Author, blogger, book reviewer. © 2015 Bruce M. Perrin
From Dystopian Sci-Fi (The Midnight Library) to Paranormal Romance (From Blood and Ash), you’ll find something to make your nights a bit creepier in this collection of books and swag.
Well, I guess the gift cards aren't all that scary.
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The protagonist of this novel, Matt Lanier, is a musician. He’s always humming a tune or drawing parallels between his situation and the lyrics of a song. And when he’s reluctantly pressed into a murder/conspiracy investigation, he leverages this talent to find clues to the truth in the timber and tone of voice of the people he meets. That’s not an ability I’ve seen other amateur sleuths leverage and one of the reasons I enjoyed Straight River.
As you might imagine with a thriller, the songs that Matt finds apropos to his situation are ones like Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D Minor—his circumstances are often bleak. Called back to his boyhood home after his father’s unexpected death, Matt soon suspects foul play. Then, later, he finds evidence of a multi-state (perhaps eventually, multi-nation) conspiracy to purchase vast tracks of farmland at below-market prices. Physical intimidation, even murder, are the tools of this criminal scheme and author Norbury keeps the reader guessing, presenting us with a long list of possible co-conspirators. The action is tense and well-paced, with the body count increasing steadily throughout the novel. But even so, there are pauses to enjoy the Minnesota countryside or to relive moments of Matt’s past. His still strong feelings for his ex-wife, in particular, provide a nice counterpoint to the action. And the ending, though a bit well-worn, felt appropriate to the plot.
The limitations of the book are primarily in the lack of subtly of the conspiracy and how/why that seemed to have little effect on the course of the tale. To start, the story is set in the 2008 Recession, so killing reluctant sellers seems a bit excessive given the overall financial state of the world. But even if we accept that premise as a literary given—to create tension—the number of deaths, near fatalities, and co-conspirators in one small Minnesotan county implies dozens, if not hundreds of incidents across multiple states. And facts that should have caused suspicion amid this killing spree are often ignored—things like suffocating in a silo when the grain isn’t being taken out from the bottom or a hanging that produces no bruising around the victim’s neck. And when a police sergeant asks the coroner about the latter evidence, she refuses to talk … but the sergeant still ignores the issue. A little more attention to aligning the investigation to the extent and nature of the crime would have increased the impact of the tale considerably.
Overall, expressive descriptions of setting and backstory add spice to a tense, well-paced thriller. Tightening up the plot would have let the action reach its full potential.
See on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3s7PQyc
(I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.)
A suspenseful whodunit, where not all the suspects are human.
While it makes its way to other retailers with a list price of $9.95, you can get a copy from Authors Direct for only $3.99 during April.
PI Rebecca Marte expects every client to proclaim their innocence, but a witch claiming it by reason of possession?
You can pre-order it now from Amazon for 99 cents and beat the price increase to $3.99 after the launch.
True Fiction definitely contains the grist for a top-notch spy/conspiracy thriller. You have a ruthless villain with the resources to implement his evil plot—take over the intelligence functions of the CIA. The technology he uses to push the government toward outsourcing this source of absolute power and incredible wealth is plausible. You also have a somewhat bumbling individual, in this case a writer, Ian Ludlow, who’s an unknowing pawn in the plan. But as in any good thriller, the victim sees through the deception and assembles (totally by happenstance) his band of misfits—a wannabe singer/song writer making her living driving authors to book signings; and a retired actor who’s an advocate of every conspiracy theory known to man … and several of his own making as well. This group, of course, is the only line of defense against the all-powerful, all-knowing criminal because their tale is too bizarre for anyone else to believe. Good luck Ian and friends!
Despite the book’s potential for fingernail-chewing, white-knuckle tension, however, I felt little. That was because … I was too busy laughing. Before getting too far into that topic, let me mention that the humor can and often is rather raunchy. Gratuitous, highly exaggerated sex scenes appear with some regularity and both setup and punchlines often involve the F-word, so be forewarned if that is not your style. But if you’re not offended by off-color humor, you’ll be rewarded with a story that’s replete with outlandish exaggerations and bizarre embellishments to reality. My favorites came from the ex-actor, who played the Vine in Hollywood and the Vine, a TV series written by Ian. Or, as the actor was known on the series, “Half man, half plant, all cop.” You gotta love the characters with bright green hair, wearing a tinfoil hat.
Overall, if you enjoy action mixed with some rather lowbrow humor, you should love True Fiction. Just be sure to get your copy before the “global elites” declare this fiction too close to the truth and have it banned (conspiracy theory complements of the ex-actor).
See on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2OSE3qb
(I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.)
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With a selection of more than 50 reads, you'll find your next favorite author here.
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