Review of Travess Blood

Travess Blood

Quinn Larson

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

'How the west was won?' is an intraocular part of USA history. Development continued because good concorded over evil.

In Travess Blood, the younger is wild and wants to live life to the fullest without abiding by the law. His elder brother is a lawman.

Their conflicts started in their youth but come to a turning point for the worst when Clint, the older of the two arrests his brother and friends robbing a Stagecoach and Troy goes to prison for his part. Every day in jail Troy's revenge grows to uncontrollable evil.

A Stagecoach robbery and murders happen weeks after Troy's and friends are released from their long terms in a strict discipline house of correction, which didn't seem to rehabilitate the criminal. Clint investigates this crime to find out, according to Troy's boss at the Circle-G where Clint's ex-lover lives married; Troy had not left the property.

Circumstance leads to other full investigations that produce an ending that Westerns are known for on the Big Screen. Throughout this sager, the tensions built to where good should overcome evil.

But does it? Not always. You'll have to read this raw human western story to find out.

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Review of Rejection

REJECTION

A Lou Drake Mystery

Thomas K. Matthews

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

What would you do get published by a major house? Murder to become famous?

Lou Drake, at one time, was a detective. He got demoted to paroling the city with a partner, screwed up and was sent to The Cage for the few months he had left on the job.

How he got demoted is a significant part of his story and the background to this novel. He was a meticulous sleuth before he messed up a murder case. Why, is the unknown?

While working in the holding cage, a serial killer is on the loose who is murdering literary agents in unusual ways. Drake, a writer who can't publish his novel but keeps on going, starts to use the crimes as the basis of his new endeavor.

The events that transpire after he starts writing and investigating this string of killings upset the city police department where he works. The FBI joins the fray leading an investigation of the department.

How that end is an exciting and rejuvenating for the reader and Lou Drake's future. Not all ends well, but you, the reader will want to read more of his mysteries.

This is a book one of a series, but I don't see what characters will be carried over to two. 

Purchase:  https://amzn.to/2KqNLZP

     

Review of Mirror, Mirror

MIRROR, MIRROR

A Legal Thriller

DEBORAH HAWKINS

Review by Roy Murry, Author

Jeff, a big-time lawyer, past brings him down to earth. He loses everything because of it even though he claims the charges are false.

It seems that the legal world is one hundred percent against him. Jeff's life is turning upside down but being the fighter, he is, he muddles through and gets a plum case on his own against the people who brought him down.

The case and the people change him for good, leading to many conflicting emotions. He is a different man after a rollercoaster ride psychologically.

This change brings the reader to a surprising conclusion in a thrilling court case that one did not see coming. He finds out who genuinely cares for him.

Some of the main characters are prime for a sequel. The twist and turns of Jeff's existence in this novel will keep you awake all night as it did to me.

I enjoyed the writing much. Purchase:  https://amzn.to/2KmjH1n

FIERCE LOVE

FIERCE LOVE

Barrington Billionaire Series

Book One

DANIELLE STEWART

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

The Romance Genre is not my thing to read. However, I must expand my horizons by reading other than mysteries, my passion.

In Ms. Stewart's FIERCE LOVE, there is a little mystery. Libby, the lady who confronts James, the CEO of West Oil, is a mystery to him. Moreover, she is keeping those facts under cover until the covers come off.

Libby becomes James' executive assistant under false pretenses, and he seems to get the feeling that something is not right. All he can think about is getting her in bed, but he does not sleep with employees.

They go tit for tat over this fact until the pressure explodes. Then the truth comes out about a business agreement James did not know existed between Libby's family and his father who is in a coma.

Their new sexual involvement might go to the next level, but doubt seeps in, and they separate. Libby meets with an ex which leads to an explosive ending.

This novel has some clean sexual encounters if there is such a thing. The main characters are well developed, which will propel the series forward into other circumstances that billionaires find themselves in. I can only imagine.

Purchase:  https://amzn.to/2K6dS8f

Review of Cherry Pie or Die

Cherry PIE OR DIE

A Baker Street Mystery, Book 1

CEECEE JAMES

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Georgie, a young lady, moves to a small town to live near her grandmother who runs the Baker Street Bed and Breakfast. She is a tour guide et al. at the B&B, taking the visitors to historical sites around town.

The house is full, and Georgie guides a group to a Civil War haunted house. The tour ends with the murder of a guest that leads Georgie into her whodunit mood.

This novel is fun to read because of the character Georgie who is getting over a tragedy and is light-hearted about her surroundings but heavy-hearted about past events. She uses that to undo the mystery of Mr. Greens murder.

Without present-day computer search, which she uses, the mystery would have been almost impossible to unravel. However, the answer arrives with a 'Deadly Intent,' not dealing with modern equipment but because of a Civil War book.

This novel slants towards an Agatha Christie mystery. I'll be reading more of the series in the future.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2HPAR6I

Review of A Gambler's Jury

A GAMBLER'S JURY

VICTOR METHOS

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Dani Rollins has a client whom she believes is innocent because of his mental impairment. He cannot be a purveyor of drugs and pull off a deal.

The police arrest him in the act. How could this be? It had to be one of the other boys with him. Moreover, why does the District Attorney want and is trying her client as an adult when he is seventeen?

All the right questions to get answers to in this character-driven novel. Dani is a smart defense lawyer who pushes the envelope when it comes to judges and the prosecution.

They cannot see what she can. This kid does not have where all to have committed this crime. In court, she will prove it. However, can she?

All leads point to her client except the one no other person is seeing including Dani's private detective, who cares for her. Dani's family life is in the background of this quick read.

A Gambler's Jury is laid out in a way the reader may pick up the clues Dani and her detective missed up until the jury is in, which leads to an exciting ending. A good lead-in novel to a series.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2HjhamH

Review of Finding Claire Fletcher

Finding Claire Fletcher

LISA REGAN

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

A child abducted in plain sight, but the witness doesn't have a complete picture of the crime. The child is kept alive for ten years in a state of psychological indecision by a serial pedophile.

Claire tells a stranger who she is in the third person, sleeps with him, not having sex, and leaves her home address with the man. Intrigued and somewhat affected by the encounter, he, Detective Parks, goes to the address to find that she has been missing for ten years.

Finding Claire Fletcher is not only Park's investigation into where she is or went for ten years but also Claire's evaluating of her existence and finding herself. That assessment defines her decision mechanism. In the end, she rises to the occasion and so does her new involvement with the detective.

The story has many twists and turns that keep the reader asking why Claire is not running away. At each, there is an answer as to why with a surprise result. Just one event changes everything for Claire leading to traumatic endings separated by another game of the pedophile. 

FINDING is a fast-paced, quick read that devils into the mind of a pedophile and his victims. The read is worth the dime.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2H28qkE

Review of The House of Fez

The House in Fez

DIANNE NOBLE

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

“The clashes of two worlds” is the theme of this engaging story of two sisters who visit their mother in Morocco after not hearing from her for some years.  What they encounter, what they perceive to be, and how they cope with the people in the House in Fez gives the reader an education in differing cultural attitudes.

Leaving England, the twins, who also have not been close over the years, go to Fez to partially get away from their lives' circumstances - both have marital problems.

Arriving, their mother has changed and so is her living arrangement. She is now docile, married to a younger man who has another wife half his age.

This snowballs into the fact that the husband's whole family, his mother included, will move into the House in Fez. The twins have never had a family, according to their narrative, which rubs the women differently.

Muslims and Christians have deep-rooted ways of evaluating life and how one should live it. Ms. Noble does an excellent job of interpreting those conflicts in the story told within the pages of The House in Fez.

It is worth the read for pleasure's sake.  However, the content, the twin's narratives, and the way their mother copes for love will keep the reader evaluating each side's struggle to understand the other's. The ending is unpredictable but logical.

Purchase:  https://amzn.to/2qfYmxp

Review of Hidden Currents

HIDDEN CURRENTS

Lantern Beach Mysteries,
Book 1

CHRISTY BARRITT

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

A light-hearted mystery headed by a female veteran detective hiding from criminals on a tourist island is the theme. Everyone is easy going on the island except for Barritt's protagonist, Cassidy, her aka.

Being the person, she is, and an officer of the law in another State of the USA, she gets involved with a murder on the beach. Intermingling with the locals and the tourists, she finds herself involved in a way she never had before: meeting friendly people, one of which she helps immensely.

Keeping her wits about, she engages people she would otherwise not in her other life and feels better about herself. Investigating the crime is the center of her ambition, but maybe feelings for another could endear her to the island life, he, helping Cassidy to try and solve the murder.

Some twists and turns that keep the reader engaged. The characters are developed enough to move into a second book in the series.

When I came to the end of this novel, I thought, "Is that all there is?" Well, of course not, because there is Book 2 in the series.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2I2zLTW

Review of the BEAUTY SHOP

The BEAUTY SHOP

SUZY HENDERSON

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

As a Vietnam Veteran who has seen cohorts die from injuries, this novel rang true with the atrocities of war. This story is about the cruelty of burn patients in World War II and how one man helps changed their lives for the better.

B17s or flying fortress was the backbone of the Allied bombing effort against Germany. The men that flew in them and other planes had accidents that caused life-threatening burns.

The BEAUTY SHOP is the story of a burn victim, a lieutenant and his lady. How they met; how he ended up scared with burns; and how they each met the doctor of the beauty shop.

It is a love story intertwined with the horrors of war. This story is full of surprises and human reactions to the realities of war particularly that of how we treat our wounded veterans physically and psychologically.

At the time, they did not understand PTSD, as they do know. It plays a part when the lieutenant, after a burning episode returns to duty. The strength of his love becomes a significant factor in the ending of this well put together Chronicle of a man who cared for and operated on burned warriors.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2ueIoJ4

Review of Intrinsic

INTRINSIC

JERRY COLLINS

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

The Creator has a problem that he created in the name of Derideon (The Devil.) After numerous efforts, Derideon's army is about to rise again in the 20th Century with the help of one Kragon, a powerful sorcerer.

Unbeknown to Kragon, he is being used by Derideon. Kragon does not know that he comes from a long line of Good Sorcerers. The Lineage is presented to the reader, but Kragon is concealed from those facts.

With Kragon’s help, Derideon may rise again. Only time will tell because this seems to be the first in a series.

I found the book a bit wordy but fun to read. Mr. Collins lofty prose seemed to indicate the higher level a spirit like the two mentioned here in this review. It is at above us mortals - they talk an elevated level above ordinary people.   

The Bible's Old Testament type of godly killing of innocents is prominent for the promotion of world power by both sides of these fictional prognostic characters, interestingly put together.

If you like pure action, this is for you.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2plQMAJ

Review of I WILL BREATHE

I Will Breathe

Forbidden Series, Book 1

Regina Puckett

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

This Young Adult read is for the young at heart like them and me. It is fun, bizarre, and delightful. Some of the reasons I keep coming back to Regina's short novels

In this adventure, Liberty, a young lady pilot of an airship, goes about her business of bartering items needed in her post end of times world.

On one of her stops to deliver goods, she takes on the task of caring for a robot who has feelings. On a stop to get water fuel for her ship, she encounters other humans.

The adventure begins, and Liberty breaks all of her dead father's rules by engaging the robot and the humans. She finds love, a trait she has been avoiding all her life.

How this all comes about and how Liberty changes are the lessons learned in this novel; some that YA's should learn.

An enjoyable quick read. The way I like it.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2tB1p8g

Review of Magnolia Gods

MAGNOLIA GODS

A River Sunday Romance Mystery, Book 2

Thomas Hollyday

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

The undercurrent of this fast-paced novel is the romance of two aircraft pilots, Mike and Robin. The mystery of what happened to an experimental steam engine airboat and its inventor after World War II is what binds them together for this thrilling adventure.

Was the plane stolen? Was the inventor, a veteran Naval Captain a traitor? Where is the airplane? Many questions need to be answered.

There are many curves thrown at the reader that keeps one asking what next. 'Who is on first,' comes to mind. In other words, who is the real traitor in this story?

The tale comes to a crash ending after a battle to the end of some real criminals. Exciting and poignant are two words to describe it.

Well worth the opening of the cover to see who the Magnolia Gods are and how they help save the name of a patriot.

The novel is a quick 256 pages and stands alone as part of a series.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2Il5T6f