The landscape is littered with new literary voices waiting to find an audience, mine among them. The industry is in the throes of reinvention and the distinction between being 'published' and being a truly bright talent has become blurred.
While access to being published has grown exponentially, there has not been a correspondingly satisfactory increase in material worth reading. The gatekeepers of the old dominion of traditional publishing, and their editing and proofreading expertise has been swamped by a boatload of self-published manure, some of which would make a fourth-grader cringe. Finding a good read by an unknown self-published author has become akin to reading tea leaves in a flood. Having said that, there are definitely pearls amongst the swine and Nathan Everett is worth a read.
Everett deserves a shout-out. His quirky private detective yarn For Blood or Money deftly combines the hard-boiled gumshoe prototypes like Sam Spade and Nero Wolfe with a cutting edge cyber-tech sleuth.
Dag Hamar is a detective with a problem, and while I won't spoil the fun with a recitation of the plot points, this book has everything a mystery-thriller needs. Plot twists, trusty sidekicks, beautiful dames, unexpected complications and a nice mix of old-school P.I. melded with high-tech gadgets, dead bodies and a race to the finish line make this very readable and highly recommended.
He honors language and ends with a graceful poignancy that has me thinking about it weeks later. Given how many books I read, one that lingers as his does is a rare and special treat.
Self-published under his brand Long Tail Press, it is available in print and as an ebook.
eBook
ISBN: 978-0-9817249-6-6
Book
ISBN: 978-0-9817249-9-7
Another new author--published through traditional means--is Alison Leotta, whose real-life job is as a federal prosecutor in Washington D.C. specializing in felony sex crimes and domestic violence. Leotta has found a compelling niche in the crime thriller category, and she doesn't stray far from her roots by introducing us to Assistant U.S. Attorney, Anna Curtis in her debut novel Means of Attraction. Curtis is a wide-eyed rookie serving to find justice for what society often ignores as just another battered woman. Something about one of her clients resonates with her own past though, and complications follow when our heroine's boyfriend--an attorney himself--defends the assailant who now stands accused of murder, just days following his release based on recanted testimony by the victim. Sadly, fiction here reflects real-life all to often.
Torn between her legal duties and her personal life, Anna makes career threatening choices that jeopardizes everything--including her life. She uncovers the shocking truth behind the crime in a compelling and dramatic conclusion.
It is an excellent debut novel in a crowded field. It twists through the gritty alleys, both real and metaphorical of our nations Capitol to the polished glass and steel enclaves of Washington's most elite Ivy League lawyers. Pick it up and read it, highly recommended.
Touchstone
ISBN: 978-1-4391-9384-6
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