Blog Archives
Warrior Pose (Audiobook)
Authors and Audiobook Producers Susan Rogers and John Roosen have given fans yet another riveting installment in audiobook 4 of the Yoga Mat Mysteries. Ric thrives on living his life being pulled in every direction at once, with all the action, intense emotion, and dogged determination to which fans of the series have grown accustomed. Elaina, the yoga teacher who captured Ric’s heart, remains undaunted in facing the danger that goes hand in hand with being Ric’s one true love. Warrior Pose takes the pair on a journey to New Zealand, where Ric continues to face the challenges of a dark past, and their relationship is put to the test yet again.
The audiobook version of Warrior Pose is a must-listen for mystery and thriller fans. As a fan, I can’t recommend this installment without recommending the entire series, but I can say that any listener who chooses to devour this as a standalone will not be disappointed.
Rupert Degas’ narration is nothing short of brilliant as he takes on a multitude of characters and accents and nails each and every one.
I am always blown away by Rogers and Roosen’s work, and this audiobook installment was no exception. As this series has grown, so has the overall writing. One of the most striking aspects of the narrative is the sheer perfection in the action sequences. With each book in this series, I have been increasingly impressed with the way the authors integrate the thrill factor.
The art of using short sentences that pack a punch and draw listeners directly into the drama is not lost on this writing team. Nowhere is this more impactful than in the scenes when Ric is fighting for his life and battling both the obstacles that await in the wilderness and lurk in the dark.
Narrator Rupert Degas, always mesmerizing in his delivery, utilizes the most wonderful pauses in narration to allow thoughts to settle in. Listeners cannot help but feel as though they are peeking over Ric’s shoulder or standing tall alongside Elaina as she shows all the strength needed to support the man she loves–the one who comes with as much baggage as he does charisma.
Dynamics, again, are a focal point in Rogers and Roosen’s writing. As a listener who not only appreciates but craves character development in a series, I was beyond delighted to see the ebb and flow of Ric’s relationship with his father. In addition, Elaina’s vulnerability as she faces meeting Ric’s parents in this installment is touching and all too relatable. The mystery surrounding the toxic waste site and Ric’s multiple responsibilities often step aside to allow Elena’s growth to shine through, and that is a development I can definitely get behind.
Warrior Pose keeps listeners guessing to the end and into the story’s epilogue while pulling them deep inside the charm and comfort of Ric and Elaina’s relationship; it is the perfect listen!
Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins | ASIN: B0FJTD9C4B
When Mountains Crumble
When Mountains Crumble tells the story of Faith Ansley, a private investigator haunted by the deaths and loves of her past. After losing her husband Jeremy in a tragic accident, she receives a mysterious letter that reopens old wounds and pulls her into memories of first love, betrayal, and grief that refuses to stay buried. The novel moves fluidly between Faith’s present and her youth, exploring trauma, obsession, and the ways love can both heal and destroy. It’s a blend of psychological mystery and emotional drama, unfolding slowly, like fog lifting from a valley.
Author Claudine DiScala knows how to paint a scene. Every coffee cup, every trembling hand, every heartbeat feels real. There’s a rawness to her style, and at times it’s intimate, like overhearing someone’s private confession. Some passages lingered with me long after I closed the book. The pacing occasionally slows. The flashbacks are intense and vivid, yet sometimes the shifts left me disoriented. But maybe that’s the point. Grief and memory are messy, and the novel captures that confusion better than anything I’ve read in a while.
This is an emotionally stirring book. I ached for Faith. I wanted to shake her and hold her in equal measure. DiScala writes about loss with an honesty that’s brutal but never cruel. The love stories within the story, Faith and Jeremy, Faith and Cole, feel like reflections of the same wound, revisited over decades. The author dives deep into trauma, obsession, and the danger of confusing passion with destiny. It’s not just a story about mourning someone else, but about mourning the person you used to be. By the end, I felt wrung out and oddly comforted, like I’d gone through therapy I didn’t ask for.
I’d recommend When Mountains Crumble to readers who like their fiction dark but relatable. If you’ve ever loved someone you shouldn’t have, or held onto a memory longer than you should, this book will speak to you. Emotionally, it can be heavy, but it’s beautiful in its honesty. For fans of psychological fiction that stirs up old ghosts and asks hard questions about love, guilt, and forgiveness, this one’s worth the read.
Pages: 358 | ISBN : 1509263268
Where’s Jackson Pollock?
Jim Davidson’s Where’s Jackson Pollock? is a vivid blend of art, crime, and human frailty that moves from the smoky streets of 1960s Brussels to the humid shores of modern-day Florida and Virginia. It begins with an art thief named Henri who steals two priceless paintings, a Pollock and a Rothko, and then follows their strange afterlife through decades of greed, betrayal, and reinvention. By the time the paintings resurface, they’ve become more than works of art, they’re ghosts of guilt and ambition that haunt every character who touches them. The book stitches together these timelines with sharp pacing and a film-like rhythm that makes the mystery feel alive and personal.
I found the writing punchy and cinematic. Davidson has a knack for giving even the quiet moments a pulse, a sense that something is about to go wrong. His characters feel flawed; greedy, desperate, and self-justifying, but never cartoonish. The dialogue sounds natural, almost overheard, and the detail in the settings makes every scene easy to picture. There’s an undercurrent of sadness beneath all the clever plotting, a recognition that beauty and corruption often share the same frame. That mix of tension and melancholy made me care more about the people than the paintings.
The story can linger inside a moment or a minor side story, but I forgave that because the author writes with conviction. The characters talk and act like real people, selfish, hopeful, scared, and funny. The theme that money distorts art and love both feels timeless and painfully true. I caught myself grinning at his dry humor one minute and shaking my head in frustration the next. It’s the kind of book that doesn’t just tell a story; it makes you sit with what greed and loss do to a person’s soul.
I’d recommend Where’s Jackson Pollock? to anyone who loves a good art-world mystery or character-driven crime story. It’s perfect for readers who enjoy novels where the moral lines blur and everyone has something to hide. If you liked The Goldfinch or The Thomas Crown Affair, this one will hit the same nerve. It’s smart, layered, and surprisingly emotional.
Pages: 324 | ASIN : B0FVBL15J3
The Admiral’s Gamble
The Admiral’s Gamble unfolds like a cinematic naval epic mixed with the intrigue of a sci-fi thriller. It follows Admiral James Harrington, a decorated officer at the end of his long career, who stumbles upon a mysterious device capable of altering time. The story begins at his retirement party and spirals into a tense, emotional journey through duty, destiny, and moral conflict. What starts as a quiet reflection on legacy turns into a race against fate, as Harrington must decide whether to sacrifice everything he knows to prevent a future catastrophe.
Reading this book felt like stepping into an old-school war movie that suddenly turns futuristic. The writing is vivid and grounded in military realism, yet it slides seamlessly into moments of eerie wonder. Author Nick Malara writes with a strong sense of rhythm; his scenes move with a cinematic flow that keeps the tension alive even in the quiet moments. A few pages linger long on scenery when the story’s emotional punch could have carried itself. But the heart of the book, the internal struggle of a man torn between heroism and self-preservation, shines bright and feels honest.
I found myself really drawn to Harrington as a character. He’s gruff, tired, and haunted by the weight of command. The dialogue feels old-school and clipped, full of restraint, like the man himself. Yet beneath that hardened shell is a depth of conscience that makes him compelling. The time-travel element, though wild, serves more as a mirror for his soul than a trick of plot. It forces him, and the reader, to ask: what’s the cost of doing the right thing when it erases the life you’ve built? There were moments that hit hard, moments that made me pause and think about sacrifice, legacy, and the strange way duty can both define and destroy a person.
I’d recommend The Admiral’s Gamble to readers who like military fiction with a twist of science fiction, or stories about aging heroes facing their past. It’s ideal for people who enjoy introspection mixed with high-stakes action. The story’s emotional weight and moral questions make it worth the ride. If you like tales that mix grit, heart, and a touch of the unknown, this one’s a good bet.
Pages: 178 | ASIN : B0FH77C97Z
Kissed the Girls
Anthony Silman’s Kissed the Girls dives deep into the sleek, poisonous world of power, privilege, and corruption. The novel weaves several storylines together, a pair of ruthless lawyers, a naïve designer lured into a predator’s den, a celebrity couple undone by scandal, and a grifter who thrives in the cracks of bureaucracy. The book opens with a cry of outrage from the press against a man “beyond the law,” setting the tone for what follows: a series of interconnected tales where greed, lust, and moral rot fester beneath elegant façades. It’s satire, thriller, and social commentary rolled into one.
Reading it, I found myself both fascinated and uneasy. Silman’s writing is crisp and confident, filled with sharp dialogue that makes his characters sound alive, even when you wish they weren’t. Inigo and Archie, the slick lawyers who bend law and ethics like soft metal, are drawn with wit and venom. Suzanne Pickwick’s story hit harder for me. Her innocence, her polite compliance, the quiet horror of what she endures, it all builds slowly until you’re holding your breath. I could almost feel the weight of the room she’s in, the polished menace of the people around her. There’s anger beneath the words too, a fury aimed at the smug invulnerability of men like Omar, and it bleeds through in the best way.
At times, the story feels like a moral fable hiding behind a crime drama. Silman’s world is full of people who think they can buy decency, and for a while, they almost do. But there’s a pulse of resistance running through the book. Suzanne’s defiance, the small flickers of conscience from unexpected places, they make the darkness sharper. The style isn’t smooth or sterile. It stings, it laughs at itself, it jumps from the wickedly funny to the deeply grim. That volatility made me enjoy it more. I felt irritated, amused, disgusted, and even oddly hopeful, often within a few pages.
In the end, Kissed the Girls left me rattled but satisfied. It’s not a pretty story, and it doesn’t try to be. It’s clever and brutal, and it doesn’t let you stand comfortably on the sidelines. I’d recommend it to readers who like their fiction bold, cynical, and grounded in the uncomfortable truths of modern power. If you enjoy stories that peel back the glossy surface of success to show the greed and cruelty underneath, this one’s for you.
Pages: 408 | ASIN : B0FHQFRBGN
The Illusion of Freedom
Day Drinkers follows a woman on a Caribbean island desperate to escape her dead-end job who takes a risk captaining a small sailing vessel for a corrupt music artist, sending her into a life-or-death situation. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for Day Drinkers came from the decade I spent living and working in the Caribbean as a travel writer, performer, and liveaboard sailor. I was fascinated by how easily escape and suffering coexist in so-called paradise. The novel is a meditation on the consequences of rejecting society’s rules in pursuit of the illusion of freedom, and on how we choose to either make sense of our past or run from it.
Was there anything from your own life that you put into the characters in your novel?
Absolutely. My books always emerge from lived experience. My debut, Zone Trip, was inspired by the fifteen years I spent with a secret artist society in San Francisco. For Day Drinkers, I drew from a decade of sailing, performing, and working as a travel writer in the Caribbean. I want my stories to feel authentic, so I live them. Most of the characters in Day Drinkers are composites of people I met in the islands, viewed through the lens of absurdism and satire.
Some events in the book were chillingly similar to real-life events. Did you take any inspiration from real life when developing this book?
Yes. Easter Cay, the island at the center of Day Drinkers, was loosely inspired by exclusive enclaves owned by billionaires and celebrities, most notably the infamous Little Saint James, formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein. As a traveling circus artist, I was hired to perform at private parties for powerful people. This book reflects what happens when wealth and secrecy collide with poverty and desperation—something I witnessed firsthand. While Day Drinkers is a work of fiction, it asks very real questions about complicity, exploitation, and how paradise can become a prison for those who serve it.
What is the next book that you’re working on, and when can your fans expect it out?
My next literary thriller is titled Bufo. It explores the use of spirit medicine and its strange aftermath. In this story, DMT entities begin to manifest as characters. Commercially, it’s in the same vein as Nine Perfect Strangers—but more positive and surreal. From a literary perspective, a major influence is William Burroughs’s Queer, with its raw, unsettling exploration of altered consciousness and outsider desire. Bufo is expected in 2027.
Author Links: Goodreads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | YouTube | Medium | Instagram | Spotify | Amazon
🏝️ Invited to a party on a forbidden pleasure island
🍹 Swept into the corrupt world of a country music legend
☠️ Flees to Cuba, hunted by drug and human traffickers
🥥 Inspired by the dark reality of Jeffrey Epstein’s world
🌊 Day Drinkers: Where the American Dream washes ashore
From her office window on St. Columba, Gemma gazes out at the mysterious pleasure island just beyond the reef. Owned by country music legend Cowboi Rivers, the exclusive retreat lures the world’s wealthy and powerful with promises of secrecy and illicit pleasures. Meanwhile, the locals keep their distance, wary of the wild parties and whispered rumors of drugs and disappearing girls.
Desperate to escape her dead-end job, Gemma seizes a risky opportunity to captain the sailing vessel Mariposa for Cowboi’s shadowy empire. She finds herself swept into a world of corrupt elites. When a cocaine pickup in the Dominican Republic spirals into a deadly double-cross, Gemma and her crew enlist the aid of a Vodou priestess, a hard-drinking mariner, and a rumba-loving boat boy to escape. With her enemies closing in, Gemma sails toward Cuba, facing a storm that threatens to sweep her away.
Day Drinkers is a tantalizing medley of Saint X and Don’t Stop the Carnival, seasoned with a dash of The Rum Diary. Drawing from her ten years as a liveaboard sailor and Caribbean travel writer, Kitty Turner, an American Absurdism revivalist, delivers a gripping tale of identity and redemption through her unique talent for rollicking storytelling and deep philosophical inquiry.
Self-Deprecating Humor
Spelled in Ink centers around a gifted but snarky mage on a supernatural heist that suddenly goes wrong. Where did the idea for this novel come from?
Plenty of inspirations for my novels come from my travels. This one was inspired by a trip to the French chateaus of the Loire. We visited both Clos Lucé and Chenonceau, and I found them both so magical that I simply had to write about them. Da Vinci was an amazing person, and the exhibition in the chateau gave me plenty of food for thought. I always have paranormal elements in my novels, and Magical Realism is a thing for me. This one borders on urban fantasy; I simply wanted to have more magic than in my other series, the Magical Misfits Mysteries. I also wanted something faster-paced. Poor Cyn and Dan are almost constantly on the run….
Cyn is such a fantastic main character. What was your inspiration for her traits and dialogue?
I prefer characters who break the mold, that’s why she–while grounded in Europe–isn’t purely of European descent. Fortunately, my kind Indian friends made sure I didn’t introduce any bloopers when it came to the Indian part of her heritage. The voice is typical–or so I’m told. My MCs seem to suffer from self-deprecating humor, are intelligent and resourceful, and that makes for some snappy comebacks. I love writing dialogue. Apparently, it’s one of my strengths, or so I’m told.
What is the most challenging aspect of writing a mystery?
Getting the “trail of breadcrumbs,” i.e., the clues aligned so the ultimate conclusion is not only logical, but the reader also has a chance of working it out for themselves. Getting that right requires a lot of careful planning and mapping. Spelled is also a heist, which means I had another plotline to distract from the murder, but it still had to fit.
Can you give us a glimpse into the next book in the Da Vinci Mysteries? Where will it take readers?
The next one, Cursed out Loud, will take readers to Da Vinci’s home country and even his birthplace – Vinci in Tuscany. This book is stronger on the murder mystery aspect. To get hold of the next part of Vinci’s treatise, Cyn and Dan take part in an oldtimer rally. The winner gets the treatise. Well, that’s the theory. When a rally organizer is murdered, things go sadly pear-shaped… I’ve also been asked about the romance – yes, it develops during the series, and the next instalment makes their attraction very clear. But be warned – I’m anything but linear….
Author Links: GoodReads | Bluesky | Facebook | Website | Amazon
With the goddess Kali’s death curse hanging over her head, dark witch Cyn is running scared.
To get help, Cyn must sell her services to DAFT, a top-shelf supernatural society.
The mission is tricky—find Leonardo da Vinci’s missing formula to protect the witches’ fading psychic powers from modern hi-tech. The last thing she needs is more trouble.
Trouble is what she gets.
Mysterious ongoings at the maestro’s final residence in France throw Cyn’s assignment off track, leaving her with a murdered man, Dan the magic-hating art thief—and a pet tortoise.
Now Cyn and her new criminal sidekick Dan must solve the puzzle and flush out an invisible foe, who might or might not be an undead Da Vinci.
Of course, the killer strikes again.
And misses.
Given their clashing characters, backgrounds, and a slow-burn romance sparking between them, Cyn and Dan are a team forged in hell. But, hey, a little creative chaos can work wonders…
“Spelled in Ink”, the first book in this suspenseful series of paranormal cozy murder mystery and fantasy novels, will keep you laughing—and guessing—right to the very end. If you like witty and strong female characters as written by Janet Evanovich, Kristen Painter, Helen Harper, and Colleen Helme, this short and fast-paced novel will have you rooting for team Cyn and Dan.
And now go up and click Read Now or Buy Now to find out why it’s never a good idea to mess with watersprites!
Morgan’s Landing
Linda Griffin’s Morgan’s Landing opens in a small Maryland peninsula town that feels both timeless and uneasy. The story begins with the sudden disappearance of Julie Morgan, one of two identical twin sisters from the town’s wealthiest family. As local police officer Jim Brady leads the investigation, the community’s calm surface ripples with suspicion, guilt, and buried secrets. What starts as a missing-person case grows into a layered exploration of fear, family, and moral grayness. Griffin draws readers into a slow, tense mystery that feels grounded in place and character, not just plot. Every chapter pulls back another curtain, revealing a town that’s anything but sleepy.
I found myself deeply drawn into Griffin’s writing. Her style is clean but textured, the kind that lets scenes breathe. The dialogue feels lived in, and the pacing has a natural rhythm, never rushed. What impressed me most was how she handles emotion. It’s never melodramatic and always relatable. Jim Brady, the detective at the heart of the story, feels real. He’s tired, decent, sometimes unsure, and completely believable. I could feel the weight of the case pressing on him, the strain of being both a cop and a father. Griffin doesn’t write heroes; she writes people. And that, for me, made the story hit harder. The setting itself feels like a character, the fog, the quiet streets, the water’s edge, all of it whispers the kind of secrets small towns keep.
The book’s emotional pull goes beyond the mystery. I kept thinking about the way Griffin looks at truth and guilt. Her characters live in moral gray zones, where even good intentions can twist into harm. At times, I felt frustrated, even angry, at how ordinary cruelty hides behind politeness and routine. But that’s the point. Griffin wants us to sit in that discomfort, to see how easy it is to miss what’s right in front of us. The writing feels empathetic, especially toward the young characters caught in situations they can’t control. I found myself caring about them in a way I didn’t expect.
By the final pages, I wasn’t just thinking about the mystery anymore. I was thinking about how fear changes people, how love and shame can live side by side. I’d recommend Morgan’s Landing to anyone who likes small-town mysteries with heart, readers who appreciate stories about people rather than just plot twists. It’s perfect for those who enjoy Tana French’s slow-burn style or Louise Penny’s quiet intensity.
Pages: 104 | ASIN : B0DZY1YR6V
LITERARY TITAN 