Blog Archives
Tales of Adventure
Slickrock weaves together the paths of a loner who discovers a body in a granary and a college student who is roped into a scheme by a crew bent on revenge. Where did the idea for this story come from?
The remote wild country in Canyonlands National Park seemed like a great place to store a kidnap victim while waiting for the ransom, and it was also perfect for the intervention by “Relic,” the moonshining hermit of Canyonlands.
How do you balance story development with shocking plot twists? Or can they be the same thing?
One builds naturally into the other, especially when a character is cornered by circumstance and their own choices.
Do you have a favorite moment in Slickrock? One that was especially fun to craft?
That’s a tough question. Maybe the scene where Relic fools the shooter into thinking the deputy is already dead.
Can we look forward to more work from you soon? What are you currently working on?
Yes, I really enjoy writing about the moonshining hermit and tales of adventure and intrigue in the desert outback!
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Malia is kidnapped and held in an old trailer in a remote canyon. When a gin-brewing recluse named Relic rescues her, an investigating deputy teams up with a hunter who is not who he claims to be… Malia and Relic must survive a deadly shoot-out, evade their pursuers, and warn the deputy before it’s too late. But someone in town is helping the bad guys. And a trip-up in their plan only makes them more determined and lethal…
Slickrock
Slickrock blends a fast kidnapping thriller with a rugged, sun-bleached wilderness adventure. The story kicks off when Relic, a loner and moonshiner who haunts Utah canyon country, discovers a body in a fake granary. At the same time, college student Malia is yanked from a nightclub and dragged into a scheme run by a revenge-hungry crew. Sheriff Leavitt and Deputy Dawson try to track down a missing ranch hand, but their investigation collides with the kidnappers’ plans. The book jumps between these threads until everything crashes together in Slickrock Canyon, where desert storms, gunfights, and raw survival force each character to show who they really are.
The pacing moves fast, like the book can’t wait to shove you around the next corner. I really liked the way the author paints the canyon. It feels hot and harsh and alive in a way that made me thirsty just sitting on my couch. Relic ended up being my favorite part of the book. His quiet grit sneaks up on you, and the way he tries to help Malia even though the whole mess has nothing to do with him makes him feel grounded and real. I also liked how the author lets scenes breathe just long enough before snapping into chaos. It kept me on my toes, and I didn’t mind that one bit.
The villains are nasty, but a few of their scenes felt over-the-top. Malia’s storyline pulled me in, especially the terror and confusion she feels early on, but I sometimes wanted more space inside her head instead of being rushed along. Still, when the story drops her into the wilderness with Relic, everything tightens up again. Their scramble through canyon forks and flash floods has a wild, sweaty energy. The writing hits hardest when it sticks to people running for their lives under a huge sky.
The book is punchy and dramatic. If you like thrillers that sprint rather than stroll, or if you enjoy survival stories set in wide open desert country, this one will probably scratch the itch. It’s especially good for readers who love a mix of crime, action, and a little rough humor. And if you’re the type who likes rooting for the stubborn, dusty outsider who’d rather avoid everyone but still ends up saving the day, Relic alone makes the journey worth it.
Pages: 300 | ASIN : B0G1CD2S61
The Nickel Choir
The Nickel Choir, by Poli Flores Jr., is a dark, deeply human courtroom drama that pulls no punches. The story follows Linda Sanchez, a seasoned Los Angeles prosecutor whose work in death penalty cases earns her a place in the exclusive “Nickel Choir,” a grim club of attorneys with five death penalty convictions. The book takes readers into the heart of legal battles, the raw aftermath of violent crimes, and the private toll borne by those who prosecute them. It blends gritty trial scenes, personal tragedy, and moral questions in a way that feels both brutally honest and heartbreakingly intimate.
The writing grabbed me from the start. Flores’s background as a judge and lawyer bleeds through every page, giving the legal scenes an authenticity that feels impossible to fake. The courtroom dialogue crackles with tension, and the way jurors, lawyers, and victims’ families are portrayed feels painfully real. But what struck me most was Linda’s voice. It’s confessional, self-deprecating, tough as nails, but also fragile. She compares herself to a donkey, plain on the outside but stubborn, resilient, and more capable than people expect. That metaphor resonated with me. I found myself rooting for her, not just in court but in life, through the unbearable loss of her family, her battles with addiction, and her complicated sense of justice.
The death penalty is a subject that’s hard to read about, let alone process, and Flores doesn’t soften it. He brings readers face-to-face with the cruelty of crimes and the cold mechanics of punishment. Some passages made me angry, others left me hollow, and a few had me questioning my own beliefs. That kind of discomfort isn’t easy, but it’s also the mark of writing that dares to go somewhere raw. I think that’s where the book shines most: it doesn’t tell you what to think, it makes you sit with the mess of choices and flaws.
The Nickel Choir isn’t just a courtroom thriller; it’s a meditation on justice, morality, and survival in a world where answers are never clean. I’d recommend it to readers who like legal dramas with emotional grit, who don’t mind being challenged, and who are drawn to stories that mix professional triumph with personal pain.
Pages: 250 | ISBN : 978-1804680964
Two Divergent Souls
Land Without Shame follows an iconic film star whose plane crashes on a dormant volcanic island, where he winds up on a mission to rescue children being used as slave laborers in a clandestine gold-mining operation. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Honestly, I have no definitive answer. In book one of this series, Cody Musket, a former Marine and now a famous major league baseball icon, has formed a covert paramilitary organization to rescue trafficked children in third-world countries. The story in Land Without Shame takes place more than twenty years later, with Cody Musket Jr., age 22, at the helm, carrying on the Muskets’ child rescue operations into the next generation. This story was a natural outgrowth of the family’s covert enterprise history. I never intended to write Land Without Shame because I thought the Musket story was finished after book 3. Go figure.
Was the character’s backstory something you always had, or did it develop as you were writing?
This question caused me to reflect deeply upon how I put together this messy, unlikely, but clean love story involving two divergent souls whose relationship defied all odds. Diamond Casper, the spoiled but broken film star whose only ambition was to make movies and live in Malibu, and Cody Musket Jr., a dedicated Christian from a conservative background who repeatedly put himself in harm’s way to rescue kids–somehow this story gripped me from the beginning. To this day, I have no idea exactly why or when the story invaded my mind, but once it came, it grew and grew. After that happened in the middle of the story, I realized that my child trafficking novel had exploded into a tale of redemption, love, and second chances.
How did you balance the action scenes with the story elements and still keep a fast pace in the story?
This is a hard one to answer. Candidly, I seem to do everything at a fast pace, so maybe I just stumbled naturally into this balance that you mentioned. Sometimes I feel like an accidental author who wrote an accidental book series. (smiling)
What is the next book that you’re working on, and when can your fans expect it out?
I am delighted that you asked. The sequel to Land Without Shame is now live on Amazon and Goodreads. The title is Black Pearl. It is the finale of the series and follows Cody Jr. and Diamond as they begin their lives together and rejoin the entire Musket family in this final episode. This one is a political thriller that introduces Cody’s older brother Raymond, a US Marine whose codename is “Ghost,” and who has become the president’s right-hand man. This story is about betrayal, insurrection, high-tech terrorism, and politics in 2041 AD. Maggie and Kennedy, the Muskets’ adoptive daughters, ages 13 and 12, have heroic roles, and you can read a more complete description at this link.
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A clean story of first love, second chances, rescue, and redemption, with futuristic sci-fi in the mix.
The year is 2041. Cody Musket Jr. and iconic film star Diamond Casper, strangers, are marooned on a dormant volcanic island after their commuter flight crashes. The uncharted island is home to a clandestine gold-mining operation which uses child slave laborers. When the volcano suddenly erupts, they must team-up against all odds to rescue 60 captive children and escape the explosive island. A solid romantic thriller!
Breaking Free From Addiction
The Karma Sequence follows a young man embarking on a journey to find himself and the meaning of life, who finds himself entangled in a mystery that will impact the future of humanity. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration came from my own spiritual search and my desire to share the insights and reflections I’ve gathered throughout my life. The central idea behind The Karma Sequence is the belief that there is a technology-based explanation for all phenomena in the cosmos — even the supernatural and transcendent.
Additionally, a major motivation for writing The Karma Sequence was my wish to share my personal experience with addiction and the tools and methods that made a difference in my recovery. My hope is that some of these experiences might be helpful to others who are trapped in substance abuse and addiction.
Dan and Ryan are complex characters with intriguing and unique backstories. What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?
The protagonist, Dan, is based on my own experiences and my desire to share that story — particularly the realization that a deeper understanding of the spiritual and transcendent is essential for breaking free from addiction, and for finding deeper meaning and understanding in life and in the significance of each individual existence.
Several passages in the book were difficult to write — primarily because Dan’s story needed to reflect my own journey and transformation. It was important for me to make the description as precise and complete as possible, so that it could carry real value for readers.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Behind the overarching plot of The Karma Sequence, the central theme is addiction — in this case, alcoholism — and how a spiritual understanding can be an invaluable support in breaking free from addiction. At the same time, this insight offers a profound sense of unity and connection with life, and a path toward finding true meaning and purpose in existence.
Where does the story go in the next book, and where do you see it going in the future?
The Karma Sequence is the first book in The Karma Kantata series, which consists of three books. In the next two volumes, we continue following Dan and his efforts to solve a series of unexplained mysteries, while he gains deeper insights into both the forces that govern the world and the transcendent system underlying our understanding of the cosmos.
While the underlying theme of The Karma Sequence is alcoholism and the struggle against addiction to physical substances in general, a central theme of the second book, The Karma Topology, is transhumanism and a critical exploration of the idea that it might be possible to experience life and the world without a physical body and sensory apparatus.
A major theme in the final book of the series, The Karma Ubiquity, is globalism — and the dangers of consolidating global power into a few obscure structures, while simultaneously losing cultural diversity and meaningful traditions.
Although these themes have been important for me to explore, they are still just one part of my larger goal: to write books that are engaging and thought-provoking, offering readers an enjoyable experience while also providing perspectives on how certain challenges might be understood and addressed.
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The Karma Sequence is a thrilling novel of high-tech suspense – the story of a young man’s incredible journey to find himself and the meaning of life while trying to solve an ominous mystery directly affecting the future of every single human being.
Dan, an introverted computer genius, has fought his way back from a life-shattering crisis that left him isolated, powerless, and close to death.
Now, he is asked to investigate a computer system for gene analysis. On its own, the system he helped to develop has started predicting the exact date on which the analyzed people will die.
Several deaths confirm the system’s predictions.
While searching for an explanation, he also tries to find a new purpose in life and how he can help other people struggling with addiction.
With its thrilling plot and captivating characters, this story will keep you hooked until the very last page. An intensely mesmerizing novel you will never forget.
This book is for you if you’re looking for a model to understand life’s purpose and a deeper meaning of existence.
All this, in addition to a fascinating and immersive story.
The Karma Sequence
The Karma Sequence is a genre-bending thriller that kicks off with a seemingly ordinary man receiving a life expectancy report and noticing a cryptic number, “15,529,” next to his predicted age. His curiosity spirals into a disturbing obsession, culminating in a deadly crash. From there, we’re launched into a layered, cerebral journey that weaves together tech entrepreneurship, personal addiction, the allure of destiny, and the philosophical question of free will. At the heart of it are Dan, a recovering alcoholic and once-brilliant coder, and Ryan, a bombastic tech CEO with more charm than scruples. The story plays out in Denmark’s tech landscape, moving from startup boardrooms to introspective monologues that dig deep into identity, consequence, and the unseen threads tying it all together.
What stood out most to me was how precisely Wagner captures the atmosphere of contemporary tech culture, particularly through Dan’s internal monologue. Dan feels remarkably authentic: a once-successful programmer who has grown disillusioned with his achievements, struggling to recover from addiction while confronting the weight of broken relationships and shifting personal expectations. In chapter one, when Dan walks into the glossy City Tower and tries to act like he belongs, the writing oozes awkwardness and subtle tension. That whole scene with the receptionist “Vibs,” and how she’s clearly part of Ryan’s curated image, it’s both funny and gross, but also believable. Wagner doesn’t tell you how to feel about these things, he just lays them out with quiet irony, and I found myself smirking more than once.
The pacing is slick in some places and meandering in others, but not in a bad way. There’s a ton of world-building, especially around Lifeline, the company that sells genetic “life reports” based on mouth swabs. It’s part Silicon Valley satire, part eerie dystopian science. The tension builds slowly, almost too slowly at times, but the little details kept me hooked, like the recurring image of Dan’s bottle of cola sitting untouched, or the “Lifeline” logo described with almost religious awe. I appreciated how Wagner plays with scale: one minute you’re inside a character’s messy, doubting thoughts, and the next you’re thinking about DNA and fate. It’s heady stuff, but it doesn’t feel like a lecture.
The dialogue throughout the novel is somewhat uneven. The early exchanges between Dan and Ryan are particularly effective, capturing a believable mentor-mentee dynamic underscored by subtle power shifts. However, in certain sections, especially during boardroom discussions or moments of heavy exposition, the dialogue occasionally drifts into overly expository territory, diminishing its natural rhythm. In contrast, the interactions between Dan and Michael are especially compelling. Their conversations carry genuine emotional depth, shaped by a complex and fractured friendship, as well as Michael’s quiet but sincere spiritual outlook. One of the most affecting moments occurs when Michael asks Dan, “Are you still an atheist?” a simple question that resonates with the weight of shared history, regret, and unspoken understanding.
The Karma Sequence is an enjoyable read, It’s smart, reflective, and doesn’t insult the reader by spelling everything out. It’s a bit like Black Mirror meets Mr. Robot with a Scandinavian coolness and just enough heart. I’d recommend it to folks who like tech thrillers with a philosophical twist, or anyone who enjoys slow-burn character studies with ethical dilemmas.
Pages: 323 | ASIN : B0BPMNS54Y
The Tangled Mane
Charlie Tyler’s The Tangled Mane is a tangled web of mystery, trauma, and resilience, bouncing between two timelines to tell the interconnected stories of Mikey and Cally. Mikey’s childhood is one of neglect, hunger, and a deep, unwavering bond with his sister, Lucy. Their lives are spent navigating the bleak reality of Hazelton Towers, dreaming of escape, and finding solace in small kindnesses, a tattered copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a stolen moment with a caged lion they call Aslan, or the rare indulgence of a cheap hotdog. In the present, Cally is an undercover investigator at an elite country club, caught up in a case of theft that takes a dark turn when a wealthy bride-to-be is found dead in her bathtub. As these two stories unfold, the past and present inch closer together, revealing long-buried secrets and shocking connections.
Mikey’s chapters, set in 2004, broke my heart. His voice is a mixture of innocence and desperation, a kid who finds magic in the smallest things while surviving a childhood no one should have to endure. Lucy, his older sister, is his rock and his protector, and their dynamic is beautifully written. Tyler doesn’t sugarcoat their reality, the grimy flat, the mother who cares more about drugs than her kids, the men who come and go. And then there’s Aslan, the lion in a cage, who mirrors Mikey’s own trapped existence. Every time Mikey sneaks him scraps of food or strokes his matted mane through the bars, I found myself hoping against hope that this boy would one day escape his own cage.
On the other hand, Cally’s chapters felt like stepping into a different world. If Mikey’s life is about survival, Cally’s is about intrigue. Her job at The Phoenix, a club catering to the rich and powerful, seems glamorous on the surface, but beneath the expensive champagne and designer suits, something sinister lurks. The death of Luella, the spoiled influencer-bride, is chilling, and Cally’s sharp, no-nonsense attitude makes her an engaging protagonist. I loved her banter with Dan, her detective fiancé, even when he annoyed her (which was often). And the little details like her regrettable pixie cut and her deep-seated love for hot chocolate made her feel like someone I could be friends with.
What ties this novel together is the way the past and present slowly converge. Tyler drops breadcrumbs throughout the story, each clue tightening the tension. By the time I started seeing how Mikey and Cally’s lives might be linked, I was flipping pages at lightning speed. And the final reveal? Gut-wrenching. The book makes you question how much of our past defines our future, how trauma shapes us, and whether escape is ever truly possible. It’s dark, yes, but it’s also about love, the love between siblings, the bonds we make in the unlikeliest places, and the quiet hope that even in the worst circumstances, there’s still a way out.
I’d recommend The Tangled Mane to anyone who loves a gripping mystery with deep emotional stakes. If you’re into crime thrillers with heart, this one’s for you. It’s not a light read, it hits hard and lingers long after the final page but that’s what makes it brilliant.
Pages: 274 | ASIN : B0DP1886LH
Twists and Turns
A Change in Destiny: Dark Suspicions follows an FBI investigator who loses his prime suspect and a key witness, causing him to turn his attention to the suspect’s wife, only she has an identical twin sister complicating matters. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for this setup on Book II is questions have been left unanswered from Book I.
What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?
I loved writing the Boots brother characters. They are complicated as you discover at the end of the book. If any were more difficult it was Brian. His story became more involved as the story progressed.
I felt that there were a lot of great twists and turns throughout the novel. Did you plan this before writing the novel, or did the twists develop organically writing?
The twists and turns…some were planned others developed. As an author, you may be heading down one road with your thoughts and plans, and then a left turn comes up fast and takes you in another direction.
What will the next book in that series be about, and when will it be published?
I do not plan to write another book for this series, however; I did leave it open to a possible one. I will need to sleep on it.
I am working on a book of short stories, and a new paranormal comedy/cozy mystery series, and have plans for a thriller/horror novella.
There will be two audiobooks released sometime this year, Dark Suspicions and my novella It’s for the Best.
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Charlie is not alone in the spotlight—her mirror-image twin, Dani, adds complexity to the case as a potential accomplice. Brian suspects the twins are concealing crucial evidence. However, their formidable legal defense team hinders any progress. Brian is forced to conceive a risky strategy to uncover a more profound layer of criminal activity. He will deceive those closest to him to discover the truth.
Meanwhile, Charlie and Dani plan to protect their secrets, forging ahead despite Brian’s probing. His relentless pursuit of justice teeters on the brink of an all-consuming obsession. Will his dark suspicions lead to dark consequences?
LITERARY TITAN 