Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Review: Heroes and Lovers


Heroes and Lovers
Heroes and Lovers by Wayne Zurl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Heroes and Lovers is the second Sam Jenkins book that I have read. I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed reading my first Sam Jenkins novel, A Leprechaun's Lament.

What starts out as a simple investigation of a crooked repair shop by Police Chief Sam Jenkins, of Prospect, TN, turns into the kidnapping of Sam's favorite news reporter and eventually leads to a drug bust in Prospect. Life is never simple for Sam and his friends.

Sam took this case very personally since the victims were his friends and in one case, while not his friend, someone that Sam could understand where his head was. This is very different from how he investigated other crimes in Prospect and prior to that, New York.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a good mystery that kept my attention from start to finish. I wasn't expecting it to end the way that it did. Always a good sign! I loved all of the old detective references that Sam was making. I was happy to return to Prospect to visit with everyone.


FTC Notice: I received a copy of this book from the author.



View all my reviews

Review: Heroes and Lovers


Heroes and Lovers
Heroes and Lovers by Wayne Zurl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Heroes and Lovers is the second Sam Jenkins book that I have read. I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed reading my first Sam Jenkins novel, A Leprechaun's Lament.

What starts out as a simple investigation of a crooked repair shop by Police Chief Sam Jenkins, of Prospect, TN, turns into the kidnapping of Sam's favorite news reporter and eventually leads to a drug bust in Prospect. Life is never simple for Sam and his friends.

Sam took this case very personally since the victims were his friends and in one case, while not his friend, someone that Sam could understand where his head was. This is very different from how he investigated other crimes in Prospect and prior to that, New York.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a good mystery that kept my attention from start to finish. I wasn't expecting it to end the way that it did. Always a good sign! I loved all of the old detective references that Sam was making. I was happy to return to Prospect to visit with everyone.


FTC Notice: I received a copy of this book from the author.



View all my reviews

Guest Post: Wayne Zurl - WRITING WHAT YOU KNOW and Getting Inspiration From the World Around You


Picture a half-dozen old cops sitting around a table. The waitress just removed the dishes, but each man still holds a drink.

The former ranking man of the group takes a sip of single-malt scotch. “We laughed when it was over,” he says, “but for a few minutes, we were all sweating.”

“I remember,” another retired detective says. “Came close to soiling my knickers there.”

A third man at the table speaks, “They shoulda made a TV movie outta that one.”

The six people looked around at their colleagues, nodded, and sampled more of their beverages.

The guy with the single-malt whisky retired and eventually tried his hand at a new occupation. Today he’s writing police mystery novels—only because of the old author’s maxim: ‘Write what you know.’

Suppose you’ve never been a cop? Can you still write mysteries? Why not?

Let’s look at the TV series LAW & ORDER. It ran for almost twenty years and at most utilized one technical advisor with police or prosecutor’s experience. How did the writers knock out so many quality episodes? They looked at the world around them, used real-life drama as a basis for their script, and filled in the blanks.

Every episode came with the disclaimer, ‘Any similarity to an actual event or real persons living or dead is purely coincidental,’ or words to that effect. But as any fan will tell you, that statement is pure hogwash. A blithering idiot could draw parallels with actual events recently in the news; the premise, at times, was blatant.

The show’s producer made a fortune with that show, and anyone can cash in on the same idea. Life is full of good stories, just change the names to protect the innocent—and keep yourself out of civil court.

I often say my stories are based on actual incidents. That’s true, but no fiction can be totally unembellished fact or it would be a report and not a novel—probably boring to read. I claim to have a better memory than imagination. That’s true, too, but some imagination is always necessary in fiction. My second novel, A LEPRECHAUN’S LAMENT, was based on an actual case, but I couldn’t resist inventing a beautiful Irish girl and a few other touches just to make fiction better than fact.

Really don’t have the imagination to conjure up an epic fantasy novel, but still feel the call of writing? What’s the problem? What do you do for a living? UPS driver? Server in a posh restaurant? Bank teller? That last one comes with oodles of possibilities for good drama.

Hear about a hostage situation on the 6 o’clock news? How about a UPS driver walking into the middle of that? You’d get all the details of the package delivery business correct and with a little research, fake your way through the police procedures.

The local papers run a story about employees finding a body in the parking lot of a classy restaurant. Okay, server, embellish that event front and back with your knowledge of the food business and what you’ve seen happen in the dining room or bar.

And let’s not waste words on what kind of excitement can come from the customers and staff in a bank.

Look around you. Read the newspapers. Watch the news. Use Life as a basis for a story that becomes uniquely yours when it smacks you between the eyes like a 2x4. It’s not plagiarism unless you rewrite someone else’s work. Draw inspiration from . . . who knows what!

Almost every interviewer has asked, “Where do you get the inspiration for what you write?” The actual plots may come from my past or what I see down the road. The inspiration may come from anything. Often it hits me while driving at 70 on an Interstate. Sometimes my eyes click open at 2 a.m. and I remember something that might make an exciting story. Or I may hear an explosion while sitting on the porch. Like a cop in a street-crime unit who doesn’t get complaints to answer, you have to go out there and drum up your own cases. Writers can’t look for stories in someone else’s books. The world is like a take-out menu waiting for you to select something and go with it.

Heroes & lovers Tour Information:

About the Author:
Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators. He is a graduate of SUNY, Empire State College and served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Barbara.

Fourteen (14) of his Sam Jenkins mysteries have been produced as audio books and simultaneously published as eBooks. His first full-length novel, A NEW PROSPECT, was named best mystery at the 2011 Indie Book Awards and First Runner-up from all commercial fiction at the 2012 Eric Hoffer Book Awards. A second novel, A LEPRECHAUN’S LAMENT, is available in print and eBook.

His latest book in the Sam Jenkins mystery series is Heroes & Lovers.
For more information on Wayne’s Sam Jenkins mystery series see www.waynezurlbooks.net. You can read excerpts, reviews and endorsements, interviews, coming events, and even see photos of the area where the stories take place.

Visit Wayne on Twitter at www.twitter.com/waynezurl.
“Like” his Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001483038544
Pick up your paperback copy of Heroes & Lovers at Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Heroes-Lovers-Wayne-Zurl/dp/0985138890/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1346336063&sr=8-25&keywords=wayne+zurl

About the Book:

Sam Jenkins might say, “Falling in love is like catching a cold.  It’s infectious and involuntary. Just don’t sneeze on any innocent people.”

 Getting kidnapped and becoming infatuated with a married policeman never made TV reporter Rachel Williamson’s list of things to do before Christmas.  But helping her friend, Sam Jenkins with a fraud investigation would get her an exclusive story.  

Sam’s investigation put Rachel in the wrong place at the wrong time and her abduction by a mentally disturbed fan, ruined several days of her life.



Heroes & Lovers Tour Page:







Review: Heroes & Lovers


Heroes and LoversHeroes and Lovers by Wayne Zurl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Heroes and Lovers is the second Sam Jenkins book that I have read.  I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed reading my first Sam Jenkins novel, A Leprechaun's Lament.

What starts out as a simple investigation of a crooked repair shop by Police Chief Sam Jenkins, of Prospect, TN, turns into the kidnapping of Sam's favorite news reporter and eventually leads to a drug bust in Prospect.  Life is never simple for Sam and his friends.

Sam took this case very personally since the victims were his friends and in one case, while not his friend, someone that Sam could understand where his head was.  This is very different from how he investigated other crimes in Prospect and prior to that, New York.

I really enjoyed reading this book.  It was a good mystery that kept my attention from start to finish.  I wasn't expecting it to end the way that it did.  Always a good sign!  I loved all of the old detective references that Sam was making.  I was happy to return to Prospect to visit with everyone.


FTC Notice:  I received a copy of this book from the author.


View all my reviews

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Guest Post: Helga Stipa Madland - Stay At Home Moms


I am fascinated by and a little afraid of Stay At Home Moms who have computers and blog. They seem to have so much power! I feel insignificant by comparison. In my days, when I was a mom who stayed at home for a while, I bought an old typewriter that was very noisy; so I got up at four in the mornings during the summer and typed my novel on the patio where I did not wake anybody up. The novel was never published. I can’t even remember its name.

It seems to me that blogging takes a lot of courage; I think you have to be very sure of yourself and know exactly what you want. When you write novels, you can have different characters be and do different things and not settle for one point of view. I like that. I guess I want to be a writer and am not cut out to be a blogger.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Review: Turtle Bay

I saw this book and since I loved visiting Hawaii and want to go back at some point, I had to read this book.  I'm glad that I did.

Turtle Bay by Helga Stipa Madland was a fun read.  The characters were enjoyable and kept me entertained.  I loved the twins who obviously enjoyed trying to be detectives and "helping" their dad solve the case.

Detective James Kahamala has two cases to solve.  The first involves the theft of a painting and the second involves the disappearance of an English professor who is attending a conference at Turtle Bay resort.  While he investigates that theft of the painting, his precocious twin daughters, Maya and Myra, as well as their honorary aunt, Beatrice, and the family dachshund, Questor, accompany him to the resort and although told not to, also investigate the lost painting.  As Detective Kahamala investigates the art theft, an English professor from his alma mater, who is attending a departmental conference at the resort, goes missing on the last night of the conference.

Ms. Madland did a wonderful job of writing a fun mystery that kept me intrigued throughout the story.  I enjoyed reading about Hawaii and Washington state.  I'll be looking for more form this author in the future.

FTC Notice:  I received a copy of this book from the author.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Guest Post: Greg Messel - Danger Lurking in the Fog

Many people enjoy reading as they go to bed at night. I had a friend who said she loves to be reading a book that makes her anxious to go to bed each night.

I’ve also had that experience while commuting to work on a bus. I loved riding the bus because I got to trade reading for driving in heavy traffic--a good swap on any day. However, there were times when I was at a suspenseful point in the book I was reading and I could see that my stop was just a few blocks away. 

“Nooooooo! I can’t stop now,” I would think.

That is one of the great joys of reading and it’s one of the premier goals of a writer, especially when your novel is a mystery.

I am now working on a series of mystery novels with recurring characters and generating suspense is one of the greatest challenges. I’ve always thought that the unknown is more threatening that the known. It is true in building suspense in your story as well.

When you are alone in your bed late at night and hear strange noises it immediately builds “suspense” in your life.  Upon investigation you could discover that  something harmless is causing the noise. However, as you lie in bed your imagination runs wild about what it could be. Generally, you imagine the most terrifying of possibilities to be the source of the strange noise.

As you get out of your bed to try to find the noise in the darkness, there is true suspense and terror. We should keep this in mind as we build suspense in our writing.

It’s not necessarily the shark attack but the anxiety that comes when a shark fin suddenly appears in the water and has not yet been sighted by the protagonist.

There are a few things that can be done to amp up the suspense. One is don’t take it too easy on your main characters--put them in peril. The stakes need to be continually raised so that there is some urgency. Nothing builds suspense like a race against the clock. It helps to have an powerful, ruthless villain that you are convinced will stop at nothing. This adds to the sense of foreboding.

As an example, in the upcoming second installment in the mystery series--Deadly Plunge--the two main characters are investigating a creepy old house. The house has signs of a lot of strange activities but at the time it is unoccupied. It is a multi level old house and I established that it has very creaky stairs between the levels. This sets up a chance to build suspense later.

As the characters are quietly searching through the house for clues, they hear creaking sounds on the stairs a couple of levels below. Someone is coming! Who could it be? Are the protagonists in the story in danger? What will happen next?

The main characters were nervous about poking around in the strange house. That last thing they wanted to hear was footsteps on the stairs.  As the footsteps get closer and louder, the protagonists must decide what action to take--and quickly.

The creaky stairs provide what the great Alfred Hitchcock referred to as a “McGuffin.” A “McGuffin” is a plot element that drives the story. Sometimes Hitchcock used “McGuffins” as a diversionary tactic to throw us off of the trail of his mystery.

I rewrote the entire last half of my new book “Deadly Plunge.”  I did so with the intent to generate more suspense. For instance, I put chapter breaks in different places in the story which would leave the reader hanging.

There is a plot in “Deadly Plunge” where the main female character, Amelia Ryan is being stalked by a creepy guy who has become obsessed with her. His intent is to kidnap her. 

In this case, the reader knows this stalker is after the female protagonist but the main characters don’t. This adds to the suspense because they are doing things which will--unbeknownst to the main characters--put themselves in danger.

I concluded one chapter with the kidnapper watching Amelia’s bedroom window waiting for the light to go out so he can strike. One another occasion Amelia is taking French lessons and listening to tapes through a set of headphones. This makes her vulnerable to the attacker as he creeps closer to her without detection.

In “The Last of the Seals” the main characters, Sam Slater and Amelia Ryan, are being secretly observed and tracked by some mysterious figures. Sam is still uncertain about why these people are stalking him and his girlfriend. 

One night, as Sam is running down a pier in the fog to escape one peril, there is something in the fog that he fails to see. It is two men sitting in a car watching him. They are obscured by the shadows and fog. What do they want and what happens next?

Fog is wonderful. San Francisco fog practically becomes a character in the story. Fog conceals people and events and prevents a clear picture of what’s occurring. It adds to the creepy feeling where at any moment something can suddenly appear out of the fog.

It is exhilarating to read a story like that and it is exciting to write a suspenseful story, especially when it works.

One of the tag lines I’m using to promote my book sums up the feeling I’m going for in my mystery novel.

“Danger lurks just around the corner in foggy San Francisco.”

Sam Slater mysteries (last of the Seals & deadly plunge) blog Tour Information:

About the Author:
Greg Messel has written four novels and three unpublished memoirs. He published his premiere novel “Sunbreaks” in 2009, followed by Expiation in 2010 and The Illusion of Certainty in 2011. Last of the Seals is the first in a series of mysteries which are set in 1957 San Francisco. The second book in the series Deadly Plunge will be published around Christmas of 2012. Greg grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and has had a newspaper career as a columnist, sportswriter and news editor. He won a Wyoming Press Association Award as a columnist while working for a daily newspaper in Wyoming. Greg also spent many years in the corporate world as a Financial Manager. He now devotes his energies to writing at his home in Edmonds, Washington on the Puget Sound just north of Seattle, where he lives with his wife, Carol.

Visit Greg’s website at www.gregmessel.com.

About the Book:
Last of the Seals:

The year is 1957 in San Francisco. Sam Slater is a lifetime minor league baseball player for the San Francisco Seals. The Seals have just one more season left as San Francisco is about to become a major league city. The Giants are coming to town in 1958 and the Seals will be displaced. Sam has come to the end of his baseball career and is going to join the private detective agency of his best friend. When his friend is brutally murdered, Sam must go it alone and try to find out why. Along the way he is swept off of his feet by a beautiful Elvis-obsessed TWA stewardess named Amelia Ryan. Sam and Amelia try to unravel the mystery together. Sam’s best friend, Jimmy inadvertently saw something he shouldn’t have. Sam and Amelia have pictures in their possession that have crime families in San Francisco and Chicago very worried. Then a young woman Sam has been searching for is found dead on the beach. Suddenly, Sam and Amelia find themselves in danger. On dark and foggy San Francisco nights, trouble is lurking just around the next corner.

Deadly Plunge:

Former baseball player and newly-minted private investigator, Sam Slater is hired to find out why a rich, politically-well connected San Francisco man, Arthur Bolender,  suddenly ended his life by plunging off of the Golden Gate Bridge. All those who know Arthur say unequivocally that he did not commit suicide.  However, Bolender’s body was found floating in San Francisco Bay and his car was abandoned in the traffic lane of the bridge.  Meanwhile, Sam’s romance with glamorous TWA stewardess Amelia Ryan continues to blossom and deepen. She is now his secret fiancee. Amelia also eagerly helps Sam solve his cases when she’s in town. The key to unraveling the mystery seems to be a strange old Victorian-style house. Bolender’s widow, a rich, seductive socialite named Maggie Bolender, was not even aware that her husband owned the house. What is really going on behind the doors of the mysterious house?  Finding the answers will plunge Sam and Amelia into a dangerous world of political intrigue in the exciting sequel to “Last of the Seals.”

Book Trailer Link:

Last of the Seals:


Deadly Plunge:


Book Trailer Code:

Last of the Seals:


Deadly Plunge:


Sam Slater Mysteries Tour Page:


           
            

Review: Deadly Plunge

I found another author that I like!  I really enjoyed reading Mr. Messel's Deadly Plunge, the latest in his Sam Slater series.

Sam Slater is a former baseball player turned private investigator in 1958 San Francisco.  He's been asked to investigate the death of a wealthy San Francisco businessman, Arthur Bolender, by Bolender's widow.  Everyone whom he talks to about Bolender's death says that he would never have committed suicide.  So why was his car found running on the Golden Gate Bridge and his body found in San Francisco Bay and why did Bolender own a Victorian style house that no one knew about?

Together with his TWA stewardess girlfriend, Ameila Ryan, Sam investigates Bolender's death.  As he digs into Bolender's past and politics, Sam finds that the house was being used for political meetings and that the people involved may be planning to do more than hand out flyers.  Sam also becomes involved in the death of a Russian diplomat as he works to piece together why Bolender died.

In the midst of this, Sam and Amelia's romance heats up and they become secretly engaged.  With Amelia helping Sam with his investigation, she is soon targeted by a stalker and barely escapes being kidnapped.

The secondary characters were also well written and their involvement in the story was well thought out.  I loved the dynamics of both Sam and Amelia's families.  Mr. Messel did a great job of bringing 1958 San Francisco to life for me.

I also enjoyed the lead in to the next novel in the series, San Francisco's Secrets, and can't wait to read it.

FTC Notice:  I received a copy of this book from the author.