Category Archives: Severn House Publishers

November 29, 2017 · 11:57 pm

Review: Monument Road by Michael Wiley

Title: Monument Road by Michael Wiley
Franky Dast Mystery Series Book One
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 256 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Introducing former death-row inmate turned private investigator Franky Dast in the first of an intriguing new crime noir series.

Having spent eight years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit, Franky Dast now works as an investigator for the Justice Now Initiative, seeking to help others in the same situation. But when he learns that Bill Higby, the detective whose testimony helped convict him, is facing his own murder charge, Franky is torn. Should he help the man he hates more than any other, the man who remains convinced of Franky’s guilt to this day?

As Franky delves further, he comes to realize that in order to prove Higby’s innocence, he must also prove his own. Unless he finds out what happened that fateful night eight years before, the night 15-year-old Duane Bronson and his 13-year-old brother were murdered, Franky will always be under suspicion, and the real killer will remain free. What really happened that dark, wet night on Monument Road? And is Franky prepared for the shocking truth?

Will appeal to fans of GREG ILES and MICHAEL CONNELLY

Review:

Monument Road by Michael Wiley is a riveting mystery which features a former death row inmate who is struggling to reintegrate to society while at the same time working as a investigator for the nonprofit that helped overturn his conviction.

After stopping to help brothers Duane and Steven Bronson late one night, Franky Dast is eventually arrested, convicted and sent to death row for their horrific murders.  Eight years later, after his tireless work on his appeals and aided by the Justice Now Iniative, his conviction has been overturned and Franky has been released from prison.  Franky might be no longer incarcerated, but many people, including his brother Jared and Bill Higby, the detective who arrested him, have no doubt that he killed the teenagers. After Bill is arrested for shooting and killing Joshua Skooner, his neighbor and son of prominent judge Eric Skooner, Franky is gleeful about his nemesis’s plight.  However, he quickly comes to the conclusion that Bill might be innocent and Franky’s subsequent investigation unexpectedly leads back to the Bronson brothers’ murders.

Franky might no longer be physically in prison, but he is not exactly free from the effects of his incarceration.  He vacillates between the highest of highs and the lowest of lows as he tries to adjust to his new life. Despite his adjustment issues, he jumps headlong into working for the Justice Now Iniative where he goes to extreme lengths to help exonerate prisoners who have been wrongly convicted. Franky is highly intelligent and relentless in his pursuit of the truth but his impulsivity and volatility do not always result in the best decisions. He refuses to take no for an answer in his zeal to find answers and Franky frequently skirts the boundaries of respectable behavior when confronted with recalcitrant witnesses.

Monument Road is a well-executed mystery that takes a stunning turn when Franky uncovers evidence that hints at shocking corruption and wrongdoing at the highest level in the justice system. Franky is a complex character who is surprisingly sympathetic despite his erratic behavior and ill-thought out decisions. The plot is engaging and Michael Wiley brings the novel to an action packed conclusion. This first installment in the Franky Dast Mystery series is sure to be a hit with fans of the genre.

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Filed under Contemporary, Franky Dast Mystery Series, Michael Wiley, Monument Road, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, Severn House Publishers, Suspense

March 29, 2017 · 11:57 pm

Review: Betrayed by Karen E. Olson

Title: Betrayed by Karen E. Olson
Black Hat Thriller Book Three
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Length: 224 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Computer hacker Tina Adler discovers that her true enemy could be someone terrifyingly close to home in this cunningly-plotted tale of identity and suspense.

Framed for ordering a hit on mobster Tony DeMarco, Tina Adler is forced to re-enter the shadowy world of computer hacking she thought she’d left behind. In order to clear her name, she reluctantly joins an FBI team led by her old flame, Zeke Chapman, tasked with scouring the deep web to unearth DeMarco’s darkest secrets.

The trail will lead Tina to the person who framed her – but it may also reveal other secrets, secrets she would rather not know. DeMarco may, in fact, be the least of Tina’s worries. Could her true enemy be someone much closer to home?

Review:

Betrayed, the third installment in Karen E. Olson’s Black Hat Thriller series, former hacker Tina Adler (aka Nicole Jones, Susan McQueen and Helen White) must return to Miami in order to discover who is framing her for ordering a hit on mobster Tony DeMarco. With FBI Agent Zeke Chapman at her side, Tina confronts the ghosts of her past while trying to decide whom she can trust during this latest investigation. This newest addition to this fantastic series easily stands on its own, but I highly encourage readers to read the first two novels as well.

Tina’s attempt to eke out a normal life is once again interrupted when FBI agents show up at the bike shop where she works on Cape Cod.  Ready to flee once she is released after questioning, Tina is dismayed when she finds Zeke waiting for her. Stunned to discover the laptop she gave to him a month earlier has evidence linking her to the hit on Tony, she has no choice but to accompany Zeke back to her former hometown.  Upon their arrival, she is unhappy to learn Zeke wants her to work alongside the team of hackers he has assembled to try to trace the person (or persons) responsible for the frame up.  Tina also wants to try to uncover the identity of  “the shadow” who previously hacked into her computer and demanded a hefty ransom from her.  Uncomfortable working with Zeke’s group, Tina tries to find a safe place to work on her own and she soon uncovers information that rouses her suspicions and leaves her wondering whom she can trust.

Tina’s hacking skills are much sharper now she is back in the game. Realizing the answers might lie in her very distant past, she returns to where everything started.  Armed with a nifty device that enables her to gain access to other people’s computers, she manages a quick glimpse of what she believes to be the hacker’s computer.  What she sees during her brief foray raises some very uncomfortable misgivings about the one person Tina thought she could trust.

With her location quickly compromised, Tina is again on the run when Zeke unexpectedly arrives on the scene.  Barely escaping unscathed after a hair raising car chase, they are soon deep are soon immersed in the Dark Web as they continue their efforts to find the hacker who is leaving evidence that implicates both of them in numerous illegal activities. Time is not on their side as they desperately try to uncover the truth about who is behind the various money transfers, fake e-mails and messages and the hit on Tony DeMarco.

Betrayed is another fast-paced and compelling addition to Karen E. Olson’s Black Hat Thriller series.  Old and new fans will have no problem keeping up with Tina and Zeke as they race to find the hacker who is setting them up for a plethora of misdeeds.  On the dark web where evil lurks behind anonymous screen names and impossible to trace IP addresses, will Zeke and Tina  unmask the hacker’s identity before it is too late?

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Filed under Betrayed, Black Hat Thriller Series, Contemporary, Karen E. Olson, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, Severn House Publishers, Suspense, Thriller

June 14, 2016 · 11:57 pm

Review: Shadowed by Karen E. Olson

Title: Shadowed by Karen E. Olson
Black Hat Thriller Book Two
Publisher: Severn House Publishers; First World Publication edition
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 224 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Computer hacker ‘Nicole Jones’ finds herself on the run from an unknown enemy in this tense and twisting novel of identity and suspense

The computer hacker formerly known as Nicole Jones is now living as Susan McQueen on a remote island in Quebec, Canada. She is living a quiet life, working as an artist – but she has not given up her computer. While in an online chatroom, she sees a shadow – someone is inside her laptop, watching her every move, and somehow knows exactly who she is.

Afraid that he will track her down, Susan is on the run again – but from whom? Is it the FBI or someone associated with her past crime sixteen years before? Making her way across the border and back to the USA, some unsettling discoveries make Susan realize that she won’t be able to escape her past a second time.

Review:

In Shadowed, the second installment in Karen E. Olson’s Nicole Jones Mystery Series, ex-hacker fugitive Nicole Jones is now living under the alias Susan McQueen.  Her idyllic life on a remote island in Quebec comes to an abrupt end when she clicks on a malicious link and her computer is taken hostage by someone demanding a million bitcoins.  The hacker turned artist must turn to an anonymous online collaborator, known as Tracker, to help her uncover the identity of the shadow.  When Susan tries to purchase a new computer from a friend, he calls in a cybercrime expert to help her get rid of the malware.  Spooked after discovering the expert works with the police, Susan once again goes on the run but can she outwit the people who are chasing her?

Sixteen years ago, Susan helped her lover steal millions of dollars from mobster Tony DeMarco.  The pair fled to Paris where Susan shot the FBI agent assigned to her case.  She returned to the states where she lived off the grid until her past caught up with her, forcing her to reinvent herself once again.  Unable to resist visiting a chat room on the dark web, Susan finds herself in trouble after clicking on a link she thinks is from Tracker.  Not knowing whom to trust, she attempts to learn who is behind the ransom demand on her own, but her hacking skills are still a little rusty so she has no choice but to ask Tracker for help. 

In real life, Susan grows suspicious when a fellow painter continues turning up everywhere she goes and in an effort to evade him, she knows it is time for her disappear once again.  In the midst of her frantic attempt to figure out where to go next, Susan continues trying to come up with the million dollar bitcoin ransom in order to protect her friends.  A mysterious message about Tracker raises a few suspicions, but with no one else to turn to, she continues working with him.  Susan finally escapes from Quebec, but will she be any safer once she arrives at her new destination?

Susan has good instincts so she immediately goes to ground once she believes that she is being followed.  A little slow to research the person chasing her, she is stunned when she uncovers his identity.  Unsure what connection he might have to the ransomware attack, Susan immediately begins altering her appearance and finds out of the way places to hide.  Spotting him with someone that is eerily familiar to her, Susan finds help from a very unexpected source and she finally makes her escape while continuing to work with Tracker to uncover who is behind the ransom demand.  With nothing but her two computers and her backpack containing a few changes of clothes and her emergency cash, Susan is poised to start over in a new place with a new identity when she gets the shock of her life once she returns to the US.  Tension mounts after she is presented with a stunning opportunity to put her past truly behind her but will Susan accept the surprising offer?

Shadowed is a fast-paced and adrenaline-filled addition to the Nicole Jones Mystery Series.  Karen E. Olson once again delivers a riveting mystery with an intriguing premise that is quite relevant in today’s world.  Susan/Nicole is an intelligent capable heroine who is immensely appealing and easy to root for despite her criminal past.  The storyline is quite fascinating and although some of the computer jargon might be a bit confusing to the casual computer user, the technical aspect is relatively easy to follow.  Although most of the loose ends are completely wrapped up, a jaw-dropping revelation at the novel’s end will leave readers impatiently awaiting the next book in the series.

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Filed under Black Hat Thriller Series, Contemporary, Karen E. Olson, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, Severn House Publishers, Shadowed, Suspense