Into the Fire

Caught in another . . . Whirlwind

                  

L. T. Ryan and Brian Shea bring Book 8 in the Rachel Hatch Series titled Whirlwind. 

In the aftermath of the loss of a beloved team member in Aftershock, Hatch is called to a private meeting with her boss, one her team member Cruise, who's healing from his injury in the Alaska fiasco, is surprised not to be invited too. Defining Cruise and Hatch's relationship is still, after all this time, non-committal. Her boss needs a personal favor and asks Hatch if she'd be willing to find a missing niece he just found out he has from his estranged brother in a small town in Tennessee. He wants Hatch to do her sleuthing but to engage and pass all information to the local law enforcement. She agrees to go and will be undercover as an online investigative reporter to find out why this young girl went missing from a strange cult in the small town. 

Meanwhile in another small town, a young man (Billy) walks into the local hardware store and empties a gun into the back of a 72-year-old customer and then remains motionless and speechless until he's taken into custody. Turns out he's autistic and only spoke one sound. That word gave Sheriff Savage what he needed to know as to a motive. 

Many years ago, Billy and his sister went for a walk in the forest, and when neither of them returned, he was found alone.

It's tornado season in Tennessee, and it just so happens that as Hatch's current and Savage's cold case intersect, they're brought into an unexpected emotional collision during the actual whirlwind, but Hatch can't deny her life story still needs to be ironed out before she can commit to Cruise or Savage.   

Between the strange cult with a typically suspicious cult leader and the murderous kid who can't talk, the story richochets back and forth between discoveries and locations, finally arriving at some justice before more killing takes place. 

What doesn't get justice or resolution is the longing between Hatch and Savage. 

(Some profanity.) 

 

Father, again and again, I thank you for the various talents you've given to writers. Only you give good and perfect gifts. May each one know who has given them their talents and respond accordingly. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

  

 

Sunday's Offerings

 

     The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." 

 

Luke 16:14-15 (NIV) 

Friday Five

                       

 

 

Here are five random questions for you: 

What five things are a must for you before you leave your house? 

What do you expect from the people you call your friends?

What kinds of music do you prefer?

What do you consider your two best character traits? 

What is one of your favorite TV series - past or present? 

 

Father, thank you for all the beauty, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. We will never deserve you, Jesus. Holy Spirit, thank you for your patience and constant comfort. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

 

Throwback Thursday

                 

 

This is the 2004 Cobra Terminator of which Ford only made so many. Their production number is engraved right in front of the gear shift console. This is the year, car, and color of my protagonist's "other" car in my almost finished (!) WIP. It's a beauty and very fast!

 

Father, you give gifts and talents galore to everyone. You're slow to anger and abounding in love. You cause the rain to fall on the righteous and unrighteous. Your thoughts are far above our own. You are magnificent. Thank you is never enough. May I honor you in all I do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Excerpt . . . again.

I think it's time for a short excerpt (a "tease" perhaps) from the nearly finished WIP (work-in-progress). What do you think? The title: Then . . . you 

 

"He's a recluse . . . She's seeking refuge" 

 

From Chapter 5

 

Walking into the kitchen, she observed him standing over the stove, maneuvering eggs around in a pan. Dressed in black Levis without rips and another black long-sleeved T-shirt with a depiction of a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag on the back, he asked, “Hungry?” without turning around.

     “I didn’t think I was until I smelled your cooking. Now I am,” she said. “What can I do?”

     “Get us something to drink. I’ll take a glass of milk. You help yourself to whatever you want. Are you a coffee or tea drinker?”

     “Both actually, but coffee in the morning usually does it for me.”

     “I’m out right now which doesn’t happen very often. We’ll stop on the way at a stand. That okay?” He turned to look at her then.

     “You shaved your beard off,” she said without thinking, noticing the moustache remained.

     With his free hand, he rubbed his face. “Yeah, I was being lazy. Feels better this way.” He turned off the burners, grabbed the biscuits out of the oven and tilted them into a towel-lined basket. He set them and the butter on the island along with two kinds of jam he snatched from the fridge and a container of honey.

     “Here ya go,” he said, handing her a plate. He’d already set out silverware on a napkin.

     She'd poured him a glass of milk, setting it on the island and selected a small bottle of orange juice.

     “This looks delicious.”

     “Glad you think so,” he said, taking a bite of bacon. “Help yourself.”

     She buttered a warm biscuit and dabbed some honey on it, savored the taste. She put a small portion of scrambled eggs on her plate and took a strip of bacon. “This is a treat, Stone. It’s rare when I eat a real breakfast. Thank you.”

     “You’re welcome. I’m a breakfast junkie.” He shook some green Tabasco on his eggs. “Probably because I tend to eat early in the evening but rarely get to bed early. So I wake up hungry.” He stopped eating and talking and looked at her. Serious.

     “What?” she said, intimidated.

     “It’s weird talking to you. No one’s ever here. I’m surprised we’ve had a conversation.”

     “Really? You seem so easy to talk to. I wouldn’t normally admit to just anyone all the stuff I said to you last night. I mean, I did of course owe you an explanation for the intrusion, but I could’ve opted to tidy it up a bit, I guess. That didn’t even occur to me. I do apologize for being such a wreck.” She felt the color heat her face.

     He kept his eyes on her and took another bite of eggs. His stare did tend to unnerve her, but she did her best to hold his gaze.

     “Your eyes are green,” he said.

     “You walk with a limp. Your right leg. It’s permanent. Some atrophy from a serious injury.”

     “Shattered the femur. Enemy sniper. He missed his target. Should’ve been my head. Hardware keeps it together.”

     Her professionalism kicked in. “Please understand how I say this. A massage could help you. And by that, I mean it could give your musculature some stimulus to increase the circulation, the blood flow, plus there are other specific techniques which could relieve pressure areas. I would love to help you.”

     Her sincerity and business-like delivery impressed him, but she had no idea what her words actually said to him. He kept his eyes focused on her, trying not to watch her lips speaking them. He almost missed when the words ended. He continued to look her in the eyes for an extra couple of moments.

     He finished his nearly full glass of milk in one large, quick gulp. “Understand how I say this: under the circumstances it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. But, thank you.” He said it quieter than he normally spoke and with a respectful consideration to his tone.

     His look once again unnerved her while the flame consumed her entire face. She hurried and collected their plates and rinsed them in the sink.

     “Anything else you need to do before we go get your car?”

     “Brush my teeth again and I’m ready.”

 

Father, thank you is never enough for the inspiration and direction you take me in my life, my writing, my "voice". I'm always in awe of you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Tuesday Tunes

 

              One of the great ones from Sam and Dave. 

 

Father, thank you for your musicians. Music is a part of who you are. Thank you for those who honor you with their music and please reach those who have yet to realize from whom their talents come. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

 

When it's all . . . Gone Bad

                             

Gone Bad (a novella) by JB Turner is the latest in the Jon Reznick Series. 

When former Delta-operator Hunter Cain, who served with Jon Reznick, somehow manages to escape from Leavenworth, FBI Assistant Director Martha Meyerstein calls in Jon Reznick (who's just received a job offer from a friend) to help determine who organized the breakout and who besides Cain is in charge. 

Jon fought beside Cain, and he knows Cain is capable of anything, an intelligent with psychopathic tendencies trained killer. Something's going down, and the FBI and Jon have yet to figure it out even though it feels like it's imminent. They learn his two associates are Aryan Brotherhood die-hards and committed to following Cain. Reznick is his usual reckless self without a concern for the FBI's protocols. If they want answers, Jon is going to have to play dirty to get them. And he does - play dirty and gets answers.

It comes down to Meyerstein taking a stand with her boss and Homeland Security to keep Reznick involved, but thanks to Jon's insistence on an action the FBI hasn't considered, they ascertain what Cain and his buddies are up to and it's a bold endeavor which will be critical. 

If you like your thrillers to have a bold former spec ops hero who has little regard for law and order when it comes down to dire circumstances, cold-blooded killers who are psychopaths at heart, don't mind excessive profanity, and want the story to contain critical action to right the wrongs, the Jon Reznick Series is for you. 

 

Father, you know hearts and minds. You are the giver of gifts and talents. Please continue to bless JB with what he needs to keep creating. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Sunday's Offerings

 

"Do not touch my anointed ones; 

   do my prophets no harm." 

 

Psalm 105:15 (NIV) 

What happens when we're . . . Broken Together

                                              

Chad always dreamed of owning and operating his own coffee shop. When he met the coffee-hating, cocoa-loving Jenn, he made it his mission to convert her to coffee-loving, but instead she stuck to her favorite and he stuck to calling her Cocoa, and they fell in love. Prior to meeting Chad, she'd been engaged to Thomas, serious, determined, nice guy, the safe one. 

Now several years later, Chad's in prison for the murder of his beloved mentor, a murder he did not commit, and Thomas is Chad's lawyer seeking after every possibility to prove his innocence. 

Chad's and Jen's twins, their son Jason and daughter Chloe, were 10 yrs. old when their dad was imprisoned, making Jen essentially a single mom. Having exhausted every financial means to prove his innocence, they live with Jen's parents which isn't helping Jen's state of mind. 

When Jen takes the kids out for a drive to determine where they might move, they happen upon an old building with such amazing charm - at least to Jen and Chloe - that they decide to take a closer look in this tiny town that is sporting an empty "downtown" of abandoned former businesses but with new sprawling developments popping up in the near vicinity. With great imagination and gut-level renovation, they convert the old bar to Chad's Choco-Latte, fulfilling his long-ago dream. Without him. 

"Brenda S. Anderson writes authentic, gritty, life-affirming fiction that shows God at work in people’s messy lives." Her by-line gives a perfect description of the family in this story who fight through the tearing away of the husband and father, forcing changes on each of them as individuals that prove to be more difficult than any of them can imagine. 

As the possibility for his release presents itself, when evidence surfaces that definitely points to another killer, Chad can't wait to be free, but real freedom for him and his family seems to be a mirage and possibly not attainable. 

Brenda knows that this genre is not my favorite. She and one other are the only authors I read in this genre. Having said that, I would give this novel 5 stars for its truly authentic portrayal of all the facets of a family trying to cope with the stigma of having the head of their household convicted of and incarcerated for a crime he truly did not commit. Brenda has done her homework/research and this story speaks to the heartbreak, challenges at every level, the real pain and estrangement from each other and supposed friends and community. The soul-robbing experience of enduring prison while your family trudges on without you is so viscerally captured as is the aftermath of that experience. She's to be commended for painting the vivid picture of how their Christian faith is attacked and bruised through their personal and corporate ordeals and the gut-wrenching, often hopeless struggles each of them faces.  

Kudos to Brenda's daughter, Sarah, for her contributions in making the coffee and cocoa drinks reality based with creative touches.

Definitely a real read. 

 

Father, you know Brenda inside and out. You know her personal trials. Please, Lord, give her what she needs to triumph in every way during this time as only you can do. And raise up more stories just for her to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Throwback Thursday

                         

Our youngest son with our retired Thoroughbred "Honor an Eagle" out in the pasture at our former home. Eagle's in heaven and Joseph is many years older now. We love this picture of them both. 

 

Father, thank you for guarding Joseph since conception. Please continue to bless his life lived for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Wednesday Whimsy

   

                            What are you reading? 

 

Father, thank you for authors, for writing, for the wonders of creating. Every good and perfect gift comes down from you. Thank you for all of them. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Tuesday Tunes

       

I loved the Yardbirds back in the day. Saw them in person at the Eagles Auditorium in downtown Seattle. Some of the best rock 'n' roll bands appeared there. It was casual, no seating, and cheap to watch the best of the best in that venue. Incredible. 

 

Father, only you know hearts and souls. May those who've yet to meet you, Jesus, see your love for the all-encompassing, magnificent love that it is and receive the forgiveness from genuine repentance. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

 

 

When you know there's . . . No Way Back

                             

J.B. Turner's latest No Way Back presents the dilemma of Jack McNeal, a New York City cop, former detective who now works in Internal Affairs, who lost his 5 yr. old son to a ricochet bullet with extenuating circumstances five years ago and whose beloved wife from whom he's been separated for a year and a half suddenly turns up floating in the Potomac River, and it pushes Jack over the edge. 

What happens when information slowly being revealed to a by-the-book cop, one who's heard every possible reason for the actions of crooked cops and been disappointed in how sometimes the punishment doled out to them isn't real discipline at all, discovers his wife was probably murdered because she was getting too close to exposing the truth about a murdered vamp-ish socialite, who had dirt on the higher-ups in government, but was deemed a suicide just as his wife's was?

Jack McNeal is a cop's cop. His younger brother, a veteran and also a cop, has figured out sometimes the things that come up in police work require a few lines be crossed in order to ultimately get justice. Jack doesn't want to hear it until, through his quiet and lawful looking into his wife's death, he realizes not just "something" but many things don't look or feel right. When he enlists the help of one of his dad's former cop friends who's now a PI, things take a wicked turn. And when he listens to the final recording from his wife delivered to him from her attorney among other information, he knows it's up to him to prove she was murdered. Especially when he goes to her home and then strange occurrences start happening at his.

After making a bold move, threatening things come to the forefront, and things change dramatically for Jack. His brother refuses to stay out of it all, and he won't be denied his part in making things right, no matter what. And that's what it ultimately comes down to: No matter what.   

Before it's all said and done, Jack's self-evaluation causes both a shocking revelation and a certain kind of numbness in his being. 

The story captures a transformation brought about by descending levels of grief, a variation of PTSD, an evolution of reactions to incredible injustices in the upper echelons of government and the private sector, and what Jack McNeal finally determines as "no way back" to normal, to "regular" life, to even his approach to his job although he returns to his desk at the precinct. 

(My only objections in the story are some political references that allude to one side of the aisle and their actions being to the "right" when they are clearly to the "left".) 

(Extensive profanity.) 

 

Father, please continue to bless J.B.'s life and storytelling. Encourage him along the way and keep him safe from all harm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

 

Sunday's Offerings

 

As for man, his days are like grass,

   he flourishes like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,

   and its place remembers it no more.

 

Psalm 103:15-16 (NIV) 

Friday Five

                   

If I ask you for an immediate response for these 5 things - without thinking, just reacting - what would you list?

Five of your favorite books

Five colors, listing your favorite first

Five beverages you drink fairly regularly

Five greetings you use most often

Five songs you love 

Boom! Just answer quick! 

 

Father, thank you for fun, for favorite things, for feasible solutions, for fancy foods, and all kinds of funny things. Anything and everything good and perfect comes from you. Thank you for it all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Throwback Thursday

   

Our former front yard and pasture and one of our horse sheds on a winter day several years ago. Our winters rarely give us snow, especially this much (and I know to some of you this isn't much at all), but this was one of those for us. 

 

Father, you left beauty in every season all over this world. We're grateful for it all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Wednesday Wanderings . . .

   

So. I've been asked, as I'm sure many authors have been, which of my novels is my favorite. One might think that's a fairly simple question. But it's not. In fact, it's every bit as difficult to answer as being asked which novel that I've read is my favorite. Ha! 

All the "qualifiers" come out after that last inquiry. For example: Which genre? Because surely no one can expect just one answer to the "favorite" question. It's just not that simple. Ever. 

Each novel that I've written at any given time can be my favorite or lumped together with a couple of others to occupy that temporary categorization. But, realistically, I can't answer that question. I'm not a prolific author. I began this second "career" rather late in life and went completely off the charts when after 8 1/2 years I produced my first novel (Hope of Glory), a comprehensive story of middle echelon Thoroughbred horse racing. Christian Fiction. That saga was 700+ pages in excess of 400,000 words. Is it my favorite? No. Yes. Sometimes. Not. You see how this goes. 

We authors have to love what we write or why bother? I can't speak for the motivations of other authors, but I know for me I must love the characters and want to get deeper into their stories as they're revealed to me. They become my best friends. I hate saying goodbye to them, but there comes a time when they - and I - need to move on. 

So, yeah, this Wednesday I'm wandering around "the favorite novel" topic and really, really love my new WIP. Sigh. 

 

Father, thank you again for every story, every character, every word. Apart from you, I can do nothing. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Tuesday Tunes

         

                     

Is it? More than a feeling? You decide. One of Boston's better known songs. 

 

Father, you know hearts and our human weaknesses to always go by our feelings. We're always desperate for you, for your truth. Help us all to find it in you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

 

The torture of when he's . . . Left to Lure

                               

Left to Lure is Book 12 in this Adele Sharp Series by prolific author Blake Pierce. 

Left to Prey left Agent Adele Sharp (FBI/Interpol/DGSI) confronting her mom's, her best friend and mentor's, and her former fiancé's brutal murderer at the police station in Paris after he turned himself in knowing the 10-year statute of limitations had passed without his arrest for brutally murdering her mother. Left to Lure opens with Adele sitting across from the under-sized psychopath who leers and grins at her on the other side of the table at police headquarters in Paris. The police have not been able to gather evidence enough to hold him on any of the murders, his latest being that of Adele's former fiancé in California. She knows he's committed all of them and more, and that he also attempted to kill her partner Agent John Renee and her dad, who could both identify him as having attacked them but without any evidence. She blames herself for all of their deaths even though she was just a child when she discovered the bloody, carved up mess he'd made of her beloved mother. 

The fact that his latest ploy is to speak with her directly, to taunt her, to revel in the fact that he's the victor of their last battle and still plans to do more damage in her life, is just about more than she can endure. Dark thoughts consume her desire to somehow rid the earth of the brutal creature, and when John vocalizes her thoughts hinting at an offer, she tries to reel her emotions in to the place of being a better human than the criminal who haunts her every moment. She finds herself consumed with finding the evidence to convict him before he's able to do any more damage, and she's terrified he'll somehow gain access to her dad again or to John.   

Their boss Foucault is leery of her emotional state and reluctantly relies on Agent Renee to assure him she's okay enough to travel to Italy with him on a case where a body is left hanging from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

Adele is running on empty. The emotional toll and horror of the murderer of people precious to her on the loose are consuming her ability to take care of herself, to focus on their case, to sleep, and at times to be civil to John who has become equally precious to her. As if she could protect him (he being former Special Forces, incredibly strong and able), that's the sole reason she agreed to accompany him on the case, but that leaves her dad to worry about back in Paris. However, Foucault has arranged for a cop to cover the house and John has called in favors from his Special Forces buddies to also watch over her dad, her dad not happy about any of it, a cop who insists he can take care of himself.  

There's no denying Adele is intermittently falling apart, and John is in a protective mode he's never fully engaged before. She hates that he's being that way with her, and he's at a loss as to why. She insists he's pitying her and to return to his "normal" semi-rude self, all the while hating how she feels, how she's unfocused, how she's treating the man she's come to deeply care for, and how she's in a frenzied state of mind over who will be next on the "Spade Killer's" list. 

Readers of the Adele Sharp Series might struggle with the in-depth emotional descriptions of Adele's mental state. Although not hard to understand, it's consistent throughout this story, and at times might feel redundant. One might wonder just how many times she can barely sleep in her pants suit and not take a shower before returning to work on the case. 

When she and John finally start putting the potential for a lead together which lands them in Spain, John expresses something very important to him which truly touches Adele's heart, but suddenly after some thought, she's horrified when she's sure she knows who the killer will go after next. The unexpected supposition and following discovery are done very well and the description covers every possible reaction of Adele's realizations of her long and painful journey.  

 

Father, you've given Blake so many stories to tell. Please continue to bless those gifts. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Sunday's Offerings

 

"I, even I, am He who blots out

    your transgressions, for my own sake,

    and remembers your sins no more."

 

Isaiah 43:25 (NIV)