The Mistress by Tim Vee may be a quick read, but it was chock full of gruesomeness. The setting is a former penal colony on Planet B in the Proxima Centauri system, where Gravitite, a valuable ore is being mined. The descendants of the now dead and gone inmates are treated as slaves, harvesting the ore. We have the haves and the have nots.
The commanders mistress is caught in the middle of secrets, conspiracy, and danger. Sometimes you have to make a stand. Will she do what is demanded from her? Will it cost her her life?
I never saw the ending coming and I love it.
My thanks go out to Tim Vee for the opportunity to read another one of his fantastic stories.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The mistress of an important military police (Milpol) commander is pulled into a world of espionage, corporate tyranny, and danger.
The story is set at a former penal colony on Planet B in the Proxima Centauri system, where the descendants of inmates live as slave quarry workers to the powerful Kantary Corporation, under Milpol control, extracting the valuable ore Gravitite that powers interstellar travel.
Powerful forces are working simultaneously to hide and expose the existence of the slave planet, with the commander’s mistress caught in the middle.
Tim works in digital marketing in Toronto and is well-traveled, having visited over 80 countries. When he is not working or writing he likes to spend time with his family and German Shepherd – and to go cycling.
Tim has written ten books; The Secret Policemen and The Secret Service – both dystopian dark comedies; as well as seven science fiction novels – Extinction, Annabelle, Fission, The Children of the Third Reich, The Child of Mars, and The Children of Andaalwaald.
Tim has also written Magpie – a dark and intense journey into the world of international espionage and terrorism.
Tim mostly enjoys writing transgressive fiction – mainly about aliens and psychopaths.
The eye catching cover and title for I Don’t Wish You Well by Jumata Emill made me curious. You can say curiosity killed the cat, because Pryce Cummings, a podcaster and aspiring journalist, starts his own investigation into Moss Pointe, Louisiana’s Trojan mask killings and someone wants to keep the secrets buried. Did they really catch the killer? There are many who believe they had convicted an innocent man, and the deeper Pryce dug, the more he is convinced they got it wrong.
Moss Pointe is a small town with small minded people. Church and football were worshiped. Being gay in a racist town had Pryce struggling to keep his sexuality secret, at least until he left for college, where he felt free to explore.
Pryce gets help from an unlikely source, free spirited Izzy. He wears his gayness in the open. Pryce slowly begins to understand what he has sacrificed to keep his secret.
“That paranoia hasn’t drained you yet? God, I felt suffocated under it when I lived here.”
Halfway through the pace picked up. Bodies fell and secrets were exposed. All the questions raised by vigilante justice arise. I love thought provoking books, and I Don’t Wish You Well by Jumata Emill had me wondering…what would I do if I walked a mile in someone’s shoes?
My thanks go out to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read I Don’t Wish You Well by Jumata Emill.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A teen investigative podcaster decides to dig into the truth behind a grisly murder spree that rocked his hometown five years ago, but soon discovers that this cold case is still hiding deadly secrets—in this chilling thriller perfect for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.
Five years ago, the infamous Trojan murders turned the small town of Moss Pointe, Louisiana into a living nightmare. Four teen boys—all star players on Moss Pointe High’s football team—were murdered one after the other by a Trojan-mask wearing killer.
Eventually, the murderer was unmasked. But the community has never forgotten—and some folks in town still wonder whether the police got it right.
Eighteen-year-old Pryce Cummings is one of them. An aspiring journalist, Pryce is pretty sure he just stumbled upon evidence that throws the killer’s guilt into question. It’s the perfect story for his own podcast, and a reason to go back to the hometown he’s avoided since coming to terms with his sexuality while at college.
But in Moss Pointe, digging into the past is anything but welcome. There’s so much more to what happened in there five years ago, and Pryce is ready to crack it all wide open . . . if he lives to tell the tale.
First published January 20, 2026 by Delacorte Press
ABOUT JUMATA EMILL
Jumata Emill is a journalist who has covered crime and local politics in Mississippi and parts of Louisiana. He earned his BA in mass communications from Southern University and A&M College. He’s a Pitch Wars alum and a member of the Crime Writers of Color. When he’s not writing about murderous teens, he’s watching and obsessively tweeting about every franchise of the Real Housewives. Jumata lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is the author of The Black Queen and Wander in the Dark.
The first sentence of the book wrapped it’s hooks around me and it didn’t take long for me to be hanging on every word.
I love books where the characters are forced to face life altering decisions, so Songbird Of The Sorrows by Braidee Otto was a wonderful choice. This romantic fantasy will challenge Princess Aella. She is torn from the palace, the only world she has ever known, and sent to the Aviary to be trained as an assassin. She is not only a princess in hiding, only a few people knowing who she really is, but she is to be trained to be a scout, a spy, an assassin, a thief, a songbird.
The rules: Don’t ask questions. Obey your orders. Respect your masters. Most of all, love no one.
“…I know the rules.” I’m just not very good at following them…
Nyssa cracks me up. She’s Aella’s friend and knows her true identity. She will stick by her side, no matter what the outcome will cost her.
Forbidden love. Does that peak your interest? It did mine. I love to see how the characters figure out what is most important in their life and then find a course of action that will allow them to get it. I love to watch characters grow and develop as fully fledged characters.
Aella is tasked with competing in the bridal trials held by the Prince of Eritrea…as herself.
I love when an author creates a world I want to get lost in. Where the characters have me holding my breath in anticipation, waiting to find out what happens next. The adventure is filled with danger and betrayal. Will there be war?
OMG…talk about a cliffhanger. I can hardly wait for the next book, Myths of the Empyrieos.
I am so glad I saw this on NetGalley and grabbed a copy for myself.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
An outcast princess turned spy embarks on a mission to infiltrate a rival kingdom, but the secrets she uncovers force her to decide whether to follow orders or defy them.
Ask no questions. Obey your orders. Respect your masters. But most of all, love no one.
Spy. Thief. Princess. Songbird.
Princess Aella was ousted from the Palace of Sorrows as a child, shattering her world and forcing her to abandon the truth of her royal lineage. Instead, she was raised in The Aviary, which disguises itself as a school for orphaned children but is actually a secret order designed to train its students as spies for an intelligence network embedded throughout the Empyrieos.
Now twenty-three years old and having completed her final tests, Aella is summoned to join Alpha Flight, the Aviary’s elite team of assassins that’s led by none other than her former flame, Raven. Everything about him calls to her—he’s brave, loyal, and lethal. But is Raven worth breaking the rules and risking everything she’s worked so hard to achieve?
Before she can decide, the Alpha Flight team is sent on a dangerous mission that tests Aella’s resolve in every way. Her role is crucial and she must assume her former title of Princess of the Sorrows, the identity she once had to forsake, to compete in the bridal trials held by the Prince of Eretria. As old sparks reignite and the harsh realities of the realm reveal themselves, the mission begins to unravel, and Aella must decide if she is brave enough to disobey her superiors in order to do what she believes is right.
Songbird of the Sorrows is the first book in Myths of the Empyrieos, an epic romantic fantasy series that follows a feisty heroine through trials, a perilous heist, court intrigue, kingdom politics, and a journey of self-discovery, true love, and redemption.
A self-proclaimed hopeless romantic, Braidee Otto combines her academic background in Literary Studies with a deep passion for storytelling to create heartfelt, immersive narratives. Songbird of the Sorrows is the first installment in her debut adult romantic fantasy series, Myths of the Empyrieos. She lives in Adelaide, South Australia with her partner, two beloved dogs, and a cat that appeared in her backyard on the winter solstice.
I will start off by saying that Caged In Desire by Sadie Winchester is recommended for those eighteen and over. When you read the sexy scenes, you will know why.
Caged In Desire by Sadie Winchester is a story about gods and godesses and I loved it. It has a very pretty cover. We meet Charlee Amoretti, who is better known as Cupid. It’s Valentine’s Day, so she is happily delivering the Double Tap, where two hearts will beat as one. She knows it will never happen for her…When she meets a grouchy Eryx Nightvale, the God of Discord, both their lives will be changed forever.
The story may be a quick read, but it is full of love and laughs. That twist at the end…I love it! Makes me want more of Sadie Winchester’s world of gods and godesses.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Born among the gods and bound for eternity as a matchmaker to the mortals, my life has been dedicated to pairing hearts and souls. But these powers come at a high cost. By bonding couples together, I’ve been robbed of having that same connection with another.
Valentine’s Day has come around, as it always does, filling people with a deep desire to find true love. And just when I think this will be another successful year, I find myself on the doorstep of a man whose heart and life have been cast in darkness.
Eryx Nightvale isn’t just any man—he’s the god of discord, everything I’m not, and he’s determined to break everything I represent.
Now I’m caged, my heart and body trapped behind bars. Will I be able to charm my captor into opening the lock keeping me prisoner? Or will we both be lost to the shattered remains of our own making?
*This book is intended for mature audiences 18+ years. Please check the trigger and content warnings on the author’s website.*
Genre: Enemies To Lovers, Fantasy, Fiction, Mythology, Romance
162 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 2, 2026
ABOUT SADIE WINCHESTER
A dark romance author, Sadie Winchester is looking forward to sharing the stories living in her head rent-free with the rest of the world. She writes across a variety of sub-genres, including mafia romance and paranormal romance.
During her high school years, she fell in love with writing short stories which continued on/off into adulthood. Finally, she decided to pursue her dream in 2023, and the rest is history.
Sadie lives in the Pine Barrens with her husband and son. When she’s not reading and writing, she enjoys spending time outdoors, sipping local brews, and binge-watching her favorite shows.
I have been reading J D Robb’s and Nora Robert’s work for many years now, and she has never let me down. That makes it easy to snatch a copy of one of her books whenever I see it. I want to thank NetGalley for my copy.
“You’re here. No dead bodies.” “Night’s young,” Eve said.
I love the Eve Dallas and Roarke stories. Eve is a homicide police lieutenant and Roarke is a retired billionaire thief. When murder and a hidden safe holding many valuable objects is discovered, Eve is on the case. Roarke’s expertise will come in handy. Roarke’s past can sometimes make Eve’s life more complicated, but she couldn’t be sorry about it. I’m glad, because they make an intriguing couple.
I was waiting for something to happen, and now, we’re off and running.
The year is 2061, and while most things are the same, there are some things that bode well for the future. Such as, the AutoChef. Hungry? How about a burger from the AutoChef? Thirsty? How about a tube of Pepsi? I love it, seeing I am not a very good cook and a little on the lazy side when it comes to preparing food. And prison? How about an off planet cage for criminals?
J D Robb doesn’t waste any time setting the hook for her futuristic suspense, In Death, thriller series. The pacing makes the story flow smoothly, and the mystery growing. Stolen In Death may be J D Robb’s 62nd book in the series, but it still has a lot of bite.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A violent death and a vault of stolen treasures has Eve Dallas struggling to solve crimes old and new in the latest thriller in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series.
A blow to the head with a block of amethyst has left multibillionaire Nathan Barrister dead―while nearby, a vault, its door ajar, sits filled with priceless paintings, jewelry, and other treasures. Lieutenant Eve Dallas’s husband, Roarke―who misspent his youth in Ireland as a scrappy thief―recognizes at least two stolen pieces among the hoard. The crime scene suggests a burglar caught in the act. But only one item seems to be missing.
Then it’s revealed that the vault had actually belonged to the victim’s late father―and no one in the household knew it was there until a recent remodeling project exposed it. To protect the family name and business, they explain to Eve, they’d been looking for a way to return the ill-gotten gains anonymously and avoid the police. But now the police are all over their elegant house, and have a bigger, bloodier mystery to solve.
By all accounts, Nathan Barrister was a good man, a generous employer, a devoted husband and father. As for his father―he clearly had secrets. Now it’s up to Eve and her team to find out if those secrets got Nathan killed―and if it was a crime of passion or revenge.
Publication February 3, 2026 by St. Martin’s Press
Series: In Death #62
ABOUT J D ROBB
J.D. Robb is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling In Death series and the pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts. The futuristic suspense series stars Eve Dallas, a New York City police lieutenant with a dark past. Initially conceived as a trilogy, readers clamored for more of Eve and the mysterious Roarke. Stolen in Death (St. Martin’s Press, February 2026) will be the 62nd entry in the series.
I love stories about serial killers, but The Profiler’s Daughter by Sabrina Wade is a bit different. Alexandra Monroe is an FBI trainer. Her father had been a famous FBI profiler and she was following in his footsteps. During a training exerciase, she comes across a cold case that was never solved, three missing women from Midland State Psychiatric Hospital.
Alexandra had a past she wanted to keep buried. I love damaged characters and she carries a heavy load. It might be what makes her so good at her job. She wants answers and her persistence will prevail. She will face her demons and come out the other side whole. Answers will be found and they will come from a surprising source. The danger will come from an unexpected villain and I do love surprises.
When I began reading, Alexandra made me think of Clarissa, from the Hannibal series. And…we do have a serial killer that has her in his sights. What will he do with her, if he gets the opportunity? After all, his is locked up….for now.
How about a little romance? Just enough to round out the story, hitting all the elements that I love in a story like The Profiler’s Daughter by Sabrina Wade.
I was quickly drawn into The Profiler’s Daughter by Sabrina Wade. It was more than I expected and it kept me turning the pages the deeper I got into the story. The suspense rose as Alexandra faced her past, up front and personal. I wondered who would betray her and Sabrina Wade did a good job of keeping the doubt alive…was it him…or him…or someone else entirely? I was completely satisfied with the ending and want to congratulate Sabrina Wade for a job well done.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
HER FATHER HUNTED MONSTERS. NOW ONE IS WAITING FOR HER.
Quantico, Virginia. 1990.
Alexandra (Alex) Monroe is an FBI trainee whose father was a famous FBI profiler from the late 70s and early 80s.
But during a forensics exercise in the FBI’s cold case archive, Alex stumbles on a file bearing her father’s three missing women from Midland State Psychiatric Hospital in Chicago, 1975–76.
No bodies. No answers.
Buried in the interviews is a detail that makes her blood run cold, a thread that ties the case to something far too close to home.
And when Alex is chosen to accompany an agent into live inmate interviews, she’s given a chance her father never Look the monster in the eye, and find out what really happened.
With the past closing in and new evidence emerging from the DNA lab, Alex must decide who to trust, what to believe, and how far she’s willing to go to finish the work that shattered her family.
Because the truth about her father’s case isn’t just buried in the files.
It’s been waiting for his daughter.
Genre: Police Procedural, Psychological
390 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 21, 2026
ABOUT SABRINA WADE (from Amazon)
Sabrina is a retail pharmacist from the Midwest who has always loved mystery and suspense movies and books. She’s been writing poetry and short stories since grade school and is really excited to start this publishing journey! She hopes to one day meet her favorite screenwriter/producer, M. Knight Shyamalan.
She loves National Parks, hot tubs in cold weather, searching for seashells on the beach, unsweet tea, and chocolate mixed with peanut butter. She lives in Missouri with her husband, three kids, rescue pit bull mix, and tuxedo cat.
I am familiar with the authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, but have not read any of their work recently, so it was a great surprise to see Pendergast: The Beginning up for grabs on NetGalley. I get an introduction to Pendergast through the experience of his first case. And what a whopper of a case it is.
FBI Special Agent Dwight Chambers’ life has fallen into a shamble, and, on top of that, he is assigned a new agent as his partner, A X L Pendergast. When Pendergast pulls a stunt, they are told to go work on something and stay away from the office. Pendergast loves the opportunity to work on a cold case that caught his attention. Neither him nor Chambers could have foreseen what was to come…and I wasn’t either.
Pendergast is a quirky character, and I love him. He sees more than meets the eye, and he will need every bit of his inner sight to battle evil. Why would a person as rich as Pendergast, want to be an FBI agent? You will need to read the story to find out why. It will test all his skills.
Chambers was a puzzle to me and I will solve it…maybe. Still, at the end, I am not sure what to make of him. Is he clueless, gullible?
The villains are awesome, and I mean that in the worst possible way. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have created some of the most intriguing characters. None of them are perfect in any way.
Wow. I knew some things before they happened. I have read so many books, it is hard to totally surprise me, but that ending. Fantastic. I think I have read some of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s work, but I will definitely be reading more, now that he is in my sights.
4 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
From the #1 New York Times bestselling duo Preston and Child comes the Agent Pendergast origin story—a golden opportunity for longtime fans and new readers to learn about Agent Pendergast’s strange and shocking first case.
It only took six months for the life of Special Agent Dwight Chambers to crumble around him. First, he lost his partner, and then, tragically, his wife. Returning to work at the New Orleans Field Office, Chambers is dismayed to find himself saddled with mentoring a brand new FBI agent—a certain A. X. L. Pendergast. As Chambers tries to pull himself together, his enigmatic and exasperating junior partner pulls an outrageous stunt that gets both of them suspended.
Pendergast welcomes the banishment, because it gives him the opportunity to investigate a peculiar murder in Mississippi that has captured his fancy. Chambers grudgingly goes along. What starts off as a whimsical quest swiftly turns into a terrifying pursuit, as Chambers and Pendergast uncover a string of grisly, ritualistic killings that defy any known serial killer profile.
Thanks in large part to Pendergast’s brilliance and unorthodox methods, they solve the case and find the killer… and that is when the true horror begins.
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
380 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication January 27, 2026 by Grand Central Publishing
Series: Pendergast #23
ABOUT DOUGLAS PRESTON
Douglas Preston is the author of forty books, both fiction and nonfiction, thirty-two of which have been New York Times bestsellers, with several reaching the number 1 position. He has worked as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. His first novel, RELIC, co-authored with Lincoln Child, was made into a movie by Paramount Pictures, which launched the famed Pendergast series of novels. His recent nonfiction book, THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE, is also in production as a major television series from Apple. His latest nonfiction book, THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD, tells the true story of the discovery of a prehistoric city in an unexplored valley deep in the Honduran jungle. In addition to books, Preston writes about archaeology and paleontology for the New Yorker, National Geographic, and Smithsonian magazines. He is the recipient of numerous writing awards in the US and Europe, including a shared Edgar Award and an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Pomona College. From 2019 to 2023 he served as president of the Authors Guild, the nation’s oldest and largest association of authors and journalists. Website: http://www.prestonchild.com/
ABOUT LINCOLN CHILD
Lincoln Child was born in Westport, Connecticut, which he still calls his hometown (despite the fact that he left the place before he reached his first birthday and now only goes back for weekends).
Lincoln seemed to have acquired an interest in writing as early as second grade, when he wrote a short story entitled Bumble the Elephant (now believed by scholars to be lost). Along with two dozen short stories composed during his youth, he wrote a science-fiction novel in tenth grade called Second Son of Daedalus and a shamelessly Tolkeinesque fantasy in twelfth grade titled The Darkness to the North (left unfinished at 400 manuscript pages). Both are exquisitely embarrassing to read today and are kept under lock and key by the author.
After a childhood that is of interest only to himself, Lincoln graduated from Carleton College (huh?) in Northfield, Minnesota, majoring in English. Discovering a fascination for words, and their habit of turning up in so many books, he made his way to New York in the summer of 1979, intent on finding a job in publishing. He was lucky enough to secure a position as editorial assistant at St. Martin’s Press.
Over the next several years, he clawed his way up the editorial hierarchy, moving to assistant editor to associate editor before becoming a full editor in 1984. While at St. Martin’s, he was associated with the work of many authors, including that of James Herriot and M. M. Kaye. He edited well over a hundred books–with titles as diverse as The Notation of Western Music and Hitler’s Rocket Sites–but focused primarily on American and English popular fiction.
While at St. Martin’s, Lincoln assembled several collections of ghost and horror stories, beginning with the hardcover collections Dark Company (1984) and Dark Banquet (1985). Later, when he founded the company’s mass-market horror division, he edited three more collections of ghost stories, Tales of the Dark 1-3.
In 1987, Lincoln left trade publishing to work at MetLife. In a rather sudden transition, he went from editing manuscripts, speaking at sales conferences, and wining/dining agents to doing highly technical programming and systems analysis. Though the switch might seem bizarre, Lincoln was a propeller-head from a very early age, and his extensive programming experience dates back to high school, when he worked with DEC minis and the now-prehistoric IBM 1620, so antique it actually had an electric typewriter mounted into its front panel. Away from the world of publishing, Lincoln’s own nascent interests in writing returned. While at MetLife, Relic was published, and within a few years Lincoln had left the company to write full time. He now lives in New Jersey (under protest–just kidding) with his wife and daughter.
A dilettante by natural inclination, Lincoln’s interests include: pre-1950s literature and poetry; post-1950s popular fiction; playing the piano, various MIDI instruments, and the 5-string banjo; English and American history; motorcycles; architecture; classical music, early jazz, blues, and R&B; exotic parrots; esoteric programming languages; mountain hiking; bow ties; Italian suits; fedoras; archaeology; and multiplayer deathmatching. Website: http://lincolnchild.com/
I met Keera Duggan a couple of books ago, so I am very happy to see what she is up to in Her Cold Justice by Robert Dugoni. I am quick to become invested in the characters.
John Paul Harrison, Keera’s investigator, approaches her, asking her to defend his nephew. He is accused of a double homicide. The evidence is circumstantial and the further Keera gets in the trial, the more she senses that there is something very wrong. The danger rises, the deeper they dig. A conspiracy is exposed and there are those who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets from being brought to light.
Kim Tran is the prosecutor, known for winning her courtroom brawls, but Keera is no light weight. She calls Kim out when she tries to muddy the waters by playing fast and loose with the rules. Why does she seem to anticipate what Keera will do next? Is it really because she is just that good?
Robert Dugoni’s writing unravels the story smoothly, slowly, drawing me in. The suspense and a sense of anticipation build. Her Cold Justice is one part legal, one part police procedural and one part thriller. Sure to keep your mind working, Her Cold Justice is a wonderful addition to the Keera Duggan series. Each book can stand on its own, but I like to start at the beginning so I feel I can better relate to the characters.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
To save a client accused of murder, defense attorney Keera Duggan must fight a complex web of corruption in a riveting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.
In a quiet South Seattle neighborhood, a suspected drug smuggler and his girlfriend are murdered in their home. When a young man named Michael Westbrook is accused of the brutal double homicide, his uncle JP Harrison turns to Keera Duggan to defend him. JP is Keera’s trusted investigator, and he desperately needs Keera to save his nephew against escalating odds.
The evidence is circumstantial—Michael worked with one of the victims, drugs were found in his possession, and he bolted from authorities. Ruthless star prosecutor Anh Tran has gotten convictions on much less. With the testimony of two prison informants, the case looks grave. But Keera never concedes defeat. To free her client, she must dig deep before Tran crushes both of them.
As the investigation gets more twisted with each new find, Keera is swept up in a mystery with far-reaching consequences. This case isn’t just murder. It’s looking like a conspiracy. And getting justice for Michael could be the most dangerous promise Keera has ever made.
Expected publication January 27, 2026 by Thomas & Mercer
Series: Keera Duggan #3
ABOUT ROBERT DUGONI
Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle, which has sold more than 11 million books worldwide. He is also the author of The Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and The Keera Duggan legal thriller series. He has written several stand-alone novels including the historical novels A Killing on the Hill and Hold Strong, as well as the suspense novel The 7th Canon, and Damage Control. He has written the literary novels, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell – one of Newsweek Magazine’s Best Books of All-Time and Suspense Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year, for which Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award. He has also written the critically acclaimed novel, The World Played Chess; as well as the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. His novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and a four-time winner of the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. He has also been a finalist for many other awards including the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award.
Robert Dugoni’s books are sold in more than thirty-five countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages.
The Burning Desire Dupe by James Blakely is a novel about a houseboat, The Burning Desire, in Juneau Alaska, that is burnt to the ground. Insurance investigators are brought in, and that is when we meet Luna Nightcrow.
Luna is an insurance investigator. She is fifty years old and a Cherokee. I love to see a character that is on the older side, but still manages to be able to hold her own and I do love diverse characters. She had been fired from a California fraud case, so she figured it was a great time to hop on a cruise ship heading to Juneau. She had no idea she would become embroiled in the intrigue that surrounded the destruction of The Burning Desire.
Luna runs into a familiar villain in Juneau, Casper Duppy. He thought he would have a light sentence if he was ever caught, because his crimes were on tribal land. Tough luck for him, because they would add crime on top of crime to take him out of circulation. Now he is suspected of arson.
“Meet the Sting smartphone protector stun gun.” I love it…and I want one.
“Do you want me to have a heart attack on the spot?” Stackhouse gasped.
“Don’t worry. I know CPR.” Luna tried to assure him.
James Blakely adds some lightness and humor to the death and destruction. The mystery of who burned the houseboat was not easily solved. There are plenty of suspects to go around. The danger was subtle, but I had every confidence that Luna could handle whatever came her way.
If you are looking for an intriguing mystery with some intriguing characters, you might want to give The Burning Desire Dupe by James Blakely a try.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The heat is on when a reckless chase gets insurance investigator Luna Nightcrow fired from a California fraud case. But her Alaskan cruise “vacation” becomes an even hotter mess when The Burning Desire, a houseboat turned gentleman’s club in Juneau, burns. And when its shady owner Bernie Sparks is accused of arson, the heat of passion and assassination threaten Luna and fire investigator Kelly Day’s race to find the truth. Ashes, intrigue, and innuendo abound in this not-so-quaint capital town.
Genre: Action And Adventure, Fiction, Indigenous Literature, Women’s Fiction
344 pages, Paperback
Published September 22, 2025 by Powers That Be Publishing
ABOUT JAMES BLAKELY
James Blakley was educated at Missouri Western State College and Washburn University. While at MWSC, he was a local and national award-winning columnist and co-editor of “The Griffon-News” (Associated Collegiate Press Award 1992-93).
Blakley worked 10 1/2 years as a page and as an Assistant Librarian for the River Bluffs Regional Libraries of St. Joseph, MO. He currently lives in Topeka,KS where he worked for The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library before spending several years in clerical and customer support capacities for international computer companies such as EDS and HP. Additionally, Blakley has worked in information gathering and analysis for various government agencies and programs for over a decade.
I have been reading Ken La Salle’s books for some time now. He possesses a vivid imagination and his stories make for some fabulous reading. Here’s his take on his latest novel, The Death & Life Of Arturo Delgado.
Hi Ken. It’s good to have you here today.
There comes this moment in the career of many authors. That last pitch.
I was working with an agent I respected but my book just wasn’t selling. I needed something new and hot and I came up with… werewolves? Werewolves taking over San Francisco? I don’t even like werewolves; they’re terrible on toast.
The pitch was a disaster, of course, and the agent and I parted ways amicably.
As my fiftieth birthday approached, however, I looked back on that pitch. Hidden away, beneath the werewolves and the fur and the werewolf chow were some very odd ideas. As an author, I live for odd ideas, ideas that stand out so far they pierce the veil of my worst ideas.
One such idea was my usual out of time and out of place character but with such a rough edge that it took years for me to put it into words. This is what authors do, though. They find an idea and they work it from odd, from rough, to undeniable.
That idea was: James Bond meets The Lord of The Rings.
Not literally, though. Strip away the Intellectual Property, the IP. I was more interested in deconstructing and merging the genres. So, on my fiftieth birthday, I made myself a promise, to write a nine-part space opera called The BreakThrough.
In the universe of The BreakThrough, the biggest question revolves around energy, as it always does. Those with the most power hold the most energy and understand how to travel faster than the speed of light. The lesser civilizations can only hope to travel that fast, the cost being so great you might as well acquire magic. As you might expect, our planet intersects there.
An unwell-kempt detective, Max Dedge stumbles upon a vast mystery of assassins plunging from San Francisco rooftops, a beautiful wizard who can control fire with a thought, and something called The Time of The Uniborg where all magics come together. There’s also this crystal that can either take him to new worlds or destroy this one; he’s not sure.
Single mother and restauranteur, Sue Jorgensen (the Queen of Space), tracks down the only man who can step between worlds, Max Dedge. She knows where the Earth fits in this galactic quest for magic and will use this knowledge and anything she must to save her son who is lost in a galaxy of enslaved Dreamers.
Neither of them will be safe without Arturo Delgado, however. They need the thief with the heart of a safe cracker, the only one who can be totally honest with them, the only one who can tell them exactly what they need to know. Sadly, he dies in his first book.
The BreakThrough is a gurgling, spicy stew of alien invaders, epic fantasy, social satire, romance, fun, and stand up and cheer kind of excitement that has only begun. No werewolves required.
Arturo Delgado is a jack of all (illegal) trades and a master of none. He thought of Max Dedge as a one trick pony. Since meeting Max, he has learned there is more than what meets the eye in this world. There’s aliens, magic, crystals that allow you to travel through the universe and worlds that could never be dreamed of.
In The Death And Life Of Arturo Delgado, the band gets back together again. Arturo, Max and Sue Jorgensen. Sue is looking for her son, who is still lost in the universe. Even worse, aliens are coming to take over the world. We are just pesky little critters that are in their way.
Ken La Salle has a wildly creative imagination that makes for entertaining reading. His stories are unpredictable, making each event a surprise. Half the time I don’t know whether to laugh or cry or shout at the characters. Sure makes for some fantastic reading and I always look forward to the next story.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A suitcase full of alien diamonds…
It’s everything Arturo Delgado has always wanted.
And it didn’t come cheap.
Art had once been the proprietor of one of Mexico’s hottest up and coming bars until Max Dedge had flown in with some beautiful wizard and burned the place to the ground. Art’s only option had been to follow Max from nation to nation, from world to world, until the debt was paid.
And did Max pay it? No. He was off on some adventure to another world, a world with magic and aliens and a cave full of diamonds, which Max Dedge refused to share. The only alternative left to Art was to steal the diamonds for himself and run before Max Dedge could find him.
Now, he’s looking for a way to sell a suitcase full of alien diamonds and doing his best not to be traced. In Washington State, he stops at a little restaurant owned by Sue Jorgensen (future Queen of Space) and devises a plan that will leave him rich for life and show the great Max Dedge who came out on top.
That’s all that matters. Not the eggplant aliens coming to destroy the world. Not the pasty slaves who sound like they came out of a 1970s sitcom. Not the Queen of Space.
All that matters now is a suitcase full of alien diamonds… and making Max Dedge pay.
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2025
Series: The Breakthrough #3
ABOUT KEN LA SALLE
Born on an 18th century mining ship, Ken La Salle is not his name. He just likes it. He writes about whatever he damn well pleases, hoping to build more of a cult following than a readership just for a cut on the robes. Looking for the mainstream but sticking to the shore, you can find out more about Ken La Salle at the imaginatively named www.kenlasalle.com.
Ken La Salle is offering a digital copy of The Death And Life Of Arturo Delgado to two lucky winners.
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