Suspense, Mystery, Horror and Thriller Fiction MARCH 2015 From Across the Pond: QUENTIN BATES Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone WITH MARKY RAMONE Spring Suspense Brings JACK HIGGINS M.J. ROSE C.S. HARRIS MARK GREANEY GLEN ERIK HAMILTON ERIC GIACOMETTI & JACQUES RAVENNE & Meet Author /Publisher AUSTIN S. CAMACHO From the Editor Normally in the “letter from the editor” I don’t give CREDITS a lesson. However, this month I have a topic that John Raab President & Chairman I feel needs some additional attention. Times for authors are rapidly changing. Authors are sitting on Shannon Raab bar seats at conferences, all talking about the same Creative Director thing: How do I sell more books? How can I even Romaine Reeves get someone to review the book? CFO It’s true that publishers are not backing authors Amy Lignor on book tours and they are not spending a lot of Editor marketing money on most of their titles; unless they think they have a winner, or it’s Jim Thomsen an author with a proven track record, most authors are left on their own. On the radio Copy Editor show, I’ve said hundreds of times: “Just because you write “The End” and get your book published, you are merely at the starting line, because now the real work begins.” Contributors This leads me to lesson number one: how to handle an interview. Mark P. Sadler Susan Santangelo On Suspense Radio, I’ve spoken to hundreds of authors and hundreds more at DJ Weaver conferences. One thing that always amazes me is how many authors don’t know how to CK Webb Kiki Howell interview well. I ask them about their book and I get five minutes of nothing. Yet I tell Kaye George them all beforehand: “This show is about you, not me, so make sure you “sell” yourself on Weldon Burge Ashley Wintters the air.” Scott Pearson For example, as an author you just spent two years writing a mystery book. You spent D.P. Lyle M.D. Kathleen Heady thousands of hours making sure every clue, every scene leads the reader to the ending Stephen Brayton where the villain is revealed. I then ask them a very tough question: Tell us about your Brian Blocker Andrew MacRae book. And this is where we get into trouble. It’s like they’re not prepared to answer that Val Conrad question. Maybe they thought I would simply ask them how to bake a cake or what their Melissa Dalton Elliott Capon favorite TV show is. J.M. LeDuc I would expect you to know your subject inside and out. You need to practice on Holly Price Kari Wainwright how to “sell” your book through an interview. This also includes blogging, and guest- David Ingram blogging on others’ sites and any place you need to answer questions about your book. Jodi Hanson Susan May Tape yourself answering that question and play it back. Listen to that answer like a fan or Jenny Hilborne reader would and ask yourself the question “If you heard an author talk like this, would Anthony J. Franze Kristin Centorcelli you spend your money on buying the book?” Jerry Zavada When you write in this genre, you are expecting to S.L. Menear “surprise or scare” your reader, not put them to sleep. You Leslie Borghini Mary Lignor need to be dynamic, enthusiastic, and a little mysterious Julie Whiteley when giving an interview. Give the fans a taste of the book, Sara Guisti Jeff Ayers highlighting the important scenes without giving away the Elise Cooper plot, but taking readers to the edge of the cliff in order to Customer Service and leave them dangling. Subscriptions: Remember, you are the movie trailer. 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All foreign subscrip- com, chunga-stock.deviantart.com, literallylovelystock.deviantart.com tions must be payable in U.S. funds. “Reviews within this magazine are the opinions of the individual reviewers and are provided solely for the purpose of assisting readers in determining another's thoughts on the book under discussion and shall not be interpreted as professional advice or the opinion of any other than the individual reviewer. The following reviewers who may appear in this magazine are also individual clients of Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine: Mark P. Sadler, Ashley Dawn (Wintters), DJ Weaver, CK Webb, Elliott Capon, J.M. LeDuc, S.L. Menear, Leslie Borghini, Susan Santangelo, and Amy Lignor.” SuspenseMagazine.com 1 CONTENT SUSPENSE MAGAZINE March 2015 / Vol. 063 Forensic Files: Codeine Overdose By D.P. Lyle. .3 International Thriller Writers: Reader’s Corner By Rick Campbell ..........4 Excerpt: “Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone” By Marky Ramone ������� 5 John’s Lament By Patrick Kendrick ...................................13 Across the Pond with Quentin Bates By Chris Simms ..................17 Meet Writer and Publisher Austin S. Camacho By Weldon Burge ..........19 Inside the Pages: Suspense Magazine Book Reviews ..................23 Suspense Magazine Movie Reviews ................................39 Copy Editor’s Corner: At the End of my Trope By Jim Thomsen ........40 Featured Artist: Masoumeh Tavakoli .............................. 42 Coming to America: Meet Eric Giacometti and Jacques Ravenne ........49 Mysteries and Thrillers: The Differences*By Thomas B. Sawyer ..........58 Fire & Ice (From “Uncommon Assassins”) By Joseph Badal ..............65 Welcome Wagon By Laura Kathryn Rogers .............................74 Forensic Files Q&A: WOULD AN OVERDOSE OF CODEINE BE TREATED? By D.P. Lyle, MD Press Photo Credit: Provided by Author Q: My heroine has been given Tylenol with codeine by the bad guy, and it’s been ingested unknowingly in a cup of coffee. She has an adverse reaction to codeine. Would the ER doctors give her any drugs to counteract this, and if so, which ones? Or would they simply let her sleep it off and monitor her? A: Codeine is an opiate narcotic, which means it is in the opium family. In fact, it and morphine are the two principle substances obtained from the opium poppy. As with all narcotics, it depresses many bodily functions in the user. The symptoms of codeine ingestion are giddiness, sleepiness, loss of balance and coordination, coma, and death. The drug depresses the respiratory center of the brain so that if too much is taken the victim lapses into a coma, stops breathing, and dies from asphyxia. However, these effects would not be considered “adverse” reactions since they are predictable and consistent. An adverse reaction would be such things as an allergic reaction. And an allergy to codeine is not an uncommon occurrence. So, I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “adverse” reaction. If you mean an allergic reaction, the victim would develop hives, redness to the skin, wheezing and difficulty breathing (like an asthmatic attack), low blood pressure, and could slip into anaphylactic (allergic) shock and die. The treatment is to give an intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous (Sub-Q) injection of Epinephrine, IV steroids (such as, Decadron or Solu-Medrol), and IV Benadryl. This should rapidly reverse the allergic effects. Each of these drugs might have to be given again, if the symptoms and signs of the allergic reaction reappear. The reaction should subside, and after about twelve to twenty-four hours would be unlikely to recur. If you mean that the person reacts to the codeine in the more predictable manner, then the treatment is directed toward breathing for the victim and reversing the effect of the narcotic. Breathing for the victim could be done two ways. An ambu bag attached to a facemask would be easy and immediately available in any hospital. The paramedics also carry them. An ambu bag is football-shaped, made of rubber or some synthetic material, and works like a bellows. It is attached to a facemask and each squeeze of the bag forces air through the mask, which when held tightly against the victim’s face forces air into the lungs. The second method is to place an endotracheal (ET) tube. This is a plastic tube that is passed thought the victim’s mouth or nose and into the trachea (wind pipe). Either an ambu bag or a mechanical ventilator is then attached to the ET tube and air is rhythmically forced into the lungs. This must continue until the drug wears off. To hasten this process, Narcan is given intravenously. This is a drug that blocks the effect of the codeine. It works in about a minute. Again, the drug might have to be given several times over the first hour or so if the victim begins to slide back into a coma. Once the effects of the drugs wear off the victim would be essentially normal. Unless brain damage occurred during the time he wasn’t breathing, that is. ■ D. P. Lyle is the Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Silver Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Scribe, and USA Best Book Award nominated author of many non-fiction books as well as numerous works of fiction, including the Samantha Cody thriller series; the Dub Walker thriller series, and the Royal Pains media tie-in novels.