Final Warning

Written By Sandra Robbins

Review By Nike Chillemi

Publisher: Steeple Hill (August 11, 2009)

ISBN-13: 978-0373443529

Chilling emails in rhyme taunting “let’s play a game” and a serial killer is on a roll. What more could you ask for in a thriller?

In this fast-paced, action packed romantic suspense, local radio talk show host, C.J. Tanner’s skin crawls. She’s received the first email riddle in a demented killer’s deadly game. In round one, Fala, the killer, demands C.J. solve the riddle in order to stop the first murder.

No matter how hard she tries, she’s unable to do that and is horrified when the first victim of this sick game is her elderly next-door neighbor. Without getting graphic, author Robbins lets the reader know the murder scene is gruesome through the reactions of the officers who congregate at the crime scene. C.J.’s heart breaks, recalling the cups of tea she shared with the gregarious older woman. Then the killer phones in as a caller on C.J’s radio show, his high-pitched, screeching voice taunting her and blaming her for the old woman’s death. By this time, I was hooked.

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Comes A Horseman

Written By Robert Liparulo

Reviewed By Nike Chillemi

Can you believe there are people who anticipate and await the coming of the antichrist, who will do anything they can to facilitate his arrival, and who will rejoice when he gets here? And these people are rich and powerful?

FBI profiler Brady Moore and special agent Alicia Wagoner, in Comes A Horseman , run right into this chilling scenario as they hunt down a crazed, butchering serial killer who has crossed state lines. In these grisly Pelletier murders, a pack of wolf dogs restrains and savages victims while the killing blow is made with an ancient-type war axe. The book is fast paced, seat of your pants stuff. Don’t let the length put you off. It’s a page turner.

Brady and Alicia cannot find a link between the murders, except for the method used. Emotionally damaged and still mourning his wife’s death, Brady realizes he is a target of the killer and moves his young son to a safe place. The tender scenes between Brady and his son give us a break from the terror and tension. Then it’s back into the soup.

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Old Dogs

Movie Review By Nike Chillemi

I couldn’t believe my ears! I tuned into one of those morning shows as the perky blonde sitting between two handsome newsreaders discussed current movies. They gave thumbs up to one about cannibalism — as well as to one with a lesbian character, an adulterous affair, and physical violence within a family. Why am I surprised? They said Old Dogs was simplistic in its humor.

That’s not what Spence thought. I don’t personally know Spence. He’s about eleven and was sitting in front of our family, the Friday after Thanksgiving, laughing his head off at all the movie’s high jinks. It was the four o’clock show, the theatre was packed with preteen kids, and during coming attractions another boy called out stuff like, “Hey Spence, what kind of candy did you get?” You get an idea of the crowd.

Old Dogs gave me the feeling it was the cinematic child of a cross between Caddyshack and The Parent Trap. Dan (Robin Williams) and Charlie (John Travolta) were childhood chums who stayed friends and started a successful sports marketing company together. Dan, the fussbudget numbers guy, went through a divorce and the wilder Charlie took him to “celebrate” in Florida. Under-the-influence Dan got a huge tattoo on his chest and married Vicki (Kelly Preston), a complete stranger.

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Inescapable by Nancy Mehl

By Nike Chillemi –

 

Elizabeth Lynn “Lizzie” Engel grew up in Kingdom, Kansas, an Old Order Mennonite community hidden away in a remote rural area. She became pregnant as a teen, and her stern and unbending father, an elder in the church, planted a seed of shame in her. The youth who was the father of her baby was promptly whisked away by his parents, and Lizzie didn’t know what had become of him. Not able to take any more condemnation, Lizzie ran away with her baby to Kansas City.

 

Fast forward, five years later. Lizzie is about to lose her job at a women’s shelter as she’s been accused of stealing money. There’s also someone stalking her and sending her threatening notes. Afraid her young daughter, Charity Lynn, will be taken from her if she’s arrested, Lizzie flees, quite reluctantly, back to her home town. When she gets there, she finds her father is as unforgiving as he had always been. So, she takes a job as a waitress in the local diner where she and Charity are allowed to live in rooms above the eatery.

 

Charity asks why her grandfather never comes back to the village of Kingdom looking for her. So, once settled in the village, both mother and young daughter have to face the same issue. Both have the same question. Does my daddy love me?

 

I’m used to being faced with a body at the start of a murder mystery, but in this story, the murder takes place well into the story. I didn’t find that to be a problem as it’s seamlessly woven into the plotline.

 

Lizzie’s character is crafted in such a way that I felt as if I actually new her. A number of secondary characters came vividly to life as well. The author describes Mennonite traditions, apparel, the scenery of rural Kansas, as well ferocious winter storms in such detail the reader can clearly picture them. Yet, meticulously depicting all of these elements doesn’t negatively impact the pace of the novel.

 

I hate to call this a bonnet book, as it doesn’t resemble in any way the usual Lancaster, PA type of romance story. There is tension between the religious Mennonite community and the outside world, with church elders doing what they can to keep outsiders out, or at least their influence. This is to be expected. There is also a mini-revolt within the church itself: legalism vs. grace. Several of the more strident members of the church come off as slightly deranged, yet they are depicted in such a way as to allow the reader to see their humanity, as well as some of their past hurts.

 

A sweet romance begins to bud. Noah, a young elder in the church who is part of the contingent who believes in God’s grace, has loved Lizzie since childhood and is finally not too shy to say so. Just as this romance is taking off, the author throws a curve ball into the mix. That curve ball itself turns out not to be what it at first seems to be This is a story that can be enjoyed by readers from 12 to 112.

Works of Darkness by V.B. Tenery

By Nike Chillemi –

 

Police Chief Matt Foley’s beloved, deceased wife Mary was best friends with Sara Bradford, but Matt doesn’t like Sara or trust her. In fact, deep down, he thinks she’s guilty of having murdered her own husband. He just hasn’t been able to prove it…yet.

Sara is very attractive, smart, capable, and loving. She adopts two orphaned children who were involved in her church’s bus program bringing under privileged kids to Sunday school. Yet, she’s by no means invincible. She has fears and makes mistakes. She comes off like a real living, breathing person.

Then a small child’s body is found on the grounds of what used to be a Christian campground. This missing persons’ cold-case is twenty-five years old. The little girl who is now known to have been murdered was Sara’s childhood neighbor and best friend. In fact Sara was the last person to have seen little Penny Pryor alive. Could Sara have a valuable memory locked away the police can use to solve this heinous crime? That’s what Chief Foley wonders. This heart wrenching cold case opens terrible old wounds for the child’s parents and those who knew the family, including Sara’s aunt.

There are no shortage of plot twists and turns, and they’re done in a seamless and believable way. Sara is buffeted by brutal corporate maneuvering at her job. Then she becomes a target and her physical safety is in jeopardy. She’s on a roll…a downward roll. Matt Foley begins to have sympathy for her plight but can’t let go of his conviction that she’s a murderess.

Local town politics and corporate politics is portrayed in a knowing way. The way upwardly mobile characters jockey for position and advantage is convincing. They definitely make a direct hit below the belt when somebody suggests Matt married his somewhat older wife for her money. Matt is hurt and angered when he hears of this ugly rumor, not for himself, but because he thinks these allegations might mar Mary’s memory and legacy.

The author supplies credible red herrings. In fact, she had me believing a certain character I liked a great deal was viable as the child’s murderer and the one behind Sara’s physical danger. Then the author pulls in the other lose end, Sara’s husband’s murder, in a manner I was not expecting.

While Chief Foley has nothing but mistrust for Sara, a lop-sided romantic triangle of sorts is unfolding. The cantankerous female medical examiner has her eyes on Matt (or should we say, her hooks out), but Matt is still grieving his wife’s death from cancer. Meanwhile, Matt’s friend, the county sheriff has a hankering for the lady ME.

The author brings the novel to a close with a crescendo. But it appears as if the villain might be victorious. Then in a most unexpected way, he is defeated.

 

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