Murder Books

A truly oddball cast of suspects including a brooding, not-to-be trusted narrator who spins a paranoid tale.

Tons of excellent dialog. Reminded me of both Wodehouse and Hemingway, two writers who use dialog to move the plot forward.

Great "hooks" at the end of every chapter, which made me dive right into the next. And the stakes get higher with every scene, as the main character's life spirals out of control.

NEVER SAY MURDER is very aptly titled because I was never sure until the very end if a murder had even been committed. The ending left my head spinning. Highly recommended.

As an alumni of the National Journalism Center and SUNY Fredonia, Geoffrey Walters is your basic crime journalist. He honed his writing as a crime and local politics reporter for the TIMES NEWSWEEKLY in Queens, New York. He has participated in the Gotham Writers Workshop in New York City.

A law firm is the perfect place to find all the elements of crime: corruption; greed; vice; extortion; and murder. The class distinction between lawyers, judges, and secretaries, accounting personnel, and word processors is telling. For Greg Thackery, a normal guy who worked in the word processing pool, his biggest problem was dealing with a personal sex addiction and holding his fragile marriage together. But when his office mate, Marc, is threatened by one of the new Ivy-league lawyers, Stephen Dalrymple, over a document that should be run-of-the-mill, Gregory is the only person in the office who is suspicious. After Marc is found dead and Greg voices his suspicions horrible things begin to happen: he gets fired for downloaded porn on his machine, the fired Dalrymple begins an affair with his wife, and suddenly his own life isn't worth a nickel:

"It's hard now to describe exactly how low I felt packing my bag and hoping somehow Jean would take me back. I'd lost my job. Someone had thoroughly discredited my reputation, probably preventing me from landing a similar job. The police wanted to talk to me again. I'd completely misjudged my co-workers. I had no idea about Marc's secret life, nor of Betty's and Bradshaw's. Betty had lied about me to Detective O'Sullivan. I nearly got into a fight with Dalrymple. Marc's kindly parents threw me out of their house. I could no longer trust my therapist. I'd fallen off the wagon big time. And probably I could no longer trust myself."

NEVER SAY MURDER is almost a pulp detective story, except there is no detective involved. But Walters infuses his tale with all the great qualities of Nero Wolf's Archie. Greg is the hero and narrator of the story. There is a murderer out there and colorful characters who have something to hide. The plot takes place in New York, the Gotham of murder. A great tale!

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

I loved this murder mystery. The author has a real flair for quirky characters, esp. his hero, who narrates the story. This is a believable, funny first-person narrative which seems to come from a real, living, thinking, opinionated person.

The setting, NYC, is familiar, yet the author gives it a twist by setting it in a word processing center of a NY law firm and we get the lower echelon view of what it's like to work for the big boys.

The author takes us further afield, into upstate New York and he is able to evoke both locations specifically, colorfully and with authority.

The story is good fun and it's never clear until near the very end whether we should really say "murder" or not. Fun to read. Hope a sequel to this book is published soon.

Medgar Evers was an American Hero. A young, articulate African American man, he had the courage to be head of the NAACP in Mississippi during the darkest days of the Civil Rights Movement. He was shot in the back in his driveway by an avowed "rabid racist" named Byron de la Beckwith.

Beckwith was tried twice for the crime; each time the jury was hung.

A quarter of a century later, an intrepid reporter named Jerry Mitchell of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger shook Mississippi to the core when he uncovered new evidence that pointed to Beckwith's guilt. Myrlie Evers, an amazing woman who was widowed by Beckwith's bullet, took that evidence to the Hinds County District Attorney's Office and asked that the case be reopened.

At first, the DA was sympathetic but skeptical. Then a brilliant Assistant District Attorney, Bobby DeLaughter, began investigating the possibility of indicting Beckwith.

This is the true story of DeLaughter's dogged, relentless search for justice. The story was partly told in the film "Ghosts of Mississippi" in which DeLaughter was played by Alec Baldwin. However, DeLaughter's real life account of the trial is far more captivating, amazing and, ultimately satisfying than the movie's version.

This book has the passion and riveting surprises of the best of Grisham or Turow, combined with the emotional impact of "Eyes On The Prize" and "The Long Walk Home." DeLaughter, a fluid and powerful writer, takes us deep into the heart of evil as he investigates a powerful Klansman.

In the end, this book is a triumphant and uplifting reminder of how the legal system can still bring justice.

Highest Recommendation.

As a new lawyer, this book really helped me realize so many things as to what a lawyer should do before, during, and after the trial.

I am a Filipino, there is no racial discrimination in our country... yet I cried many times while reading this book.

If you read this book you will really learn to appreciate the value of human dignity.

I had been interested by the story of Medgar Evers and the difficulty the state had in prosecuting his alleged killer for some time. When the State of Mississippi reopened the case for a potential third attempt at prosecution I was hopeful that some sense of justice might be achieved but not at all convinced that the then alleged killer would be found guilty of Medgar Evers' murder. Bobby De Laughter has written an insightful, thoughtful and intriguing book. As I read his account of the various threads of the story, the leads the DA's office had to develop to prosecute this case after so many years and the elements of good fortune that allowed this case to be pursued successfully I could not help but feel the presence of Medgar Evers. The goodness of the man and his persistent quest for justice is echoed in the actions of Mr. De Laughter, Ms. Myrlie Evers, the many dogged investigators and committed professionals who played their part in making the third trial come together.

This is a great read, so compelling I could not put it down. In many ways this book reads like a mystery. So much of what was needed to prepare the case against Byron De La Beckwith was lost during the long period between the killing and the final trial. Twice shut out, the stakes couldn't have been higher for the prosecution in this third outing. The book is no less suspenseful because the verdict is known. Although an intensely personal account, Mr. DeLaughter clearly and consicely explains the legal hurdles the prosecution faced and incisively analyzes the behavior and motivations of the defendant. Mr. De Laughter is widely descibed as very private, but in his writing he and his experience are so accessible the reader feels as if s/he is there every step of the way. This is an intelligent and inspiring work that should not be missed.

Oaktown Devil was so good, one of those finish it in a day because you can't put it down type books.

When I first started reading it I was like what in the world? I guess I was expecting a modern urban tale. The main character started the book off trying to describe his mack game but he clearly was not in 2004, more like the early 90s. This was back in the day of thick gold link and herringbone chains, airbrushed jeans and tees, and skypagers. But once I got past that and into the book there was no stopping. This book was funny as I don't know what. Something for everybody. Urban drama with a tiny bit of mystery mix. Oaktown Devil is probably even more of a treat for Bay area residents because of the descriptions of streets and hangouts in their hometown. Even some Too Short lyrics thrown in for good measure.

Just buy this book, I guarantee you won't be disappointed. I'll be starting the sequel "Shakey's Loose" shortly. Renay Jackson, you got a fan for life.

this book is so full of adventure & true to life in oakland ca.
mr. jackson has some great books. he doesn"t hold back! i would recomend all his books, i only wish he had more out now.
belle
#1 fan from the bay area

This book was not only written ideal for a blockbuster movie, but it had some EXCELLENT food recipes inside the book that made me hungry! As a reader, I can tell this book was written by an older mature author, but the storylines were hot. It's a book about betrayal, drugs, love and urban drama....I don't want to give away the story, buy the book. It's a read you are sure to enjoy. Book clubs, check this one out!!!...I'll be waiting for part 2 "Shakey's Loose" (which is not yet released) :(

Why half-breed Shambeau killed a couple of men and scalped another wasn't important to some. Now Sheriff Ben Stillman has a murder case on his hands and as the law prescribes, he must hunt down and hang the renegade. But nobody knows the land better than Shambeau and bringing him in isn't going to be easy. And with the Sheriff away from town another group of outlaws sees it as the ideal opportunity to rob the bank.

This is the fifth book to feature Sheriff Stillman and Peter Brandvold gives the reader a twist to the hero being hunted by a posse and him taking them out one by one plot, by having the hero being part of the posse being killed off brutally one by one by the outlaw.

Also Stillman, knowing he must do as the law says, sympathises somewhat with the man he's hunting, as both he and Shambeau are relics from a west where revenge was accepted - and that was why Shambeau had killed wasn't it?

With taking Stillman away from town, Peter Brandvold inserts a great subplot with the bank robbery that allows him to bring the townspeople into the story, characters already familiar to readers of this series.

This book once more proves that Peter Brandvold can tell a gripping story and I would urge all fans of westerns to check him out.

Ben Stillman has his toughest assignment since becoming Sheriff of Clantick, Montana Territory in this latest book by Peter Brandvold. The Bar 7 riders were only funnin when they shot Shambeau's mule. But the Metis trapper was not laughing and by the time he was finished, two cowboys lay dead and another scalped alive. Now Ben Stillman must track down the old mountain man in his own territory to bring him to justice. This latest installment in the Ben Stillman is Brandvold's best.

This story continues with the characters from Brandvold's previous "Once" books but spotlights the theme of frontier "justice" in all its brutal, harsh reality. Sheriff Ben Stillman, though reluctant, must track down Louis Shambeau, a "half-breed" French Indian who has applied the only form of justice he knows to right a wrong done to him. As the chase becomes one between ranchers and trapper, it also becomes a Western snapshot of the struggle between the new and the old, between a dying way of life up against the new breed. In the process it shows what went in to the raw life and death struggles that played out on the changing frontier. Brandvold weaves another plot into the struggle back in Clantick, where Deputy Leon McMannigle must face another crisis. To any who have read Brandvold, they know he includes some explicit sex. This may offend some, but one could argue that Brandvold uses it within the context of the story. In fact, when it applies to Sheriff Stillman and wife Fay, it is in the context of a married couple faithful to each other and who continue to be madly in love. Louis L'Amour was sometimes criticized for the opposite, leaving out sex, though he had his reasons (see Education of a Wandering Man, p. 153-154). If readers can handle this part of Brandvold's books, they will find treasures from a master storyteller.

I am not a reader type. I am the kind of person who only reads when needed to for school - and even then it's first chapter, last chapter and any online reviews/summaries.

I decided to read this book since it was written by the author to the storyline of my favorite game. Much to my surprise I actually enjoyed reading it. If you really want to, you can put yourself in with the main character and his friends. It is written that well that you can believe you're actually there, witnessing the events. Laidlaw is REALLY good at writing the suspense and conveying the necessary emotions. If something shocking happens, you feel shocked - you don't just feel like ... oh, that was interesting.

I may even go and read it again next year, or maybe sooner. Definitely worth a try.

I have been wondering what the Orchid Eater was ever since I discovered the titles hidden in the game of half-life. I looked it up on here for about a month or so and saw that no one had read it. That gave me the idea to tell everyone how good it is. It is awesome, and brilliant. However, if you do not prefer to read crude language, then for heaven sakes DON'T READ IT! But, if you want a really good read, written by a guy that has also written the stories for several famous PC games (like Half-Life), then read it, trust me, you will like it.

I'm an avid reader, but lately I had lost interest in many books. Everything I was reading began to run together, and no book left an impression on me. Then one afternoon, I went into my classic game collection and pulled out Half-Life, booted it up, and took a walk down memory lane. BUT, upon playing this classic game again, I discovered a small hidden room I had missed the first time through, and inside were a few books on a shelf, one of which was titled "The Orchid Eater". Out of sheer curiousity, I checked it out on Amazon, and sure enough, it was a real book. THEN, I found out that the writer of Half-Life's storyline was also the writer of this book, and I decided that I had to get "The Orchid Eater".

This book was everything I needed - something completely different to break myself away from the monotony of current writers. I just wish I'd found it a little earlier, since it was written a few years back...

Anyway, the book is very exciting, one of those stories that is truly hard to put down. Laidlaw has a fantastic way of adding great detail, but never dwells on those details long enough to get tiring. Instead, he continues very strongly with the storyline and the characters at hand. His writing style is very modern and quite refreshing, and this book is a great example of that. There's a new twist every chapter, and in a story revolving around the activities of two seperate gangs, twists prove to be very exciting. At the beginning of the story, the tales of the two main characters couldn't seem more different, but they soon begin to grow together, until the two stories converge into a brilliant sequence.

I'd rather not give an entire description of the story, becuase it would take forever and it would ruin it for other readers, but I will end with: Buy this book if you like modern writing full of exciting twists... a LOT of twists. Highly recommended.

I couldn't tear myself away from this book at all! The suspense kept me at the edge of my seat, and her flair for writing mysteries was evident throughout the twists in the plot. It kept me guessing to who really killed Jessica, and whether or not Jennie and Ryan would survive. I have to buy this book just so I can reread it whenever I want!

Jennie goes on a vacation to her grandmother's house and when she gets ther she finds out that the mayor's daughter had been killed. This book has multiple suspects and the real killer is suprising. Read this book! Patricia Rushford, PLEASE don't stop writing Jennie McGrady books!

This is probably my absolute favorite book in the Jennie McGrady series. Unlike some of the other books in the series, this one doesn't drag on at any point, and the ending isn't totally the same as the others(i.e. Jennie getting kidnapped by the perpetrator and narrowely escaping). Jennie's parents are recently reunited and off on their honeymoon. She's planning on having a great time with boyfriend Ryan while she's staying with her grandmother, but Ryan is preoccupied with his friend Todd, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Jessica Ames. The plot thickens when Jessica's father also dies mysteriously, and new evidence turns up that points to suicide. Was Jessica really murdered? And is the murderer now after Jennie and Ryan? And why is Ryan seen in a resturant with Jessica's best friend, Camilla? Only time will tell how Jessica died, and if Ryan and Jennie's relationship is as stable and Jennie once thought.

AS 17 YEAR OLD LACEY DREAMS ABOUT HER BESTFIEND GETTING STABBED TO DEATH SHE WAKES UP SCREAMING AND GOES BACK 2 SLEEP SINCE IT WAS JUST A DREAM! aS HER PRINCAPAL ANNOUNCES TO THE WHOLE SCHOOL THAT CELESTE IS DEAD LACY DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK. LACY HOPES HER DREAM CAN LEAD TO THE KILLER AS SHE TELLS THE POLICE ABOUT IT ,BUT IT ONLY GIVES HER A TICKET TO JAIL. AS EVERYONE BELIEVES THAT SHE IS GUILTY, SARA LACY'S SISTER MAKES IT PERFECTLY CLEAR THAT THE KILLER WAS STILL OUT THERE! LACY DISCOVERS THAT HER THERAPIST MR.OTKIN IS THE KILLER! AS HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH CELESTE WAS GOING TO BE TOLD HE DECIDED TO KILL HER BEFORE CELESTE COULD TELL HER PARENTS ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP

It begins when seventeen year-old Lacy Brighton dreams that he best friend Celeste is murdered...This begins a long trail of trying to find out who murdered her friend and why. You will imagine your self in Lacy's world when you read this book and you will get lost in it. This is one of the best books I have ever read.

This story is about a 17 year old girl that is getting bad grades in school. She has a "D" average. She is in drama and she wants to get a part in a play. She got really mad, and the drama teacher told her to bring her grades up in one week. She was able to bring her average up to a "C", and she was still able to be in the play. She always had bad nightmares, but one time she had a nightmare about her friend getting stabbed and dying. When she went to school she found out that her dream had come true.

I think this book is very good to read because it is a good mystery book and there is not a lot of really good mystery books that I have read.

This is one of the best books out there dealing with criminology. It is huge and has essays dealing with many subjects written by some of the most influential criminologists in England and abroad.

This is the leading modern text in criminology, comprehensive and authoritative, written by 35 distinguished British contributors. The editors are Mike Maguire, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University, Rod Morgan, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales and Professor Emeritus at Bristol University, and Robert Reiner, Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics.

It has five parts: the history and theory of criminology, the social construction of crime and crime control, the dimensions of crime, the forms of crime, and reactions to crime. It covers research and policy developments and their relationship to race, gender, youth culture and political economy.

The evidence is that the serious violent crime rate is much higher in Thatcherite political economies than in welfarist ones. As Reiner writes, there is a plethora of material confirming that crime of all kinds is linked to inequality, relative deprivation, and unemployment. So, for example, the rise in crime in Britain in the 1980s was due to what happened in the 1980s: naturally Thatcher blamed it on what had happened 20 years before. And it was the 1980s, not the 1960s, that saw the dramatic rise in opiate use here.

The evidence shows that states with higher welfare spending have less crime and lower imprisonment rates. For every dollar spent, Michigans Head Start welfare programme brought $17 of benefit by cutting crime, thereby cutting the numbers imprisoned and thus the costs of imprisonment.

Of course, recognising that crime has root causes does not stop us exploring all possible avenues of crime reduction, victim support and penal reform. Nor does it mean ignoring offenders moral responsibility. Understanding does not cancel the need for judgment.

Thatcherite political economies also have more punitive penal policies. Yet welfarist Sweden has had a smaller rise in crime than Britain, while having a less punitive penal policy. Similarly, Finland has dramatically cut its prison numbers, without increasing crime.

Growing economic inequality and social polarisation increase crime and therefore insecurity and fear. We cannot afford to leave the economy, or society or security to the market. We need to take responsibility for all aspects of our society.

A vast collection of essays on different criminological subjects that covers most things on a course of study. Will also act as a good book for reference and background reading. Although it appears pricey it does cover a lot of ground and is indeed very cost effective when compared to similar books that offer not much for a similar price. The only criticism is this - if you are wanting a feminist perspective this often comes off as lacking, although in saying this it does (by this ommission) reveal the holes in criminological research that feminists are seeking to correct. Well worth adding to your collection.

To me, literature is a term used to describe books that are truly worth every reader's time and is significant enough to be remembered for a lifetime. The Paradise of Revenge is, without a doubt, literature. The benevolence and corruption of the human soul is seen through the eyes of young Josefina Camarillo. A devoutly religious girl, all Josefina wants is to become a wife and raise a family of her own. Her dreams of purity are shattered on one brutal night in which she is raped and forever disfigured. Innocence lost, Josefina loses all hope in her life. In her sorrow, something sinister stirs within her psyche, something with an insatiable thirst for revenge. Mentally battered, Josefina begins to lose control of her mind, unable to stop the darkness that lies within all of us. Add this with a courageous young wife and mother who takes on a judicial crime family guilty of framing her spouse for the rape and disfigurement of a vengeful Josefina. Selflessly, she willingly risks her self respect and life to prove her husbund's innocence and to bring his accusers to justice. A wondrous web of truth and deceit is spun, leading up to the irreversible repercussions of revenge. A complex, thought provoking tale with a generous share of surprising twists can be found within this astounding read. Woven within the story are believable, sympathetic characters, attention grabbing conflicts, and plenty of insight regarding human nature. For those who not only search for a good read, but also seek true life revelations, look no further. In my sincerest of judgements, The Paradise of Revenge is a must read.

"The Paradise of Revenge", by Richard Lee Orey is both fascinating and shocking inasmuch as the plot revolves around the worst kind of corruption known to decent citizens: a corrupt justice system.

The prologue grabs the reader's interest by introducing the despicable travesty of justice as seen through the eyes, thoughts, and dialogue of the evil-minded and hated antagonists. It creates a mood that prepares the reader for the horrible, traumatic, premeditated assault on an innocent young woman, in which the perpetrators of that assault later frame a decent unsuspecting family man for the crime. The man's wife, wanting to find a way to free her innocent husband from prison, gets caught up in a terrible scheme, perpetrated by the crime organization, which turns her into a prostitute.

The young rape victim of the violent assault suffers immensely, and eventually marries a man who offers her hope until the marriage turns sour. Deep inside her is such a strong need for revenge, she becomes two personalities that are marked by good and evil. The contrast describes the decent man's eternal struggle to choose good over evil and how experiences and emotions can lead to wrong choices--which in this instance, the victim's choice of committing a terrible wrong on another innocent victim, the son of her accused rapist.

Mr. Orey is a master of words, and his use and control of the English language is no less than extraordinary. His ability to describe people and places is superb, and many descriptions rang of poetic merit.

After reading "The Paradise of Revenge", I must state that the book is not for the faint-hearted or for anyone who is opposed to graphic sex. Greed and lust are at the core of the plot that centers on an organization of people within the justice system who trump up criminal charges against innocent men in order to coerce their wives into joining a lewd Prison Widows Club. The women are blackmailed into working as prostitutes; thereby filling the pockets of the crime family running the organization. In order to exemplify the overall purpose and effect of the crime organization, and the degradation felt by the victim and the coerced women, Mr. Orey consistently writes explicit sexual scenes throughout the book.

The suspense is ripe and the reader's interest peaked with the actions of all the characters, according to how they relate to each other. The resolution was handled extremely cleverly, and the introduction of McKinley Clearwater, a man of moral strength and fortitude, indirectly impacts the lives of the main characters by effecting a surprise resolution and redemption.

All in all, Mr. Orey has written a very interesting story that probably is a spin-off from incidents that actually happened during his twenty-six years in the courtroom as an official court reporter. For anyone who believes that our justice system is inviolate, "The Paradise of Revenge" will serve as a wake-up call to the fact that evil can rear its ugly head most anywhere that man resides.

When young Josefina seeks only God-sent love, we're given a graphic "I'm
there" set up and expose' of the trauma suffered by victims of physical and emotional sexual abuse. In reading this story with the backdrop of organized crime, I experienced violence, romance, sex and loving from radically different viewpoints--the physical and mental torment of the raped virgin, the anguish of the forced prostitute, and the paralyzing fear and humiliation of a seduced young teenage boy. The Paradise of Revenge is really an epic and complex love story with lots of twists and turns and steemy adult scenes which intensify the storyline. In the dramatic conclusion, the evildoers are brought to justice and dear Josefina finds her God-sent love. Guess who? This is a Don't-put-it-down page turner, a story that really struck home with me. This book is not for the immature or timid reader, but I loved it. A real eye-opener! I can't wait to read it again.

I totally enjoyed this three-in-one book. I passed it along to a friend and she liked it too. Now I am looking for more books by Monica Ferris.

A handy way to read the first three Monica Ferris books! Supurb idea!

These are the first Monica Ferris books I have read. The stories center around a needlework shop called Crewel World.There are many references to different types of needlework. Being a needleworker, I enjoy all the very accurate comments to different types of needlework. Being a mystery lover this makes for a great combination. Easy enjoyable reading!

1