-
New Book Preview: Have Yourself a Merry Christmas Murder
It may be a week shy of Halloween, but Christmas is just around the corner. And so is my new book. It’s called Have Yourself a Merry Christmas Murder and it will be available next month. But today, I’d like to share a little background to the story and Chapter 1. Hallmark Christmas Movies I love the Hallmark movies even though nearly every one of them is predictable. You know the structure. City Girl returns home to her small town. We meet her family, including the quirky BFF from high school who never left town. There’s the ex-boyfriend/Cute New Guy who now works as a [Small Town Job] and volunteers…
-
Meeting Harlan Coban’s Myron Bolitar For The First Time
Where has this book been all my life? On the bookshelf of your local store, just waiting to be read. We’ve Only Just Met After All This Time Harlan Coben has been writing professionally since 1990 but he really became famous for the Myron Bolitar series, starting in 1995. I’ve known about Coben for a long time. Multiple best-sellers every time he publishes a book. Multiple adaptations of his stories on TV. And, recently, the professor of a BBC Maestro online class that helps writers craft thrillers. I’m always game to learn—especially from an acknowledged veteran of the genre—so I bought the class. While listening to Coben talk in the…
-
Tom Straw Channels Anthony Bourdain In His Delightful New Book
Every now and then, you hear a concept for a book and it instantly hooks you. This is one of those books. What if an Anthony Bourdain-type celebrity chef who hosts a TV travel show is also a CIA spy? Hooked? Well, I was. You see, I really enjoyed Bourdain’s writings, his TV shows, and his way of seeing the world. His shows were appointment television. His books—always get the audio because he reads them—were bought on day one. So it should come as no surprise that when Tom Straw’s new book was announced, I got it on day one. Prepare the Narrator Sebastian Pike is the Bourdain stand-in in…
-
T.J. Newman at Murder by the Book
Fresh off the publication of her third thriller, Worst Case Scenario, author T.J. Newman landed at Houston’s Murder by the Book on Thursday evening for her first visit to the independent bookstore. Local journalists, Natalie J. Harms, interviewed the former flight attendant and what emerged was a lively discussion of the book, her processes, and the winding road she took to becoming a published author. The Key is the Research It’s the question every author fields: where did you get the idea for [Current Book]. Newman told the story of how she researched her first thriller, Falling. She asked pilots about their biggest fears. One commented that it was a…
-
Your Emotions Will Soar With T.J. Newman’s Worst Case Scenario
I should have known I’d cry. When I listened to T.J. Newman’s first book, FALLING, last year, the story evoked an emotional response. The same thing happened when I devoured her second, DROWNING, but this second time, it was doubled. Now, with WORST CASE SCENARIO, she has tripled the emotional impact that a story can bring. And I’m so happy for it. Pitch-Perfect Elevator Pitches A former flight attendant, Newman’s first two thrillers take place on planes. The elevator pitches are short enough that you could speak them even if you’re going up a single floor. FALLING: A pilot is given a choice: crash the plane or we kill your…
-
The #1 Lawyer Features a Flawed Hero, And That’s What Makes It Great
Sometimes, you need a lawyer. And sometimes, you want to read about one. Fresh off my first political thriller in many a year (as reviewed last week), I wanted to dive into a legal thriller. Probably stemmed from my enjoyment of the Apple TV version of Scott Turrow’s “Presumed Innocent” but the book I selected was part of the original group of books at a local grocery store. And, yeah, it’s another James Patterson book. The #1 Lawyer by James Patterson and Nancy Allen was published earlier this year so it’s still in hardback. It’s also in audio which is how I consumed this story. Kevin Stillwell does a great…
-
In James Patterson’s Blow Back, You’ll Believe a President Can Go Off the Rails
Can you really go wrong reading a novel with the name of James Patterson on the cover? For the second novel in my research into Grocery Store books, I selected a thriller by Patterson and Brendan DuBois, Blow Back. Say what you want about Patterson’s output, but the man knows a good story when he sees it, and he and his team can write remarkably good loglines. For this one, it’s: An American President goes Insane. It’s been quite awhile since I last read a political/military thriller, but what I got was what I expected: multiple POVs, multiple threads, all leading to a grand finale. This book delivered on all…
-
Grocery Store Books and My First Stuart Woods Novel
We’re all book nerds here, right? Do you know where all bookstores in your town are located? Do you frequent independent bookstores where the folks see you and greet you by name? When you travel, do you plan on visiting bookstores in other towns? Do you sign up for newsletters from your favorite authors? Do you know publication dates of books by your favorite authors and clear your reading schedule so you’ll be able to start reading the day that book is released? Do you max out your allowable checkouts at your local library? Do you have more books in your house than you’ll ever be able to read in…
-
Another Visit to Patterson, New Jersey, with Andy Carpenter, Lawyer and Dog Lover
What is it with storms, power outages, and Andy Carpenter? Beryl: The Rest of the Story I wrote last week’s post during my Friday lunch hour and went home to a house without electricity. Last Saturday, I returned to Lowe’s to buy two more 5-gallon gas cans (daily gas runs were getting old) and had half a mind to buy a second generator. An older worker at Lowe’s said I didn’t need to because my 6,500-watt generator was more than enough to run all the fans, window AC, and the fridge. The wife and I cleaned the fridge and plugged it in. Within the hour, the thing was making ice.…
-
Dispatches from Houston in the Aftermath of Hurricane Beryl
Who would have thought an approaching hurricane would have been the easy part? Hurricanes are scary things. Their approach can knife fear down your spine, give your stomach that funny feeling you get when you ride a roller coaster, and cause you to lose sleep. I experienced all those things last weekend as Beryl—which had already devastated Jamaica—opted to head north to Houston. The Hurricane Itself The wife and I plus our two dogs and a cat went to bed on Sunday night expecting Beryl to arrive in the wee small hours of the morning. Storms are always scarier at night. We had spent the day prepping the house, staging…