A California Online Magazine with Local Focus and Global Appeal
The Necklace is the latest thriller by award winning TV writer, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Matt Witten. It follows the journey of Susan Lentigo as she travels across country to witness the execution of the man who murdered her 7-year-old daughter 20 years ago.
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What a pleasure to learn that a new Daniel Rinaldi thriller is out. It’s good to be with Dr. Rinaldi, the quiet, steady therapist who helps us reconnect to our better, more sane selves when life gets out of hand. He counsels survivors of violence and I know I would feel comfortable seeking his help at such a time. It’s also good to go back to visit Pittsburgh, a part of the country I don’t know at all except through these novels. Their setting is rich with the Steel City’s history and atmosphere and with the complexities Rinaldi’s patients, associates, police officers, attorneys, and all those who befriend, tolerate, and actively work for or against the good doctor.
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In my debut thriller, Dark Things I Adore, an eclectic group of young artists forge deep and impactful connections with each other during the summer of 1988 at the Lupine Valley Arts Collective, a cloistered and prestigious arts camp in King City, a remote (and fictitious) town in Maine. Coral, Moss, Juniper, Mantis, and Zephyr (who all go by their camp nicknames), spend a dream-like summer together before one of them suffers an unspeakable cruelty at the hands of another in the group that transforms their collective dream into a nightmare.
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There was no response from the patient in Room 823 of University Hospital. She was crouched on the bed, in position to leap toward the end of the bed in the direction of yours truly. I could not determine her age, but she definitely appeared to be a wild woman. Her hair was a combination of gray and silver, long and uncombed and in total disarray. She had a deeply lined face, leathery, with no makeup. Her brown eyes were frantic, and her head moved constantly to the right and left. She was clad only in an untied hospital gown which dwarfed her small frame. My guess? She wasn’t over five feet tall.
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Embarking on the writing of a novel is a truly novel (ha!) experience. As a physician, researcher, and teacher, who wrote extensively throughout my career in academic medicine, including an introductory anesthesiology textbook with my mentor, I assumed the words would flow and a book would appear. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Though a life-long reader, I soon realized I’d never analyzed the craft of the books I love, which of course is the author’s intent.
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We are all familiar with the conventional wisdom about light and dark, struggle and triumph, failure and success. “Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light,” wrote author Madeleine L’Engle. “What makes night within us may leave stars,” added Victor Hugo. In sports, Michael Jordan insisted, “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” And the Latin adage Si vis pacem, para bellum reminds us, “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
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What exactly does a forensic psychologist do? I know precisely what you are thinking right now. You are picturing Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins—Clarice and Hannibal. You’re seeing a beleaguered Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, hunkered over a desk, analyzing crimes scenes, profiling serial killers, and putting together a puzzle no one else can solve. But, for most forensic psychologists, a day in the life is far from Hollywood.
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Fire and Vengeance is a murder mystery. First and foremost, I hope readers find it entertaining, especially in this coronavirus era, when we all need relief from the grim realities of life. This novel, like the others in the Koa K?ne mystery series, plays with several of my favorite literary themes. While they are not unique, I’ve woven these themes into my narratives and hope this blog post provides some insight into the development of the Koa Kane mysteries.
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The Burn Patient is a gritty, action-packed L.A. thriller featuring African-American TV reporter, Beatrice Middleton, and her photographer partner, Lucy Vega. It’s the third in the Vega & Middleton series with a fourth scheduled for release in 2021. If you like Rizolli & Isles, you might enjoy this series, too.
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In 1990, I remember sitting in a theater, stunned by the turn of events at the end of Presumed Innocent. Now that I have read three of Scott Turow’s Kindle County novels with the same characters, I see that his characters and plots are even better on the page. The internal monologues detail so much more than actors can ever vocalize. It is really a pleasure to go back and read what made the books best sellers and to discover more about these rich characters.
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Fake Truth is the third book in Lee Goldberg’s Ian Ludlow thriller series. It takes place shortly after the end of book two, Killer Thriller. Ian is a well-known thriller author whose books keep unintentionally turning out to be more truth than fiction.
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Comfort reads are always a necessity, and mine currently are romantic thrillers I read or meant to read some time ago (with the occasional sci-fi or fantasy novel thrown in for variety) and I do find them all most comforting. The world of the thrillers is something I recognize from my early years of getting lost in fiction and, as ever, with genre reading we recognize where we are and we like it or go home. Mary Stewart’s novels were my favorites, and I’ve read them all so I decided to explore others in the same vein.
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When I wrote my thriller Dark Tomorrow, I thought I had imagined a true worst-case scenario, one in which the entire East Coast was crippled by a massive cyber attack launched by an unknown enemy. In my book, the electrical grid is shut down, supply chains grind to a halt, our national defense system is hacked, and industrial plants are turned into terrorist weapons.
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My stories have two main characters, one familiar to Western readers as he makes nature documentaries in remote places, and the other a man of the land, a tribal elder.
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Meet little dolly Molly, she is a kitty who has a quiet elegance, a big heart, and an undemanding personality. She is independent, sits back to observe before exploring. Such a down-to-earth attitude is probably the result of being the single sister with three lively brothers who all have easy, undemanding natures, but love playtime and each other. Like them, this pretty sweetheart does love to leap and swing at toys on a wand, is especially fond of chicken, and can’t resist a tasty kitty treat! She has also gotten along with bigger cats and small dogs. A beautiful, silky black and white ensemble has her always looking dressed for success. What a devoted and adorable addition lovely Molly will be in a home where she will be given time to adjust to a new situation. How about your home sweet home? Molly is very shy and will need a lot of time to adjust to a new home, she is a little hissy with lots of attitude she would be a great friend for a current kitty and not much of a person cat. She loves other cats. Molly is available for adoption at their Blackstone Ave Petco Adoption Center, from Cat House on the Kings.
