Book Talk with Fran Lewis

Blood on the Tracks: Barbara Nickless

Tucker Rhodes has a past that he would like to keep hidden and an event that happened in Iraq that if brought to light in the present would destroy many lives. Rhodes is scarred. His face and body badly burned having those that see him call him the Burned Man. When investigating a murder of a young woman named Elise, it leads back to him, as she is his fiancé. The story opens when we hear her voice begging him to come home and saying she will marry him no matter what. Scarred both physically and emotionally Rhodes finds himself in a darker place when Elise is found dead. Standing over her body does not help, as he is the one to find her. Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell, is brought in by the Denver Major Crimes Unit with her dog Clyde to help wit the investigation. Although attached to the Railroad and not really a crime investigator she takes chances, uses her intuitive skills to unravel a murder that might lead back to a unit in the army in Iraq. With the two detectives on the case Cohen and Parnell, both having different viewpoints regarding Rhodes and his guilt, the police for some reason want to move ahead with Rhodes and just might fail to find the real killer but there is much more as Sydney recalls what happened, the two men whose bodies she processed when working for a mortuary unit and a bomb that was ignited that took many lives. Just what happened there and why are so many willing hide the truth? What will happen if this comes out at trial?

My Sweet Angel: The True Story of Lacey Spears, the Seemingly Perfect Mother Who Murdered Her Son in Cold Blood

 

 

 

English-born John Glatt is the author of Lost and Found, Secrets in the Cellar, Playing with Fire, and many other bestselling books of true crime. He has more than 30 years of experience as an investigative journalist in England and America. Glatt left school at 16 and worked a variety of jobs—including tea boy and messenger—before joining a small weekly newspaper. He freelanced at several English newspapers, then in 1981 moved to New York, where he joined the staff for News Limited and freelanced for publications including Newsweek and the New York Post. His first book, a biography of Bill Graham, was published in 1981, and he published For I Have Sinned, his first book of true crime, in 1998. He has appeared on television and radio programs all over the world, including Dateline NBC, Fox News, Current Affair, BBC World, and A&E Biography. He and his wife Gail divide their time between New York City, the Catskill Mountains and London.

 

On Jan. 21, 2014, Lacey Spears killed her 5-year-old son. Her weapon of choice was a bottle of water, surreptitiously administered against doctor’s orders.

The death of little Garnett in a Westchester County hospital became national news, the tale of a deranged mom driven to kill by a rare mental illness: Munchausen by proxy syndrome.The new book “My Sweet Angel” is the product of author John Glatt’s 18 months researching Spears' life story in almost forensic detail.

Garnett was only in the hospital, fighting for his life, because of a near-lethal dose of sodium slipped into his system through an intravenous feeding tube.

Join me for this heartwrenching interview

Skin of Tattoos

by Christina Hoag

 

Los Angeles homeboy Magdaleno is paroled from prison after serving time on a gun possession frameup by a rival, Rico, who takes over as gang shotcaller in Mags’s absence. Mags promises himself and his Salvadoran immigrant family a fresh start, but he can’t find either the decent job or the respect he craves from his parents and his firefighter brother, who look at him as a disappointment. Moreover, Rico, under pressure to earn money to free the Cyco Lokos’ jailed top leader and eager to exert his authority over his rival-turned-underling, isn’t about to let Mags get out of his reach. Ultimately, Mags’s desire for revenge and respect pushes him to make a decision that ensnares him in a world seeded with deceit and betrayal, where the only escape from rules that carry a heavy price for transgression is sacrifice.

A Life for a Life

A Mystery Novel

by Lynda McDaniel

 

When a young woman is found dead in the North Carolina mountains, the county sheriff says suicide. Della Kincaid disagrees. A former reporter in Washington, D.C., she knows how to hunt down the real story. But she's now living in Laurel Falls, N.C., reviving a general store and creating a new life for herself. Without her usual sources, she turns to an unlikely cast of characters—friends, customers, ex-husband, and forger. With their help, she uncovers how unbridled greed has spawned a series of crimes and sorrows. Along the way, Kincaid discovers what the Appalachian landscape and people mean to her.

Spotlight: Bruce Coffin: Among the Shadows:

Fall in Portland, Maine usually arrives as a welcome respite from summer’s sweltering temperatures and, with the tourists gone, a return to normal life—usually. But when a retired cop is murdered, things heat up quickly, setting the city on edge.

Detective Sergeant John Byron, a second-generation cop, is tasked with investigating the case—at the very moment his life is unraveling. On the outs with his department’s upper echelon, separated from his wife, and feeling the strong pull of the bottle, Byron remains all business as he tries to solve the murder of one of their own. And when another ex-Portland PD officer dies under suspicious circumstances, he quickly realizes there’s much more to these cases than meets the eye. The closer Byron gets to the truth, the greater the danger for him and his fellow detectives.

This taut, atmospheric thriller will appeal to fans of Michael Connelly and John Sandford.Join me at 10 Am Eastern to interview this great author and learn more about Among the Shadows

Lady Samantha Barrett is determined to find the man of her dreams. Of course, he must be devastatingly handsome and just a bit dangerous. Now, her coach is filled with a collection of gothic novels and her head with romantic notions as she eagerly leaves her brother's country estate for her first London Season. Still unsophisticated and too innocent by far, Samantha is ill-prepared for the hypocrisy of the town or for the formidable stranger who crosses her path-- a stranger she is sure must be her long-awaited hero... Remington Worth, the Earl of Gresham, is reputed to be anything but a hero. He is, however, intrigued by the fresh, young Lady Samantha. At sea, Remington had been a brilliant captain. To help save his country, he has become the Crown's most deadly and dedicated covert agent, posing as a notorious womanizer and blackmailer. His latest orders are to investigate the mysterious disappearances of England's prized merchant vessels. He will allow no one to get in his way or touch his heart-- until Samantha. Join me when author

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nearly Girl

ected social norms and the twists and turns of getting it all slightly wrong, the consequences of which prove fatal for some.

Spotlight: NEW YORK TIMES AUTHOR: ANDREA CANE

 

My Heart’s Desire by Andrea Kane

 

Lady Alexandria Cassel scorned London's frivolous social whirl, seeking adventure as a stowaway aboard a merchant ship. Drake Barrett was the vessel's powerful captain—and a cynical duke who disdained a noble's shallow life. At sea he revealed neither his origins nor his wealth, and to Alexandria he was simply a man who made her cool reserve fly with the winds… whose desire for her was as wild as the ocean they sailed.

 

Caught in the crossfire of war, they were shipwrecked on an idyllic island, where they tasted perfect passion… and tenderness. But Drake dreaded the day of their rescue—when his love would discover that the virile man she adored was at the pinnacle of the aristocracy she despised. Hardly did they suspect the base treachery that would soon threaten them… and the dangers each would brave to join forever their hearts and lives!

SPOTLIGHT: TESS GERRITSEN: Playing with FIre is her latest release and the music she created for this novel is part of what we will discuss today:

In a shadowy antiques shop in Rome, violinist Julia Ansdell happens upon a curious piece of music—the Incendio waltz—and is immediately entranced by its unusual composition. Full of passion, torment, and chilling beauty, and seemingly unknown to the world, the waltz, its mournful minor key, its feverish arpeggios, appear to dance with a strange life of their own. Julia is determined to master the complex work and make its melody heard.

 

Back home in Boston, from the moment Julia’s bow moves across the strings, drawing the waltz’s fiery notes into the air, something strange is stirred—and Julia’s world comes under threat. The music has a terrifying and inexplicable effect on her young daughter, who seems violently transformed. Convinced that the hypnotic strains of Incendio are weaving a malevolent spell, Julia sets out to discover the man and the meaning behind the score.

 

Her quest beckons Julia to the ancient city of Venice, where she uncovers a dark, decades-old secret involving a dangerously powerful family that will stop at nothing to keep Julia from bringing the truth to light.

Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D.. Join me Frsn Lewis for a show what will talk about the book and many other issues including a special medical issue related to a character in this novel. Fran Lewis: Just reviews, MJ Network

Panel Show: Welcome Authors: Simon Gervais, Allan Jacobson, Allan Topol and Jon Land to DOUBLE PLOT Tuesday

 

Just how do these four outstanding internationally famous authors handle writing multiple plots in their novels and keeping the storylines flowing? Just how do these talented authors created unique and different story lines when the characters in one plot are not the same or in the same time period as their main character? What happens when you use flashback to tell a back story and have to make sure readers know which time period or when you change between the present and flashing back? These and many other questions will be discussed on Literary Viewpoints with Fran Lewis

October 6: PARANORMAL THURSDAY

Authors Lisa Unger, Mell Corcoran and Brian Moreland take center stage as we talk about how they create visions, paranormal scenes, how they create characters with special powers that everyone would love to have. Within Brian’s books how does he incorporate horror, macabre and more  within his many short stories. How did Lisa create Finley and Eloise? How do dreams and visions come into play and how does Penny use visions in the present to deal with the past? What about Niko in Shadows Fall what triggers his memories of what might happen to protect Lou? How does she use the secret organization to help Lou solve the mystery of the murders? What does blood have to do with all three? How do they use the occult in their novels? This and more will be discussed on PARANORMAL/HORROR THURSDAY with Fran Lewis who will talk about her series Faces Behind the Stones.