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Corrupt Corporation
The Black-Eyed Baby follows a detective who ends up on a gruesome case involving the richest members of society and starts uncovering secrets they want to keep buried. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
It started with a corrupt corporation that was a community pillar and grew from there.
Was there anything from your own life that you put into the characters in your novel?
Absolutely. People I’ve seen over my lifetime have influenced many of the characters. For instance, my mother-in-law lived to be 98 years old, and the last fifteen years of her life were in an independent care facility. Twice a week, we went to play bingo with her. Many of the people at Freedom Pointe are patterned after the people there.
How do you balance story development with shocking plot twists? Or can they be the same thing?
I keep an Excel file labeled Autoposy of the Book Name. In this file, there is a column for the chapter number, chapter name, characters in that chapter, word count, how the chapter opens, the action in the chapter, senses used, purpose of the chapter, what is foreshadowed, and what is an open item that needs to be addressed later on.
Will this novel be the start of a series, or are you working on a different story?
This is a series. A contract for the second book has just been signed, and I am about two-thirds of the way through writing the third book.
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He now wishes he never had to…
Days after an unidentified woman is found murdered and dumped behind an IHOP, police connect her murder to the death of a young thug named Rocco Maxen and discover her infant son dead inside her home.
Jane Doe is Nicole Hensen, a young woman who was fired mere days ago from a big corporation for not showing up for work.
But why do her colleagues claim they never had any dealings with her, and why would her employers rather fire her than look into her strange disappearance?
As Mansfield and his partner, Landers, delve into the sinister business of one of the richest and oldest families in the city, they find themselves blindsided by the darkness and secrets buried beneath its crushing wealth.
When it comes right down to it, the poor and the rich have one thing in common…
They would both do anything for money.
The Black-Eyed Baby
In the pulsating heart of modern-day America, detective narratives often plunge into the abyss of unspeakable crimes, revealing societal underbellies that are as intriguing as they are horrifying. Such is the nuanced tapestry woven by Jacquel Clark in The Black Eyed Baby, which escorts readers through the convoluted lanes of grim murder mysteries, transgressing the seemingly serene lives of the affluent.
Protagonist Dave Mansfield, a steadfast American detective, finds himself enmeshed in a case that permeates his waking thoughts and distills an ominous fog over his professional and personal life. The discovery of a woman’s lifeless body spirals into a complex web linking her death to that of a gang member, further complicated by the hauntingly poignant discovery of her baby, life extinguished too soon in the confines of her home. Mansfield, ensnared by the conundrum, not only unravels a murder but also peels back the layers of the grotesque dealings of society’s elite.
The Black Eyed Baby stands out for its meticulous craftsmanship, not merely as a pulsating detective novel but as a vivid cinematic experience seamlessly unfolding within the reader’s imagination. Clark demonstrates a commendable mastery over narrative, expertly delineating characters and architecting an American ambiance that renders a stark, haunting backdrop to the malevolence unfolding within its pages.
Mansfield embodies the American detective archetype with a compelling genuineness – navigating through the quagmire of horrid crime scenes and confronting morally bankrupt individuals while grappling with internal and external conflicts. Each chapter forms a crucial vertebra in the spine of the novel’s narrative, making it rather impossible to cherry-pick a single favorite amidst a cascade of compelling narratives.
For enthusiasts of detective fiction, The Black Eyed Baby offers an immersive reading experience and an intricate puzzle, where every name and subplot is a piece requiring meticulous attention. Although some may find the abundant chapters and an array of characters slightly challenging to keep pace with, necessitating occasional revisits to previous sections, the overall journey is emphatically rewarding.
Jacquel Clark delivers an exhilarating, if not also haunting, tale that marries meticulous storytelling with vibrant imagery and complex, relatable characters. The hopeful among us eagerly await another mystery, desiring once more to traverse the shadowy paths of intrigue and deception alongside Dave Mansfield.
Pages: 239 | ASIN : B0CFBDQQV4
LITERARY TITAN 