Suspense Magazine March 2013

Transcription

Suspense, Mystery, Horror and Thriller Fiction
March 2013
Sit Down with
Sara Foster
Carolyn Haines
Jonathan Maberry
Gregg Olsen
Heather Graham
& Debut Authors
Jenny Milchman
Richard Long
Peek Inside "Six Years"
By Harlan Coben
Join us for a Tribute to
Author & Editor
TERRI ANN ARMSTRONG
From the Editor
Credits
John Raab
President & Chairman
In Loving Memory:
Shannon Raab
Creative Director
Terri Ann Armstrong
Romaine Reeves
CFO
Starr Gardinier Reina
Executive Editor
Terri Ann Armstrong
Executive Editor
Jim Thomsen
Copy Editor
Contributors
Donald Allen Kirch
Mark P. Sadler
Susan Santangelo
DJ Weaver
CK Webb
Kiki Howell
Kaye George
Weldon Burge
Ashley Wintters
Scott Pearson
D.P. Lyle M.D.
Claudia Mosley
Christopher Nadeau
Kathleen Heady
Stephen Brayton
Brian Blocker
Andrew MacRae
Val Conrad
Laura Alden
Melissa Dalton
Elliott Capon
J.M. LeDuc
Holly Price
Kari Wainwright
David Ingram
Bill Craig
Jodi Hanson
Amy Lignor
Susan May
J.S. McCormick
Kestrel T. Andersen
Cassandra McNeil
Jenny Hilborne
Tanya Contois
Sharon Salonen
Anthony J. Franze
Jeanine Elizalde
Kristin Centorcelli
Jerry Zavada
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SuspenseMagazine.com
(1964 - 2013)
It was a sunny California day several years ago when I met two beautiful women—
both budding authors—who changed my life personally and the course of Suspense
Magazine. Longtime friends, Terri Ann Armstrong and Starr Gardinier Reina had
both submitted short stories for the first annual Short Story Contest and they were
interested in having John and I publish their novels. It began with just a lunch to discuss
the possibilities—and, honestly, John and I were as green as they were—but these two
women didn’t mind. What we all lacked in experience, we made up for in enthusiasm.
For those who don’t know me, I’m not always comfortable with new people and
little did I know that that one meeting would change me forever. It didn’t take long for a
friendship to blossom between Terri Ann and I. She pushed and pulled and shook down
my walls to turn what would have alone been a beautiful friendship into something so
much more, a sisterly love.
Terri knew little about the mystery/suspense genre, as romance was her first love. She
was a hopeless romantic and I lovingly remember those times where I teased her about
her “heaving bosom” moments in her first mystery with “Morning Menace.” At times, we
both questioned whether she’d get there, but “quit” wasn’t in Terri Ann’s vocabulary and
she persevered through rewrite after rewrite until we both were happy. As she did with
all things in life, Terri Ann put her whole heart into putting her best foot forward and she
continued to write in the genre she loved with two additional books in the series before
discovering her love of cozies. That is where Terri truly found her voice.
Early on, I saw a bright light shining from this woman, and it was an easy transition
to let her help with this or that in the early days of the magazine. Again, we really had no
clue. We just knew that our passion had to mean something and we were eager to learn.
As things got tough—and it definitely did on more than one occasion—Terri was there
to spearhead the “positive energy” campaign that would eventually get us moving in the
right direction again.
Always easy to laugh and the first in line with a kind word, Terri’s positive outlook on
life didn’t stop with her passions. Her close inner circle were the only ones who knew that
Terri suffered greatly from ailments, but she complained so little. She found joy in the
simplest pleasures, whether they be spending time watching cartoons with her grandson
or chatting with her daughter, to reading the galley of an unknown author.
Terri’s legacy is so much greater than the inadequate
words I write. She was an International Thriller Writers
author, a poet, an executive editor, a champion for her
peers, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, daughter, a born
storyteller and one of the finest people I’ve ever met. We are
all better for having known her.
Shannon Raab
Creative Director
Suspense Magazine 
“Reviews within this magazine are the opinions of the individual reviewers and are provided solely to provide readers assistance
in determining another's thoughts on the book under discussion and shall not be interpreted as professional advice or the opinion of any other than the individual reviewer. The following reviewers who may appear in this magazine are also individual clients of Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine: Mark P. Sadler, Starr Gardinier Reina, Ashley Dawn (Wintters),
DJ Weaver, CK Webb, Elliott Capon, J.M. LeDuc, Amy Lignor and Terri Ann Armstrong.”
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CONTENT
S u s p e n se M a g a z i n e
M a r c h 2 0 1 3 / Vo l . 0 4 5
3
The Long Road: An Interview with Debut Author Jenny Milchman. . . . . . 7
Confessions By Gerald Hadley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Excerpt of “Six Years” By Harlan Coben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Rules of Fiction with Michael Palmer By Anthony J. Franze. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Meet Richard Long: Debut Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
From Their Pen...to the Silver Screen By CK Webb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Conspiracy From Within By Patricia L. Broussard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Inside the Pages: Suspense Magazine Book Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Suspense Magazine Movie Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Featured Artist: Frederic Lievre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Deep Connections: A Conversation with Sara Foster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Stranger Than Fiction: Nessie! By Donald Allen Kirch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Special Edition Contributor's Corner: Terri Ann Armstrong . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Lisa Gardner on Conquering the Dreaded Synopsis: Part Two . . . . . . . . . . .
The Phone Call By Robert Zachary Sanzone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Interview with a Monster: The Frankenstein File By Thomas Scopel . . . . . . 74
Plotting a Crime By Carole Bugge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Conquering the
Dreaded
Synopsis:
A Series of Ten Lectures
By Lisa Gardner
Press Photo Credit: Philbrick Photography
This continues this series of ten lectures, which started with the first
installment, “Introduction.”
Lecture Two:
The Query Letter
The one-page query letter is the first step of the submission process. The majority of publishers require you to submit a
query letter before inviting you to send in your manuscript. The majority of agents require the same. The purpose of a query
letter is to briefly introduce yourself, your concept, and your background, so that an editor/agent may determine if she’s
interested in requesting more. The query letter is only one page in length, and it’s one of the most important documents you’ll
ever create in your writing career. No pressure!
First we’re going to review each element of the one-page query letter. Then you’ll find an example of an award-winning
query letter, courtesy of Linda Style, followed by my analysis of what makes her query letter work.
The Query Letter Outline
Format:
Use formal business-letter format, with your name, address and phone number centered on the top of the page, followed
by the date, justified left, followed by the publisher/agent’s name and address justified left. Paragraphs are single-spaced
with double spaces between paragraphs. No need for paragraph indents. You should sign off with Sincerely, followed
by your name. Please select a standard font such as 10-point Times and use standard one-inch margins. A query
letter isn’t meant to be cute. Finally, include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) for the agent/editor’s reply.
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THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. If you don’t include a SASE, you probably won’t get a reply.
Paragraph 1:
Provide your name and introduce your work, including genre, title, setting, and word count (e.g., My name is Lisa
Gardner, and I’m writing to you about my latest 100,000-word suspense novel, “The Survivors Club,” which is set in Providence,
Rhode Island…). Even if you’re planning on using a pseudonym for publication, you use your real name for the submission
process.
Paragraphs 2 and 3:
Provide a brief overview of your manuscript. Some people like to think of these paragraphs as a sort of “back cover”
blurb, providing general information about the plot and characters while also sparking interest. The key is to establish voice.
If your book is funny, these paragraphs should be light and humorous. If you have a dark, dramatic book, these paragraphs
should be dark and dramatic. You want to strive for tone and mood so the editor gets a brief sense of what your writing is
like. In other words, these paragraphs are HARD!
Another helpful tidbit is to include “buzzwords” here. Remember our discussion of the market, where we determined the
sales hooks in your manuscript? You’ll want to include those buzzwords here, e.g., a medical thriller, a legal thriller, in this
marriage-of-convenience story, the cowboy finally takes a bride. (Note inclusion of marriage of convenience, cowboy, and
bride all in one sentence. What editor from Silhouette could resist?) Then there are phrases such as, “in this gritty suspense
tale, reminiscent of Tami Hoag/Sandra Brown…” By nature, however, these kinds of sentences are telling about the book, not
showing. Don’t use more than one or two “setup” sentences, or your summary will be in danger of going flat.
Paragraph 4:
Close out the query letter with your writing credentials and/or relevant background. Writing credentials include any
writing awards you may have won, the fact that you belong to a writers organization such as Romance Writers of America,
and any “professional” writing experience you may have such as journalism, PR work, etc. Having a relevant background
also matters. For example, if your book is set at a hospital and you are a nurse, mention it. If you’ve done anything “above and
beyond” for research, include that as well as it increases your credibility. For my first novel, I said that I was news editor of
the Crimson Tide newspaper. That’s my high school paper, but they didn’t know that. Plus, I mentioned that I had conducted
firsthand interviews with homeless teenagers as part of my research for the novel. These details help show that you are serious
about your work and encourage an editor to take you seriously as well.
Closing:
Give them the status of the manuscript (full manuscript is available, first three chapters are available, etc.), remind them that
you have included a SASE for their convenience, and tell them that you look forward to receiving their reply.
Guess what? You are now done.
Overall Pointers:
1. Proofread, proofread, proofread. You want zero mistakes in this letter.
2. Don’t forget the SASE.
3. Don’t address it “to whom it may concern.” Get a name of an editor. If you don’t know, call the publisher and ask the
name of the editor who is accepting submissions for romance/mystery/etc.
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Suspense Magazine March 2013 / Vol. 045
4. DO NOT misspell the editor’s name.
5. Don’t exceed one page. Brevity is part of the challenge.
6. Mention sales hooks to position your work in an editor’s hand.
7. Don’t mention aspects of the book that you know are controversial (homosexuality, abortion, rock star hero, a
heroine who sleeps around, etc).
8. Focus on tone, so that the paragraphs provide a sense of your writing voice.
9. Make it POWERFUL.
10. Get a second opinion—a query letter is only one page so have your friends and family read it. See if it makes them
want to know more about the book.
Final word of advice: Query-letter writing is very different from novel-writing, so don’t be surprised if you’re lousy at it. I
think I rewrote my query more than my manuscript. In fact, my mother worked on the darn thing with me so many times I
think she can still recite it word for word eleven years later.
Think conflict, think drama, think human appeal. Eventually, you will get it right.
Query Letter Example
The following is an award-winning query letter for the novel, “One of the Family,” graciously shared by Linda Style. Linda has
since sold her first novel to Harlequin SuperRomance. “Her Sister’s Secret” was published in June 2000. For information on
future novels, you can visit www.superauthors.com.
Linda Style
101 Future Famous Author’s Way
Glamour City, USA 11555
Today’s Date
Future Famous Publisher
101 Buy My Books Blvd.
Hardwork City, USA 55111
Dear Miss Susie Editor:
Schemes, scams, and scoundrels make Brody Sinclair’s job tough as blazes to do. Add one street-smart Irish Colleen, and it’s
nearly impossible.
That’s the premise for my recently completed novel, ONE OF THE FAMILY, an 85,000-word contemporary romance
that takes the reader from the streets of Chicago to a cabin in Minnesota.
Raised in a closed society, teacher Shay O’Connor has successfully hidden her adopted family’s criminal past. But
someone believes they’re still involved in scams and cynical private investigator Brody Sinclair has been hired to
expose them. To protect her family, her career, and reputation, Shay forms an uneasy alliance with Sinclair. When her
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dark past threatens her future, Shay leads Sinclair into a pretend marriage that takes them inside the
“family” and puts both their lives at risk. The last thing she expected was that she’d need to come to grips
with the painful truth about her family—or that she’d fall in love with a man who is off limits in every way.
Brody Sinclair has never failed to get a job done, not in his former work with the F.B.I., or as an undercover cop. Raised by
a father who was conned out of his life’s savings and who died a broken embittered man, Sinclair learned early on not to be
taken by anyone. When asked to infiltrate a nomadic clam who scam elderly homeowners, Brody jumped at the chance. But his
desire for Shay, and his acceptance by the family make it tough for Brody to do his job. If he succeeds, he’ll ruin Shay’s family,
her future—and his last chance for a once-in-a-lifetime love.
A little about me. I have personal knowledge of the Irish Travelers, a nomadic clan about which this story is based, and I’ve
researched the subject extensively. My educational background is in behavioral science and journalism, and I’m currently
employed as a management consultant. My writing credits include newspaper, magazine and journal articles. I’m a member of
Romance Writers of America and have won or placed in several RWA contests with two other completed manuscripts, both of
which were finalists in the long contemporary category of the Golden Heart Contest.
I’m an avid reader of Silhouette Intimate Moments and have written ONE OF THE FAMILY with that in mind. I will be
pleased to send you a partial or completed manuscript upon request. Thank you for taking the time to consider my work. I have
enclosed a SASE and look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Linda Style
Lisa’s Analysis:
1. All relevant information is provided. While Linda uses a slightly different order, notice that she includes all “required”
elements. At a glance, the busy editor can determine the type of story, word length, and location. Linda has also
considerately included a SASE. Miss Susie Editor already knows that Linda is a professional, thoughtful author who
has done her homework about the publishing process.
2. Starts with a bang. Rather than open with a dry introduction statement, Linda does a great job of inserting a one-line
teaser to grab interest. Then she does go straight to the required information so an editor can get the overall grasp of
the book before going back to plot and character specifics. Linda shows creativity and thoroughness.
3. Energetic summary. This is the toughest part of query-letter writing—creating engaging summary paragraphs. Linda
does a nice job of summarizing both external and internal conflict by letting us know about the characters in such
a way that we already feel involved with them. It is easy to empathize with a heroine who honestly loves her family,
but must face the truth about their questionable activities. And we all have a soft spot for the cynical undercover cop.
Linda has also subtly worked in key marketing words—we know it’s a marriage of convenience and an undercover
cop, both highly sellable story elements. I think this is the easiest way to set up the middle paragraph—by first doing
the heroine’s issue, then the hero’s. If you read the back cover copy of a lot of Silhouette IMs, they often follow that
format.
4. Credible closing. Linda ends very professionally, letting the busy editor know that the full manuscript is available,
and that she has experience as both a writing and reader of romance novels. Again, this emphasizes Linda is an
intelligent, competent writer who has done her homework.
Since there is nothing Susie Editor would like more than to work with a professional writer who has crafted a marriage of
convenience story with an undercover cop, she should be pleased to request additional material for consideration.
Which brings us to the next stage of the submission process: The short synopsis. 
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The Long Road:
Debut Author
Jenny Milchman’s
Arduous & Inspiring Journey to
Becoming a Bestseller
Interview by Anthony J. Franze
Remember the movie Rudy? The tale of a scrappy college kid who dreamed to play football at Notre Dame, and who
made the team against all odds? For men and women of a certain age (and Notre Dame grads, like me) the film is our
generation’s Rocky—an inspiring tale proving that our moms and dads were right: work hard, persevere, sacrifice, and your
dreams will come true.
I dare say that the fiction community has its own Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger.
Her name is Jenny Milchman.
To many in the suspense world, Milchman’s name is a familiar one. She’s the Chair of the Debut Authors Committee
of the International Thriller Writers association and thus the first person that many new writers encounter when they join
the organization (it’s how I met her). For years, she’s also run a successful
literary blog, “Made It Moments,” and co-hosted the popular Internet
series, “Writing Matters.” Beyond all that, she’s the founder of Take Your
Child to a Bookstore Day, which is now celebrated in all fifty states and
abroad.
But while she was out trumpeting literacy, book stores, and other
authors, behind the scenes Milchman faced years of frustration and
painful rejection on her own road to publication. Milchman shared her
improbable and inspiring journey with me as she drove the snowy roads
of the Adirondack Mountains while on a nationwide tour promoting her
breakout debut novel, “Cover of Snow.”
A Decade of Struggle and Rejection
Milchman, who was born in Manhattan but has lived in New
Jersey most of her life, took an indirect route to becoming a writer. “I
was majoring in English in college, planning to live in the mountains
and write poetry when my parents sat me down and said I needed also to
consider how I could financially support myself,” she said.
That led to a double major in psychology, and after graduation Milchman
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By the time she finished the
manuscript, Milchman was wellknown—and well-liked—in the
writing community.
became a practicing psychotherapist. “At some point in the job, I realized, that I was
basically living a suspense novel.” For example, a patient in one of her group sessions
pulled out a gun and threatened to commit suicide, and guards had to intervene.
Another patient broke into the office wielding a knife. She began writing to relieve
stress, and around 1998 she took a hand at her first novel. It didn’t sell. But she didn’t
quit.
Most published novelists have a sob story—the pile of rejection letters, the years it
took to get noticed, the first manuscript that no one wanted. But consider Milchman’s
saga: She spent eleven years trying to get published. She had three different literary
agents. And publishers rejected her first seven novels.
Even battle-scarred veterans of the publishing industry shake their heads at how
Milchman managed not to give up. Milchman, upbeat and matter-of-fact, credits her husband. “I would have packed it in
long ago, but Josh said I had to do it—he said there is no Plan B.” Milchman also had plenty of support from her extended
family and friends. And, of course, from the writing community she loves.
There were a lot of low points, she said. Like driving two hours to a book signing of a favorite author with the hopes of
getting some guidance only to get lost and return home to a sick preschooler. Or what she calls “bridesmaid events”—book
launches and parties for friends when her own books had languished for years. Or the guilt she felt about leaving her job to
write full-time and burdening her husband to support the family while she faced setback after setback.
But, Milchman said, she’d decided early on that to make it she needed to do three things: believe in herself, study the craft
of writing, and become a part of the literary community. And that’s what she did, year after year, manuscript after manuscript.
It was a confluence of her mastery of the craft and the connections she’d made that finally got her work noticed.
Let It Snow
In January 2011, Milchman hit a low point when a publisher rejected her seventh novel. “Until then, I always had the next
book, a new agent, the deal that almost happened, but now I had nothing,” she said.
During this dark period, she stumbled upon the second manuscript she had written some eight years before. As she read
the pages, she realized that she’d learned a thing or two in the decade she’d dedicated to honing her writing skills. “As I read,
I immediately knew why the manuscript had been rejected. At the time I wrote it, I thought it was publishable, but it wasn’t.”
But she also saw something else. The seed of an idea that had needed a decade to grow and mature. An idea that inspired her
to pen her eighth novel, “Cover of Snow.”
By the time she finished the manuscript, Milchman was well-known—and well-liked—in the writing community. She’d
already spent years championing literacy and supporting writers and book sellers. One of the connections she’d made was
with a favorite author, Nancy Pickard. “Nancy and I became friends. I knew she had a policy of not reading unpublished
manuscripts, but I had told her about my story—and the story behind my story—and one day she reluctantly agreed to look
at ‘Cover of Snow.’” Pickard was so taken with the book that she shared it with her editor. A month later Milchman’s book
sold to Random House.
The novel that was thirteen years in the making was worth the wait. “Cover of Snow” is literary suspense at its finest. The
story begins in Wedeskyull, a fictional village in the Adirondack Mountains. Nora Hamilton awakens to find her husband
hanging from a thick hank of rope. Why would a man—a respected police officer—who adored his wife end his own life? In
a fog of grief and despair, Nora sets out to find the truth. She soon must confront a town and police force with dark secrets,
including long-buried secrets about the man she loved. “Cover of Snow” is a haunting tale, moody and filled with twists and
turns and an unforgettable ending.
The Road Ahead
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Ever the advocate for other writers, Milchman hopes aspiring scribes find inspiration in her story. Indeed, she spent a
good portion of her book’s acknowledgements giving advice and encouragement to struggling writers.
Her main piece of advice? “I’d like authors to know that there are so many different paths to getting published. The trick
is not looking to how I or others did it, but looking within themselves. If you’re a social person by nature, maybe connecting
with writers and those in the publishing world is your path. If you’re not social, but prolific, maybe writing as many novels
as possible is your route. It all comes down to writing the best book you can and knowing yourself—and not giving up.”
Milchman added, “My lowest point wasn’t the manuscripts that didn’t sell or the agent who dumped me. It was the times I
decided to give up. When I said, ‘It’s never going to happen.’” Her message to writers: “Never say those words.”
As for the road ahead for Milchman, it won’t be paved with rejection letters and missed opportunities, but rather, a
nationwide book tour to support her novel. For the next six months, Milchman, her husband, and two kids will travel eighteen
thousand miles in support of “Cover of Snow.” Her children are being home-schooled (“we’re calling it car-schooling”), and
her husband is working his job remotely. “The neatest thing so far is the outreach I’ve received from friends, book sellers,
and authors I’ve met over the years. It’s more than a book tour, it’s a tour of America and the country’s readers and writers.”
While on the road, she’ll also be writing. Random House bought her next novel, tentatively titled “Ruin Falls,” a
psychological thriller also set in the mysterious village of Wedeskyull. And Milchman already is at work on her next work.
That, in the writing world, is the equivalent of being carried off the field on the shoulders of your team. So in the spirit of
Notre Dame, I say, play like a champion today, Jenny Milchman, play like a champion.
Anthony J. Franze is a lawyer in the Appellate and Supreme Court practice of a major Washington, D.C. law firm and the
author of the debut legal thriller, “The Last Justice.” In addition to his writing and law practice, he is an adjunct professor of law,
has been a commentator for Bloomberg, the National Law Journal and other news outlets, and is a features editor for the Big
Thrill magazine. Anthony lives in the D.C. area with his wife and three children. Learn more about Anthony at http://www.
anthonyfranzebooks.com/. 
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By Gerald Hadley
The dimly lit room played no part in the lack of safety I felt. It was the fact that
I sat alone with nothing but a mirror to look at. But was I truly alone? For I know what lurked beyond the mirror’s reflection,
multiple men watching my every move. I sighed and leaned my head down. The door opened, and the light blinded me.
At first just a shadow appeared, but then someone behind the shadow sat down. A woman, no more than thirty, grasping a
clipboard.
She crossed her legs elegantly to the side and said, “Good afternoon sir, sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.”
Was it afternoon already? I had been in here so long I had lost track of time. I just sighed and leaned back in my chair.
She continued to speak. She spoke softly, even though she didn’t want to. She thought I didn’t deserve kindness. She thought
a beast like me didn’t deserve anything, and maybe she was right. Even so, she had not heard my story yet, and therefore had
no right to judge.
“So,” she said. “Are you ready to begin?” I simply nodded. She then turned on her recorder, “Whenever you’re ready.”
I spoke knowing that when I finished things would still be the same. That nothing would be erased or changed. But, I had
no choice. I started. “I remember the night well, of course a night like that…”
There would be few who could forget. But what I remember most was the drive.
“It was dark. The rain was coming down fast, but slow enough so that each drop could be seen. My wipers were moving
back and forth and back and forth. I was trying to keep my line of sight open, but not doing a good job of it. Each squeak of
the wipers sent chills up my spine. Chills—chills with questions. Those were always the worst. Did it happen? Did it really
happen? Or was it all, a dream, a horrible dream? Those thoughts—and many like them—swirled around the outside of my
head, filling up my car and choking out the oxygen. I know what you’re thinking, but thoughts such as these often do not
stay inside the head for long. Thoughts work in such a way that the more you think about them, the more they take over, and
the more you become the thought. The more they fill space and cause havoc, until you’re not you at all. You…well, you don’t
even exist anymore. You’re gone.
“But thinking had gotten the better of me, and had only left me with a split second to make my decision. I swerved left,
avoiding the branch in the road, causing my car to hydroplane and flip. My car flipped and rolled three times, before falling
and landing on the roof. I blacked out, and all my senses were gone. I don’t know how long I was out, but when I came to, I
came to in great pain. More pain than I had ever felt. I was still sitting, seatbelt still buckled, airbags deployed. Broken glass
lay under me, some stained with the blood that dripped from my forehead, but I just sat there. Some would have turned
back, thinking that this was a hard stop, to avoid a sudden drop. That now was the best time to change their ways and avoid
what was to come. But I, I was no more. The idea, the thought, was all I knew, and all that I was. And it would not let me
2012 Short Story Contest Submission
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stop. I unbuckled and fell, gaining another unwelcomed cut on my arm. Then I
repositioned myself to climb out the window. I clawed my way out, breaking
my nails as I went. I was too close, too close to give up now. Besides I
couldn’t. The thought wouldn’t let me. I stood up, the blood now running
down my face. It was raining, which helped to wash it off. I turned and opened the
door. The tool of redemption was still secure and snug in between the seats. I put it
in my pocket, knowing I was close, so close to the destination.
“I went through the woods, which formed a straight line to the house. The
woods…the trees were a white light in a sea of black. As I walked, thoughts
continued to swirl around my head. I was headed for a collision with an uncertain
outcome. Yet, I was sure of the conclusion. Something inside forced me to continue.
Something…that wasn’t me. I would have stopped and gone home. But I couldn’t.
The option wasn’t there. I remember that I could see it through the clearing. The
thing I knew would be there, and the thing I wished hadn’t. In my panicked joy,
I moved too fast causing myself to slip and send my left leg into a mud puddle. I
screamed almost before it happened. I screamed as if to let the whole world know
my disgust. I screamed so that the heavens with all their glory would hear and fear
me. I screamed, as a beast screams. And as I screamed, my pain subsided. It was
then that I realized I was truly gone. Too bad the woods would end.
“I stood outside the woods. Drenched from head to toe in water and blood.
My left leg covered in mud, and my eyesight fixed on the house. And so I walked.
Walked to my destiny. Walked to my end, and my beginning. I opened the fence
that led to a cobblestone path, dripping blood and leaving mud prints along the way.
The door was unlocked, so I walked in and made my way to the bedroom. I thrust
the door open as the light from the hallway revealed all that was unholy. For there
they were. There she was. My love…my life…my wife. The one I loved and the one
to whom I pledged my everlasting faithfulness. There she was, it was as I thought
and as I feared. She had betrayed me. She betrayed me! In the darkness of the night,
there they were together, asleep. I screamed yet again and ran outside. My knees
resting on the sidewalk as I screamed to the heavens to let them know my fury! I
stopped and breathed. Just breathing and thinking. Feeling the sweet touch of the
rain, that fell on my face. The rain was my salvation. And so I stayed, just a few
seconds more. Because I knew that it would be the last time I could.”
“And then what,” she asked.
“And then what?” I said. “You want more? That’s it. The story’s been told. Its
over, finished. Finito!” I stood, still shackled to the table. “It’s bad enough I told you
the whole story, and went in to detail. But you want more, don’t you? You want to
know what I was thinking. You want to know how it felt to witness it. To see my only
love betray me. Just so you can print something worth reading. No. That’s it! There’s
the story; it’s what you wanted to hear. All the details have been told, none omitted.
But now it’s my turn. My turn to ask you a question.”
I pulled the chair towards her, it scratching and squeaking all the while. She
flinched as I sat down. I grabbed her hand as I spoke. “In the end was it the beast or
I who remained? The rain cleansed me in more than one way. But it could have all
been a lie. Everything I saw could have been false. Everything I felt, and everything
that told me to carry on, could have been a misunderstood hallucination. Maybe
that’s why I’m here talking to you. You see now I feel pain again. I have renewed
compassion in my heart. All that is human has returned. I lack nothing! But I ask
you, in the end was it the beast or I who remained, because you already know what
I did.”
And as I gazed into her eyes, yes, yes she did. 
J.M.
LeDuc
THE TRILOGY OF
THE CHOSEN
Cryptic messages written in
Old Testament languages.
A pleading from the Vatican.
The probability of terrorist
involvement.
WELCOME TO
“CURSED DAYS,”
WHERE EVERY DAY
COULD BE THE
LAST.
11
SIX YEARS
By Harlan Coben
Press Photo Credit: Claudio Marinesco
CHAPTER ONE
I sat in the back pew and watched the only woman I would ever
love marry another man.
Natalie wore white, of course, looking extra mock-me-forever
gorgeous. There had always been both a fragility and quiet strength
to her beauty, and up there, Natalie looked ethereal, almost
otherworldly.
She bit down on her lower lip. I flashed back to those lazy
mornings when we would make love and then she’d throw on my
blue dress shirt and we’d head downstairs. We would sit in the
breakfast nook and read the paper and eventually she’d take out her
pad and start sketching. As she drew me, she would bite down on
her lip just like this.
Two hands reached into my chest, grabbed my brittle heart on
either side, and snapped it in two.
Why had I come?
Do you believe in love at first sight? Neither do I. I do, however, believe in major, more-than-just-physical attraction at
first sight. I believe that every once in a while—once, maybe twice in a lifetime—you are drawn to someone so deeply, so
primordially, so immediately—a stronger-than-magnetic pull. That was how it was with Natalie. Sometimes that is all there
is. Sometimes it grows and gathers heat and turns into a glorious inferno that you know is real and meant to last forever.
And sometimes you just get fooled into thinking the first is the second.
I had naively thought that we were forever. I, who had never really believed in commitment and had done all I could
to escape its shackles, knew right away—well, within in a week anyway—that this was the
woman I was going to wake up next to every single day. This was the woman I’d lay my life
down to protect. This was the woman—yes, I know how corny this sounds—whom I could
do nothing without, who would make even the mundane something poignant.
Gag me with a spoon, right?
A minister with a cleanly shaven head was talking, but the rush of blood in my ears
made it impossible to make out his words. I stared at Natalie. I wanted her to be happy.
That wasn’t just lip service, the lie we often tell ourselves because, in truth, if our lover
doesn’t want us, then we want her miserable, don’t we? But here I really meant it. If I
truly believed that Natalie would be happier without me, then I would let her go, no
matter how crushing. But I didn’t believe that she would be happier, no matter what she
had said or done. Or maybe that is yet another self-rationalization, another lie, we tell
ourselves.
Natalie did not so much as glance at me, but I could see something tighten
around her mouth. She knew that I was in the room. She kept her eyes on her
SPECIAL PREVIEW FROM HARLAN COBEN
13
husband-to-be. His name, I had recently found out, was Todd. I hate the name Todd. Todd. They probably called him Toddy
or the Todd-Man or the Toddster.
Todd’s hair was too long, and he sported that four-day-stubble beard some people found hip and others, like me, found
punch-worthy. His eyes smoothly and smugly skimmed the guests before getting snagged on, well, me. They stayed there a
second, sizing me up before deciding that I wasn’t worth the time.
Why had Natalie gone back to him?
The maid of honor was Natalie’s sister, Julie. She stood on the dais with a bouquet in both hands and a lifeless, robotic
smile on her lips. We’d never met, but I’d seen pictures and heard them talk on the phone. Julie, too, looked stunned by this
development. I tried to meet her eye, but she was working that thousand-yard stare.
I looked back at Natalie’s face, and it was as if small explosives detonated in my chest. Just boom, boom, boom. Man,
this had been a bad idea. When the best man brought out the rings, my lungs started shutting down. It was hard to breathe.
Enough.
I had come here to see it for myself, I guess. I had learned the hard way that I needed that. My father died of a massive
coronary when I was eighteen years old. He had never had a heart problem before and was by all accounts in good shape.
I remembered sitting in that waiting room, being called into the doctor’s office, being told the devastating news—and then
being asked, both there and at the funeral home, if I wanted to see his body. I passed. I figured that I didn’t want to remember
him lying on a gurney or in a casket. I would remember him as he was.
But as the months went on, I started having trouble accepting his death. He had been so vibrant, so alive. Two days before
his death, we had gone to a New York Rangers hockey game—Dad had season tickets—and the game had gone into overtime
and we screamed and cheered and, well, how could he be dead?
Part of me started wondering if somehow there had been a mistake made or if it was all a great big con and that my dad
was maybe somehow still alive. I know that makes no sense, but desperation can toy with you and if you give desperation any
wiggle room, it will find alternative answers.
Part of me is still haunted by the fact that I never saw my father’s body. I didn’t want to make the same mistake here. But,
to keep within this lame metaphor, I had now seen the dead body. There was no reason to check the pulse or poke at it or
hang around it longer than necessary.
I tried to make my departure as inconspicuous as I could. This is no easy feat when you’re six-five and are built, to use
Natalie’s phrase, “like a lumberjack.” I have big hands. Natalie had loved them. She would hold them in her own and trace
the lines on my palm. She said they were real hands, a man’s hands. She had drawn them too because, she said, they told my
story—my blue collar upbringing, my working my way through Lanford College as a bouncer at a local nightclub, and also,
somehow, the fact that I was now the youngest professor in their political science department.
I stumbled out of the small white chapel and into the warm summer air. Summer. Was that all this had been in the end?
A summer fling? Instead of two randy kids seeking activity at camp, we were two adults seeking solitude on retreat—she to
do her art, me to write my poly-sci dissertation—who met and fell hard and now that it was nearing September, well, all good
things come to an end? Our whole relationship did have that unreal quality to it, both of us away from our regular lives and
all the mundanity that goes along with that. Maybe that was what made it so awesome. Maybe the fact that we only spent time
in this reality-free bubble made our relationship better and more intense. Maybe I was full of crap.
From behind the church door I heard cheers, applause. That snapped me out of my stupor. The service was over. Todd
and Natalie were now Mr. and Mrs. Stubble Face. They’d be coming down the aisle soon. I wondered whether they’d get
rice thrown at them. Todd probably wouldn’t like that. It’d mess up his hair and get stuck in the stubble.
Again I didn’t need to see more.
I headed behind the white chapel, getting out of sight just as the chapel doors flew open. I stared out at the clearing.
Nothing there, just, well, clearing. There were trees in the distance. The cabins were on the other side of the hill. The chapel
was part of the artist retreat where Natalie was staying. Mine was down the road at a retreat for writers. Both retreats were
old Vermont farms that still grew a bit of the organic.
“Hello, Jake.”
I turned toward the familiar voice. There, standing no more than ten yards away from me, was Natalie. I quickly looked
toward her left ring finger. As if reading my thoughts, she raised the hand to show me the new wedding band.
“Congratulations,” I said. “I’m very happy for you.”
She ignored that comment. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
I spread my arms. “I heard they’d be great passed hors d’oeuvres. It’s hard to keep me away from those.”
14
“Funny.”
SIX YEARS
I shrugged while my heart turned into dust and blew away.
By Harlan Coben
Harlan Coben has done it again. With
“Everyone said you’d never show,” Natalie said. “But I knew you would.”
every book I am reminded why I am a big
“I still love you,” I said.
fan of his writing. His newest thriller “Six
Years” is in my opinion his best book yet; at
“I know.”
least until his next one is released.
“And you still love me.”
“Six Years” is suspense driven with
enough twists and turns to keep the reader
“I don’t, Jake. See?”
riveted. The character development is spot
She waved the ring finger in my face.
on in that your gut knows which players to
“Honey?” Todd and his facial hair came around the corner. He spotted me and trust and which ones are hiding something.
And that to me is part of what makes this
frowned. “Who is this?”
book a great read.
But it was clear that he knew.
The gist of the story is about Jake
Fisher, a man who six years ago was jilted by
“Jake Fisher,” I said. “Congratulations on the nuptials.”
the love of his life, who he watched marry
“Where have I seen you before?”
another man; the woman with whom he
I let Natalie handle that one. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder and is still hopelessly in love. After reading an
obituary for Natalie’s husband Todd, he
said, “Jake has been modeling for a lot of us. You probably recognize him from attends the funeral to see her one more
time. He discovers things aren’t right, the
some of our pieces.”
isn’t Natalie. Trying to answer the
He still frowned. Natalie got in front of him and said, “If you could just give us widow
questions floating around in his head, Jake
a second, okay? I’ll be right there.”
meets with the woman only to find she and
Todd have been married for 20+ years. It
Todd glanced over at me. I didn’t move. I didn’t back up. I didn’t look away.
seems Natalie isn’t who she said she was
Grudgingly he said, “Okay. But don’t be long.”
and neither was Todd for that matter.
Determined to find Natalie, Jake
He gave me one more hard look and started back around the chapel. Natalie
pieces together leads, some of which cause
looked over at me. I pointed toward where Todd had vanished.
threats to himself and those around him, in
the pursuit of Natalie and the truth.
“He seems fun,” I said.
Coben gives his reader what they have
“Why are you here?”
come to expect: lots of action, mystery, and
“I needed to tell you that I love you,” I said. “I needed to tell you that I always murder. The book flows seamlessly from
Jake’s memory sequences to the present
will.”
day. The book is written from Jake’s point
“It’s over, Jake. You’ll move on. You’ll be fine.”
of view and I think that is why the storyline
comes across as suspenseful as it does. Each
I said nothing.
time you think you have all the answers,
“Jake?”
Coben throws in another wrench and has
you back to questioning once again.
“What?”
“Six Years” crosses genres making it
She tilted her head a little. She knew what that head tilt did to me. “Promise me appealing to a wide audience. This is one
of those reads that will have you turning off
you’ll leave us alone.”
your phone and keeping you up until the
I just stood there.
wee hours of the morning.
Reviewed by Jodi Ann Chapters of www.
“Promise me you won’t follow us or call or even e-mail.”
chaptersandchats.com for Suspense Magazine
The pain in my chest grew. It became something sharp and heavy.

“Promise me, Jake. Promise me you’ll leave us alone.”
Her eyes locked on to mine.
“Okay,” I said, “I promise.”
Without another word, Natalie walked away, back to the front of that chapel toward the man she had just married. I stood
there a moment, trying to catch my breath. I tried to get angry, tried to make light of it, tried to shrug it off and tell her it
was her loss. I tried all that, and then I even tried to be mature about it, but I still knew that this was all a stall technique, so
I wouldn’t have to face the fact that I would be forever broken hearted.
I stayed behind the chapel there until I figured everyone was gone. Then I came back around. The minister with the
cleanly shaven head was outside on the steps. So was Natalie’s sister, Julie. She put a hand on my arm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m super,” I said to her.
The minister smiled at me. “A lovely day for a wedding, don’t you think?”
I blinked into the sunlight. “I guess it is,” I said, and then I walked away.
I would do as Natalie asked. I would leave her alone. I would think about her every day, but I’d never call or reach out or
even look her up online. I would keep my promise.
For six years. 
15
America's Favorite
Suspense Authors
On the Rules of Fiction
How to Make Rhino Stew:
Michael Palmer's 10 Steps to writing a Thriller
By Anthony J. Franze
Photo Credit: Provided by St. Martin's Press
In this series, author Anthony J. Franze interviews other suspense
writers about their views on “the rules” of fiction. For the next few
months, Anthony will profile authors who will teach at this summer’s
CraftFest, the International Thriller Writers’ writing school held
during the organization’s annual ThrillerFest conference. Michael
Palmer kicks things off with his ten steps to writing a thriller.
With eighteen New York Times bestselling novels under
his belt, Dr. Michael Palmer long ago earned the title, “King
of Medical Suspense.” Weaving in cutting-edge medicine,
interesting characters, and experiences from his twenty years
as an internal and emergency medicine practitioner, Palmer’s
novels are always sophisticated page-turners. And his latest,
“Political Suicide,” proves again why Palmer is considered not
only a master of suspense, but also a skilled surgeon in the
craft of writing.
Despite his success, Palmer recently told me that the
idea of starting a new book could still intimidate him. After
years of anxiety about facing the blank page, Palmer said, his
physician’s instinct for “process” kicked in and he decided
to develop a framework—ten steps—for writing a thriller. If
16
you’re curious just how well Palmer’s ten steps work, consider this: the three people with the most exposure to Palmer and his
writing tips—Palmer’s sons—are in line to be the next generation of literary royalty. Daniel Palmer already is an acclaimed
multi-book success writing cyber suspense for Kensington. Matt Palmer, a political officer in the U.S. Foreign Service, just
signed a two-book deal with Putnam for his diplomatic thrillers. And Luke Palmer, still in college, writes successful plays,
comedy sketches, and musicals. Perhaps writing is in their DNA. But I suspect Dad’s ten steps played a role. So here they are:
Step 1: Find a Rhino.
“Find a what?” I said to Palmer. He explained that years ago a reporter asked him
how he begins the daunting task of writing a novel. “I hadn’t really thought about it, but off the top of my head came: I would
imagine it’s like following a recipe for rhinoceros stew that begins, First, find a rhino.” In other words, find out what you want
to write about—the big idea that defines your book. A virus, post-traumatic stress disorder, the assassination of Supreme
Court justices, whatever. The key is to find, wherever you can, that rhino. (Incidentally, the rhino has taken on a life of its
own—people now give Palmer rhino figurines and he has a vast collection.)
Step 2: Choosing Your “What If?” This is essentially the writer’s elevator pitch for the novel.
It’s a pithy answer to the question, “What’s your book about?” The response should be carefully crafted, twenty-five words
or less, and no more than two sentences. For example, the “What if?” for Palmer’s novel, “The Patient” was What if the most
ruthless, mysterious, remorseless terrorist in the world had a brain tumor and needed surgery? For “Political Suicide”: What if a
military scientist created a drug that could biochemically block the ability to fear? Writing the “What if?” doesn’t just help with
pitching the book, Palmer said. It also helps writers stay focused when they start writing. Palmer began drafting “What ifs?”
for all of his books after learning the technique from a Maui Writers Conference course taught by John Saul and Michael
Sack.
Step 3: Know Your McGuffin. The “McGuffin”—a term of questionable origin, but popularized
by Alfred Hitchcock—is a difficult concept to explain, but Palmer said it basically is the answer to the “What if?” question.
The example often used to illustrate the concept, Palmer explained, is Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” in which bad guys
are chasing Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint on a train. “At some point halfway through the movie Hitchcock came up with
the reason they were after Grant. It didn’t really make a difference what it was as long as it made reasonable sense.” The same
is true with a thriller: “Most people think they are reading thrillers to find out the explanation for what’s going on in the
story—the McGuffin—but the truth is that they keep reading because the author has led them to care about the characters
and what happens to them.” A McGuffin is something you should have to start your book, but once you have it, you can set it
aside. And you can even change it anytime you want if you come up with a better one. But you should try your best to begin
with one.
Step 4: “Whose Book Is It?” Once you have the “What if?” and the McGuffin squared away, the next
step is to determine who will be the protagonist. Picking the main character, Palmer noted, is key to the success of the book.
There’s a simple way to identify your protagonist: “The book belongs to the person who has the most at stake.” For instance,
“one of my books was about infertility, so naturally the main character had to be a woman with fertility problems.” It’s not
always that easy, he said, but the “What if?” often points you in the direction of the type of person who would have the most
17
at stake—the most to lose—in the story.
Step 5: Identify the Conflict.
Once you identify the main character, “determine what or
who he or she will push up against.” Conflict, Palmer said, is the driving force behind all fiction. “Conflict between the main
character and other characters, conflict between the main character and what’s going on in the story, and conflict between the
character and herself.” Again, readers often think they are turning the pages because they want to know the ending, but they
really continue because they care about the characters and want to know the resolution of the characters’ conflicts. “Think:
conflict, catharsis (change within the characters), resolution.”
Step 6: Plot the Middle.
Palmer said that once you’ve completed the first five steps, writing the
beginning of a book should come naturally. Likewise, “some endings are better than others, but they’re usually not hard to
find.” The middle, though, is “the most difficult part of writing a thriller.” Palmer said it requires “ingenuity, imagination, and
time”—and usually one or more subplots. Step Six, therefore, is to figure out your subplots. Creating interesting secondary
characters is just one way to do it. Outlining, he said, helps. Palmer used to draft a detailed outline of the entire book before
he started writing. But now he outlines the first few chapters and then outlines about five chapters at a time. “I find I’m more
light on my feet if I don’t know everything that will happen along the way.” The trick, Palmer said, is that you need to prop up
the middle so it doesn’t drag everything else down. “You don’t want the center of the book to drop like the belly of an aging
horse.”
Step 7: Set Up the Ending.
Palmer said once you know your subplots and the center of the book,
“you need to tighten the screws” so readers move toward the climax. Palmer likes to think of his stories as dropping an
everyday person into a cauldron of bubbling water and nailing the lid shut so that the person’s only way out is through the
plot. Palmer tries to toss in one obstacle after another, culminating in a set up for the ending where all seems lost . . . until it
isn’t.
Step 8: The Climax. This can be short or long. It can be a surprise ending, something exciting, something
unusual. But a thriller should have a climax—a sequence of events each more intense than the last (Step Seven) that culminate
in a conclusion to those events. Unpredictability is the key. If you’re not nodding your head and exclaiming, “Yeah!” you need
to keep trying.
Step 9: Prologue?
After you complete the first eight steps, you need to circle back to the beginning and
consider whether the book needs a prologue. Palmer recognized that some writers shun the prologue. But he likes them.
“Why? Because they’re a great way to start the book fast. You can put your energy and hook into the prologue, which means
you won’t have to start the story hot on Chapter One, you can ease up on the throttle a bit.”
Step 10: Epilogue?
You should finally evaluate whether the novel needs an epilogue. The question to ask
here is how much do you want or need to wrap things up? “Readers tend to want resolution of most of the big issues and you
don’t want to leave things hanging in a way that is unpleasant for them.” Sometimes just a short “where are they now” works,
particularly if the plot takes place over a short time frame. Palmer often prefers, however, epilogues that wrap up core issues
but suggest that “evil lives on.”
Palmer acknowledged that writing a novel, like cooking rhino stew, is not a simple task. “When I teach, I tell my students
to put two signs on their desks when they’re writing. One says, ‘THIS IS HARD,’ because they shouldn’t forget it—if it were
easy, everyone would do it. The second reads, ‘BE FEARLESS,’ because I want them not to fear criticism and just to go for it.”
Anthony J. Franze is a lawyer in the Appellate and Supreme Court practice of a major Washington, D.C. law firm and the
author of the debut legal thriller, “The Last Justice.” In addition to his writing and law practice, he is an adjunct professor of law,
has been a commentator for Bloomberg, the National Law Journal and other news outlets, and is a features editor for the Big
Thrill magazine. Anthony lives in the D.C. area with his wife and three children. Learn more about Anthony at http://www.
anthonyfranzebooks.com/ 
18
Meet
Richard
Long
Debut Author of “The Book of Paul”
Interview by Jodi Chapters
Have you ever met one of those people who intrigue you to the point
you want to learn anything you can about them? For me, author Richard
Long is one of those people. An unapologetic libertarian, Richard tells it like it is. He is quite open
about the road to becoming an author and his thoughts on life. He uses his voracious appetite for
the sciences as a jumping-off point for “The Book of Paul,” the first book of his psychological thriller
series.
Richard is also a devoted family man who is fiercely protective of his children, his lovely wife, and an evil black cat named
Merlin.
On to the interview, in which we learn that Richard’s favorite quote is “The Devil is jealous of ME!” spoken by Paul Kelly,
the lead character in his book.
Jodi Chapters (J.C.): Any personal goals you have yet to achieve?
Richard Long (R.L.): Yes, New York Times best-selling author and creator of an HBO/SHO/AMC series.
J.C.: I read in the Writer’s News Weekly interview that you lived in a cemetery your parents owned. Can you share how your
experiences growing up in that setting shaped the man you are today?
R.L.: I was ghoulish from birth, so I’m not sure living in a cemetery had any effect on my life other than amusing me to no end.
My parents bought the cemetery when I was twelve or thirteen so I was a fully formed Addams Family kid already. I just loved
moving into the old stone house with graves all around. And of course, I got to bury people, which was a big perk.
J.C.: As kids we all had a fascination for the occult—at least I did. What made yours different? Were there influences from
family or friends?
R.L.: I was always fascinated with the BIG mysteries in life. I still am. What is this thing we call “reality?” How does it work?
19
I think the occult, supernatural, magic, religion and science are all trying to do the same thing in different ways, examine the
mystery of our existence and come up with explanations.
J.C.: Do you think you’ve come close to finding your own explanations to some of them?
R.L.: Yes, but the deeper I go in my investigations, the crazier my explanations get, so being a fiction writer is a big plus.
J.C.: In your video interview you spoke about exploring your Irish heritage and as a result, a fire was fueled that inevitably
resulted in “The Book of Paul,” and particularly the shaping of Paul’s character. Can you expound on that?
R.L.: It actually happened the other way around. When I wrote Paul’s first scene, I heard him speaking in an Irish accent that
would come in and out. I wondered, what’s that about? I’m second-generation Irish American, but my parents never told me
anything about my heritage. When I began writing this book, they were dead, so I began exploring this world that seemed very
mysterious to me, particularly regarding what I guess you might call emotional stereotypes.
J.C.: Now that you have found out more about your heritage, have you brought some aspects of it into your personal life?
R.L.: My personal life shows up in a lot of ways through a lot of the characters. I don’t know how much of my Irish heritage is
coming through. Irish writers and particularly playwrights are some of my favourites. I think the mixture of pathos, black, black
humor, sadness, loss, and poignancy in some of the work I admire most is very similar to how I approach writing. As well as the
surrealistic bent of many Irish writers.
J.C.: Still thinking Mickey Rourke would make a good Paul?
R.L.: I think he’d make a great Paul, but I understand the Chihuahuas are a package deal. I’m sure he could do the accent. I also
think he’s a riveting actor, charismatic, sensitive, and funny. He also looks like a big badass and can do evil like falling off a log.
J.C.: When you arrived in NYC’s East Village in 1980, you read Tarot cards as a means to support yourself.
Tell me how it relates to the makeup of Paul’s character.
R.L.: Numerology is what really led me deeper into the occult. I used to hitchhike
around the country; basically, I was a drifter for a few years. Everywhere
I went, the number 11 kept popping up. I mentioned it to someone and he
suggested getting a book on numerology. I discovered that my name number
was 11 and that it is considered a “power number,” as are multiples of 11, like
22 and 33. After studying numerology for a few years I also began studying
the tarot, which led me to do readings. I knew when I created the mythology
for “The Book of Paul” that the tarot would be an essential component,
because I believe that the sequence of numbers reflected in the trump cards
are telling a story.
As to how it relates to William and Paul’s characters, William is a novice
in some ways, though he has very powerful psychic abilities. Paul is the
master and William is the pupil. Together, they explore the mystery of the
tarot narrative.
J.C.: You are hoping to have your new YA novel “The Dream Palace”
released in the near future. What can you tell us about it?
R.L.: “The Dream Palace” does have its scary moments and lots of action,
but the overall mood is much lighter. There’s no extreme violence or sex. I
basically wanted to write something my kids could read before they turn
eighteen.
20
J.C.: Sounds like a book much like BOP, but with more of a GP rating. I imagine you’ll find a crossover
into adult readers who are fans.
R.L.: Yes, I think so. For children of all ages! Adults will really enjoy it, too. It’s exciting and funny.
J.C.: Tell me about William. What makes him tick? Was he on a dark path before he was schooled by Paul, or was it solely
due to that schooling?
R.L.: William, the narrator of the story, is a mysterious character in a mysterious situation. We know from the onset that he
has visionary psychic powers, that he’s an extremely lonely and troubled guy, has some very disturbing hobbies and obsessions,
and is connected in some way with Paul and the other characters in the book. The reader gradually begins to make sense of what’s
happening at the same time as William, while he puts the puzzle pieces together one by one, and discovers that he’s in a whole
world of trouble.
One of William’s first lines in the story and one of my favorites is: “Sometimes I think evil is just loneliness with nowhere else
to go.” That tells a lot about William. His isolation has led him down a very dark path. He begins collecting ancient occult
manuscripts, then practices tarot card divination. Finally, his morbid obsessions lead him to collecting serial killer memorabilia,
or as he puts it: “the things they collected.” Which leads him to Paul and his hellish world.
J.C.: Martin and Rose have an interesting relationship that is intensely romantic, but then there’s off-the-scale insatiable
sexual appetites and deviance. Tell me what makes the couple work, with all of their back history and baggage.
R.L.: Martin and Rose have similar backgrounds in that their childhood innocence was destroyed by tragedies wrought by their
parents’ immersion in the occult. They’ve also both coped with their traumatic emotional pain in ways that involve the experience
of physical pain. From that point they differ greatly, almost to the extent that they are opposite halves struggling to unite. Rose
is really into sex on an intense level, involving masochistic urges. Martin has completely shut himself down emotionally, to the
point where he has to practice smiling. Martin couldn’t care less about love, romance or sex, until Rose awakens all those feelings
inside him. Then he becomes voracious, maybe animalistic.
The romance is a classic Romeo and Juliet tale: two people whose families have been at war for centuries. Paul will stop at nothing
to keep them from fulfilling their joint destiny. They fall in love at first f**k, if not as first sight. And Martin is determined to use
all his lethal-warrior skills to protect Rose from Paul at any cost, with the fate of the universe resting on the outcome.
J.C.: I would like to speak to your alter ego Paul, if that’s possible. Paul, what goes on inside that head of yours?
Paul: “Darlin’, if you lived to be a thousand billion years old; and I’m speaking from experience here, you couldn’t begin to
understand how these gears are grindin’ inside this great big pumpkin on my shoulders. But since you’re so curious, I’ll paint a
picture that you may find entertaining, if not particularly satisfying.
Imagine a world of utter darkness. A place where light has never shone; where time and space do not exist; a world without color,
shape or form, without odor or flavor, without feeling, without gravity, without here or there, up or down, in or out, without
opposites, without unity.
Now imagine that a being with the ability to perceive, with the capacity to feel, with the desire to exist, was trapped inside such a
place, for a time beyond any concept of eternity…for remember, time and space cannot exist without relativity. Can you imagine
the agony such a being would experience? The unending torment of a perceptive entity with absolutely nothing to experience and
no understanding of how these circumstances could ever be altered?”
I would like to thank Richard for sharing the inner workings of his mind. If you would like to know more about his
writing and what is upcoming for 2013 check out his website at: http://www.richardlongauthor.com. 
21
By CK Webb
Last month we started our brand new series on book to film adaptations. Here is just a little reminder of what
I look for in a great film that started out as a great book:
1. True to the book, with no weird new characters or twisted existing ones.
2. Are the actors in the movie the right ones to play the characters in this book? (I know that every character will
not always feel 100 percent right, but I need to at least feel like the screenplay writer and director actually READ the
book.)
3.
And finally, I always look for story and character development on the part of the screenwriter that makes the
book/film better.
#9 Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Bram Stoker
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
English
Horror, Gothic
Publisher: Archibald Constable and Company (UK)
Publication date: May 26, 1897
Stoker’s novel tells the story of Dracula’s attempt to relocate from Transylvania to
England as he is pursued by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Stoker is often credited
with introducing Count Dracula to the world. The novel is a fine example of genrecrossing and genre-bending by an author.
Many literary genres are touched upon or introduced in Stoker’s book, including
vampire literature, horror fiction, gothic fiction, and invasion literature. Although
Stoker did not create the vampire itself, he did introduce the world to a completely
new concept for the vampire tale. In doing so, he forever changed the face of literature,
and eventually film.
Invasion literature was at its peak during this time in history, and Stoker’s book about the invasion of England was, by
the time the book hit the shelves, familiar to readers of adventure stories. Victorian readers enjoyed it like many others did,
but it would not reach its iconic status until film versions of the story premise appeared.
Before writing, Stoker spent seven years researching European folklore and stories of vampires, but his major influence
23
for the novel came by way of 1885’s “Transylvania Superstitions,” an essay by Emily Gerard.
When it was first published in 1897, “Dracula” did not see the success you would expect from a novel that has had the
same impact, even though reviewers heaped praises upon it. The contemporary Daily Mail ranked Stoker’s writing powers
above those of Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe as well as Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights”!
The book didn’t make much money for Stoker, either, and he was so poor in the last year of his life that he was forced to
petition for a compassionate grant from the Royal Literary Fund.
In 1913, his widow was forced to sell his notes and outlines of the novel to a Sotheby’s auction. The priceless sheets of
paper sold for a pitiful two pounds!
W. Murnau’s Nosferatu was released in movie theatres in 1922, but Stoker’s widow was not willing to sit by and watch as
her late husband’s work was exploited. The legal battle that followed would be the boost needed to hurl Stoker’s novel into the
spotlight, and into the hearts and minds of book lovers everywhere.
Since the American movie version of the novel was released in 1931, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” has never been out of print
again! Some Victorian fans ahead of the time described it as “the sensation of the season” and “the most blood-curdling novel
of the paralysed century.” Even Sherlock Holmes’ author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was intrigued with the story… so much so,
that he sent this handwritten letter to Stoker after having read the novel:
“I write to tell you how very much I have enjoyed reading Dracula. I think it is the very best story of diablerie which I have
read for many years’. The Daily Mail review from June 1897 proclaimed Dracula a classic of Gothic horror. Their review of
Dracula was quoted as:
“In seeking a parallel to this weird, powerful, and horrorful story, our mind reverts to such tales as The Mysteries of Udolpho,
Frankenstein, The Fall of the House of Usher ... but Dracula is even more appalling in its gloomy fascination than any one of
these.”
Similarly good reviews appeared when the book was published in the U.S. in 1899. The first American edition was
published by Doubleday and McClure in New York.
But no Dracula movie had as big an impact as a 1992 version by Francis Ford Coppola. Gary Oldman would cement his
place in cinema as a leading man with his portrayal of Count Dracula. Other big names in the cast: Winona Ryder as Mina
Harker; Anthony Hopkins as Professor Abraham Van Helsing; and Keanu Reeves* as Jonathan Harker!
Dracula was well-received and an instant box office hit. The film’s score, composed by Wojciech Kilar, featured the hit
“Love Song for a Vampire” by Annie Lennox.
Dracula was met with positive reviews from critics. The film holds an overall approval rating of 80 percent on Rotten
Tomatoes, with the consensus, “Overblown in the best sense of the word, Francis Ford Coppola’s vision of Bram Stoker’s
Dracula rescues the character from decades of campy interpretations—and features some terrific performances to boot.”
Vincent Canby described the film as having been created with the “enthusiasm of a precocious film student who has magically
acquired a master’s command of his craft.” Richard Corliss said, “Coppola brings the old spook story alive ... Everyone knows
that Dracula has a heart; Coppola knows that it is more than an organ to drive a stake into. To the director, the count is a
restless spirit who has been condemned for too many years to interment in cruddy movies. This luscious film restores the
creature’s nobility and gives him peace.”
Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, and wrote, “I enjoyed the movie simply for the way it looked and felt.
Production designers Dante Ferretti and Thomas Sanders have outdone themselves. The cinematographer, Michael Ballhaus,
gets into the spirit so completely he always seems to light with shadows.”
Bram Stoker’s Dracula became a box office hit, grossing $82.5 million in North America alone and becoming the
fifteenth-highest grossing film of that year. The film did even better in foreign markets, grossing $133.3 million. It also won
three Academy Awards: Best Costume Design, Best Sound Effects and Editing, and Best Makeup.
It is still, to this very day, the standard by which I judge ALL vamp stories.
When I look at Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” as a book, I see one of the greatest stories EVER told. In my opinion (and, it is
only an opinion, but I hold my opinion in high regard) Bram Stoker laid the groundwork for all the Stephanie Meyerses and
Richelle Meads and even for the Thomas Emsons and Stephen Kings of the literary world…he even laid the groundwork for
a little writer girl from the south who just loves a vampire with no sparkle!
Remember: Someone, somewhere, is always getting away with murder! 
*as a side note, Reeves performance was later listed in Total Film’s ‘50 Performances That Ruined Movies’ and though I do
not feel Reeves ruined the film, I must confess that anymore of Keanu onscreen would have killed it…he was definitely the
weak link in my opinion.
24
Conspiracy
From Within
I
had to make her see the importance of my
organization. She was going to be my wife after
all. If she couldn’t see the good we were doing than I would
have to cut her lose. My heart would be broken, but it was for
the greater good.
“Shelly,” I begin. “I need to tell you something, something
really important.”
I wait until I have her full attention. She puts down
the bridal magazine and looks me in the eye. Her smile is
infectious.
God I love her, I’m praying she’s with me on this, supports
me and maybe if I’m lucky, she even joins me.
“Shelly,” I begin again. “You know I love you?”
She nods her beautiful head, but her face shows signs of
worry.
I run my fingers through my hair, trying to figure out
how to tell her. We met back in college five years ago. We
were both involved with the many protests going on around
campus, just like most college kids do, inspired by knowledge,
empowered by youthful ignorance. We were going to change
the world one cause at a time.
We dated for about a year and then after graduation we
went our separate ways. She went back to Texas and I went
home to California.
Two years ago, I got a friend request from her on a
social network page and the rest is history. She moved out
to California six months ago and we are getting married in
three months.
“I need to tell you about a secret organization I belong
to.” I decide to just blurt out the truth and see how she takes
it. “I can’t give you the details until I know whether you are
for or against it,” I tell her.
She plays with her bottom lip, pulling it between her
teeth. She was scared. I didn’t blame her. What I was about to
tell her would frighten anyone.
“The people in this organization are powerful or at least
the ones who formed it are. They are wealthy, and the future
By Patricia L. Broussard
of our country as we know it is held in their hands.”
I take her hand in mine. “Our country is in a state of
great civil unrest. People are losing their money, their jobs,
and their homes. We are heading for a civil war of sorts; the
rich against the poor, the government against its people. The
organization I work with is trying to stop it.”
I stop not sure if I should tell her the worst of it. She
seems to relax a bit, like she wasn’t too concerned over the
matter. But I haven’t told her what my team has discovered
yet.
“Shell, I know you think I’m all wrapped up in a
conspiracy theory or something. It’s not like that. Our
government knows about us, though they don’t support what
we are doing, but they haven’t tried to shut us down either.”
I see her curiosity is back, that look of interest in her
eyes. She hasn’t said a word yet, just remains silent.
“My team uncovered something recently, something
big. This whole civil unrest or civil war is being funded by
a terrorist group. They have people working both sides,
spurring people on, raising suspicions, demanding dangerous
actions.”
Still she says nothing. She just sits there staring at me.
“The riots in San Francisco last month, it wasn’t about
gay rights. Hell half the people there didn’t give a damn
about gay rights. They had inside information, telling them
that certain key people from both sides would be there—that
the protest would be the best opportunity to take them out.
The riot was just a diversion so that the killings would go
unnoticed, linked to the violence that erupted and not to an
assassination.”
I stop talking, waiting for her to say something.
“Well,” I demand.
“Well what?” she finally replies.
“Do you want to say something? Maybe ask me some
questions? Or is this too much for you to handle?” I ask,
getting mad for her lack of enthusiasm in any direction.
“Do you know what terrorist group is behind this?” she
25
asks.
Out of all the things she could have said or asked, this
one confused me. If someone told me all of this I would want
to know more about the organization. How did they obtain
their information? Or in her case, cuss me out for being crazy
and how disappointed she was in me.
Alarm bells sound in my mind, this was Shelly my
fiancée, we were in love, shared intimacies, shared life secrets,
humiliations, and disappointments, and happy times. She
moved halfway across the country to be with me.
“No,” I lie.
Suddenly I didn’t trust her.
Her demeanor suddenly changes. She smiles sweetly at
me as she places her hand on my cheek.
“Jake, baby,” she says. “I don’t care about your little
organization. I just wanted to sound interested. Don’t get so
defensive,” she says with a little too much sugar and honey.
She’s lying, what’s going on? Could she be involved with
the terrorist? Is that why she suddenly got in touch with me?
I begin thinking back on our relationship post college.
She sought me out on the social network site. It was her who
revived our romance online, reminding me how good we
were together.
She was the one who suggested that she move out to
California to be near me so we could get to know one another
better. She got a job within days of moving, an almost
impossible feat in this economy. I had been so proud of her;
she had beaten out several more qualified than she was.
It’s all making sense now, she’s playing me. She’s one of
them, one of the terrorists. I wracked my brain trying to
remember the real her, the one from our college days. Why
did we go our separate ways back then?
It all came flooding back. She was crazy and irrational, I
never knew where I stood with her. One minute she had been
passionate about a cause then the next minute she dropped
it like a cold turkey saying it was useless to fight for a losing
cause.
She had been the same way with me, one minute she
loved me, the next she hated me. How many countless times
had I found her in the middle of the night after hours of
enthusiastic love making sitting on a closed toilet seat talking
quietly on the phone. She deleted all her call history right
after she hung up. I know because I checked.
She is still doing it, deleting her text messages and her
call history. I caught her a few times texting in private, but
she told me her sister’s husband was cheating on her and she
was upset.
But now that I think about it, back in college she told
me she was an only child. Back then it was usually one of
her girlfriends who she said she was talking to in the middle
of the night. Then there were all those times she would just
disappear for days, weeks sometimes even months.
“Who are you?” I stupidly ask her. If she was one of the
terrorists then I was dead meat. I should never let on that I
know anything. So I quickly covered it up by saying, “You are
26
so wonderful to take all of this so well, I thought for sure you
would kick me to the curb for being crazy.”
She smiles, did she buy it? I certainly hope so.
“Just the girl who loves you more than anything,” she
says before sliding her arms around my neck and kissing me
thoroughly.
My heart was racing. I force myself to kiss her back. I
can’t let her know I’m on to her.
“You’re perfect.” I lie. “I’m so happy you found me again.”
I try to give her a genuine smile, but I know it doesn’t
reach my eyes, my heart is broken, crushed really, I thought
how lucky I was for her to come back into my life. How
easily everything fell into place, only now to realize that it
hadn’t been easy, it had all been strategically placed. She was
a lie, we were a lie, and my whole life has become a lie. Now
my job was to find out who she really was and who she was
working for.
I got to thinking, Steven has a cabin up in Tahoe, he’s the
one person I trusted more than anyone. He and I go way back
to when my family lived next door to him when I was a kid.
He had been an adult at the time but I used to spend hours at
his house taking about politics; I have always loved politics.
I majored in journalism so that I could get into the heart of
the everyday trials of the parties. That was how I uncovered
the organization I now worked for.
I need answers and I can’t chance her slipping away
again, she holds valuable information and I want it.
So I say, “Shelly, why don’t we take a trip, my friend
Steven has a cabin up in Tahoe. I bet he would let us use it
for a few days.”
I need to get her away, alone just the two of us, with
nowhere for her to run, no cell phone, and I’ll disable the car.
I will make her tell me everything.
“Oh” she says, “I didn’t know you and Steven were so
close.”
What’s she mean by that? She knows Steven and I are
close. Haven’t we had dinner at their house several times,
didn’t we attend their daughter Skylar’s High School
graduation?
It was obvious when she realizes her mistake, so she tries
to cover it up.
“I know you two are close. I just wasn’t sure that you were
close enough to ask such a favor from him,” she says.
She’s good, but not that good.
She stands up, “Look, babe, I need to go get dinner
started, why don’t you call Steven and ask him about the
cabin while I go make you something yummy?”
She kisses me on the cheek before moving towards the
kitchen.
I flip open my cell phone and dial Steven’s number. His
wife answers the phone.
She’s such a sweetie, “Shelby,” I say. “Is Steven around?”
“No.” She answers.
“Oh darn,” I say, “I was hoping to ask him about letting
me and Shelly use his cabin for a few days.”
“Sure you can use it.” She offers. “I will drop the keys off
tomorrow,” she says.
“Great, Shelly and I need a little vacation. Thanks so
much,” I say.
“Anytime,” she replies before hanging up.
I walk towards the kitchen just in time to see Shelly
hanging up her cell phone. Who’s she talking too? I was
wondering. So I ask just to see what kind of lie she would
come up with.
“Who was that?” I ask, trying to keep my voice cheerful,
so as to keep her from suspecting anything.
“Oh just work I was trying to clear my schedule for the
next few days so we can go to Tahoe,” she says.
Actually that sounds plausible, so why do I think she’s
lying. Because I just uncovered the truth, she’s a spy of some
sort and I don’t know if I can trust her or not. So I play it off.
It was cool, I will get my answers when we get to Tahoe.
I really wish I had a gun. It would make everything so
much easier. I can just wave it around in front of her face,
scare her a little and make her talk.
The rest of the night went by quietly. We watched some
T.V. and at nine o’clock the doorbell rings. Shelly answers it.
She’s whispering to whoever it is. So I go over to investigate
the mysterious person she is conspiring with. It’s Skylar,
Steven’s daughter.
“Jake,” Shelly says rather loudly, “look who’s here.”
“Hi, Jake,” Skylar says as she smiles at me.
“Sky was just dropping off the key to the cabin for her
mother,” Shelly says.
She’s acting strange now. Why is she whispering to
Skylar? She’s just a kid. She couldn’t be involved in all of this,
could she? Maybe Steven is a part of all this, too. But I have
known Steven almost my whole life. I just can’t believe that
he is involved.
I hit my limit with the weirdness.
“Skylar would you like to come in?” I ask her. I don’t want
to scare her off. Forget the cabin, I’m getting my answers
right now. “How about some coffee?” I ask.
“Thank you,” she replies.
She steps across the threshold. I shut the door and then
bolt it. I go into the kitchen to pretend to start the coffee. My
real goal is to find a weapon to threaten them with.
I head back out with a butcher knife behind my back. I
want answers and I want them now. Too many people seem
to be involved. It’s getting dangerous. I don’t like the feeling
of the unknown.
The two women are sitting on the couch their heads
together whispering quietly to each other. I wish to hell I
knew what they were talking about.
“That’s enough!” I say the anger rising within me. “Who
are you two working for?” I demand.
Skylar looks confused, but Shelly just smiles, “No one,
dear; just doctor Granger.”
“Whose team are you playing on?” I demand. “I know
you’re involved somehow. I just need to know what terrorist
group you are working with.”
I pull my knife out. That got their attention. Skylar starts
crying.
“Mom!” Skylar yells as she grabs Shelly’s hand.
“Mom?” I ask, “Why did you just call Shelly mom?”
Shelly pauses, she’s looking scared. She wants to say
something. I watch as her mouth move, but nothing came
out. She keeps looking from Skylar to me and back again.
“Tell him, Mom,” Skylar says.
“Quit calling her mom,” I yell “She’s only a couple years
older than you are. Are you talking in some kind of code?”
I ask.
It’s all coming together now.
Shelly shakes her head, a look of resignation on her face.
Good, finally I’ll get some answers.
“Skylar is my daughter. She is our daughter,” she begins.
I shake my head.
“Do you think I’m stupid?” I ask.
“Jake,” she begins again. “You’re ill, you have a condition
known as Dissociative Identity Disorder, or in other words,
split personalities. We thought with the new treatment we
had it under control. It has been years since we have seen
you,” she says.
Really, did she think I would fall for this crap?
“Your legal name is Steven Shelton, you are fifty-sixyears-old.” She let out a breath. “You’re a psychiatrist and
work with Dr. Granger. The two of you have been working
on this treatment since grad school. You are best friends. I
work as a nurse in your practice.”
She stops talking. My guess is, so she could think up
more of this cockamamie story.
“You and I were married in college, only it was before
we discovered your condition. But I stayed with you anyway,
because I love you. There are three of you and I love each and
every one of you. Steven, the real you, is my husband. He is
the one I am with most of the time. Then there is Tim, he is
only eight-years-old and thinks I’m his mom. And then there
is you Jake, you are a conspiracy theorist: you think everyone
is out to get you. Jake, you only come out when your stress
level reaches its maximum capacity. And I think with Skylar’s
upcoming wedding and the grant you and Doctor Granger
are trying to obtain for your research, you reached your limit
and Jake needed to show himself.”
“You’re lying!” I yell and Skylar clings to Shelly’s arm. “I
talked to Shelby tonight on the phone. She is a real person.”
I try to make her see that I wouldn’t fall for this load of
garbage.
“You talked to me, Jake,” she answers. “When you came
into the kitchen and saw me hanging up my cell phone it was
because I just hung up with you. If you don’t believe me call
Steven’s number.”
So I take out my cell phone and punch in the numbers.
Her phone begins to ring. She answers it and it was her on
the other end of my line.
“Is this some kind of trick?” I ask.
27
“No, Jake, it’s the truth,” she calmly states.
“Dad, please listen to her,” Skylar pleads.
“Jake, look at me,” Shelly says, drawing my attention back
to her. “Really look at me. I’m a fifty-four-year-old woman.
See the wrinkles around my eyes.” She’s pointing to the side
of her left eye. “See the gray hair at my temples.” She’s now
pulling at the locks of hair in front of her ears. “I’m not a
thirty something woman. I’m fifty-four, damn it.”
She says it with so much emotion I almost saw what she
wanted me to see.
She’s trying to brainwash me. I have to fight it, maybe if
I play into it…let her think I believe her. No, I can’t do that, I
still haven’t gotten my answers.
“I’m not messing with your mind,” she says as if she was
reading my mind. “Sweetheart, I’m telling you the truth.
Why don’t you let Steven out. Let him explain it to you.”
“Is Steven working with you?” I ask, “Is that why Skylar
is here? Is she his messenger?”
“Daddy, Steven is you,” Skylar cries.
I wave my knife at her, “Shut up,” I say trying to scare her.
She cowers away sinking further into the back of the
couch.
“Mom, do something,” she pleads with Shelly. “Call
Doctor Granger.”
Shelly pats Skylar’s hand, “I already have. I have been in
touch with him all day, but he’s at a convention in LA. He’s
trying to catch a flight out, but he wasn’t sure if he would be
able to.”
“You’re trying to confuse me,” I say.
They’re talking as if this whole story they have concocted
was real. They are well trained, never breaking the reality
they were trying to create. But I was better. I can talk circles
better than anyone I know, I can dig deeper, and get people to
confess things they didn’t even know they knew.
“Jake,” Shelly begins talking to me again. “When you
were only four-years-old your mom, who was a widow, was
struggling to make ends meet. She was desperate, and she
married the first guy to come along. He was a horrible man
and he didn’t like the fact that she had a kid from another
guy, so he locked you up in a small closet in the basement. He
forbid your mom to see you. He barely fed you, enough to
keep you alive, and let you out twice a day to use a can in the
basement for a toilet. After dinner, he would take you out of
your closet and use his belt on you, telling you that you were
the reason he had to beat your mother. Then, he would throw
you back into the closet, shut the door, and lock it. Leaving
you there until he remembered about you the next day, if he
remembered that is.”
Tears are running down her cheeks as she continues with
her made up story.
“When you were ten-years-old, your mother—beaten
black and blue by your stepfather—made her way down
to the basement. It was the first time you had seen her in
six years. She opened the closet door and hugged you. She
took your hand and led you up and into the kitchen where
28
you saw your step-father unconscious on the floor, a knife
protruding from his back. She led you to the outside door,
opened it, gently pushed you outside, and then closed the
door behind you.”
She wipes at the tears.
“You had gone to the window only to see your mother
tossing a rope over an exposed beam in the ceiling and then
climbing up onto a chair.”
Both women were clinging on to each other as if for
support.
What a load of crap, did she really expect me to believe
any of this B.S.? I’m torn between wanting to hear the end of
her fairy tale—after all, it’s a good story. I want to see what
she has in store for this poor kid. She has a twisted mind to
come up with such a horrible story. I really didn’t think she
was this deranged.
I’m just getting ready to tell them that their gig is up
and that I don’t believe their story when Skylar says, “Finish,
Mom, sometimes the ending brings him back.”
“Bring who back?” I ask.
“Steven,” Shelly says.
“Dad,” Skylar says in unison.
Shelly clears her throat from her pretend tears. I have to
give her credit, she’s one hell of an actress. Actually they both
are.
“Your mom slipped the noose around her neck. Then
she looked at the window. She must have seen your face
there because she started to take the rope off her neck. But
your stepfather woke up and with his last breath he yanked
the chair out from under your mom. He looked at you and
smiled before he collapsed for the last time.
“You stayed outside on the porch all night and in the
morning a neighbor found you. You didn’t speak for years.”
She stops talking and looks at me, begging me to believe
her.
“How do you know all of this?” I ask playing along with
her game just for a few more minutes, but not believing any
of it for a second.
“You had Dr. Granger hypnotize you when I noticed
your strange behavior. I was scared and I didn’t know what
was wrong with you.”
A loud knock sounds at my door just then, taking me a
little off guard.
“Jake, let me in,” a masculine voice says from the other
side.
“Oh look,” I say as I head towards the door once again in
control, “another player in the game.” I swing the door open
and hold my knife out in front of me. “Come in,” I say smiling,
“Let’s hear your load of crap so I can compare stories.”
Before I could shut the door two large beefy men plow
through knocking me to the ground. I feel the sting of a
needle slide into to my arm.
The last words before everything went back were from
Shelly, “Do you think he bought it?” 
Chandler McGrew
Sheila Bright talks to the dead including the ghost of her mother who wants to move to
California. Kira Graves can produce money out of thin air. The two of them, Shape Shifters, Pookas, Lost Boys and more all inhabit the Crossroads, where good and evil collide.
When Kira’s family and everyone else in their
carnival are murdered by unearthly creatures
called Grigs, Kira and her constant companion, Jen, flee toward a half-mythical place of
safety called Graves Island, but they fail to
reach it when Kira is drawn through the looking glass to another world. The planet of the
Creators is swiftly deteriorating from a world
of dreams into one of nightmares, and the
only way to stop the Empty-Eyed Man from
turning the entire universe into chaos is for
Kira to destroy the tool he most desires,
but what she must sacrifice to do so may
be worth more to her than the prize.
“A bewitching novel that transports you into
a world of dreams and nightmares.” – The
Lit Critic
“I enjoyed every moment of Crossroads,
and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
I downright loved this novel, so much so
that McGrew easily earns, in my opinion,
exaltation to Master of the Genre – right
up there with King and Koontz. What
more can I say? Crossroads is truly a
brilliant book.”
– C.L. Davies
PRAISE FOR CHANDLER MCGREW’S
PREVIOUS NOVELS:
“Chandler McGrew (is) showing us how to scare the pants off readers…”
– The Chicago Tribune
“In the small-town Maine that Stephen King has made famous, Chandler McGrew sets a new
tale of terror.” - Forbes Book Club
“…plays on the primal fears that cause most adults to lose sleep. An author to watch and read.”
– Denver Post
“Fans of Kay Hooper and Linda Howard will readily dig into this fantastic tale.”
– Publishers Weekly
www.chandlermcgrew.com
Suspense Magazine Book Reviews
Inside the Pages
CRESCENDO
By Deborah J. Ledford
To be a Native
American woman on
the small town police
department was a first
in the county, and to
be honored with a
Medal of Honor was
almost unprecedented.
Inola Walela felt the weight of her
responsibilities as well as the jealousy
of the other Bryson City officers as she
took on the responsibility of training
her new recruit Cody Sheehan.
Driving
to
receive
her
commendation, she found herself not
only in a gun battle but with a dead
partner, then suspension under the
assumption that he died from friendly
fire. The jealous eyes became full of
suspicion; it seemed as if the whole
town turned against her.
Even Walela’s boyfriend, Sheriff
Steven Hawk, seemed removed
from her. She felt shut out from her
professional life and his feelings. The
actions she took next, cohorting with
a witness, who had killed a woman
at the scene, and urging an ex-con to
perform tasks outside of the scope
of his probationary terms, probably
would not have happened if she hadn’t
been on leave from her duties and her
senses. All because she believed the
dying woman at the scene who talked
about her missing child.
As Walela’s search brings her
closer to the truth, it also brings her
closer to the cause of the problem and
the cataclysmic chaos that was about
to be let loose on Bryson City. Some
people will do anything for the love of
money. When the truth is discovered,
Walela becomes the avenging angel of
death, leaving no stone unturned in
the knife-edge drama in order to bring
justice for one small boy.
Following in the footsteps of J.A.
Jance and Elizabeth Gunn, the police
procedural genre has birthed a new
author to follow. In “Crescendo,” the
last in the Walela trilogy, Deborah
J. Ledford brings suspense to a new
level as she intertwines her Cherokeee
heritage with her writing, exposing all
of us to her award winning style.
Reviewed by Mark P. Sadler, author
of “Blood on his Hands” published
by Suspense Publishing, an imprint of
30
MISS DIMPLE SUSPECTS
By Mignon F. Ballard
Miss Dimple Kilpatrick returns.
For those who do not yet know, Miss Dimple is a first-grade teacher in the tiny town of Elderberry,
Georgia. It’s the 1940s and while the men of the town are off fighting in WWII, the women are taking care
of the home front. But the home front is about to get some shocking news.
Peggy Ashcroft, a student of Dimple’s, had just been on the playground jumping rope with her
classmates when the following day she simply comes up missing. The townspeople gather to hunt for
Peggy, but as night comes, they put everything on hold. Miss Dimple, however, goes off on her own and
soon discovers Peggy in the home of an artist, Mae Martha Hawthorne and her companion Suzy, who has
been living with Martha in order to help her recover from an injury.
Peggy is fine but ill and the two women help get the child back home. Sometime later, Miss Dimple
receives a worrisome call from Suzy and she, along with her friends, rush to the cabin to discover that Mae
Martha has been killed. The authorities immediately suspect Suzy, who disappeared after she made the
phone call. But Miss Dimple thinks that the girl is just afraid, because her family is Japanese and America
is at war with Japan. On instinct, Miss Dimple goes looking for the real killer, and from a cast of characters
from Mae Martha’s nephews to a handyman to several neighbors become suspects.
Whether Mae Martha’s death has to do with a valuable painting that many would like to get their
hands on, or the fact that Suzy is a Japanese spy, remains to be seen, and only Miss Dimple will be able to
find the answer.
A very well-written cozy with a great plot, this author writes with extraordinary humor and heart
when it comes to the beloved ‘small town life’ during the harsh time of war.
Reviewed by Amy Lignor, author of “13: Tallent & Lowery Book One” published by Suspense Publishing,
an imprint of Suspense Magazine 
MURDER MISDIRECTED
By Andrew MacRae
The Kid is a professional pickpocket and one of the best, if he does say so himself. He has just lost his
mentor and come back to town and his life. The best way to get back to his life is to just jump back in with
both feet and that is exactly what he does.
Working a big convention is the ticket. He needs to pay back some debts he accumulated and make
enough to live on. It is a good day really, a couple brushes with law enforcement and running into some old
acquaintances keeps life interesting. Then he does his last take of the day and his life changes.
He brings more trouble than he could ever imagine with taking that last man’s wallet. He is now
targeted by the FBI for questioning and the Russian mob wants their diamonds back. Problem is, the Kid
doesn’t know where they are, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Now his friends, who are more like family
are in danger and so is he if he doesn’t figure out who has the missing diamonds.
A stripper who wants to dance, a bookstore owner, deacon, cop, and bunch of FBI agents.
An entertaining cast of characters through and through. This book is a ride from start to finish and the
Kid is the perfect driver!
Reviewed by Ashley Dawn, author of “Shadows of Suspicion” published by Suspense Publishing an
imprint of Suspense Magazine 
RULES OF CRIME
By L.J. Sellers
Mystery novels are fun, but this is not only fun and adventurous, but also offers a truly shocking
ending that the reader won’t see coming.
The story begins with Renee Jackson, ex-wife of Detective Wade Jackson, leaving an AA meeting
just a bit early. Renee has decided she shouldn’t have come to the meeting and even though she has been
secretly ‘hitting the bottle’ these last few weeks, she has no desire to share her issues. As Renee heads to
her car where Vodka is waiting for her, she thinks long and hard about checking into rehab, but doesn’t
know how to accomplish this without revealing to her beloved daughter, Katie, that she has fallen off the
wagon…again. Heading to her car, Renee spots two very creepy characters coming toward her and ends
up racing away in order to avoid them, but…they were right behind her.
Detective Jackson is vacationing on an island paradise with his significant other when he receives a
call from his daughter telling him that her mother has been kidnapped and Mom’s fiancé has received a text
message demanding $100,000 for her safe return. Hurrying back home to Oregon, Wade joins the FBI in
order to solve the case as fast as possible.
FBI Agent Carla River is in charge of the investigation, and assembles a task force that includes the
local police department. All goes well with the ransom demand until the person picking up the money
falls into the river and drowns—forcing the team to start at ‘square one.’ Add to all this the fact that Sgt.
Lara Evans of the Violent Crimes Unit has been looking into the nearly fatal beating of a college student
that brings about a major clue that will help in finding Renee, and a climax occurs that will leave the reader
breathless.
This story deserves a very high recommendation as the plot is intriguing, the characters are memorable,
and the ending is a shock to the system. Enjoy!
ALL SEEING EYE
By Rob Thurman
Rob Thurman has taken a break from his three urban fantasy series (Cal Leandros,
Trickster, and the Korsak Brothers) to produce this stand-alone paranormal thriller.
As the “All Seeing Eye” of Atlanta psychics, Jackson Lee Eye has found financial success
and stability. Different from the rest of the fortunetellers in the city, his gift is real. Curse might
be a better description than “gift” for it comes with a huge price tag. If he touches another
person or their possessions, their entire life is laid open to him: every casual thought, every
banal triviality, and every dark secret. If it’s the possession of a dead person, he relives their
death.
The first time it happened was when he was still just Jackson Lee, a fourteen-year-old living in rural
Georgia. He found one of his young sister Tess’ pink shoes lying on the ground and reached for it, only to
experience her terror as she drowned in a dark, old well into which she was thrown. It marked the end of
Jackson’s childhood. By sundown, his mother and stepfather were dead as well. Jackson’s humor and hard
edge helped him survive in a state-run orphanage until he escaped, after which he hooked up with a carnival
where he learned the fortuneteller trade before settling in Atlanta.
Jackson finds himself blackmailed into helping the military contain the aftermath of an experiment
that has gone horribly wrong. The project has cost the life of the one person who tried to befriend Jackson
when he was at the orphanage. Violent acts from Georgian history are being replayed in the current day, with
lethal results. As Jackson investigates the project, he realizes his friend’s death was not an accident, and that
he himself is now the killer’s next target.
While Jackson hides behind the guise of a con man, you can’t help rooting for him. Told in the psychic’s
sardonic voice that combines humor with horror, the story zips along to a conclusion that shatters Jackson’s
carefully ordered world.
Reviewed by David Ingram for Suspense Magazine 
BEAUTY
By Brian D’Amato
A very interesting book, this story offers the reader something they didn’t expect.
Although books have been written about the egotistical ‘jet set’ before, D’Amato sets his tale
apart by not only offering action, suspense, and a little gore but also provides a very scary
learning experience for anyone who’s still not sure what “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
really means.
Present-day New York City is where the ‘richies’ live. Not only do they have enough
money to buy and sell all their pretend friends but they also believe that physical beauty is the end all and
be all of their lives.
Here in the Big Apple lives an artist/plastic surgeon who is not really a plastic surgeon at all. In fact,
Jamie D’Angelo is a New York artist who is preoccupied with the perfect face. In his odd wanderings, he
has discovered a procedure that will absolutely make women beautiful…on the outside. This procedure is
neither legal nor approved by the medical community, which means Jamie has to run his practice secretly.
With a very expensive lifestyle, Jamie likes to ‘hob nob’ with the rich and famous. His goal is to literally
‘build a face of great beauty’ so that he can be recognized as an absolute genius. When he fulfills his dream
however, the experiment goes horribly wrong. Jamie’s fantasy of being the ‘King of Beauty’ will come to a
seriously interesting pinnacle that no reader will ever forget.
The author has done a terrific job with this book and many folks will read it for many different reasons.
However, if your friend does happen to speak happily about ‘nip/tuck,’ and they don’t mean the old TV
show, this book is most definitely one to hand out as a ‘must read.’ For all other suspense lovers, this IS a
‘must read’ for the simple fact that the story is extremely interesting and offers a plot and characters you’ll be
talking about at the water cooler for months to come.
ENEMY OF MINE
By Brad Taylor
The Middle East is heating up again. Not that it ever really cooled, but now there
is a new threat and if Taylor’s taskforce team can’t stop it, no telling the ramifications. Here’s
another action-packed tale featuring Pike Logan and his team who work outside the law but
under American government’s top officials’ eyes. It’s a trip through terrorist territory with
danger and death potentially around each corner or in any given building.
A branch of the taskforce, led by member Knuckles and Decoy, is mopping up an
operation in Sousse to capture a terrorist. Meanwhile, Pike Logan and partner Jennifer are planning on a bit
of archeology in relation to their taskforce cover story. However, they are diverted into another assignment.
Word is, the American envoy traveling to the Middle East to promote a recent peace plan is a
target for assassination. Joining up with Knuckles and Decoy they start tracking the killer. It’s not an easy
task as deadly complications keep popping up, including the capture of Pike. However, they soon realize that
they’re not just trailing one killer but two: An American traitor and someone known only as...The Ghost.
Taylor’s knowledge of military hardware and technology make this one a keeper. The action comes
fast and hardly lets you take a breath before more bullets fly or things blow up. I was hooked from the
beginning, frustrated that Pike and his team keep getting sidetracked, but cheering when they come out the
victor time after time. This one gets gritty and brings the plight of the Middle East to your fingertips. Edge
of seat reading and I’ll be looking for more Taylor in the future.
Reviewed by Stephen L. Brayton, author of “Beta” for Suspense Magazine 
GODS AND BEASTS
By Denise Mina
It’s the week
before
Christmas
and all is not well…
in Glasgow. A robber
comes charging into
a post office carrying
an AK-47 wanting all
the cash on hand. A
terrified young boy is handed over
to a customer by his grandfather, as
the old man very calmly helps the
robber gather up the money. The
grandfather even helps carry the
cash to the door, opens it, and bows
to the thief. The robber shoots the
old man, killing him instantly.
Detective Alex Morrow is called
in to head up the investigation.
Arriving at the scene, she finds that
the alarm system had been disabled
before the robber even entered the
post office, which means someone
inside was working for the criminal.
As Alex begins her investigation, she
finds that none of the employees
can be linked to the robber, and the
grandfather who helped is also above
reproach. So why did he help? Did
he go mad for a moment? Or was
it simply an act of kindness to get
the robber out of the place before
someone lost their life?
She soon finds Kenny
Gallagher, a politician who is fighting
for his political life while being
accused of having an affair with an
employee…and this incredible plot
begins to unfold. Readers are offered
up a mysterious tale filled with red
herrings, as well as an in-depth look
into a promiscuous politician with
either a guilty conscience or no
conscience at all, and a bag full of
untraceable money. Alex discovers
that no part of the city of Glasgow
is safe, especially when two of her
colleagues find themselves in trouble
over a bad decision.
This is an extremely wellwritten book that advises the
reader to pay attention or all will
be lost, and they will have to
start reading all over again. But
no worries, this book is so good
you’ll want to read it many times.
Reviewed by Amy Lignor, author of
“13: Tallent & Lowery Book One”
published by Suspense Publishing,
31
BURNING
MAN
By Alan Russell
This
‘fanfavorite’ novelist
will score even
more points with
this new compelling tale, seeing
as that LAPD officer Michael
Gideon and his canine partner,
Sirius are back!
As the story takes off,
Michael and Sirius are called out
to try and capture a serial killer
operating in Benedict Canyon.
When they arrive at the scene,
some of the canyon has caught
fire and the Santa Ana winds
are blowing it up into a horrible
conflagration. Although it’s a
real mess, the partners locate the
killer, but the fire is all around
them. And when the killer fires
his gun, injuring Michael and
severely injuring Sirius, readers
will catch their breath. But don’t
worry, this is only the prologue…
Michael deals with a great
many surgeries and also receives
the gift of PTSD for that night,
which produces horrible dreams
of a burning man inside his skull.
Thankfully, not alone, every
night his faithful companion
wakes him up with a firm lick to
the face.
When Michael is welcomed
back to the job, he’s assigned to a
Special Cases Unit as he’s unable
to rejoin the K-9 Corps. Sirius
is still his partner because with
his injuries he can no longer be
in the Corps either. However,
when a high school boy is found
crucified in a park, Gideon and
Sirius are on tap.
Trying their best to solve it,
another storyline arrives telling
the tale of a deceased infant left
near a place called Angel’s Flight.
There are no clues and police are
not too confident that they will
find the mother.
Complete police procedural
that keeps the reader hanging
on every word, this book is
narrated by Michael who fans
have already shown they love;
this ‘man and man’s best friend’
are absolutely thrilling to follow,
and the author does a great job
working these two lives together.
Recommended highly, this is a
fantastic story!
Reviewed by Amy Lignor, author
of “13: Tallent & Lowery Book
One” published by Suspense
Publishing, an imprint of
32
THE INTERCEPT
By Dick Wolf
This author will definitely sound familiar—he’s the mind behind one of the longest-running
and most beloved televisions shows created—Law and Order. Dick Wolf ’s creation still causes
millions to sit hour after hour in front of their television sets in order to spend time with the likes
of Detective Briscoe and DA Jack McCoy.
In Wolf ’s debut novel, a new character is introduced to the world by the name of Jeremy Fisk,
who definitely has his work cut out for him.
A bin Laden follower attempts to commandeer a plane and gets his butt kicked by crew members and
passengers who are then deemed “The Six” by the media. When the plane lands safely, this group is held over
in New York to be questioned by the paparazzi and the police. This has happened only a few days before One
World Trade Center will be dedicated and the 4th of July holiday begins. But one of “The Six” is a turncoat who
wishes to make the celebration a tragedy to avenge the killing of bin Laden.
Jeremy Fisk, a NYPD officer who has worked his way up in the ranks must solve this crime. With many
strained relationships between the NYPD and the FBI, the media is a catalyst that wants to create havoc and
mess up what law enforcement is attempting to figure out.
The dialogue is humorous; harkening back to Briscoe’s wonderful sense of humor. The twists and turns, as
well as the unique characters that seem quite easy for the author to create seeing as that he’s stayed in the ‘world’
he’s most comfortable with, make the reader want to keep reading.
The slightly odd fact is that this would be more interesting if it was on the small screen. The actors made
Law and Order come alive, and perhaps finding the right actor for Mr. Fisk would cause this story to be more
exciting. Either way, this is a series that will most definitely continue.
Reviewed by Amy Lignor, author of “13: Tallent & Lowery Book One” published by Suspense Publishing, an
DEATH, DOOM, AND DETENTION
By Darynda Jones
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that Darynda Jones’ future is bright when speaking about
her writing career. After a successful evolution into the saturated world of YA paranormal with the
first installment in her series, “Death and the Girl Next Door,” Darynda continues her winning
streak with “Death, Doom, and Detention.” I’m sure I’ve said it before, but Jones’ writing—in any
genre—is a breath of fresh air.
Lorelei MacAlister is an unlikely heroine—a teenage girl who would much prefer to be
hanging with friends versus dealing with the likely event of a war between good and evil, a powerful demon who
took up residence inside her a decade ago, and the suffocating secrets from those around her. But this is her lot
in life and she’s trying to deal. Well, as well as she can as she tries to figure out what exactly a prophet does, what
her new abilities are all about, and all the while dealing with her two constant shadows: Jared, better known as
the Angel of Death, and Cameron, a nephilim born to protect her.
Lorelei and her cohorts aren’t alone in their preparation for this war, but the foundation of trust she had in
her family has been whittled down, as some secrets were too great to keep hidden forever. So, when a new guy
arrives in school and the student body begins to act strangely, Lorelei and her friends—Brooklyn and Glitch—
along with her protectors, take notice. Why is a high school football star suddenly looking at Lorelei as if he’d
prefer to slaughter her? For that matter, why is she getting hate-filled, murderous vibes from darn near everyone
outside of her clique? And what happens when one of her defenders goes off the deep end? Lorelei will have to
come to terms with the possibility of losing someone she has intense feelings for, while keeping a few secrets of
her own.
Jones really has the magic touch and this engaging series has the staying power to outlast the competition.
Reviewed by Shannon Raab for Suspense Magazine 
THE BROKEN ONES
By Stephen M. Irwin
Police detective Oscar Mariani is a broken man working the streets of a broken city. In the three years since
a global catastrophe caused a massive worldwide economic depression, he has seen crime in his Australian
home city soar as a quarter of the population finds itself out of work and struggling to survive in a ruined world.
And, if he’s reading the portents at work correctly, his own job is next on the budget chopping block. Still, he is
determined to find out who carved cabalistic inscriptions into a young woman’s belly, and then tossed her into
the sewage treatment facility.
Everyone carries a ghost with them in this bleak, near future, literally. Every person alive has a companion
who is not, one that only they can see. For most people, it is the ghost of someone once close to them, but for
Oscar, it’s the spectral form of a young man, a stranger with dead eyes who simply watches whatever Oscar is
doing.
Corruption rules in this sad new world as Oscar is forever being reminded. Joe, his former partner, saw the
light and is doing well for himself. Neve, Oscar’s new partner wants only to survive the next round of layoffs and
if that means turning a blind eye to the murder of an innocent girl, then so be it. Oscar finds his
circle of friends and acquaintances on whom he can place his trust growing smaller and smaller
as he peels back layer after layer of corruption.
In “The Broken Ones,” Stephen Irwin marries a gritty police procedural with a supernatural
subplot, infusing a tough detective story with a restrained dose of the Other World, and in doing
so, he has created a work that takes us beyond our rational worries and concerns and taps into
those dark fears that are best left unspoken.
Reviewed by Andrew MacRae author of “Murder Misdirected” for Suspense Magazine 
ZERO SEPARATION
By Philip Donlay
“Zero Separation” is a fast-paced thriller with everything you expect from a summer actioner:
a revenge-seeking terrorist, rouge agents, a billionaire with secrets, plot twists, shootouts, and
explosions. Also like most summer movies, you can’t really think about it too much as the heroes
rush from scene to scene, the plot relying on unlikely coincidences to propel the page-turning
action.
Donovan Nash is a rich environmental researcher and entrepreneur. But when he and his
best friend and business partner interrupt the theft of the Gulfstream jet next to theirs, his friend ends up
shot and near death and the investigation threatens to expose Nash’s secret past. FBI agent Veronica Montero
uncovers Nash’s previous life as billionaire oilman Robert Huntington, convicted by the court of public opinion
in the tragic death of a beloved environmental activist kidnapped and murdered while in a relationship with
him. The continuing controversy drove Huntington to fake his own death. Years later, Nash is married and has a
toddler, but his wife has always known that if his secret was exposed they might have to go into hiding.
Now Montero threatens to expose Nash unless he helps her pursue the people who stole the plane.
Montero’s partner and lover was killed recently, and there seems to be a connection between the two crimes.
Montero’s loose-cannon behavior gets her kicked off the case, but she’s not willing to stop. Nash himself wants
to avenge his friend’s shooting and keep his secret from being exposed. Soon the two are involved in increasingly
dangerous situations as they chase the killers and get closer to the terrorist plot involving the stolen plane.
The novel is entertaining as a series of cinematic set pieces, although the coincidences linking the characters
are a bit hard to swallow. As the plot gets more convoluted, drawing in various government agencies—and
Nash’s wife just happens to be in the Defense Intelligence Agency—Nash himself, implausibly, calls some of
the shots.
Such threats to the suspension of disbelief aside, the novel charges along with bigger and bigger action
scenes building to a nail-biting conclusion. Readers may roll their eyes sometimes, but a generally entertaining
read.
Reviewed by Scott Pearson, author of “Star Trek: Honor in the Night” and cohost of the Generations Geek
podcast, for Suspense Magazine 
BOSOM BODIES
By Maria Grazia Swan
Mina Calvi inherited a software company after her mother’s death, but with no head for business, attempts
to off-load the company with the help of her attorney Adams. While waiting for the deal to go though, Mina
helps out a friend, Ginger, by agreeing to take her place at a local nightclub, Bosom Bodies.
All dressed up with a wig and padded bra, Mina pulls off the transformation, as Ginger had yet to start the
job, running off to Vegas to get married at the last moment. Only Barbara the manager was in on the trick. Mina
had time on her hands as her boyfriend was traveling in Europe with his mother, so the distraction was timely
and she welcomed the chance to help a friend.
When Barbara suddenly dies, and Mina’s Volkswagen is apparently involved in the hit-and-run, the joke
she was helping perpetrate suddenly gets out of hand and Mina finds herself in the middle of a mob battle with
crooked cops, diamond smuggling, and murder. Add to that a mysterious new neighbor who is a detective with
one of the Federal agencies and Mina finds herself in over her head and overwhelmed with seduction. Clueless
as ever, Mina stumbles and bumbles through this second-in-a-series chic-lit mystery, witlessly providing proof
for the police to follow at every turn.
If you like a lighthearted fun frolic set through a fresh voice, then this new series by Swan will fulfill your
needs and garner the author a new following.
Reviewed by Mark P. Sadler, author of “Blood on his Hands” published by Suspense Publishing, an imprint of
HIT ME
By Lawrence Block
This author has done it again. With this tale, readers are ‘gifted’ with Keller—the super-cool,
fun hit man with an extraordinary personality that’s been a true ‘hit’ with readers.
Keller’s a killer and knows firsthand that death can and will solve many problems in life. This
is the very reason why he faked his own death and moved from New York City to New Orleans
where he became a builder. He works on rehabilitating houses that were ruined by Hurricane
Katrina. With a new identity, a wife, and a new baby daughter, Keller loves his ‘new’ life and
spends his time enjoying his days and his passion of stamp collecting.
Unfortunately, happiness can’t last forever, especially when the recession hits and money becomes scarce.
What to do? Head back to the hit man days in order to accept a few contracts and make some quick cash.
Dot, his cohort in the ‘killing games,’ finds Keller some new jobs. Sending him off to Dallas, Texas in order
to settle a domestic problem, from there Keller will travel to New York City to settle a problem with an abbot at
a Monastery, which is very difficult for Keller because he also worries about being recognized by people from his
past. A cruise to the West Indies to off a government witness may come into play, as well as a trip to Wyoming to
try and find a fellow stamp collector who may or may not be a philanderer.
The adventures are fun and fierce, and Keller is still very good at getting in and out of tight situations.
However, something has changed in his attitude; when it comes to the business of killing people, having
emotions just doesn’t seem to work. So, will the now happy hit man fail? Let’s just say you will have a real ball
finding out the answer to that!
COLLATERAL
DAMAGE
By Stuart Woods
This is the latest suspense
novel by Stuart Woods, featuring
Stone Barrington and Holly
Barker, who has now risen to the
post of assistant director of the
CIA. The first thing that struck
me about this novel is the fact
that the director and assistant
director of the CIA, as well as the
director of Britain’s MI6, are all
women. And the terrorist, who
must be caught before blowing
up anything else and killing
more people, is also a woman.
Not to mention that the CIA
director, Kate Lee, is the wife
of the president. To his credit,
the author treats this as entirely
normal.
A ring of Al Qaeda
connected terrorists have been
arrested in the United States,
and two brothers have been
killed, but their sister, Jasmine
Shazzaz, remains at large. Ms.
Shazzaz is well-funded by
terrorist groups hidden in the
mountains of Pakistan, but she
has considerable autonomy
as she sets out to revenge her
brothers’ deaths by causing
as much havoc as possible in
London and New York. She
slips through the fingers of MI6,
the CIA, and the FBI time and
time again, due to her ability
to change her appearance,
residence, and identity, and to
her ruthless willingness to kill
anyone who might give her away.
With the help of attorney
Stone Barrington, Holly Barker
and her colleagues in New York,
London, and Washington are
in a race against time to stop
Jasmine Shazzaz before any
more innocent people die. And
she only succeeds when she
realizes that Shazzaz’s mission is
personal. She isn’t just out to kill
Americans, but one particular
American.
Author Woods writes in
a brisk, spare style. There is
no nonsense, and no time for
unnecessary description. The
book is a ride through a world
of tension where the characters
are all too real, even though the
events are sometimes beyond
belief, but so
possible.
Reviewed
by
Kathleen Heady,
author of “Lydia’s
Story” for Suspense
Magazine 
33
HITMAN:
DAMNATION
By Raymond Benson
Based
on
characters from
the
popular
video
game,
Benson unfolds
a story featuring
the
world’s
best assassin, a
genetically created
and enhanced man who goes by
the moniker Agent 47. Travel
to exotic places such as Nepal,
Cyprus, and the Caribbean.
Meet crime lords and negotiate
shady deals with enigmatic
contacts. The bullets will fly and
the bodies will fall as Agent 47
seeks to complete what he was
made to do.
In the middle of a mission,
47 finds his life in danger
and his handler vanished. He
survives and a year later, after
another successful mission
with an unexpected ending,
tentatively rejoins his employer,
the International Contract
Agency. He wants to know
the truth about his former
handler and the way to start is
to accept an assignment. His
targets: American Presidential
candidates from a new political
party connected to a popular
and growing religious order.
The more embedded 47
becomes, the more he questions
the characters of the players
involved. A more pressing
problem, however, may be his
coming to grips with his own
‘humanity.’
This was something new for
me. I’ve seen the movie version
of the video game, but never
played the game. I’m attracted to
novelizations for some of these
games, especially when I keep in
mind it’s a fictional story about
a fictional game. There is a lot of
action, but 47 isn’t infallible or
invulnerable. Benson captures
the characters and gives them
personalities that kept me going.
The books are a progression of
the character throughout his
career and that’s what makes
good reading...when a character
questions and evaluates his
view of the world. This is the
type of action-packed book that
will thrill and urges me to read
another...and another.
Reviewed by Stephen L.
Brayton, author of “Beta” for
34
THE LAST GRAVE
By Debbie Viguié
If you’ve not yet discovered New York Times bestselling author Debbie Viguié, then you’re
missing out. The first in her Witch Hunt series, “The Thirteenth Sacrifice,” was phenomenal.
Oftentimes, the second in a series suffers when faced with the high praise of the previous
installment. However, this isn’t the case with “The Last Grave” under Viguié’s deft pen.
Homicide detective Samantha Ryan has relocated to San Francisco and has been working
tirelessly to settle in and mentally recover from her last life-changing case when she soon realizes
that distance can’t help you run from your past. A “former” witch, Samantha is trying to ignore her birthright and
overlook the pull of her powers, but that’s not easy when magic surrounds her newest case.
A woman’s body is found petrified and that sets the stage for a very strange and enticing rollercoaster of a
story. As Samantha and her partner begin to investigate, insignificant items start to shift, from the color of her
roommate’s hair to the dating status of her rough-around-the-edges partner, and it’s going to take more than the
skills developed during her department training to get to the bottom of this case. And what of the bizarre and
dangerous string of earthquakes now rolling through the area? It’s soon crystal clear that dark magic is in the mix.
In a race to find out what is and isn’t real, save the life of a teenage girl with her own burgeoning powers,
and stop a coven hell-bent on destruction, all while working with a target on her own back, Samantha is left to
her own devices where her only ally has little experience. It’s a daunting list of tasks most would hide from, but
Samantha—with her dark past—can foresee the devastation if the foolish coven leader succeeds.
For those who aren’t quite sure if they like the dark urban genre, I would highly recommend giving Viguié a
try. A gripping storyline with a very likeable heroine, “The Last Grave” is an attention-grabbing, easy read.
Reviewed by Shannon Raab for Suspense Magazine 
POLITICAL SUICIDE
By Michael Palmer
Three men, members of an elite military company, are making their way into Taliban country.
Dressed as native Muslims, they’re recognized and stopped dead in their tracks, but work together
to complete their mission. Forming a triangle, they utter the words: “Whatever it Takes,” as they
remove their robes and hit buttons on their explosive devices, immediately vaporizing everyone
who’s standing anywhere near.
Dr. Lou Welcome is a former addict who’s now in charge of the Physician Wellness Office.
They take care of doctors who have been alcoholics and/or addicts, helping them to get back on their feet and
resume their careers. One day, Lou gets a call from a friend who he’s been mentoring, Dr. Gary McHugh. This
doctor has been very lackadaisical about following rules, such as attending AA meetings, and has not been paying
very much attention to his sponsor. But when he calls, he lets Lou know about a dire situation that he finds
himself immersed in and begs for help.
Gary was found unconscious in his car after an accident and is sitting in the ER. All he remembers is heading
to the house of Congressman Elias Colston, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and finding
him dead. The memory loss he’s experiencing is detrimental, especially considering Gary was having an affair
with the Congressman’s wife, an affair she recently ended, making Gary the prime suspect in the Congressman’s
demise.
Lou seems to be the only one who buys Gary’s version of the story, and agrees to help. Lou encounters
all kinds of setbacks and blocked doors when he begins investigating, and more and more people are letting
him know that Gary McHugh has a bad reputation, and is most likely the killer. However, when Lou receives
information that makes him a target of political people who are embedded in a mystery involving suicide
bombings in Afghanistan, the two plotlines merge and this book goes from great to outstanding. This is a definite
keeper!
SECONDWORLD
By Jeremy Robinson
Jeremy Robinson has once again reached into his storytelling hat and pulled out a winning premise and the
perfect protagonist to bring it to life.
Lincoln Miller is an ex-Navy SEAL who is now an NCIS special agent. He is sent to an underwater research
station to investigate reports of ocean dumping. But what Miller finds instead are strange red flakes falling from
the sky, millions of dead or dying sea creatures, and most importantly, no oxygen at the surface.
Fearing the worst, Miller makes his way to Miami only to find millions of people dead, while the culprits
behind the truth of the falling flakes and their plan to annihilate all of mankind are still at work. He also finds a
young girl in a hospital and together, they make a hasty getaway to Washington, D.C.
Tasked by the President with stopping the global chaos that will take place in seven days, Miller is joined by
a Czech conspiracy theorist/cowboy, and a Nazi scientist’s granddaughter. The three must track down the source
of the red death and the homicidal mastermind from the past, who is once again reigning terror upon the entire
world.
Robinson has done a fantastic job with the characters in this story. Miller is the perfect AJ-squared away
ex-Navy SEAL with a past that demands his participation in the story. Elizabeth Adler is easily likeable, but
somewhat suspect right up to the end, and Milos Vesely is fabulously funny but also clever and crafty. This trio
works, and Robinson has made this non-stop action adventure believable and harrowing.
Crisp, fresh, and scary as hell, “SecondWorld” should be at the top of your reading stack. Jeremy Robinson
has joined the ranks of ‘my favorite authors’ with this one.
Reviewed by DJ Weaver (WebbWeaver Reviews) co-author of “Collecting Innocents” published by Suspense
Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine 
DEADLY STAKES
By J.A. Jance
J.A. Jance, as any fan knows, is synonymous with ‘great’ suspense fiction, and this is no exception.
Ali Reynolds is back! A trained police officer, she finds herself working against authorities in order to clear
a suspect who’s been caught up in a deadly game…
Gemma Ralston, a bit of a gold-digger to put it mildly, wakes up in the middle of the Arizona desert not
knowing where she is or how she got there. She’s also completely unaware that she’ll soon be dead. Just a few
hours ago, Gemma was making an audio/video of herself for an internet dating site. Recently single, she was on
the hunt for a rich ‘sugar daddy’ to help fill her days and nights—as well as her pocketbook.
A.J. Sanders is a teenager who’s near the site of Gemma’s soon-to-be demise looking for a ‘treasure’ that his
father has sent him to find. When he comes upon Gemma, she gasps the word “Dennis” right before she dies
and, completely petrified, A.J. flees.
The only clue left at the crime scene for the police to follow is a cell phone belonging to a woman named
Lynn Martinson; a woman who just happens to be dating Gemma’s ex-husband. Ali knows Lynn and does not
refuse her request for help when Lynn is immediately accused of the crime.
Shortly after Lynn is arrested, another body magically turns up in the desert and Ali sees similar clues in
both murders, sending her off on the hunt for a viable suspect. Getting in the way of the authorities, Ali refuses
to stop—especially because the next body in the desert will be hers if she can’t discover the predator in time.
Considering we’re talking about J.A. Jance, it is no surprise that the plot is intriguing, the characters are
compelling, and the mystery is perfectly written. Keep it up, Jance—all this time and you haven’t missed a beat!
THE ROMANOV CROSS
By Robert Masello
“The Romanov Cross” is a rare book where the story will have you thinking long after you
have finished reading. Masello has combined the history and mythic lore of the Romanov dynasty
with the greatest health scourge of the twentieth century, coupled with a story that could have
been taken out of today’s headlines. He weaved these elements into an edge-of-your-seat, nailbiting, suspense thriller.
The best parts of “The Romanov Cross” are the characters. The list includes Anastasia and
Rasputin, Frank Slater—an Epidemiologist and military outcast—and his band of soldiers and scientists. We
find out how the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 made its way to Alaska, and if its horrendous killing power has
been reawakened.
It begins in Port Orlov, Alaska and the out island of St. Peter’s. In Port Orlov we meet the Vane brothers:
Harley and Charlie. Harley is a fishing captain who lost his boat and crew, and found what he thinks is treasure
on St. Peter’s Island. Charlie is the town’s most notorious crook who supposedly found God and became an
online pastor after an accident. How far will these two go in the name of greed and god? We also meet Mayor
Nika Tincook, a feisty Inuit Eskimo who believes in keeping her people’s traditions while trying to bring Port
Orlov into the twenty-first century.
There is so much more to say about “The Romanov Cross,” but I don’t want to give anything away. From
the first page, you will be drawn into a story that is beyond description. If you think you know the story of
the Romanov dynasty and the disappearance of Anastasia, you’re wrong. If you think you understand how
devastating the Spanish Flu was, think again. If you think you have read great thrillers before, make room on
your shelves for one more. You may want to put “The Romanov Cross” in the number one position.
I truly hope Masello will continue to write stories involving these characters. They have embedded
themselves in my heart and mind…just like a VIRUS! 5 Stars for “The Romanov Cross.”
Reviewed by J. M. LeDuc, author of “Cursed Days” published by Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense
Magazine 
YOU & I, ME & YOU
By MaryJanice Davidson
Yes…this fantastically humorous trilogy comes to an end with this release, and readers will
feel a sense of loss when they turn the final page.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Candice Jones is a very unusual FBI agent who is just a ‘tad’ bit
on the strange side. Not only is she an astute detective in her own right but also works hard while
dealing with her multiple personalities. These personalities have a tendency to put her fantasy life
up against her very real love life and sometimes make a big mess. And a mess is something she truly
doesn’t want to deal with.
Moving in with Patrick, her boyfriend, Candice is happy. She should be, seeing as Patrick is a very wealthy
baker (someone who is truly rolling in dough…get it?). And although Candice and Patrick should be enjoying
their new ‘bliss,’ when moving day comes along, news arrives that may just pull their relationship apart.
There has been an escape, which brings about an outstanding situation. Patrick certainly doesn’t want his
love stepping into a case that puts her in the sightline of the escaped Threefer Killers, and wants her to step away
from it. In fact, he begins to be a little hesitant of her moving in with him at all.
Another problem is the attraction that she and Shiro, who is one of her “personality sisters,” are feeling
toward Dr. Max Gallo, a man who has a connection to some of the recent victims that are popping up. Former
opponents are complicating the case, and Candice soon finds herself caught in a whirlwind of true love, fantasy,
and possible death.
The all-out humor is back, and even though the mystery is well-written, it is still Candice and her relationships
that are the stars of the show. This is a definite ‘A+’ ending to a trilogy that readers will not soon forget!
DOKTOR
GLASS
By Thomas
Brennan
For a truly
interesting and
‘fresh’ afternoon,
this book is it. Taking place in
the late 19th Century, readers are
introduced to the greatest feat
of engineering ever created—
The Transatlantic Span. This
incredible invention is an actual
bridge that is built across the
Atlantic Ocean linking England
with New York City. Apparently,
it is time to inaugurate the
Queen, yet this ‘wonder of the
world’ is towering over the city
of Liverpool and the building
crews are running all over the
place in order to finish the
bridge in time for the Queen to
dedicate it.
Switching
gears…
Inspector Matthew Langton is
very broken up over the death
of his wife Sarah and is trying
his best to get back on the horse
with a new case that could
possibly distract him from his
heartbreaking mourning; not
to mention, try to get back
into the Chief ’s good graces.
Matthew is soon assigned a case
of murder on the docks, and the
victim turns out to be a ‘Boer
Irregular’ who’d just obtained a
job working on the new bridge.
Langton had served in
the Boer War and witnessed
the horror there; he’s now
afraid that there might be a
conspiracy afoot to kill the
Queen or damage the bridge.
Dead bodies begin to increase
as the main suspect turns out to
be one, Doktor Glass, who soon
becomes the center of the plot
and may have somehow been
involved in Sarah’s death.
Wild
ideas,
massive
imagination—this
book
certainly provides a story
that has never been told. The
Transatlantic Span is beyond
futuristic, but there are other
more…monumental
pieces
of the good, old paranormal
in this book that will certainly
keep readers on their toes. No
question about it, this narrative
will definitely grab and hold
all mystery and fantasy readers
attention ‘spans’ without any
problem at all!
Reviewed by Amy Lignor,
author of “13: Tallent & Lowery
Book One” published by
Suspense Publishing, an imprint
of Suspense Magazine 
35
IMPULSE
By Frederick Ramsey
Frank Smith is a
reasonably successful
mystery
writer,
thanks to a TV series
based on one of his
novels, but that was a
few years ago. As we
meet him, we learn
he is about to attend
his fiftieth high-school reunion, the
first time he has attended any of his
reunions.
The
boarding
school
he attended has bittersweet
memories. His brother, a victim
of bullying while also attending,
had committed suicide and several
of those that were responsible for
the name calling would be there.
Perhaps enough time had passed
to see his way past their meanspirited game playing by now. The
school also had a tragedy when
four students from that same year
went missing, never to be seen
again. Plus his daughter lived back
east in Baltimore and he could visit
with her and not contend with the
rigors of the reunion if it was too
much for him.
He was leaving Phoenix
with a heavy-heart because
he was becoming too familiar
with mystery investigations. A
local detective was investigating
Frank in the disappearance, and
supposed murder, of his wife, who
disappeared on an evening stroll
about four years ago.
Now this novel fits in with
a rediscovered mystery genre,
that of the old codger being the
protagonist. One could easily
imagine Andy Griffith in the
starring role here. It is pleasant
writing, with plenty of thought
provocation, foreshadowing, and
red-herrings. Of course Frank is
challenged to do what the cops
had not been able to do, deduce
what happened to the boys that
went missing fifty years ago. With
his now-widowed childhood
sweetheart helping—much to the
horror of his daughter—Frank puts
the pieces together on the missing
boys, his geriatric love life, and
finally faces what has happened to
his wife.
The plot gradually edges
along as bits and pieces fall into
place culminating in a sobbing
confession to finally make sense of
mystery so long in the making.
Reviewed by Mark P. Sadler, author
of “Blood on his Hands” published
by Suspense Publishing, an imprint
of Suspense Magazine 
36
MURDER MOST ACADEMIC
By Alicia Stone
All of us have secrets, those portions of our personal histories we’d rather not see
the light of day, but how many of us would kill to keep them secret? At Moreland College, a
small liberal arts school in Cambridge, a blackmailer will soon fatally discover what a perilous
profession they have chosen.
Dr. Trinity Pierce, a professor of history at the school, is asked by Kate Kazanjian to
find out who is blackmailing George Kirkland, a department head at Moreland. Trinity is in her
second year of teaching after putting herself through graduate school by working for Kate as a high-priced
prostitute. Trinity is not proud of her past career in the world’s oldest profession. She did what she had to do
to make ends meet, but loyalty to Kate prompts her to take on the task.
Her investigation causes Trinity to uncover sordid secrets belonging to fellow professors and
students, poking her nose into the affairs of others while at the same time aware that her own past could come
to light and bury her budding hopes for a career in academia. Is the blackmailer aware of Trinity’s former
occupation? Will she run into a former client? Assisting her is Sean, a good friend who works as a chauffeur
for Kate and her expensive string of call girls. Sean is the only person Trinity believes she can trust with her
secret—and her life. Or is he?
The more secrets Trinity uncovers the more mired she becomes in a morass of malign intent.
“Murder Most Academic” begins with Trinity pondering if she could or should help an old friend, by the end
of the book she has to wonder if she’ll get out of this mystery alive.
Reviewed by Andrew MacRae author of “Murder Misdirected” for Suspense Magazine 
SAFE FROM HARM (A SUGAR LAND MYSTERY)
By Stephanie Jaye Evans
For anyone who loved the first Sugar Land Mystery, this new tale is the author’s second
book featuring Texas Minister Walker “Bear” Wells and his captivating family.
Walker and his wife, Annie Laurie, have just come to the end of a lovely dinner put on by
one of his congregation. Just as they get ready to head home they receive a text message from
their daughter Jo. The message is blunt: “Come home,” which is exactly what they do.
Upon arrival, they find Jo in her room holding the body of a classmate of hers. Phoebe
Pickersley is dead of a drug overdose. The town is stunned by this, but Jo most of all. She insists that Phoebe
would never have taken her own life despite all the evidence to support this allegation.
The plot unveils Phoebe and her obvious need to have a loving family around her. She even obtained a
key to the Wells’ household and visited there when no one was home, pretending that it was her house and
family.
When Phoebe and Jo had a falling out and Phoebe left, never to return, she did arrive back in Sugar Land
after having lost her own mother to cancer. Coming to live with her father, stepmom, and two little brothers,
she certainly doesn’t fit in with the family and acts out by wearing Goth outfits and attaining many body
piercings. Phoebe also decides to get even with Jo by going after her boyfriend and telling lies.
But after Phoebe’s death, Jo decides to investigate further, and finds that Phoebe’s stepmother hated the
girl; she even tried to make Phoebe kill herself. It’s difficult for Jo to convince the police to reopen the case,
but soon a cast of interesting characters arise.
Covering almost every type of relationship that could be shown, this series is proving that it has definite
heart and soul!
THE BLADE
By Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore
How do you take three story lines and combine them into one incredible suspense thriller? Just ask Lynn
Sholes and Joe Moore. They have done it flawlessly.
An OSI mission has gone wrong in Iraq. Maxine Decker, a U.S. agent is duped by her partner and is
forced to kill him. Her partner turned traitor was working with his brother, Travis Knox, a notorious black
market weapons dealer. Three years later, Travis comes seeking revenge on the innocent party: Agent Decker.
In Austria, a couple of young Canadian hikers stumble upon what they think is hidden Nazi gold. What
they find is even more valuable: a weapon of mass destruction.
The Blade was the name given to the knife Abraham was going to use to kill his son, Isaac, until the angel
of God stopped him. It is now a priceless heirloom. It has been given to a preacher with an unscrupulous
past who now thinks he is the new Abraham. The giver of The Blade keeps his identity hidden, but tells the
preacher what to do. He has convinced Father Abraham that he is the voice of God.
Travis Knox continues to manipulate Maxine and sends her on a globetrotting goose chase. The pieces
of the individual puzzles all come together in an explosive ending in Sin City with a twist you
will never see coming.
You will need The Blade to cut the tension as you turn the pages to the shocking climax.
Sholes and Moore have painted a stunning portrait of suspense that leaves you wanting their
next collaboration.
Reviewed by J.M. LeDuc, author of “Cursed Days” published by Suspense Publishing, an
THE CHALICE
By Nancy Bilyeau
This is the second novel by this imaginative author focusing on the reign of King Henry
VIII. The sequel to the incredible story, “The Crown,” this second tale leads the reader even further
through the darkness of English history.
In the first story, readers were introduced to the Stafford family—relatives of the King—
with some working as ‘ladies in waiting’ to Queen Catherine of Aragon. When the King decided to
divorce Catherine to marry someone he thought could give him sons, everything fell apart. The King
denounced the Catholic Church and started the Church of England.
Joanna Stafford, a novice at a convent, falls into an even darker plot when “The Chalice” begins; in 1538,
she must go up against the most powerful men in the country. There are many bloody struggles between the ‘crown’
and the ‘cross,’ pulling the country apart. Joanna is pulled into an international scheme that includes factions from
Rome, France, and Spain, where Queen Catherine is still very popular and they abhor the way Henry is treating
her. The King is closing all the monasteries and convents and Joanna is taken by her mother to meet another young
nun at Canterbury Cathedral and told about a prophecy that threatens the King.
Joanna begins to realize that the life of Henry VIII, as well as the future of the Catholic Church in England,
will someday be in her hands alone. She is the ‘chosen one’ who will have to hold a chalice that’s destined to change
the course in England, and is at the center of the prophecies that will plague the monarchy.
The reign of King Henry VIII continues and—except for the woman he’s married to at the time—remains
much the same as the first book. Our heroine has become a bit less strong and lively than in the first, seeing as that
she’s been through quite a lot, but anyone who’s into English history will be engaged by every page!
MULTIPLE WOUNDS
By Alan Russell
One of the things readers want more than anything when it comes to their book choices is a
unique story. When it comes to this particular story, readers not only receive a fantastic plot but also
one of the most unique and original stories to appear in a good, long time.
We delve into the case of a brutal murder of art gallery owner, Bonnie Gill. San Diego Detective
Orson Cheever is assigned to capture the killer, but as he begins his investigation, he has no idea that
the leading suspects will turn out to be a very bizarre bunch.
All of the witnesses and/or suspects are actually living inside the ‘mind’ of artist, Holly Troy—a client of
the gallery. Holly suffers from an identity disorder, and her ‘personalities’ all hail from classic mythology. With a
given name of Helen Troy, Holly has ‘entities,’ such as: Caitlin, Cronos, Eris, Eurydice, Hygeia, Nemesis, Maenads,
Moirae, and Pandora, living inside her brain.
It is when Cheever takes Holly to lunch and watches as she orders meals for all of her inner personalities that
he discovers she hasn’t got a clue who she was the night of the murder, whether or not she witnessed anything,
and—to top it all off—she has no recollection if she was the person who committed the crime.
For Cheever, this is no longer a ‘standard’ case with a corpse and a suspect. It truly becomes a frightening
psychological journey into the human mind. Add to all this the fact that Cheever begins to ‘feel’ for this woman
because of an issue in his own past, and readers have at their fingertips a highly unique story they will not be able to
put down. The end result? The entire realm of mystery, suspense, and paranormal book lovers will have an absolute
ball with this one!
THE TOMBS OF EDEN
By Rick Jones
Professor Jonathan Moore has searched for this for years, but now that he’s found it, he’s also
found its sinister secret. Too bad he won’t be able to tell his archeologist daughter, Alyssa, of the find
of all time. No…he will never get to tell a single soul, because he and his entire team save for one,
are gruesomely murdered by something sinister and unworldly, lurking in the temple. The professor
gives his log book to his assistant to take back to Alyssa just before he dies and this will set Alyssa on
a search for the seat of all humankind.
Eden—hidden for millennia, the beginnings of man. The most important find in the history of religion. Alyssa
Moore, John Savage, and their team must survive while searching for the tombs at the center of the subterranean
Temple of Eden. But they are being stalked by massive, unholy guardians of the tombs. Will they survive and can
they decipher the secrets of The Tombs of Eden in time?
Rick Jones has penned a hair-raising thriller with a twist, and just the brand of action-packed, non-stop writing
I enjoy best. He has taken an awesome story, added a couple of emotionally-charged, result-oriented protagonists,
a few really bad guys, and topped the whole thing off with a large quantity of whatever is lurking in the dark temple,
brutally and savagely killing off the cast of characters.
“The Tombs of Eden” is Rick’s fourth novel and first of this series. He is presently working on the second in the
series, “The Menagerie,” and I, for one, can’t wait to read more from him in the future. Kudos!
Reviewed by DJ Weaver (WebbWeaver Reviews) co-author of “Collecting Innocents” published by Suspense
Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine 
THE GRAY GHOST
MURDERS
By Keith McCafferty
In previous books by
this author, readers were
introduced to a new side of
fly fishing. In other words, if
you’re looking for a “River
Runs Through It,” this isn’t the
one you want. This is a world
that combines the majestic art
of fly fishing with the thrilling
side of mystery and mayhem.
Sean Stranahan is the
state of Montana’s favorite
fly fisherman and detective.
When it comes to women,
animals, and anything to do
with fly fishing, let’s just say
that Sean finds it difficult to
stay out of trouble.
One day, the skeletal
remains of two elderly men
appear on Sphinx Mountain
when a rescue dog digs up the
aged corpses while searching
for a missing man in the area.
The Sheriff, Martha Ettinger,
asks for Sean’s help with the
investigation. On top of that,
Sean is hired by ‘The Madison
River Liars and Fly Tier’s
Club,’ (great name, by the
way), who have discovered
that two of their extremely
valuable fishing flies have been
stolen from their club house.
During his investigations,
Sean finds clues that put these
two very different crimes
on a path that will lead to
the answers he needs. What
becomes the most frightening
for Sean, however, is when he
soon discovers that someone
is out there in Grizzly-land
hunting for humans.
As this story advances
toward a very interesting
conclusion, Sean thinks that
he has solved the case of the
missing fishing flies and is on
his way to closing the other
case, but the way he gets there
and the darkness he meets up
with in the beauty of Montana
will keep readers on their toes.
This is a great book for anyone
interested in fly fishing,
seeing as that it is written by
an editor of Field & Stream.
And mystery lovers who like
that spark of humor and witty
dialogue will find themselves
a brand new character to love!
Reviewed by Amy Lignor,
author of “13: Tallent &
Lowery Book One” published
by Suspense Publishing, an
imprint of Suspense Magazine

37
Movies
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
2013
Genre – Drama/Fantasy (PG-13)
Have you noticed there is a lot of supernatural loving going on lately at the cinema?
Every trailer before the screening of ‘Beautiful Creatures’ was for a Fantasy-Romance film
with either zombies, vampires, or aliens. Of course, it’s the story of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo
and Juliet’ for the modern age.
Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich), a high school senior wants nothing more than to escape
the Southern town of Gatlin. For months, he has dreamed of a strange, dark-haired girl
he has never met. Arriving suddenly in his class is a new girl, Lena Duchannes (Alice
Englert), looking a lot like his dream sweetheart. She is immediately ostracized. She is the
niece of Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons), the reclusive owner of Ravenwood Manor
who most townsfolk believe is in cahoots with the devil. Let’s face it, people who live
in those big, creepy mansions usually are. Mrs. Lincoln (Emma Thompson), mother of
Ethan’s friend, is adamant Lena must be banished from the town and rallies the townsfolk
against the young girl.
Ethan ardently pursues Lena who reveals that she is a Caster, as is her Uncle, and that each Caster has a special power.
On her sixteenth birthday, Lena will discover which side she will practice her Casting, based on her true inner self. Will she
be chosen for the much more charming Light or the evil-doing Dark? There’s also a curse hanging over Lena’s family and she
and Ethan face many dangers, and even their love may prove fatal.
Beautiful Creatures is a stylish story, a cut above the Twilight Saga’s progressively more outlandish portrayals. There
is a wit in the script and Thompson and Irons, who could have lapsed into over-dramatics, rein it in enough to lend a
sophistication that is usually lacking in these supernatural tales.
Whilst I am not an urban-fantasy fan, I certainly appreciate a well-told story. And as the great man said himself, “a rose,
by any other name would smell as sweet.” This love story smells of success and with four more books, no doubt the sequels
will be gracing our screens in the years to come. If they’re as good as this, we are definitely on the side of Light.
Reviewed by Susan May http://anadventureinfilm.blogspot.com.au/ for Suspense Magazine 
Oz The Great and Powerful
2013
Genre –Action/Adventure (PG)
Decades ago, my Mother leaned into my room and with a twinkle in her eye, declared
her favorite childhood movie was showing that Saturday night on TV. This is before DVD
players and the ability to record a program, so at the appointed time, our family gathered
around our wood-cabineted box and marveled at the wonderful 1939 Wizard of Oz. It
became my favorite movie, too.
In Disney’s prequel Oz the Great and Powerful, Oscar Diggs (James Franco), his friends
call him OZ, begins his journey (in black and white) as a vaudeville circus magician. He’s a
part-seducer, part-conman, and a selfish chap. As in the original, a freak storm lands him
in Oz where the film opens to wide screen and our view erupts into vibrant color. Before
he crash-lands, we are treated to a 3D roller-coast ride of thrills as we travel through
gorgeous CGI landscapes, over massive waterfalls, through stunning forests, to land in a
grove infested with nasty river fairies. Very few films warrant the extra expense of 3D, but
do hand over your money this time.
Enter leather-pants-wearing witch Theodora (Mila Kunis). Theodora (who is a truly
poor judge of character) mistakenly believes OZ is the legendary great wizard come to
save Oz from the devastations wrought by the wicked witch.
On their journey to the Emerald Castle, they meet Finley (Zach Braff), a delightful, talking, flying monkey who becomes
OZ’s assistant of sorts. The trouble starts when Theodora introduces OZ to her sister Evanora, played malevolently-well
by Rachel Weisz. OZ is offered a fortune in gold if he will destroy the wand of the supposedly evil witch Glinda (Michelle
Williams). OZ sets off down the yellow brick road, on the way picking up, literally, the gorgeous China Doll Girl (Joey King),
who, undoubtedly has the best lines in the film. The rest of the film and the liberation of Oz involve smoke and mirrors and
good use of imagination.
Whilst I don’t think Disney’s version of Oz will go on to become a favorite childhood movie of many, it still has enough
of the right magic to warrant a visit to the cinema. Reviewed by Susan May http://anadventureinfilm.blogspot.com.au/
Reviewed by Susan May http://anadventureinfilm.blogspot.com.au/ for Suspense Magazine 
38
Featured Artist
Frederic Lievre
Shares his Style
Interview by Suspense Magazine
One on One
T
his month, we’re excited to debut artist Frederic Lievre. Though he creates his
art in Ireland, he originally hails from a small town in France, and moved on to
Paris at a young age. Early on, Frederic was frustrated in his inability to create
beautiful pieces as he learned early on that painting and drawing were not in his skill set.
After a year in the army, he found his artistic home when he began working on
a computer, which sparked his interest in technological ways of producing art. As he
developed this new passion, Frederic started working with 3D development software for
architectural projects and ran across software like 3DSMAX. In his free time, he then
taught himself to create characters and scenes and then moved into animation. However,
he soon lost interest as he met the challenges of each software application. He wanted a
bigger challenge.
Familiar with Photoshop, which he’d used sparingly to retouch and create textures
for his characters, Frederic was hooked when he found Photoshop CS6 and is now his
main tool of the trade. Over the years, he’s developed his own haunting style and we are
excited to share not only a taste of Frederic’s portfolio, but a bit about the man behind
the images.
Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): You are a French photo manipulator living in Ireland. Does your background come out in
your art? In other words, do you combine the diversities of the two locales and portray them in your pieces?
Frederic Lievre (F.L.): Not really. I live on the west coast of Ireland; the only common aspect between some of my work and the
area here would be ruins and desolation. In most cases, I will emphasis my work and use the background as a complement. But
I do admit that sometimes I will use Irish (Gaelic) to name the pictures. As for my personal background, yes, it does impact as I
used to be a “New Romantic” as we used to call it back in the eighties.
S. MAG.: Are there certain settings in Ireland that you frequent that provides inspiration and/or quiet time to work on your
art?
F.L.: I usually get inspiration by simply walking in the streets and listening to music. Maybe I will see a building, an ad, or even
someone that will inspire me. In most cases, I will browse the stock galleries (free or not) for a model and then when I find one
I will actually study the features of the model to
find a setting that will fit the most emotions I can
read from the model.
S. MAG.: When and how did art become
something you became interested in?
F.L.: I was always interested in art in various
forms (from traditional to graffiti to passing by
classical painting, digital, and sculpture). I did
not study art, I was studying more technological
subjects, but it was helpful in a way as it
included technical drawing in which precision
and elements were placed in a limited space
(Layout). I spent a lot of time in museums,
looking at different classical works and it really
helped me to understand shadows and light in
a piece. I am still using some of these techniques
in my work.
S. MAG.: Take us through your process. How
do start a piece and how do you know when it’s finished to your satisfaction?
41
“Some of
my work
can be very
strange
even
though
I have
calmed
down a bit.”
Wandering Soul
F.L.: As I said previously, the most important thing to me is the model (I, from time
to time, create landscapes, but the real reason for it is to reuse them as background
in future art). So once I find a model that I think shows the emotions that I want
to increase, I think about a setup. Following the emotions I want to emphasize,
the background can be a desert if the model displays a lot of emotion, but if the
model displays little emotion then I will use the
background to intensify them, as a complement
to it. Once I have all the elements, then I will start
to work on the model, with the usual cutout, and
then work on the hair. Then I add the elements of
the background and blend each as I insert them. I
finish by an overall blending. I know it is finished
when I can see and feel what I wanted the model
to feel.
S. MAG.: On your Deviant Art page, you
indicate that you work with female models
and “set them up in a darker more emotional
vision.” Can you explain this? Is this a process
or more of a creative expansion to the model’s
unadorned root?
F.L.: I think a woman can show emotions a
lot easier than a man. It actually shows in the
DeviantArt stock photo section. If you look for female
models, about ten percent of them hold a weapon, the rest will be positioned
in more emotional poses. In the men section, ninety percent of the models
will hold a weapon and the only real emotion they show is violent. Emotions
also can be sexy, sensual yet very sad. These are the more powerful type of emotions. I will transform emotion into beauty and
beauty into emotions. I just take what the model has to offer and will intensify it to
satisfy my vision.
S. MAG.: If you could spend one entire day doing whatever you wanted to do that
didn’t include art, what would it be?
F.L.: I love traveling. So if I didn’t have to work
and being disallowed to do art for a day, I would
set off somewhere on the coast (I live very near
the Cliffs of Moher) and spend the day there,
do a few restaurants and pubs, reading a book,
maybe.
S. MAG.: If you had to choose just one piece
of your work to showcase, which would it be
and why?
F.L.: I would say the Retreat (http://
frederic-lievre.deviantart.com/art/TheRetreat-255287040) as it is exactly what I like
to do. Showing someone wanting to take some
time off and reflect on herself far away from
troubles, yet the setup is peaceful, but you
can see the troubles brewing in the horizon
43
represented by cloud movement on top of the picture. That would be a good showcase for my emotional work. As for the darker
work, I would chose Come and Dance with Me (http://frederic-lievre.deviantart.com/art/Come-Dance-With-Me-333394741) is
this picture as the perfect setup for an horror/suspense novel.
S. MAG.: You say that one of your interests is “anything that is weird.” How do you incorporate this particular interest into
your artwork?
F.L.: Some of my work can be very strange even though I have calmed down a bit. But some of my earlier work could feature a
cat being the guardian of souls surrendered by Zentais and models trapped behind a frame. Sometimes I will use the strangest of
models in my work. But as I said, I have calmed down a bit from that, but from time to time I go back to it. Weird would more
refer to surreal.
S. MAG.: Finish this sentence: If I wasn’t an artist, I would be___________?
F.L.: A chef. I love cooking. Which I’m afraid can be a form of art for some. But one has to feed himself.
S. MAG.: Do you have a piece that you’re working on that you can give us a sneak peek about?
F.L.: Sadly enough, not yet. I usually work very fast and the maximum time I spend is around four to five hours and I usually
finish the same day I start. So I guess you will have to wait until the next one at the week end.
Thank you, Frederic for your time. It’s nice to get to know our feature artists. If you would like to learn more about
Frederic and his artwork, find him on http://frederic-lievre.deviantart.com/. 
44
DEEP
CONNECTIONS
A Conversat
ion wit
h Sara Foster
Interview by Susan May
Whilst most non-Australians struggle mimicking the Aussie drawl, most
readers of Sara Foster’s latest mystery, “Shallow Breath,” set predominantly
in Western Australia, would be surprised to learn that the author of this
quintessential Aussie story has lived there for only eight years.
English-born, Sara has always felt that the Land Down Under was
her second home. Thanks to her Australian stepfather, there were many
childhood family visits to the sunburnt country.
Sara credits her Aussie friends and her travel around the country for
her insight in creating authentic Australian characters in her latest mystery.
“I’ve enjoyed talking to many different Australians with interesting stories
from similar backgrounds to many of my characters before I began
writing,” Sara says.
“Shallow Breath,” set in the present day, with flashbacks to the early
nineties, tells the tale of Desi, a woman who has done something terrible
in her past and now returns from prison to her seaside home hoping to
reconnect with her teenage daughter Maya. Maya is finding it difficult to
forgive her mother for her inexplicable actions.
Told in five parts via multiple viewpoints, Desi recounts her life in the
nineties whilst working at West Australia’s iconic Atlantis Marine Park just
as it was shutting its doors. It was there she met American Connor, a passionate
marine biologist, with whom she develops a friendship that changes her life forever.
Sara spent months researching Atlantis, and the true-life drama and public fascination surrounding the releasing of its
tamed dolphins back into the wild upon the 1990 park closure.
“I chatted to a lady who lived locally and had worked in the restaurants there who filled me in on extra details,” Sara
says. “I also talked to a lot of people who had been visitors and remembered the dolphin shows well and provided their own
photos.”
Ironically, one of Sara’s friends with whom she had lost touch approached her on her launch night, telling her she used
to work with the dolphins there. “I had no idea,” said the surprised author.
Strange connections like this were actually the inspiration for the book. The most relevant to the book reminisces Sara
was not of the human kind. “In 1999, when I was diving on the Great Barrier Reef,” she says, “I returned to the boat and was
hanging on to a rope waiting to be helped out. I put my face underwater and found myself staring at a ten- to thirteen-foot
minke whale less than an arm’s length away just watching me curiously.”
Instead of being frozen with fear, as Foster had expected to be on encountering an enormous creature, she was instead
filled with wonder. “I certainly felt that there was an assessing, intelligent eye watching me.”
Sara counts this underwater encounter, as well as her “travel to some amazing places,” as the fuel that has steadily grown
her passion for conservation over the past twelve years. “Without that experience I don’t know if I would be quite so passionate
about saving all the minke whales harpooned every year in the Southern Oceans,” she adds.
45
She also reminisces of “fabulous
encounters” with wild dolphins and an
hour-long play session with a baby sea
lion in the Galapagos—“this little animal
just bolted around me and mimicked
whatever movement I made.”
Readers of “Shallow Breath” will
find themselves bang in the middle of an
eco-warrior drama, and Sara’s fervor for
animal conservation shines. Foster often
highlights conservation issues through
her Twitter and Facebook accounts, and a
visit to her website www.shallowbreath.com
provides information not only on her book
but issues as wide-ranging as the dwindling
orangutan population, horrific treatment of
dolphins in Japan, and the plight of orphaned Kangaroo joeys after their mothers are killed in culls.
“I’ve realised just how fragile so much of life is,” says Sara, “and how an enormous swathe of the natural world is under
threat today from industrial development without respect for nature or regard for long-term sustainability. “Shallow Breath”
developed out of this interest, and I plan to continue talking about it and supporting different causes as much as I can.”
Alongside the theme of conservation, Sara weaves a page-turning mystery around the bonds created between individuals
and the consequences, good and bad. She says, “Pivotal to the book was the notion of individual connection—what changes
when there is a shared moment between two individuals, whether that is human to human, animal to human, or animal to
animal.”
This book is Sara’s third, and she admits that it can become “quite intense” juggling her family life in a northern Perth
suburb with her young daughter. “Basically, whenever my husband isn’t working he is looking after our daughter while I am
locked away with the laptop and piles of draft chapters. I try not to take on too many deadlines so our family life isn’t pushed
aside for too long but it’s definitely a challenge.”
With the rise and rise of e-books, and the changes in the industry, Sara believes that “the terror of physical books ‘dying’
is probably a bit of an overreaction.” Instead, she hopes the flexibility offered by e-books may create earning opportunities
for writers: “I really admire people like Hugh Howey, whom I think has been particularly savvy in the way he has published
his books in different territories.”
Despite her mastery of the Australian vernacular, and without ruling out a future sequel to “Shallow Breath,” Sara won’t
be returning immediately to the island continent in her next book. “I think I’m going to go for some more dark and unusual
family secrets in a psychological suspense set over the course of one night in the Lake District in England.” 
Shallow Breath
By Sara Foster
“It’s about connections, across difficult boundaries,” comments Sarah Foster, in describing her third novel “Shallow Breath.” And there
are so many extraordinary connections over the twenty-year span of the story that your head will spin; but spin in a good way where you
keep wondering what impact did this character have on this one. Even the animals in the book are connected and their impact on the human
characters is also long-ranging.
The story begins with just-released-from-jail, Desi Priest, returning to her home by the Indian Ocean to hopefully reconcile with her
teenage daughter Maya. All we know is that Desi did something unthinkable and inexplicable and Maya is finding it difficult to forgive her.
Told in five parts via multiple points of view, Desi recounts her life in the nineties whilst working at real-life ‘Atlantis Marine Park’ during
its closing months. It was there she met American Connor, a passionate marine biologist, with whom she develops a friendship which takes
them further than she ever expected.
In present day, a stranger, Kate, arrives in town and it is clear she is more than a visiting tourist. She has a dangerous agenda that is only
revealed at the end of the book. There are many secrets kept by each character and slowly the pace builds as the character perspectives flow back
and forth to reveal how each character connects with Desi’s past and will impact her future.
For those who love a psychological mystery, “Shallow Breath” will see you turning the pages into the wee hours of the morning. Along
the way, there are some fascinating insights into animal conservation, dolphins and even orangutans as the story travels from isolated Western
Australian to many countries.
“Shallow Breath” is a modern Australian saga, written by an author who knows how to breathe life into characters. The story reaches
through the pages pulling you into its watery depths and when it is over, the characters will stay with you as if you’ve connected deeply with
new friends.
Reviewed by Susan May http://anadventureinreading.blogspot.com.au/ for Suspense Magazine 
46
NESSIE!
By Donald Allen Kirch
I
n the Scottish Highlands,
there exists an infant
of a lake. Just a little over ten
thousand years old, created by the
subtle influence of the last ice age, it is
a calm and quiet place to reside. There
are certain times of the year when the
peace is interrupted by tour boats,
camera crews, and news reporters. They
are looking for a monster, a sea demon
that has been recorded in history as the
“ghost” of the Loch. The first reported
sighting of this creature was said to
have been as far back as 565 A.D., and as
recently as 2009! For standing legends,
the world can offer few with as much
staying power, or superstition.
She is affectionately known as
“Nessie,” the Loch Ness Monster.
There was a time, however, even in
the modern era, when Loch Ness was
looked upon as a quiet hamlet and a
good place to fish for salmon. Modern
interest in the beast did not come about
until 1933. Strange sighting reports,
personal eyewitness accounts, and a
“Surgeon’s Photo” would forever change
the land. Evidence of the creature is
anecdotal, with minimal and muchdisputed photographic and sonar
readings.
What is this creature the Scottish
People call “Nessie?”
The most common theory is
that it is a descendant of a longsurviving family of plesiosaurs. The
modern scientific community views
sightings of the Loch Ness Monster as
a mix of hoaxes, wishful thinking, and
downright profiteering.
The nickname “Nessie” did not
come about until the 1950s.
Alex Campbell, the water bailiff
for Loch Ness, was the person who got
the modern ball rolling back on May
2, 1933. He was a part-time journalist
for the Inverness Courier, and had
come across a fantastic story. The date
mentioned was the first time, in a rather
The Famous Surgeon’s Photo
long time, that the word “monster” was
used in connection with Loch Ness.
Mr. Campbell published a story
about the extraordinary experience
of Mr. George Spicer and his wife. In
Mister Spicer’s own words, he had seen
“the nearest approach to a dragon or
pre-historic animal that he had ever
seen in his life.” Spicer had described a
beast slouching across a road carrying
“an animal” in its mouth.
The article took the nation by
storm.
Soon, other letters arrived at the
newspaper. There had been stories,
but they were silent ones—secrets not
told to strangers because they had been
deemed silly or crazy. With the Spicer
story telling all, Loch Ness’ dirty little
secret was born.
It is not long after that, that the first
photograph was taken.
In a paper called the Daily Express,
on December 6, 1933, a photo taken by
Hugh Gray was published. The huge
mysterious black blob of an image was
eaten up by the curious readers, who
had been doing their best to forget
the economic upheavals of the Great
Depression.
47
In 1934, interest grew when the
famous “Surgeon’s Photograph” had
been added to the myth. Later in the
year, the first “monster hunter’s” book
was published by author R.T. Gould—it
would become the first of many. It was
during this time, when the curiosity of
other nations came into focus. Most
were amazed to discover that sightings
of this mysterious monster went back
as far as the Sixth Century!
In the ancient texts depicting the
life of St. Columba, the Irish monk Doctor Robert Kenneth Wilson—he took the
saint who lived in the heart of the famous surgeon’s photo...maybe.
Picts, there’s a recorded episode where named Arthur Grant claimed a
the man came in contact with locals spectacular event. In August 1933,
burying an unfortunate by the River an hour after midnight, he claimed
Ness. It was explained to him that to have encountered a creature with
the dead man had been attacked by a long neck. It spotted him and his
a hideous beast while swimming. A motorcycle and leaped back into the
“water beast” had risen, mauling him. night’s dark waters. There are those
Friends did try to save the man, but who have stated that Mr. Grant made
were too late. Hearing this, and wishing up this story to help explain an accident
to spread Christianity throughout the to his insurance company. No literature
land, St. Columba had one of his men is available to answer the question: Did
dive into the river and ordered him to his agent buy it?
In 1934, a classic photo was born.
start a swim across it. To the Picts, this
A medical man named Wilson had
was madness. They pleaded with the
been
walking along the banks of the
monk to stop his comrade before it was
Loch,
when he claimed to have seen
too late.
The young priest was soon attacked. a remarkable sight. He saw the head
Columba, addressing the beast, and neck of the beast simply rise out
showed the creature a cross and uttered, of the water and stare at him. All in all,
“Go no further. Do not touch the man. he claimed to have taken at least five
Go back at once in the name of he who photos. Upon development, only two
reached his hands. One was too blurry.
is the Christ!”
The beast immediately let the The other, instantly, became a classic!
The Daily Mail published the nowyoung priest go, and disappeared below
the murky waters. Both Columba and famous photo on April 21, 1934.
In The Sunday Telegraph on
the Picts praised God for the miracle.
December
7, 1975, the photo was
Or...so the story goes.
The legend is usually brought up labeled a “fake.”
The famous “Surgeon’s Photo” was,
by Nessie fans to support their side.
in
fact,
taken by a gynecologist named
That the origin had taken place in the
River Ness and not the Loch is a good Robert Kenneth Wilson. The only
sign of authoritarian proof. However, reason, it is said; that the photo had first
most adventures involving the monster been associated as taken by a “surgeon”
of Loch Ness before 1933 are suspect. was because it appeared more dramatic
Still, it is a great story. This writer will in print. Theories abound as to what the
picture really was. Could it have been
not deny Scotland its legends.
After George Spicer’s encounter, an honest picture of a prehistoric terror
several months later, a motorcyclist living in modern Scotland? An elephant
loose and trying to bathe itself? Or
48
could it have been, simply, a practical
joke. Doctor Wilson was known for his
love of a good joke.
In 1979, further investigations
claimed that the picture of Nessie was
nothing more than a toy submarine
with a wooden dinosaur’s head resting
upon it. Photographic studies do seem
to back this up with the peculiar ripples
around the said monster. Still, the
evidence is circumstantial.
In a 1975 article, published in The
Sunday Telegraph, a more complex
story came to light. The heart of the
monster was indeed a toy submarine,
bought at a local F.W. Woolworth’s
store. The head and neck of the beast
was made out of plastic wood. The man
responsible? Marmaduke Wetherall.
Wetherall was once a big-game
hunter who had been humiliated by
the local press when he had been
caught in the middle of his own Nessie
hoax. Hired by a London-based film
company to gain proof of the Loch Ness
Monster, Wetherall had filmed several
footprints leading from the local roads
to the Loch. At first, the piece of film
was a sensation. Then, as scientists took
a look, the truth came out. Marmaduke
Wetherall owned an umbrella stand
made from a hollowed-out foot of a
Marmaduke Wetherell
hippopotamus. The man simply pushed
out a few footprints using the odd piece
of furniture. The hoax cost the man
dearly. Later, the whole “Surgeon’s
Photo” was set up to embarrass the
paper that had stained Wetherall. All
he needed was a man who loved to tell
a good joke: Doctor Wilson.
Believers in the photo state that if
this were a practical joke, why didn’t
those involved reveal the trick within
the course of their lifetime? Still others
state that “plastic wood” was a product
not available in the 1930s. In fact,
there had been a popular modeling
material used by artists that had been
affectionately called “plastic wood.”
After photos, there came motion
pictures.
In 1960, Tim Dinsdale, an
aeronautical engineer, photographed a
huge “hump” slowly moving across the
Loch. The film stirred great controversy
and is still debated to this day. He
described the creature as being reddish
in color with a small blotch on its
side. Skeptical, Dinsdale had the film
analyzed by the Royal Air Force. They
stated that the object was “probably
animate.” Others, using the same
technology as the British Air Force,
stated that the hump was nothing more
than a man in a boat.
Later, in 1993, a scientist took a
closer look at the Dinsdale film, using
computerized digital enhancements.
Surprisingly, he discovered a “shadow”
that could not be seen on the original
negative, which appeared to be the rest
of the creature’s body under the water.
After this discovery, the scientist in
question stated, “Before I saw the film,
I thought the Loch Ness Monster was
a load of rubbish. Having done this
enhancement, I’m not so sure.”
While science has created mysteries
they never meant to around the Nessie
legend, sometimes the learned help
verify a fake or two.
On May 26, 2007, a lab technician
captured on video what he claimed
was “this jet black thing, about forty-
five-feet long, moving fairly fast in the kelpie’s true appearance is shown, but
water.” It was a convincing video, at then it is far too late. The unfortunate
first. Then, Adrian Shine of the Loch traveler is then trapped, taken to the
Ness Centre stated that the “jet black depths of the lake, and devoured as the
thing” was more than likely a sea otter, monster’s supper. A frightening tale!
Quite possibly used as a means not to
seal, or water bird.
The technician cried “foul,” saying encourage horse thievery.
Whatever one’s personal opinions
that others were trying to take away his
discovery. He had severe past credibility about the Loch Ness Monster, she
issues. Currently, he tries his best to sell does seem to serve a purpose. Beyond
a self-published book/DVD set, which the fun of exploration, the thrill of
supports the evidence and validity of discovery, and the profit of a lucrative
tourist trap, Nessie allows the child in
fairies.
Loch Ness is a favorite site for water all of us to believe that there is yet a
birds. These creatures have been known little magic left in the world. That there
to skirt across the surface of the lake, is indeed something that cannot be
leaving sinister waves behind them. If labeled, tagged, or catalogued.
And that is indeed a wonderful
an untrained eye were to spot one of
these trails, and with the birds totally thing! 
or partially submerged, they could
If you are interested in learning
appear to be a long-necked monster
looking about. Dinsdale even believes more about the author and his work go
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has mistaken some of his sightings with more about the “Stranger Than Fiction”
those related to these aquatic creatures. radio program go to: www.facebook.
In the realms of folklore, there has com/StrangerThanFictionRadio.
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49
From the bestselling
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Special Edition
Contributor’s Corner
Dedication to
Terri Ann Armstrong
By Starr Gardinier Reina
There are no words to explain who and what Terri Ann Armstrong was both in
the community and as part of my life. The loss of Terri is great and heartbreaking.
In this special dedication, we’ll show you just a professional part
of Terri. She was an executive editor for Suspense Magazine. We were
honored to have her as part of our team. She willingly gave of her time
and expertise and this magazine will miss her tremendously. She was
also a talented author who’s had the following publications to her name:
My Son, poem printed in a Poetry.com anthology (2000)
“My Soul Has Spoken” (Publish America, Maryland June, 2005)
“Where do I Begin?” (Publish America, Maryland April,
2006)
“Husbandry 101” (Seaburn Publishing Group, New York
April, 2008)
“Morning Menace” (Suspense Publishing) 2010
“Medieval Menace” (Suspense Publishing) 2011
“Maternal Menace” (Suspense Publishing) 2011
“How to Plant a Body” (Suspense Publishing) 2012
Terri was just getting started on her career and became
a proud member of the International Thriller Writers. She
made her mark and left a legacy behind that will long be
remembered.
We were blessed to have been able to interview Terri in the past. We are now sharing these words with you:
Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): Who would you say has been your biggest inspiration?
Terri Ann Armstrong (T.A.A.): First, my mother, Dorothea Gary; she’s always believed in me even when I wasn’t sure I could
believe in myself. Second, my dear friend Tom Wright; I’ve known him for twenty-three years and when I started writing and
read my work to him, he convinced me I had to at least try and find someone to look at it. He said I had talent I didn’t even tap
into yet. My writing pal and mystery sister Starr Reina; she gives me encouragement as well as a boot in the backside when I need
it. What more could a woman need? Then there’s Shannon Raab—there truly are no words for what she has meant to me in my
writing career. The way to sum it up is with just one word…astonishing!
S. MAG.: What is your all-time, favorite book?
T.A.A.: It’s funny, if you asked me that two years ago my answer would have been a world apart from my answer today. I LOVED
51
“Rapture Untamed” by Pamela Palmer (fantasy) and “Pray for
Dawn” by Jocelynn Drake (vampires and more). I’ve read so
many wonderful books over the last year, and in doing so, I
have opened up my once closed horizons to new and wonderful
stories.
S. MAG.: How long do you normally take to research your
book?
T.A.A.: It depends on the subject. In one of my mystery novels—
which I just finished—it took a few twelve-to-fifteen hour days
to research for the medieval weapons I wanted in the book. I
needed to know what they were called, what they looked like
and what they were capable of doing.
In the first book, I interviewed a horse farm owner and his
wife to get some information, which I never ended up using. I
don’t feel it was a waste of time because I can always use it in
another book.
S. MAG.: What is on your iPod now?
T.A.A.: It changes all the time. I love country music, but I also
love what I grew up on, seventies and eighties music.
S. MAG.: Do you have any superstitions when you write,
little quirks, etc.?
T.A.A.: Not a superstition, but I actually wait for the characters
to talk to me. In my mystery novels, the characters were all
clamoring to be the bad guy. I know it sounds strange, but if you
believe in your characters and who they are—even down to what
they wear—your book, the scenes, scents and even tastes become
real. I think that’s what makes for a much more interesting
read. You feel like you’re there, and painting a picture with your
words is a true art form.
S. MAG.: If you could solve any mystery for yourself, what
would it be?
T.A.A.: How to completely eliminate fat cells.
S. MAG.: If you could talk to any person—alive or dead—for
one hour, who would it be?
T.A.A.: My late mother; she is my oldest and dearest friend,
now and forever.
S. MAG.: I love to hear stories from authors about
their first published book. How did you get it
done?
T.A.A.: I got lucky actually; I contacted several publishers and
got a lot of those nos that I had to be strong against to keep
52
me from throwing in the towel. When I finally got the
e-mail I’d been waiting for, I was on the phone with my
mother. I opened the e-mail and started laughing and crying
hysterically at the same time. I couldn’t breathe; I could barely
get the words out, “They want to publish my work!” My mother
was thrilled, but I was breathless for about ten minutes. My
heartbeat was way over the top for three days. When I finally
came back down, I had to go work. I can still feel what I felt six
years ago; it still brings tears to my eyes.
S. MAG.: What future plans can you tell us about?
T.A.A.: I’m moving to California by the end of 2011. So many
opportunities are there along with my agent and the magazine
I work for. I also have family; that’s just an added bonus. The
other future plan I have is to be a Pulitzer Prize winner.
S. MAG.: When you’re not writing, what do you do for fun?
T.A.A.: Read, play with my grandson Tyler, listen to music
and in all honesty, think about my next book. It’s in my blood.
I also enjoy editing for other authors. When I need a serious
break from words—which isn’t often—I like crafts of all kinds:
counted cross-stitch, crocheting, puzzles, board games, making
fabric roses, sewing and a whole lot more.
Terri may not have made it to California to live, but she
was able to visit. And she will always be a part of California.
Her other family is here including me and this magazine and
she will always be with us.
For her work, here is just a little of the praise she received:
“With crisp, witty dialogue as razor sharp as Lily’s tongue,
Armstrong moves the plot along at a rapid pace, taking the
reader along for a hilarious ride. Great fun!”
~Susan Santangelo, author of “Moving Can Be Murder”
“Terri Ann Armstrong is a master storyteller. From page one,
she will grab you and not let go. Silly, nail biting, and grisly . . .
you’ll never find a more loyal sidekick than Armstrong to help
you get rid of a corpse!”
~Donald Allen Kirch, author of “Manchester House” and
“Reich”
There are many more wonderful blurbs of her work, too
many to incorporate here. Suffice to say, Terri’s loss is felt all
over the country and we were blessed to have had her in our
lives.
In loving memory, Terri Armstrong, may you rest in
peace. (1964-2013)
~Starr Gardinier Reina, best friend, sister, fellow author, and
editor 
“There’s a lot of talent out there, and I’ve been privileged
to teach some of those talented students.”
Southern Charm
To Spare
An Interview with Carolyn Haines
Interview by Holly Price
Press Photo: Provided by Author
Carolyn Haines is the popular Southern
author who has won several writing awards,
including the Harper Lee Award for Distinguished Writing and
The Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence. And she
wrote one of Suspense Magazine’s Best of 2011 cozies, “Bones of
a Feather.”
Carolyn’s well-received Sarah Booth Delaney series, one of my
personal favorites, and, her latest Sarah Booth Delaney mystery,
“Bonefire of the Vanities,” was also chosen as a Best Cozy for
Suspense Magazine for 2012. She also teaches writing courses for
those lucky enough to be in her area. She is a committed animal
rights activist, and a fledgling vegetarian.
Carolyn’s latest endeavor is a book called “The Darkling,” a
supernatural suspense novel, which she has written under the
nom de plume R. B. Chesterton. It will be published by Pegasus
Books in April of 2013. Carolyn was kind enough to answer some
questions about her career and her creative process for Suspense Magazine readers.
Holly Price (H.P.): Tell us about your formative years. Where did you grow up and were you always a writer?
Carolyn Haines (C.H.): I grew up in a very small town, Lucedale, Mississippi (population about 2,500 at the time). My parents
were journalists, and I grew up in that business. I started writing small stories and photographing wrecks and drownings when
I was twelve. (My parents helped me a lot, and then at seventeen I went to work for the weekly newspaper.) George County was
very rural, and while I played in the woods, rode my bike, played sports with the neighborhood kids, etc., reading was my great
love and joy. Reading transported me. I fell in love with the written word and big adventures.
H.P.: Were you born with a love for books? When did you realize that you wanted to be a writer?
C.H.: I can’t remember not reading. From the Golden Books to Nancy Drew to Collier’s Encyclopedia’s youth series, I read
everything. It’s a joke in my family that we all love horror stories and shows, but it’s true. My grandmother and my parents used
to gather us kids up and scare us to death with great stories about past events or the “haunted house” we grew up in. And I loved
Poe and Sir Author Conan Doyle, so I cut my teeth on dark mysteries. I told stories to my friends, often scaring them. Delicious,
creepy, spend-the-night parties were part of growing up.
H.P.: When you first conceived the Sarah Booth Delaney books, where did the idea come from? How did you come up with
53
the names for your characters?
C.H.: I’d finished a two-book contract for Dutton, and I was thinking about what I wanted to write next when I heard
Sarah Booth and Jitty bickering. I just sat down and started writing. I had no idea who they were or why they were arguing,
but I wanted to know. They captured my interest, and I wrote to see what happened next. The names—that’s just who they are.
H.P.: Where did the “Bones” motif come from? How do you select your names?
C.H.: I wish I could claim some brilliant plan at work. I didn’t even know “Them Bones” was the first in a series. I wrote the book,
realized it was a mystery (to be sure, I never thought I had the sense to plot a mystery) and my agent sold the book at auction.
The publisher wanted a series. So, “bones” was easy to work with, and it made sense to tie the books thematically together with
a word in the title. Some of my best book names have come from suggestions from readers. I have some wild and crazy readers!
H.P.: You’ve written other books besides your Sarah Booth books and have a new book coming out in April from Pegasus
called “The Darkling.” Tell us about that new book and how you came to use a nom de plume? Also, tell our readers what
name you are using for that book.
C.H.: I have written dark crime novels, non-fiction, short fiction, thrillers, suspense—yeah, I write different things because I
love to read different things. But horror has always been my first love. Not gore or torture porn—that doesn’t interest me—but
more of a Shirley Jackson kind of horror. A good story with elements of the supernatural. I cut my teeth as a storyteller scaring
my friends and the neighborhood children with tales about the haunted house I grew up in. (It was haunted and yes, I have on
several occasions seen a ghost.)
“The Darkling” (I’m very excited about it) is set in Coden, Alabama in the 1970s. It’s about a family that has so much love to
give that they take in a stranger. Mimi is the narrator and the children’s tutor. She grew up in Coden with her grandmother, who
works for DHR and convinces the Henderson family to take in a teenage girl found on the streets of Mobile. Annie is an amazing
child, but she is much more than that. Mimi recounts the strange and awful events that bring the family to tragedy. There are a
few twists and turns in the plot, which I hope give the reader a lot of enjoyment. And a few chill bumps, too! I would describe it
as Southern gothic.
As to the pseudonym, R.B. Chesterton, I decided to use a different name as a nod to my readers. This isn’t a Bones book. It’s a step
into new territory. I want a clear signal so that no reader is ever disappointed. I want all of my readers to come with me on this
journey, but only if they clearly understand that I’m going into dark terrain. I’ve done darker stories before under my own name,
but I want people to come to this story without any preconceived notion of what to expect.
H.P.: Will there be more books like “The Darkling”? Will they all have the same protagonist, or will each book be a standalone?
C.H.: I believe they will be standalones. I’ve finished another book in the same vein, and I am polishing an idea for the third book.
I have to be careful because I scare myself! That is so silly, but I am easily spooked (because I have
seen entities). When I’m writing late at night (which I try never to do on a scary book), I have been
forced to call the neighbors and ask them to come over for a “booger check.”
I’m tremendously excited about this new adventure with Pegasus.
It’s taken a while for me to find the time to write these darker
stories, but now that I’m on a roll, I hope to continue. But Bones
readers should never fear—I have no intention of stopping that
series.
H.P.: What do you enjoy most about being an author?
C.H.: I love writing. I love that complete rush of joy when I know
I’m telling the story true—that I’ve tapped into something bigger
and smarter than I am and I’m simply telling the story that’s been
given to me. I do a lot of editing, and I wish I loved it. It’s necessary,
and I work hard, but it is not my favorite part. And I love it when
a reader tells me she got my story the way I intended. That is such a
bond.
54
I have been told by some readers that one of my stories helped get them through a health crisis or a dark time. This is
just incredible to me. I think a lot of writers write to explain life to ourselves. But when a reader connects and a book makes
a difference—that makes me feel like I’m doing important work. I view myself as a storyteller, but sometimes a good story can
make a difference. I know it has in my past.
H.P.: I understand you teach. What courses do you teach and where do you teach?
C.H.: I teach the graduate and undergraduate creative writing classes at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. I’m
completing my tenth year. I truly love teaching, and I have some of the most talented students. They are truly a joy.
H.P.: What do you enjoy most about teaching?
C.H.: I love seeing a student grasp a concept and master it. That is such a rush. When they’re struggling to tell a story and they
don’t have the tools, and something just snaps—and they’re off and running. That gives me a lot of pleasure. I have students who
have published with major houses and won awards and who will continue to publish. There’s a lot of talent out there, and I’ve
been privileged to teach some of those talented students.
H.P.: Tell us about your creative process. Do your plots come to you fully formed? Do you work from an outline?
C.H.: Different books come different ways. The dark books usually come thematically, or with a silent film clip of the characters
doing something. Some books come via character, or dialogue. I listen to the story to see what it wants to be. I never try to force
a book to be one thing or another. That’s why I’ve written in some many different genres. I honor the story and tell it as it comes
to me. With the mysteries, I do outline—plotting is hard for me. And I’ve learned how important structure is, so I want to be sure
mine is solid. It helps me to lay the clues, set the red herrings, and properly manipulate the reader. Clear writing is clear thought.
My preferred method of writing is organic, and that works just fine for short stories. But with a longer work, there has to be some
planning—at least for me.
H.P.: Tell us about your other books, those not included in the Sarah Booth series or the new paranormal series. Are all your
books in print and are all your books on Kindle or Nook?
C.H.: All of my titles are available for e-readers. Tyrus Books reissued in e-form the older books. “Touched” and “Summer of
the Redeemers” are more Southern fiction with a tiny little core of darkness. “Fever Moon” and “Penumbra” are historical crime
novels set in Louisiana and Mississippi respectively. “Reverant” is a thriller set in Biloxi, Ms. “Deception” is the only book I’ve set
in Mobile, where I currently live. It’s a thriller, also. “Judas Burning” is a crime novel set in contemporary times. And “Shop Talk”
is a book about my brother and friends. It’s a black comedy. I was hoping to mess with my brother (we do torment each other
every chance we get), but he loved being the star of a book. My family has no shame.
H.P.: How many hours a day do you write? Do you write every day, or do you take time off?
C.H.: I write every day. I don’t take days off unless I’m traveling, or one of the animals is sick. Or there’s an emergency or
something. But I love to write. It’s my joy. I miss it when I don’t do it. But this comes from long years of writing hard. I don’t
write for long periods of time. I run an animal rescue, so I have a lot of outdoors work to do. (I have horses, cats, and dogs.) So
I’ll write until I need to think—then I’ll go clean stalls or fix a fence or sweep the barn. While I’m doing a chore, it frees my brain
and subconscious to go to work for me. My connection to the land is important to my writing. I really do my best thinking riding
my horses through the woods.
H.P.: How long does it typically take you to write a book? I’m talking about through all stages: idea, outline (if applicable),
writing, editing, submission.
C.H.: A year or better. I can sometimes write two books at once. Sometimes. But not always. A book is a lot of work. And even
when I write fast, it’s because I’ve spent endless hours thinking the story through. “Touched,” a book I wrote twice—and then
changed from third to first person—I wrote very, very fast, but then I’d spent two years writing it wrong. Some books are easy,
others are a snarl from the first sentence. But if a story really wants to be told, it won’t leave me alone. It nags and niggles at me
until I sit down and write it.
H.P.: Tell us about your personal life, if you don’t mind. What would make our readers feel like they know you better?
55
C.H.: I love animals, and I speak out for them whenever I can. I’m working on bringing a mobile spay and neuter clinic to my
hometown area, which is rural and poorer. It’s part of the Mississippi State University vet school, and I hope was can get all
the kinks worked out. Pet overpopulation is a serious issue all over this country, but it is tragic in the South. We must take the
necessary steps to stop this, because animals suffer tremendously. So while I’m on my soapbox, let me suggest that you give a “free”
spay/neuter as your next holiday gift or birthday present. Or make a donation in someone’s behalf to an animal organization or
your local shelter. This is a fixable problem. We just need awareness and for good, compassionate people to step forward.
I love to make people laugh, and I love to scare them (does that mean I have a split personality?). I go to a lot of extremes to play
a practical joke (nothing cruel or mean, but fun) and I have close friends who’ve known me since I was four or five. I will act a
fool in public, but only for a laugh.
I’d have my share of adventures and fun. I have some stories that would curl your toes, but I’ll keep those for a face to face.
Working for ten years as a journalist prior to writing fiction gave me a lot of exposure to a lot of different people. Some good, some
very, very bad. I believe in karma and I struggle with control issues. But I can surely laugh at myself. And I have the best friends
in the universe. (And the best dogs, cats, and horses.)
Like the Bones girls, I believe friendship is vital to happiness. I cultivate tolerant friends with a good sense of humor.
H.P.: In ten years, where would you like to be professionally?
C.H.: If I can daydream, I’d love to see the Bones characters in a TV series. And I think “The Darkling” would make a fun, scary
movie. But the celluloid (or now digital) world is really outside my career. I’ve written a few screenplays, and I don’t think that’s
my talent. So as far as my writing goes, I’d like to continue what I’m doing, but in a bigger format. More readers, more books, etc.
I want to get better as a writer. I love writing and I know I’ll never “master” it, but I want the opportunity to improve with each
book. I want to see my students publish and achieve. The publishing industry is changing every sixty seconds now. But I believe
talent wins out, and I know some of my students are destined for greatness.
And hey, how about a plug for world peace. (I was never a pageant girl, but I photographed a lot of them for the newspapers so
I know that’s the correct answer!)
H.P.: Who are your favorite authors?
C.H.: James Lee Burke, Tana French, Dean James (Miranda James), H.P. Lovecraft, Doris Betts, Carolyn Hart, Jonathan Carroll.
I like writers who pull me down into their world and hold me there. And I also like writers like Carroll who make me think about
things I’ve taken for granted. There are so many, many wonderful writers that I love for different reasons. I make my students
read only new writers—because they need to learn about the market and what is selling today. But there are books like “To Kill
a Mockingbird” that had a tremendous impact on me as a child. Treasured stories.
And now for some silly questions, just for laughs:
H.P.: What’s your favorite color?
C.H.: Purple. That’s the answer for the dark Carolyn. The funny Carolyn likes green.
H.P.: What’s your favorite ice cream?
C.H.: Blue Belle—anything chocolate with nuts (no caramel). It is a sin to mix gooey stuff in chocolate and nuts.
H.P.: What would you be doing if you weren’t an author?
C.H.: I’d be a dog thief. I would steal dogs left on chains and in backyards without any love or attention. And if I had a magic
power, it would be to vaporize cruel people. Nothing left but the smoking shoes.
Carolyn Haines is a delight. I’ve been fortunate to have dinner with her when she was in Hernando, Mississippi, for a
talk and she is so funny! She is modest about that, but I laughed until my face hurt. I look forward to all her books to come
and know her audience will grow.
You can get all her books in e-reader format for Nook or Kindle, and remember to watch for “The Darkling,” by R. B.
Chesterton, coming in April of 2013 from Pegasus Books. 
56
A MYSTERY
FOR EVERY
NIGHTSTAND
IT WOULD BE A CRIME NOT TO READ ONE
Available Now on Kindle and in Paperback
Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times bestselling author, multiple
Bram Stoker Award winner, and freelancer for Marvel Comics. His novels
include “Assassin’s Code,” “Flesh & Bone,” “Ghost Road Blues,” “Dust &
Decay,” “Patient Zero,” “The Wolfman,” and many others. Nonfiction books
include “Ultimate Jujutsu,” “The Cryptopedia,” “Zombie CSU,” “Wanted
Undead or Alive,” and others. Jonathan’s award-winning teen novel, “Rot
& Ruin,” is now in development for film. He’s the editor/co-author of
“V-Wars,” a vampire-themed anthology; and was a featured expert on The
History Channel special ZOMBIES: A LIVING HISTORY.
Since 1978, he’s sold more than 1,200 magazine feature articles,
3,000 columns, two plays, greeting cards, song lyrics, and poetry. His
comics include “Captain America: Hail Hydra,” “Doomwar,” “Marvel
Zombies Return,” and “Marvel Universe vs. the Avengers.” He teaches
the Experimental Writing for Teens class, is the founder of the Writers
Coffeehouse, and co-founder of The Liars Club. Jonathan lives in Bucks
County, Pennsylvania with his wife, Sara Jo and a fierce little dog named
Rosie.
We were able to actually interrupt his busy schedule and talk to him.
See what he has to say:
Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): “Extinction Machine” is the latest Joe Ledger. Can you give us a behind the scenes look inside
the book?
Jonathan Maberry (J.M.): Ever since the alleged crash of an alien craft in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 there has been intense
and widespread speculation. Did aliens really visit Earth? If so, did we recover their ship? And…if we did, what have we done
with it? That’s the back story to a modern thriller in which a new arms race heats up based on technologies that may have been
reverse-engineered from recovered alien technologies. The U.S. and China are the main players, and both nations have covertly
developed a new and lethal generation of stealth war craft.
Captain Joe Ledger, the top investigator for the Department of Military Sciences leads his team of SpecOps shooters into the
middle of this covert war. Along the way, they encounter black budget research teams willing to kill to protect their secrets; cyberterrorists, hit teams of elite assassins, bizarre technologies, and a plan to start –and win—a new World War.
58
S. MAG.: What is the one thing that people would be shocked to
know about Joe Ledger?
J.M.: Joe is funny and he’s very human. Sure, on one hand he’s a
highly trained, ruthless, and dangerous professional soldier, but
he’s also aware that he’d playing a role that isn’t entirely real. Joe
is flawed and fractured as a result of intense childhood trauma.
There are three distinct personalities struggling for dominance in
his head—the Modern Man (the civilized and idealistic aspect of
him), the Cop (his primary and very controlled central personality),
and the Warrior (a savage killer, lets off the leash when things really
go south).
But with all that, Joe tends to have a strong pop-culture geekiness
and a smartass sense of humor. And at the end of the day, he isn’t
really fighting for flag or country; he’s fighting to make sure the bad
guys don’t have the last move on the checkerboard.
S. MAG.: How do Joe Ledger and Jonathan Maberry differ?
J.M.: Joe’s younger, thinner, and better looking than his biographer.
And he’s a lot crazier. I have my moments, but Joe has suitcases full
of crazy he hasn’t even opened yet.
Also, Joe is more damaged than I am. We share some similarities
in the kind of childhood trauma we endured, but I never went
down the dark roads he did. I don’t have (as far as I know) a
deeply fractured personality.
But we’re also alike in a lot of ways. Similar worldview, same belief that people aren’t inherently bad, same dented
optimism. Same smartass sense of humor.
S. MAG.: What scares Jonathan Maberry?
J.M.: I’ve never been scared of ghosts or monsters, and I’m not particularly afraid of muggers (I’m six foot four, built like Sasquatch,
and an eighth-degree black belt). I used to skydive and drive fast cars for fun, and I was a bodyguard, a bouncer, and a semi-pro
fighter. So…what scares me?
Science. Or, the mishandling and misuse of science and technology.
I’m a science geek. I read science trade journals, partly for fun and partly for research while writing my thrillers. Science is
growing much faster than our ability to sanely, safely, and maturely manage it. If you doubt that, look at the way in which
we’ve mismanaged the use of antibiotics. Doctors write scripts for it way too often and frequently for ailments that aren’t treated
by those drugs. And people stop taking them when symptoms go away instead of taking a full course. The result is that we’ve
managed to strengthen diseases that were once totally under control and which now are too powerful for antibiotics to combat.
My friends at the CDC and the World Health Organization tell me that a global pandemic is not science fiction. It’s a certainty.
So, yeah…scary stuff. That’s one of the reasons I write the kind of novels that I write.
S. MAG.: Now that you are into book five in the series, have things gone according to plan?
J.M.: The Joe Ledger series has exceeded my original vision and has grown in interesting new ways. I expected to write two or
three books and then move on. I’m now writing the sixth book, with a seventh already sold. There are a dozen Joe Ledger short
stories and novellas either in print, on audio, or waiting for release in anthologies.
59
The series skims the edge between straight science thrillers and speculative fiction. That puts it in the same genre as F.
Paul Wilson’s “Repairman Jack,” James Rollins’ Sigma books, and series by Jeremy Robinson, Dale Brown, and others.
What’s kind of scary is that a lot of the ‘weird science’ in our books is either today’s absolute cutting-edge stuff, or tomorrow’s
science –stuff that absolutely will be real science in our lifetime.
We’re in discussion now about either a Joe Ledger movie or TV series. Details soon (I hope!).
S. MAG.: For readers new to your series, what words of advice would you give them before they dive into their first book?
J.M.: Each book in the series is a standalone, so readers can start anywhere, but I usually advise that they read the first book,
“Patient Zero,” because it’s an actual origin story. But a lot of people have entered Joe’s
EXTINCTION MACHINE
world at different points and haven’t been lost.
Despite the technology and action, these books are character-driven. They’re about the
experience of human beings—real people—caught in extraordinary circumstances.
There are no superheroes, and even the villains are given multiple facets so we can see
why they believe that what they do is right according to their worldview.
As for Joe, even though he’s very tough, at heart he’s an Everyman, a romantic, and a
tarnished Don Quixote.
S. MAG.: What title of a book do you think best describes you as a person?
J.M.: My kneejerk reaction is to say “Something Wicked This Way Comes” …but my
level of personal corruption is that intense.
The title that really comes to mind is David Wong’s “This Book is Full of Spiders.” I feel
the same way about my head.
S. MAG.: Joe Ledger is sitting across from you. What would you like to ask him?
J.M.: I’d ask, “Will you ever grow up?”
He’ll say, “Not if I can help it. What about you?”
And I’ll say, “Same here.”
S. MAG.: The beginning or the end of a book, which do you feel as the most impact
on a reader, but which is more difficult to write for the author?
J.M.: That’s a toughie because I’m a devoted worshipper of good openings and slambang endings. The vibe is different, though, and my feelings about that are reflected in
the ways I open and close my novels. I like a catchy and immediate hook, something
that grabs you right away.
For example, the first Joe Ledger novel opened with this very short chapter: “If you
have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week, then there’s either something wrong
with your skills or something wrong with the world. And there’s nothing wrong with
my skills.”
By the time I’d written that I was fully engaged in telling the story, and readers have
told me enough times that it was that opening that hooked them.
I also wrote a novel called “Dead of Night,” which has a single sentence-opening
chapter: “This is how the world ends.”
60
By Jonathan Maberry
This fast-paced novel is the fifth in the
Joe Ledger series, and I must say they just
keep getting better and better.
Joe and his cohorts, agents working
in the Department of Military Sciences
(DMS), are sent by their superiors
to investigate what could just be the
world’s most deadly arms race. It seems
that the U.S. and other countries have
been scrambling to recover and revamp
certain ‘alien technologies,’ but someone
or something wants that technology for
themselves. Full of murder and mayhem,
this particular novel brings the reader along
with the DMS agents who go up against
conspiracy theorists and some of the most
unbelievable futuristic weapons ever seen.
Joe is on a well-deserved day off when
his boss asks him to come in and save the
President, who disappears from the White
House only to show up five hours later
safe and sound with a story that he was
kidnapped by aliens. Yup…aliens.
Not only that, but a series of cyber
attacks occurs. From a top secret prototype
of a stealth fighter plane being destroyed
with witnesses stating that it was shot
down by another ‘machine’ that simply
vanished into thin air; to a variety of UFO
sightings cropping up all over the world; to
a backwoods dig in China where dinosaur
hunters have found something that’s
definitely not what they were expecting—
every page offers something new. Add to
all this a tale of alien-human hybrids living
among us, and you have nonstop action that
truly feels like one is stuck inside a very cool
video game and the clock is ticking down to
your demise.
In order to save everyone, Joe and the
DMS attempt to track down a ‘mythical’
Black Book that will supposedly unveil the
secrets of alien technology before it’s too
late to save the human race.
This author is an award-winning writer
of both fiction and non-fiction concerning
‘other-worlds,’ and his stories are truly
imaginative and will thrill the suspense
lover, whether they’re science fiction fans
or not!
Reviewed by Amy Lignor, author of “13:
Tallent & Lowery Book One” published by
Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense
Magazine 
That’s also the last chapter.
Since my novels tend to be thrillers, the endings are big, violent, sprawling things where several plotlines collide and explode. A
lot goes on, the stakes are high, the human cost is devastating, and I don’t ever use cheap shots to wrap a tale. I’m breathless when
I’m done writing the ending, and when I get there, I’m usually typing fast enough to have to have smoke coming off the keyboard.
S. MAG.: Besides “Code Zero,” the next book in the Joe Ledger series coming in 2014, what can your fans expect to see from
Jonathan Maberry in the future?
J.M.: I’m in a weirdly productive phase of my career. I’m writing three novels a year, as well as comics for Marvel and other
companies, short stories, novellas, a blog, and essays. (Sleep is for the weak!). This year I have a new Joe Ledger novella, “Borrowed
Power,” debuting before the release of “Extinction Machine.” Then in July, the post-apocalyptic novella “Tooth & Nail” debuts,
followed by the September release of “Fire & Ash,” the fourth and final book in my Rot & Ruin series (which is now also in
development for film. Marvel will release the graphic novel collection of my miniseries “Marvel Universe vs. The Avengers” in
March; and in September, Simon & Schuster will release “Four Summoner’s Tales,” a four-author anthology in which I have
another Joe Ledger novella, “Alive Day.” And I have a slew of stories in anthologies coming out, including an Auguste Dupin/Poe
story, a Cthulhu story, a story set in the land of Oz, and more.
In terms of writing…I’m working on “Code Zero” now (Joe Ledger #6), then I’ll write “Fall of Night” (sequel to “Dead of Night”),
and then “Watch Over Me,” the first in my new series of mystery-thrillers.
I dig the fast lane, and I’m having the time of my life.
We want to thank Jonathan for taking his time with us. If you want to learn more about him, visit his website at www.
jonathanmaberry.com. 
61
The Phone Call
F
By Robert Zachary Sanzone
ive o’clock rolled around as Andrew finished with his last patient, a Mrs. Knudsen whose goal it seemed was to ask
her doctor as many questions as she could about her full-term pregnancy.
“When the baby comes, should I call you?”
Andrew sighed, “For the last time, call nine-one-one. If it’s at night, do NOT call the office. No one will be here.”
“I’m alone, you know. Michael left last fall and…” she said.
“Yeah I know you’re scared, but you’re not due for another two weeks, Mrs. Knudsen so you don’t have anything to worry
about for a while.”
Mrs. Knudsen looked down in disappointment.
“We’re all done here. Jane will take care of you at the front desk,” Andrew said coldly, wanting to usher his annoying
patient out as quickly as he could so he could finally leave.
Andrew hurried past Mrs. Knudsen who was standing at Jane’s desk before she could bombard him with any more
questions, but before he pushed open the front door to leave, he saw that Jane, the latest of a string of nurses he had gone
through in the last few years, was already bearing the full brunt of Mrs. Knudsen’s incessant worrying.
Wonder how long she’ll last, Andrew thought as he turned the ignition, powered up his Mercedes, and drove home.
A
fter arriving home, Andrew slipped into a camel hair sweater and opened a bottle of red wine. As he took his dinner
consisting of leftover meatloaf out of the oven, the phone rang.
“Shit, every goddamn time before I can eat my supper,” Andrew said out loud as he slapped the counter with an oven
mitt.
He didn’t hide his annoyance as he answered.
“Hello?” he asked callously.
“Hey, Andy! Happy birthday!”
Andrew sighed, “It’s not my birthday, Eric.”
“I know, I’m only kidding, say whatcha up to?”
“I was about to have some dinner before an ass of a little brother decided to interrupt.”
“Really, Allan just called, too?” Eric said followed by more laughter.
“What do you want, Eric?”
“Your medical school class reunion is coming up in a few months, mom got the postcard in the mail today, and she gave
it to me to pass along to you. Alumni association must still think you live at mom and dad’s house.”
Andrew leaned against the counter and watched his dinner get cold.
“I never changed my address when I moved out.”
“Yeah, Mr. Important who couldn’t live at home. Or should I say Dr. Important.”
“Is there anything else, Eric? I’m about to eat my dinner.”
62
“Nope, that’s it. I’ll forward you the card I got. It’d be good to see you if you came in to town.”
“Thanks, Eric. Have a good night.”
He didn’t wait for a response before hanging up.
Two days later the postcard arrived. On one side was Andrew’s forwarding address along with reunion dates. On the
other side was a black and white picture of the graduating medical class of 1968. Two faces were circled (Eric’s penmanship),
Andrew’s and a girl’s. On the bottom right hand corner, Eric had written, Whatever happened with you two anyway?
Recognizing the girl’s circled face, Andrew angrily crumpled the postcard with his hand and buried it in the trash underneath
some Kleenex. Seeing the image of Sheila drove Andrew to break the seal on a brand new bottle of Jack Daniels, half of which
he polished off by eleven o’clock. By midnight, Andrew started dozing off in front of the TV. By 1 a.m., he had fallen asleep
sitting up on his dark leather couch.
H
e was in his old apartment on Marshall Street, the one he lived in while in medical school. He was wearing a
worn pair of jeans and a button-down, brown plaid shirt. His apartment even had all of his furniture, not that he
had much. His mother’s lamp that was in the shape of a steering wheel from a clipper ship sat on the coffee table that was
supported by four cinder blocks with a Zenith radio resting in the middle. His couch was there, the stained white upholstered
cotton sofa that belonged to his former roommate, a senior who left it behind along with a stack of bills and a draft notice.
The musty odor of rotting ceiling plaster mixed with the most recent rainwater filled the air.
Sheila was there.
Her hands were draped over her face; she was weeping. Tears streamed down and dripped onto her shredded jeans.
She didn’t look up or give a hint that Andrew was standing in the doorway watching her, hoping that he wasn’t reliving this
nightmare.
Silence encapsulated Sheila and was only broken by her loud weeps. He called to her.
“Sheila?”
No answer.
He tried again, “Sheila?”
Only sobs answered him. Andrew stepped towards her, lifted his hand gently and began to reach for her before recoiling
when the phone rang. Sheila’s head darted up, her hands soaked with tears. For a second, Andrew thought she was looking
at him before realizing the phone was sitting behind him on the wooden Genesee beer crate that served as an end table. She
reached her hand out to pick it up. She rested her hand on the receiver before lifting it to her ear; she said nothing. A muffled
and barely audible voice spoke on the other end.
“Sheila? Are you back?”
She was no longer crying. Finally she spoke in the same voice that had made Andrew fall in love with her only a few
months before, the day that Andrew never thought about anymore, the day he buried underneath thousands of biology
textbook pages, psychology papers, physiology tests, patient reports, and x-rays.
“Yes,” she replied, her voice cracking.
“How’d it go? Did they take it out?”
Sheila’s eyes squinted hard and she took in a rapid breath. Andrew watched as his words painted anger on Sheila’s face.
“Yes, Andrew, they took ‘it’ out.” All traces of sobbing were gone as anger and rage swept in with a blinding force,
sweeping the tears aside.
“Good, how much was it? I can pay you back.”
Sheila gripped the receiver and started gritting her teeth.
“You can pay me back by never coming near me again. THAT’S HOW YOU CAN PAY ME BACK!”
As Andrew sat beside her and watched her face fight back tears, Andrew began to realize just what he demanded she do
so many years ago. He knew what was going to come next out of the receiver and wished desperately he could take it all back.
“Dammit, Sheila, how many times are we going to go over—”
“We only talked about it once, Andrew! I told you I was pregnant and all you did was bitch at me for not being careful
enough and tell me that you knew a medical professor of yours who’d take care of it. You didn’t ask me what I wanted!”
“Sheila, what the hell are we going to do with a baby? You going to drop out of medical school and take care of it? I’m
sure as hell not. I watched my dad work for thirty years as a truck driver and never had any savings to show for it. We lived
in a shit house and in a shit neighborhood, and goddamn it, Sheila, that’s not going to happen to me, I’m finishing school!”
Sheila’s tears began to form again, but the anger kept them at bay.
63
“Don’t try to find me, Andrew. If you see me around campus, don’t even try and talk to me. You’re as dead as our baby is
to me. Good-bye.”
Sheila dropped the receiver back in its cradle before letting out a loud sob and burying her eyes in her hands again.
Andrew sat petrified, his heart beating so fast that his forehead dotted itself with beads of sweat. He watched in shame as
Sheila got up to walk into their old bedroom only to come back a minute later with a suitcase leaking clothes. She walked to
the door, opened it, but hesitated to leave. She looked at the kitchen and back into the living room. Her eyes were red and
swollen from crying, her wet cheeks gleamed from the light bulb in the dark hallway. Andrew wanted to call out to her. As he
stood up, she turned and stormed out, slamming the door loud enough to snap him awake.
A
ndrew sat up and looked around his den. The evening news was long over, replaced by a late night horror movie,
Night of the Living Dead.
Andrew stood up and stretched, still looking around the room to make sure that it was his house and not his old
apartment. Walking to the window, the leafless trees that he could see in the moonlight swayed back and forth to the beat of
the burst of wind coming from the east.
He sat down and rubbed his eyes before picking up the remote control and shutting off the TV. As he began to pick up
his half empty wine bottle and plate of crackers that had been his dinner, the phone rang.
Annoyed, Andrew put down his plate and picked up the receiver, “Goddamn it, Eric, what the hell do you want now?”
“It’s coming out,” a woman’s voice shouted on the other end.
“Excuse me? What’s out? Eric, if this is one of your jokes I’m not amused,” he yelled before hanging up.
Andrew walked into the kitchen, placed the plate in the sink, and went back into the den when the phone rang again.
“Eric, or whoever the hell this is, it’s midnight and I don’t appreciate—”
“It’s out.”
That caller’s voice was familiar, but seemed distant, as if the receiver wasn’t pressed against the caller’s ear.
“Who is this?” Andrew asked.
The line went dead. Once again, Andrew hung up. This time, however, he didn’t take his hand off the receiver. Sure
enough, the phone rang again. Andrew didn’t answer it so fast this time though; he let it ring three times before picking up
the phone again.
Before he could say anything, he heard a cry on the other end of the line. It sounded like a baby, a newborn. They had
a particular cry that was different from the way older babies cried. He used to hear newborns crying when he had to do his
OBGYN rotation in his forth year of medical school. He didn’t like it then, he thought, it reminded him too much of…
“This isn’t funny,” he screamed.
The baby’s crying started to die out before he hung up again. Andrew knew the phone was going to ring, but he didn’t
want to answer. He didn’t want to hear that crying. He didn’t want to relive the nightmare he just had. The phone rang again.
With a shaking hand, Andrew put the receiver to his ear as he leaned against his the armrest, but said nothing. On the
other end, he could hear the baby continue to cry, its little voice cracking and gasping for air. Tears began to form in his eyes
as he listened.
Andrew couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed one end of the receiver and slammed it down on the cradle, smashing the
crib and the keypad. He beat it several times before pinching his pinky between the receiver and the ‘nine’ button. Andrew
wailed in pain as he looked at his pinky ooze blood. It was a deep cut. Wrapping his finger in a soiled napkin sitting on the
counter, he went to the bathroom to clean his wound, but as he ran warm water over his fingers, the phone rang again.
Andrew stormed out of the bathroom a little too fast, leading him to trip over one of his oriental rugs. It curled up just
high enough to catch his foot and send him crashing down where his right kneecap smashed against one end of the steel and
marble coffee table he purchased in Italy the year before. The marble tip broke off; its jagged edge tore into his kneecap like
warm butter. The pain was so blinding it took him a few seconds to recognize its brilliant intensity before letting out another
howl. The ringing continued to make Andrew shake his head, flicking a plentiful amount of teardrops and sweat that came
from the agony of his finger and kneecap, as well as the torturous bell that the phone in the kitchen was emitting.
The ringing continued. Ring…ring…ring. It rang like a violently beating heart on the verge of a stroke, its metallic
chiming rattling Andrew’s eardrums, the wave penetrating the pair of hands that now clasped his ears. He cried in agony as
he rolled around on the marble floor in the small pool of blood that had begun to form around his kneecap. He had to get to
the phone in the kitchen.
Flipping himself onto his stomach, Andrew tried to push himself off the floor and gain a foothold on the floor with his
64
good knee. As he pushed off the floor to stand up, he slipped on his own blood and came crashing down again, this time the
pain was blinding, almost causing him to pass out. He couldn’t cry out anymore, his voice was becoming scorched.
Andrew worked up enough energy to hoist himself up and painfully hop to the nearest wall. Pushing himself off the walls
that lead him to the kitchen, Andrew grabbed for the phone in the darkness that he couldn’t find despite its demanding ring.
With his kneecap still throbbing and blood running down his leg, he reached out and continued to feel around until his right
hand graced the top of something thick and plastic. The receiver! A wave of relief slowly draped over his mind as he began to
lift it. He felt the receiver slip out of his hand and crash to the floor. Leaning forward, he grabbed the chord in the phone jack
and ripped it out of the wall so fast a cloud of dry wall dust bellowed out along with pieces of drywall that knocked a mug of
pens and pencils to the floor with a loud crash. The ringing stopped.
Sliding to the floor, the relief and exhaustion overwhelmed Andrew to the point that he couldn’t hear the ringing coming
from upstairs. When he started breathing a little easier, he began to hear it.
“Stop, just please stop,” Andrew said faintly, in a whisper through the frown that formed on his hot and clammy face.
Each ring sent a shiver of pain and guilt through him.
The phone continued to ring upstairs. In his bedroom the phone next to his bed rang and rang and rang. It wasn’t going
to stop, he thought. It would never stop. Feeling around the floor, Andrew felt the tip of a pencil, sharpened. As the ringing
continued, he gripped the pencil as he pulled himself up off the floor and hopped to the door where he could hear the ringing
upstairs more clearly. The staircase only had fifteen steps on it, but to Andrew and his grotesque leg, it might as well have
been a hundred steps.
Opening the front door, he pulled himself outside by holding onto the frame and pushed himself off the wall. As he
dragged himself outside across his front yard, the ringing came down the stairs, outside onto the front porch, and followed
Andrew through the darkness, finding him as he made his way to the creek that flowed less than a few yards from his front
door. The water will drown out the ringing, he thought.
As he reached the sandy banks, Andrew fell down onto his left knee, his right knee, now a useless trunk caked in blood,
stayed straight as he pulled himself towards the water. Listening to the water flow gently past him, Andrew could still hear
the ringing of the telephone. It’ll never stop ringing, I’ll never stop hearing it, he thought as he slowly brought the tip of the
pencil to his right ear canal and punched the eraser tip like a hammer to a nail head. The tip broke off in the Eustachian tube,
leaving him deaf, but he didn’t care. No longer would he be able to hear anything at all, he would finally stop hearing the ring
of the telephone.
J
ane leaned against the police car sobbing, her arms crossed against her jean jacket. Three police cars were parked in
Andrew’s drive way as an ambulance pulled in. It didn’t have its sirens on.
“I drove out here this morning right after Mrs. Knudsen had her baby to check and see if Andrew was okay. When I got
here the front door was wide open.”
“What did you do next?” the officer asked.
He was holding a pen in one hand and writing with it on a notepad held by the other.
“I went inside and called his name but I didn’t get an answer. I walked around the house and checked all the rooms. That’s
when I found the blood in the living room. I screamed and ran out of the house. That‘s when I noticed someone lying next
to the river.” She broke down sobbing.
“Did you try and call him before coming out here?” the officer asked.
She broke down in sobs again before taking out a white Kleenex to blow her nose before continuing.
“I tried calling him all night from the emergency room trying to tell him that Mrs. Knudsen and I were at the hospital,
but I kept having to hang up because I was trying to coach her through her birth. I couldn’t do both.”
“Who is Mrs. Knudsen? A patient?”
She wasn’t even looking up anymore, “Yeah,” she said through a sniffle. “She became full-term last week and it came early
last night.”
“The baby?” the officer asked.
“Yeah, the baby. A little girl.”
“Did you even get through to him? Did he answer?”
“At first he did, I think he thought I was someone named Eric, because he answered yelling that name. When I told him
that Mrs. Knudsen’s baby was out, well that’s when the line would go dead. I’d try calling and calling again but I kept getting
cut off. It was like he was hanging up on me on purpose.” 
65
Gregg
Olsen
Brings the fear
Press Photo Credit: Howard Petrella
New York Times bestselling author Gregg Olsen is back
with his latest adult thriller, “Fear Collector.” Gregg came onto
the scene with his true-crime writing, beginning with “The
Confessions of An American Black Widow.” He has offered his
expert opinion and research on many different TV networks
(including The History Channel and Discovery Channel) and
TV shows (Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN,
Anderson Cooper 360).
However lately, Gregg has been scaring the hell out of fans
with his fiction work, and “The Fear Collector” ranks up at
the top. His previous novel “Betrayal” was the second book in
his Empty Coffin series for Young Adult readers. In all, Gregg
has written eight nonfiction books, eight novels, a novella, and
contributed a short story to a collection edited by Lee Child.
His historical book “Starvation Heights” is probably his most
intense true-crime tale, with Gregg giving the book its own
website www.starvationheights.com. “Wicked Snow” was
Gregg’s first fiction book, which shows fans that not only is
he a great true crime author, but that his mind works on the
opposite plane and writes wonderful fiction books. The “Fear
Collector” is Gregg’s latest book, so why don’t we take a peek
inside:
What if Ted Bundy had a son?
Or rather, what if a Ted Bundy groupie told her son that being
serial killer was in his DNA…that’s part of the premise behind
Gregg Olsen’s latest release, “Fear Collector.”
Here’s a snip from the promo copy:
“It has been my experience that killers
consider writers an opponent—which
is what we are.”
66
The evidence is mounting: A serial killer is at large in the Tacoma, Washington area. Three young women, all with long, dark
hair, have been found dead, and another is missing. For Detective Grace Alexander, the case hits terrifyingly close to home. In
1974, her sister, Tricia, vanished—and Grace is convinced that Tricia was killed by the notorious Ted Bundy.
As “Fear Collector” barrels toward its chilling conclusion, it becomes clear that Grace’s obsession with Ted Bundy is more than
matched by that of a woman who corresponded with the imprisoned monster...and was so captivated that she raised her son in
Bundy’s image. Now he’s determined to make his mother proud—no matter what it takes.
It’s great that we are able to talk with Gregg about his latest book and some other stuff, so see below the exclusive interview.
Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): What inspired you to write a Ted Bundy tale?
Gregg Olsen (G.O.): I was a teenager when Ted Bundy started his killing spree in the Pacific Northwest and because of that—like
most of us in the Seattle area—we had a front-row seat to the drama and the heartache that came in the years that he left his
bloody mark here. I can remember how scared our neighbor girls (teenagers) were about “Ted” and the idea that a stranger could
just appear, steal a life, and then vanish. Over the years there have been other serial killers (Gary Ridgway, aka the Green River
Killer) but there has never been one that seemed to infiltrate the lives of young women, college girls, and sorority sisters in the way
that Bundy did. I guess I was drawn to the idea of what might happen if one of Ted’s admirers hatched a deadly scheme—which,
without saying too much, happens in “Fear Collector.”
S. MAG.: You did a tour for
“Betrayal” in 2012 to London,
Manila, Paris, and Hong
Kong. Do you plan on doing
this for “Fear Collector”? How
successful was your tour?
G.O.: I had the time of my
life during my world tour last
year. I met the most amazing
people and saw parts of the
world that I would never have
seen. It was such an honor to
be selected to participate in the
Hong Kong Literary Festival
and the Cheltenham Festival
in the UK. SM: You played a part on the Dead Files on television in the past (I saw that episode). Is this something you will do again?
GO: I’m not a fan of reality TV. By that, I mean TV shows that fabricate a story and use real people to create it. Dead Files was
along those lines. I appreciate the integrity of many of Investigation Discovery’s programs (Dark Minds with Matt Phelps is a
very good one, as is Deadly Women, which I’ve been on a number of times). But in those cases, they have legitimate journalists
like Phelps leading people through the stories. And while they do have recreations, they are recreating the true story…not some
phony plot cooked up by some outsider.
S. MAG.: Tell us a little about Gregg Olsen as a person, not an author. What is your favorite thing to do besides writing and
touring?
G.O.: I love to meet new people—and I guess writing and touring has allowed me to do that to a great degree. But I think you
already know that! So what else? I love supporting libraries (I’m on the board of the Kitsap Regional Library Foundation),
clamming, crabbing, and beachcombing (lots of that around my part of the world). I think I like nothing better than spending
time with my family. My wife and girls are the best things that ever happened to me. The girls are grown now, so I don’t get to see
them as often as I like. Being with them is the BEST thing.
S. MAG.: What word(s) do you like using the most? And what word(s) do you hate the most?
67
G.O.: If you mean in life, and not in my books, I would say my favorite word is love. I deplore a million words, most of which are
too ugly to put here. I think people hurl hate and cruelty at each other all the time and some of the things that say are beyond
acceptable.
S. MAG.: You have an hour in a one-on-one session with Ted Bundy. What would you ask him and discuss with him?
G.O.: Good question. I think most killers are liars. They are unable to give anyone the truth. Words are just a tool to advance their
cause. I guess the only thing I’d what to discuss with Ted would be a better understanding at what truly drove him to do what
he did—which of course he’d not be able to share. It has been my experience that killers consider writers an opponent—which is
what we are. Although I’ve offered criminals the chance to give “their side” of a story, I’ve come to realize there’s nothing there.
The reason? They cannot admit to the evil they’ve done. Not with any true introspection.
S. MAG.: Most authors know that writing the book is the easy part. The hard work
comes afterward: the marketing. Which part of marketing appeals to you and
which do you not particularly care for?
GO: I worked in sales and marketing before I started writing books (doing marketing
communications for a resort camping company) so I enjoy the process very, very much.
I understand that the world is run on relationships. An author and a reader have a
genuine relationship. We need each other. I love my readers and learning about them
and what drives them to turn the page is the best part of marketing a book. My least
favorite? It would have to be that there are so many channels for reaching readers
that the approach can often be fragmented. Years ago, it was easier in a way. You get
booked on TV. You talk to the newspaper. You do some events. Social media doesn’t
work that way. We’re all still figuring it out, aren’t we?
S. MAG.: Everyone has fears that are rational to them (or sometimes not rational.)
What do you fear?
G.O.: The blade of a knife or a razor. I cannot stand any movie scene with a knife to
the throat or even a man shaving. I always have to look away. S. MAG.: Do you have a bucket list and if so, what’s your next line item?
G.O.: I don’t have a bucket list per se. I think as far as a writer, I’ve accomplished
almost everything that I wanted to do. I would still like to get one of my books made
into a film and I’m still optimistic that will happen with “Starvation Heights.” Last
year seeing Paris for the first time, reminded me that there are still places on this
planet that I’d like to visit. Now that I have an Italian publisher for my Young Adult
series, I’m thinking Florence would be lovely to visit. I took art history in college and
Florence always captivated me.
S. MAG.: What’s next for you? Can you give a sneak peek into your next book?
G.O.: I’ve several projects in the works. I have a true crime about the Susan Powell
case (that’s the missing Utah mom whose husband Josh murdered their little boys
before killing himself in a house fire here in the Seattle area). That book is in editing
now. I am writing a new adult thriller featuring Birdy Waterman (forensic pathologist
who has been a supporting character in several of my adult and young adult novels).
That’ll be out next year. And finally, I’ve sold a new YA series. Busy times!
We would like to thank Gregg for taking the time out of his busy schedule to
give us a couple of minutes. If you would like to find out much more about Gregg
and all of his work, check out his website at www.greggolsen.com. 
68
FEAR COLLECTOR
By Gregg Olsen
The serial killer’s mind is something
people are fascinated with. All, from Jack
the Ripper to the Son of Sam, are subjects
explored by novelists. But with this, we
have a new story that focuses on the evil
Ted Bundy brought to society.
As we begin, readers meet up with
Grace Alexander, a courageous spitfire
of a detective in Tacoma, Washington.
Grace has her own demons where killers
are concerned, because her sister was
(what some believe) one of Bundy’s
victims. Unfortunately for Grace and her
heartbroken mother, healing is impossible
because her sister’s body was never
discovered.
But when an accident occurs, Grace
is called in to investigate and finds a young
girl who looks to have drowned. The girl
and her boyfriend had been ‘playing’ on the
beach, she’d had a bit too much to drink,
and the currents were strong. However,
when Grace and her team discover the body
they also discover various bones from yet
another corpse; bones that could be from
Grace’s own sister.
Thrills, chills, and absolute fear
begin to erupt as one by one, girls begin
to go missing. Girls with dark brown hair
parted in the middle, the right size, shape
and coloring that Bundy was so famous
for—which scares the town to death that a
copycat perhaps has arrived on the scene to
pick up where he left off.
But this is far more than just another
serial killer. In fact, this has ‘branches’ of
stories that lead Grace from her ‘Bundy’
past to a family that may perhaps be seeking
revenge; a woman whose passion may have
turned her into a fanatic; and a family trying
to protect one another from a trip to Death
Row.
Readers will not see these twists
and turns coming and, even better, when
standing directly in the middle of them,
they’ll get the shock of a lifetime. This
author has gone out of his way to make sure
this is a novel of true and utter fear!
Reviewed by Amy Lignor, author of “13:
Tallent & Lowery Book One” published by
Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense
Magazine 
“A plunge into New Orleans/Cajun culture.
High society to Zydeco icehouse bars, Lyons covers the gamut.
~SUSPeNSe MAGAZINe
A series worth following.”MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Published by emily Bestler Books / Atria /
Simon & Schuster
In Paperback
th
march 26 !
Also
Available in
Hard Cover,
Audiobook,
and E-Book!
...Coming in August!
nd in the series!
“This is an auspicious beginning for a mystery series
featuring one of the most agreeably easy going heroes on this side of the Atlantic.”
~KIRKUS REVIEWS
“A novel with almost clairvoyant timing, a fascinating plot and complex characters.”
~NYT Bestselling Author, Graham Brown
Free Personalized Digital Book Cover - www.DavidLyonsAuthor.com
I want to thank readers for giving my character Jock Boucher, Renegade Cajun
Federal Judge, such an enthusiastic welcome to the world of thriller fiction.
Jock’s next adventure will be coming in August!
David Lyons
Behind the Scenes
with Paranormal Powerhouse
Heather Graham
Author Heather Graham is arguably one of the
best writers in paranormal ghost stories of today. She has written more
than a hundred novels and novellas, starting back in 1983 with “When
We Next Love.” Since then, Heather has done far more for the writing
community by being a founder of the Florida chapter of the Romance
Writers of America. Since 1999, she has hosted the Romantic Times
Vampire Ball for charity and in 2003, they honored her by giving her the
lifetime achievement award. Every Labor Day since 2006 in New Orleans,
Heather has hosted her own writing event called Writers for New Orleans.
Now Heather is back with her latest book “Let the Dead Sleep.” Her
popular series, the Krewe of Hunters, has four books that came out in April
2012 with the release of “The Unseen” followed by “The Unholy,” “The
Unspoken,” and finished up in August 2012 with “The Uninvited.” Heather
loves to take the reader on a journey into the paranormal emotional realm
and “Let the Dead Sleep” continues on that track, so let’s see what Heather
has in store for us:
It was stolen from a New Orleans grave—the centuries-old bust of an evil
man, a demonic man. It’s an object desired by collectors—and by those with
wickedness in their hearts.
One day, its current owner shows up at Danni Cafferty’s antiques shop on
Royal Street, the shop she inherited from her father. But before Danni can
buy the statue, it disappears, the owner is found dead…and Danni discovers
that she’s inherited much more than she realized. In the store is a book filled
with secret writing: instructions for defeating evil entities. She’d dismissed it
as a curiosity…until the arrival of this statue, with its long history of evil and
even longer trail of death.
Michael Quinn, former cop and now private investigator, is a man with an unusual past. He believes that doing the right thing
isn’t a job—it’s a way of life. And the right thing to do is find and destroy this object weighted with malevolent powers. He and
Danni are drawn together in their search for the missing statue, following it through sultry New Orleans nights to hidden places
in the French Quarter and secret ceremonies on abandoned plantations.
Cafferty and Quinn already know that trust in others can be misplaced, that love can be temporary. And yet their connection is
primal. Mesmerizing. They also know that their story won’t end when this case is closed and the dead rest in peace once again.
Below is the exclusive interview we conducted with Heather, so enjoy!
Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): Give us a little behind-the-scenes look at your latest book “Let the Dead Sleep.” 70
“The best of times is when you get characters that
come alive with a well-rounded plot!”
Heather Graham (H.G.): “Let the Dead Sleep” begins a new series featuring Cafferty and Quinn. Danni or Danielle Cafferty
has been living a pretty idyllic life as an up-and-coming artist in her native New Orleans when her dad dies and she inherits his
curio and antique shop on Royal Street. She’s still crushed by his death when a woman bursts into her shop demanding that she
do something about the bust of a Renaissance Italian aristocrat; she believes that the marble bust just killed her husband. Enter
Michael Quinn. Quinn worked with Danni’s father on various strange cases. Once a college football hero with drop-dead good
looks and charisma, Michael had let excesses lead him astray. Pronounced dead on the operating table after a partying bout and
an accident, he’s resuscitated and comes back—but as a new man with a mysterious stranger watching him now and then. With
a second chance at life, he’s ready to fight the good fight when the very strange occurs.
S. MAG.: New Orleans is the perfect backdrop for this book. Are you going to take the readers deep into the heart of New
Orleans, places that aren’t on the normal tourist locations?
H.G.: Hopefully into the heart and soul and beyond. NOLA is a city I love, unique in so many ways. The French Quarter is
wonderful—but it’s equally wonderful to wander afield! There are beautiful bayous, wonderful museums, just fabulous walks,
the Garden District, so much more. There are also areas still grasping at renewal. The landscape of the area is beautiful; the
Mississippi is really a great river. New Orleans offers the sublime and the bizarre, and I always hope that descriptions of a place
make those who have been there want to return feeling nostalgic and those who have never been come on down.
S. MAG.: Your main characters Danni Cafferty and Michael Quinn have a unique relationship. Did their story go as planned
or did they give you some surprises along the way?
H.G.: There are always a few surprises along the way. The book is the first in a series revolving around the pair so there may be
many more. Danni and Quinn really care about one another, but they are still uncertain, feeling their way with the roles they’re
now playing in life—and death. There’s nothing like a new work situation to throw you off your game!
S. MAG.: Your books and plots are always rich with emotion among characters. Do you feel the best stories are more character
driven or plot driven?
H.G.: I think we need to care about characters to care about what happens to him. Not that plot isn’t important—unless you’re
just doing a character portrait. But in my case, when I’m reading, people are always important. I know that say, with a history
lesson, it can just be times, events, etc—but what brings history to life is understanding the men and women living it, what
drives them, what makes them feel the way they do. The best of times is when you get
characters that come alive with a well-rounded plot!
S. MAG.: Can you give us one sentence or one paragraph from “Let the Dead Sleep”
that you feel captures the essence of the book?
H.G.: Instead, she headed downstairs to the rooms that had been the most precious
to her father. There were display cases here and there—and boxes everywhere. A full
suit of armor stood in one corner while another—only slightly dusty—held an upright
Victorian coffin. It had never been used to house a body but had rather been a display
piece for a funeral home that had once been in business on Canal Street. A mannequin
enjoyed eternal sleep behind the glass inset that had displayed the face and been so
popular at the time. The wall displayed the death mask of an ancient Egyptian queen
and one corner of the room held a horrifically screaming gorilla from a movie that
was never completed, and probably with good cause—the sign on the creature said
“Display model; The Gorilla that Ate Manhattan.
She paused, turning on the lights. Others, she thought, might find the basement
creepy. She had spent so much time—ever since she could remember—collecting
with her father that she had learned rather to enjoy the delicate artistry put
into so many of the items. The carving, for instance, of the coffin was the result of
painstaking handcraft and labor.
71
Light filtered in from the old glass panes just above ground but it wasn’t enough for
her that afternoon. Danni turned on the low-watt bulbs that helped protect the old
art and artistry there and looked around the room. She sighed softly. Some people
might suggest that her father surely haunted the rooms where his collections were
kept.
She only wished that he did.
“Oh, Dad, if only you were here now!” she said softly aloud.
She winced.
The book. He had been so frantic that she “look to the book.”
S. MAG.: What is your favorite word and your least favorite word and why? H.G.: Plethora—it just sounds cool. I can’t even write my least favorite word. There’s
something ugly about it.
S. MAG.: The beginning of the book or the end of the book, which do you feel has
more impact on the reader, but which is more difficult to write for the author?
H.G.: For me, the beginning of a book is hardest. It’s establishing characters and a
situation without creating an information dump. Sifting in what’s important in the
beginning is the hardest; an opening page that pulls the reader in is very important. S. MAG.: What book title do you think best describes you?
H.G.: Um, “Haunted,” maybe? I am a coward.
S. MAG.: What scares Heather Graham?
H.G.: Sadly, almost anything. As I just admitted, I am a complete coward. But, on
that note—I’m not afraid of giant bugs or sea creatures—I dive, and I respect the real
“monsters” of the sea, but I won’t let the possibilty of an alien creature rising from the
depths keep me from the wonder of the reefs. Things that work on your mind scare me
the most. The possibilities of the unknown as far as life and death scare me. While I
was growing up, I spent a lot of time with my mother’s immigrant Irish family and our
granny used to threaten us with, “If you don’t behave, the banshees be getting you
in the outhouse!” We didn’t have an outhouse, but that fact didn’t seep in for a few
years. The real horror that we can do to one another is pretty scary, too. Oh, and last,
when the dogs bark, there’s really some one near. Every once in a while, one of the cats
will just start staring across a room late at night; that gets me every time. I keep believing that I can outrun a zombie, so I’m okay there! LET THE DEAD SLEEP
By Heather Graham
If I were a budding author, Heather
Graham is who I’d like to emulate, but
since I’m not, I’m happy to sit on the
sidelines rooting her on. Graham’s work
defies specific genres and even in today’s
tumultuous market, if she were just starting
out, her writing would still stand apart
from the masses. The introduction of “Let
the Dead Sleep,” the first in a new series, A
Cafferty and Quinn Story, is an ideal example
of why fans flock to buy her books.
Danni Cafferty is reeling from the
unexpected death of her father—the wellknown and well-liked head of the Cafferty
clan—and she is much too unprepared to fill
his shoes. His cryptic last wishes are hard to
decipher, but she would do anything for her
father and his clear request to keep the store
running—an odds and antiques shop in
New Orleans—is an easy decision to make
with the help of his trusted employees.
Everything seems to be running
smoothly until the day a woman arrives
requesting their help…specifically Danni’s
in procuring a statue the woman begs her to
take. However, Danni can’t easily come to
terms with the madness spouting from the
crazed woman’s lips about the statue and
its murderous intent. Before she can obtain
this oddity, the woman is found dead and
the statue is gone.
Private eye and former cop, Michael
Quinn is on the hunt for the marble
menace and can’t grasp the fact that
Danni’s father—a man he knew for years—
didn’t share with Danni the details of her
birthright. How is she to help him without
that knowledge? Danni’s learning curve
may be more than Quinn can handle as the
secrets of the statue begin to unfurl.
Murder, intrigue, and some hot-andheavy magnetism between Quinn and
Cafferty make for a fast-paced read. You
may never know in advance what harrowing
situations Graham’ll place her characters
into, but before you pick up any of her
titles, rest assured that the end result will be
satisfying.
Reviewed by Shannon Raab for Suspense
Magazine 
S. MAG.: What can we expect to see from you in 2013, after “Let the Dead Sleep”?
H.G.: There are three more books in the Krewe series coming out in summer and fall. They are “The Night is Watching,” “The
Night is Alive,” and “The Night Is Forever.” I’ve also worked with Harley Jane Kozak and Alexandra Sokoloff on a “Keeper”
series; the “Keepers” are responsible—under the radar, of course—for keeping the mythical beings that walk among us in plain
sight from breaking the law so that the human population won’t go on “monster” purges. It’s been tremendous fun working with
best friends. “Keeper of the Night,” by me, is out now. It will be followed by Harley’s “Keeper of the Moon,” Alex’s “Keeper of the
Shadows,” and tied up by me with “Keeper of the Dawn.” There will also be a Christmas Keeper anthology featuring me, Beth
Ciotta, Kathleen Pickering, and Deborah LeBlanc. Next April, there will be a second Cafferty and Quinn novel, with the pair this
time on the hunt for a priceless Gothic painting that does more than capture the imagination of the viewer.
We would like to thank Heather for taking the time out of her very busy schedule to give us a little look inside her world.
For more information about Heather and all her work, check out her website at www.eheathergraham.com. 
72
By Thomas Scopel
W
hen first learning of the opportunity to interview
Frankenstein—or,
rather,
Frankenstein’s
monster—I was a bit hesitant. I expected an aggressive
and wholly unpredictable, yet bumbling, mumbling, and
stumbling untrained mind, constantly reaching for answers
to my questions and moaning angrily when unable to reach
them. And, I also might add, had he chose to threaten and
pursue, I was fully prepared to run.
However, in hindsight, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Imagine my surprise in finding not a monster at all, but a
completely rational, intelligent, sensitive individual, smartly
dressed in a white shirt and a blue sport blazer, and looking
rather dapper as he took the seat across from me and ordered
a double espresso, as if it was the most natural thing. As we
made small talk prior to the official interview, I was surprised
by his candidness and especially the extensive vocabulary he
utilized through a deep, monotonous toned voice.
Thomas Scopel (T.S.): Mr. Frankenstein…
Frankenstein (Frank): Please, call me Frank…
T.S.: Okay Frank. Speaking bluntly, considering you are
patched together from many parts, how do you feel?
Frank: I get that question all the time, and my answer is always
the same, that I’m fine. That is unless it’s raining, which gets
my knee to aching, and as long as no large open flames are
involved, heh heh (deep, echoing laugh). That’s a joke…movie
thing, mind you. No, in all honesty, a stitch here and a stitch
there is sometimes required in order to correct the doc’s hasty
actions. Can’t say that I blame him though. Have you looked
closely at what he was working with? Darkness, an impending
majestic electrical storm crackling in the distant, and medical
tools that left a lot to be desired. No siree, wasn’t much microsurgery in those days. Get it? Another joke. Of course, if you’re
wondering whether I’m able to reach over and snatch the life
right out of you, (his face took on a fearsome, mean appearance
complete with ruthless staring eyes) I certainly could. And that
somewhat short race you’re anticipating or feeling compelled to
attempt won’t do much good either. I’m considerably quicker
now, (his head lowered and his eyes pierced deadly into mine
and I was suddenly more terrified than I had ever been) a
product of many microsurgeries. (After holding the glare for
74
what felt like eternity but was a mere few seconds, he burst into
a hearty, if not bellowing, boisterous laugh). That’s another
joke…I still have it! No seriously, how do I feel? I feel fine.
T.S.: How old are you?
Frank: Well, that depends upon which part you’re referring
to. Ha ha. (another laugh) Like most women, I prefer to not
discuss age. I was created when Ms. Shelly wrote that first
word. However, I like to think I was born with that lightning
strike. You do the math.
T.S.: You were originally labeled a monster, Frankenstein’s
monster. But somewhere along the way you began being
referred to simply as Frankenstein. What do you have to say
about that?
Frank: Personally, it doesn’t trouble me. However, while the doc
hasn’t conveyed it, I know the concept troubles him. I mean,
how would you feel if someone took your name and was reaped
with all the rewards, leaving you out in the cold? Regardless,
I take horror very seriously. After all, it’s been my bread and
butter for a generation or two now. And, let’s be blunt, I
personify monsterism, especially with this evergreen-colored
skin and these somewhat idiotic bolts sticking out of my neck.
Nonetheless, I suppose I see it all as a badge of honor. Without
the label, and to be perfectly honest, without the doc, I would
have been nothing. Obviously, I enjoy scaring people, as you’ve
already seen, but I really tend to lean toward viewing myself as
that Herman guy, loveable, laughable, and sometimes, for lack
of a better word, rather uneducated.
T.S.: You are rather intimidating. Maybe it’s just your size
which implies extensive capabilities. Speaking of that comedy
sitcom knockoff, how do you feel about their conception of
your character?
Frank: When I first saw it, it really made me mad. Horror is
horror and comedy is comedy and it was very hard for me to
accept the fine line between both. However, after viewing a few
episodes and realizing the popularity involved, I simmered a
bit and change perspectives, realizing and even appreciating
that they were at least keeping my character in the spotlight,
regardless whether it was comedic. And, I have to admit to
developing a bit of a crush on Lily. Boy! is she a hot vixen.
She can bite me any day. Not like the Lancaster chick. And, as
most everyone knows, I have no children. So both Marilyn and
Eddie would be simply perfect in personifying my delusions of
grandeur. Something a father-want-to-be would be proud of.
T.S.: We’ve never seen you eat anything. What are some of
your favorite foods?
Frank: Well, I like most everything, but my taste buds never
fully developed and so I am unable to fully enjoy standard
cuisine as most folks and I primarily seek out texture. Somehow,
that seems to make up for the flavor loss. Strong flavors I can
partially detect, and I tend to pursue those. And, there are a
number of items that I avoid, too; not because I dislike them, but
because they dislike me and cause a terrible case of indigestion.
My body doesn’t digest well and so I typically stick to fruits
and vegetables, only for nutrition sake. On occasion, I’ll tempt
fates and have a thick, juicy cheeseburger loaded with onions
and eventually end up wishing I hadn’t. But it never stops me
from a repeat performance from time to time. And, speaking
of onions, they’re one of those strong flavors, same with garlic.
Of course, after ingesting them, I do have a tendency to reek.
T.S.: With your well-known fear of fire, do you barbeque?
Frank: Yes, but it’s always with a gas-type grill. None of that
charcoal and lighter fluid for me. Too much opportunity for
mishap.
T.S.: Do you have any nightmares?
Frank: Sometimes, but they’re not typical. You would think I
dream of fire, considering my track record, but I don’t. Never
do. I dream about how I frightened that little girl, even though
when we were filming she wasn’t all that scared. Maybe, and
hindsight is always 20/20, if I hadn’t seen the finished product,
this wouldn’t occur. I’ll let you in on a little secret. That scene
scared me way more than the fire did. Maybe I am more like
that Herman guy than I’d like to admit.
T.S.: While I think I may detect a slight smell emulating from
you, it’s not all that strong or repulsive. It’s sort of a new-car
smell. Do you harbor an odor and if so, how do you combat
it?
Frank: Like I mentioned earlier, the parts seem to be working
fine. But, they were all dead at one time and due to that aspect,
with it comes the never-ending aroma. Not much I can do
about it. Lord knows I’ve tried. I have learned to somewhat
mask it and make being around me more palatable. The onions
and garlic help tremendously. And I’m pretty well known at
a number of higher-end department stores’ fragrance sections.
I’m the seven-foot-tall green guy at the counter asking for a few
of those little samples of the latest colognes. Usually, after the
sales girl’s initial fright, she reaps me with them. Of course, I
always have to sample the open bottles while I’m there, too. Oh,
and the magazines, too. You know, the ones with the fold-over
sheet that harbors the scent. Those work well too. However,
there is never enough to mask and I usually resort to tearing
out the sheets and tucking them inconspicuously in various
pockets. A lot of times that does the trick. Today I’ve loaded
up on car air fresheners, so (hearty grin) your nose doesn’t
undermine with the new-car scent.
T.S.: Why haven’t you ever made a sequel to your blockbuster
flick?
Frank: Funny you should ask. As everyone knows, I was
supposedly destroyed in the fire. There were discussions about
bringing my character back, but it was too tough finding a
good storyline that didn’t appear vague and believable about
my escaping the clutches of a fiery death. Let’s face it, my
death was needed in order to both, stay true to the book, as
well as properly close the film. That much I understand and
wholeheartedly agree with. However, I would have liked to
continue on with a film career. But it’s for the better since I
would have wanted my character to have progressed to having
a speaking role. Nonetheless, I was stereotyped and therefore,
that wasn’t going to occur. For years I wrestled with this concept,
eventually coming to the conclusion that, as the studios saw
it, my best work had already been completed. Of course, that
didn’t deter the studios from attempting to capitalize on the
success and my fame and they pursued that bride thing. To me,
that seemed a bit moronic. Too much like an Adam and Eve
type thing, I suppose.
T.S.: What about clothing and shoes? You must have a rough
time hunting down a size that fits?
Frank: I used to, before it became so easy to shop from home.
I had such a terribly tough time hunting things down. After
all, Rodeo Drive is all about trendy and they certainly don’t
cater to the big and tall, nor do they stock anything over a
size five. Even had a tough time at Walmart and they usually
have everything. I typically found myself browsing secondhand
stores. Sometimes I’d get lucky and sometimes I didn’t. Now,
with the internet age and online shopping, that has all
drastically changed and there are a number of websites I have
stumbled across and since stored in my favorites; everything
from hats to shoes and the sizes are usually spot-on.
T.S.: So what’s next for the big green monster?
Frank: Well, as you would probably suspect, there hasn’t been
a flood of scripts flowing my way. Let’s face it. I’m not the
romantic comedy leading-man material. But I remain hopeful
and check the mailbox every day.
Author’s note: Somehow throughout the interview, I
had begun to feel sorry for the big lug. But it wasn’t strong
enough to override the fact that had he wanted to, he could
have easily reached over the table and snapped my neck
like a twig. That feeling lasted until I recalled the Dracula
interview I had scheduled for next month and realized that
darkness would not be a negotiation but a certainty, and
simply wearing a turtleneck sweater probably won’t suffice.
Maybe I’ll take Frank’s lead and wear a garlic necklace, not
for scent coverage, but for security. Hopefully Drac won’t be
offended. 
75
Plotting a
Crime
By Carole Bugge
You probably know the answer to the question, “What’s the most important
thing in real estate?” (Answer: location, location, location.) Okay, what’s the most important thing in
crime or mystery writing? Answer: story, story, story.
Anyone who says they find coming up with a good story easy is either a liar or a fool. It’s gritty, sweaty work, and it’s what
separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls, and the professionals from the wannabes. It goes by other names:
plot, narrative through-line, storyline, but it is the single most important element in the commercial (and often critical)
success of a book in the crime genre. (Remember “The DaVinci Code?”) To paraphrase Vince Lombardi, plot is not the most
important thing, it’s the only thing. All the pretty prose, marvelous metaphors, and captivating characters in the world will
not make up for the lack of a good story.
So what makes for a good plot, and how do you get one? If that answer were easy, we’d all have as much money as Dan
Brown and Michael Crichton combined. When asked where he got his ideas, Harlan Ellison used to answer, “Schenectady.
There’s a swell Idea Service in Schenectady; and every week I send ’em twenty-five bucks, and every week they send me a
fresh six-pack of ideas.”
A really good premise helps—a lot. But a great premise is only a small part of the battle. Even a great premise can be
ruined by bad execution, and a mediocre premise can be transformed into a brilliant story. If you have both, of course, you’ve
hit the Story Jackpot.
He Who Suffers
Every story must have a main character, or protagonist, which, by the way, is Greek for “he who suffers the most.” Ignore
this linguistic hint at your peril. By all means, make your protagonist suffer and if others suffer along with him, so much
the better. It has been said that we long to read stories about things happening to people that we would never, ever want
to happen to us or the people we care about. The irony, of course, is that stories only work if we do come to care about the
characters, especially the long-suffering protagonist.
Some stories have what is called a “group protagonist”: a group of people acting as one, wanting the same thing, working
toward the same goal. A good example of this is Caleb Carr’s intriguing historical thriller, “The Alienist,” as well as its sequel,
“Angel of Darkness.” Both books have a small band of folks who work together to identify and capture the serial killer
prowling the streets of 19th-century New York City.
No one person stands out in either book as being the central character, even though both books have a first person
narrator who is close to the action. Of course, a potential drawback of using a group protagonist is that the reader can end
up bonding rather weakly with several characters instead of bonding strongly with one – thus decreasing his emotional
involvement. This is true in both of Carr’s books, in my opinion, but no worries: the real star in both books is the setting,
which Carr brings to life masterfully.
And emotional involvement is a key element in any genre. The word “emotion” means “movement,” and when people
read stories, they want to be moved. So it’s our job to deliver not only thrills but chills, not only to engage our readers, but to
move them. So give your protagonist something worth struggling for, and then, by god, make him struggle.
In the old-fashioned version of the classic murder mystery, there may not be a terrific amount of emotional involvement
on the part of the reader, but that lack of emotion is replaced by the pleasure of trying to solve the puzzle. This would be
especially true of the so-called “cozies,” which engage the reader not by terrifying or moving them, but by presenting them
with charming characters, picturesque settings, and a jolly good puzzle to solve. Though P.D. James is a novelist of terrific
intellect and keen insight, some of her Inspector Dalgleish novels teeter toward the cozy end of the spectrum. In “Death Holy
Orders,” for example, Dalgleish travels to a quaint seaside theological college to uncover the mystery behind the death of a
student. The reader is given a lot of historical detail about the area, the setting is both picturesque and appropriately spooky.
The characters are eccentric in the way only the British can be, and eventually the criminal is brought to justice. But it is a
“closed society” killer, the threat never widens out into society in general, and Dalgleish himself is never truly in danger. It’s
a good ride, but it’s not an edge-of-your-seat page turner.
76
Please, Sir, May I Have Some More?
When young Oliver approached the dour cook in “Oliver Twist,” he really wanted some more porridge—no, he needed
it, because he was starving. Who among us can’t relate to the plight of a starving orphan? He’s starving, for God’s sake, and
he’s an orphan! Give the kid some more gruel! That’s one of the many ways Dickens draws us into the plight of his characters:
the stakes are high, the situation dire, and his poor characters are in terrible, life or death situations. In his day, he was the
equivalent of J.K. Rowling; people lined up at the docks of New York to wait for the ship bringing the next installment of “The
Old Curiosity Shop” to see if poor Nell lived or died (I hate to break it to you, but she died).
In order to have a story, you need a character who wants something…no, who needs something. In “The Maltese Falcon,”
Sam Spade really needs to know who killed his partner, Miles. In “Crime and Punishment,” Raskolnikov at first needs to kill
the landlady (or feels he does, which is the same thing from his perspective), and later he needs to evade the police—until he
feels the need to confess, which is another brilliant twist in Dostoevsky’s masterpiece of a novel.
And then you have to put as many obstacles in his way as you possibly can—the more, the merrier. Janet Burroway has a
neat little formula: Drama = Desire + Danger. And the greater the desire, or need, the greater the possibilities for drama. But
to make the story work, you have to add the key element of danger.
Danger, Will Robinson
I have my own mantra to spur me on to gripping storylines: the greater the danger, the more you interest a stranger. In
other words, your readership is in direct proportion to how much you make your characters struggle to get what they want.
The kicker, of course, is how do you do that?
Well, first of all, it is key to create a situation in which the character has something to lose if he or she fails. In other words,
raise the stakes. And, as I mentioned in the first lecture, the more there is to lose. The more people who might be affected if
your protagonist fails, the better.
In “The Maltese Falcon,” Sam Spade will lose both his self-respect and his professional reputation if he fails to find the
killer. There is also a good chance whoever killed Miles will come to kill him. In “Crime and Punishment,” Raskolnikov’s
sanity and self-image are at stake before he murders the landlady. Afterwards, his liberty and perhaps even his life are at stake.
This is wonderfully clear in the premise of “The Andromeda Strain.” What is at stake is simply the survival of mankind.
Either the virus wins, or we do; it’s as simple as that. Okay, you may not think we’re the greatest thing that ever happened to
this planet, but if contemplating our total annihilation doesn’t send a chill up your spine, you’re probably too thick-skinned
to be a writer. And defeated by a virus? Crichton makes his scientists struggle mightily against nature herself—and, as we all
know, you can’t fool her.
Nature makes a pretty good villain in a lot of genres; certainly in most medical thrillers she is an accomplice at the very
least, if not the main threat. Of course you have to pile human drama on top of that, people struggling with and against each
other, but more about that later.
This Time, It’s Personal
So how do you make the reader care? Well, the most obvious way is to make the struggle matter greatly to the protagonist—
in other words, make it deeply personal. Unfortunately, this can be clumsily done, and can come across as painting-backstoryby-numbers. In “The Princess Bride,” William Goldman lampoons this story cliché in the Mandy Patinkin character, who, in
scene after scene, intones “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die,” in an overdone Spanish
accent. Comedy trades in clichés, of course; without them, it would be a thin world for comedy writers.
But clichés become common because there was once something vital and true about them; otherwise, they wouldn’t have
caught on in the first place. The trick to breathing life into any well-worn device is to make it fresh, give it a twist, or, best of
all, imbue it with emotional truth. What exactly is emotional truth? Well, perhaps it is a little like pornography, in the famous
definition given by the Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, who, while admitting he couldn’t define it, insisted that “I know
it when I see it.”
Emotional truth comes about when you write from within yourself, forging the protagonist’s struggles from elements in
your own life or character or (dare I say) soul. If you sit down to give your protagonist a backstory of say, a dead wife, and you
can’t relate personally to this, having never been married or never experienced such a thing, or if you lack the imagination to
experience it vicariously, then your choice will ring hollow. You can’t just pluck a plot point out of the air because you decide
you need “something,” so this will do. If you do, the reader will smell a rat.
But since imagination is one of the prerequisites for being a writer, you can give your protagonist that backstory, even
if you’ve never been married or suffered such a loss, but only if you can put yourself in his shoes and experience the loss as
fully as possible. It is no coincidence that most playwrights were once actors. The skill set is similar: imagination, sympathy,
the desire to live a character’s emotional life vicariously. It is also no accident that many writers have one or two themes they
pursue obsessively, working out the problem again and again, much as Monet was drawn to painting the Sacre Coeur over
and over.
You often don’t have to dig very deep to find the origins of a writer’s obsession. For instance, Conrad Aiken wrote story
after story about the loss of a child, his most famous being “Secret Snow, Silent Snow,” in which a little boy is lost to madness.
77
It all makes sense when you know that he lost his little sisters at the age of five and never recovered, though I prefer to think
he recovered a little with each story he wrote.
James Ellroy’s mother was murdered when he was a boy, and it colored his entire life. His career as a crime writer no
doubt came about in part because of this loss. He even wrote a fascinating memoir about her death, “My Dark Places.”
Plotting – or Plodding?
Okay, you say, enough of the touchy-feely aspect of writing, I already know how to create believable characters. Tell me
about plot.
First of all, every protagonist needs an antagonist, something or someone to defeat, to struggle with. The antagonist is
not always a person, nor even a thing, it may even be inside the protagonist’s own head. A famous example is “Turn of the
Screw” by Henry James. Is the narrator crazy, or are there really ghosts in the house? No one has ever answered that question
definitively. For this reason, we can also refer to anything that gets in between the protagonist and his goal as the “Forces of
Opposition.” Depending on the genre, the forces of opposition can be anything from a serial killer to a super spy to a super
virus. In Crichton’s techno-thriller “Prey,” it’s rogue nano-robots. The important thing is that it’s dangerous. Any really good
premise I can think of has a powerful, nearly unstoppable antagonist; one that challenges the protagonist to display ever
greater resourcefulness and courage in the struggle to achieve victory.
So what constitutes a good premise? A really strong premise in crime fiction, is one that potentially involves the greatest
number of characters (high stakes, universality), but concerns one character (your protagonist) in an intensely personal way.
Most often in mystery and crime fiction, the protagonist is the detective/profiler/spy catcher, so the personal involvement
is professional as well. (More later about how to combine the personal and the professional to raise the stakes even higher.)
If you can come up with a threat of some kind in which no one is safe, you will automatically have a story with high stakes.
That was one of Thomas Harris’ brilliant strokes in “Red Dragon,” the book which introduced Hannibal Lecter to the world
and set the standard for stories about serial killers. Lecter was brilliant, ruthless, and a cannibal. He didn’t kill his victims and
then eat them, like Jeffrey Dahmer, he gnawed chunks out of them while they were alive. There is something so primal and
terrifying about the notion of being eaten alive, that Hannibal the Cannibal was the fictional equivalent of fear itself. And, to
top it off, Harris made Lecter smarter than most people. He was not only a cannibal, but a brilliant one, like a zombie with a
brain. In other words, he was nearly unstoppable.
Then in “The Silence of the Lambs,” instead of pitting Lecter against the FBI’s most experienced profiler, Harris makes his
protagonist a raw rookie, and, to top it off, a woman! (Remember what I said about the vulnerability of women and children?
That would go double for a serial killer, whose motivation is so often psychosexual). Harris has been criticized by people
who claim that the FBI would never have sent an inexperienced young profiler to go up against someone like Lecter—and
no doubt, they are right. And Harris—no doubt—knew that. But having done his research, he picked the places where he felt
the story demanded a non-realistic choice. And then he had the balls to make that choice. Because he knew something every
successful writer knows sooner or later: story trumps everything.
By all means, do your research, check your facts, know the world you’re writing about inside out, and then, if your story
truly demands it, make a choice that will stretch the facts as you know them. Work your ass off to justify it, and then just take
the flack when it hits. And, like Harris, cry all the way to the bank. (Lecter isn’t even the killer in “Silence of the Lambs,” but
he’s the character everyone remembers, and his scenes with Clarice are creepy and terrifying and memorable.)
When I say work to justify your choice, take for example what Crichton did in “Jurassic Park.” Science has not yet come
up with a way to clone dinosaur DNA, of course, but having come up with a truly awesome premise, Crichton created a whole
scene to justify that premise, as well as knock off a bit of exposition at the same time, thus killing two pterodactyls with one…
Anyway, you know the scene I mean, whether you read the book or saw the movie, it’s the one where the two paleontologists
(played by Sam Neal and Laura Dern in the film) are taken through the cloning procedure in the billionaire’s lab, complete
with cool graphics, etc. As they get an education about what’s been going on this remote island, so does the reader and we’re
being indoctrinated as surely as they are. After all, it would be churlish to deny Crichton his premise after he worked so hard
to convince us, wouldn’t it?
When An Unstoppable Force Meets…
So you have a nearly unstoppable antagonist. Then what happens? A story is like a baseball game. Nobody wants to watch
a game in which the outcome is guaranteed. What makes a game exciting is the suspense of not knowing who will triumph.
Or, as Gwendolyn says in “The Importance of Being Earnest,” “This suspense is terrible; I hope it will last!” Baseball fans
pour out in droves to see the New York Yankees face the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. They don’t come to the
Yanks play the New Jersey Beef Jerkies, the co-ed pickup team that meets every Saturday morning for slowpitch softball. The
outcome would be guaranteed, and no one would care.
So your antagonist, or forces of opposition, must be as strong as possible. That means your protagonist must be—
Superman? Well, even Superman had his Kryptonite. And every protagonist has an Achilles heel of some kind: a weakness,
a soft spot, a vulnerability that the antagonist will be able to capitalize on. So your protagonist is not quite an immovable
object, any more than your antagonist is truly an unstoppable force. But you must hurtle them at each other with all the tools
78
at your disposal. You must keep the reader guessing at every turn what the outcome will be. And that takes patience, skill,
and ingenuity.
Try to match them up. You can pit like against like, there is something delicious about the idea of Sherlock Holmes
locking horns with Professor Moriarty. You have perhaps the two smartest men in London, one on the side of good, the
other on the side of evil. Or, in the case of Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, you have the unity of opposites: brilliant,
manipulative serial killer against raw, unseasoned FBI rookie. So the story becomes a coming of age tale. Of course, Clarice
isn’t quite as innocent as we thought at first, and she is forced to find inner resources she didn’t know she had.
Twisted Sisters
Okay, you have your premise, it’s original and intriguing, and you know both your protagonist and antagonist. Now
what? The meat and potatoes of creating story is coming up with enough twists and turns in your plot to hold the reader’s
interest. This can make your want to tear your hair out and chew off every one of your fingernails before moving on to your
toenails. Because it is difficult; as I said earlier, it’s dirty, and gritty, and sweaty work. So roll up your sleeves and dig in,
because there aren’t any shortcuts.
A plot twist is essentially a change of direction in the story, some event or realization that forces the protagonist to make
an adjustment of some kind. An example would be something like the prime suspect being murdered halfway through the
story. That shy woman turns out to be the long-lost daughter of the victim. The dead person isn’t really dead after all, that
kind of thing. Readers of crime fiction depend upon these twists to hold their interest—they expect them, in fact.
People are lazy, they don’t like change, and they don’t like to have to rethink their actions. Your protagonist is no different.
He wants to slog through every day the same as the day before, following the same rituals and habits he’s always followed.
You can’t let him. You are the brutal taskmaster who yanks the rug out from under his cozy life, tosses him into a situation
he never wanted in the first place, and then torments him until your breathless reader eagerly turns the last page of your
novel.
You have to be cruel to be kind. Throw everything you can think of at your protagonist; surprise him in every chapter
with an unforeseen event, an unexpected twist, an unsolvable puzzle. He may hate you for it, but your readers will love you.
And they’re the ones buying your book, not your poor protagonist.
Forces of opposition can come in many forms. There is, of course, the dangerous and nearly unstoppable antagonist, but
there is also the unexpected love affair, the lost child or ailing parent, the lingering self-doubt, the long-standing family feud,
and of course, that staple in detective stories, that pesky old drinking problem.
Even “good” events in a character’s life can be used to complicate the plot and torment them. Your detective falls in love
(good), but the woman he loves is the sister of the criminal he’s pursuing (bad). She agrees to help him trap her brother
(good), but her brother kidnaps her and holds her hostage (bad). One of the keys to good storytelling, as shown rather
crudely here, is to turn the story as much and as often as you can, flipping the protagonist like a pancake on a hot griddle. You
can think of plot as a rollercoaster ride, your story zooms along on its track, from valley to peak and back again. As soon
as the reader catches his breath when you dip into a valley, you are ready again to slide up the track to another peak—even
higher than the last.
Because a story must build, each crisis or turning point must be higher than the last, spiraling ever upward, demanding
greater effort and struggle from your protagonist. This is the challenge you must rise to if you are serious about writing in any
of the action genres. Even so-called “literary fiction” benefits from this kind of storytelling discipline, even if the “events” or
turning points are more internal and psychological than they might be in an action genre such as a mystery or detective story.
(I seem to recall that even “literary fiction” is not above the occasional dead body or psychopathic killer…)
But don’t make your turning points arbitrary, flipping the story just for the sake of it. As always, you have to believe what
you write. You are essentially telling the reader that, in the world of your story, this is how life is. And you can’t really do that
well unless you believe it. Readers don’t like to be lied to about the important things; they will smell a rat every time. They
don’t mind buying that dinosaurs can be cloned, or that a young FBI agent could be pitted against a cunning serial killer,
or even that Mary Magdalene married Jesus and had his baby. But they don’t want to be lied to about the truth—the deep
philosophical and spiritual truth—of your story. In other words, be true to your own vision. It will stand you in good stead.
Don’t “write to the market,” or borrow someone else’s vision because you think it’s trendy…stick with your own. Trends
come and go, but truth is eternal. So tell the truth about the important things, and as to the rest, just remember…
Story trumps everything. 
C.E. Lawrence is the byline of a New York-based suspense writer, performer, composer, and prizewinning playwright and poet whose previous books have been praised as “lively...” (Publishers
Weekly); “constantly absorbing...” (starred Kirkus Review); and “superbly crafted prose” (Boston
Herald). “Silent Screams,” “Silent Victim,” and “Silent Kills” are the first three books in her Lee
Campbell thriller series. Her other work is published under the name of Carole Bugge. Titan Press
recently reissued her first Sherlock Holmes novel, “The Star of India.” Learn more about Carole at
http://celawrence.com.
79
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Suspense Magazine March 2013

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