Book review for Start Shooting

Start Shooting by Charlie Newton is an exciting, fast-paced story that never lets up. It starts quickly and keeps going to its thrilling conclusion. The reader gets the nitty gritty description of Chicago, the toughest parts, a hell on earth. Life in this area is short. Tragic characters living in such horrible conditions are very brave and prove this daily.
    Bobby Vargas is a cop, a good one, just trying to make the streets safer. His brother, Ruben, is a different story. He’s a street legend but not all he appears to be.  It’s infuriating what happens to Bobby. The villains in this book inspire such disgust.
    Arleen Brennan is a hard-working waitress wanting to make it as an actress. She gets the big audition. Throughout the book, her agonizing suspense is gripping. Her twin sister was murdered as a child, and that comes back to haunt everyone. Accusations are given that ruin lives. Ruben involves Arleen in a dangerous sting, and this plays right alongside Arleen’s big audition. Arleen and Bobby are close, and this makes for interesting interplay, considering she wants his brother dead for the evil he’s doing.
Arlene and Bobby both have courage. Bobby also has integrity, and Arlene is quite clever, constantly in survival mode. Both are streetwise.
    Though Bobby is a gang cop, it turns out there is something much bigger than the antics of street gangs going on here. International mystery is woven into this thriller, and one constantly feels the desperation of the characters.
    The writing is direct and immediate. Short phrases make for intense emotion, filled with street slang. It adds poignancy but is sometimes confusing. The chapters alternate points of view. There are many surprises in this story and tension that goes for miles. A theme of dreams in life is prevalent.
    For those not in the mood for a light read who would prefer an action-packed, raw, vivid story of harsh reality, this would be a great book to read. At first it comes across as a downer, but there’s so much satisfaction to be found in its pages. The end, well, I won’t give that away.

Happy New Year!

Hello, everyone, I want to wish you a happy, prosperous, blessed new year. :)

Please welcome author Minnette Meador

Hello, and welcome, Minnette.

We're here in honor of your new release, The Belle Stalker, an Urban Fantasy Thriller. Here's a blurb:

The police have done all they can, but it isn’t enough. When Belle finds the mutilated body of her lover strewn across the furniture she knows only her ex-husband, Homicide Detective Mike Cranston can stop the maniac who has been dogging her steps for over a year. The only problem is the man who stalks her...is not a man at all. Belle plays a dangerous game and only hopes that Cranston can stop the monster before it’s too late.

This sounds really interesting.

RESEARCH IS MURDER

Mike knew it was time for him to start tying the threads of the case together in his patented “connect the dots” style, but this one had him stumped. He stared at the body for a long time. Something had his hackles standing at attention, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

From the position of the body and the condition of the furniture under it, it was obvious someone had meticulously staged the murder. This had the signature of a very experienced serial—maybe a pro. The idea made his cheeks hurt. If this was the same man who attacked Belle last year, she was in trouble. Big trouble.

The Belle Stalker – Chapter Four

TODAY’S PRIZE: Special “Tea with Minnette” – A cyber visit with the author to talk about anything and everything. Leave a comment for a chance to win (and a chance to win grand prize as well – Kindle or Portland Tote)

(Don’t forget: If you send your name and address to Minnette, she will send you a stack of signed swag. Just drop her a note at: mmeador@minnettemeador.com )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's funny how you perceive something one way and it turns out to be something else. This is what I came away with after an interview with Detective Austria from the Portland Police Bureau Homicide Division.

Located in the Justice Building in downtown Portland, the 13th floor (yes, I said 13th) was like any other business; cubicles, large open windows in all directions, and people going about their daily routine. Only these men and women were occupied with catching and prosecuting murderers. In addition to investigating homicides, the Homicide Detail investigates officer involved shootings/use of deadly force, felony assaults, kidnapping, custodial interference and missing persons. As you can imagine, these are very busy people. It was humbling to say the least.

Detective Austria was an amazing man; 17 years with the bureau, skilled, confident, kind, soft spoken. Originally from Hawaii, he has worked his way up through the ranks of the PPD to become one of two lead detectives in the division. I was honored to be speaking with him about his craft. This man is a professional through and through.

To explain what it is like to research homicide, I'll try to lay out what is involved in an investigation based on my interview. I am taking some literary license here and will be dramatizing it a bit, hoping to get all the details right based off of our conversation. From a creative point of view, this process helps me absorb the information so I can incorporate it into my writing. The following is what went on "behind the scenes," so to speak, and didn't get included in my novel, THE BELL STALKER. I'm hoping it will be an amazing journey and I'm delighted to have you along...

THE CALL

Dispatch receives a phone call from a cell phone somewhere in the SW Portland.

"911. What is your emergency?"

The woman on the other end of the line is frantic. "My friend... John, my friend... he's dead... in my apartment."

"Stay calm, ma'am. What is your address?"

Between sobs, the woman gives the address and the dispatcher recognizes it as a high rise in the Park Blocks of downtown Portland. She signals her partner to radio the closest uniformed officers to respond to the scene and keeps the woman on the line.

"Ma'am, how do you know he's dead?"

"There's blood everywhere... he's... he's all cut up... Please hurry... Please."

"Where are you right now?"

"I'm in the apartment... in the kitchen."

"We have dispatched officers to your location. I need you to get out of the apartment. Is there a neighbor you can contact?"

"Yes... no... I don't know."

"Leave the apartment now and knock on a neighbor's door. Can you do that?"

"Yes... yes, all right."

There is shuffling over the line and the dispatcher hears a knock. After several seconds, she hears muted voices over the line.

"Ma'am, are you all right." A few seconds more. "Ma'am?"

"Yes. I'm all right. I'm next door with my neighbor."

"Good. Now I want you to stay on the line with me until the officers arrive. What apartment are you in?"

A muted conversation, then, "11B."

"Thank you. I will make sure they find you as soon as they arrive."


THE OFFICERS
(Note: We didn't talk a lot about what the first officers on the scene do since it wasn't vital to my story, so this may be a bit sketchy. Thanks for your patience. Some of this is based on previous experience.)

Three cruisers pull up outside the building and uniformed officers get out. The first officer on the scene pushes the button on his radio.

"Dispatch, what do we have?"

"Female reports body of friend "John" in her apartment, 11D. We have sent her to a neighbors, apartment 11B to wait. Female reports the body is covered in blood and cut up."

"Roger, dispatch. Call the manager and have them let us into the complex."

"Already have. The security guard is waiting at the front door for you."

A guard stands at the glass door of the high rise, alert. Five more cruisers arrive. Having arrived first, the officer takes the lead and goes through the door with two others close behind him.

"Elevator?" he asks the guard. The man points down the hallway toward the back of the building.

When five more officers arrive, the lead orders two to the front and two to the back of the building, and the other to take the stairwell to secure the area. The original three officers take the elevator to the eleventh floor.

The long hallway is lighted by dim sconces when the elevator doors open. They can see an open door at the end of a line of them. Unholstering their guns, they make their way slowly to the apartment.

Once there, they lean against the door jam and call through the open door.

"This is the police. If anyone is in there, come out with your hands up or we will shoot you." There is no response.

They enter the apartment and scan the scene. There is a small open kitchen to their right with the light on. Otherwise, the apartment is dark. Making their way down a hallway, they enter a sunken living room lighted only by the kitchen. Laid over the couch and across the coffee table is a man about 6' tall in dark clothes.

The lead officer signals the two others to search the rest of the apartment. He approaches the man and reaches to feel for a pulse, but then realizes the man's throat is missing. Stepping back from the body, he is careful not to step in the pool of blood around the corpse, making certain he does not touch anything. The other two officers come back and report that the apartment is clear. The lead officer posts one outside the door of the apartment and takes the other with him to question the witness.

PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS

"Ma'am, I need to ask you some questions. What is your name, address, and phone number." She mutters them through her sobbing. "Please tell me how you happened to find the body."

"I was coming home from a late night at work. My door was unlocked when I got to the apartment and I thought my roommate had forgotten to lock it. I went in, turned on the kitchen light, and then saw the body..." A moment of breakdown. "Then I called 911."

"Do you know who the victim is?"

Terrified eyes. "Yes," she whispers. "It's my friend John. John Ian. But it's impossible. He called me when I was downstairs in the garage. He called me."

"That's ok, ma'am. When the detectives arrive, they will ask you some more questions. In the meantime, just remain calm."

He has the officers with him put up police tape and cordon off the hallway and the apartment. He then calls Homicide to speak with the detective on duty filling him in on the details. Homicide is already on their way.

If you would like to read the next three installments of this article, follow these links:

http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com/2009/08/inteview-with-homicide-behind-plot-part.html
http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com/2009/08/inteview-with-homicide-behind-plot-part_04.html
http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com/2009/08/inteview-with-homicide-behind-plot.html 



And here are some more links:
http://youtu.be/avY8W6i0rw4   Audio Excerpt
http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com/p/books-by-minnette.html   Written Excerpt
http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com/  Blog URL

RESPLENDENCE PUBLISHING (all eFormats except Kindle & Nook):
http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8/381-200-103-422-5--the-belle-stalker-by-minnette-meador.html

AMAZON BUY LINK: (Kindle)


AMAZON DIRECT LINK:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Belle-Stalker-ebook/dp/B0064PA6LI/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321749531&sr=1-8

BARNES & NOBEL DIRECT (Nook):
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-belle-stalker-minnette-meador/1107087599?ean=2940013589698&itm=1&usri=the+belle+stalker

All Romance eBooks:
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thebellestalker-625303-140.html




Prize: Minnette will be giving away a small Kindle ($79) plus a Portland Tote filled with goodies to one randomly drawn commenter, along with daily prizes.  She will do the drawing herself for the daily winners.  The Kindle and tote bag are limited to US and Canada only;  if an international winner, an Amazon GC will be substituted; ALSO:  PLEASE NOTE:  Any reader who sends their name and address to Minnette will be sent a stack of signed swag. Just drop her a note at:
mmeador@minnettemeador.com

Please follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2011/10/virtual-book-tour-belle-stalker.html

<http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2011/10/virtual-book-tour-belle-stalker.html>


Thanks for being my guest, Minnette! I'm a big fan of your work, and this sounds like another winner.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. :)

review for A Necessary End by Diana Rubino

What would happen if the ghost of a Roman killer, long dead, haunted John Wilkes Booth in an effort to drive him mad? Add in the fact that Wilkes is dating a beautiful Yankee sent to spy on him. They fall in love even though they’re on opposite sides. What occurs when she tries to stop him from his plans against President Lincoln? This book shows us, with a cast of fascinating characters, including a “Jack-the-Ripper” type doctor on the scene to add interest.

A bit of the paranormal meets history with a dash of “Romeo and Juliet” thrown in to make for a page-turning story. Ms. Rubino knows her history, and she writes entertaining works, one right after the other. A Necessary End does not disappoint.

Historical characters are brought to vivid life in this story. The reader gets a behind-the-scenes look into Booth and the action that made him infamous. What things happened, slowly pushing him toward his radical decision to kill Lincoln?

Ms. Rubino’s story explores all of the above in a way that is memorable. Even though we all know the inevitable ending concerning Lincoln, suspense is still created, and tension is high until the last page. This book is highly recommended to both lovers of historical fiction and the paranormal.

Available now at Amazon

Review for Spartan Heart, Part 2

Spartan Heart, Part Two by Kristine Cheney is an entertaining, romantic paranormal story. It has an exciting beginning with colorful characters bringing this tale to life. It’s filled with hunky men.

Evan is a likeable heroine. She displays kindness, forgiveness, and graciousness at different times.  Tommy, a mortal, is surprisingly chivalrous. Taryn, Evan’s best friend, is an interesting, complex character, and of course the hero, Dorian is wonderful.

Suspense is created with several pressing questions, one being the gender of Evan’s unborn children. A serious bet is based on the outcome. A lot rides on the wager. There are sweet and tender moments like when Dorian communicates with his unborn children. At other times, the story is funny and charming or sexy.

Sometimes the writing is distant and vague with lots of telling, and there are a lot of exclamation marks, but the story is still quite enjoyable, with a villain to keep things tense. With the birth of the babies and the end of the tale, more surprises pop up. This is a great second part to the series. It's available with Astraea  Press,  LLC
www.astraeapress.com

The emotions of animals

Hello, do you have an opinion about whether or not animals experience emotions? Many pet owners will say that animals do have feelings, but many scientists disagree, saying that ascribing human characteristics to the nonhuman is anthropomorphism.

I don't know, I have pets, and it's pretty clear to me that they can feel, and strongly. I have witnessed what seems to be clear happiness (bright eyes, wagging tails, purring etc), anger (hissing, baring teeth, growling, flicking tails), sadness (mopping around directly after a tragic loss such as the death of another pet in the household) and other emotions in cats, dogs, and other animals.

To read an interesting exploration of this topic, I checked a book out in the library called, When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals, by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy. The book discusses both points of view and displays several interesting cases of observed animals such as Siri, an elephant who sketches, to Koko, a gorilla who can do sign language and loves to play with dolls--when alone. There are many other animals and their stories described as well. It's an interesting book. If you love animals, you'd probably like this book.