Hatteras Island Mystery

Wedding photographer, Misty Gordon, photographs a mysterious man at a late December wedding. He disappears before she can discover his name. Next morning as she walks the beach, she discovers his body floating in the ocean.As Misty summons EMT, the man wakes but has no memory. After he disappears from the hospital, Misty discovers him aboard a million-dollar yacht. As she talks with him, two assassins try to kill them both. Is this a murder for hire, a revenge killing, or a political assassination? Is the man with no memory a drug dealer, an FBI agent, or a billionaire? Can Misty solve the mystery before they both end up in the morgue?

Hatteras Island Mystery (Romantic Mystery)

By Anne Greene

Winged Publication

ASBN 978-1690762157

Price $6.74

130 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

Misty Gordon, the local wedding photographer, notices a handsome man unattended at the latest wedding party. The next day she is walking the beach and finds this gentleman floating in the water. Fearing he is dead, she pulls him from the water. Discovering he is still alive, she begins asking his names, but he appears to have lost his memory. It looks like someone has tried to kill him, and the police is interested in him and the incident. He escapes from their custody, and Misty helps him recover his identity, falling in love with him in the process.

The author sent me a copy of the book for an honest review. Although the man’s name is Quin. A curious note, the pulp character The Black Bat’s real name is Tony Quinn. However, Quin also goes by Captain Hazard, another pulp hero. I was further amazed when his million dollar boat is named The Doctor Is In. I remember an article written on Doc Savage titled The Doctor Is In. Curious there are so many tags to pulp characters. Although the mystery was small, the characters were topnotch, and the story was lots of fun. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE BLACK BAT COMPAION

Sunken Treasure Lost Worlds

His knowledge can make them all rich... or get them killed.

From the depths of the Atlantic off Cape Canaveral Florida, searching for sunken Spanish treasure, to the Andes mountains of Ecuador chasing the legend of a lost golden library, Dr. Colten X. Burnett and the Risky Business team are on a quixotic adventure.

While trying to make an honest, well sort of honest living, searching for remnants of the lost 1715 fleet, Risky Business Ltd. becomes entangled in a mystery that covers two continents and may rewrite history.

The lure of uncovering a lost civilization, as well as the secrets it holds, motivates the team on their dangerous journey into a cosmological unknown.

Sunken Treasure: Lost Worlds (Adventure/Mystery/Action)

By Hep Aldridge

Budy Media

ISBN 978-1083049780

Price $15.99 (Paperback)

Price $4.99 (Kindle)

308 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Adrenalin Pumping Excitement”

Risky Business, LTD is a company formed by a group of friends seeking adventure. They are interested in a fleet of ships that went down in 1715, and may contain sunken treasure. Dr. Colton X Burnett leads the team, but all are well trained and tough. From the start, the story kicks off with excitement, and never lets up. The trail will lead them to two continents, and they may encounter more than they bargained for in their search for a lost civilization.

I was given a copy of the book for an honest review. Readers will find this story filled with thrilling adventure and lots of gunfights and explosions. The adrenalin pumping excitement will keep you turning the pages. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

Shadow of The Dagger

A Secret Map to Priceless Treasure, A CIA Analyst Turned Detective

Three people are murdered and one kidnapped to find the solution to the map. As Nicole Phillips seeks to find her kidnapped brother, she doesn’t know whom to trust. No one is who they appear to be. All is deception.

To bring his brother’s murderer to justice, CIA Intel Analyst Josh Baruch puts his life on the line. Can he walk the tightrope between obeying the killers’ instructions and bringing them to justice?

Because Nicole Phillips’s husband died in a mysterious plane crash, she fears falling in love again with a reckless, danger-loving type like her late husband. Josh Baruch, the CIA analyst using her as bait to track her brother’s kidnapper, is just such a risk-taking man. Besides living on the edge, Josh is bitter about women and questions God.

Shadow of The Dagger (Christian/Romance/Thriller)

By Anne Greene

Elk Lake Publishing

ISBN  978-1951080204

400 Pages

Price $12.99 (Paperback)

Price $2.99 (Kindle)

Rating 5-Stars

We meet Nicole Phillips when she travels to the crash site of the plane piloted by her husband. There was no body, but investigators believe coyotes may have dragged the body away. A year later her brother is invited to an archeological dig in Turkey, and he talks Nicole into joining him. Unfortunately, when she arrives in Turkey she discovers Ian has been kidnapped. In the meantime, CIA analyst, Josh Baruch believes the man who killed his brother is responsible for the kidnapping, and is waiting in Turkey for Nicole Phillips when she arrives, as he plans on using her for bait to catch Helmut Meier, better known as The Viper, and the murderer of Josh’s brother.

The author sent me a copy of the book for an honest review. This is a complicated plot, with interesting characters, set in a location known for international spies and intrigue. Josh Baruch is a Jewish American, and well familiar with Turkey, as he was stationed at Incirlik AFB in Adana, Turkey, a place I am also very familiar with. I was stationed there with the Army in 1964, at TUSLOG, as a squad leader with the rank of corporal. 

This was a great read, though a few things did bother me. The villain is supposedly the third richest man in the world, but seems to be after small profit in current crime, and a man so rich should have enough lawyers to keep him out of jail (in this case, an American federal prison). Plus, we find that there is someone pulling his strings also, a minor criminal that is behind the whole mess, and he is after Nicole Phillips, as well as the treasure. Now for detective Pavlik, a Russian with the Turkey police, and master of disguise who plays many parts that just don’t seem to fit. In the end an American Air Force rescue team saves the day on Turkey soil, which also was a worrisome finale to a great plot – personally, it would have appeared more legit if the team was led by a Turkey command. Over all, the Christian background is a delight in this international thriller set in Muslim controlled Turkey, and well worth the read. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

Welcome To Miskatonic University

Odd tales of campus life at Miskatonic University from Brandon O'Brien - Bennett North - Kristi DeMeester - Elliot Cooper - Liz Schriftsteller - KG McAbee - Brenda Kezar - Nate Southard - Scott R. Jones - Gina Marie Guadagnino -Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. - Marcus Chan - Gwendolyn Kiste - Matthew M. Bartlett

This is your first year? Welcome! Oh, you're going to love it here at Miskatonic. Just . . . be careful. I mean, I'm sure everything will be fine, but you know, things happen. This can be a strange place. You hear stories: people changing and buildings rearranging, ghostly sounds and overly attentive textbooks, odd notions and foul deeds . . . even monsters! Hah. Just stories, right? Sure.

Faculty struggling for funding in the occult sciences. Students trying to navigate whole new worlds of possibility. Administration striving for growth and progress and not just damage control. And Arkham residents adjusting to the constant influx of new faces.

Just study hard. Party safe. Maybe find love. And don't die.

Welcome To Miskatonic University (Horror Fiction)

By Various Authors

Broken Eye Books

ISBN 978-1940372235

258 Pages

Price $19.99 (Paperback)

Price $6.99 (Kindle)

Rating 5-Stars

An anthology of top authors, all stories taking place at the Miskatonic University, where horror abides. A fictional university created by H.P. Lovecraft in a 1922 novel, the university is located in Arkham, a fictional town in Essex County, Massachusetts. The university and its faculty come alive - for a while, at least - in these 13 tales. Believe me, monsters find their way here to feed off those unwary souls who bring them forth.

I was given a copy of the book from the authors for an honest review. All of the writing is excellent, and the stories honor H.P, Lovecraft, as each author tells their tale of weird menace. As with any anthology, there will be one story that the reviewer will like a bit more, perhaps, than the rest. Although I enjoyed them all, I think my favorite yarn was Official Inquiry Into The Waite-Gilman-Carter Antarctic Expedition by K.G. McAbee. Wasn’t that a great title? You just know that expedition has brought back some terrifying monster for the professors to examine. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THW MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

Boundless

A little more than two years before the events of Bounty, Jill Andersen makes a life-altering decision. But this decision comes with consequences she didn’t foresee, and her first night as the vigilante Bounty winds up being something for which she was wholly unprepared. 

A crisis of faith eventually gives way to certainty: both in terms of discovering who killed a young man named Johnny Ruiz and in terms of coping with the latest change in her own life. 

Along the way, Jill defies death and discovers just how deep the city’s corruption runs. But will she survive the experience long enough to decide if a life of vigilantism is for her?

Boundless (Superhero Fiction)

Prequel To Series

By J.D. Cunegan

Independent Publishing Platform

ASIN: B07CB7VWB8

Price $0.99 (Kindle)

44 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

      This prequel to the series introduces us to the main character, Jill Anderson. Believing her policeman father was framed for three murders, Jill becomes a detective in the same department to try and prove his innocence after serving in the Army. While in the Army she was created to be a super warrior by a cybernetic scientist, Dr. Trent Roberts. It doesn’t say how she was able to leave the Army after all that expense, however.

This was an interesting, and fun story, with plenty of action, but it did leave me with one worrisome question: after spending so much money and time on her in the Army, making her a super warrior, why did they let her go? But it shows where she obtained her super powers at least.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

Guest Post: Why I Self Publish by J.D. Cunegan

Guest Post: Why I Self-Publish

J.D. Cunegan

It seems like every time I hop onto social media, I see some version of the traditional-versus-self-publishing debate. People are wondering which route they should take, and others on either side of the debate state their case. I think part of it stems from the stigma that’s still attached to being self-published — a stigma that, while diminished, still exists.

Now, I will say this: the decision of which publication method to pursue is up to each individual author. Different people have different aspirations and expectations, and ultimately, the decision as to which path to follow is up to you and you alone.

But I can offer insight as to why I chose the self-publishing route.

Mostly, it boils down to something I don’t have: patience. I’m not a patient person; I never have been, and I likely never will be. As such, the traditional route holds little appeal to me. I don’t have it in me to submit a manuscript to an agent or publisher, only to wait weeks — if not months — for a response (which, let’s face it, would likely be no). That’s a lot of time wasted on… what, exactly?

As a self-published author, I operate on my own timeframe. Yes, I have more responsibilities; as a self-published author, I have to worry about editors and formatting and cover design and marketing — all things a traditional publisher would (probably) take care of for me. But that added responsibility also brings with it a sort of freedom. I have control over the entire process. I control the content, and I control the timetable.

By self-publishing, I’m able to tell the stories I want, the way I want to tell them, when I want to tell them. That freedom holds a great deal of appeal to me, particularly as I write stories that are just on the outside of what a mainstream publisher might be willing to publish.

Someday, I might pursue traditional publishing; there’s something to be said for receiving advances, writing stories, and letting the publisher handle all of the other stuff. But I see self-publishing as a trade-off, and it’s one I’m willing to make right now. Yes, I have to secure my own editor and I have to format my manuscripts myself. Yes, I have to either hire a cover designer or find my own cover another way. Yes, I’m the one who has to blow up Goodreads and social media to tell people about my work.

But I get to do all that on my own time. I decide when my books come out. I decide what gets published and what doesn’t. And because of this, if I publish a book, then you know damn well it’s something I really wanted to be out there.

Again, it’s your call which way you go. I just wanted to give you all a glimpse as to why I chose the path I did.

About J.D. Cunegan
J.D. Cunegan is known for his unique writing style, a mixture of murder mystery and superhero epic that introduces the reader to his comic book-inspired storytelling and fast-paced prose. A 2006 graduate of Old Dominion University, Cunegan has an extensive background in journalism, a lengthy career in media relations, and a lifelong love for writing. Cunegan lives in Hampton, Virginia, and next to books, his big passion in life in auto racing. When not hunched in front of a keyboard or with his nose stuck in a book, Cunegan can probably be found at a race track or watching a race on TV.

Follow J.D. on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

King Ra Ra: Carrots For Sale

One morning will harvesting his carrots he notices a lot of old ladies buying them as quick as he pulls them. He wasn't intending to sell them but he liked the feeling of money in his hands. He decides that if he made them more expensive and more rare that they might make him rich ! but when no one buys them ..........he needs to find someone to buy them...........can you guess who ???

King Ra Ra: Carrots For Sale (Children’s Story)

By Kieron Seamons

Independent Publishing Platform

ASIN: B00O4LJOJO

46 Pages

Price Free (Kindle)

Rating 5-Stars

King Ra Ra of Africa has grown some very beautiful carrots, and as he admires them one day the jungle animals come out to see what their kind has. All want his wonderful carrots, and immediately begins buying them. Although he doesn’t want to sell his prized carrots, the money does feel good in his hands. Thinking about his carrots, and the money they made, he decides to offer more for sale the next day – and the next. The animals want the carrots badly, and this gives the king another idea, he can offer his prized carrots for higher prices, until they finally hit the top of the market at one million dollars each. What can the animals do? Where can they get so much money for the wonderful carrots, and keep the king happy?

This was a fun little story. The author writes and illustrates the story. The story is probably aimed at children five years old and younger, and can be read at bed time, in libraries, and at home. Highly Recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of Wire Dog And The Ransom of Red Chief