The Last Justice Is a First-Class Thriller

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It's Black Wednesday, and an assassin has just murdered five of the nine Supreme Court justices while they are hearing a case. A sixth, Chief Justice Thomas W. Kincaid, brandishing a pistol, is mistakenly shot by the police, who think he might be the killer, though it's later discovered "he had surprised the assassin by returning fire," and that "The Supreme Court police officers who mistakenly shot Kincaid had killed the only witness to see the shooter's face." The main suspect of the police and FBI? Security cameras identify the initials "C.B." branded onto someone's neck, but don't catch the person's face clearly. The person whom the cops start to believe has the best motive is, you'd initially think, the one who would be the least likely to commit such a heinous crime - the Solicitor General (SG), Jefferson McKenna. The belief is strengthened when McKenna flees, leaving dead bodies in his wake. But, did he murder the Supreme Court justices, or is someone trying to set him up?

This is the scenario that talented author Anthony J. Franze (a successful lawyer himself) presents in his suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat debut thriller, The Last Justice. McKenna has to prove his innocence and uncover who is really behind the murders while on the run from the police, the FBI, and the people who are trying to frame him and possibly kill him. Also, conservative President Winter, wanting to fill the vacancies on the Supreme Court as expediently as possible, tries to cut a deal with the Congress, "the three-three deal." It's meant, supposedly, to be fair to everyone involved, a way around bipartisan bickering. As Judge Ivan Petrov, a potential nominee for one of the openings caused by the murders, puts how the deal would work:

"It's pretty simple. The administration and the Democratic leadership each would come up with a list of three nominees, and each side agreed not to challenge the nominees on the other's list: hence, the name, 'the three-three deal.'"

The person to come up with the idea? Jefferson McKenna. McKenna, before he becomes a suspect himself, assists with the investigation, going through the cases that the Supreme Court was scheduled to rule on previous to the shooting deaths of the justices. He comes up with two cases that seem to have the most potential to give someone a motive to want the decisions delayed.
What's more, Parker Sinclair, a law clerk that winds up dead with his blood on McKenna's running suit and in his motel room, had accused McKenna of taking a bribe from Nash. When Nash is later stabbed to death, that seems to confirm to the police that McKennna is the one who has the most to gain by it.

The Last Justice is an adrenaline-inducing roller coaster ride, full of enough action and chase scenes to please the most discriminating junkies of thrillers and suspense novels. How McKenna manages to evade capture and gather evidence, with the aid of his love interest, Kate, her brother, Aiden, and Aiden's computer-hacking friend makes for a very entertaining read. I hope to read more excellent, action-packed novels of suspense from Anthony J. Franze in the future. If you enjoy page-turning, exciting, pulse-racing mystery thrillers, I recommend checking out The Last Justice today!

Reviewed by Douglas R. Cobb for http://www.bestsellersworld.com/

Review - Diary: Alone on Earth

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Diary: Alone on Earth, JD Weldy, 2011, B005W3NACK (Kindle e-book)

It's normal to wonder what it would be like to be the last person on earth. That is, until it actually happens.

David is a senior citizen who has reasons for wanting to cut himself off from the rest of the world. He finds an isolated house outside of a small town in Alabama, where he plans to spend the rest of his days with his faithful dog, Ralph. One day, the whole world is menaced a strange humming sound. The media is full of speculation as to the cause. Several hundred people are driven to suicide, including one of David's neighbors. Countries are ready for war, convinced that their "enemy" is about to attack. David goes to bed.

The next morning David wakes up to no electricity, and no battery power, either. Even new, freshly charged batteries are dead. David travels to the houses of his neighbors, to find them deserted. He visits the small town, a place called Axis, to find it also deserted. He finds a motorcycle that he can push start, and visits Mobile, Alabama. He finds hundreds and hundreds of abandoned, burning cars, like people were in a panic. But there are no people, not even dead bodies. He finds the same thing in Atlanta, along with signs that people tried very hard keep something out, or in.

The book turns into something of a psychological battle between David and a being that he calls The Blackness. David feels that it wants him dead, but it can't kill him, so it torments him constantly. David hears Ralph barking, but no matter how much he calls out to Ralph, he doesn't come. David also hears voices that he should recognize. David and The Blackness meet late in the book (think "demon from hell"). David decides to travel west to keep looking for any other people. For some reason, he feels that answers will be found at the end of Interstate 90, in the town of Van Horn, Texas. As he travels, with The Blackness making it as hard as possible, David has to maneuver around thousands and thousands of smashed and burning cars, but still no people. Does David reach the end of his journey? Does he discover what happened to mankind?

Told all in diary form, this is a really interesting suspense story. It does a very good job of showing the despair that will set in after the "novelty" wears off, including the wondering if God would really let such a thing happen to His people. It is very much worth reading.

Paul Lappen is a freelance book reviewer whose blog, http://www.deadtreesreview.blogspot.com/, emphasizes small press and self-published books.

One of My Favorite Mysteries Is Hour Glass by David Baldacci

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When I'm not reading historical fiction, I enjoy a good mystery. "Hour Glass" was an excellent choice. I usually look to James Patterson or Michael Connelly for a great novel. Well, David Baldacci was equally as superb at writing when it came to producing this book. I had a hard time putting it down. It had me from the very beginning. I'll be looking for this author for future reading enjoyment.

One thing I really enjoyed about his writing was the colorful descriptive style of content that I encountered. In this book mystery, the investigators named King and Maxwell are a highly entertaining team of detectives. It was non stop vibrant action while the smart serial killer always seemed to be one step ahead, in his twisted exploits. He seemed to always be clever and able to create complexities in his actions just enough to throw off the trailing duo as they sought him out and tried to solve the mystery.

The story setting is in a small community called Wrightsburg which was home to several well to do families. The Battle family was one of the richest residents there and was also at the center of the mystery. Despite their wealth, they were quite a dysfunctional clan.

Michelle Maxwell and Sean King were the heroes of the story. Eventually, they outsmarted him. They were very entertaining and likeable detectives. The local doctor, Sylvia Diaz, seemed very likeable too, until you discover that she has an evil role in the story. The real villain appears somewhat likeable at first but later you discover the truth. He is clever, intelligent and an accomplished painting artist. He is also involved with civil war reenactments as a hobby.

His sister, Savannah Battle is a genuine nice person whiles his mother, Remmy, is a stern woman whose bark is worse than her bite. The father, Bobby Battle, the kingpin, had made the family fortune and also created the dysfunction. Once he died, the family unraveled even further. Bobbie's past misdeeds would come back to haunt the family as well as the community.

Eddie Battle when he was discovered and caught, then, becomes an escape artist. There is never a dull moment in this story. I highly recommend the book as well as the author and his talent. You too may find it a novel hard to put down if you enjoy the book as much as I did.

John Sprague is an American currently working in the mideast. He enjoys writing and working on his websites in his free time. He has a new site at http://johnsprague.ws/ His website has photos of the mideast and marketing articles that you may be interested in viewing. There are also website analysis tools and articles on genealogy and dna.

Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke - Mystery-Thriller Book Review - Music, and Murder in Minnesota

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Cinnamon Roll Murder continues author Joann Fluke's trademark talents of combining fictional murder mystery with morsels of food. Fluke's narrative centers around amateur sleuth, Hannah Swensen. As owner of The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden, Minnesota's coffee and bakery shop, Swensen's never far from comestibles and crime.

The Cinnamon Roll Six jazz band is en route to perform at the first-ever weekend jazz festival at the Lake Eden Inn. It's early April, on an ice-filled evening, when the musicians' bus crashes and overturns near town.

Hannah and her sister, Andrea, are traveling in the company van to deliver a large cinnamon roll order to the Lake Eden Inn. Witnessing the accident, they stop to offer help. Driver, Clayton Wallace is dead at the scene. Fortunately the band's entourage suffers only minor injuries yet need to be examined at Lake Eden Memorial Hospital.

While there, Delores Swensen, Hannah's mother and leader of the hospital's Rainbow Ladies Auxiliary group, discovers keyboardist, Buddy Neiman dead in an examining room; stabbed with surgical scissors buried in his chest.

Who'd have motive to kill Buddy Neiman?

Promising, young musician, Devon Murphy (replacement keyboardist for Neiman), is one suspect. Another is the mysterious woman seen arguing with the victim outside Club Nineteen, the band's previous gig.

Dentist, Norman, is Hannah's true love interest, yet engaged to Dr. Bev, a fellow professional. Her reputation in Lake Eden is tainted, known as a conniving, self-centered woman, intent on marrying Norman with ulterior motives. Dr. Bev claims Norman is the father of her five-year-old daughter, Diana, but the Swensen clan is skeptical.

Hannah and her sister Andrea go undercover as realtor/client to gain access to DNA samples from Diana, who lives with Dr. Bev's mother, Judy Thorndike, in the Twin Cities.

Claire's dress shop, Granny's Attic (the area's gossip hub), and Helping Hands (the town's sole thrift store), contribute to Lake Eden's quaint commercialism.

Mentions of modern day, major issues, including facial implants and domestic abuse, offset the isolated, small-town charm of Lake Eden.

Piggy Chicken, Stuffin' Muffins and Pucker Up Lemon Cake, are recipes included in the narrative, along with the expectant, mouthwatering, Special Cinnamon Rolls. All twenty-two recipes are handily indexed at book's end along with a Baking Conversion Chart.

The challenge with some of Fluke's recipes is the amount of labor they require to produce. In today's time-constrained world, chicken tenders need to be pounded and dough needs to rise for several hours, as an example.

Cinnamon Roll Murder is a well-crafted mystery; designed to simultaneously tease your brain and taste buds. Indulge.

The 2012 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention is being held in Cleveland, Ohio, October 4-7. To learn more about this gathering of some of the world's best crime fiction writers, visit: http://bouchercon2012.com.

Timothy Zaun is a blogger, speaker and freelance writer. Visit him online at http://timzaun.com/.

The Detachment by Barry Eisler

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"The Detachment" by Barry Eisler brings back assassin John Rain and the former Marine sniper, Dox, from Eisler's first six popular novels and pairs them with the covert operator and hero of Eisler's last two books, Ben Treven, and the deadly Larison from Eisler's most recent "Inside Out." These four, all expert and experienced operators and killers, are thrust together to form a detachment to stop a coup that's being launched on American soil. Black Ops veteran Colonel Scott "Hort" Horton from previous novels brings the four together for the mission, but it's up to the four to figure out just what the mission is, if they can, before being killed, or killing each other. The premise makes for an exciting fast paced yarn that is fun to read and keeps you wondering what is what and who is who throughout.

I'm a friend of Eisler's, and was looking forward to him writing about Rain and Dox again. As a former Army sniper, I have a kindred spirit for the former Marine. I really liked his part in this story, and it was great to see him back in action, as well as providing some of the comical relief when things get tough. Who says a tough guy can't have a sense of humor? The way the four men interacted with each other moved the talk along well, and the trust, or lack of it, element of the story kept it interesting. Sometimes these interactions were as full of "action" as the actual action scenes, just a different type. The way the characters have developed over the series, and the camaraderie between them, and a look into their psyche, enables the reader to better understand these men, their lives, their pains, their insecurities, as well as their strengths.

As a writer, Eisler did another thing I found interesting. When focused on Rain, the narration is in first person, but when writing about Dox, Treven, and Larison, it is in third person. I found this interesting, and it really makes the story a John Rain thriller as the title suggests, rather than a Ben Treven book. And Rain is the primary character, even though the others all play important roles. Eisler, as always, is in top form when writing about covert ops and keeps his locations accurate and realistic. His experience and research pays off.

"The Detachment" is a terrific thriller with John Rain and Dox back in action. The addition of Treven and Larison added to the excitement and I'm looking forward to seeing where this detachment of special op professionals goes next.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a writer, speaker, and mediator. He has authored several books (including Lost Conscience and the Tough Guy Wisdom series) and a number of instructional DVDs (including Hapkido Cane and the Lock On Joint Locking Essentials series). He has also reviewed hundreds of books, DVDs, and products. His Warrior's Edge programs focus on safety, martial arts, self-defense, and living with The Warrior's Edge. His Black Belt Communicator programs focus on effective communication for conflict resolution, negotiation, leadership, and mediation. You can find out about Alain, read articles and reviews, see video clips of his DVDs, and more at http://www.burrese.com/blog.

Resuscitation Written By D M Annechino

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A superbly written and thought out mystery that is certain to thoroughly entertain you - and SCARE you! The author has so many twists and turns that will excite you and make you constantly think of what will happen to which character next. No, the story will not confuse you as so many do by adding so many changes as the reader goes along that it gets them confused as to who was what and where did they belong in the story. The author, Daniel Annechino, learned his great methods of writing well and I hope he continues writing such invigorating fictional mysteries.

The prologue starts us with a sample of what to expect when a young woman comes to feeling like she just had major surgery, tied to a bed or some such place, IV lines going into her body, and completely naked under a sheet that covered her. This is the result of a highly thought of cardiologist performing a specialized surgery on her to attempt to find a way to treat the many patients that have atrial fibrillation heart problems. Only this morbid physician takes perfectly healthy people off the streets, drugs them, and takes them to his haunts to continue his experiments. Julian would need eight patients to complete his experiments on this subject before he felt he would have the opportunity to win the award for overcoming this heart problem. Killing those he experimented with was no problem for Julian. After the first few he decided his sexual prowess would take over before he would rid himself of this body. Oh yes he was careful hiding all ways he could be identified through his "work!"

Sami Rizzo and Alberto Diaz were a pair in love. Sami had been a cop but after her brush with death with Simon a short time span before, left the police force knowing she was too upset to go through this again. Al was a cop that lived with Sami and had helped her through the major damage she had endured and still did. Sami was so thankful to have Al to be with her and give her the guidance she needed to live every day. One night Sami answered the phone when Al's superiors called to tell him to get to a certain place, as there was a homicide, no details, just get there. The finding of the first body really took all those in the local law enforcement back. The victim was dressed head to foot in very expensive clothes, appearing to be ready for a very expensive outing.

Sami's mother had a heart attack and Dr. Templeton, a very highly thought of cardiologist, was her doctor. He kept in touch with Sami constantly whether at the hospital or home. While her mother was still in the hospital Al received a phone call from Rio that his sister had been involved in a bad auto accident and it was unknown if she would make it. Al had to get there to be with his sister in Rio. So while Sami's mother was recuperating, Al had to fly off to a far away place to be with his sister. All the while Julian took more women as he continued his experiments. Sami was not happy since she had left the police force. She continually wondered if she should apply for reinstatement or if she had any chance for that after her life-threatening problem with Simon. Eventually Sami approached her superiors and, after some consideration, she was reinstated and of course was thrown on the case that was driving all the law authorities crazy.

I will stop here now that you have better than a basis of the story. Don't pass this book up. Sometimes if we don't know an author we move on to one we know we do like, but in this case, if you don't read Resuscitation, you will be the loser.

Reader review by Cy Hilterman of a book supplied by The Amazon Vine Program

The Complaints By Ian Rankin

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In the United States this department is called I.A. or Internal Affairs. The Complaints Department deals with the force and any suspicions against them. No one in the Police Force particularly likes Complaints. They are seen as snitching and snooping on those who keep the peace. This is Ian Rankin's first story after his enormously successful Detective Rebus' retirement. He wrote those in chronological order and retired him when he would have been of age. So now we meet Malcolm Fox. His job is to investigate fellow officers.

I didn't know how I would feel about a different hero being such a huge Rebus fan, but Fox is quite brill. Obviously intelligent but also up to date on investigating. This story starts with the culmination of a case for Fox. He has finally brought enough evidence against a dirty cop and he is ready for his next assignment. Unfortunately he is sent to vice for a briefing about a cop suspected of using child pornography. As the story evolves we are introduced to Fox's sister who is in an abusive relationship with a man she swears she loves. What a position for a policeman to be in; stand by and watch your sister get beaten up or do something about it. Of course, she won't press charges. To add to Fox's stress level is his father who is living in an old people's home. He is doing well but is not completely aware of his daughter and her lifestyle.

The Complaints Department that Fox works for only has four employees. They keep things pretty tight to their chests and have very few friends throughout the rest of the police force. As is usual for colleagues, they know a lot about each other's lives. Malcolm's work mates are concerned about his sister as well and encourage him to think of how to remedy her situation. The story escalates dramatically when the boyfriend of the sister turns up dead. She is, of course, suspected due to the violence and her sporting a broken arm thanks to the victim. Malcolm is supposed to back off completely and not have anything to do with her case but realistically who can honestly say they will do nothing. To add insult to injury, one of the officers on her case is someone the complaints may be investigating. The plot does get stickier and stickier.

There are many different levels to this story but Rankin never leaves us out in the cold trying to remember which character is which. We meet quite a few nasty bastards and Fox gets into some very scary situations. To be honest I hope they televise these as they have done with Rebus - I think they would be great. You can imagine the Scottish underworld skulking around the back streets of Edinburgh in the wee hours. Anyway enough said - great book!

You can find more of my book and movie reviews at: http://ukchica.com/