Death Unmasked by Rick Sulik

Blurb:

A reincarnated evil is stalking the women of Houston. With each murder, the madman quotes an excerpt from the Oscar Wilde poem, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol.” A huge smokestack belching smoke, a ragged flea market double-breasted wool coat, and an old antique picture frame, bring the distant past back to haunt Houston Homicide Detective, Sean Jamison. With those catalysts, Jamison knows who he was in a past life and that he lost the only woman he could ever love. Searching for his reincarnated mate becomes Jamison’s raison d’être as he and fellow detectives scour Houston for a brutal serial killer. The memory of timeless love drives Jamison’s dogged search for a serial killer, determined to finish what he started decades earlier.

Each clue brings Jamison closer to unmasking his old nemesis. Tenacious police work, lessons learned in the past, and intuition may be the only weapons he has in preventing history from repeating itself.

About the Author:

Rick Sulik was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. After completing high school in Boardman, Ohio, he enlisted and served four years in the United States Air Force Military Police. After receiving an Honorable Discharge, he worked three and a half years with the Houston, Texas Police Department, twenty-two years with the Pasadena, Texas Police Department, and ten years as a courthouse bailiff with the Gonzales County, Texas Sheriff’s Department, before retiring in 2013.

Review:

Death Unmasked was an interesting mix of paranormal, police technique, and suspense. It begins when a man named Emil and his beloved Laura awaken on the morning their country is invaded. A Nazi officer rapes and kills Laura in front of Emil, and as he is about to enter the furnace to be burned to death, Emil gouges out the officer’s eyes.

Decades later, a serial killer stalks women in Houston, Texas. Sean Jamison is a homicide detective nearing retirement. A belching smokestack and tattered old coat bring back memories of his past life as Emil, and somehow he knows the serial killer is his old Nazi nemesis. He also knows Laura is back, and she’s the man’s next victim. He has to find her and save her.

Death Unmasked was tautly written and fast-paced, with twists and turns that even I didn’t see coming at the end. Part of me, however, thought Darn! I should’ve seen that coming! The reasons I’m giving the book four roses is that the dialog was stilted and unrealistic. Since when does a cop say things like, “Seems to me this joker is determined to put fear in people so he can get away with anything he so desires.” “So desires?” Really? How about, “This joker’s trying to scare the $#@! outa people so he can do whatever he wants.”

Another one is: “I’m hearing my sentinel inner voice, and it’s cautioning me that something terminal is about to occur.” Huh? Wouldn’t a cop be more likely to say, “My gut’s telling me something bad’s about to go down.”? Please, save the thesaurus for the narrative, Mr. Sulik. Or better yet, just dump it. Be sure your grammar’s correct (unless the person speaking’s an illiterate perp), and write a bit more normally.

Aside from the dialog, I would recommend Death Unmasked. It’s an interesting thriller.

Author Website:  N/A

Warnings:  Violence

Length:  265 Pages

Prices:

Print:  $14.99

Digital:  $6.99

Buy Link:  https://smile.amazon.com/Death-Unmasked-Rick-Sulik-ebook/dp/B017OMVKGE/

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Mercer Street by John A. Heldt

Blurb:

Love, honor, and courage take center stage in the second book of John Heldt’s American Journey time-travel series as three women from the present become entangled in the past in the tension-filled months leading up to World War Two.

Weeks after her husband dies in the middle of an affair, Susan Peterson, 48, seeks solace on a California vacation with her mother Elizabeth and daughter Amanda. The novelist, however, finds more than she bargained for when she meets a professor who possesses the secret of time travel.

Within days, the women travel to 1938 and Princeton, New Jersey. Elizabeth begins a friendship with her refugee parents and infant self, while Susan and Amanda fall for a widowed admiral and a German researcher with troubling ties.

Filled with poignancy, heartbreak, and intrigue, MERCER STREET gives new meaning to sacrifice and commitment as it follows three strong-willed souls on the adventure of a lifetime.

About the Author:

John A. Heldt is the author of the critically acclaimed Northwest Passage and American Journey series. The former reference librarian and award-winning sportswriter has loved getting subjects and verbs to agree since writing book reports on baseball heroes in grade school. A graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of Iowa, Heldt is an avid fisherman, sports fan, home brewer, and reader of thrillers and historical fiction. When not sending contemporary characters to the not-so-distant past, he weighs in on literature and life at https://johnheldt.blogspot.com.

Review:

Mercer Street was the second book by John A. Heldt that I read and was just as compelling as The Mine. In this time-travel romance, three generations of women travel back to the pre-World War Two era when they meet a professor while on vacation who has a time-travel machine. They’re each given a list of don’ts, such as “Don’t tell anyone you’re from the future.” “Don’t alter history in any way.” “Don’t bring back any living thing,” etc.

They travel to Princeton. Elizabeth, the grandmother, wants to see her devoutly Catholic parents from whom she was estranged when she married a Lutheran man. She meets her parents and her infant self and all three women bond with them. Susan, the daughter, meets and falls in love with a retired Navy Admiral who wants to convince not just the military, but the public, that the US needs to build up our arms—especially aircraft and carriers. And Amanda, the granddaughter, falls in love with the son of a German diplomat. He’s grown up mostly in the US, but where do his loyalties really lie? And who is the Old Man who lives down the street and always seems to have lost something when Elizabeth walks past?

Like The Mine, I had difficulty putting down Mercer Street. It was well-written with wonderful grammar, characters who were easy to like, great pacing, and a twist I never saw coming at the end. I thought I had it figured out, but boy, was I wrong! Thank you, Mr. Heldt.

Author Website:  http://johnheldt.blogspot.com

Warnings:  None

Length:  431 Pages

Digital Price:  $4.99

Buy Link:  https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Street-American-Journey-Book-ebook/dp/B0170DP9TQ

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The Mine by John A. Heldt

Blurb:

In May 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can’t use, money he can’t spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of swing dancing and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his twenty-one year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. The Mine is a love story that follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

About the Author:

John A. Heldt is the author of the critically acclaimed Northwest Passage and American Journey series. The former reference librarian and award-winning sportswriter has loved getting subjects and verbs to agree since writing book reports on baseball heroes in grade school. A graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of Iowa, Heldt is an avid fisherman, sports fan, home brewer, and reader of thrillers and historical fiction. When not sending contemporary characters to the not-so-distant past, he weighs in on literature and life at johnheldt.blogspot.com.

Review:

The Mine was the first of two books by Mr. Heldt that I read. At some point in each book, someone “sank” into a chair. “Sank” is a verb I have not seen in a book in so long, I was beginning to think it had disappeared from the English language. Thank you, Mr. Heldt, for reintroducing me to an old friend! I was beginning to think I was the only person left who remembered sink had a past tense and not just the perfect past tense “sunk.”

Now, to the rest of the book. When Joel Smith gets caught in traffic on his way home from a trip to Yellowstone just before graduating from college in the year 2000 with a degree in geology, he sees a sign for an abandoned gold mine. Despite his buddy’s protests, he decides to check it out. Inside he encounters a glowing room where he hits his head. When he stumbles out his friend is gone, along with a lot of other things. He discovers it’s June, 1941. He meets a young man who is dating an impressive young lady. I almost fell out of my recliner Joel realized she was his grandma.

The Mine was a page-burner. I actually took time off work to read this book because I couldn’t put it down. I really liked Joel and Grace and wanted them to have a happily ever after. Have tissues ready at the end of The Mine. You will cry!

Author Website:  http://johnheldt.blogspot.com

Warnings: None

Length:  297 Pages

Digital Price:  $3.99

Buy Link:  https://www.amazon.com/Mine-Northwest-Passage-Book-ebook/dp/B0078S9B6G

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