Tuesday, March 6, 2012

BAD MOON RISING - a Gerrie Ferris Finger Review

Bad Moon Rising
Frances di Plino, Author
Crooked Cat Publishing
Released March 2012
Gerrie Ferris Finger, Reviewer

Detective Inspector Paolo Storey and his irritating partner Dave Johnson investigate the attempted rape of a prostitute by his boyhood classmate who has an alibi. Lisa Boxer, the prostitute goes missing at the same time Paolo and Dave get a call.


The second murder victim of a sexual deviate has been found by boys chasing a ball into an alley. This prostitute is the second victim in a string perpetrated by a cassock wearing killer who films himself murdering whores. He leaves a part of himself on the bodies. Does he honestly believe he won't be caught because he doesn't exist? Why did this madman come to be addicted to the pain of the lash?


Di Plino's characters are well-developed with complications readers will identify with. Paola has an ex-wife who calls him toxic and a daughter who attends convent school but doesn't believe in the religion. She asserts before classmates that priests are pedophiles. Father Gregory warns Paolo that she must change her philosophy or be expelled from the school. Further complicating his life is his infatuation with Barbara Boyston, a forensic pathologist. Does the prickly doctor she share his infatuation?


It's not a spoiler to say that the second body found was that of Lisa Boxer, thus stepping up the investigation into his old school mate. The deeper the investigation takes him, the more exposed Paolo becomes, endangering everyone he loves. This tight thriller takes many twists and turns before tragically Paolo unmasks the sick killer.










DiPlino’s writing is as solid as her credentials. She is a deputy editor of Words with JAM, writes fiction for the women’s magazine market, features and photo-features for monthly glossy magazines, and is a writing competition judge for Writers’ Forum. Winner of a Petra Kenney International Poetry Award, she has been placed in numerous creative writing and poetry competitions.
Highly Recommended.



Gerrie Ferris Finger
http://www.gerrieferrisfinger.blogspot.com
http://amzn.to/zSseC1 WHISPERING
http://amzn.to/r3imp5 THE GHOST SHIP
http://amzn.to/zSseC1 MERCILESS

Sunday, March 4, 2012

SOME LIKE IT RED HOT - a Carl Brookins Review


Some Like It Red Hot
By Robin Merrill
Acacia Publishing, Inc
ISBN: 978-0-9774-306-4-2
2008, Trade Paper, 276 pages

Lotsimina Hannon (Lotsi to her intimates) is forced by an evil corporate empire to retire before her time. Lotsi, for want of something else to do, decides to start a whole new life. What better way to do so than buy an old RV and a new motorcycle and hit the road? The fact that she’s never in her life driven either a large recreational vehicle or a high-powered motorcycle is no deterrent.

Since she’s looking for a little excitement in her new life, she heads to Las Vegas, home of opulent RV parks, saunas and hot tubs. And men. Oh yes. Older and retired, but far from sedentary, Lotsi has the heart and the attitudes of a much younger woman. You might say the fires are low but still burning. All it takes is a delectable hunk with the wit and the knowledge of the desires of the more mature woman, and a certain level of experience, to bring those embers to a raging inferno. It also may be said that starting a relationship in a hot tub can get things off to a quick start.

Then of course, murder and associated chicanery intrudes and Lotsi is forced into a game of clues, a game that soon turns deadly. What’s worse, Lotsi becomes a target of the killers even while desperately learning to ride the motorcycle and speed out of trouble.

Smartly written, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, author Merrill presents a romp through the RV culture with pokes at aging baby boomers that is just askew enough to keep you reading and chuckling all the way along. While the story is realistically presented with enough straight and freaky characters to keep readers guessing, this frank romantic mystery is not aimed at fans of the realistic or the noir. A fun read. I hope the author is able to bring us further adventures of the mature.

--
Carl Brookins
www.carlbrookins.com http://agora2.blogspot.com, Case of the Great Train Robbery, Reunion, Red Sky