LINDA L. RICHARDS - EXIT STRATEGY (2022)

 

Synopsis/blurb....

A shattered life. A killer for hire. Can she stop? Does she want to?

Her assignments were always to kill someone. That's what a hitman—or hitwoman—is paid to do, and that is what she does. Then comes a surprise assignment—keep someone alive.

She is hired to protect Virginia Martin, the stunning and brilliant chief technology officer of a hot startup with an environmentally important innovation that will change the world. This new gig catches her at a time in her life when she's hanging on by a thread. Despair and hopelessness—now more intense than she'd felt after the tragic loss of her family—led her to abruptly launch this career. But over time, living as a hired killer is decimating her spirit and she keeps thinking of ending her life.

She's confused about the "why" of her new commission, but she addresses it with her usual skill and stealth, determined to keep the young CTO alive against the ever-increasing odds.

Some people have to die as she discharges her responsibility to protect this superstar woman amid the crumbling worlds of high finance and future technical wonders.

The spirit of an assassin—and her nameless dog—permeates this struggle to help a young woman as powerful forces mount against her.

Fans of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Dexter will love Exit Strategy

Exit Strategy stands on its own and follows Endings in this series.

Exit Strategy was my second outing with author Linda L. Richards after the enjoyable Endings. Exit Strategy picks up with our solitary, unnamed hitwoman and main protagonist. Here she is tasked with preventing a killing as opposed to carrying one out.

Again I enjoyed this one. It's almost a study in human psychology..... loss, bereavement, solitude, fragility, dark thoughts, coping mechanisms, a pet dog as a companion and comforter, a closer connection to her handler and almost a kind of mental health therapy conducted through their ever increasing contact and conversations. There's a sixth sense at play as her anonymous handler senses that she may have reached the end of the road both as far as her career as a killer goes and with life itself. She's offering her an alternative path.  

Her mission is to save the brains of a technology company that is about to launch some revolutionary tech. Interestingly the woman she needs to save is her handler's daughter. We disappear down a rabbit hole of science, secrecy, finance, technology, investment, stock manipulation with either potential massive profits or unimaginable ruinous losses, research, beta testing, implementation schedules, failures and setbacks, romance, surveillance, burglary, sham meetings, keyboard warriors issuing threats, missing persons and investigation.

Against this ongoing drama, there are also some family matters from the past that both open up old wounds and also offer the potential for some healing and a reconnection with her former life. Always assuming our unnamed heroine is brave enough to face it.

Thoughtful as well as exciting. Linda L. Richards manages the perfect blend of an evolving story featuring an unidentified danger and attempts to thwart it, with a character trying to figure out whether her life has any real purpose or value. 

Another rock solid read.

4 from 5

 

Read - May, 2022

Published - 2022

Page count - 288

Source - review copy from Net Galley 

Format - Kindle

LINDA L. RICHARDS - ENDINGS (2021)

Synopsis/blurb...

How far can a profound personal loss drive someone toward darkness?

What would it take for you to kill someone for money? And if you did, who—or what—would you have become? These are the question one woman faces when she loses everyone she loves and everything she has. When the opportunity arrives to reinvent herself as a killer for hire, she takes it. She's good at it—and if she doesn't do it, someone else will.

Then everything changes when she learns about a serial killer so horrible she vows to find him and kill him until—overcome by self-doubt—she seeks redemption rather than vengeance.

Fans of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Dexter will love Endings

Having acquired a copy of the second in this series, Exit Strategy (published today) I thought I would see if I could squeeze reading the first book - Endings - into my busy reading schedule. I'm glad I did.

Endings requires a slight suspension of disbelief insofar as we have a slightly unlikely career change for our unnamed female protagonist after a profound loss. Her child and husband were caught in a house fire. Her child died, her husband survived briefly before being put out of his misery. We learn the marriage was possibly in its death throes anyway.

While in the hospital the woman hears a tale of woe from the bed next door and decides to help offer a form of retribution - death in return for money. One job begets another and before long our disconnected, tieless, nothing to live for woman has carved out a connection to an underground network and takes on kills for hire, something she is quite adept about. 

While enduring a life of isolation with no friends or surviving relatives in her orbit, she has managed to retain some sense of humanity. A big story breaks about a killer on the loose, William Atwater. Atwater has been abducting and disappearing children. Our main lady decides to do something about it.   

I enjoyed the premise of the book. All the while we are in the main character's head and we share her sense of loss, her grief, her anger and rage. We also see her efficiency at work in her new profession. Her methodical planning and her coolness in getting close to her targets and her ability to execute those plans and literally err..... execute.

When she gets a bee in her bonnet about William Atwater, there is a different kind of skillset needed to turn detective in tracking him down; as well as the services of a roving reporter, his team and the visions of a medium. 

Like I say there's a few occasions when you have to take a leap of faith and go with the author where she wants to take you. I was more than happy to do so on this occasion. It was my first time trying author, Linda L. Richards' work and definitely not my last.

Exciting, tense, full of action and more than a little violence, also a little bit sad on occasions, but never less than gripping. I really enjoyed it. 

4 from 5

Read - May, 2022

Published - 2021

Page count - 305

Source - review copy Edelweiss - Above the Treeline 

Format - Kindle

KELLY CREIGHTON - SOULS WAX FAIR (2022)

Synopsis/blurb...

More than a literary thriller.

Powerful men can get away with murder...for only so long.

After a life of hardship, Mary Jane McCord's life in Rapid City, South Dakota, finally hits a sweet spot. She finds happiness and her singing career takes off. Everything is looking up until she uncovers the dark and secret obsessions of two high-profile men.

Twenty years pass but the people closest to Mary Jane have not forgotten.

Will they bring the truth out into the light?

'Beautifully written.'

Sarah Stewart Taylor (Maggie D'arcy mysteries)

'A compelling and brilliant read.'

Sharon Dempsey (Lainey and Stowe mysteries)

A tough, slightly complicated read with the author using multiple timelines and POVs, but one which was well worth persevering with.

The book spans a period of over twenty years and at it's centre is MJ McCord, a young woman with dreams of a career in music. Without spoiling things, things do not end well for MJ.

We explore...

ambitions - political, power, entitlement, sporting, musical; 

family - secrets, lies, neglect, loss, mistakes, resentments, jealousy, disagreements, a yearning for, marital discontent, long memories; 

sins - abuse, suspicion and worse;

small town life 

.... and eventually a reckoning and a kind of balancing of the scales.

The main characters in the book were well developed. Most of them, with possibly one exception - John - weren't especially likable. People were taken advantage of and suffered. 

I did find it a bit difficult to keep track of everyone in the book and where we were in the timeline, as to what had happened before. I think I got the gist of it all in the end. I would perhaps have preferred a more linear telling of the tale, but hats off to the author for taking a few risks with the book.

Overall I enjoyed it. The outcome was one I was hoping for after events of the past were clarified. 

I liked the setting as well. I don't think I have visited South Dakota in my reading before.

3 from 5

I've encountered Kelly Creighton's work before in the Alternative Ulster Noir anthology. 

Read - May, 2022

Published - 2022

Page count - 362

Source - review copy from author

Format - Kindle

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH KELLY CREIGHTON

Author Kelly Creighton (Souls Wax Fair and a lot more besides) was kind enough to answer a few questions on her latest book and more.

Is the writing full time or is there a day job? Can you offer us a potted biography of yourself? 

I am a full-time writer these days. However, I do other bits and pieces. I facilitate creative writing workshops for schools and community groups, mentor new writers, and teach English as a foreign language.

*I’m soon to read your latest offering – Souls Wax Fair.  Can you pitch it to a potential reader in 50 words or less? (*Finished and enjoyed!)

After a life of hardship, Mary Jane McCord’s life in Rapid City finally hits a sweet spot. Her singing career takes off. Everything is looking up until she uncovers the dark and secret obsessions of high-profile men. Twenty years pass but the people closest to Mary Jane have not forgotten.

That was hard! I’d like to add that it is a literary thriller, and more. A little bit experimental.

I believe it’s your fifth novel after your three book DI Harriet Sloane series and a standalone novel – The Bones of It, plus a couple of short story collections and a book of poetry. 

Which one are you most proud of? 

I am immensely proud of The Bones of It because that was where I found my voice after shelving my first (unpublished) book. The Sloane books are important as far as my portrayal of a female detective and the societal themes I deal with. I get most satisfaction out of writing the procedural books because they are a puzzle I set and have to work out myself. It’s great fun, and weird. 

But as a writer, I’m most in love with Souls Wax Fair. When I finished writing it, I felt bereft of the story, the setting and the characters. Every time I read from it I feel the most pride. 

Which would you press into the hands of a new reader first? 

It depends on the reader and what they like. Even with the series, I don’t mind if the books are read out of order or as standalones. There is a lot of great art and literature out there to compete with. 

Do you insert family, friends, and colleagues into your characters?

No. I do, however, insert scenarios from real life here and there. When people are telling me about mad things that happen to them, they usually add, ‘Kelly, you could put it in a book.’ It makes me laugh, and it’s a good gauge of how quirky something is if someone thinks it’s like something I would write. Real life is stranger than fiction, after all. 

Are there any subjects off limits?

No. The difficult subjects draw me to them. I like fiction that disrupts my comfort zone (a bit). It is all down to how the subjects are handled. Some people would prefer to read about nicer things, but I do write about violence quite a bit; it’s one of my recurring themes. There’s nothing nice about it but plenty to say on the matter.

How long from conception to completion did Souls Wax Fair take? Was it a smooth process or were there many bumps in the road along the way?

I got the kernel for the story in 2016. It was quite slow going until I visited South Dakota in 2018 and was able to research the place and write the book properly. It probably took two years from then, although after each draft I was setting it aside and working on another project, so it didn’t take the full two years. Still, it’s been a long process to get it out into the world.

Was there one spark or germ of imagination which started the story off in your mind?

It was more like three story ideas in my ideas folder coming together and taking shape. Then it was announced that Donald Trump was going to run for president. 

I believe it has a very different location – South Dakota, compared to your previous work, most of which seems to be set in and around Belfast. Do you have a connection with the location in the new book? How did you come to set the book there?

The book had to be set there because it’s said to be the most patriotic place in the States. Hence, Mount Rushmore. The weather was very changeable. These are themes in the book. It’s a place with a history of violence. Living in Northern Ireland, it always feels like I have some understanding of that. The places had great names, Badlands, Black Hills, etc. I got really interested in these wide-open spaces and how that made people feel isolated, or not as the case may be. 

Are there any unpublished gems in your bottom drawer? 

I think so. I’m excited about what is to come. 

What’s the current project in progress?

I’m editing Sloane book 4. I will also have a Sloane Christmas story set in the past. There is a new book tapping away, but I have to ignore it for now. It’s too easy to get distracted by the shiny thing. 

I recently read the anthology Alternative Ulster Noir which you had a story in. Do you think yours was the best of the bunch? Who’s was the worst Simon’s or Gerard’s? Spill the beans please.

That’s hilarious. I loved all the stories and was pleasantly surprised at how well they complemented each other. Simon edited the anthology, and as an editor he was brilliant at giving us complete freedom. Luckily he liked what I wrote, which was a relief. Alternative Ulster Noir has been a wonderful project to be involved with. The launches have even had live music from Simon and Gerard’s band. It’s not fair that they get to be great writers and musicians!

Moving on….

What are the last five books you’ve read?

Murder in the Neighbourhood by Ellen J. Green

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

Alternative Ulster Noir edited by Simon Maltman

Queering the Green edited by Paul Maddern

Seattle Noir edited by Curt Colbert

A mix of crime, stories and poetry.

Favourite activity when not working or writing?

General spending time with the family or playing with my three dogs is my favourite. I’m glad you didn’t say the word ‘hobby’, because I think that for writers writing is our job and our hobby. It’s a bit all-encompassing that way. Well, except for those musician types…

What’s the last film you watched that rocked you?

Probably Parasite. It is phenomenally good and surprising. 

TV addict or not? What’s the must watch show in the Creighton household?

TV addict for sure. Writer James Murphy has a show (Crime Scene) on Belfast247. He knows I am a true crime buff and that I love my crime TV in general, so for the last year I have had a slot on his radio show reviewing crime TV. That’s my go-to genre, but I do like trashy reality TV too. 

What are the last three pieces of music you’ve listened to?

I am obsessed with Fleet Foxes, so they have been on a loop constantly. First Aid Kit and Michael Kiwanuka are other favourites.

-----------------------------------

RANDOM TRIVIA FUN QUESTIONS

What’s your favourite vegetable?

Sweet potato. 

When and where did you last have a cat fight? School, church, a sleazy neighbourhood bar?

On the page. Problems with Girls (DI Sloane 2) has quite a good catfight. Anyway, I’m a dog person. I can bark but I don’t use my claws.

Do you have any tattoos?

A few. I’ve designed tattoos for others in the past and have designed a new one for myself. Just have to get around to booking an appointment.

Do you have any irrational fears?

I have lots of irrational fears. I think that’s due to an overactive imagination. But I’m a big believer in ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. My fear of boredom is the worst. 

What’s your favourite holiday destination?

Glastonbury Festival in Somerset is my favourite place in the world. I’ve been a few times and now it’s been quite a while since I’ve been. I’d love to go back but I’m a bit irrationally afraid to. It is quite the bootcamp and I’ve been sitting at a desk for too long. 

When did you last tell a lie?

Yesterday. It was only a little one to save someone’s embarrassment. I don’t bother with bigger lies. My memory is so rubbish I would never be able to remember what I said to cover my tracks.

----------

Many thanks to Kelly for her time. 

You can catch up with her at the following haunts. 

https://kellycreighton.com

https://fridaypressbooks.com

Her laatest offering Souls Wax Fair was released earlier this month.

Souls Wax Fair

More than a literary thriller.

Powerful men can get away with murder...for only so long.

After a life of hardship, Mary Jane McCord's life in Rapid City, South Dakota, finally hits a sweet spot. She finds happiness and her singing career takes off. Everything is looking up until she uncovers the dark and secret obsessions of two high-profile men.

Twenty years pass but the people closest to Mary Jane have not forgotten.

Will they bring the truth out into the light?

'Beautifully written.'

Sarah Stewart Taylor (Maggie D'arcy mysteries)

'A compelling and brilliant read.'

Sharon Dempsey (Lainey and Stowe mysteries)

JUSTIN DAVID (ed.) and NATHAN EVANS (ed.) - MAINSTREAM (2021)

 

Synopsis/blurb....

Mainstream brings thirty authors in from the margins to occupy centre-page. Queer storytellers. Working class wordsmiths. Chroniclers of colour. Writers whose life experiences give unique perspectives on universal challenges, whose voices must be heard. And read:

Aisha Phoenix, Alex Hopkins, Bidisha, Chris Simpson, DJ Connell, Elizabeth Baines, Gaylene Gould, Giselle Leeb, Golnoosh Nour, Hedy Hume, Iqbal Hussain, Jonathan Kemp, Julia Bell, Juliet Jacques, Justin David, Kathy Hoyle, Keith Jarrett, Kerry Hudson, Kit de Waal, Lisa Goldman, Lui Sit, Nathan Evans, Neil Bartlett, Neil Lawrence, Neil McKenna, Ollie Charles, Padrika Tarrant, Paul McVeigh, Philip Ridley, Polis Loizou.

The anthology is edited by Justin David and Nathan Evans. Justin says, ‘In publishing, it’s often only the voices of a privileged minority that get heard and those of ‘minority’ groups—specifically the working classes, ethnic minorities and the LGBTQ+ community—don’t get the amplification they deserve. We wanted to bring all those underrepresented groups together in one volume in order to pump up the volume’

‘a wonderful collection of fascinating and unique stories by unique voices’ KATHY BURKE

An enjoyable anthology of outsider voices.

Full table of contents...

Foreword—Aliya Gulamani

Introdution—Justin David and Nathan Evans

Home Time—Kathy Hoyle

Giant—Lui Sit

In the Shell Museum—Padrika Tarrant

Easy Peelers—Lisa Goldman

The Spinney—Gaylene Gould

The Initiation—Bidisha

Happy Ending—Golnoosh Nour

The Beach—Hedy Hume

Going Up, Going Down—Nathan Evans

Twickenham—Neil Bartlett

Bleach—Neil Lawrence

Last Visit—Alex Hopkins

A Review of ‘A Return’—Juliet Jacques

Scaffolding—Giselle Leeb

Dilated Pupil—Ollie Charles

Serosorting—Justin David

It May Concern—Keith Jarrett

Partnering—Aisha Phoenix

The Birdwatchers—Julia Bell

Our Kind of Love—Paul McVeigh

The Reluctant Bride—Iqbal Hussain

The Weight of My Revenge—Kit de Waal

Coup de Grace—DJ Connell

A Life That Isn’t Mine to See—Kerry Hudson

Pixmalion—Polis Loizou

The Dick of Death—Neil McKenna

The Flower Thief—Jonathan Kemp

Notes from a Composer—Chris Simpson

Alignment—Elizabeth Baines

Sunday—Philip Ridley

Biographies

A few months on from reading a lot of the stories have disappeared from my consciousness which kind of makes it a bit awkward when trying to assemble some semi-coherent thoughts on the book - why do I do that, probably laziness.

Like any collection, some of them hit all the right notes and resonated and some passed me by, just not really connecting with me.

My favourite was probably the opener, Home Time by Kathy Hoyle. 

A bit of a kitchen sink drama, with a lot packed into a little. It's set in a mining community during the strike in the 80s and concerns a family with two girls. The youngest kind of senses that not everything is quite right with her world. She's just old enough to discern fissures in her family relationships. She just isn't capable of articulating them or conversely she's savvy enough to know that voicing them will make them all too real. I found it quite haunting really. It reminded me of the difficult years when you leave childhood behind and enter the big scary world of the grown ups. You want to embrace it, but there's a comfort in childish things and innocence and naivety. Problems aren't something we want to consider or have the skills or experience to tackle.  

Equally enjoyable and just as haunting - Twickenham by Neil Bartlett. 

A man looks back at his first relationship, as a 15 year old with an older man.

Overall, an interesting and diverse collection of stories.  

All about feelings, family, relationships, connections, and memories with mainly innocuous events assuming importance in the eye of the narrator.  

3 from 5 

Read - February, 2022

Published - 2021

Page count - 274

Source - review copy from editors

Format - PDF read on laptop

2 BY NIK KORPON

 A couple of books from Nik Korpon - one a novel, one a collection of short stories.

Korpon writes science fiction as well as mystery fiction. Ill stick to his mystery stuff I reckon.

I enjoyed his book Radicals back in 2020. I'm looking forward to reading more from him.

Stay God, Sweet Angel (2010)

Damon lives a content life, playing video games and dealing drugs from his second-hand store while his girlfriend, Mary, drops constant hints about marriage. If only he could tell her his name isn't really Damon. If only he could tell her who he really is. But after he witnesses a friend's murder, a scarlet woman glides into his life, offering the solution to all of his problems. His carefully constructed existence soon shatters like crystal teardrops and he must determine which ghosts won't stay buried - and which ones are trying to kill him - if he wants to learn why Mary has disappeared.

"In beautifully rendered prose, Korpon delivers an intense story of love and treachery on mean and merciless streets." 

- Donald Ray Pollock

Wear Your Home Like a Scar (2019)

In Wear Your Home Like a Scar, Nik Korpon explores the catastrophic consequences of trying to start anew and reinvent yourself. 

A clandestine surgeon goes to extreme lengths when she's torn between family loyalties. A con man tries to help his girlfriend escape her pimp, despite what the tarot cards tell her. A drifter hunts down the man who hung her out to dry with a cartel boss. A sicario has a crisis of faith when an old legend stalks him.

From the streets of Baltimore to the comunas of Medellin, the Mexican Sierras to Texas border towns, Wear Your Home Like a Scar shows that no matter how deep you cut, you'll never truly leave your home behind.

Praise for the Stories by Nik Korpon:

"Nik Korpon's stories read like Sonny Chiba and Don Winslow somehow made a literary baby, in that they will kick your ass, then kick you in the head, and then to the heart." - Todd Robinson, author of The Hard Bounce and Rough Trade

"There's an electric charge to Nik Korpon's stories. They crackle and pop and leave a mark. This is an entire book full of them. Why haven't you bought it yet?" - Rob Hart, author of The Warehouse

ADAM HOWE - OF MOOSE AND MEN (2022)

 

Synopsis/blurb...

He’s battled biker gangs, neo-Nazis, steroidal wrestlers, Russian spam-bots, an ornery skunk ape, and an oversexed orangutan… now, boxer turned strip club bouncer Reggie Levine is BACK in his FUBAR-iest escapade yet. When a sinister stranger with an uncanny likeness to actor M. Emmett Walsh kidnaps Marlene, the sumo-sized stripper at The Henhouse where he works, Reggie is called back to action, and faced with his greatest challenge.

Author Adam Howe is a bit of a cult. His warped prose the product of a depraved imagination are probably lacking in universal appeal. That said I'm always happy to take a trip on the wild side with him and see where we end up.

Of Moose and Men is a 30-odd page adventure with his wrestler character Reggie Levine. Reggie is working as a bouncer at a strip club when one of the girls goes missing. Reggie's job is to find her.

Violence, humour and more than a touch of graphic grossness accompanies us on our journey.

Like I say not everyone's cup of tea, but there's something in the absurdity of the situations his larger than life characters find themselves in that appeal to my inner adolescent brain.

4 from 5

Gator Bait (2015) and One Tough Bastard (2021) have been enjoyed before from Adam Howe. There's more to get to on the pile. 

Read - April, 2022

Published - 2022

Page count - 33

Source - Kindle Unlimited

Format - Kindle