The Avid Angler: The Hot Dog Detective by Mathiya Adams

Blurb:

Detective MacFarland—"Mac" to his friends—was kicked off the Denver police force for a variety of reasons, most of which came out of the mistrial of the man who murdered his wife. After a couple of years on the streets, MacFarland is getting back on his feet by operating a small hot dog cart. He doesn’t make much money, gives a lot of his product to his former homeless friends, and studies language CDs in his spare time. He's put his detective days behind him, and he's happy that way.

But then MacFarland is approached by a high-priced lawyer to help prove a woman innocent. A fishing buff has been found murdered and the wife is the prime suspect. With the evidence stacked against her, and someone destroying evidence, can MacFarland find the real killer and free the innocent woman?

About the Author:

As a consultant and corporate trainer, Mathiya Adams has traveled and lived in California, Texas, New Jersey, India, the Philippines, Mexico, Scotland, and too many other places to name. After having circled the globe numerous times, she has settled down in Denver. Ms. Adams plans to showcase Denver, the Front Range and the rest of Colorado in The Hot Dog Detective stories.

Review by Rochelle:

I received a free copy of this book from a mutual friend of the author, and I put off reading it for fear I wouldn’t like it. I needn’t have worried. The Avid Angler: The Hot Dog Detective grabbed me on the first page and wouldn’t let me go.

“Mac” MacFarland flew out of control in the courtroom when the millionaire who killed his wife was acquitted on a technicality, and spiraled into depression and alcoholism afterward. Kicked off the police force, the detective found himself living on the streets among “the invisible people”—the homeless, the true have-nots who are even ignored by those who have only a very little. Crawling out of his hole, Mac gets sober, acquires a hot dog stand that he uses to feed his homeless friends, and makes enough to keep a roof over his head. Until he starts to investigate the death of a fisherman whose wife, he believes is falsely accused.

The Avid Angler: The Hot Dog Detective takes us into the worlds of the courts, the police, and the homeless. Ms. Adams sees “the invisible people,” and shows us who they are, what they feel, and why some of them live on the streets. At the same time, she delivers a taut, twisty, suspenseful thriller with a bit of unrequited love. Hopefully someday Mac will realize he’s not alone. Oh yes—The Hot Dog Detective is a series, and each book stands alone! Thank you, Ms. Adams!

Heat Rating:  G

Length:  236 Pages

Price:  $0.99

Buy Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Avid-Angler-Detective-Denver-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00RANNZ98/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450133023&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=The+Avid+Angler+and+the+Hot+Dog+Detective+%2B+Mathilda+Adams

Thanks for visiting. Donna, Julie, & Rochelle

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Blurb:

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

About the Author:

Paula Hawkins worked as a journalist for fifteen years before turning her hand to fiction.

Born and brought up in Zimbabwe, Paula moved to London in 1989 and has lived there ever since. The Girl on the Train is her first thriller.

Review by Rochelle:

Rachel is an alcoholic, taking the train into London where she wanders around during the day, spending time at the library, buying booze for the night, hoping no one will notice she’s been jobless for the past few months. She idealizes the couple she watches from the window of the train where it stops for a switch every morning, a few doors down from the dream home she shared with her ex-husband who still lives there with his new wife and baby.

“Jess and Jason” have everything Rachel used to have—until she witnesses Jess kissing another man. That night she gets off the train at the nearest stop, not sure what she plans to do. Waking up the next morning after having blacked out, Rachel reads that Jess, whose real name is Megan, disappeared last night. She goes to the police and tells them about the man she saw Megan kissing, and gets more deeply involved in the investigation than she ever intended to.

I have no idea how I ended up with this book. The fee for it showed up in my checking account and I thought if I wiped it from my Kindle I’d be able to return it. Well, that didn’t work. And somehow, while it disappeared from the list of books in my account, it stayed on my Kindle. So, I figured I may as well read it.

The Girl on the Train is told in first person from the point of view mainly of Rachel, but it also goes into Megan’s POV and her ex’s new wife Anne’s POVs as well. It delves into the guilt Rachel carries at not being able to remember the night of Megan’s death. She awoke with a head wound and blood on her hands. Did she kill Megan? Did she witness Megan’s murder? Is Megan still alive and off somewhere with her paramour? What can’t she remember and does she even want to?

I hate hype. I rarely push best-sellers. I figure they have enough support. But I have to give praise where praise is due. Well-drawn characters? These people’s secrets have secrets. Their layers have layers. The ending completely shocked and surprised me. Yeah, I’m jumping on the bandwagon. I highly recommend The Girl on the Train.

Heat Rating:  PG

Length:  326 Pages

Prices:

Print:

Hardcover  $13.47

Paperback:  $8.05

Digital:  $11.99

Buy Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Train-Novel-Paula-Hawkins-ebook/dp/B00L9B7IKE/ref=la_B0034Q4SHS_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450132026&sr=1-1

Thanks for visiting. Donna, Julie, & Rochelle

The Clock Strikes Midnight by Joan Curtis

Blurb:

Janie Knox wants nothing more than to live her life quietly in Savannah, Georgia and never return to her hometown of Atlanta. At age seventeen, a week after a jury convicted her stepfather of killing her mother, she packed all her worldly possessions in a single duffle bag, hopped on a bus, and vowed never to return. But, when she learns that she’s got three months to live, she journeys back home to finish what she couldn’t do when she left--kill her stepfather.

As the clock ticks away, Janie’s uses the last days of her life to right the wrongs that have haunted her for twenty years. She faces more than she bargained for when she discovers her sister’s life in shambles. Meanwhile her stepfather, recently released from prison, blackmails the sisters and plots to extract millions from the state in retribution.

The Clock Strikes Midnight is a race against time in a quest for revenge and atonement. This is a story about unleashing the hidden truths that haunt a quiet Southern family.

Review by Rochelle:

When Janie left Atlanta, she didn’t say goodbye and everyone there thought she never looked back. That wasn’t true. While she led a quiet, successful life in Savannah, Janie never forgot the events leading up to the day her and her sister’s lives were shattered by their mother’s death—or the man responsible. When she finds she has only three months to live, she knows she has to exact her revenge, and repair the shattered relationships she left behind.

The Clock Strikes Midnight is the story of two generations of Atlanta women and the demons that drive them. It’s the tragedy of basing one’s self-esteem on being the prettiest girl in school, and what happens when your life peaks at sixteen—and crashes at seventeen. It’s the tragedy of losing a loving father at a young age, and of living with an abusive stepfather. And it’s a tale of revenge and of amends. Most importantly, it’s skillfully woven with deeply-drawn characters. Some will tug at your heart-strings, and others will make you want to wash your hands a couple of times when you put down the book. Hurry to the MuseItUp Publishing, Inc. bookstore and buy The Clock Strikes Midnight.

Length:  328 Pages

Digital Price:  $5.95

Buy Link:  https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/museitup/mainstream/the-clock-strikes-midnight-detail

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher. Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their royalties from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-BookPublisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your e-reader is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. You can download your books onto your computer using “Save As” to a “Books” folder you create and sort them into sub-folders by genre, author, or however you wish before transferring them to your e-reader. That way, if there’s a glitch with your e-reader, the books are on your computer. Once you’ve saved the book to your computer plug the larger USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from the folder you created to your E-Reader/Documents/Books directory. Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting. Julie, Donna, & Rochelle