it, indeed a killer read!

"She delighted in the fact that every second morning
when she ran in the opposite direction, it took her
along Cavendish Road and past the blue Cape Cod
house she'd grown up in. Her earliest memories had
her in the bottom left corner kitchen cabinets, the
ones her daddy had removed the turntable shelves
from and transformed into a playhouse. She'd spend
hours sprawled on the cushions he'd added playing
school with her two favorite dolls, Becky with red
hair and the blonde bombshell Barbie, surrounded
by the sounds of her mama humming as she worked
in the kitchen.
"she'd outgrown her special place by the day the
humming stopped. That shattering day when just
before dinner, Chief Bob Miller had shown up at
the door to tell them her daddy wasn't coming
home again..."
Perhaps because it included a new book club being formed and, since the murder occurred right outside of where they were meeting, all the members were suspects!

Well, that just was unacceptable to our main character, Lizzie Turner, who had started the new group. Lizzie is a "Reading Specialist" who not only worked with teachers, but also tutored individual students who were having problems in their classes due to their limited reading and study skills. Lizzie also led literacy classes, was in the community choir, and was a sympathetic friend... It's a wonder she had time to breathe...

And I was sorry to say that she really didn't take much time with her cats, Edam and Brie, so I just had to spotlight them a little here, even though they stayed at home, while Lizzie was out all the time... Poor things!

But then I snooped around and found that the cats in the Chase household actually help the writer rather than the characters! Their names have been changed to keep them from all the fans that normally surround the stars, but I did "snatch" a couple of pics to share with my cat lover readers!

Molly hosted many of the activities Lizzie initiated both because they were friends and because as a widow she enjoyed having people visit. But when the book club members had settled down and one came in late, she had announced that there was a man in the hallway. Nobody knew him and he quickly asked to use the phone and then left, only to be killed. It was around the same time that Molly realized that several small things had been taken from her home... Had the man stolen them while he was there roaming in the front area?

That issue became even more important when they discovered that the gun used to kill the man had also been owned by Molly. Apparently that had also been stolen although she had not been aware it was gone. Of course, the police thought that was a little too convenient and made it clear that Molly was being seriously considered!

At that point, the entire group decided to investigate. Bob Miller who was the retired chief of police was certainly going to check things out... But as things progressed, Lizzie was seeing things along the way that made her question what several of her group may be hiding. Was it related to the murder?

And then Lizzie started getting phone calls about her father who had died many years ago! At the same time, somebody started sending her a manuscript. At first she thought somebody in one of her classes wanted her to review their work--but why keep it a secret?

The investigation was not only getting more complicated, but the police were getting nowhere, especially since they kept looking at the book club members! Lizzie was determined to get all of their names cleared, but after issues about her father came up, she realized that apparently there was something about his death that needed to be discovered as well! But how could all of this be tied together? Many years separated the two deaths!

Now readers, the author gave a one-word clue early on that, if you pick it up, you will know who is guilty! Do you read that closely? I did! And I was right. Still, I was totally in the dark about all the other issues that were discovered along the way... The twists that forced everybody to go back into time made things difficult since so many of the individuals were already dead through natural causes. Still, there had to be people who knew what was going on--following the trail to those individuals was difficult but fun as each tip led to another person, who knew a little more, and so on...

By the way, the members of the book club are proving to be interesting characters so I'm looking forward to getting to know them better and see whether the budding relationships that came about in this first book, will continue on. But it will probably be somewhat boring to settle into normal reading activities--unless, of course, there's a murder or two for them to solve in each book. LOL...

Into Cozies? Do check this one out!


Erika Chase

Erika writes the Ashton Corners Book Club mysteries for Penguin/Berkley Prime Crime. In a parallel life Erika Chase is also known as Linda Wiken. A former mystery bookstore owner (Prime Crime Books in Ottawa, ON, Canada), Linda is also a short story writer. She is a member of those dangerous dames, The Ladies' Killing Circle.

Her short stories have appeared in the seven Ladies’ Killing Circle anthologies (three of which she co-edited), and in the magazines Mysterious Intent and Over My Dead Body. She has been short-listed for an Arthur Ellis Award, Best Short Story, from Crime Writers of Canada.

Before life in the world of mystery, she worked as an advertising copywriter, radio producer, journalist and community education worker. Besides writing and reading mysteries, her other passion is choral singing and she is a member of two choirs. Okay, maybe one more passion -- chocolate!

She shares her house with Keesha and Mojo, her two Siamese cats. Actually, they allow her to live there.
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Monday, March 25, 2013

Jane Munro Turns From Microscope to Mystery in New Great Series!

"Personally, if I were going to kill someone, I would use a neuromuscular blocking agent. No muss, no fuss--you just stop breathing and that's it. It would be an awful way to die, though. You remain conscious right up till the end, but you can't move, and you can't call for help, and eventually you can't breathe, but you don't lose consciousness until the brain gets hypoxic enough. Why," I warmed to my subject, rubbing my hands together fiendishly, "you'd have time to tell your victim exactly why you had killed him, and he'd have time to think about it before he died!"
"Hal shivered. "Toni, you scare me sometimes. Remind me not to get you made at me. Come on, let's go to bed."
Murder Under the Microscope  Debut of Toni Day Series
By Jane Bennett Munro
As a winner of an IP Book Award for Excellence, I wasn't the least surprised that this book was selected. Written by a pathologist, based upon years of experience, Munro takes us directly into the life of Antoinette Day, who leads a small department at Perrine Memorial Hospital in Idaho. And then creates a life for her, as she says on the back cover, that becomes "a living hell..."

Which always makes for a good murder mystery, of course... This is a solid, well-written novel, but the poor main character, Toni Day...I'm surprised that she made it through all that was thrown at her in her first book! Will she be able to be the lead in a series, if her writer is going to be doing this? LOL...Seriously, just when you think you've begun to get a handle on whodunit... The bodies keep appearing!

"I told you to shut up, bitch."
"Oh year? Who died and made you king,
"I don't have to listen to you whining all day, cunt."
"Yes you do, fuckhead. "You're in a cage just like
"So, what're you in for? Stealing lingerie from
Macy's" he sneered.
"Don't you wish, big boy."
"You better shut up, bitch, I'm not gonna tell you
"Good," I said. "I was getting tired of it.
"You better not get smart with me, bitch. I can tear
you into little pieces. You'll wish you'd never been
born. I'll beat your pretty face to pulp. I'll carve it
up with a hunting knife. No man will ever look at
you again."
My blood ran cold, and I shivered. Thank God this
animal was in a cage.
"Is that what you're in for?" I asked.
"I beat up my girlfriend. She was steppin' out on me.
Nobody does that to the Bruiser and gets away with
 it," he bragged.
"I hear you," I said, suddenly inspired. "My boyfriend
did the same thing to me. But he'll never do it
"Yeah?" he said, interested in spite of himself.
"What'cha do to him?"
"I strangled him with a pair of her panties and
carved my initials on his scrotum."
"I heard what I thought might be a little gasp."
"With a razor blade..."

And it's all about trouble at work. Except when you're in a hospital, that work affects lives... And some of the bodies were incidental "patients" that got in the way. Yikes!

Oh, yeah...An old stalker of Toni's also shows up--but he's threatening Hal, Toni's husband!

Toni was fairly well established and respected for her department's work, except by one man. But when a new temporary doctor came--a beauty that had all the men drooling, it seemed that nothing was going to satisfy her!

And she used Tyler as her front man to get Toni into trouble... First they fired one of Toni's long-time employees!

Of course, Toni took immediate action and got her back on the job... But then she was hit by a car in the hospital parking area, and was off work for months! Surprising Toni even more was that a new qualified young woman was found and on the job by the next day!

When that young woman made a serious mistake which could have gotten Toni in trouble, Toni really began to watch and worry about what was happening!

Somehow Dr. Shore, the new doctor had to be involved--but how?! But when the body of Dr. Shore is Toni's office... everybody was suspicious!

Toni even called for her mother to come to be with her (one cool lady!)

Now most of us, these days, because of the many television shows which delve into forensics, would probably think that Toni is going to find the answers through her own work...Not!

Toni is a pathologist, not into forensics, so you will learn the difference, while Dr. Day continues to be called upon to do her normal work, during surgeries, to assist there...and more... In one way, this is closer to a cozy mystery since the pathologist is acting to investigate the crimes through the normal interview, tracking, and analysis phases. This in itself is a different twist that I enjoyed, especially since many TV programs slot these specialists into jobs that they do not normally do in everyday life.

What this does for readers is allow us to experience the reality of pathology, while at the same time working to solve a murder mystery. I applaud Monro, for staying true to her professional credentials and sharing her experience in an important medical field.

The angle Munro used to slowly eliminate suspects, by death, LOL, was fun as well, since readers have to keep on working on the mystery right up to the end. Yeah, we get some hints at that point, but, you'll be guessing wrong, I'm thinking, even when surprises are revealed along the way. Not many thrills, but a steady strong whodunit that is sure to please those who love to play the investigator along with the main character.

Toni, by the way, fooled me at first...I thought she was somewhat of a wimp...LOL...I was wrong... Enjoy! 


I'm a pathologist in a rural hospital in Twin Falls, Idaho, trained in Southern California. I worked my way through medical school as a medical technologist. I came to Twin Falls right out of residency, and was in a solo practice for 24 years before my hospital was purchased by the other one; now I have three partners. I now work part-time at St. Luke's Magic Valley in Twin Falls. I'm 67, divorced, and live in Twin Falls with my best friend, Rhonda, and our cat, Henrietta.

Unlike most pathologists in murder mysteries, my protagonist, Toni Day, MD, is not a forensic pathologist, and neither am I. Like me, she is a hospital based general pathologist who has forensic autopsies thrust upon her. Instead of the usual morgue scene, Toni's work involves all the other things pathologists do that nobody knows about; surgicals, cytology, the clinical laboratory; all this in addition to solving the odd heinous crime.

Reviewers have suggested that I develop a platform upon which to provide information for those who have lab work done, or must have something biopsied or removed at surgery, and the interrelationship between pathologists, surgeons, and oncologists (cancer doctors) which are so frightening and mysterious to the average patient.

The readers of my books will at least get an idea of what the average pathologist does all day besides autopsies.

We're not all Quincy.

Some of us are Toni Day.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Novel Out This Month by Becky Masterman Presents Fantastic Female FBI Agent!

"When I joined the FBI there weren't many female special agents
and the Bureau took advantage of that. A five-foot-three-inch
natural blonde with a preteen cheerleader's body comes in handy
for many investigations, so they were willing to waive the height
requirement. For a good chunk of my career I worked undercover,
mostly acting as bait for human traffickers and sexual predators
crossing state or international lines.
"I did the undercover work for nine years. That's about five years
longer than usual before agents burn out or lose their families.
Because I never married or had children I might have done more
time if it hadn't been for the accident that necessitated fusing
several vertebrae. It could have been worse; you should have seen
what happened to the horse.
"The surgery made problematic many job requirements--leaping
across rooftops...dodging knife thrusts...lap dancing. I could have
taken disability but couldn't see what life would look like outside
the Bureau, so the second half of my career was spent in
investigations. Then I retired.
"...No, that not the whole truth...

Rage Against The Dying

By Becky Masterman

Lisa Gardner called this book a must-read... Linwood Barclay was "Blown Away..." Me? I've been reading some great books this year and I'd count it one of my top favorites! And it's all because of the main character, Brigid Quinn... We know this woman: "I've sometimes regretted the women I've Been...Daughter, sister, cop, tough broad, several kinds of whore, jilted lover, ideal wife, heroine, killer..."

Other than a few related to her profession, we all know the feeling of being multiple personalities to multiple people and knowing that, many times, we keep secrets from one identity and never share it... "Keeping secrets, telling lies, they require the same skill." Brigid was 59 when this story happened...

She was retired, remarried, and keeping most of her past life a secret from her present husband. Because she was afraid of losing him, just as her first husband had turned away from her, not able to accept the life she chose and the blood that surrounded her life...

"...retirement didn't work out that well except for,
also at the advice of my therapist, auditing a class on
Buddhism at the university. That's where I met the
Perfesser. And shortly thereafter stopped seeing the
"Mutual attraction was fairly immediate. During the
first lecture I watched the intense Dr. Carlo
DiForenza packing back and forth in front of the
class lecturing like a caged tiger who had eaten the
Dalai Lama. In the middle of Carlo's review of the
cyclical nature of karma, one of the girls, wearing a
tube top that squeezed her out of the top like toothpaste,
pressed her elbows together and said, "Oh, you mean,
like, 'wherever you go, there you are.'" The professor's
pacing stopped and he blinked out the window without
turning toward the speaker, a tiger distracted by a gnat.
"Contrary to what that bumper sticker says," I drawled,
"It's not precisely true."
"Carlo finally turned to the class and zeroed in on me.
His grin shot to my loins. "Go on," he said.
"It's my experience that it takes about a year to catch
up with yourself, so you don't have to worry as long as
you keep moving."
"He started blink again. I expected I was going to be
treated to a condescending retort. Then his grin
returned. "Who are you?" he asked, emphasis on
the "are."
My name is Brigid Quinn," I answered.
"We should speak of this over dinner,
Brigid Quinn."
So, of course, she didn't tell anybody about the man who had attacked her while she was rock hunting near home...

Or that she had killed him and then ran his vehicle with the body into the river...

She especially didn't tell anybody that she found information about herself in the van and that apparently she was not a random selection--even though she knew the man had wanted her because he thought she was older, due to her hair color!

All she thought about was that she didn't want her husband to know that she had killed...again...

Deputy Sheriff Max Coyote had become friends with Carlo since we had moved into our home. Max and Brigid had worked a few cases together when she was still still an active agent with the Bureau. When he came to visit, she knew that he was here on business. But she was still surprised when he told her that they had a serial killer in custody.

Floyd Lynch was a long haul trucker. He was stopped routinely, but a cadaver dog was at the stop and went crazy. They found a dead woman in his truck. She was in his sleeping area... She'd been...used...

At first he didn't confess to killing her, but then once he started, he went on and on! Then they found lots in the truck tied to The Route 66 killer...

Max had come for Brigid, because that case was the last she had worked...and had resulted in the death of a new agent under Brigid, who had gone undercover and never came back. Brigid immediately wanted in--she wanted to at least find the body and tell her father.

But before long, Brigid wasn't certain that Lynch was the killer of even the woman in his truck...but she knew that he had to have been in contact with the real criminal! Being in retirement wasn't going to stop her from working this case... All without telling Carlo what was really going on...

That wasn't working too well...

And then Max found the van and body of the man who she'd pushed into the river...

So how do you deal with the different parts of your life? Do you keep work and home totally separate? Especially if you're supposed to be retired? Brigid loved Carlo but refused to trust him enough to share the truth of her life... For a thriller, this not only complicates how and why Brigid gets involved, but also means that she's now being questioned by Max about the murdered man in the river...

Complex, Tense, Exciting and yet totally involved as a female can be in one hell of a mess! Brigid just may be the best female character I've far this year (LOL)... I loved her and this serial killer hunt was like no other I've read!

Highly recommended for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is Brigid, whose name is really not Brigid...


About the Author

BECKY MASTERMAN is the acquisitions editor for a press specializing in medical textbooks for forensic examiners and law enforcement. She grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and received her MA in creative writing from Florida Atlantic University.  Becky lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband. This is her first thriller.

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