Suspense, Mystery, Horror and Thriller Fiction

Special Debut Author Edition Joan Francis Turner Alan Orloff Joshua Graham Allison Leotta Katia Lief

Meet Powerhouse Authors D.P. Lyle and Shane Gericke Hall of Famer Will Renew Your Fear of the Water September 2010 Stranger Than US $7.99 / Canada $8.99 Fiction: The Jewel of Death Movie Madness Trivia N e w F r o m i N t e r N at i o N a l ly b e s t s e l l i N g a u t h o r RichaRd doetsch a secRet as old as mankind…

Reformed master thief Michael St. Pierre travels the world to track an an- cient artifact that might reveal the path to the fabled Shangri-la—or lead to the ultimate destruction of all mankind.

“ Whip-smart and lightning-paced, The Thieves of Darkness left me breathless and awed by the scope and scale of its story. Truly a masterwork by an explod- ing talent.” —James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of Altar of Eden

“ A masterpiece. . . . Doetsch has earned his seat at the table with other A-list thriller writers.” —Booklist (starred review)

And now in paperback from Pocket Books:

eBook edition also available.

www.simonandschuster.com From the Editor

C re d it s We have reached September John Raab President & Chairman 2010 and I’m still wondering where the year has gone. We are very excited Matt McElreath that this is our second print edition of Executive Vice President, Marketing Suspense Magazine and we can share with you the many debut authors we Shannon Raab Creative Director have found along the way. Being a debut author means Romaine Reeves many milestones have been achieved, CFO but it also means more hills to climb and other things to conquer in order Contributors to reach the ultimate goal of success. Most new authors have to wait Starr Gardinier Reina years before they are finally able to have all their hard work published. Terri Ann Armstrong We are pleased to dedicate this issue to debut authors and bring Tiffany Colter Donald Allen Kirch them to you. Every author has been in the same position they are in R.M. Sackville right now. They have written outstanding books and now just have to Steven Morris sell them. In today’s time, every author also has to be well-versed in Scott Nicholson Karolina Avalon marketing. Since most publishers don’t have the marketing budget to Mark P. Sadler help them out with advertising and exposure, it is up to magazines… Susan Santangelo Corinna Underwood like ours, and fans…like you, to help their book fly off the shelves. You will get to know each one of them a little bit better with their interviews, so you can understand some of the struggles and the strong Artist Claudia McKinney perseverance it took to reach this level. We have always said Suspense http://phatpuppyart.com Magazine will bring you the very best coverage in the genre of suspense/ thriller/mystery/horror. To be completely honest, we would be cheating Customer Service and Sub- you and the literary world if we didn’t bring these great new authors scriptions: For 24/7 service, please use our to your attention. Each author is very website, www.suspensemaga- different in their approach to their zine.com or write to: SUSPENSE MAGAZINE at book, but every one of them has great 26500 Agoura Road, #102-474 characters and stories that will leave Cover Image Calabasas, CA 91302 you marking your calendar for their Suspense Magazine does not next book. share our magazine subscriber So, enough with me writing; list to third-party companies. you didn’t buy the magazine to read Rates: $24.00 (Electronic what I had to say. I would like to Subscription) per year; $48.00 (Print Subscription) per year; introduce you to our first issue that $10.00 Single issue copy (includes highlights new/debut authors. Enjoy! shipping and handling). All foreign subscriptions must be payable in U.S. funds. John Raab CEO/Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Dark and Foggy Suspense Magazine By Claudia McKinney

SuspenseMagazine.com 1 In Th In 70 60 36 21 10 Joan Frances T Debut Author Debut Author Debut Debut Author Debut Debut Author Debut Joshua Graham

Debut Author Allison Leotta Allison Alan OrloffAlan Katia Lief i urner s Issue Just for Fun The Storm Critiquing Your Craft . . . Movie Madness Trivia . . . . Masters of Intrigue &Suspense . . . . Location:On Haunting. at the Eagle Tavern . . . Suspense Magazine. Movie. Reviews Inside the Pages: Suspense Magazine Book Reviews Author Hall of Fame: Peter Benchley Featured Artist: OutsideGo the Box to get Back In . . . Words &Music: AJourney of Suspense . . . . House Guest . . . . Survivor Types: Change in the Weather. . . . The Man at the . Mailbox . . . Ask. Your Writing Career Coach . . . . Stranger than Fiction: The HopeDiamond . . . . Spotlight. 5 1 0 . l o V / 0 1 0 2 r e b m e t p e S 52 ...... by Gillian Scott ...... by Nancy Mason. Claudia McKinney Claudia by Starr Gardinier Reina by Terri AnnArmstrong by Michael J

DP Lyle u S by John Raab by Tiffany Colter

Featured Author by R s ...... Bertolini n e p ...... M..Sackville

by Donald AllenKirch by Karolina Avalon Nicholsonby Scott 56 by Corinna Underwood ...... s ...... e n i z a g a M e ......

Shane Gericke .

Featured Author ...... 75 73 65 63 51 46 44 40 39 31 30 28 23 16 13 8 4 3 Spot THE BEST LITTLE BOOKSHOPS Around the World

Book Soup 8818 Sunset Blvd. L W. Hollywood, CA 90069 Phone: 310.659.3110 Email: [email protected] www.booksoup.com Monday – Sunday, 9:00 am to 10:00 pm Book Soup, a bookseller to the great and infamous and cultural center in Los Angeles, opened I in 1975. They have been a staple of the Sunset Strip for thirty-five years and is one of the few remaining independent bookstores in Los Angeles, California. Known for their knowledgeable staff, unique inventory and its event schedule, they host events almost every night. It wouldn’t be unusual to catch new and intriguing writers, international celebrities, local artists or world renowned literary figures simply by walking in their front door. More than just a book store, it’s a treasure worth finding. Check out their agenda Notable Events in G for September and drop by to see an eclectic array SEPTEMBER of both literature and artists. If you aren’t able to browse their aisles in person, you can shop online September 11, 2010 at www.booksoup.com. LA Public Library Free Event Check out their list of September events, which Los Angeles, CA all sound promising and fun. Be sure to confirm http://www.eventsforwriters. H with their website for any updates as the list is com/2009/09/la-public-library-free- subject to change. event.html Submitted by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “In  September 11, 2010 the Name of Revenge” for Suspense Magazine Jump Start Your Writing Career Glendale, AZ Upcoming Events http://www.azauthors.com/event_ detail.php?id=437 T (For a detailed list, check them out online): September 2nd, 7:00 PM: Keith Adams presents September 18, 2010 and signs "Broken Whole: A California Tale of The First Annual Writer's Digest Craziness, Creativit and Chaos" Poetry Slam September 9th, 7:00 PM: Kathy Charles and John Bowery, NY Gilmore present and sign "John Belushi is Dead" http://www.writersdigestconference. and "Hollywood Boulevard" com/specialevents/#Poetry.Slam September 11th, 5:00 PM: Teun Voeten presents September 24-26, 2010 and signs "Tunnel People" Writer's Police Academy September 12th, 12:00 PM: William Gibson Jamestown, NC presents and signs "Zero History" http://www.writerspoliceacademy.com

SuspenseMagazine.com 3 The Hope Diamond: The Jewel of Death By Donald Allen Kirch n November 10, 1958, the Smithsonian Institution received in the mail a simple plain parcel. Several members of the staff waited with baited breath for its arrival. The package had been sent by a New York Jeweler by the name ofO Harry Winston, who meant to offer up a fantastic centerpiece in a newly-formed, gem collection soon to be displayed. The jewel in question was a rare, blue diamond mounted within a ring of smaller white diamonds and was an estimated 44 carats. It was “The Hope Diamond.” It was also a famously “unlucky” and “cursed” object. The curse was said to have started with a simple theft. In 1642, a French Jeweler named Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who had been known by his peers as an obtainer of rare and unique jewels, traveled to India and purchased a 112 3/16 carat blue diamond. The diamond was officially stated as coming from the Kollur Mine in Golconda, India. That’s the “official” story. Legend has the diamond’s origins placed upon a different path. According to the legend, Tavernier spotted the diamond upon the forehead, or eye, of an ancient Hindu Idol of the goddess Sita -- a female deity of agricultural fertility. It was soon believed that upon stealing the gem, a curse had been placed upon it by the gods, bringing terrible luck and death not only to those who owned it, but also to those who simply touched the thing. Indeed, the first death associated with the jewel was Tavernier himself. Several years after selling the blue diamond, he had been ripped apart by a pack of wild dogs while traveling to Russia. In point of fact, Tavernier’s “official” death is not recorded. It is known that he had been made a “noble” and died at the age of 84 in Russia. His was however, the first associated death brought about by

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 4 what would later be called “The Hope Diamond.” But before his promotion to “noble” and before his horrific “death,” the Frenchman Tavernier would do more work to propel both his famous gem and France, into disastrous ruin. In 1668, twenty-six years after his famous theft, King Louis XIV “The Sun King”, requested the company of Tavernier, having heard of the wonderfully colored blue diamond he obtained from India. It was said that when the king had seen the diamond it was love at first sight. Within a weekend, the blue diamond was purchased by the king along with forty-four large diamonds and 1,112 smaller diamonds. In generations to come, both the Crown and France would come to regret the purchase. Although the huge blue diamond had originally been “cut” to promote its size and not its brilliance, King Louis XIV had the jewel re-cut to suggest brilliance. The King renamed the gem the “Blue Diamond of the Crown” and considered the piece his favorite and most prideful object yet to promote both the elegance and superior qualities of French Nobility. The diamond had been reduced from 112 3/16 carats to 67 1/8 carats. Still, the cut was an added improvement. Later in 1749, Louis’ great-grandson, Louis XV had the famous diamond incorporated with the Cote de Bretagne (a large red ruby) into a decoration called the “Order of the Golden Fleece.” Both jewels were almost too much for the succeeding kings, having been noticed by their observers as being both ornate and too bulky. It was the “next” generation of French Royals, in which the blue diamond’s curse went into full speed. For legend has it that both King Louis XVI and his Queen, Marie Antoinette were beheaded during the French Revolution because of the fatal gem. Before his bitter end, the king and queen tried their best to flee both Paris and her angry mobs. In the early days of September 1791, the royal couple had been captured, taken back into the madness that would later turn into France’s “Reign of Terror,” and added their blood and heads to that macabre piece of French history. As a matter of last record, French Officials placed the blue diamond in the Garde-Meuble but it was not well guarded. The building itself had been repeatedly robbed between September 12 to September 16, 1791. Most of the thefts were retrieved, but the blue diamond was never recovered. In 1813, London, England, the jewel of death resurfaced. With its reappearance, there came the buyer who would later give the object its celebrated “name.” King George IV died owing many debts. The now 44 carat jewel was sold to help pay off some of them. At this time, in 1839, Henry Philip Hope purchased the diamond. The Hope family was banking pioneers. Henry Philip Hope was one of the heirs of the banking firm Hope & Company, which had long-since been sold in 1813. Henry had been known worldwide as a collector of rare and magnificent jewels. Strangely enough, while in possession of the “Hope Diamond” nothing recordable ever happened to the man that the famous Images From Left to Right: "The Hope Diamond" as it appears jewel had been named today in Washington, DC. and French Jeweler Jean Baptiste after. So perhaps, Tavernier—the discoverer of the blue jewel.

SuspenseMagazine.com 5 there is some truth to the theory that curses, like sicknesses, can skip a Evalyn Walsh McLean: generation before they strike. The last "private" owner of the Hope Diamond When Henry Philip Hope died, the diamond went to his oldest nephew, Henry Thomas Hope. When Henry Thomas Hope died in 1862, he left the gem to his widow. When she died, she passed the diamond to her grandson, Lord Francis Hope in 1887. Although “untouched” by the curse associated with the jewel, the Hope Family did not fair too well under the last generation. Lord Francis Hope, although considered a quite honorable and careworn individual, had a gambling problem. Because of several unpaid debts, he requested the courts to gain access to his famous great-grandfather’s estate. In the current will, Lord Francis Hope had only limited access to the lifetime interests of the Hope estate – selling the famous diamond would have given him the funds needed to clean his slate, so to speak. He was repeatedly denied the chance to redeem himself. Finally, close to bankruptcy and family dishonor, in 1901 the diamond was sold. At this point in the diamond’s history, one must point out that three generations of Hopes owned the jewel and nothing happened to them. Having saved Lord Francis Hope from ruin by its purchase, Jeweler Simon Frankel brought the diamond to the United States. Frankel then sold the gem to Pierre Cartier. Then came the rich, but strangely unfortunate Evalyn Walsh McLean. Evalyn always told her friends objects that were considered unlucky usually brought her good luck. So, upon hearing that Cartier had obtained the blue diamond, McLean purchased it in 1910. From the moment the woman placed the albatross around her neck, Evalyn Walsh McLean’s life became a living hell. Her first born son, Vinson was killed in an unfortunate automobile accident; he was only nine years old. At the age of 25, her daughter committed suicide. A few years later, her husband was declared insane and spent the rest of his life in a mental institution until his death in 1941. The woman often commented that “her diamond” had a will of its own and it was hard to take the jewel off when once it rested upon her neck. According to one story, she even wore the cursed thing while in the middle of an important surgery, thinking that if she “angered” it, the operation would go wrong. Evalyn, like so many owners before, died heavily in debt. Her jewels, including the Hope Diamond were put up for auction in 1949, two years after her death. At that time, Harry Winston purchased the gem, giving it later to the government of the United States, namely the Smithsonian Institute. The jewel has been on display in the National Museum of Natural History ever since. Is the Hope Diamond Cursed? There are those who still say “Yes!” One has to look no further than our nation’s history since 1958 when the diamond was taken into custody. The chaos of the 1960’s? The Cold War? Vietnam? Watergate? The decline and belief in our national self? Will the next victim at death’s door be the United States of America? Well, keeping one eye on the diamond and another on today’s headlines, who can blame those who still believe in curses? To learn more about Donald Allen Kirch and his work go to: www.donaldallenkirch.com. 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 6

Ask Your Writing Career Coach with Tiffany Colter

How to Effectively Interview Last month we talked about how to get the most out of being interviewed by someone. This month, we are going to take some time to talk about how to conduct a good interview when you are interviewing someone else. It is important that you properly prepare for any interview by knowing what the angle is the publication wants, a little about the person you’re going to interview and the best questions to ask to get the information you need to complete the article. To practice this skill something that might be useful is to look at some human feature magazine articles and see how they are written. Make note of: • What kinds of details are included • How the writer introduces the article • The way the scene is created [you’ll sometimes see articles that describe the subject’s outfit, the venue where the interview was held or a recent work of the subject.] Note how these change based on the subject matter and magazine. • The way dialog and quotes are interwoven with narrative Now, how can you get started in your actual interview? That will depend on how the interview is being done. If you are interviewing someone on-site, like I used to do when writing for the Toledo Business Journal, start by finding out more about the business, service, venue or other relevant features of the place where you are meeting. One really memorable place was a store that sold bathroom and kitchen fixtures. We started the interview by walking around and looking at some of the newer innovations, like showers that were programmed to make the water the exact temperature the person wanted. Another notable place was the home that had the tub that filled from the ceiling. These kinds of interesting details add flavor to the article. Some publications will give you some questions they’d like to have answered. If they do, use them. If not, find out what the publication most wants to know about the person you’re

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 8 interviewing and then write questions that will get you those answers. 2010 During the interview let the person wander down rabbit trails, Writing Contest but always remain aware of the time. Suspense Magazine is now accepting submissions for the When you have an appointment you THIRD annual writing contest! want to respect the value of their time and not spend hours chatting only to Winners will receive the following: leave with no usable material. Learn Grand Prize: Twelve books (some autographed) from each to ask questions and use phrases to of the authors of the month for 2010. To keep updated on politely pull them back to the subject the authors of the month check out the 2010 Author of the of the article if they get too far off. Month page at www.SuspenseMagazine.com. All books are brand new with many coming from the author directly. Always get contact information to follow-up with the subject if you Second Place: $50.00 gift card to Amazon.com. have additional questions before you finish the article. Also, check with the Third Place: $25.00 gift card to Amazon.com. publication you work for. Sometimes GUIDELINES: the interview subject has negotiated a 1. All Stories must be in the suspense/thriller/mystery right to review the article before it goes genre. to press. If so, be sure you complete 2. Stories must be at least 1,500 words and no more than it in plenty of time to let them review 5,000. You will be able to submit as many stories as you it before the editor’s deadline. If not, wish. Stories that do not fall within that range will not be make sure you double-check any facts considered. you wrote down so you don’t have to 3. Stories must be submitted in the body of your email. write a retraction later. ATTACHMENTS WILL NOT BE OPENED. Finally, when I was writing for 4. Must have a valid email address, as this is how you will be local print publications I would take contacted if you win. the time to email the person when the 5. story was out to thank them again for Contest runs from March 1, 2010 – December 31, 2010. their time and to let them know where 6. Winners will be announced in February/March 2011. they could get a copy of the paper. 7. All stories will be judged by an independent panel. Conducting a good interview for me has always been about 8. Authors will be notified by email if their story is published professionalism and courtesy. If online or within the pages of Suspense Magazine. you work to meet and exceed the 9. Email all submissions to contest@suspensemagazine. expectations of your editor, you will com. find it easier to get more and better 10. Questions should be directed to editor@ projects. suspensemagazine.com. Do you have a question? Send 11. The Judges decisions are final. it my way. I’m glad to answer it. Do you like freebies? I have article 12. All Stories must be original, any plagiarism will result downloads. Find out more about it at in disqualification of that story and no additional submissions will be accepted from author. www.WritingCareerCoach.com.  www.SuspenseMagazine.com

SuspenseMagazine.com 9 Allison Leotta Has a Head for Justice Interview by: Suspense Magazine

Allison Leotta author of “Law of Attraction” is a graduate of Michigan State University and Harvard Law School. She is a federal, sex-crimes prosecutor Press Photo Credit: in Washington, D.C. and has been for the last ten Steve Spiegelhalter & Meg McCoy years. Like her heroine, Allison started out in the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuting misdemeanor, domestic violence cases. She lives with her husband (who is also a federal prosecutor) and their two sons in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Always loving the TV crime shows with its drama, issues and the tear-jerking speeches, Law & Order was part of what gave her the inspiration to go to law school. She whole-heartedly loves her job, but when she sits down to enjoy one of her crime shows, her mind only watches half the story. The other half is mulling over how many things couldn’t happen in real life. And who would know better than she?

On her blog, she invites you to watch Law & Order SVU with her. She’ll talk with you about the show and what was real and what would never happen. She’ll offer her real-prosecutor perspective and answer your questions via the blog with her Prime-Time Crime Review. She’s hoping that by learning what really happens and what doesn’t—like the cops can almost never get a fingerprint off a gun—might become part of the fun.

Before you join her on-line, take a peek at the exclusive interview Suspense Magazine had with Allison.

Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): As a new author, what is the most satisfying part of the publishing process? What is the most difficult part?

Allison Leotta (AL): Being interviewed by Suspense Magazine is pretty damn satisfying! I love your

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 10 magazine. Thanks for picking up my book.

The whole process has been thrilling. When my agent called and said she loved “Law of Attraction” and would like to have me as a client, I almost fainted. When my publisher bought the book, I literally pinched myself. When I saw the cover, I emailed it to every person to whom I have the slightest blood connection. Every time I get a nice blurb, I do a little happy dance around the room. (I’m still amazed that anyone beside my mother is reading it.) Each step along the way has been a bit of a dream come true.

The most difficult part will probably be when I show up for work the day after “Law of Attraction” comes out. I expect there’ll be a lot of good-natured ribbing from my colleagues after they read the steamy sex scenes.

S. MAG.: Your novel focuses on a very painful subject, domestic violence and the problems prosecuting the offender. How many of the statistics in “Law of Attraction” are true?

AL: All the statistics are true. The fact that domestic violence cases are so hard to prosecute is part of what makes them a good backdrop for a legal thriller. For example, eighty percent of the women who call the police after being abused get back together with their abusers by the time the criminal case goes to trial. Often, the government has to prosecute the case without the testimony of the victim—and sometimes with the victim willing to lie in her abuser’s defense. In my book, I wanted to explore why some women stay with men who hurt them and the increasingly dangerous cycle of violence this creates.

S. MAG.: Your main character, Anna Curtis feels incredibly realistic. Do her feelings and frustrations mimic yours?

AL: In some ways, Anna is based on me. We both come from Michigan, we have similar resumes and we hold the same job. She faces some of the same professional challenges I faced when I was just starting out as a prosecutor. We’re both driven to work for justice and we feel similar frustration at the roadblocks. But our backgrounds are very different. Anna’s childhood was much darker than mine and that makes her take her work a lot more personally. And she gets herself into a lot more trouble than I’ve ever been in!

SuspenseMagazine.com 11 S. MAG.: What book changed your life?

AL: I read a lot; it’s hard to choose just one. But a perennial favorite is “Pride and Prejudice.” I love Jane Austen’s stories about relationships in a world where everyone knows everyone else’s business and they all follow strict social rules. D.C. Superior Court is a bit like that. Criminal lawyers in D.C. all know each other and there are intricate rules prescribing how prosecutors and defense attorneys interact—mostly in the courtroom, but some apply on a more personal level. My book is a thriller, but—probably because I love Jane Austen so much—it also explores relationships and romance in a close-knit, strictly-ordered world.

S. MAG.: What was the best piece of advice you have received through the literary process?

AL: “Turn the TV off.” I was amazed at how much I could accomplish when I used those hours to follow my dreams instead of watching someone else’s.

S. MAG.: Your job is extremely serious…what do you do to unwind?

AL: I read. If you asked me this question three years ago, I would’ve also told you that I play guitar, run, travel and volunteer in my community. But I’m a mom now; I have two adorable, crazy little boys. My free time is spent with them, which is a joy. But “unwinding” has taken a new meaning. Any time that I’m not changing diapers or applying Suspense Magazine Review of Neosporin is now a pretty chill “Law of Attraction” moment. But I still read voraciously. Painful in its realism, talented newcomer Allison Leotta I can’t fall asleep without reading for doesn’t hold back in her gritty, debut, legal thriller “Law of twenty minutes before bedtime. Attraction”. Centered in the bowels of D.C.’s criminal justice system, S. MAG.: What are you working novice Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Curtis spends her days on now? Perhaps a sequel? submerged in the cruelty of the domestic violence cases AL: Yes, a sequel is in the works! I that envelop her desk. A never-ending dose of violence has think Anna’s next case involves an quickly helped Anna separate her emotions and her past explosive, political sex scandal. In from the job at hand until the morning Leprea Johnson the meantime, I’m doing my best walks in her door. Battered and bruised from another to balance prosecuting, mommying pitiless beating, Anna vows to help this woman. But can you and chaperoning Anna on her next really help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves? adventure. It’s a busy, busy, wonderful When Leprea’s bloody corpse is discovered under a time. mountain of garbage, Anna will choose justice for the victim over all else, sacrificing her budding relationship Suspense Magazine with public defender Nick Wagner, her career and even is honored to have had the risking her life. opportunity to speak to such an up and coming literary giant like Sharing an insider look into the intricate dynamics of the Allison Leotta, and we thank her. criminal justice system blended with the powerful draw of If you’d like to read more about her intense and realistic characters, Leotta has created more and join her blog, please check out than your typical thriller. This is an author to keep your eye her website at www.allisonleotta. on. com.  Reviewed by Suspense Magazine 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 12 The Man at the Mailbox By: Michael J. Bertolini Shirley woke up to the sound of her alarm and she abhorred using those Styrofoam cups next to clock ringing on the side table. With half open eyes the machine at work. she reached over and hit the snooze button. As the When the doors opened again, allowing her beeping stopped she rolled over to her husband’s side to walk into the apartment building’s lobby, she saw a of the bed; it was empty. He had to work the early strange man standing near the mailboxes. He looked shift and left a few hours ago. She closed her eyes and somewhat familiar, but he didn’t live in the building. drifted off to sleep. She knew everyone in the building, it was a good idea Shirley woke up, again, to the sound of her to know who to run to in case of an emergency and alarm clock ringing on the side table. With half open who to avoid. This man, standing in an old trench eyes she reached over and hit the snooze button. coat and cowboy hat, was not a resident. She lowered She considered, for a brief moment, falling back to her gaze and walked out to the parking lot and her sleep, but the prospect of being rudely awakened car. by that incessant beeping in seven minutes forced a Shirley woke up to the sound of her alarm groan from her mouth. She sat up and rubbed her clock ringing on the side table. With half open eyes eyes before turning the alarm clock off. Now she she reached over and hit the snooze button. As the had to get up, if she fell back to the pillow she’d fall beeping stopped she rolled over to her husband’s side asleep again and who knew when she’d wake up? Her of the bed; it was empty. He had to work the early boss would be pissed and—after her recent lack of shift and left a few hours ago. She closed her eyes and progress—she might get fired. drifted off to sleep. She climbed out of bed and after slipping out Shirley woke up, again, to the sound of her of the t-shirt and shorts she’d slept in, stepped into alarm clock ringing on the side table. With half open the shower. It started off cool, just what she needed eyes she reached over and hit the snooze button. She to wake her up in the morning, but it suddenly considered, for a brief moment, falling back to sleep turned hot. It was getting so hot that she was forced but the prospect of being rudely awakened by that to jump out of the shower for fear of being burned. incessant beeping in seven minutes forced a groan Another sigh, now she’d have to call the super and from her mouth. She sat up and rubbed her eyes get a plumber up here. Knowing him, it would take before turning the alarm clock off. Now she had to a week before anyone came; she hated the apartment get up, if she fell back to the pillow she’d fall asleep building just as much as she hated her job. again; and who knew when she’d wake up? Her It was a cup of coffee—strong like she liked boss would be pissed and—after her recent lack of it—and then off to work in a comfortable dress. She progress—she might get fired. could never understand why businesses wanted their She climbed out of bed and after slipping out employees to dress in suits when no customer would of the t-shirt and shorts she’d slept in, stepped into ever see them. Who cared if guy sitting in a cubicle the shower. It was warm and comfortable. After she typing on a computer for nine hours wore a suit or was done she wrapped a towel around herself and t-shirt? It was a pain in the ass to dress nice four days walked to the kitchen. It was a small apartment, that a week; Friday was casual. was true, but it was warm and she thought of it as She locked the door behind her and walked home. There wasn’t any room for children, but that to the elevator. She lived on the fourth of five floors was all right since her husband couldn’t do much. and was forced to wait as the old machine rose from It was a cup of coffee—strong like she liked it—and the first floor. The doors finally opened and she rode then off to work in a comfortable dress. the elevator down, alone, with her coffee cup still in As she walked to the elevator she saw Mrs. hand. She’d need the coffee to get her though the day Ramirez, her neighbor, standing outside of her door.

SuspenseMagazine.com 13 Her normally pristine hair was a mess; it almost Shirley woke up to the sound of her alarm looked as if she burned it on the stove. Shirley hoped clock ringing on the side table. With half open eyes the old woman wasn’t trying to cook herself, she’d she reached over and hit the snooze button. As the heard that Mrs. Ramirez was senile. The old woman beeping stopped she rolled over to her husband’s side slid back into her apartment as Shirley waited for of the bed; it was empty. He had to work the early the elevator. She noticed, with some disgust, a black shift and left a few hours ago. She closed her eyes and stain on the wall paper. She loved her apartment, but drifted off to sleep. the building was falling apart. Shirley woke up, again, to the sound of her She rode down the elevator alone and alarm clock ringing on the side table. With half open stepped out into the lobby. There, standing near the eyes she reached over and hit the snooze button. mailboxes, was a strange man. He looked somewhat She fell back to sleep, but was immediately woken familiar, but he didn’t live in the building. She knew by what sounded like a large vehicle backing up. She everyone in the building, it was a good idea to know yelled in anger and jumped out of the bed to look out who to run to in case of an emergency and who to the window. Confusion set in as she saw construction avoid. This man, standing in an old trench coat and equipment sitting in the back of the parking lot. cowboy hat, was not a resident. She lowered her gaze They were right where her car was supposed and walked out to the parking lot and her car. to be! She ran out of the apartment, forsaking Shirley woke up to the sound of her alarm shower and coffee and to the elevator. Strips of yellow clock ringing on the side table. With half open eyes tape blocked the entrance and she was forced to take she reached over and hit the snooze button. As the the stairs. She ran out of the deserted lobby and to beeping stopped she rolled over to her husband’s side the parking lot, dressed only in a t-shirt and shorts. of the bed; it was empty. He had to work the early She was a little self conscious at that moment and shift and left a few hours ago. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her chest. As she turned drifted off to sleep. to the parking lot, she saw the strange man again, as Shirley woke up, again, to the sound of her well as all of the residents of her building, standing alarm clock ringing on the side table. With half open in a crowd around a stone pillar. The residents were eyes she reached over and hit the snooze button. She looking at the pillar while the man watched the considered, for a brief moment, falling back to sleep, machines. but the prospect of being rudely awakened by that She watched in horror as a wrecking ball incessant beeping in seven minutes forced a groan swung through the air and collided with the side of from her mouth. She sat up and rubbed her eyes the building—her very apartment—and shattered before turning the alarm clock off. the structure. Blackened bricks and charred wood After slipping out of the t-shirt and shorts fell to the ground as the ball reappeared. The strange she’d slept in, stepped into the shower. It was warm man turned around and looked at her. She recognized and comfortable. After she was done she wrapped him now; the cowboy hat and burns on the side of a towel around herself and walked to the kitchen. his face changed his appearance somewhat; but she It was a small apartment, that was true, but it was knew it was her husband. warm and she thought of it as home. She drank a He turned away from her and looked to the quick cup of coffee, content on getting more at work stone pillar. All of the other residents stepped away, and left in a comfortable dress. their eyes filled with pain and horror. Slowly she A sign on the elevator said out of order and walked to the tall stone, feeling grass under her feet she moaned. Four stories, right about fifty-two steps. where there was once pavement and began to read She passed Mrs. Ramirez’s closed door and entered the carving. the stairwell. The walls were covered by black smudges, but she ignored it. Smudges were better IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO than graffiti. DIED BY FIRE ON DECEMBER 1st She stepped out to the lobby and saw the man TWO-THOUSAND AND TEN. by the mailboxes. He was standing in the center of the wall, eyes looking at the names posted on each Shirley fell to her knees as the burned out box. His back was to her, but she didn’t care. She’d husk of her apartment building crashed to the rather him not see her at all as she walked out of the ground behind her. Her husband, the only resident building and to the parking lot. not killed in the fire because he was working the early shift, walked away. 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 14

Change in the weather By Scott Nicholson If you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past year, you may not realize the Kindle—more than any other device since the invention of moveable type—has changed the way people experience books. Primarily the device has thinned the membrane between the reader and writer and the day is fast approaching when they will be joined in the experience, with readers tinkering with content, listening to audio files and even contributing to the story. The digital age is all about the shared experience and it’s happening faster than anyone predicted. Dorchester Publishing—known for its romance and horror—is moving primarily to digital books, as Medallion Press did earlier this year. Expect that trend to continue until even the Big Six publishers are using progressive publishing models. The irony is those tools (digital books and print- on-demand) are already within the reach of most authors and they are able to respond much more quickly to the changing environment. In other words, they can deliver you the content in the way you want it and at the price you’re willing to pay. For this reason more than any other, I’m giving away a Kindle as grand prize on my autumn blog tour. Even if you are skeptical of e-books or love “the smell of real books”, it’s still going to change almost everything about the field you’ve grown up with. I invite you to check out these authors who are making digital platforms a keystone of their careers…

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 16 Harry Shannon has been an actor, an Emmy- delighted with the response we’re getting from nominated songwriter, a recording artist, lovers of ebooks. As of now, I plan to publish a music publisher, VP Music at Carolco a fourth Mick Callahan mystery this way, on Pictures and a Music Supervisor on Basic my own. Instinct and Universal Soldier. His novels include “Night of the Beast”, “Night of the Who are your favorite authors in mystery, Werewolf”, “Daemon”, “Dead and Gone” suspense, thriller and horror genres? and “The Pressure of Darkness” as well as the Mick Callahan suspense novels “Memorial Lots, but off the top of my head James Lee Day,” “Eye of the Burning Man” and “One of Burke, John Connelly, Tom Piccirilli, David the Wicked”. His new collection “A Host of Morrell, Scott Nicholson, Gregg Hurwitz and Shadows” is from Dark Region Press. Shannon Ken Bruen to name a few. has won the Tombstone Award, the Black Quill and has been nominated for the Stoker. Contact * * * him at www.harryshannon.com. J.R. Rain (www.jrrain. com) lives in a small “The Pressure of house on a small island Darkness”: When famous with his small dog, Sadie, horror novelist Peter who has more energy Stryker is found dead, ex- than Robin Williams. Special Ops soldier Burke Rain is the author of six is hired to investigate why novels and two short story a man would commit collections, with many suicide by butchering more books on the way. his own body. The trail Rain is also the author of rapidly leads Burke to the popular “Vampire for Hire” supernatural embrace an old lover, mystery series. confront a vicious drug lord and finally recruit his friends to stage one last mission against a I write primarily mystery novels, although I mysterious cult with plans to unleash a deadly have dabbled in horror and adventure. My virus. novel “Moon Dance” has strong elements of romance in it, but is a mystery novel first and What will e-readers like about your book? foremost.

It’s a genre-bending romp, a thriller with What will readers like about your book? Special Ops characters and elements of horror as well. This is a brisk read, loads of action and They’re mercifully short! Yes, I kid, but I violence, but I’d like to think it has a deeper have always enjoyed a good, short book. In meaning as well. fact, I have never been a fan of beastly books, although I currently love King’s massive Why did you go indie? “Under the Dome”. Readers generally appreciate my dialogue and pace. I like to keep The industry landscape has changed so much a story moving, moving, moving. in the last few years. I got the rights back to my entire catalogue of novels and so far I’m

SuspenseMagazine.com 17 Why did you go indie? statistician who lives and works in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina. Because major publishers weren’t interested She has recently turned some of her real-life and smaller publishers didn’t pay much, if at experiences in the pharmaceutical industry all. Over the course of my early career, I had into an intriguing novel of five different New York publishers (Mira, St. mystery and romance. Martin’s Press, Random House, Kensington and Dorchester) move forward with various “Little Miss Straight Lace” books; meaning, they were close to making is the story of a brilliant offers. In the end, they passed. Yes, I was sad at biostatistician who learns the time, but I am happy now. I own the rights a bit too much about her to all my books and have total control over pharmaceutical client’s the entire publishing process. And thanks to latest research. When Amazon Kindle, I am now a full-time author. her life begins to spin out of control, a dashing Who are your favorite authors in the suspense, computer security expert mystery, horror and thriller fields? from South America seems the perfect antidote. But is his sudden arrival just the happy I first learned to write adult, thriller novels (I coincidence it seems? Find out in this complex was writing young adult novels in my teens) tale of suspense, humor and romance that takes by reading and studying Jack Higgins and the reader on a wild ride of murder, mayhem, Clive Cussler. I later learned how to write sex and drugs—of the pharmaceutical variety, mystery novels by studying Robert B. Parker. of course—until the very last page. Parker, in the end, had the most influence over my writing style and he was—and still is—my What will e-readers like about your book? favorite mystery author. I do not read a lot of suspense these days, but I do love the novels When I read, I want to experience a range of of Dan Brown. As far as horror and thriller emotions, but not too much of any one, so I writers, Stephen King still leaves me in awe wrote “Little Miss Straight Lace” with that and James Rollins is the modern day in mind. The plot has lots of action, twists master of the adventure thriller. and turns, but also a strong romantic theme, some dark drama and jabs of tongue-in-cheek * * * humor to keep it from getting too heavy. It’s Maria Romana the perfect book for a long cruise or a week at ( w w w . the beach. contemporary- romance-books. Why did you go indie? com) is a research When I wrote the book a couple years ago, indie publishing as such didn’t really exist, so I was expecting to go the old- fashioned route of making the rounds with traditional publishers and stacking up my rejection letters. I got lucky with the first publisher I submitted to, however

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 18 and they were interested enough to take the in search of his missing stepdaughter, Clea. It’s book through several rounds of reading. But the story of both a search for a young girl and a after toying with me for nine months, they told man’s quest to regain his own self-respect. me the book hit on too many controversial issues. They suggested I remove a lot of those What will e-readers like about your book? elements and bring it back to them. I didn’t want to turn my book into white-washed fluff The portrait of old Los Angeles—a city still and I didn’t want to waste years going through young but growing fast—and also the flavor the same process with other publishers, so I of Old Hollywood at a time when the studios decided to do it myself. were immensely powerful and stars still had that mysterious quality called glamour. Who are your favorite authors in the suspense, mystery, horror and thriller fields? Why did you go indie?

Karen Robards and J.D. Robb (a Nora Roberts’ I’ve had four print books published, with a incarnation). They write mystery/suspense, fifth on the way in late 2010. Now that “Clea’s mixed with romance and humor that I really Moon” is out in an electronic version, I see enjoy. They’re both skillful character builders ebooks as a wonderful chance for my earlier and Nora Roberts can be subtly yet hysterically books to have a second life and, I hope to find funny when she tries. new readers who may have missed them the first time around. Let’s face it: a writer needs * * * readers and the more the better. Edward Wright (http://www. edwardwrightbooks.com) grew up in Arkansas Who are your favorite authors in the suspense, and went to school in Tennessee and Illinois. mystery, horror and thriller fields? He has been an officer in the U.S. Navy and an editor at the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles I just discovered William Lindsay Gresham’s Times. His noir-flavored mysteries featuring “Nightmare Alley”, which was published in John Ray Horn, set in Los Angeles during the the 1940s, and think it’s brilliant. I hope readers 1940s, have won the Shamus Award in the U.S. will rediscover him. For my money, no one and the Debut Dagger and Ellis Peters Historical does a better job handling all the many facets Crime Award in the U.K. His first non-series of a mystery novel than James Lee Burke. I also book “Damnation Falls”, a contemporary admire Daniel Woodrell’s “Winter’s Bone”, an mystery-thriller set in small-town Tennessee, example of what some people call “Ozark noir”. won the Barry Award. He He’s writing about the region where I grew up. and his wife Cathy live in I think Thomas Harris’ “Silence of the Lambs” the Los Angeles area. is well nigh perfect. Lee Child is also a master of the format. And, going back several years, “Clea’s Moon” is a Thomas Gifford wrote several fine examples of mystery/thriller set in the thriller, notably “The Wind Chill Factor”. postwar L.A. and featuring John Ray Horn, a former * * * B-movie cowboy actor Ellen O’Connell (www.oconnellauthor.com) who, after serving a stretch lives in Douglas County, Colorado, with in prison for assault, goes a motley crew of Rottweilers, Rottweiler

SuspenseMagazine.com 19 mixes and a Morgan horse. She was active Dianne and her Rottweilers collar the killer? in Rottweiler rescue work for almost ten years, first on her own then on the Board of What will e-readers like about your book? Directors of Rottie Aid (www.rottieaid.org). At the present time, her rescue work is limited In addition to a tightly plotted mystery of the to transporting dogs for Rottie Aid, but she whodunit type that features a tough, intelligent expects there will be other foster dogs in her woman, readers report enjoying the realistic future. Rottweiler Rescue was her first novel. portrayal of the dogs in the story and insight She now also has a western, historical romance into the world of dog rescue and dog shows. available for Kindle, “Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold”. Why did you go indie?

“Rottweiler Rescue”, a After some investigation into the world of mystery for dog lovers, is traditional publishing and attending several a seventy-five thousand writers’ conferences (Rottweiler Rescue won word, female, amateur, the mystery division of the Rocky Mountain sleuth mystery featuring Fiction Writers Annual Colorado Gold Contest Dianne Brennan. Dianne some years ago and attracted interest from doesn’t expect her agents and an editor), I realized that world volunteer work as a foster wasn’t for me and put aside all thoughts of home for a Rottweiler having anything published until I heard about rescue group to be easy, Amazon’s DTP in late 2009. I could hardly but she doesn’t expect the job to be murderously believe Amazon was giving people such an hard! Yet murder is what Dianne faces when she opportunity and couldn’t get my already takes a dog to meet an adopter, finds him dead written books out fast enough. and sees the killer leaving the scene. Worse, although Dianne cannot identify the killer, he Who are your favorite authors in the suspense, begins stalking her with deadly intent. The mystery, horror and thriller fields? Sheriff’s investigators are convinced the killer is a member of the victim’s family. Dick Francis, Dana Stabenow, Nevada Barr, Dianne is sure he will be found where Tony Hillerman and Susan Conant. the victim worked—in the world of dog shows and *Scott Nicholson is embarking on the three- dog people. Can month Kindle Giveaway Blog Tour from she keep herself September through November. He is the and her dogs safe author of ten novels, including “Speed Dating long enough to with the Dead”, “Drummer Boy” and “The prove she is right? Skull Ring”. He’s also released several fiction C a n collections and has written four comic book series and six screenplays. Articles, excerpts, illustrations and media files are found at www.hauntedcomputer. com. 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 20 Interview by: Suspense Magazine Alan Orloff was born in Washington, D.C. enough to catch up with Alan to try and find out and raised in the Maryland suburbs. Before going a little more about the man behind his first book, to work for General Electric, he received a degree “Diamonds for the Dead”. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): Where did the title Maryland. for your book come from? After several different jobs and trying to find Alan Orloff (AO): Catchy title, isn’t it? I wish I could take his own niche, he did. His lifelong ambition was credit for it, but the wonderful team at my publishing to write fiction. He found he enjoyed writing. This house, Midnight Ink, came up with it. My working title would have made his late father—a former English had been “Hidden Facets”, which fits the story well, teacher—very proud. after you’ve read it. “Diamonds for the Dead” is much Alan is a member of Mystery Writers of catchier, flashier and more memorable—exactly what America (MWA), International Thriller Writers and you want a title to be. The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD. He is happily S. MAG.: Did your book go in the direction you married, with two boys and enjoys a host of hobbies, thought it would? Or did the characters completely not the least of which is watching his children take it over making the ending a surprise even for perform in athletics and in dramatic productions. you? He likes to play poker and read a lot, too. AO: I’m an outliner; I need to know where my story S u s p e n s e is going before I sit down to write it. If I don’t, I’m Magazine got lucky afraid I’d end up in a dark alley in Saskatoon with no hope of making it home by deadline (no offense to any Canadians!). One time, a character did refuse to do what I wanted. I killed him, with extreme prejudice. S. MAG.: We see by your website that you’ve tried your hand at many different things. If for some reason you couldn’t write, what would you do? AO: For forty years, people were always telling me (and I was telling myself) how good I was with numbers and analyses. (I’m a mechanical engineer and MBA by education and training). So I guess I’d go back to something in the “business” world. Or maybe I’d be a benevolent pirate (Aarggh!). Please don’t make me give up writing, though; I much prefer making things up to fiddling with numbers. S. MAG.: What does your family think about you being a writer?

SuspenseMagazine.com 21 AO: I couldn’t ask for a more supportive Suspense Magazine's Review of family. My wife is one thousand ten percent “Diamonds for the Dead” behind me (see, aren’t I good with numbers?) How well do any of us know the people we love? Our husbands, and my kids think it’s pretty cool when they our wives, our parents? This is the provocative question that go into a bookstore and see a book on the shapes the plot of “Diamonds for the Dead”, the first—but shelf with their dad’s name across the front. hopefully not the last—novel penned by Alan Orloff. The other members of my family—brother, sister, in-laws—are my biggest publicists, Josh Handleman returns to his boyhood home to sit shiva for too. Thanks, gang! the father he has been estranged from for most of his adult life. Josh brings his failures with him—a troubled marriage and a S. MAG.: What did you read growing up? failing business. When he arrives home, he gets the shock of his AO: A ton: Beverly Cleary, The Danny life: his frugal dad was a diamond collector worth millions— Dunn series, Freddy the Pig books, Homer which now are missing. Plus he was a financial “angel” to many Price, Alvin Fernald, “A Wrinkle in Time”. people in the community, including several of Josh’s high Then I moved up to some of the SciFi greats: school friends. To say nothing of providing a home for an old, Heinlein, Asimov, Sturgeon, Pohl and Russian Jew, who may, or may not, be a member of the family. Niven. Then I went to Stephen King and Dean Koontz. In my twenties, I discovered Troubling questions about the circumstances about his father’s Robert B. Parker’s Spenser Series and I death—and life—lead Josh on a twisted path to find out the had a whole new world of mysteries and truth. And, in the process, find out important things about suspense novels to explore. himself. A good read, with an ending I never saw coming. S. MAG.: Have you ever written something Reviewed by: Susan Santangelo, author of “Retirement can be that’s just been tucked away? Maybe Murder” for Suspense Magazine  something you plan on dusting off and taking a new look at? to come up with a good pseudonym. And I’ve also AO: Like many (most?) writers, the first book I wrote got a YA thing I’m working on. didn’t get published. In fact, “Diamonds for the Dead” S. MAG.: What’s on your iPod? was my fifth completed manuscript. Not too long ago, AO: Musically, I’m stuck in the late sixties and seventies, I pulled out the second one I’d written and gave it a re- the so-called “classic rock” era. Rolling Stones, Yes, read. I loved the characters and the plot, but the prose? Jethro Tull, CSNY, the Doors, Chicago, Springsteen Eh, not so much. So I opened two, Word document and The Who. When I consider Pearl Jam (also on windows side-by-side on my computer screen—one my iPod) to be modern stuff, you know I haven’t been with the manuscript and one blank—and I proceeded keeping up with the times. to rewrite every single sentence from scratch. Now, the S. MAG.: Any plans for the next book that you’d be prose matches up to the characters and story. willing to share? S. MAG.: Who’s the author you return to read over AO: My next book, “Killer Routine”, will be released and over? in April 2011. It’s the first in a series about Channing AO: Robert B. Parker and Tolkien’s Hobbit/LOTR Hayes, a stand-up comic with a tragic past. It’s not a Trilogy. comedic novel—it’s mystery/suspense all the way—but S. MAG.: Would you ever consider writing in there is a fair amount of funny stuff woven through it. any other genre? After all, the story takes place in and around a comedy AO: Funny you should ask. In addition to some club, full of colorful personalities. The best part? mystery/suspense projects, Watching Comedy Central counts as research! I’ve got a horror Suspense Magazine would like to thank Alan manuscript that for taking some time out to talk with us about his I’m very excited life and his debut novel, “Diamonds for the Dead”. about, so I’ve Watch out for this up and coming author. If you want been spending to know more about him, check out his website at some time trying http://www.alanorloff.com/. 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 22 Ashley Griggs squinted leaning against a column to ham sandwiches. She put against the noon-day sun as she help support his injured leg. down the butter knife, wiped pulled into the unpaved road He waved, smiling broadly her hands on her apron and that branched off Highway 51 under his shock dark, wavy reached for Ashley’s neck. south of Winona. Thick, green hair. “Let me give you a vines and giant kudzu covered “Come in, come in,” he hug,” she cooed, stepping the trees that lined the ditch. motioned to her. “We’re just back to size up her friend. She reached for the map and sitting down to lunch.” Shelby was rather tall, then tossed it aside. Ashley hesitated before stout, but not overweight, with “This place is off the she slid out of the car. Collin a pleasant, round and ruddy map,” she muttered to herself, limped as he made his way face surrounded by a mass of looking for a familiar landmark inside, rubbing the side of the dusty, blonde curls. She and along the fields of cotton and thigh injured in a motorcycle Collin were cousins, forced to soybeans in neat rows along accident when they were in live together after a series of the road. high school. His khakis were tragedies took their families She was about to back worn and frayed at the cuffs and their wealth. Although out to the highway when she and his old school t-shirt had they were family, they were an noticed the faded sign creaking a hole in the back. He tripped unlikely pair of house mates, in the wind. “Red worms on a loose board on the porch, both in the way they looked $1.00,” it read in crooked red cursing softly as he recovered and in the way they lived. letters that were painted long his balance. Collin was bitter and ago. reserved, unforgiving for “This is my turn, then,” A cold feeling of the accident that destroyed she thought, heading down misgiving covered Ashley as his popularity and swarthy the bumpy road, not even a she tried to hide her shock at good looks that attracted so country road, she thought. seeing the shabby situation of many women in his youth. She let her foot slip off her childhood friend. Collin Shelby was nervous and the gas pedal to avoid the deep cast her a furtive, side-long outgoing and never stopped ruts that were left from the glance as she regained her talking. She stayed busy in last big rain. Hot Mississippi composure. Ashley bit her the kitchen, making snacks sunlight and shadow played lip. He noticed, she thought, and sandwiches for a steady on her car for nearly a mile grimacing involuntarily as she crowd of fishermen who came before the rambling Victorian walked in behind her host. along the road on their way to house rose before her. Shelby was in the cast their nets for catfish in the Collin was waiting kitchen sloshing mayonnaise Big Black River that made its on the wraparound porch, on white bread for a pile of way through hidden swamps House

GuestBy Nancy Mason

SuspenseMagazine.com 23 and wooded areas swollen by he drowned by accident, but Shelby stopped talking the recent rains. Shelby sold I think she had something to and was staring at her. sandwiches to the men who do with it. And then she got “What do you hear from often spent the day on the all that insurance money and our Sunday School crowd?” murky water. went to the Bahamas,” Shelby she asked, feigning interest in Collin spent most of reached for pickle slices from their former companions. his time behind the house at an open jar, returning the Unable to quell an a six-foot long freezer filled opened jar distractedly to the opportunity to rant against with loamy, red clay where he refrigerator. the friends who now chose to raised the worms. Each day, “And her ex-lover, you ignore her, Shelby launched he put the food scraps in the know, was Henry Albertson into a tirade of complaints ancient freezer that was now and his two sons wouldn’t against the faults of everyone used only for the worms. They have anything to do with their in the class. Ashley let her grew and reproduced easily, daddy or that woman,” Shelby ramble on so she could take so there always was a supply placed another plate on the a survey of her surroundings to place in a small, white counter as she began counting without being noticed. carton for the fishermen. out ham slices. She was on assignment Ashley interrupted. for her magazine in Memphis, Collin reached for the “That may be too researching abandoned sandwich scraps that Shelby much,” she suggested. farms and homesteads along left on the counter. He was “I’ve already eaten and the the highways to the coast. at the door with them when sandwiches won’t keep.” Notebooks with remarks a truck’s horn called him But Shelby kept about long-forgotten places outside. On his way out, working, ignoring her friend filled her trunk and digital Ashley felt his gaze pause at and not waiting for any photos were ready to go on the purse she left on the table. reaction to her gossip. the laptop. But the research She resisted an urge to snatch “It gets so quiet around took so much time in dozens it from his reach, but turned here,” she whined. “Collin of county courthouses and instead to help Shelby with the won’t talk to me and the only the weather report of an food. As Collin shuffled by, people who come are here approaching hurricane kept Ashley felt as though a dark for worms. He had the phone her from making the trip back cloud was between them. taken out yesterday because I home. “I’m so glad you’re spent too much time talking...” going to spend the night,” Shelby paused in mid- The local paper ran an prattled Shelby, stacking neat sentence, thinking wistfully of ad for Collin’s red worms, so wedges of meat and bread on the hour-long conversations Ashley tried the number. a large platter. “You can have she had in the past. “I can’t make it back to Aunt Ellie’s Room. It’s the one Memphis,” she told her friend, with the antique bed and the Ashley was startled. “can I possibly spend the feather mattress. You might Why would Collin have the night?” feel like you’re sinking away, phone taken out the day There was a long but it’ll stop in a minute,” before she came? He knew she pause before Collin began a Shelby giggled. “I remember needed to be in touch with her garrulous invitation. how we tried to jump on it office and as a journalist, might “Of course, of course! and all the feathers came loose need to make a call in a hurry. What are friends for? Now, and Aunt Ellie was furious,” She tried to recall whether the you just get in your car and she giggled again. “And did cell phone tucked in her purse come on down before night you hear about Sandra Fitts still had enough battery to call falls. It’s not the best road and her husband? They say out if she needed to. around here, that’s for sure,”

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 24 he chuckled. asked where they came from. down the path. The afternoon Ashley clicked off the Although she tried to impress sun belied any threat of bad cell phone. She sighed with Ashley with a hearty lunch, weather or ill feelings. relief at the invitation, warmed Ashley saw only a few soft Collin once again was by the expansive gesture of drinks and a tub of margarine the boy she grew up with— the most popular boy in their in the refrigerator when Shelby racing with her, limping class. How much time had put back the pickles. and laughing at his own passed since they had seen “Do you need me to clumsiness, reminding her that each other was not important. go back to town and get some she was an ‘older woman’ in Ashley heard rumors about groceries?” she asked. his life, by all of three months. Collin that she chose to ignore. “We have enough.” The long, white freezer He had a nasty temper. Shelby The voice was hard, but was hidden from the path by a and he were involved with not harsh. Collin was back. moss covered cypress tree. check-cashing fraud, but Shelby rushed from the room, “You grow worms nothing was proven. Collin wiping a furtive tear from her in there?” she asked stopped visiting friends after face. incredulously. his accident. He was fired “How’s the worm “Of course. We put in from the clothing store in town business?” Ashley asked, lots of dirt and let the worms when the owner found money anxious to move the subject eat our table scraps.” missing from the register. from the unhappy woman He lifted the lid for her But Ashley knew who left the room. to see and tossed in the bread rumors could be unreliable. “Today, it’s good,” crusts and bits of uneaten ham In the seventh grade, she Collin gushed. “Fishing is left from lunch. remembered Collin running always good when there’s a “I don’t see anything,” after her to return a quarter storm coming,” he suggested, Ashley complained. she had dropped in the grasping a handful of dollar Collin laughed, probing lunchroom. And how he bills he had stuffed in the the dirt with his fingers until a borrowed five dollars to buy pocket of his threadbare plaid few fleshy red worms poked a present for his mother then blazer. “Fishing will be good out of the soil. After reaching paid it back a week later after tonight.” for a small paper carton, Collin doing yard work for an elderly began to retrieve the worms for woman in town. a customer who was coming Seeing him today “Tonight?” Ashley down the path. though, revealed a man worn turned, her piquant face While the fisherman by hardship. The soft contours puzzled. “I thought we might was chatting with Collin, of his face had a hardness that have a storm.” Ashley began taking pictures was not present in the past. His Collin held his ground. of the freezer, the vine covered once penetrating gaze shifted “Oh, yes. Tonight will be path and the feet of the away from direct contact with good.” He sought out Shelby travelers who came in boots her eyes. And the glances he with his eyes. “For all of us.” and weatherproof shoes on cast at her and her possessions Ashley’s smile was wan. their way to the river. She had a predatory edge to them. They both laughed together. looked up to see Collin posing Shelby had a wild After clearing the table proudly at the freezer’s end. imagination that colored her and washing the few dishes “How’s this?” he joked, judgment. For her, the local from lunch, Ashley brushed tossing his head to reveal a gossip of the day was the aside her early morning majestic profile. only important thing in her doubts. When Collin invited “Perfect!” Ashley shot life. Collin supplied whatever her to visit the “worm farm,” back, capturing his face from funds they had and she rarely she quickly followed him all angles to include in her

SuspenseMagazine.com 25 profile of rural America. every resident in the town the end of the road though, a He snapped the lid shut and a hopeful argument how, small dock gave them a quiet suddenly. “Things will get better…they place to dangle their bare feet “We don’t have a lock always do.” in the water and share stories on it,” he explained. “Safety, Another car skidded on about the years since their last you know.” the gravel outside, signaling visit. As she stood in the Collin to help still another “No camera this time?” filtered, afternoon sun, Ashley fisherman get some worms. asked Shelby. felt a sudden chill. The freezer, The two women made a “I’d rather talk,” Ashley once part of a rural store, was tour of the house while Collin replied. nearly seven feet long. waited on the visitor. They A twisted smile played “Someone could put a edged down the back steps to at the corners of Shelby’s lips. body in that,” she muttered. the small garden in back where “Good,” she muttered, Collin held his head Shelby tended roses and lilies more to herself than to Ashley, back to let a deep laugh roar gathered from her mother’s who turned to Shelby with a out of his throat. house. puzzled expression. “You watch too many “It’s like having her But Shelby already CSI shows,” he said. “Besides, here,” she said with a sigh. turned to the two men who it would take three people to “Collin is all I have now and shared a row boat near the get me in that thing.” he’s not a lot of help.” shore. She waved a friendly Ashley laughed with Ashley stiffened at the greeting. The two men nodded him, but still felt a tension and comment against Shelby’s politely, as they let their fishing mistrust growing once again. cousin. poles dangle in the ripples of They returned to the house in “He doesn’t like to brackish water. silence. work, really; just the worms. What are they waiting Shelby’s smile was And he’s hard to care for.” for? thought Ashley, who tried contagious as she ushered “But, he does get a to shake off the dark feeling them into a sitting room where check, doesn’t he?” Ashley about the strangers. Why don’t a pitcher of iced tea and a plate ventured, afraid to offend they move on? of sugar cookies awaited them. her friend with a reference Too many CSI flicks, Old school yearbooks were on to their pinched economic she admonished herself, a side table. A notebook of circumstances. slapping Shelby on the back clippings of their classmates Shelby straightened and scrambling up the shore was pasted neatly in a the front of her printed house as dark clouds passed over scrapbook. dress. with large drops of rain that Ashley pushed her “Oh, yes,” she answered plopped on the pier. purse under the sofa after softly. An awkward silence Shelby stopped her she caught Collin eyeing the followed her answer. “Before friend with a vivacious smile. opening where her wallet it gets dark, let’s take a walk “I’m SO glad to see showed through. He seemed by the river.” you! It’s so lonely out here. nervous, she thought. Life Ashley wasn’t ready Even Collin complains he has here must not be going as well for the rough road. Her casual no one to talk to.” as he pretended. flats caught on the gravel. Once “Hard to believe,” Shelby however, she tripped on a vine edging argued Ashley. “Women never apparently recovered from her the ditch. The women had to could resist your cousin!” moment of sadness. Now she stand aside as a file of cars “For sure,” laughed presented a cheery monologue made their way to the shore Shelby, who was quick to race of her trips to town, the most for an afternoon of fishing her friend back to the house. recent activities of nearly before the storm moved in. At The two women

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 26 spread a checkered cloth on a in the pillow and her breathing cousin, he struggled against small table on the back porch. became slow and soft. the restraints, his cheeks Shelby set out plates of sliced “Sweet dreams,” she puffed out in an effort to speak. ham, chilled watermelon, tall whispered, as she furtively Shelby stared directly glasses of iced tea and a plate entered the room to snatch the in Collin’s dark eyes, opened of homemade sugar cookies. handbag on the nightstand. wide in panic and disbelief. They listened as thunder Her hand slid inside “There’s no other way, announced the approaching to grasp the wallet. Standing cousin,” she said coldly. “You storm and watched lightning over the bed, Shelby silently know this place was meant strike in jagged lines across the pulled out a wad of bills before to be mine, but your family darkened sky. placing the wallet back in the managed to contest the will “You didn’t set a plate purse. She shoved the bills to keep us from having it all. for Collin,” noted Ashley. inside the pocket of her jeans, I know the plan was to get “He can get his own which she wore under the food,” laughed Shelby. “This chenille housecoat. Ashley to contribute to our kind of weather is his busiest Back in the hallway, cause, but you are the real time. I’m sure he’s still down she removed the housecoat, treasure!” at the freezer.” tossed it on a chair then Collin continued to The table was cleared, shuffled quickly and silently squirm in the loamy soil as the dishes washed and still to the door. Once outside, a few hungry red worms Collin did not come. Shelby she needed a few minutes to worked their way to the top of hummed to herself as she get used to the dark. As she the soil. worked. Ashley wiped plates, stepped cautiously down the “ U m m m p h … . set them in their cabinets and path to the freezer, two thin ummmph…..” he twisted his then retreated to her room. shadows passed on either side mouth against the tape in a The day had been a long one of her. She nodded to the men, vain effort to scream. and she hoped to leave for who began the short trek to “What’s the matter, Memphis at daybreak. the house. handsome?” Shelby whispered She lay in the soft bed, “Money, money, in a dominatrix tone. “You say but sleep would not come. money,” she sang as her you need someone to talk to?” It’s the quiet, she fingers found the bills in her Tossing her blonde thought, listening intently for pocket. “Come to Mama….” curls in a triumphant gesture, any sound at all. she cooed. Shelby turned to find the two The world seemed to She fumbled in the men making their way back stand still. Darkness too, was darkness for the lantern by the down the path. overwhelming. Storm clouds freezer. Her fingers found the “You have company, blotted out the moon or any wick, which she lit. An eerie Cousin,” she told him passing cloud. Once she yellow lighted played on the sensed a footstep beneath her freezer’s lid. She raised the lid, soothingly. “Your house guest window, but passed off the letting it stay open then placed is here for you.” soft pounding on the earth as the light over the freezer. Nodding once again to late evening nerves. “Stuffy night, isn’t it?” the two men, she stood aside Shelby slipped in front she asked, leaning over the as they unrolled a white sheet of the bedroom door to wait freezer’s edge. “Thought you from Ashley’s stiff body then for Ashley to drift to sleep. could use a bit of air.” placed it carefully next to She was very still, watching Collin lay inside the Collin. The last sound Collin her friend through the half- freezer, hands and feet bound heard was Shelby’s shrill open door. Finally, the young with rope and duct tape over laughter as she snapped shut woman’s head settled deeply his mouth. At the sight of his the lid of the freezer. 

SuspenseMagazine.com 27 Words & Music: A JOURNEY OF SUSPENSE By Karolina Avalon “Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

For people who know me, it’s no secret that I love music and that I am fascinated by it. Since I am also a people person, it fascinates me how I’m not the only one with this avid fascination.

Ever since ancient bards would sing of the feats done by the heroes of old, music has played an important part in the way people socialize and communicate. Music can lift your spirits and it can make you laugh. It can speak to your core beliefs, it can make you break down into hysterical tears. Even the simplest lyrics like “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” or “Rama lama ding dong” can have you bouncing in your seat and on a natural high for hours. The most interesting emotion that music can invoke, (for me anyway) is fear. With just a few well-timed notes, a song or a musical score can create the illusion of danger and send our fight/flight response into overload.

Let’s take music used in movies as an example. But not just any movies, even though I could list a multitude, from Chaplin to the Lord or the Rings, where the music score was paramount to the story telling. For the purposes of this, let’s just focus on suspense/ horror movies and sound tracks. My two favorite examples of this are probably Steven Spielberg and John Williams’ Jaws (1975) and Hitchcock’s (with Bernard Herrmann for the soundtrack) Psycho (1960). In John Williams’ score for Jaws, that tuba sends chills down most people’s spine, while the shower scene in Psycho is probably one of the most known movie scenes, and that score is definitely in my top five most chilling. Even movies like the recent ‘Inception’ (2010) (Christopher Nolan) manipulate Edith Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” (Dumont, Vaucaire, 1956) and break it down into levels to create a haunting, beautiful and suspenseful soundtrack. (Sean Michaels, guardian.co.uk, Thursday 29 July 2010 ‘Inception soundtrack created entirely from Edith Piaf Song’).

What interests me, is the way music is used in movies adapted from books. To use an old, very well known saying, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. So, how many words

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 28 is a music score to a movie worth? To look at this I’m going to talk about two Stephen King books and their respective soundtracks that were created for the movie adaptations briefly.

In Stephen King’s book ‘Christine’ (first published in 1983 by SIGNET); the story of Arnie Cunningham and his love affair with a 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine is told in first person narrative by Arnie’s best friend, Dennis. Dennis spends the first chapter of the book describing how both he and Arnie found Christine and instantly fell in love with her­—and through the language used, already places a slightly creepy and obsessive nature to the ‘relationship’ with a car that is no ordinary car. Of course, when the movie was made (and directed by John Carpenter in 1983), all that narrative was lost. So, what were the words translated into? A score. The first piece of music on the Christine soundtrack (Alan Hawarth) is ‘Arnie’s Love Theme’ and it is the creepiest thing. It starts off so innocuously, sounding like a slight wind blowing through the trees, and then some chimes. It’s so common place, but the pitch and the tone lets the viewer know, without any doubt in their mind, there is something so completely not right with this ‘love theme’, just as Stephen King does through Dennis’ flowing and wary narrative. What’s also great is the way the pieces of music signify the deaths of the bullies in the movies and what it invokes when you listen to the sound track. The audience can close their eyes and see the malice and the joy this possessed car is projecting by toying with its victims, and the brutal way the boys die. It’s almost as if Stephen King’s essence of his words are written within the music sheets, even when the storyline changes.

To use another Stephen King book that has been adapted for a movie and the soundtrack really captured the mood of the story telling is Pet Sematary (1983, published by SIGNET). Now, I am not going to compare the book to the movie here, as I found the book far creepier than the movie; however, the soundtrack did its job in carrying the suspenseful and quite wrong feel of the story. Quick recap—the story revolves around Louis Creed and his wife Rachel, as well as their children, Ellie and Gage. The family move to a new town and are situated near a pet cemetery or rather, a ‘semetary’, which—as it is revealed as the book progresses—is in fact on an Indian burial ground. Of course, this has consequences. Once again, when the movie was made (and directed by Mary Lambert) a movie score was created to say what the actors and scenery couldn’t in the limited medium. The soundtrack created by Elliot Goldenthal (1989/94) is a great one, and again, the opening piece is amazing. It’s very simple sounds of children softly singing. Because back in the 80’s, children weren’t creepy, right? Except when they are.

There are so many more movies and books I could mention here, but I chose King’s because they are the most mainstream stories that have been adapted for the silver screen and some people’s favorites. Stephen King is considered quite an influential horror writer and to be able to change his written word into music that invokes a physical response as these soundtracks do is no easy feat.

I think that is what amazes me most about the power of music and particularly the scores used in suspense or horror films. I could spend a lot of time listing movies where the music was paramount to the story and many times when it didn’t work. However, I’d have to say some of my favorite movies scores come from horror/suspense films. Even though I started by listing various emotions music can evoke in people and have demonstrated how that can be used by film makers to create or enhance a story, I can’t think of any other music used in horror/suspense movies that can recreate a scene in my mind so vividly (from a movie or a book) without using words or lyrics. As I stated at the beginning, all you have to do is close your eyes while listening to the theme of Jaws and there’s good ol’ Bruce, swimming towards you, with just his dorsal fin showing. Visual aids and words are powerful tools, but a few well-timed, well known notes of a tuba, can get your blood racing and transport you to a place you didn’t necessarily want to go. 

SuspenseMagazine.com 29 Go Outside the Box

t’s three in the afternoon and so far your day has been fruitful. You’ve not only brainstormed great ideas for your story but also wrote dozens of to get Back In pages. Each sentence, each word was nothing but magic. Your mood is soaring as is your imagination.I You think to yourself—‘At this rate my book will be finished in no time’. And then it happens out of the blue and instantly brings you off the high cloud you had been nestled on all day—writer's block. Now I am sure every writer can vouch for me that this is the worst, most devastating and frustrating part of writing. Every single person has been afflicted by this condition, whether writing an essay, an article for a magazine or novels in their spare time. No matter where you look, you will find hundreds or thousands of people who suffer daily just as you are now. To confirm this, just type in ‘writer's block’ into any search engine and you will find over 41 million results. However debilitating this condition is, there is hope. I myself, suffered with writer's block more often than I can count or even remember. At one point, it lasted for months making me wonder if that was it. Was everything I had written thus far a fluke, something that only lasted for so long before leaving me, never to return again? That was when I decided to go outside the box to get back into it. Maybe, I thought, I was just lost on the one story—my mind completely out of ideas. Immediately I started writing short stories. Each story was unique, nothing at all like the novel my brain had shut Sackville R.M. By: off to. To my surprise and elation I was able to write again. The switch in my brain had been turned back on at the thought of something new and exciting. Out of this small transition came great mini stories, stories up to that point I did not think I had in me. After several short stories, I’d attempt again. Half the time I was able to delve back into the novel and when I could not, I would step back outside the box and work on more short stories. Everyone will find what works the best for them and if all else fails, the internet is chock full of people suffering as well. Maybe they will have the suggestion that works best for you. However in the end, keep fighting because one day you will be able to jump back in the box full of life, ideas and the magic you once had. To learn more about Roxanne Sackville and her work go to: http://roxannesackville.webs.com/. 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 30 Clock Struck 12 Featured Artist

Claudia McKinney Paints With the Colors of her Soul

Interview By: Suspense Magazine hen we first stumbled onto Claudia McKinney’s—or Wshould I say PhatPuppy’s— portfolio of work on Deviant Art we knew that she had to be our next Featured Artist. With bold colors and intricate details, our imaginations flew inspiring images of her work hung in galleries, as the book jacket designs and yes, the cover of Suspense Magazine. Before a quick interview, we asked Claudia to tell us about herself. I share with you her thoughts, in her own words, because I think she puts it best: I got started with digital art when I learned of digital "painting". I started more or less dabbling with colors and free hand painting and then I got started doing montages. This is the most I've enjoyed something outside of being a wife and mother. I can really pour my heart and my soul into each creation - and for me, it's like my version of keeping a journal. Each piece represents a time in my life that I can instantly recall what was happening.... I'm influenced by so many things really, but most of my inspiration I would have to say comes from nature. I love anything to do with the outdoors and natural beauty. Lately, though, I'm intrigued by more surrealistic art....so I'm dabbling in that a bit, too - which you will notice in some of my works. I love Photoshop and can't imagine not having it! I don't use a lot of filters - and mainly rely on the old standbys like blending modes and opacities. I do use dodge, burn and smudge tools frequently when finishing an image -- and shadows and highlights. I have a few filters that I do use - like lighting effects if there is a certain dramatic lighting effect I'd like to incorporate in my image. However, often times, I find that a certain texture works even better! I really say it's just experimenting with what looks right to you. As you grow as an artist, you begin to train your eyes - Heiwa and you start to see things improve with each new creation.

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 32 Lucia's Walk to Heaven Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): Where did the Featured name for your company, Artist Phatpuppy come from? Claudia McKinney (CM): I started doing pet portraits and paintings - and "phat" a slang for cool - so I stuck it in front of puppy and it worked. :)

Everyone seemed to enjoy it. S. MAG.: It was very difficult for us to choose the Disintegrating images from your portfolio because your work is so strong, do you have one favorite piece?

CM: I have a couple - but probably "Lucia's Walk to Heaven" because it has a strong familial connection for me.

S. MAG.: When and how did you become interested in digital art?

CM: After the birth of my fourth and last child six years ago - I wanted to do something creative - something more. Breath of Life I often say that digital art in itself is a kind of birth - because one is always creating something new— bringing life forth through art. :)

S. MAG.: Do you have a specific process when you begin a new piece?

CM: Not really, but I do know instantly if a pic is good for me - sometimes I go against my thoughts and unfortunately for me, it will reflect in the work.

S. MAG.: Is there a specific story behind each piece? Soul Gatherer CM: Sometimes, yes and I try to write that in the description. Sometimes just my weird brain working overtime. I ask God always for inspiration; and even if the work is sometimes dark, I want it to try to have a message.

For example, people thought one of my recent works,

SuspenseMagazine.com 33 "The Judgement" was dark and depressing—it was intended to be. For me, the piece is a reminder of what I personally believe; that sooner or later, whatever your actions here are, you will have to answer for it all...

S. MAG.: How long does it typically take you from start to finish?

CM: Sometimes quickly; an hour or two. Sometimes four or five hours...paintings always take me the longest; sometimes a full day.

S. MAG.: Many artists have an emotional connection to their work. Do you?

CM: Most definitely; however I get really tired of the wounded heart themes in everything—the sad, morose, forlorn, love stuff. Emotions can run the gamut and I think it's important not to stay too locked into one form of expression because it's popular with your watchers. Always try to step out of the box. If you don't, you'll Pretty on the Inside never know what you can do. S. MAG.: Is there anything artistically that you would still like to learn or do?

CM: More special effect stuff, but not too much. I just would like to learn to improve, in whatever it is. To become better at it all the way around.

S. MAG.: Where can people purchase your work?

CM: On deviantart.com or on my personal site http:// phatpuppyart.com.

S. MAG.: What are your plans for the future?

CM: Currently, I work with film studios, but I do hope to start doing more photography for music clients— my daughter Catriona has been my first - http:// catiesings.com—and then editing them as well; doing some really high end works with photography studio.

To keep up with Claudia McKinney (PhatPuppy) and all this astounding artist has to offer, check her out online. 

34Inspired Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 “William Kent Krueger is one of the modern masters of the craft… one of those rare writers who manage to keep the suspense alive until the final page.” —KIRKUS REVIEWS (STARRED REVIEW)

Investigating five corpsesfound in an abandoned mine, Cork O’Connor must dig into the darker passages of his family’s past—and incriminat- ing evidence that implicates his own father. Unless Cork can unravel the tangled thread of clues quickly, more death is sure to come to Tamarack County, Minnesota.

“Rock-solid prose combines with effective characterizations and a logical if complex plot for a thrilling read. This book succeeds on every level.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW)

And now in trade paperback:

eBook edition also available | www.simonandschuster.com Dust off Your View of Zombies with Debut Author Joan Frances Turner Interview by: Suspense Magazine Press Photo Credit: Royce Photography Munster, IN “Dust” is the debut book of author Joan Frances Turner and will be published by Ace Books, slated to be out September 7, 2010. It is a story about a zombie who tells the tale from their point of view while they battle time, decay, the ones they left behind invading civilization and—if that’s not enough—each other. She is currently working on a sequel, tentatively titled “Frail”, from the all- important human angle. Joan was born in Rhode Island and grew up in the Calumet Region of northwest Indiana, which fellow Region Rat Jean Shepherd, famously said, “clings precariously to the underbody of Chicago like a barnacle clings to the rotting hulk of a tramp steamer.” A graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School, she lives near the beach with her family and a garden full of spring onions and tiger lilies, providing the weather gives its blessing. Suspense Magazine got to ask some much anticipated questions from Joan about her books and her life. Enjoy! Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): What was your inspiration to write about zombies? And what compelled you to break the typical mold? Joan Frances Turner (JFT): When your mental default state is “Every headache’s a brain tumor,” you spend a lot of time thinking about death and zombies are every death- dread personified: the bodily decay, the loss of selfhood and consciousness, the transformation from a loved, living creature to an inanimate thing inspiring mockery, horror, disgust. I then realized how many zombie traits also double as xenophobic stereotypes—they can’t speak our language, they stink, they eat revolting food, they spread disease, they’ll take over our whole country if you let them—and started thinking in terms of a despised subculture, the reminder of what lies ahead for everyone lurking quite literally just around the corner. An animated, memento mori and all the more hated because of it. Then I started thinking what it might actually be like to live out your afterlife in every physical sense right here and now— especially if you died young like Jessie did, with the whole world you’ve been robbed of right there in front of you, inaccessible—and I felt pity and curiosity and thus, the

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 36 start of an actual story. My bibliography of “direct” inspirations: Night of the Living Dead (the 1968 version), Carnival of Souls, Jessica Mitford’s The American Way of Death Revisited, Kenneth Iserson’s Death to Dust, the Greek myth of Erysichthon, Wisconsin Death Trip and Luc Sante’s prose poem “The Unknown Soldier.” As far as the specific things I changed, those were for plot exigency or just to keep myself entertained. If you’re going to write from the undead POV, some sort of consciousness however primitive, is a basic necessity, as are rudimentary means of communication. Guns were banished early on because they’re boring—I don’t think a single shot is fired in the whole book. Creating an undead “life cycle” let me play with the actual physical process of decay, from initial tissue breakdown to infestation to skeletal dry rot, and with how it might actually feel to be in a body dying every day by slow degrees (though of course, that’s already true of all of us living). The “dance” scenes were a tribute to Carnival of Souls, and also to lend them some fleeting, transcendent escape from their own bodies. Many ancient cultures thought the liver was the seat of life, the soul or both, so it took the place of the clichéd braaaaaaaaaaains as the most desired meat. S. MAG.: Did you ever second guess yourself while writing “Dust”? JFT: Continuously and ceaselessly. At one point I became so frustrated I literally threw my hands in the air and shouted, “That’s it, I hate this book, I hate writing, I hate the whole world and I hate you!” and took three and a half months off. Obviously that’s a luxury I don’t have any more, but it turned out to be very necessary because when I came back to the book, I could see not only that it was worth salvaging, but finally, how to go about doing it. One piece of writing advice I never see enough is that even when you would swear up and down you’re not thinking a story through, you are. S. MAG.: How long did it take you to write your novel? JFT: 2003 to 2006: The first draft--the “Genesis Draft,” as I called it—which grew from half a page of scribbled notes to a sprawling 750-page monstrosity that ended with just slightly less melodrama than the Ring Cycle. 2006 to 2008: The “Exodus Draft,” where I whittled it down to 300 pages, gave pink slips to a half-dozen or so extraneous characters and changed the plot completely. 2009: The “Leviticus Draft,” two-thirds of the book rewritten over the summer at the behest of my agent and editor, including another, dramatically different ending. Seven years, then, start to finish, which still feels very strange to contemplate. S. MAG.: Who did you read as a child? JFT: As a small child, I loved Russell Hoban’s Frances books, Patricia Coombs’s Dorrie books, Free to Be…You and Me, Madeline, Little Women, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, A Little Princess, the Provensen Book of Fairy Tales and anything by Maurice Sendak or Judith Viorst. I progressed from there to Harriet the Spy, Lizard Music, Thomas Bulfinch’s Tales of Greece and Rome, boatloads of those so-called young adult “problem novels” that were huge in the seventies and early eighties when I was growing up (Judy Blume, Norma Klein, Robert Cormier, Robin Brancato, countless others), Agatha Christie, Edgar Allan Poe and—when I was in high school—William Burroughs, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mervyn Peake, Angela Carter, Ray Bradbury, Charles Dickens, Colin MacInnes, T.S. Eliot, Paul Bowles, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Sara Paretsky, P.D. James. And a lot of doorstop-sized “women’s” potboilers, Scruples and the like, because those and Judy Blume’s Forever used to be the proper and conventional way to learn about sex. S. MAG.: Have you ever written in any other genre? JFT: Not yet. I’d like to see where I can go with realistic fiction at some point, but at least for now my imagination seems to want to see how realistic a gloss it can put on supernatural, or simply unnatural, events. S. MAG.: Has becoming a writer always been your dream? JFT: It was something I loved to imagine in the same way people fantasize about being rock stars

SuspenseMagazine.com 37 or super-spies, but being a natural Eeyore Suspense Magazine Review of “Dust” in temperament I didn’t put much faith in With shocking ingenuity, newcomer Joan Frances Turner it ever happening. It was my mother who has singlehandedly broken the mold—erasing the zombie finally said the blunt but very necessary stereotypes of uncommunicative, strangely empty and words, “You’re not getting any younger, emotionless beings—and given the undead life in her debut quit talking about it and just sit down and “Dust”. No longer will fans be limited to the B-movie imagery do it.” And so, somewhat chastened, I did, of solitary, brainless corpses who fresh from their graves, and to my continuing surprise actually senselessly hunt humans in the light of the full moon. With a writing things and showing them to others new and innovative twist, Turner gives us a terrifying insider’s instead of just talking about it has reaped look. ongoing rewards. Limited to safety zones, fifteen-year-old Jesse Porter was raised with a healthy dose of fear concerning the undead, but S. MAG.: Do you plan on using any of she never imaged that she would experience their life…or lack your familiarity of the law in any of of. Jesse’s first birthday—reborn—was a very big deal as she your future works? watched in horror as her parents, who didn’t get along well in life, fight for the scraps of a small unwitting animal. Faced with JFT: I don’t have any plans to write a a range of emotions, including disgust, Jesse easily recognizes straightforward, legal thriller (those will what she has become. probably be famous last words someday), Physically mangled and new to this life, Jesse considers but I would very much like to have a herself lucky when painfully accepted into a small reclusive future character somehow involved in that gang. A group—similar, in parts, to any average American field—the unglamorous, small-scale, bread- family—with a hierarchy that she can cope with and accepts and-butter auto accident and small claims as her family. Happy for a decade, when her small unit begins and personal injury work that makes up to break apart, Jesse can no longer sit idly by and she quickly ninety percent of the profession. “Cases of realizes that these new strange changes aren’t only affecting her a lifetime” do happen in real life, but not family. It is happening to the world because the key is in the a fraction as often as they do fictionally, connections. so I appreciate any sort of story where the Richly developed characters and an original storyline make lawyers, paralegals, clericals aren’t famous “Dust” impossible to miss. or brilliant or wealthy (particularly that Reviewed by Suspense Magazine  last one, now the legal employment market is about as buoyant as the housing bubble), just another group of people doing their jobs every day and then going home. S. MAG.: What was it like to get the letter that said you were being published? JFT: It was a phone call from my agent, and it was so exciting that I promptly got a wicked migraine once I’d hung up, but I still couldn’t stop pacing incessantly around the room. On the phone I sounded very calm and my agent kept asking, “Aren’t you excited?” and she didn’t understand; I was too stunned and disbelieving to say much of anything at all! It’s a Midwestern thing. S. MAG.: Other than “Frail”, do you have any new ideas on the horizon you could share? JFT: I’m in note-taking phase for another, unrelated book, which plot is still embryonic, but involves some literal demonic spawn and the perils of confusing artists with their art. Its “bibliography” includes Kenneth Anger’s films, local steel mill folklore (unsurprisingly, in an industry where horrific accidents are all in a day’s work, “phantom of the open hearth” urban legends are legion), the Malleus Maleficarum, The Wonders of the Invisible World, Helter Skelter, anecdotes from the “Satanic panic” witch hunts of the eighties and a lot of British psychedelic folk music. I’ve also got other ideas involving Resurrection Mary (the Chicagoland version of the “vanishing hitchhiker” legend), a bizarre incident that happened on local television in the eighties— Google, “WGN” and “Max Headroom” for the details—an outsider artist who lives under a bridge and a very unusual suicide prevention activist, but those are stories for another year or decade. Suspense Magazine had fun talking with Joan and want to wish her continued joy and success with her writing. If you’d like to learn more about Joan and her work, please visit her website at http://www.dustthenovel.com/author/. 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 38 Peter Benchley By: Suspense Magazine In honor of debut author month, September's entrance into the Hall of Fame wrote one of the most famous pieces of suspense/thriller and it was his debut book. Peter Benchley is the author of “Jaws”. Written in 1974, it fast became an instant success. “Jaws” was born after Doubleday books shot down all of Peter Benchley’s ideas on non- fiction books. At the time of the book, many great white sharks were being captured off the coast of Long Island and fear had spread about them. “Jaws” is listed on many different lists as a Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons top ten villain of all time in books. Suspense Magazine listed “Jaws” as the number one villain in their July 2009 issue. It was also the first movie to gross over one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in the box office and was the godfather of the summer blockbuster. At the time “Jaws” was released in movie theaters, summertime was considered the graveyard of movies. In fact, in 1977, George Lucas climbed on the “Jaws” bandwagon and used the same tactic to promote “Star Wars”, which broke the record at the box office that “Jaws” held. Peter Benchley went on to write many other books, including “The Deep”, “The Island” and “The Beast”. All were adapted into movies. Peter Benchley was born in New York City in 1940 and died in 2006. He was able to live the success his debut novel had and still has today. He was also an editor at Newsweek, worked for the Washington Post and was a speechwriter for President Lyndon B. Johnson. He will always be remembered for bringing fear and panic to everyone that steps in the water, with the famous phrase, “Is it safe to go back into the water?” We are honored to include Peter Benchley into the Suspense Magazine Hall of Fame for September 2010. 

SuspenseMagazine.com 39 Inside the Pages Suspense MagazineThe E choBook of ReviewsViolence by Jordan Dane A red-hot mixture of fiery characters and volatile conflicts are an easy indicator of Dane’s continued success as she introduces the world to the third installment of her Sweet Justice series, “The Echo of Violence”. Circling storylines and hints of hidden agendas keep a remarkable pace with fascinating and heart-breaking results. As the layers of secrets are carefully peeled away, each smartly crafted character becomes more than words on a page. Jackson Kinkaid is a broken and private man with a long list of skeletons in his closet he keeps closely guarded. Kincaid recognizes one gentle soul as his salvation in life and when her life is threatened—at the hands of terrorists—he will stop at nothing to save her, even if it means allowing a painful aspect of his past to resurface. With limited options, Kincaid is going to have to place his safety and trust in the hands of people he hasn’t worked with in much too long. Facing the paralyzing fear of failure—and fighting a gunshot wound and raging infection—Kincaid leans on agent Alexa Marlowe, his counterpart in this impossible rescue mission as the game takes an even more dangerous turn. No longer is this a simple extraction about saving one life, but now has deadly consequences for many. Small victories pepper this well-written thriller, but don’t be fooled by what initially appears to be a ‘cookie- cutter’ ending. “The Echo of Violence” isn’t quite so predictable.  Retirement can be Murder by Susan Santangelo Not since first picking up one of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, have I ever laughed or enjoyed a book so much as Santangelo’s “Retirement can be Murder”. Jim and Carol Andrews, a typical, baby-boomer, over sixty couple: him, controlling, quiet, unwilling to communicate and her, dutiful, sweet and knows when to shut up. The one thing Jim can’t control however is how Carol thinks—and she is funny! Carol thinks she’s being smart, steering Jim toward speaking with the well-known retirement specialist when—for the umpteenth time—he swears he’s going to take an early retirement. Things get out of control very quickly when Jim is accused of murdering retirement guru Dr. Davis “Dick Retuccio” Rhodes. Mark Anderson, a local police officer and old, family friend is unfortunate enough to be caught between his job and his loyalty to this family. He knows none of the information Carol learns just by nosing around a bit and asking “innocent” questions. She learns there is more than one possible suspect here and she’s out to find the real killer. My favorite parts about this book are when Santangelo “speaks” to the reader. When you read her book, she’s sitting in your living room telling you about her life. And, she mentions the Berkshires—my home. I loved it! As an added bonus, you get a great, two ingredient recipe to boot! Reviewed by: Terri Ann Armstrong, author of “Morning Menace” for Suspense Magazine 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 40 Veil of Night by Linda Howard Bestseller Linda Howard—a personal favorite of mine—is a clear standout in the world of romantic suspense. With sexually charged characters that make your toes curl and a pulse pounding storyline infused with southern charm, “Veil of Night” will leave fans begging for more. Event planner, Jaclyn Wilde has seen her share of badly behaved, overwrought and emotionally unstable clients, but bridezilla, Carrie Edwards has swiftly achieved the designation of worst bride. Pulling off a picture-perfect wedding with this nasty, self-destructive bride would be impossible, a goal that Jaclyn—already overworked and overbooked—has realized is unattainable and she is fully prepared to cancel the contract. What she wasn’t prepared for and couldn’t anticipate was becoming the number one suspect in Carrie’s death. Detective Eric Wilder soon finds out that everyone involved in the planning of the nuptials—from the bridesmaids to the baker—have a solid reason for wanting to see Carrie dead. His biggest challenge is keeping the all too vivid memories of his steamy night with Jaclyn at bay while unraveling a web of lies. Guaranteed to entertain, “Veil of Night” is the perfect weekend getaway!  Butter Safe Than Sorry Foreign Influence by Tamar Myers By Brad Thor From the first line of Tamar Myers’ This is the ninth book in latest hilarious mystery, “Butter Safe Than Sorry”, I was hooked. What’s the Scot Horvath series. The not to like about another adventure world is rocked by multiple in Pennsylvania Dutch country terrorist attacks in Europe starring the Queen of Puns, innkeeper and there are more on the way Magdalena Yoder? In a word, nothing! including a possible attack on American soil. This is a very This time, proud mother Magdalena insightful look into covert ops takes her four-year-old son, little Jacob, and the restrictions that have to the local bank and while they are been placed on our agencies that are hunting there—you guessed it—the bank is robbed by three gun- terrorist cells. toting, Amish men. Wait a minute…gun-toting, Amish men? Hey, as little Jacob points out to his mom later, Amish men don’t carry guns. Who were these guys really? And The action is non-stop as Horvath must not are little Jacob and Magdalena in danger because they can only figure out how to stop the imminent identify them? As Magdalena’s Jewish mother-in-law, Ida, attacks, but deal with his own demons. The would say, “Oy vey!” use of torture to extract information is vividly described and is the main tool in Horvath’s With the usual supporting cast—husband Gabe, cook / cum arsenal. He will stop at nothing to prevent / relative-in-many-ways Freni, cousin Sam the grocer—who the attacks and his journey takes him all over actually delivered little Jacob when Magdalena went into the globe. You will not be disappointed in the labor in his store—sister Susannah’s—now languishing in a prison cell and pining for her beloved Melvin—best friend frantic action and twists that permeate through Agnes and a roster of guests from New Jersey who would this story. try the patience of any innkeeper, Magdalena springs into action to protect her beloved son and solve the crime. Even though this is the ninth book in the series, you do not need to read the previous books This is the latest one in a series guaranteed to deliver laughs to know what is going on, but you will need in every chapter, right until the very end. to read “Foreign Influence” before the next Reviewed by: Susan Santangelo, Author of “Retirement novel in this series. We are cruelly left with a Can Be Murder” for Suspense Magazine  cliffhanger that only makes us thirsty to find out what happens next! 

SuspenseMagazine.com 41 Without Warning By John Birmingham American armed forces are massed in Kuwait in preparation for the invasion of Iraq when news reaches field commanders that a force-field of unknown origin, in the form of an energy cloud has descended on the North American continent. Most of Canada, Mexico and all but the western city of Seattle and the states of Alaska and Hawaii are rendered immobile. Further inspection from close quarters, via drone flights show that all living creatures in the cloud are dead, the bodies evaporated as in a demonic rapture. Five million Americans are left rudderless around the world as the Arab countries dance in the streets now that the Great Satan is leaderless. As the word spreads about the loss of American leadership, the world is affected by its own struggles for power. South American dictatorships take control of the Panama Canal to control shipping of oil and supplies, engaging in war with combined U.S. and Cuban forces off of Guantanamo Bay, as Australia and New Zealand prepare to take in American refugees who can make it to their shores. Israel uses nuclear weapons to maintain control in the Middle East, France is in the midst of a civil war, with several terrorist factions roaming Paris, picking off all-comers and England becomes a prison camp in an effort to cleanse the country of the ethnic groups that have supported terrorism in the Middle East. John Birmingham’s protagonist is America, everywhere it can be found. Starting from the journalist embedded with the armed forces in Kuwait to the city engineer trying to keep the lights on in Seattle. And continuing on with the covert agent in mid- mission in the streets of Paris, to the general cut off from reinforcements in Cuba and the gun-runner, off-shore in his yacht and to the Texas lawyer vacationing in Hawaii. As the story moves towards its thrilling, inevitable showdown, each member of the protagonist force has an influence on the outcome of tomorrow’s world. The conflict and tension on every page escalate in such a powerful way that they provide the type of rising action that will keep you spellbound through to the final word. Sit back and ride the bumpy rollercoaster as thrill after spill brings fear, revulsion, outrage and relief to your shell-shocked system. Reviewed by Mark P. Sadler, Author of “Blood on his Hands” for Suspense Magazine  2 in the Hat The Dog Park Club By Raffi Yessayan By Cynthia Robinson Yessayan introduces a complicated police Mid-rung opera singer Max Bravo’s to-do list procedural divided into three parts. certainly has lots of variety, practice, practice, He pulls on experience in the district practice, of course. Be a babysitter / confidante to attorney’s office in Boston to guide us frequently hysterical best friend Claudia. Solve her through the various districts that make marital / romantic crises, which are numerous. Solve up the Emerald District. His characters his own romantic crises, which are not as numerous and story are utterly believable as the as Claudia’s, but still…chat with his long-dead grandmother, Baba passionate dark side of the serial killer is the gypsy. Hang out with Claudia’s dog, Asta at the local dog park. unleashed on the police and the reader. And, oh, yeah, find missing dog owner, the lovely Amy, who seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. The story follows the outline of a Pattersonesque thriller; In her debut novel, “The Dog Park Club”, San Francisco author short chapters with occasional inserts to provide clues Cynthia Robinson gives us a wacky cast of characters who frequent to the anonymous Prom Night Killer. A very effective the dog park along with Max and Claudia. A bunch of misfits who method, however the lack of a central protagonist to the are not what they seem to be (one of them turns out to be a multi- story left me a little confused until the third section. The millionaire, but dresses like a street person and sleeps in his van), mix of point of views makes it so complex that I had to they bond over beer and, incidentally, their love of dogs. The most spend time flipping back to try to recall where the pieces normal member of the group is Amy, and when she vanishes—did fit to keep the many characters straight. I mention she’s nine months pregnant?—the husband is suspected Just when you think you know who did it I guarantee a new of doing her in, they go all out to try to find the about-to-give-birth clue will leave your head spinning. Once the story takes mother. off in part three, it really finds its pulse and surges ahead But, once again, things are not what they seem to be…even the to bring a climactic ending that will leave you scrambling lovely Amy. to keep up. Bravo, Max Bravo and Cynthia Robinson. I look forward with eager Reviewed by Mark P. Sadler, Author of “Blood on his anticipation to your next adventure. Hands” for Suspense Magazine  Reviewed by: Susan Santangelo, Author of “Retirement can be Murder” for Suspense Magazine 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 42 Stone's Fall By Iain Pears Bad Samaritan In a span covering eighty-five years, the story of By Aimee and David Thurlo There’s a lot to like about Sister Agatha, Stone’s Fall moves backwards in time gradually filling in the missing pieces in this masterful novel of feisty extern nun (that means she’s not industrial espionage, war-mongering, international one of the cloistered ones for those who banking and, finally, tragic love. are unfamiliar with the term) who’s the The pre-World War One storyline is reminiscent unlikely heroine of a delightful series of the mystery and suspense so aptly covered by John Buchan of New Mexico mysteries by husband in Thirty Nine Steps as, by trial and error, newspaper reporter and wife writing team Aimee and Matthew Braddock begins the quest of a dead man to find his David Thurlo. First, she rides a Harley. missing child. Stone, the deceased, left a tidy sum in his will to the Wow…and, she never falls off; double unknown child and his wife, Elisabeth, commissions Braddock to wow! She’s accompanied by her ever unravel the mystery in order to put the estate to rest. faithful canine companion, Pax, a white Pears leads us on a jolly-good romp throughout England and German Shepherd who’s a former finally throughout Europe to discover the heir to the Stone estate. member of the local, police, canine His voyage of discovery unravels a life of high-stakes financial unit. Truth to tell, he was the entire finance, munitions manufacturing and corruption. canine unit. One quickly learns that in the life of this blue-blooded British couple nothing is as it seems. Is Elisabeth really a Hungarian In this latest adventure, Sister Agatha courtesan, why was Stone visiting the medium, Madam Boniska and exactly what information does Henry Cort have over all of is being confronted by two crises: them that inspires such dread? Braddock is lucky to come out of her beloved monastery, Our Lady of the inquiry with his life. Never before has the life of a banker been Hope, is about to close due to lack of so full of reckless adventure, trickery and passion. donations and all the good sisters are “Stone’s Fall” challenges you on all levels and presents a modern being located to another convent in author’s, well-rounded look at history, romance, family secrets a different part of the state. (She can and espionage. bring the dog with her, so that at least, Reviewed by: Mark P. Sadler, author of “Blood on his Hands” for is a good thing.) Before she can leave, Suspense Magazine  however, Sister Agatha must prove the innocence of her good friend, Sheriff Silencing Sam Tom Green, who has been framed for By Julie Kramer Riley Spartz—Kramer’s daring heroine—is the murder of his chief rival in the the first to admit things haven’t been going upcoming sheriff election. her way recently. As a female reporter at the Twin City’s very own Channel 3 news station, With the good Lord and several she watches open-mouthed as her new, male, sympathetic townspeople—who know chauvinistic, in-house competition saunters a lot more than they’re prepared to tell, in. Handsome and knowing it, his Texas drawl is lost on her from the start. Little did she realize the barrage at first—on her side, how can Sister of questions she received and ignored—about her new nem- Agatha miss? esis—earlier in the day by viper-penned, gossip columnist, Sam Pierce would cost her so much. Morale of story? Never mess with a The bad day started out from such a minor item, just a harm- nun who rides a Harley! less argument on the street with Sam and quickly spiraled into a nasty, gossip column and flying drink in this obnoxious writers face. When Sam’s body is discovered their very pub- Reviewed by: Susan lic disagreement makes Riley’s look incredibly guilty and her Santangelo, author of lack of alibi isn’t helping the situation. “Retirement Can Be Kramer’s richly developed characters and spot on delivery Murder” for Suspense make “Silencing Sam” a sit back, put your feet up, laughing  good time! Magazine Reviewed by Suspense Magazine  SuspenseMagazine.com 43 MOVIES B r o o k l y n ' s Normally when you see a movie that stars Richard Gere, Don Finest Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and Wesley Snipes, you would expect to have a (2009) Genre – Crime Thriller(R) winner on your hands. Instead you have the exact opposite. Eddie Dugan (Gere) is facing many internal problems and also retirement in seven days. Clarence “Tango” Butler (Cheadle) has been undercover for so long, he is losing his family and desperately looking for a way out before he becomes engulfed further with his criminal elements. Sal Procida (Hawke) is working narcotics and will take any steps—no matter the consequences—to make sure he takes his family to a better place. The movie paces the lives of each cop, while they head for a climactic ending at the same crime scene in the Brooklyn projects where a boy was killed by a cop. When each of their paths lead them in the same direction, they must each make a decision that will affect them permanently. The problem with the movie is that it doesn’t have a clear focus. You find yourself wondering exactly what the point is. For the first three quarters of the movie you wonder where is the story going and will it hurry up and get there. If you had to pick one actor that shines it would be Cheadle. He is the only character that seems to be in his element and  the most believable. Besides that, the rest of the movie is nothing more than a waste of time. Instead of picking up this movie to watch, spend two and a half hours in your garden, at least you will get something done.   I found this movie on Netflix and read what it was about. I had a decent feeling that it would at least hold my interest. A young girl, Angela (Allison Taylor) is trying to get over the emotional scars left when her mother committed suicide. She then meets Brian, played by Zack Stewart, who also is suffering from the loss of his father’s suicide. Both of them receive videotapes that show the last moments of their parents’ lives and even a scene that shows they knew each other. When Angela and Brian begin to put the pieces together, they realize that this was not suicide at all, but murder. Angela is being watched by the killer and he is now killing everyone she loves. We find out exactly what the killer’s motive is in a climactic ending. While this is a lower budget movie, the writing and storyline are very intriguing. The acting is a little off, but you can look past that and really get into the actual plot of the story. This is a movie that shows the director and producer really cared about detail and characters in creating a very suspenseful environment. Watching this movie on a date The Night watcher night would be a great way to get close to the person next to you.  (2008) Genre – Psychological Thriller (R)

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 44 Jagged Edge MOVIES (1985) Genre – Crime Thriller(R) In the opening scene of the movie, you witness the brutal murder of Jack Forrester’s (Jeff Bridges) wife, in which Jack is accused of killing. Forrester is a wealthy publishing magnate that is set to inherit his wife’s fortune. When arrested, Forrester hires Teddy Barnes (Glenn Close), a high- powered defense attorney. Throughout the course of the case, the two of them start to fall in love. Barnes is the only one convinced Forrester is innocent. DA Thomas Kransy (Peter Coyote) has a past with Barnes also. The two of them worked together in the District Attorney’s office, until Barnes discovered during a murder case that Kransy held back important evidence that would have freed an innocent man. Investigator Sam Ransom (Robert Loggia) works with Barnes even though his instincts tell him that Forrester is guilty. Throughout the movie, Barnes keeps receiving typed letters saying “He is Innocent” from an unknown person. The movie keeps it fast-paced from the opening scene and has you guessing ‘til the very end about who the killer is. This is a great movie to showcase how well romantic suspense can be portrayed on the big screen. It is a must see movie for all suspense/  thriller fans.  Back in 2002, Clint Eastwood discovered the wonderful writing of Mi- chael Connelly and brought it to the big screen. “Blood Work” was re- leased in August of 2002 and was an instant classic crime thriller movie. Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie alongside Jeff Bridges.  Retired FBI profiler Terry McCaleb (Eastwood) had one killer that he just couldn’t catch and it haunted him. He recently had a heart trans- plant and is hired by Graciela Rivers, played by Wanda DeJesus, to find the killer of her sister. Much to the surprise of McCaleb, the murder was committed by the serial killer who had eluded him. McCaleb is living on a house boat now and his neighbor Buddy Noone (Bridges), agrees to help out McCaleb while on his manhunt. McCaleb keeps things pretty close to the vest, but finds out the killer had a totally different motive for killing, one even McCaleb has a hard time coming to grips with. The cat and mouse game is on, while the killer is staying one step ahead and very close to McCaleb, the pieces begin to fall into place and the ending will shock you.

It is great to see that a director like Eastwood does an outstanding job of bringing Michael Connelly’s book to life in a wonderful way. The story moves a bullet’s pace and won’t stop until you are out of breath. This is without a doubt one of the best book to movie adaptations in the thriller Blood Work genre. Jeff Bridges does an outstanding job of playing the drifter neigh- (2002) bor and sidekick (from a distance) to Eastwood. Clint Eastwood is at the Genre – Crime Thriller (R) top of his game both as a director and lead actor. Make it a stay at home movie night with “Blood Work” as soon as possible. 

SuspenseMagazine.com 45 conee County, in North Georgia was created in 1875 from the southwestern part of Clarke County. In the town of Watkinsville, stands the Eagle Tavern Museum, a building reputedO to be one of the most haunted in the whole of Georgia. Built some time before 1801, possibly as early as 1794, when Watkinsville was a frontier town between Creek and Cherokee Indian territories, the Eagle Tavern may have been the site of Fort On LocationEdwards. The old fort is held to have been the stronghold for those first settlers who needed protection from attacks by the surrounding Native Americans.

After the Revolutionary War, the surviving soldiers were given land grants, by then the area became known as “Big Springs.” Soon the settlement was a thriving community and the Eagle Tavern was its first building. It was built to serve as a stagecoach stop housing a tavern and hotel to accommodate the many weary travelers passing through Big Springs at the time. There were already a number of stages passing through Watkinsville coming from Milledgeville to Athens. By 1827, the stage was stopping at the tavern three times a week, allowing its passengers rest and fortification. The tavern had sufficient room for stage passengers, for whom two large upstairs rooms were reserved and for people traveling by wagon, horseback or weary footsore wanderers, there was floor space for their bedrolls for the price of a drink. During those times business was booming.

The building survived the Civil War and folklore surrounding The Eagle Tavern says that a Southern soldier hid in its attic as Union troops moved through the town after they were defeated at the Battle of Sunshine Church on July 31, 1864. According to the tale, the soldier was cared for by slaves, who provided him with food and coal.

The tavern’s reputation soon spread and its popularity among travelers and townsfolk grew. Business continued to flourish and soon there was a growing demand for additional sleeping space. The tavern expanded in 1939, adding an additional sixteen rooms to the original eight sleeping quarters. Stage passengers at last received the comfort of private rooms despite the fact they sometimes had to share beds on busy nights. There remained a public room for travelers with bedrolls. The tavern continued to have an excellent and widespread reputation for both accommodation and hearty meals.

Business continued to flourish until 1963 when the tavern was suddenly threatened with demolition. Lanier Eagle Tavern Billups, who had been the owner since 1925, deeded it to

By Corinna Underwood Haunting at the Eagle Tavern Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 46 the state of Georgia hoping it would was designed to commemorate the checked the U.V. film to make restore and preserve the historic original owner of the tavern who sure no air could have made the building. Fortunately, in 1963 the had been killed by an Indian. In an impression of hands appear to them Governor of Georgia provided a historical mock-up of the nights from below, but the window was still grant for $25,000.00 to restore the following his death, Anita had a tightly sealed. To add to the mystery, Eagle Tavern and saved it from mannequin laid out on a cooling a corn husk broom which normally extinction. board in the tavern room, surrounded sits in front of the fireplace, in the The tavern is currently operated by flowers. As she was dismantling tavern room downstairs, was now in and funded by the Oconee County the display, she heard the sound of front of the same window. Though Board of Commissioners and the heavy boots walking across the floor Anita called all the staff, no one Department of Industry, Trade and above her head. “Suddenly an animal could explain the mysterious hand Tourism as a Museum and Welcome trap hanging on the wall beside me or the movement of the broom. Center. The tavern contains many of began to swing, although the hook its original pieces of structure and right next to it was perfectly still.” The mysterious dancing lady is not furniture and depicts life and travel the only ghost who has been seen at accommodation from the early Anita called for maintenance to the tavern. Visitors at the museum 1800s. Not only is the Eagle Tavern come over and check the building have seen a tall, black man looking a site of great historical interest, for squirrels but they could find down from an upstairs window, it is also considered one of north no sign of squirrels nor any other seeming to be fascinated with what Georgia’s most haunted places. intruder. Anita’s experience did not was going on in the street below. stop there. For several weeks, she This ghost has been seen frequently Since her appointment as tourism and her curator began to notice the by many different people. On one director at the tavern five years ago, smell of cherry tobacco pervading occasion a passerby called the Anita Ford has been hearing stories their office, in spite of the fact no police thinking that someone has of the buildings ghosts on a regular one there smoked. Each time they broken into the empty building. basis. They began when a cleaning checked the building and found Anita describes another incident lady told Anita she had seen a woman nothing, yet the smell would get where she was standing on the steps dancing through her office window. stronger. Shortly after the tobacco of the building talking to a visitor aroma arrived, they were outside the who suddenly stepped back, startled She described the woman as wearing building examining the shakes on and pointed to the upstairs window a pink ball gown, being twirled in the roof and discussing repairs when exclaiming she had just seen a very front of the office window. Now, the suddenly their attention was drawn tall, black man in a blue shirt smiling office window has shelves across it to the upstairs window. Each of the down at them. filled with pottery. I asked her how windows on this part of the building she could have seen anything in the is covered with U.V. protected film Who was the mysterious dark window through the shelves. She and caulked to keep out the air. The stranger? When Anita invited said it was as though the shelves film is sealed tightly with at least an the East Georgia Paranormal weren’t there. She said she could see inch gap between it and the glass, so Investigators to the Eagle Tavern, the lady’s dress and her arms, but not Anita was stunned to see to finger she told them nothing about the her head or who was twirling her. suddenly appear at the window history of the hauntings or the and suddenly move upwards and kind of activity that had been Until November 1, 2005, Anita then downwards pushing the film reported there. Yet sensitive Heidi never witnessed any paranormal outwards towards the glass and Brumbelow was quick to describe activity firsthand. That night she gradually form into a full hand a large, black man who liked being locked all the doors and was taking before disappearing. upstairs and watching the events in down one of the Halloween displays the street below and the activities in from the previous night. The display The group rushed upstairs and the museum.

SuspenseMagazine.com 47 The tall, dark stranger is not the only Jack Valentine, also of the North East ghost who calls the tavern home. A One of their new investigators was Georgia Paranormal Society, later did young man of about twenty years, standing in the dry well and had been some research into the background is also seen lingering around the taunting the entity for some time. He of the story and found that the fireplace in the tavern room. Could had been holding a video camera in tavern ghost could be named Adam. this be the ghost of a young traveler his hand when he suddenly dropped Adam’s is an unhappy story which enjoying a warm spot by the fire after the camera because of a crushing dates back to the turn of the century a long journey? pain in his hand. When everyone when he was hung for a crime, which examined his hand, it appeared to some say he did not commit. He is There is also another entity in the have some kind of bite mark on his described as a being around six tavern. This one is in the basement skin. A trip to the doctor the next feet, six inches tall, three-hundred and it is quite a different kind than day revealed he had a torn tendon fifty pounds, with a kind and gentle the others; one that is fortunately and a fractured bone. personality. A few days before he rarely encountered. The tavern’s was due to be hung, it is said a young basement entity is what experts call During an investigation with a dentist asked Adam if he could have an elemental or non-human spirit. different paranormal group, another his body after the hanging so that he As is often the case, this one can strange incident occurred in the could keep his skeleton in his office. often be unfriendly. The tavern’s basement. Six people went down Adam agreed on the condition that resident sensitive gets the impression below, including Anita’s son, Mat; in payment from his remains, the that the entity is very sick and who was the last person to enter the dentist would pay Adam’s family unpleasant. Anita’s own experiences room. The group had previously set all the spice cakes he could make in the basement left her suffering up digital, video cameras around the before the hanging. This was done for months with an unexplainable basement and Anita was with the and after the hanging the body was eye infection that became so bad it monitors upstairs. “As I watched delivered to the dentist. At this time, made her eyes bleed and she had to them enter the basement, a dark the tavern was both the dentist’s stop going into the basement. Yet figure seemed to materialize from home and his office. The dentist apparently the entity did not like the feet up, standing behind Mat. I kept Adam’s skeleton, but perhaps being alone; whenever Anita was radioed down there to ask him how not how he intended and somehow about to leave the basement, she many people were in the room. Just it ended up in the basement until would suddenly experience a strong, as I got him on the radio, the figure the building was turned into a putrid odor. looked as though it was about to museum. It is said Adam haunts reach out and touch Mat.” the building to this day because he Sensitive Heidi Brumbelow advised is upset by how his remains were the tavern’s staff to not go down into Mat confirmed there were only six treated. Adam is a gentle apparition, the basement alone. She explained people in the basement. When Anita though intimidating to say the least, that because the entity there was not told the group about the presence because of his tremendous size. The human, but an elemental, it could of a seventh figure, they all quickly team’s sensitives were quick to pick be dangerous. She was proved to left the room before any harm was up on Adam and feel he protects be correct when in during the most caused. When they checked there the site and he enjoys looking out bizarre and disturbing event to have EVP recordings later, they had of the window and watching all the taken place in the tavern’s basement picked up a very clear male voice amazing changes that have take place to date, also happened during one of from the basement. Disturbingly, it in the town as the years go by. the East Paranormal Investigator’s said, “I wish you would die.” night vigils. Interestingly, another paranormal group describe a similar entity in the The mysterious dancing lady is not the basement on a different occasion. only ghost who has been seen at the Tavern Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 48 While standing in the dry well, which was once used to store vegetables, one of the young investigators commented that he felt a pressure on his lower back, as though he was wearing heavy a back pack. At the ARR is same time two of the sensitives described seeing a very tall, dark, shadow figure with its elbows pressing down upon his shoulders. Also, at he same moment the video RW&A recording shows a sudden circle of light flash on his ARR Editing Company is ready, willing back. and able! Suspense Magazine was literal- Another incident Anita recalls clearly from the ly born to help new authors. Now, we are paranormal investigation, took place upstairs where the featuring a brand new monthly section loom is located. The investigators set up digital video of our magazine that will aid writers so cameras in every room and everyone went outside to they can end with a polished manuscript watch from monitors. In one room, they saw a rocking before attempting to submit to publish- chair jerk suddenly as though someone had either ers and/or agents. quickly sat down or just stood up. As they looked on in We are pleased to announce that Starr amazement, the beater bar on the loom moved back and Gardinier Reina of ARR Editing Com- forth several times. pany has agreed to provide readers of Suspense Magazine editing and critiqu- The Eagle Tavern County Jail is one-hundred-two years old and at some point during its history, a lynching ing of their work. Suspense Magazine in took place there. After a couple were killed in Oconee turn, has offered the space—one critique County, a vigilante came by the jail looking for culprits. per month—in the magazine for this pur- They took all seven prisoners from the cells, marched pose. We are after all, here to help new them behind the jail and after tying their necks, hands authors. and feet, they shot them all and decapitated one of them. Not only will the writer benefit, but so will readers as all editing and critiquing When sensitive Heidi Brumbelow visited the jail house, will get published along with your sub- she had no prior knowledge of its history or of the story mission in the magazine. Writers will not of the lynching, yet was immediately able to pick up on only learn, but will also help other read- the feelings of sadness and anger. She also described ers’ progress. The best part is it’s FREE! how the prisoners were led out of the cells and taken outside to face a firing squad. Please see ARR’s guidelines below: - No more than ten pages, double-spaced In one of the male cells, Heidi felt something grab her - Must be in 12 pt. Times New Roman arm and red, finger marks appeared on her skin. Strange font lights appeared between the cell bars on a photograph, - A waiver needs to be signed before any- which was taken by another member of her team at the thing will be printed in Suspense Maga- same time. When the photograph was later analyzed zine. by an independent source, he could not explain what - First come first served; only one per caused the lights on the film. In the section of female month will be printed cells, the team picked up an EVP of a woman’s voice. Please email submissions to starr@arred- The recording clearly says, “pay my fine.” iting.com. To learn more about ARR Ed- Among all the haunted and downright scary places in iting, please visit: www.arrediting.com. the world, Eagle Tavern can rival the best.  

SuspenseMagazine.com 49 "Keep both hands on your pants, because Nicholson is about to scare them off." —J.A. KONRATH, “Serial” and “The List” SCOTT NICHOLSON On an Appalachian Mountain ridge, young Vernon Ray Davis hears the rattling of a snare drum deep inside a cave known as “The Jangling Hole”, where the wind carries a whispered name. According to legend, the Hole is home to a group of Civil War soldiers buried by a long-ago ava- lanche. Everyone, especially Vernon Ray's dad, laughs at him...because he's different.

On the eve of an annual Civil War re-enactment, the town of Titusville prepares for a mock battle. But inside the Hole, disturbed spirits are rising from their dark slumber and one of them is head- ing home.

And Vernon Ray stands between the battle lines of the living and the dead, caught between a world where he doesn't belong and world from which he can never return...

"Scott Nicholson is a terrific writer. Like Stephen King, he has an eye and ear for the rhythms of rural America and like King, he knows how to summon seri- ous scares. My advice? Buy everything he writes. This guy's the real deal." —BENTLEY LITTLE, author of “The Academy” Available on Amazon Kindle Masters of Intrigue and Suspense By: John Raab When you talk about the suspense/thriller genre there are two authors that you can’t forget to have in your library. DP Lyle has not only a long resume in writing, but also in the entertainment field. Shane Gericke’s third novel “Torn Apart” has started to separate himself from the new authors to a sure-fire bestselling author. Both authors have a very unique approach with their storytelling and the way they craft a book. DP Lyle’s latest novel “Stress Fracture” shows just how versatile he can be. From being a consultant to many of the best New York Times bestselling authors, DP Lyle is making it well known that he is the next author to hold the torch in thrill writing. His characters are deep and he doesn’t hold back any punches when it comes to detail. Shane’s latest novel brings many characters to the forefront, with action on every page. He only gets better with every book. Each character and plot gets richer and sweeter, making everything he pens a must read for anyone who loves suspense/ thriller books. The crimes committed in their novels are fiction, but for any reader who has not picked up one of their novels, that is the real crime. Both authors are also very involved in ThrillerFest, presented by ITW. We met both of them this year in New York City. We were also excited to hear that both of them love what Suspense Magazine is doing for authors and didn’t hesitate to be interviewed, so they could bring a little insight into their lives to their fans. So, without further hesitation, Suspense Magazine would like to take you behind the scenes with DP Lyle and Shane Gericke!

SuspenseMagazine.com 51 D.P. Lyle’s DNA has Been Found in Book Stores

Interview by: Suspense Magazine

is a man of many talents. He’s a Forensic D.P. Lyle, MD expert/consultant for crime dramas such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Judging Amy, Cold Case and many more. He’s also an author of several forensic books such as, “Murder & Mayhem”, “Forensics for Dummies”, “Howdunit” and many more.

He began writing his Dub Walker Series; the novel “Stress Fracture” is the first with “Hot Lights, Cold Steel” being the next, which is slated to be released in 2011. He’s also started another series, a Royal Pains tie-in novel titled “Royal Pains: First do no Harm”, also set to hit the shelves in 2011.

There’s so much to this man’s resume, too numerous to mention in a single interview. However, Suspense Magazine is going to hit on as much as they can so you can find out what makes this forensic expect tick. Sit back, relax and enjoy the interview.

Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): What was the draw to forensics?

D.P. Lyle (DL): I assume you mean the draw for me personally and not for the general public, who also has a large appetite for forensic science. Medical science has been my main focus my entire life and forensic science is simply the same sciences viewed from a different angle. Medical science deals with living while forensic science for the most part, deals with the dead. But the various sciences such as anatomy and toxicology are essentially the same in both arenas. Added to this is the fact that forensic science deals with criminal activity, which is of interest to any crime fiction

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 52 reader or writer, and an attraction to forensic science is essentially natural.

S. MAG.: How did you come to get involved in helping with so many television programs? Is there a typical process involved?

DL: It began with my answering questions for Lee Goldberg for his Diagnosis Murder series. He was the executive producer of the TV series and then wrote all the novels. From that association and from attending writers’ conferences, I met many other screenwriters. Like novelists, who I often answer questions for, screenwriters want to know the same things–how poisons work, what does a gunshot look like and does the scenario I have in my head make sense? Typically, I will receive an e-mail or a phone call from one of the screenwriters and we will go back and forth and hash out the scenario and the information they need to craft a credible scene or story.

S. MAG.: You’ve won so many awards, which is your favorite? Which one was a surprise?

DL: Actually it’s not that many awards. FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES won the Macavity Award and was nominated for an Edgar Award. Both of these were very pleasant surprises.

S. MAG.: “Forensics for Dummies” is a great book. Do you have any plans on writing a book about what a body would look like when it was shot at close range, or stabbed repeatedly, etc.? You know, for those writers who are looking for that kind of grisly realism in their novels?

DL: I have two books out that deal with exactly those subjects. My two question-and-answer books–MURDER & MAYHEM and FORENSICS & FICTION are collections of the best questions I have received from writers over the years. Questions like close range gunshot wounds are what both of those books are all about. I have signed a contract to do a third book in this series and it will be out in 2011 or 2012.

S. MAG.: You’ve done a little bit of everything in medicine. Do you still practice as a cardiologist?

DL: Yes, I still have a cardiology practice in Orange County, California. I’ve been doing it for over 30 years and have no plans to quit any time soon.

S. MAG.: Continuing from question five, do your patients know how much you’ve done for television as well as the writing world?

DL: Most of my patients are aware that I write and are thrilled by it. They will bring books in for me to sign or will ask questions about various TV shows. I like that because it creates a more personal connection in addition to the usual doctor-patient relationship.

SuspenseMagazine.com 53 S. MAG.: You build rockets in your back yard? How’d that start? Suspense Magazine Review of “Stress Fracture” If there were an award for the Best Chapter Endings, D.P. DL: I grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, Lyle would be the hands down winner. A master in the art of which is where NASA’s Marshall Space tethering readers to each and every crisp, deftly written word, Flight Center is located. The rockets his bold imagery snakes through the pages of his latest action that put up the satellites, as well as the packed thriller “Stress Fracture,” making it physically painful to put down. Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft, Dub Walker—an expert consultant in crime scene were all built there. As a kid, we would be investigation—is shaken to the core by the butchery as he playing some sport such as baseball and lingers in the home and now crime scene of his friend and the ground would begin to shake. The ump former Huntsville Sheriff Mike Savage. Rage and unrelenting would call timeout and everyone would anger are the only clues that seep from the scene, linking the look to the South, toward the space center, brutality to two previous murders. This senseless act upon a and watch the large plume of steam that fellow officer and much loved member of society makes the would always rise. It was simply Werner hunt for this particular brand of killer personal for all involved. von Braun and his crew testing another But it just doesn’t add up as Dub receives the first of many booster. The shaking would stop in a phone calls from the killer. He is perfectly calm, intelligent and couple of minutes and it would be time to not easily goaded, which is at odds with the viciousness found play ball. That was part of my childhood. onsite. As Dub continues to push, he never gives thought to the I thought everybody had a space program danger he may be helping to set in motion. in their backyard. Because of that, we If you are already a fan or are at all aware of Lyle’s work, then you’ve probably figured out this man doesn’t seem to know how were interested in building rockets as to fail. “Stress Fracture” gives you a ringside seat for the action, kids and indeed built some pretty cool making you feel like an active participant in the drama. ones. Despite having to use a mayonnaise Reviewed by Suspense Magazine  jar lid filled with a little gasoline as our ignition system, we made a couple rockets that went so far we never saw them again. Of course we made my little sister be the ignition officer.

S. MAG.: We see you have a DVD out called, Forensic Science for Writers—part of the Killer Fiction Workshop Series (2006). How did that come about and do you plan on doing another? Perhaps delving further into other things surrounding murder?

DL: That was a fun DVD to do. They’re several others in the series that are very good. I enjoyed doing it. It’s five hours of lectures on basic forensic science and I encourage anyone who is interested in that to take a look at the DVD. Right now there no plans to do another, but who knows what the future will hold?

S. MAG.: Fans of this genre often see or read about some pretty outlandish, hard to believe crime scenes. Is there one truly bizarre scenario that you have been asked to help make more realistic that stands out in your mind?

DL: I have said many times that I’m always amazed at the creative nature of fiction writers. They do come up with some outlandish scenarios and some very clever questions. To me, that’s one of the most interesting parts about answering questions for people. I learn so much by answering the questions and doing the research to do so as well as learn a great deal about storytelling and how the creative mind works. One of the things about storytelling is that you can stretch probabilities. What I mean by that is, if I am talking to a medical colleague about a medical problem, we will discuss probabilities and possibilities. When discussing a medical or forensic

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 54 issue with the fiction writer, the probabilities are boring and have been done many times, so we discuss the possibilities and maybe a little more. Push the envelope.

As an example, I was recently discussing a script for the TV series The Glades with Matt Witten who writes for the show. His question was whether someone could tell the difference between someone getting a suntan on the beach versus in a tanning salon. He wanted to know whether there was a difference in the character of the tan. The truth is both use ultraviolet rays and the skin reacts the same way to both. The difference would be in the pattern. You know the old problem of how do you get an even tan? It doesn’t readily happen on the beach but it’s much more likely to occur in a tanning booth, where the UV elements are all around you. So the pattern of the tan could be a clue that the victim had visited a tanning salon. That was used in the first episode of this new and fun series. Is this something a real ME would notice or rely on? Who knows. But it made for a cool element in the story.

S. MAG.: Have you ever considered retiring as a doctor and devote yourself entirely to writing?

DL: I have no plans to retire anytime soon. I enjoy my practice and I enjoy writing. My practice is more limited than it used to be and I spend much less time doing it than I did years ago, but I still work on my practice and my writing about 80 hours a week. I wouldn’t know how to do it any other way.

Fan Question: What would a body look like if it was shot at very close range—between two and three feet—and the spleen was hit? Would there be blow-back on the wall the victim stood next to?

DL: The entrance wound would be a small round hole with what is called an abrasion collar, a blackish circle around the entry wound. It happens because the flesh wipes off the dirt and grime that the bullet carries with it and it leaves behind this thin, blackish ring. At a distance of three feet there would be no stippling or charring as those would require the muzzle to be closer to the skin. There might or might not be an exit wound, depending upon whether the bullet exited the victim or remained within the abdomen. It could go either way. If there were an exit wound, it would be larger and bloodier and much more ragged. If the bullet struck the spleen, there would be a great deal of bleeding, but most of it would be internally. There would be very little external bleeding unless the exit wound was very large and that would depend upon the caliber of the gun and the type of bullet used.

Suspense Magazine would like to give a big Attention Writers thank you to D.P. Lyle MD o you have an article about writing? How about a short story with a mystery/sus- for his time. There’s so much pense/horror base? Have you ever wanted to see your work and name in print? If you answered yes, Dthen this is for you. to be learned in the world of Suspense Magazine is looking for writers who might have an idea they’d like to share with other writers. Maybe forensics and thanks to him, a short story you’d like others to read and enjoy. We’re looking for your help. If you have an article or short story you’d like to share, please, email them to [email protected]. writers have some really The work must be in the body of the email, no attachments will be opened. The subject line should read ‘SUS- wonderful tools at their PENSE MAGAZINE WORK’; anything else will be deleted. disposal. The word count should be kept between 1,500 and 5,000 words per article or story. Any piece submitted over or under the word count will be disqualified for consideration. The deadline is the end of business on the second Friday of each month, every month for said work to have a possibility of making it into the following month’s If you want to learn more publication. All submissions are subject to editing at the magazine’s discretion and must be your original work, about D.P. Lyle MD and no plagiarism accepted. where you can find his Suspense Magazine makes no promises your work will be published, but every piece submitted within the guide- lines will be considered. If you’d like, every story will also be read for admittance to our contest, which can be books, check out his website read about in Suspense Magazine or on line at www.suspensemagazine.com.  at http://dplylemd.com/. 

SuspenseMagazine.com 55 Shane Gericke Cuts to the Chase Interview by: Suspense Magazine Shane Gericke got his first typewriter at the age of seven and said he’s been writing ever since. How fortunate for the lovers of thriller novels. For twenty-five years, Shane was a newspaper editor and writer. He covered football games and even Liberace. He was a senior financial editor at the Chicago Sun-Times when business news took an entirely different direction going from feel-good, merchant profiles to swashbuckling tales of corporate raiders and the like. It only went to prove once again it’s better to be lucky than good. After having his fill of editing and all the business news had to offer, he decided to nurture a childhood need: to write thriller novels. He left a guaranteed, weekly pay check and headed for the world of crime fiction. “Torn Apart” is his newest thriller novel, the third in the Emily Thompson and Martin Benedetti cops-vs-killers series he started in 2006. However, it’s not his first. He has also wrote “Cut to the Bone”, “Blown Away” and four International books. “Torn Apart” was launched worldwide on July 6, 2010 from Pinnacle Fiction. Shane has enjoyed accolades from New York Times bestselling authors such as Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Douglas Preston and Erica Spindler, just to name a few. His books have also been translated into German, Chinese, Slovakian and Turkish. Shane lives in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois with his wife Jerrle of thirty-one years, who supports him completely. He also serves as chairman of the ThrillerFest literary conference in New York City. He is a founding member of International Thriller Writers as well as a member of Mystery Writers of America and The Society of Midland Authors. Suspense Magazine was lucky enough to get a few moments with Shane to find out a little bit more about him and his work. Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): You mentioned during your recent appearance on Suspense Radio that “Torn Apart” was the final piece in your book deal with Kensington Books. Do you anticipate starting the process all over again in order to shop out new ideas to new publishers?

Shane Gericke (SG): Actually, it was the last book in a three-book deal. Kensington already wants a fourth and more, which delights me no end. Whether it’s a continuation of the current Detective Emily Thompson series or something brand-new, we’re kicking the tires on that right now.

S. MAG.: Are you already working on a new project?

SG: As we speak, I’m madly conjuring a terrific possibility for a series. If I am a good enough writer to pull it off, it will sweep readers off their feet and into spasms of joy and gratitude. Well, it will sweep me with joy, anyway; readers will have to judge for themselves. It’s too fragile an idea to speak about now, but when it’s all firmed up and ready for its cotillion, you’ll be the first to hear about it. After my publisher, editor, agent, wife and trusted friends, of course. Mama Gericke didn’t raise no idjit children.

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 56 S. MAG.: Do you feel it’s more important to be true to the facts and reality of a situation or take a little more poetic license in your writing?

SG: I don’t let the facts stand in the way of a good story. I write fiction to entertain readers, to give them a rollicking good adventure and leave them gasping for more. Facts are important for making them think this story is happening in real life—that wonderful suspension of disbelief we all aim for in our books—but should not be the end-all of fiction. That’s what nonfiction and journalism is for. That said, I try not to screw up intersections when I write about real cities. (Like “the intersection of Main and First” when those two streets never cross.) Readers HATE that.

S. MAG.: It is our understanding that you have two early manuscripts that were tabled pretty early on…any thoughts of pulling them out and dusting them off now that you have a larger fan base?

SG: Absolutely. It was once said of Chicago meatpackers that they used every part of the pig but the squeal. So I will butcher and wash and scrub and pat dry those wonderful early manuscripts and use them again in some form. Literature as hot dogs!

S. MAG.: ThrillerFest was an eye opening experience for us. Can you tell our readers how you got involved and how you became the Chairman?

SG: My editor at Kensington, Michaela Hamilton, had just bought my debut novel, BLOWN AWAY, and wanted me to immediately start raising my profile in the thriller business. (I came from newspapers, so nobody in fiction knew me.) She mentioned there was a new organization being formed for thriller writers, called International Thriller Writers Inc. She suggested I get involved because in a new organization, new people have a chance to grow as fast as their talents allow. So I e-mailed Gayle Lynds, who co-founded ITW with David Morrell, and asked if I could join and whether I could help. She said yes to the first and then asked if I had a car. Yep, said I; what do you need? Beer and snacks, she replied. ITW’s first meeting will be at Bouchercon in Chicago (where I live) and authors like to drink and snack while they talk. So Kathleen Antrim and I took my Honda Civic to the store and bought several hundred dollars’ worth of Fritos and Michelob. Five years later, she’s a vice president of ITW and I’m chairman of ThrillerFest. Along the way, I ran our agent festival, our charity auctions, helped judge writing contests and other stuff. It’s been a great run, and I have only Cheetos to thank.

S. MAG.: What does your position with ThrillerFest entail?

SG: The chairman is the main conduit to ITW members and ThrillerFest attendees. So, I write the smart-alecky e-mail that convinces people to spend a bunch of their hard- earned dollars to come to New York for ThrillerFest. Sometimes they sign up because they like the mail. Other times, in spite of it. Any reason works for me. I answer individual member’s questions, too, anything from “How do I get to the hotel from the airport?” to “What kind of shoes should I wear to the banquet?”

SuspenseMagazine.com 57 Details are important to folks who haven’t been through the process—we all want to fit in, so I do my best to answer them fast and thoroughly. They deserve my best efforts.

S. MAG.: Do you have one question that stands out as the most frequently asked by your fans?

SG: Folks who knew me before my thrillers say, “How can such a nice young man write this kind of horrible, bloody stuff?” Folks who know me only as a thriller writer ask, “How can a man write a female character so expertly?” I’m flattered by both questions, because it means I surprised my readers. That’s essential to making a good story for them to read.

S. MAG.: Do you miss the newspaper business and the smaller goals?

SG: Yes. Newsrooms are filled with towering characters who are very, very smart and know how to condense a lifetime of impressions into just a few paragraphs. They also love to tell stories. That kind of face-to-face camaraderie is so desperately missing in today’s Web-enabled lives. I also miss the “smaller goals” of putting out a product every day for people to read. Books come out once a year. Newspapers come out every day—in some cases, six or seven times a day if you stop the press for breaking news. You worked hard, went home, saw the results the next morning as the rooster crowed—in real ink on real paper. There’s no finer instant feedback. And if you screwed something up, you heard right away from readers and your glowering editor. Terrific training for book work.

S. MAG.: Are you a superstitious man?

SG: Nope. But put that black cat in the bedroom, would,ya?

S. MAG.: What book changed your life?

SG: “Day of the Jackal” by Frederic Forsyth. I grew up in a tiny town in farm country south of Chicago. Not much exciting happened there, except the time Robbie White set a field on fire and a bunch of us had to stamp it out with feet and coats so the fire whistle wouldn’t blow and make us all arsonic felons. When I read “Jackal,” it made me realize that there was a whole ’nother world out there to explore. A world of assassins and detectives and threats and politics and foreign countries and desperate lives hanging in the balance, all played out in real time, really fast. (“Watching the corn grow” really IS an apt euphemism for life in a small country town.) That book became a drumbeat in my head—Paris!!!--and I was determined to grow up, do well and see what life was like outside our ten gravel streets.

Fan Question: How do you come about finding a target audience for a thriller novel?

SG: I try not to think about “target audience” and “multi-platforming” and “synergy.” It’s too clinical, too number- crunchy. I just write for the neighbor down the street. For the guy I wave to driving to the hardware store, but don’t know his name. For the woman who cuts my hair. In other words, I write the kind of thrillers that I love to read myself, and leave it to bigger minds than mine to get them into the hands of folks who might love them too. From that, I’ve attracted a big audience that’s still growing, for which I thank my lucky stars every single night. And, I’m on Facebook. That helps too.

We here at Suspense Magazine would like to thank Shane for taking the time to answer our questions and provide his many fans with a little extra something about one of the twenty-first century’s favorite authors. If you’d like to know more about Shane and his books, please visit his website at http://www.shanegericke. com/. 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 58 Open Book Society READ, REVIEW, DISCUSS

OpenBookSociety.com A haven to Read, Review & Discuss supernatural/paranormal books, authors, movies, characters, and TV Shows.

Join us for our monthly Book Club forum discussions, as well as our TV Show Recaps and Movie Reviews. We highlight upcoming events, have Book Face Offs, Actor and Director Profiles and so much more!!!

Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/OpenBookSociety Beyond Spectacular An Interview with Debut Author Joshua Graham Interview by: Suspense Magazine Joshua Graham, author of “Beyond Justice” is a Graham (JG): I agree that faith does not come easily. But man of many ‘moods’. He’s been everywhere and done so sometimes, it is almost too simple for some to accept. Sam’s much in his life. He grew up in Brooklyn, NY and lived journey does not directly emulate my own, but I (and others there for the better part of thirty years. Graham attended I’ve known) have asked many of the same questions he asks Julliard School and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in in “Beyond Justice”. music performance. As a cellist, he’s been on the stage at S. MAG.: Without giving anything away, did you mean Carnegie Hall—among others. He’s toured the United for the book to end as it did? Or did the characters dictate States, Canada, Egypt, Israel, South Africa and Jordan. what would happen? For four years, he lived in Baltimore, MD where he studied and eventually received his doctorate from Johns JG: A little of both. I had a fairly clear idea how I wanted Hopkins University. the book to end; even the very end. But some of the choices I’d initially made in my outline didn’t ring true with the Today, he lives with his wife and children in San characters and the spirit of the book by the time I arrived at Diego. It is here he began a decade long career in the IT those points. So yes, in many ways character dictates destiny. field eventually becoming a Director of Operations; all Just like in real life. the while writing fiction. S. MAG.: Why did you decide to publish under a Suspense Magazine is honored to have an pseudonym? opportunity to not only read and review Graham’s book, “Beyond Justice”, but to interview him. Please take a JG: I love writing in various genres. This can range from SF, to moment to read and enjoy Joshua’s answers. Historical, to Technothrillers to Romance (yes, I’ll admit to that.) A pen name is to keep things organized so my readers Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.): “Beyond Justice” is so don’t get confused or misled. For example: If Dean Koontz much more than a man were to write a romance book, I’m sure it’d be a terrific book. falsely accused. Sam But his readers are not expecting a romance book from him. is a man of faith— They’re expecting suspense, or a thriller. However, if he were though not come by to write all his romance books under a pen name—say, Jerri easily. Does he emulate Dean—and Jerri Dean fans love his books, they’d know right your own faith? away what to expect and not hesitate to buy them. J o s h u a To further simplify the analogy; if you go into McDonalds you are probably expecting a Big Mac, not a Taco Bell Burrito. Likewise, if you go to Benihana’s you are going to be upset if they serve you a Big Mac. So if you own both of these franchises, you are going to keep your product consistent within each brand name in order to avoid market confusion, and to keep your customers happy. By the way, I like Big Macs as much as I like Chicken

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 60 Teriyaki. it’s two: S. MAG.: You received your master’s degree in music at “Yes, Dear.” Julliard and then you went to John Hopkins University Seriously, though. My wife has been my constant support, for your doctorate—in what? counsel, cheerleader (hmmm) and muse. I don’t feel right JG: (A la Agent 86-Maxwell Smart): Would you believe… sending out a manuscript unless she’s read it and offered her Quantum Physics? How about theology or law or feedback. Does she love everything I write? Nope. She thinks philosophy? Of course, it’s all public knowledge, but I’d like I’m a great writer (thanks, honey), but not everything I write to leave it a mystery. is for her. Remember, I said I write many different kinds of Oh, all right… books. I got my doctorate in music at Johns Hopkins, where I wrote But she has offered invaluable insight. You know, I have my thesis: The Influence of Rostropovich on the Cello Music never received such polarized, if not controversial feedback of Sergie Prokofiev. for anything I’ve written besides “Beyond Justice”. I am very careful about whom I seek it from. However, it was not written under the name of Joshua Graham. I took the advice of one professional writer whose opinion I deeply value and changed the entire structure of this book. Under the name inscribed on my degree, I write novels and But I never felt right about it. Later, I showed the revisions to stories relating to music performance and history. my wife and she confirmed exactly what I felt in my spirit. I S. MAG.: Of all the jobs you’ve had, which one do you completely lost the heart of the book. miss the most? And if you couldn’t be a writer, what She encouraged me to trust myself as the authority of my would you do for a living? own book. So I went back and put it back the way I originally JG: You know, as fun as it was selling cars, fixing computers, intended. Then she found a plot point which didn’t convince directing an IT company, etc., I miss performing on the her. No one else picked up on this. When she suggested the cello most. Sometimes I look back wistfully at the days I simple change, everything fell into place. The entire scene performed concertos with orchestras throughout the United came alive with energy and inevitability. It added a perfect States, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Canada and South Africa. But shocking twist. The scene I am talking about is the twist most of all, I miss the camaraderie of playing chamber music during the last murder trial towards the end of the book. and sharing the beauty of the music of Brahms, Beethoven, In the books I’ve written after “Beyond Justice”, my wife Dvorak and Tchaikovsky with an audience. has been the perfect sounding board. Sometimes we’ll look I still play the cello in church and I feel privileged and blessed over an outline I’ve come up with and she’ll offer some great that I can share and express the yearnings of the human soul feedback. Sometimes, she’ll just sit, smile and look beautiful, in worship services. while I blabber ad infinitum about my ideas. During those If I couldn’t be a writer (perish the thought!) I’d probably moments, I come up with breakthroughs and epiphanies and be a speaker of some sort. As with “Beyond Justice”, I believe all she did was sit there, looking pretty. But I always end up I have been given a message of hope to convey. The means thanking her for just listening to me. by which I express it could be through books, music or “No problem,” she always says, “just give me the entire check sometimes just in speaking. when you sell the book!” My wife thinks I’m a little verbose (Hello? Writer here!) and Pretty steep fee, but she’s worth it! that I need a captive audience to fulfill my calling. Writing is S. MAG.: Do you have any rituals or any superstitions one way. Public speaking is another. Perhaps both of those you must follow when you’re writing? will happen in tandem soon enough. JG: I’m not one who believes in rituals and definitely not S. MAG.: Do you allow your wife to read what you’ve superstition. But I do have habits that I feel important to my written before sending it out? creative process. I try every day to read the Bible and learn JG: Allow? Listen. When it comes to me and my wife, I from it as I believe it is God’s written word for humanity and always get the last word. Always. And it’s not just one word, the best way to begin understanding His heart and desire

SuspenseMagazine.com 61 for us all. Then I follow up with praying and listening in my spirit to what He has to say. Suspense Magazine Review of “Beyond Justice” Please don’t misunderstand. I don’t see myself This book was so much more than a mystery novel; it was an as some kind of oracle or mystic. He wants to exercise in faith, understanding, joy and mercy in their purest speak to everyone who will listen. This is where forms. Graham brings Sam Hudson to life with his anger, loss, I’ve gotten the greatest breakthroughs in my life love, frustration, fear and his ultimate belief in this book. (not only in writing.) With his beloved Jenn and precious daughter Bethie stabbed to death in their own home, Hudson clings to the hope that his I hope this does not sound self-glorifying in son Aaron will somehow make it through surgery and come any way. I can’t take credit for this any more out of his coma to recover, live with his dad and readjust to life than someone receiving a gift can. And I’m not without a mom or sister. anymore special than anyone else on this planet. Although I figured out who the perpetrator was, there were Everyone has the potential to do and receive still twists, turns and surprises to be found here. This novel is this. And we all have God-given gifts. We just filled with so much in the way of emotion. How do you go on need to connect with the source and operate when you’ve lost most of what you hold dear and are accused of fully in them. being the one who did it? While in prison Sam discovers many S. MAG.: When reading “Beyond Justice”, things, the most important being himself and what he’s made of there were a few moments where you made deep down inside. With his in-laws gaining custody of his son, me cry. Did your heart ache when you wrote they eventually decide to take him off life support and Sam gets certain parts? How much do your words no say in the matter. affect you when you’re writing? He makes many friends along the way—in prison of all places— and gets to see his son for what he believes is the very last visit. JG: I trust you cried because of how good it was, Take the time to read this book. You will not be disappointed. not the alterative, right? Reviewed by: Terri Ann Armstrong, author of “Morning Writing “Beyond Justice” was by far one of the Menace” for Suspense Magazine  most rewarding and most difficult things I’ve ever had to do as a writer. I started by asking S. MAG.: What can readers look forward to from Joshua myself, what is my greatest fear? The answer wasn’t so much Graham? fear for myself (pain, death, etc.) as it was the suffering and JG: Joshua Graham’s future releases will include short fiction pain of my wife and children. collections and more novels (watch for “Darkroom”, in which Then I made that happen to Sam. Xandra Carrick, daughter of Vietnam War photojournalist As I wrote the opening chapter, I used my own house as a experiences visions of war atrocities and uncovers a forty- template. Every sensory element came directly from my year-old conspiracy for which some are still willing to kill.) own home—the rooms, ambience, the colors, the smells, the As for my other pen names, there will be other kinds of books neighborhood. and stories in the thriller and historical fiction genres. Even as I wrote that chapter, I had to stop a couple of times Please visit my website: www.joshua-graham.com. because the emotions were too overwhelming. You just don’t You can get your copy of “Beyond Justice” at: Free sample ever want to imagine these things happening to your loved chapters, Kindle Store, Barnes and Noble (Trade Paperback), ones. But if I were to write Sam Hudson with authenticity, Amazon.com (Trade Paperback) and Smashwords.com I had to put myself in his shoes. My God, that was difficult. (for all ebook readers, including Kindle, Nook, iPad, iPhone, And painful. etc.) I daresay, that for some readers, it may be too much to bear, Suspense Magazine would like to thank Joshua reading a scene like this. Especially if you are a parent or a for giving so freely of his time and attention to us and husband. But horrible moments like these are the ones that our readers. If you haven’t read “Beyond Justice”, take the define a person’s character. And character is the linchpin of time to check it out, you’ll be happy you did.  “story.”

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 62 Coincidence, déjà vous or bad luck; call it whatever you want, but mysterious and sometimes deadly things happen when suspense, thriller, mystery, horror and terror films are made and/or planned. In last month’s issue, author Donald Allan Kirch wrote about the freaky things that happened while filmingThe Exorcist. Then I had a conversation with someone I know and he told me about Vic Morrow, which absolutely shook me to my core. That pushed me to investigate a couple of things I’d always wondered about. So now I’m sharing the information I found on the filming of three different movies, where certain details didn’t make the final cut. Bruce Lee died just as discussions about his upcoming movie, Game of Death started. He apparently died from a Brain Edema which is brought on in response to trauma. Changes occur in the brain that requires monitoring to prevent further damage. The brain’s size frequently increases after a severe head injury. This is ‘brain swelling’ and happens when there’s an increase in the amount of blood to the brain. The year was 1973 and Bruce was thirty-two. Obsessed with death, Bruce’s son Brandon Lee—who was only eight when his father passed away—often told his friends he would not live to see thirty. He was fatally shot during the making of the movie, The Crow. The set of The Crow was plagued with problems from the get go. One worker was severely burned by a live electrical wire, another flipped out and drove through the studio’s plaster workshop, and a carpenter accidentally drove a screwdriver through his hand. There was one vastly disturbing incident in which an actor was double-checking the gun he was supposed to shoot a person with and found a live bullet instead of blanks. These things probably happen all the time, but in retrospect they become very important to this story’s mystique. I doubt Michael Massee— the actor who fired the gun— was ever the same after that. Brandon died on March 31, 1993; he was only twenty-eight. Movie For me, by far the most horrific movie “accident” to occur was with Vic Morrow and two Vietnamese child actors, Madness Renee Shin-Yi Chen and Myca Dinh Le ages six and seven. On July 23, 1982, at 2:20 a.m. they were filming the Stephen Trivia Spielberg produced, Twilight Zone-The Movie. This particular segment, Time Out, was about a Stuff you may or may not bigoted man being in the place of those he feels hatred towards. An interesting concept, it was Want to Know directed by John Landis who was famous for taking risks By: Terri Ann Armstrong

SuspenseMagazine.com 63 during filming. Just watch The Blues Brothers movie and you’ll see to what lengths he would go to achieve a reaction. After Landis called, ‘action’, the scene started with Morrow and the children Autographed Copies Available at: trying to get through the river, as wild explosions were www.QueenWriter.com pounding all around them. Even the special effects people [email protected] were a bit freaked out. Then the helicopter enters the scene. Landis screams, “Lower! Lower! Lower!” to direct the chopper downwards and it actually came to only twenty- four feet above the water. I would imagine the children as well as Morrow were frightened. There were cameras whizzing away during this entire event. There was even a guy standing on the skid of the helicopter, filming the entire thing. These explosions were big! Just as the pilot was about to leave the scene, two more blasts came and he went out of control. Everyone who could get out did just that! Vic lost his grip on Renee, but in the time he tried to get her back, the helicopter landed on top of her, crushing her to death. The forty foot diameter blades decapitated Morrow and little Myca Le. The cameras were still rolling. Landis and his assistant director made their way down to the scene and his assistant was the one who found Vic’s torso in the water. The people in the helicopter made it out okay. Jack Rimmer, one of the fire-safety officers, covered Vic Morrow’s torso and set it on a bank. As he was wading across the river to the village to douse the fires there, Rimmer found Myca Le’s head in the water. A crew member brought over a plastic garbage bag and placed the little boy’s severed head inside. Special effects technician Kevin Quibell located Vic’s head, which was placed in another black, plastic bag. What does all this mean? I guess you’ll have to draw your own conclusions. But I think we should—at the very least—ask ourselves; do we need “special effects” that stretch the boundaries between entertainment and just plain crazy in order for the movie to be deemed worthy? When is enough…enough? At what point are the director, producer and the special effects people putting the actors and stunt people at too much risk? I suppose it will never be completely safe on any movie set. Hell there’s a threat of STD’s in porno! So you make your own choices, but remember there are those out there who push the envelope beyond the limits of reasonable. I guess the price of a movie ticket isn’t so bad after all; seeing a film hasn’t cost me my life. 

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070806174609AAgvQ4L http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/l/Brandon%20Lee/brandon_lee.htm http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/m/Vic%20Morrow/vic_morrow.htm

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 64 Last month’s issue of Suspense Magazine gave readers, writers and fans the first view Critiquing Your Craft of something very unique and special from one of the editors at ARR Editing Services. Starr Gardinier Reina is offering her servicesfree of charge to any writer who’d like an edit and critique of their work. This is a very extraordinary opportunity to take advantage of and no one that we’re aware of does this. There’s no pressure to use ARR’s services. All that is offered is her opinion as a writer, editor and even a reader as to how she perceives your work. Starr has been quoted as saying, “I know how difficult it is to allow someone to go over your manuscript and tell you what it’s missing, but I’ll do more than that. I’ll give you my honest opinion of what works too.” Criticism comes in all forms: ever heard of critical acclaim? This month we have the first, brave person willing to let their work be put on display—which is part of the deal—hoping every writer out there can see what works and what doesn’t or perhaps even pick out common mistakes they see in their own work that they can be more aware of with future books. Every month, as we get them, we will publish another critique on behalf of ARR Editing. If you’d like to learn more about this service, check out the repeat ad in this month’s issue entitled, ARR is RW&A. Good luck!

Foreword much. London – September 1815 “Here he is still looking a bit green around the gills,” James’ irritatingly cheerful Ethan voice broke my study of the scarred table. “This man was looking for you. A Mister Wornthrowe, I leaned my head on my forearms as my I believe.” stomach rolled. (I have changed them all, but I reluctantly lifted my head to behold a remember that there is only one space between man of barely five feet in height with a balding sentences. The old rule was two spaces.) It was pate. His neat (there should be a comma after empty of anything that might desire to come ‘neat’ here as they are definitive words about up, but that did not stop it from threatening. the overcoat.) black overcoat, buttoned up to I hated traveling by sea, but it was a necessary his cravat in an effort to keep out the autumn inconvenience if I wished to return to England chill despite the fact we were in front of a good- after the peace was declared and I sold my sized fire, looked to be made of good cloth and commission. Still even a full hour after embarking presentable. from the ship, my stomach still rose and fell “Mr. Wornthrowe, (The comma with imagined swells. (The preceding sentence immediately preceding this comment is not is a great description of her inner turmoil. Well necessary, unless you mean to pause.) of written as it shows the reader how she feels Wornthrowe, Atkins, and Roew, solicitors,” the without you having to say it. Many authors fall man clarified with a deep bow. “Do I have the into the trap of thinking they need to verbalize pleasure of speaking to Ethan Morgan Carew, to the reader how a character feels, for example, son of Jonas Conrad Carew of Kilorn Manor in instead of showing it. Very well done.) The crush Sussex?” and stench of the public alehouse where my I nodded and gestured that he should fellow discharged veterans and I had (be careful sit opposite me. “You do. What would a solicitor with the use of ‘had’. Most are not necessary. Try want with me?” reading the sentence aloud with the word ‘had’ “Maybe your stepmother has found and then without. I’ve kept it in this sentence so a way to permanently disinherit you,” James you may see what I’m referring to.) wrangled a suggested with a glee I did not share. (The room for the night did not help my condition paragraph right after his comment should be

SuspenseMagazine.com 65 moved down away from the dialogue). As much as I give my sons back to me. I now had the means to support wished my stepmother to leave me to my own fortune, I them without fear of creditors at my door. (Again, move knew that to be an impossibility, (Although many would dialogue down.) “Praise the Almighty God,” I whispered. believe the previous comma is grammatically incorrect, I “I can’t believe it,” James declared. believe in this situation it is up to you as the author if you “I can barely believe it myself.” I turned back want the reader to pause.) especially since she currently to Mr. Wornthrowe. “Are you certain, I am the one you had possession of my sons. seek?” “I represent the late Baron of Darkmoore.” “If you are Ethan Morgan Carew, son of Jonas That caught my attention.(Dialogue should be on Conrad Carew, then it is true.” a line of its own, unless it is incorporated with ‘he said’ or “That is you.” James thumped me on the back. the like or if the character is continuing to speak.) “Uncle (Here you have James speaking and then you traverse Ethan? When did he die?” (Again, following paragraph into the character telling the story and then go back should be moved down away from the dialogue.) It was to James, all in the same paragraph. First, change the hard to believe. Uncle Ethan, my late mother’s brother period after ‘you’ in James’ statement above, then move and my namesake, had (Please check use of ‘had’ here.) the following statement down. Even though James may always filled my memories as a hale and healthy man be continuing to talk, you have the orator of the story’s who enjoyed everything that life brought him. Not prone feelings in between. These should be segregated.) My to excesses, he enjoyed sport and the active life a man stomach protested the jarring treatment, but I was not several years his junior. He purchased my commission about to let that dampen my spirits. “Now you can offer when my stepmother refused. me a position,” James declared. “Do you need a man “The Baron had an untimely accident on the of business or some such now that you are a high and road between his estate and town four months previous. mighty Baron?” I am very sorry for your loss.” The little man bowed his I looked to the solicitor and raised an eyebrow. head. “He has always been a good client of our firm and “I am sure something can be arranged,” he we hope that (please check use of ‘that’ here) you will assured me. “I have other business to attend to. Should I continue the association.” expect you to stop by the offices some time (Some time I frowned at the little man.(Here again, dialogue is one word: sometime.) soon?” (He is done speaking, should be moved down and the following paragraph after so the following sentence should be moved to a new his question, again move down.) “Why would I need to paragraph.) He rose, straightening his coat and gathering employ solicitors?” Moreover, how would I pay them if (Here the use of ‘gathering’ in this sentence connotes I did? I absentmindedly rubbed the dull ache in my left a continuation of some sort. It should be changed to thigh as I watched the man’s face. ‘straightened his coat and gathered his hat…’.) his hat “Surely you do not mean to handle all of the from the chair next to him. estate’s business on your own.” “Would tomorrow noon be convenient?” I “What estate?” asked. “Your estate, Milord. You are the fifth Baron “Perfectly.” (Grammatical change: change period of Darkmoore, lord of Darkmoore Manor and the after ‘Perfectly’ to a comma and use a lower ‘h’ on the surrounding lands. We tried to inventory everything as word ‘he’.) He quickly turned and disappeared into the best we could. Unfortunately, most of the servants have crush of people. been let go, but the house is in decent condition and the “Well, Lord Darkmoore, what is going to be your living from land and investments clears at about £15,000 first act as a peer of the realm?” James asked. per year. If you would just stop by our offices, we would “Reclaim my children,” I informed him. be happy to acclimate you to all of the details as well as ~~~~~~~~~~~~ process all of the paperwork necessary for the transfer.” Chapter One James, in uncharacteristic silence, was staring at Mariah the man as though he had three heads. I probably was (Flow change suggestion: reverse to ‘was probably’. For the sixth time in so many months, I and Read the sentence aloud each way for determination.) Master Oliver, one of my charges, stood before their not doing much better at concealing my astonishment. grandmother in her richly decorated sitting room. My dream of independence suddenly revealed itself. Oliver’s slight frame shook as he clung to my hand and I could ride out to Kilorn and demand my stepmother dripped pond water onto the ornate rug beneath our

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 66 feet. (Terrific use of expressing detail in the preceding smelling bottle on the delicate (There should be a sentence.) The housekeeper numbered our many comma after the word ‘delicate’ as it’s a describer of ‘side transgressions. The least of them was the tracking of mud table’.) side table overflowing with medicines and tonics, across the entry hall and spotting the upper hall rug with I opened my mouth to point out that there was nowhere water stains. else we could possibly walk. (You have a great sense of I watched Oliver’s lips turn even deeper blue. If description without over usage. Well done.) only I had been swifter getting him up to the nursery, he “Lord Carew Baron of Darkmoore to see you, would not be suffering so. Instead of shivering through Ma’am,” (Here again the ma’am should not be initial a tongue-lashing from his grandmother, he would be capitalized.) a footman announced upon opening the tucked in a warm blanket in front of the nursery fireplace. sitting room door. (Move next down to a new paragraph It was not his fault that he had fallen into the pond. away from the dialogue. The footman is done speaking.) “Little boys should not be allowed to run wild,” The heavy footfalls of someone entering signaled that Mrs. Carew insisted at the end of the Mrs. Filibree’s the visitor had not bothered to wait for an invitation. recitation. She reached shakily for one of her many Oliver turned around to study the new arrival. Mrs. daily tonic restoratives. Downing it in one gulp, she Carew’s face turned livid, cold hatred filling her watery grimaced and a (Delete the word ‘a’ immediately before blue eyes as she glared at the personage. Mrs. Filibree this comment.) coughed into her lace handkerchief. Her looked up from her perusal of the medicine table with already red-rimmed eyes watered such that she had to dab fear in her angular features, pinching them even more at them between wracking coughs. “I am a sick woman, than I thought possible. Miss Brooke,” she informed me as she languished back “Stepmother,” a deep male voice said from on her cushions and put a plump hand to her temple. behind me. (Move next down to a new paragraph.) “I should not need to deal with these moments of high It sent a shiver down my spine. Ethan Carew, the long spirits. That is why I hired you to keep them controlled absent father of the little boy now clinging to my hand, and regulated.” had returned. “They were out in the grounds, Ma’am,” (ma’am “Take your charge back to the nursery, Miss is not capitalized as it is not a proper name, but more of Brooke. I will deal with the two of you later.” (She is done a term of endearment.) pointed out the housekeeper, speaking. Move following down to a new paragraph.) “Contrary to your express orders.” Mrs. Carew waved a hand in my direction without I refrained from glaring at the meddling woman. dropping her gaze from Lord Carew. I almost felt sorry It would only make our situation more severe if I did. for the man as I turned to obey. I curtseyed and nudged Mrs. Filibree was a favorite of Mrs. Carew based solely Oliver to remind him to bow. He managed a weak one. on the fact they came from the same general area of We turned to leave, but were stalled by the presence of Sussex. the man standing behind us. He loomed above me by a Mrs. Carew straightened with sudden speed. good foot. I gained a brief impression of dark hair, tanned (The previous statement and the following dialogue skin, (While in the past it was acceptable to use a comma should be segregated into two paragraphs.) “What is in a list before the word ‘and’, that rule no longer applies this? Insubordination?” unless you are purposely trying to create a longer pause “You gave us permission for a daily walk,” for effect.) and very broad shoulders before I moved to I pointed out. (Move next sentence down to a new slip past him. Oliver, (A comma before ‘however’ and paragraph; dialogue is completed.) Thankful yet again after is no longer used. It should be ‘Oliver however, that I had left (‘Had’ is past tense. ‘Left’ is past tense. never…’.) however, never stopped looking. I had to drag Therefore, ‘had’ is not needed.) Oliver’s little brother, him through the door into the hall. Thaddeus, in the nursery with one of the upstairs maids. Once the ornate door closed behind us, Oliver “I didn’t mean for you to take your walks on turned to me, grabbing both my hands in his little the grounds.” Apparently (You say ‘apparently’ here. shaking ones. (Move following dialogue down to a new Is it ‘apparent’ to the reader that she was ‘completely paragraph.) “Miss Brooke, was he my Papa? (The initial horrified’? If not, delete the word ‘apparently’.) completely cap here of Papa is fine because he means it as a proper horrified, she fluttered her hand in my direction. “Are name for his father.) That’s the name Grandmother uses you trying to kill me, girl? Oh, Mrs. Filibee, (Misspelling when she talks about Papa.” of this character’s name.) fetch me my smelling salts.” I managed a shaky nod as my mind tried to figure As the housekeeper moved to find the foul out how his sudden presence would change my position.

SuspenseMagazine.com 67 “He looks mean. My Papa (Papa should be all his little brother. I thanked the maid for the assistance lowercase. He is speaking of his father, not to his father.) and asked that she have some warm water sent up from looks awfully angry and mean. Do you think he will whip the kitchens. Oliver was already beginning to stink up me like Mrs. Filibree?” His dark eyes, luminous in his the room with the damp stench of stagnant pond water. pale face pleaded with me to calm his greatest fear. She quietly slipped off, (The comma after ‘off’ is not “I won’t let him,” I assured him as I ruffled his necessary unless you want the reader to pause.) and I damp hair. “Now let us hurry you upstairs and into warm, proceeded to change Oliver out of his wet clothes. dry clothes. You don’t want to catch a cold, do you?” “Papa is here,” Oliver announced to his little Oliver solemnly shook his head, (The comma brother as I pulled off his coat. “I saw him.” after ‘head’ is not required here.) and trotted off towards Little Thad, as I called him, regarded his brother the back stairs. with wide (Insert a comma after the word ‘wide’ as it’s Please, Lord, let me be able to keep my promise, descriptive of ‘green eyes’.) green eyes still slightly glazed I prayed. I was not sure I would be able to stop him in from sleep. His nap should have lasted another hour, any decision he made regarding his children, but I was but he had been resisting sleeping the full two hours he determined to try to protect them as best I could. Oliver needed. (Move following dialogue down.) “Papa?” he and Thaddeus had seen enough hardship in their young asked, removing his thumb from his mouth only long lives, I was not about to allow the arrival of their coarse enough to get out the two syllables. father to make their lot even worse. “He is tall and has green eyes like you.” Oliver “Miss Brooke?” Oliver beckoned to me from the danced away from me as I tried to unbutton his shirt. door to the back stairs. “Are you coming?” “Please stay still,” I pleaded. I had not noticed “Right now,” I assured him. the man’s eyes, but it made sense. “I need to undress you He smiled mischievously. “Race you to the before you catch a cold.” nursery.” (Insert comma after ‘mischievously and move “Why would I catch a cold?” following sentence down away from dialogue.) Then “Because you took a dunking in the pond and without waiting for me to reply to the challenge, he have soaked your clothes to the skin. It is the perfect disappeared in a barrage of thumping as he pounded up thing to slow you down enough for a cold to catch your the stairs. (Wonderfully explained. Instead of ‘he ran up heels.” the stairs’, you use a much better description. This is so “It shall not catch me,” Oliver declared with a refreshing to see.) shout and began galloping around the nursery in only As a governess, I had initially been hired to take his long drawers. charge of Masters Oliver and Thaddeus Carew upon the “Taddy!” (Move following down away from death of their mother. Lynora Carew, late wife of the absent Ethan Carew, had (Read aloud with the word ‘had’ and without. ‘Had’ is not necessary.) left the children in the care of her mother-in-law. It was only after I had(Again, the use of ‘had’ here.) accepted the position that I discovered the myriads of little details of the situation. The lady of the house, Mrs. Hesper Carew, was the stepmother of my charges’ father, a man she held in great contempt. The supposedly errant son had (Check use of ‘had’ here.) purchased a commission and left to fight against Napoleon without his ARMSTRONG, RAAB & REINA, EDITORIAL SERVICES stepmother’s permission. Also, Mrs. Carew had a son of her own, the product of her marriage before Mr. – Full Length Manuscript Editing Carew. If Mr. Jasper Carew was any indication of what – Reformatting I was to expect of Mr. Ethan Carew, I was not looking – Reviews forward to making his acquaintance, not that I would have to, being only the governess. – Full Typing Services Oliver beat me back up to the nursery, www .arrediting .com galloping into the room with a roar and a shout for

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 68 dialogue.) Thad protested when Oliver commandeered Lord Carew actually looked a bit embarrassed. his favorite bear, a shabby and worn creature. Within (Move dialogue down to a new paragraph.) “Would you moments, the two of them were in full romp, with all the consider entering my employment? My stepmother has volume and vigor of their age. (Very good description of made it clear that she wishes (Change suggestion: ‘My boys being boys.) I could not help laughing and joining stepmother made it clear she wishes…’.) to terminate the fun. I almost did not hear the tap at the door. your current position without references. I will pay any Supposing it to be the maid with the warm water back wages she owes you. I can offer you £150 pounds a I had (Check your use of ‘had’ here; it is not necessary.) year going forward.” My face must have looked askance requested, I bid the knocker enter and reached to catch for he added. (He is continuing and therefore, a period Thad. It was only when Oliver came to an abrupt stop should be replaced with a comma after the word ‘added’.) and fell into silence, did I realize that my supposition had “I will provide an additional allowance for any personal been incorrect. I looked up to find Lord Carew himself items you might need, (Is it your intention to pause standing in the open doorway, looking inordinately large here? If not, delete the comma after ‘need’.) and upon in a room furnished for little people. He surveyed the our arrival at my residence, you should be overseer of as scene with a strange expression on his face. As I lifted many nursemaids as you need to assist you.” my eyes to his, I found that Oliver’s observation rang “You misinterpreted my expression, milord,” I very true. His eyes were the exact color and look of his protested. “I was merely taken aback at the generosity little son’s. However, Thaddeus’ eyes never held the of your offer which I very willingly accept.” (Move the intense expression that (Read the sentence aloud with following down away from the dialogue.) Mrs. Carew and without the word ‘that’. The same issue with ‘had’ only paid me £60 a year and was arrears three months. I applies here. Many authors over use ‘had’ and ‘that’.) this had long lost any hope of seeing the funds in my lifetime. hulking man’s did. I had stayed simply for the children. Besides, I had “Brooke?” (Move following down away nowhere else to go. from dialogue.) Thaddeus, frightened by the sudden appearance of a large stranger, ran into my legs full force, Overall critique: You are a strong writer. There are well causing me to stumble back a step before laying a hand written descriptions with great use of presentational and on his head. He burrowed into my skirts despite their expressive details. One common pitfall many authors dampness. fall into has also snagged you and that is, the over use Their father executed a formal bow toward of ‘had’ and ‘that’. Another thing to keep in mind is you me as though (Repetitive on the word ‘though’ in this should keep dialogue and body text segregated unless the sentence. Suggestion: change the first ‘though’ to ‘if’.) speaker is continuing on without any words or thoughts I were an equal, his eyes scanning the room as though from another character. Your writing is sophisticated as making sure the room was safe. (Move dialogue down to your grammar skills exceed those of many as do your a new paragraph.) “How quickly might my sons be ready creative imagery when depicting a character and/or to leave?” scene. Your story seems to moving toward a great plot “Leave?” and if you keep it as strong as I see it is in this small “Yes.” He looked down at the tussled head portion, you will have a well-developed and popular beneath my hand with a softness that touched my heart. novel on your hands. With that one look, I knew he loved his children. “I am removing them from their grandmother’s care.” Thank you for your submission and I, on behalf of ARR I nodded. I was relieved that they were leaving Editing Services, wish you the best in future endeavors. her control; however, there were other things to consider beyond just removing them from the house. (Move ~ Reviewed, edited and critiqued by Starr Gardinier dialogue down to a new paragraph.) “Where do you plan Reina, editor for ARR Editing Services (www.arrediting. on moving them to?” com) and author of “In the Name of Revenge” (www. Instead of chastising me for speaking above my queenwriter.com) station, he answered. (After the word ‘answered’ there should be a comma, not a period as he is responding with Suspense Magazine would like to thank this the following sentences.) “My manor in Hampshire. I author for her participation as this benefits writers to not sent a man ahead to prepare for their arrival.” only to learn, but helps other readers’ progress as well. “Who will care for them on the journey?” We equally thank Starr for her time and generosity. 

SuspenseMagazine.com 69 Interview by: Suspense Magazine

e were sitting at the bar of the Grand Hyatt Hotel Time Square when we were first introduced to the writing of Katia Lief. WHaving met with several publishers throughout our day, we were now slugging around a small but growing heavier by the minute bag of books we had begun receiving during our stops through the city. Sitting down, drink in hand, with our contacts from Harper Collins, I was frankly relieved they clearly didn’t carry the offering of additional books. I love a good book, in fact, I love a lot of books, but I didn’t want to have to plead with my husband to add to his already heavy load in the stifling summer heat.

We sat discussing their work, our work and the changes in the publishing industry when one of our new friends grabbed her purse and smiled stating she had brought me a present. I mentally groaned and laughed out loud at the excitement on her face. Harper Collins signed a new author—one that she knew we would love—and handed me a small card with the download instructions.

We don’t often have the opportunity to see the excitement on the faces of publicists as they present new found treasures. Hearing about Katia’s writing style, talent and personality first hand had us sold before the second drink was ordered and after reading her work, we’re sure our fans will be sold too.

Suspense Magazine (S. MAG.:) “You are Next” is an amazing serial murderer story. You weaved the clues from the “Domino Killer” (JPP) in a way that completely threw and enthralled me at the same time. How did you come up with the idea?

Katia Lief (KL): I was inspired to write “You are Next” after reading an article in The New York Times called “Suicide Bigger Threat for Police Than Criminals” (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/ nyregion/08suicide.html?pagewanted=1). The story moved me deeply and got me thinking. I’m a crime writer, but I’m also interested in the psychology, life experiences and motivations of my characters, so I was naturally intrigued by the overwhelming stress cops experience while doing their jobs. I imagined what would happen to a cop who lost everything that was really important to her—her family and her career. I asked myself how it would feel to be suicidal and then be confronted

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 70 with the killer who destroyed your life. I knew she would want to die, but she would also want to protect other family members who might be threatened. I knew instinctively that she would be energized, enraged, distraught and fearless. That morning, the first five pages of “You are Next” flowed out—including the title, the protagonist Karin Schaeffer, the bad guy JPP, the domino theme and the conflict that would drive the story forward. I can honestly say that my best ideas have hit me out of the blue, so I try to be ready for them.

S. MAG.: Without telling the ending, did you mean for it to end the way it did? I don’t mind telling you, you had me going; I was scared.

KL: I always think I know the ending when I start a book and then I always change it as I go, so I end up surprising myself along with everyone else. I had no idea when I started “You are Next” that JPP would have a partner who would turn out to be even more dangerous than he was. Karin, Mac and I were really surprised by that!

S. MAG.: Your killer was truly evil. How did you come to write him?

KL: The scariest adversaries are the ones we don’t understand. The inscrutability of evil is compelling and terrifying—I try to work with that. I imagine the scariest bad guy I can think of and I also take inspiration from real life stories in the news as well as other fictional criminals that have struck a chord for me. I think the most terrifying fictional bad guy I’ve ever encountered was Frederick Clegg in John Fowles’ 1963 novel “The Collector”. I often think of Clegg when I write my bad guys. The extent this man was cut off from the humanity of his victim, and yet so effectively camouflaged as an average bureaucrat, was chilling. I also often think of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley character. The innocuous killer, the one you don’t expect to hurt you, is the most terrifying.

S. MAG.: I know it can be very scary to read about certain characters such as JPP. Were you scared when you wrote him? What scares you?

KL: I probe for a visceral sensation of anxiety when I create the bad guys. You can’t write “he looked scary” and expect a reader to feel it; instead, you have to find a way to evoke it, which can be tricky. When I revise, repeatedly reading and editing and to some extent rewriting the manuscript, I need to feel fear every single time the bad guy steps onto the page and that’s how I know it’s working. But to be honest, even though I’m not a great sleeper, I don’t lose sleep over the evil-doers in my novels because I know they’re not real (even if they could be). If you really want to hear me scream, set loose a mouse in my kitchen!

S. MAG.: From the moment you were born in France to an American couple, you have been on the go, doing a plethora of things. What drives you?

KL: I was ambitious and independent from a young age, partly due to circumstances and partly by nature. I learned early to be self-disciplined and work hard, and I love to write. When I found I could earn a living writing novels, I went for it.

S. MAG.: You have books written under the pseudo name Kate Pepper. Any plans to write under Katia Spiegelman as well?

KL: My first two books, literary novels published by a respected small press based in London, were put out under my birth name Katia Spiegelman. A decade later, married with kids, I impulsively took a pseudonym when I began publishing thrillers. Then I realized that I had taken on too many names…so I am consolidating now and plan to write under the name I live by, which is Katia Lief.

SuspenseMagazine.com 71 S. MAG.: You started writing as Kate, but then you—in your words—integrated with Katia and then put Lief at the end of Spiegelman. Does each pseudonym have her own way of writing even though they’ve both done suspense?

KL: No. I am the exact same writer regardless of what kind of novel I’m writing. The voice of a given story belongs more to the narrator and the events in the novel that propel the story forward, than to me personally. If it’s a fast-paced story, as in “You are Next”, the tone naturally tightens. I follow the demands of the story and at the same time I try to learn and grow as a writer from book to book.

S. MAG.: Since the supportive note from your third grade teacher to your parents, have they encouraged you?

KL: Both my parents have always encouraged me to write. My mother was an elementary school teacher—in fact in fourth grade, she was my first creative writing teacher—and my father is a classical musician and retired college professor. I grew up in a family of artists and my children are extremely creative. In my family, nearly everyone is a writer or painter or musician or actor or filmmaker or photographer, you name it. It’s in the blood.

S. MAG.: What do your children think about mom being an author?

KL: I get the sense they’re proud of me for writing and publishing, but I’ve never allowed them to read my work because of the subject matter. I’m an infamously overprotective mother, which I ascribe to all the true crime research I’ve done. I imagine someday they’ll pick up my books and then Suspense Magazine Review of “You are Next” I’ll find out what they really think of me as When former police detective Karin Schaffer’s family is brutally an author. murdered, she comes apart at the seams. She is an empty shell in every sense of the word and feels she’d be better off dead. S. MAG.: After enrolling in Simon’s Both her husband and daughter were murdered by JPP (Just Rock Early College at the age of fifteen, Plain Psycho) or as he was also known, “The Domino Killer” graduating from Sarah Lawrence because he would leave dominos at the crime scene as a clue College at the age of nineteen and then about who his next victim will be. Mild-mannered Martin writing so many well-received books, Price—if that’s his real name—does his best to torture Karin what’s next? and keep her chasing him while trying to figure out what he’ll do next in order to catch him.

KL: I always say the three professions I It’s not long before they get their man. With JPP in prison, the regret not pursuing are gymnast, pastry question now becomes, who took her niece Suzanna and is she chef and Supreme Court justice. Maybe I still alive—unlike his other victims? With dominos left behind can train for one of those professions now. as a clue, it’s a race against time to find out if they have a copy But back to reality, I expect to write novels cat killer or if JPP has a partner. What do you think? until the day I die…though I would very much love to do it in an Italian villa, and Lief pens a diabolically brilliant story and takes us on an eat pasta every night with my husband amazing, wild ride of, I can’t wait to see what happens next, Oliver, who is the funniest person I know. all the while keeping uppermost in our minds what’s driving Karin. Her family, along with her very caring psychiatrist Joyce Suspense Magazine would like to thank somehow keeps her going, even in her darkest moments. With Katia for taking the time to chat with her old partner Mac, Karin will not rest until she finds Suzanna and untangles the web of lies and murder to find out what’s us. We can’t wait to see what’s on the really going on with all the players in this fantastic mystery. shelves next! To learn more about Katia and her books, please visit her Reviewed by: Terri Ann Armstrong author of “Morning website at www.katialief.com.  Menace” and Executive Editor for Suspense Magazine 

Suspense Magazine September 2010 / Vol. 015 72 Lightning flashed and the sky had always been afraid of storms It was a short while later lit up like a fourth of July celebration. and being alone in the house was when I heard the sound of the front I counted, “One…two… proving to be unnervingly creepy. door knocker, rat-a-tat-tat. Listening three!” The sound of thunder reminded me intently, my senses heightened by And then it came—the of childhood and scary, ghost stories. nervous tension from fear of storms, resounding clap of thunder. Bella, I subconsciously drew the blanket I sat up…the knocking came again. my Scottish terrier whimpered and tighter about me. I was expecting no one. The house leapt up next to me on the sofa. A The only sound to be heard was three miles from town and my squall lashed at the house as if in other than the fury of the wind and nearest neighbor was an elderly punishment for some wrongdoing. rain outside, was the unremitting woman who lived alone with her dog It howled beneath the rafters like a tick of the grandfather clock in the approximately a mile further down living, breathing fiend. The lights hallway, tick, tick, tick. It startled me the beach. Notwithstanding of the in the den flickered off and on and more than once. When it chimed the fact no one knew I was here, anyone an involuntary shiver went down hour, its loud, clanging bell caused venturing out in this crappy weather my spine. I listened to the window me to almost jump out of my skin! would have to be crazy! shutters flap to and fro banging I huddled under my blanket and Uncurling my legs from my against the outer wall, seemingly listened to the anger of the storm fetal position, I eased myself off the in applause of Mother Nature’s and watched the eerie shadows that sofa and gingerly walked back into petulance. danced on the walls of the den. A the hallway not wanting to alert this The beach house was located tapping at the window made my uninvited guest or guests that there on Cape Cod Bay, surrounded heart momentarily stop and the hairs was anyone home until I decided if I by miles of beach and numerous on the back of my neck stand on end! would open the door. I switched off ponds. It was a wonderful retreat It turned out to be nothing more my flashlight and hid in the alcove off from the hustle and bustle and much than a palm frond, half broken off the hallway. From here I had a view ado of everyday life and had been a from the tree planted three summers of the glassed front door. I could see summer home to my parents and ago. a shape—a silhouette—illuminated my grandparents before them. The Eventually my stomach, by the half-moon. My gut feeling was weather forecast predicted a storm growling with hunger—sounding to stay put and hope the visitor would rolling in from the Atlantic and by like a noisy pot of bubbling stew— assume no one was home and leave. lunchtime, ominous clouds began to forced me from my hibernating The knocking went on for a couple overcast the sky. position. With flashlight in hand, I of minutes then suddenly stopped. Pulling my legs beneath me, made my way along the hallway to Whoever it was, disappeared from I snuggled down in the soft throw the kitchen. view. blanket I kept over the back of the The flashlight cast a luminous I listened…complete silence sofa for such dark and gloomy days. glow over the kitchen appliances, except for the ceaseless ticking The rains—when they came— making everything appear a little of the grandfather clock and the battered and pounded the coastline spooky and somewhat threatening!. driving rain outside. I didn’t realize all afternoon and evening. The Having arrived a few days earlier, I I had been holding my breath until house creaked and shuddered in stocked up on provisions. Opening the knocking stopped and I slowly disapproval. The electricity flickered the refrigerator door, I was happy exhaled. A lightning bolt illuminated off and on one last time before to see an ample amount of various the hallway and I hurried back to the finally giving out. My flashlight and goodies that were fortunately still den. I was alarmed and scared. Who cigarettes were next to me on the nice and cold. I coffee table and I reached across quickly fixed a with jelly-like hands, pulled a ‘ciggy’ turkey sandwich, from the pack and lit up. Inhaling grabbed a coke deeply, I watched the embers glow and made a in the dark. The nicotine succeeded hasty retreat The Storm in working its usual magic, slowly back along the By Gillian Scott calming the tension in my body. I hallway.

SuspenseMagazine.com 73 was this person? And more to the hiding place. My heart pounding, I lost consciousness, I could only point, where were they now? Had my hands cold and clammy, I waited imagine this was a scene straight they gone away? Or where they still with bated breath. A warm sensation from a horror movie. lurking in the shadows somewhere from my lower regions betrayed my I rolled over in my outside? vulnerability and tears stung my comfortable queen sized bed and Picking up the phone, I eyes. Hopefully, they won’t notice rubbed the sleep from my eyes. checked for a dial tone—nothing. the puddle on the floor. The Sunlight filtered into the room and The lines were still down and my cell footsteps stopped in the doorway. I I squinted at its dazzling brilliance. phone had no reception. Needing held my breath. The heavy footfall Bella licked my face nuzzling into me. to calm myself, I took several deep and the strange dragging sound— The heavy rains from the previous breaths. I was getting panicky. There like something being pulled across evening passed, a few remaining had to be a rational reason why a the floor—continued into the room. drops trickled down the window stranger—perhaps there was more The shape was standing no more pane. I lay beneath the covers feeling than one—was out on the beach in than a couple of feet from me, so incredibly lazy. Why not? I was on the middle of nowhere during such close I could actually hear its intake vacation after all. I had nothing to do a horrendous storm and more to the of breath. I squeezed my eyes shut and nothing planned. point, was pounding on my door. It hoping if I couldn’t see them, they A bemused smile crossed was probably just a traveler passing wouldn’t see me. A sharp crack of my face—wow, what a night! At least through who had somehow gotten lightning set the sky ablaze and was Bella and I weathered the storm. lost. That couldn’t be right; I hadn’t quickly followed by the deafening My bedcovers were tangled, tossed seen headlights or heard a car engine. roar of thunder. I opened my eyes and turned from my restless sleep. Perhaps the car had broken down and there before me stood the most Running my hands through my hair, further up the road? Oh, for God’s terrifying thing I had ever seen! I I vaguely recalled some strange, sake get a grip! heard a shrill, piercing scream before ridiculous dream. My mind went into my world was cloaked in darkness. There must have been overdrive. I peered through the The cry had come from me! something wrong with the turkey, I window into the dark night. An Totally traumatized, I reasoned. I didn’t normally suffer empty void stared back. I briefly apparently blacked out. I awoke to from such outlandish nightmares. I pondered if perhaps I should have find the grotesque creature watching snuggled with Bella for a few minutes answered the door. It was then the me with an intent like gaze. Beady longer before throwing back the sound of breaking glass penetrated eyes traversed the length of my covers. My left foot felt tender as I the silence. Oh my god! Momentarily body as I lay wedged between the stood up and put my weight on it. rooted to where I stood, I could credenza and sideboard. My first Looking down, I noticed a couple hear a muffled sound coming from thought was to look for an escape. of deep scratch marks running from the kitchen. An inherent instinct for There was none. I was trapped in just below my ankle to my toes. survival propelled me into action. my hideaway, with no way out. “How on earth did that Looking for a place to hide, I crept Words could not describe my fear. happen?” I mumbled to myself as I as quietly as I could to the far side My ability to function became hobbled to the bathroom. of the room. I found a small space completely suspended. Visions of Applying some antibiotic between the antique credenza and this freakish ogre ripping me apart cream to my wounds, I concentrated mahogany sideboard which would limb-by-limb or perhaps devouring on my usual morning, bathroom conceal me unless the intruder me whole, crept into my brain and ritual before slipping into my came completely into the room. ran amok. Momentarily mesmerized bathrobe and cautiously limping Scrunching myself between the two, by its piercing stare, I felt almost downstairs. Entering the kitchen I pressed back against the wall and trancelike, somewhere between doorway, I stopped dead in my prayed for obscurity. What sounded sleeping and waking. I watched it tracks. Oh, my god; the room lay like footsteps followed by an unusual move towards me before I erupted in total disarray and broken glass dragging sound echoed from the with a penetrating shriek. In a flash, covered the floor! I was too afraid to hallway. its claw like appendages reached out enter the den…  I didn’t peek out from my and grasped my quivering body. As

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