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The Law of Moses
Samuel Cardiff had a plan. He had recently graduated from the Teachers College and now he was returning home. The first goal completed, his next step was to find a position and then he could get married.
Samuel was a quiet man, some would say a pacifist. He believed in God, family and education. He was not concerned with the happenings outside his home town.
Outside events, however, were about to drag him from his beloved Elmira. It was the spring of 1861 and Confederate forces had recently attacked Fort Sumter.
Against every moral belief, he enlisted in the Union Army and with his first step toward the south, he changed his life forever.
The Law of Moses
Sam Moses Cardiff is a straight shooting honest man that finishes a teaching diploma before heading back to his hometown of Elmira. Sam is excited to start his new life, however, things have changed since Sam has been gone and circumstances pull him into fighting battles under the Union Army. Flash forward several years and Sam has entered a town where he is hired to be a Marshall. Sam upholds the law, showing no qualms about killing those who wish to cross him. But underneath the facade of an emotionless and tactical law enforcer lies a man who desperately wants his life to end. What happened in all the years of battle that has affected Sam so gravely?
The Law of Moses, written by Kwen D. Griffeth, is a western novel that follows the life of Samuel Moses Cardiff. The smell of perfumed ladies, warm beer and rolled cigarettes will be easily imagined as The Law of Moses takes you on a ride through life in the west that keeps you captivated until the very end!
The characters come to life on the page and several times I had to remind myself that this story was indeed fiction. The story takes dips into the past which gives the reader an insight into a younger Sam and why he has changed so drastically. Once upon a time, he was an eager young man, full of energy to face the world and now he is rude, angry and filled with hatred. The connection with the past will allow the reader to feel empathy towards the characters and their personality traits.
Gunfights, bank robbers and old time war stories will keep the reader flipping pages as they explore frontier life. Kwen Griffeth clearly has an in depth understanding of artillery as he accurately describes a variety of guns and even how they sound when they are holstered. Most characters are loyal and stick to their guns (literally and figuratively) when it comes time to settle arguments. At times, the novel explores the Civil War and sparks the imagination.
The writing flows easily and Griffeth provides descriptive imagery that allows the reader to picture the old west, where disputes were settled over beer and gun smoke. The saloons, horses and life lessons will mean the reader will be eager to learn more about Sam and his life. I found some of the lessons to be relevant to today’s society events and found myself reminiscing over the story’s content many days later.
I would would recommend this to anybody who enjoys a western or historical novel but also for anybody that loves a dash of romance, action and comedy. I look forward to reading the next installment.
Pages: 332 | ASIN: B00EXAD8PW
That’s My Void
Nathaniel Sheft Author Interview
Modern Day Cowboy follows the story of Mattie, a young girl who’s training to become a gunfighter. What made you write a story about gun fighting? Was there anything you pulled from your life experiences?
The things I write usually come from my over active imagination. None of these things I wrote in Modern Day Cowboy came from personal experience. Truthfully, I’m not even much of a gun person even though I do think people have a right to bear arms, to a certain extent. I just think we are living in a moment where we rehash things instead of using our creativity to create new things.
The writing in your story is very artful and creative. Was it a conscious effort to create a story in this fashion or is this style of writing reflective of your writing style in general?
I tried to read up on what I could and just did the best I could. I started writing Modern Day Cowboy in 2004 after a break-up with a girlfriend. Actually I was writing The Beast Within at the time when this story just came in my head. So, I decided to do both. At this time I didn’t have a computer, so I wrote everything by hand. Pages and pages of notes. About three years later I got my first computer, my own personal Univac. I tried paying somebody to type it, that was a disaster. So I just eventually made myself learn a few keys, then I discovered Dragon software and Open Office. Yeah, that took awhile. Now many rejections later, here I am.
David and Mattie are complex and interesting characters. What were some of the trials that you felt were important to highlight the characters development?
My writing does shifts, elegant or plain. Sometimes my heart is there, sometimes my head. The character of David allows me an open love letter. That’s my void, my desire, things never had but wished for. I have a lot of things written along these lines, but I’m not quite sure people like that sort of stuff these days. So yes, bits and pieces of David are me. Real life people popped in my mind when I wrote this story. Ellen Page for Mattie. Christina Ricci for Carolyn, Morgan Freeman for Hustis, Catherine Keener for Madeline, Clint Eastwood for Rusty and Dakota Fanning for Addison Bell. This made the process easier since I’ve always had a vivid imagination. This story played in my head like a movie, I didn’t sit down to write out cue cards, or plot points. I just go with what I feel is right and revise when needed.
What is the next book that you’re writing and when will that be available? Will there be a second part to Modern Day Cowboy?
Part two is already written, has been for a while. It’s just not edited, about the same length as the first and explains what everything was really about. But there are new elements, and a surprise for Carolyn. I’ll be more than happy to answer any other questions you have.
Author Links: Website
After both opponents turn over three shot glasses of Hennessy, the Lincoln girl challenges Mattie to a game of Russian roulette. A mistake, at this moment Mattie is maniacal, she clicks her trigger two times in a row.
Modern Day Cowboy is about the angry romance of a young girl not long out of high school. The experience of first love in the internet age of availability. Trying to figure out the rest of her life is hard enough, now tragedy strikes. Someone set up a row of domino’s and by accident Mattie touched the first one. Now all she can do is watch. Some kind of declaration of war from some unseen enemy. The ensuing conflicts redistributes her morality as the paradigm between right and wrong shifts. Secrets from her mothers past may hold the key.
Modern Day Cowboy: The Making of a Gunfighter
The novel Modern Day Cowboy: The Making of a Gunfighter depicts the life of Mattie, a young woman living in the middle of nowhere, Canada. Mattie struggles to recover from a painful incident which took the life of a mentally disabled boy that she cared for, and as a result, Mattie takes up employment at the local gun shop in town. It isn’t long before the owner senses Mattie’s need for revenge, and sends her to a boot camp in Arizona to train to become a gunfighter. She quickly becomes proficient at her newly acquired trade. But being rising talent comes with many disadvantages, as other female gunfighters come out to challenge Mattie. When she’s not off to a fight, she is conflicted with feelings for her contract and love interest, David. When his safety is threatened, unlikely friends come to Mattie’s defense, and old histories begin to reveal themselves.
What’s most interesting about this story is the idea of real life gun-fighting. The concept is very unique and Nathaniel Sheft really brings this hobby to life with his novel. The possibility of the organization, a multi-billion-dollar underground business, where women are trained for months at a time to go out and kill each other in a few brief seconds is fascinating. It’s even more empowering that the novel focuses on the sport as it is played by women. Sheft really challenges gender roles and introduces us to some of the most conniving, evil, clever, and entertaining female characters throughout this book, and it’s nice to read through a novel where the protagonist is a strong female character. Mattie’s transformation from depressed, isolated girl, to confident a, in your face, woman is what gives the story it’s flavor. She shows readers that you don’t have to be drop down beautiful or have any sort of history in etiquette. As long as you’re determined to accomplish your goals, you’ll be alright in the end.
The drawbacks to this novel however was that the writing style fluctuates between being great and just okay, especially when it came to dialogue or the inner monologue of characters. When any of the characters were joking or angry, their dialogue came through as more aggressive, however, the language was more colloquial – some slang words here, mispronunciations there, which is fine. However, it was unbelievable for every character to speak in that manner when they were angry. Also, throughout the book, we get a lot of David and Mattie’s inner monologues. These are so elegant, almost philosophical, especially with David. It’s such a strong contrast to the average, or less than polite language found throughout the rest of the novel. It seems that many characters in the novel have the same sort of inner monologue, so it doesn’t leave room for much originality in the words and thoughts of the characters. The language used to describe a scene was jumbled or vague at times which made it difficult to figure out the setting, who was talking, what action was going on, and what point in time the story was actually taking place.
Overall, the idea behind Modern Day Cowboy is intriguing and leads to fascinating possibilities.
Pages: 487 | ASIN: B01LXC2GTL
TAURUS, TAURUS, TAURUS
A sterilization syrum is being inserted into genetically modified super bulls, threatening to hurt the profits of the beef industry. Semi-retired, former Special Forces bad-ass Joe Garner is hired by a private security firm to track down the culprits, a cell of Islamic terrorists, and to take them out by whatever means necessary. Joe and his crew of ex-military tough guys track down the scientist who created the syrum, all the while getting in plenty of gunfights with Jihadists. In the end, they team up with a Russian General, with whom Joe has a history, and together, they take down the Imam, and restore the scientist to the cattle industry.
The 2016 Presidential election has made it very clear that there are two United States of America existing simultaneously: the coastal, liberal thinking, urban populous, and its white male dominated conservative counterpart. Taurus, Taurus, Taurus, a novel by Gordon Rayner, will appeal to the latter. It is chock full of espionage tech, a litany of government organizations bumbling through red tape towards a collective goal, descriptions of guns, and derogatory terms for people of Middle Eastern descent. America, fuck yeah!
Most of the book follows the protagonist, Joe Garner, a former special ops tough guy extraordinaire with too much integrity to toe the company line, who goes to work for a private black ops security company. (Bruce Willis could play him in the film). Joe’s got a bad leg, drinks a lot, and makes frequent mention of other men’s cowboy boots. Joe’s wife is also some kind of operative who goes on “spooky wooky missions,” though her character is for the most part left unexplored. In one of the least plot related, and kinkiest scenes in the book, Joe and his wife go to Jamaica, get “ganja” from the “tall black porter,” and then they end up back in the hotel room with his wife dabbing cannabis syrup on her nipples?! The sexy talk doesn’t stop there. There is a physical therapist who reads porno mags at his desk, and at some point the operatives are implanted with scrotum tracking chips.
Not surprisingly, this book is about sperm. In a meeting with a client, Joe discovers that a big beef conglomerate based in Houston is the top provider for cattle worldwide, and has developed a “dream sperm machine.” But, the plant where the super sperm was being developed has been blown sky high. Years later, a mysterious ransom note appears from the dream sperm’s creator, Dr. Gambil, who turns out is in cahoots with terrorists from Kyrgyzstan, setting the plot in motion.
Joe and his highly paid team of former special ops trained killer-cowboys travel around the globe chasing down the doctor and the Jihadists. From New Jersey to Argentina to Kyrgyzstan, Joe and his guys are always one step ahead of the Islamic Brigade, whose attempts to sterilize the super bulls continue to be halted by American bullets. They win every battle in overwhelming fashion.
In one section, Joe and his guys realize that since they are a private organization, the Geneva Convention can be disregarded. They discuss the best ways to torture an Islamic militant, including making him watch a pig get slaughtered and then covering him in its entrails, and having a naked woman attack him.
This book is for meat eating, red-blooded, cowboy boot wearing country boys. Fans of John Le Carre and Robert Ludlum will enjoy the way these all American heroes kick tons of ass.
Pages: 271 | ASIN: B01H8WPPNE
A Western Hearts Novel
Wilder Hearts is a historical western and romance novel. What draws you to the old west and makes it ripe for you to write such a great romance story in it?
I’ve been reading romance novels since high school. My mom and grandmothers taught me to love history, and my dad taught me to love westerns, science fiction, and the paranormal. Growing up, I used to watch western TV shows and movies with my dad all the time. We still watch western movies together. I think I’ve seen every western ever made starring John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, but my all time favorite “old” west movie is Support Your Local Sheriff– a western romantic comedy staring James Garner.
I thought the historical accuracy was spot on. What research did you do for this story?
A lot of research went into this novel. I have dozens of hard cover books on British and American history. When I began researching historical crimes a few years back, my husband gave me The Chronicle of Crime by Martin Fido, a book that chronicles the most infamous crimes in modern history. I also get a lot of my book ideas from watching Mysteries at the Museum. While doing internet research on American crimes similar to Jack the Rippers, I ran across a single article on the Servant Girl Annihilator. From there, I began searching the web for more info, and low and behold, just after I finished the first draft of Wilder Hearts, Mysteries at the Museum featured a segment on the Servant Girl Annihilator. The show even made the connection between Maurice, the Malay cook and Jack the Ripper. I was thrilled.
It’s time to make Wilder Hearts into a movie! What actress and actor do you picture playing the leading roles?
I think Melissa Rauch who plays Bernadette on The Big Bang Theory would make the perfect Ellie. She’s older than Ellie and her hair is blond, but in Hollywood, anything is possible. And I think Chris Pratt would make a great Jake.
I enjoyed the romance that was weaved into the mystery story. Where do you see Jake and Ellie, oh let’s say, a year after the novel ends?
As secondary characters in the sequel. I still haven’t settled on a title for the book. Obviously, it will be something with “Hearts” in the title, but in the rough draft already in the works, Ellie suggests that Brett Henderson (the rancher who helped Jake rescue Ellie) consider answering an ad for a Mail Order Bride she read in the San Francisco paper, Matrimonial News (a real paper in the late 1800’s.) Jake, of course, will be against the idea, but Brett is desperate to find a wife for his son in the dying town of Harmony.
Writing about the outlaw, Jake the Snake, could be the opportunity of a lifetime—if it doesn’t get her killed. When Ellie Wilder takes her sister from their grandfather’s home, she’s determined to put her family back together and write of their adventures. Then she runs into Jacob Harper, a man who resembles Jake the Snake, a notorious outlaw who once rode with Billy the Kid. Is it possible the outlaw who escaped justice has mended his ways? Or is the handsome Mr. Harper now murdering servant girls in Austin? Finding out the truth could be the journalistic opportunity of a lifetime. Former Texas Ranger Jake Harper has returned to Texas to help solve the Servant Girl Annihilator murders. But when a similar murder occurs in Harmony, Texas, Jake goes undercover as Jake the Snake to find a connection between the series of brutal murders. Then Ellie Wilder shows up. Her snooping could blow his cover and get her killed, but Ellie soon becomes a bigger threat to his heart than his investigation.
LITERARY TITAN 