Thriller

Title: Another Colorado Kill
Author: Bob Doerr
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Reviewer: Joyce Faulkner

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1590957857

Another Colorado Kill is the fourth book in the Jim West mystery/thriller series. In this fast paced story, Jim and friend Edward “Perry” Mason are in route to Colorado Springs to play some golf when they discover a dead body, an apparent murder victim, at a rest stop along the interstate highway. Perry’s stress levels hit the max during the subsequent police interview. He has a heart attack and the golf outing falls apart.

When the police find two more murder victims the next day, both killed with the same weapon that killed the victim whom West had discovered the day before, and the female victim has his name written on a notepad in her purse, their focus on West intensifies. West explains that by chance both the female victim and he had eaten at the same restaurant, but at separate tables, the night before. She had been with two men at the restaurant and had left before he had a chance to talk to her. They had met a few times in the past, but weren’t close. A Sheriff’s deputy, Lieutenant Michelle Prado befriends West, and the two work together in an effort to find the real murderer. As their relationship develops, West finds himself physically attracted to her, but does she feel the same way?

Soon an attempt is made on Jim’s life and he realizes that for some reason the killer, like the police, believes that West knows more about the killings than he has admitted. Jim finds himself playing “cat and mouse” with the killer while trying to convince the police that their focus on him is a waste of time and resources.

When the FBI moves in to help out, the pressure to solve the case mounts. West and Lieutenant Prado discover the local murders may be connected to a larger, nationwide FBI investigation into organized crime and political corruption. West finally has permission to go home to Clovis and is about to leave when the killer shoots Ollie, a young female Deputy whom had become friends with West. The killer leaves her to die on a dirt road. The killer had gone too far. As Michelle leaves with Ollie’s crumpled body in her back seat, West picks up Ollie’s issued 9mm and heads off into the woods to track the killer. The time had come to stop the killings. If he can catch up with the killer, only one of them will return alive.

Title: Jugs & Bottles
Author: Nelson O. Ottenhausen
Genre: Thriller Mystery
Reviewer: Jim Greenwald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0979164257

Jami Unice Gamble, a woman deaf since birth, is targeted for murder after witnessing a Mafia style killing and identifying the two killers to the police. She, along with her hearing aid dog Bottles, becomes involved in a story of romance, chaos and murder by organized crime as the Morgan brothers, a contracted two-man hit team, tries to kill her.

The brothers, Vinnie and Bennie Morgan, are petty crooks and amateurs at trying to commit murder, having never killed anyone before. They make several bungled attempts on Jami’s life and get themselves into a series of comedic situations. Jami’s dog Bottles tries to befriend the criminal duo each time he meets them, but fear of the dog and the brothers’ reactions in trying to avoid him only causes them no end of embarrassing moments. The ongoing encounters between the dog and the brothers are oblivious to Jami because of her deafness.

Lt. Randall Casey, a handsome police officer, is the only one in the police department who can communicate with their key witness to the mob style execution. He takes on the responsibility to protect Jami and soon begins a romance with her. His twelve-year-old son Joey is also deaf, and he too likes the woman and her dog, forming an immediate bond with both of them.

During a failed attempt to kill Jami, the Morgan brothers end up in the hospital and another Mafia mobster tries to fulfill the murder contract in order to meet a deadline ordered by mob bosses. He too fails because Bottles goes through an instant metamorphic personality transformation from a docile and gentle pet into a primeval attack animal, killing the assailant in a necessary act to save the members of his adopted pack.

After the death of the assailant, Lt. Casey and members of the police department wonder how to keep Jami safe from the Mafia in the long term, but an unknown ally solves the problem and for a reason that will never be known by the police.

Title: Palmyra, Isle of Death
Author: Karl Boyd
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Reviewer: Stephen Phillips

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0557256267

The following is historical fact as recorded in the Naval Achieves: "In 1816, a pirate ship named "Esperanza," reportedly filled with stolen Inca gold, engaged in a horrendous battle with another unknown pirate ship. The Esperanza sank its opponent, but soon foundered off the shores of Palmyra. But, before the ship sank, the crew removed the treasure and hid it somewhere on the atoll. To date, the treasure has never been recovered."
In Karl Boyd's novel, Palmyra, Isle of Death, two modern day treasure hunters, Bill "Skeeter" Whitaker and Clete Palmer discover the facts listed above and set off to see if they can find and recover the treasure; and return it to the Hawaiian authorities for historical purposes and any monetary reward offered. Along the way, they meet up and join forces with two other modern day pirates, Carter Jennings and his buddy, Jimmy Henderson, who are also after the treasure, but for their own greedy reasons.

Karl Boyd uses his superb writing ability to blend actual fact with his embellished ideas of what happened aboard the Esperanza and its opponent during the battle, the aftermath, shipwreck on Palmyra, three years of deprivation that followed and the final desperate attempt for the few survivors to reach safety.

As this rollicking tale weaves its way between the beautiful isles of Hawaii and the far off isolated atoll of Palmyra, the reader encounters ghosts of the past, modern day murder, lies, greed, betrayal, unrequited love and revenge.

Even after the conclusion of a well told tale, readers will wonder if Karl Boyd's assumptions of where the treasure still resides is pure fiction, or could it be more historical fact waiting to be discovered? But, in reality, only Palmyra, the Isle of Death knows for sure.

Title: Moryak: A Novel of the Russian Revolution
Author: Lee Mandel
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Reviewer: John R. R. Faulkner

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1440141509

President Theodore Roosevelt learns that it is the intention of Russian Tsar Nicholas II to sabotage the Portsmouth Peace Conference in 1905. In response, he sends Lieutenant Stephen Morrison on a top secret mission with British agent Sidney Reilly to kidnap the Tsar and remove him from Russia. Morrison, a complex man, who was born in Russia, is also fluent in the language and is knowledgeable in Russian political affairs.
The mission goes awry when Morrison is captured and later sentenced to death. Through a twist of fate, he assumes the identity of the leader of the infamous Potemkin mutiny and is sent to the Imperial Labor Camp on Solovetsky Island. Due to his fearless and violent nature, he catches the attention of the Bolshevik prisoners and becomes known as "Moryak" (Russian for Sailor). Upon his release from ten years in prison, Morrison is invited to join the Bolsheviks. Soon, he is able to infiltrate Lenin's inner circle working as a spy for the Allies during the Great War. Morrison's long and complex mission comes to a harrowing conclusion on the eve of the Russian civil war.

Title: From China with Love
Author: Karl Boyd
Gener: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Reviewer: Mike Mullins

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1604520353

If China is to survive, it must have more land for its millions of citizens. The Chairmen of the Chinese Republic tasks his ministers to formulate a ten-year plan to conquer all of Mexico, the U. S. A., and Canada, thereby turning the territory into "New China" while avoiding a horrific third world war.

Within twelve months, the strategy is finalized and the multi-pronged invasion of North America begins quietly. The devilishly clever operation is totally unobserved by the American public, their military and/or politicians, and their neighbors to the north and south.

The diversified main characters are two new mothers from Los Angeles, and their babies attempting to reach safety inland; a college student from Utah whose family has been wiped out; a police lieutenant from Sulfur Springs, Colorado, the only survivor on his shift and tasked with trying to save as many citizens as possible while awaiting the conquering forces; plus a young FBI agent whose father was killed in the attack.

As the few lucky survivors struggle with their new situations in life and deal with the invaders, along the way there is mystery, suspense, danger and romance, together with a terrible realization that perhaps the United States is soon to be a thing of the past.

As with all of Karl Boyd's novels, the ending is unexpected and decidedly disarming. You'll be tempted to turn to that last page, but please don't until you arrive there naturally. Why spoil a wonderful novel