review by Patrick H. Moore
I was recently contacted by a liberal Zionist novelist and humanitarian named Howard Kaplan who wrote two first-rate Israeli spy novels back in the 1970s and 1980s. To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Kaplan is a religious man, and like most Zionists, strongly believes in the cause of modern day Israel. On the other hand, Mr. Kaplan is by no means a right-wing Zionist reactionary and he decries the wickedness and cruelty that all too often emanates from factions among both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Mr. Kaplan’s stance on this seemingly intractable problem is that the fighting and terrorist acts coming from the radicals on both side must stop, and in its place, a spirit of reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians must arise.
Continue reading »
by Darcia Helle
In 1870, New Orleans was a city divided by politics, class, and race. The Civil War had left much of the south reeling, and now the government’s Radical Reconstruction attempted to force change by integrating the black population into the white-dominated hierarchy. Some whites rebelled, clinging to their Confederate roots, while others who supported the change suffered ridicule and disdain within their community. The atmosphere was tumultuous. Racism was not only openly practiced but encouraged.
Former United States Supreme Court Justice John Campbell, who resigned in order to join the Confederacy, illustrates this point well. He had this to say to his fellow New Orleanians: “We have Africans in place all about us, they are jurors, post office clerks, custom house officers & day by day they barter away their obligations and duties.”
Continue reading »
review by Patrick H. Moore
I get asked to read a fair number of true crime books. The writers, like writers everywhere, are working hard to promote their creations and are eager for exposure. I hate to say “no” to these requests, but inwardly I sometimes groan as in, “How in the world am I going to find time to read, much less review, another crime book?”
Thus, it was with considerable pleasure and more than a little relief that I discovered that COLD SERIAL: The Jack the Stranglers Murders, by Brain Forschner, provides a fascinating extended snapshot of a string of unprovoked rapes and murders committed in or around Dayton, Ohio between 1900 and 1909. Based on the modus operandi of the killer, the reader comes to the unavoidable conclusion that the murders are the work of a single cold-hearted killer, what today we would term a serial killer.
Continue reading »
by Bob Couttie
Many years ago, on another planet, I drank champagne on the French Riviera and bedded a princess. Outside the shuttered windows a clear blue Mediterranean Sea sparkled below the stuccoed wealthy villas of Cap Ferrat and the decaying remains of Victorian grandeur in the backwaters of Antibes. It was here I said ‘No’ to the French Connection.
Continue reading »
by Darcia Helle
“I didn’t do it, but I know who did.”
Imagine you are a 20-year-old, uneducated man-child who has spent his entire life in a small, crime-infested community. Your family defines dysfunctional, but you don’t think about that because you don’t know what a functional family looks like. Add to this the fact that you’re a minority in a city where prejudice runs rampant. One day you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, and suddenly you find yourself arrested and charged with the brutal murder of a young woman. You tell everyone who will listen that you did not kill her. In fact, despite your fear, you provide police with the name of the real killer.
Continue reading »
I am pleased to announce that crime novelist Darcia Helle of Quiet Fury Books Blog has very kindly posted a story I wrote about how my new novel, Cicero’s Dead, came into being. The piece is entitled “Nick Crane, Spirit Catchers and the Making of Cicero’s Dead“. Please check it out on Darcia’s blog.
Book Review of Cicero’s Dead by Darcia Helle
Cicero Lamont dealt drugs in massive quantities making huge profits and lots of enemies until one night he was introduced to the steel bumper in a hit-and-run and now he’s dead. His daughter, Jade, has also just learned that her mom has committed suicide and now her brother, Richie, is missing. She hires Nick Crane to find him and to track down whoever murdered their father, but as the old saying goes, ‘be careful what you wish for’ because 300 million dollars cuts an awful lot of family ties.
Published: November 2014
/ Continue reading »
by Peter Prasad
The modern-day sonnet comes packaged as a crime thriller. Imagine Shakespeare counting syllables on his fingers, trying to make the rhythm work. It imposes form and structure on creativity. If you can seed your plot with an exciting story line and credible characters, then you might have something worth reading purely for entertainment value.
All literature is escapist, like bath beads in a sudsy tub, with the promise of being transported far away on a flight of imagination, rich with thrills and danger. Isn’t it amazing how reading can make a hero’s quest appear so real in the space between your ears. It’s been so since before recorded time when we sat around the fire, gnawing on a haunch, transported beyond cave and daily cares.
Continue reading »
crime novel review by Lori
We all know there is an overload of high quality mystery and detective novels out there for anyone who loves the genre. Sometimes, it’s next to impossible to decide what to read next. My new solution to the problem is too simply read crime novels by Darcia Helle. I just finished her book Hit List which kept me fascinated from beginning to end. This is an author who should not be missed.
Hit List is the story of a P.I. named Lucianna Martel. She is everything you would expect in a strong female lead character, but in Darcia’s hands, she is also very human and even vulnerable at times. Don’t let her softer side fool you; I would trust her to solve the case every time.
Continue reading »
Independent blogger, PI and crime writer Pamela Stewart has been kind enough to interview Patrick H. Moore for Arrest Records.com. http://blog.arrestrecords.com/. In the interview, Patrick and Pamela focus on true crime, Sentencing Mitigation work and crime fiction.
Take a moment and check out the interview! Pamela is our newest contributor and we are grateful for all her help.
It’s been 42 years since Patrick’s last arrest so hopefully he won’t be showing up on Arrest Records.Com as a statistic! 🙂
