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Heroism
Only Breath & Shadow follows a blind and war-scarred English veteran living in Vienna as Austria slides toward Nazi control, who becomes the unlikely protector of endangered Jewish children. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for the story came about in part from Sir Nicholas Wynton. I remember him being on Esther Rantzen’s That’s Life in the late 1980s, and it was the first time I became aware of the Kindertransport programme. Sir Nicholas managed to bring 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to England. As I researched the period, I found that nearly every country in the world had put strict limits on the number of foreign refugees that they allowed in. In England, the British government agreed to allow an unlimited number of child refugees to be given temporary refuge in Britain as long as there was no recourse to public funds. It was therefore left to Jewish groups, charities, and individuals to help Jewish children escape the persecution of the Nazis. However, while the children were permitted into the country, their parents were not. I therefore wanted to write about the heroism of the people who went to Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia to save countless children.
Christian begins as a man defined by loss. What did his journey toward purpose mean to you?
Christian’s early life was defined by his ability to paint, and his blindness stripped away what he perceived as his purpose in life. When Christian takes care of four Jewish children, he is given a new purpose. What it meant to me was that there is hope in people, not in society or in systems of religion, but in you and me and the kind acts of a stranger.
The novel suggests indifference is more dangerous than blindness. What does “seeing clearly” mean in a world where truth is actively denied?
I think that seeing clearly begins with asking whether what we are being told makes sense and whether it contradicts our moral compass. I believe that we are living in a difficult period of history, where disinformation and misinformation are now commonplace, and this concerns me. It is of note that the use of disinformation and misinformation was something that the Nazis were masters of.
I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?
Thank you. I’ve had some ideas for books and even started writing some ideas and outlines. One idea. which I started 6 months ago, centred around the overthrow of the Iranian Government in 1953, with Basil Drewe’s son being trapped in Iran. Another idea was about the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, who appeared in my first two books, Of All Faiths & None and A Remembrance of Death, and his alleged affair with Rosalind. However, at the moment I am taking a break from writing.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Christian Drewe a man blinded at the Somme sees the moral decay that Nazism brings to Vienna more clearly than the sighted world around him.
At the start of the novel Christian Drewe is a man without purpose, believing that his blindness defines him. But when the Nazis march into Austria, everything changes. When his Jewish friends are arrested and sent to the camps, their four children are left behind with no one to protect them.
Christian is their only hope.
In a city crawling with informants and watched by the Gestapo, he must do the impossible: hide the children, outwit a ruthless Nazi officer, and plan an escape from a world closing in around them, all without sight.
As danger tightens and time runs out, Christian is forced to confront a question he can no longer avoid:
How much can one man risk to save innocent lives?
Only Breath & Shadow is a powerful and deeply human story of courage in the face of unimaginable darkness.
Perfect for readers of All the Light We Cannot See, The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Nightingale, this unforgettable novel explores sacrifice, love, and the strength to act when it matters most.
Literary Titan Gold Book Award: Fiction
The Literary Titan Book Award honors books that exhibit exceptional storytelling and creativity. This award celebrates novelists who craft compelling narratives, create memorable characters, and weave stories that captivate readers. The recipients are writers who excel in their ability to blend imagination with literary skill, creating worlds that enchant and narratives that linger long after the final page is turned.
Award Recipients
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information.
Literary Titan Silver Book Award
Celebrating the brilliance of outstanding authors who have captivated us with their skillful prose, engaging narratives, and compelling real and imagined characters. We recognize books that stand out for their innovative storytelling and insightful exploration of truth and fiction. Join us in honoring the dedication and skill of these remarkable authors as we celebrate the diverse and rich worlds they’ve brought to life, whether through the realm of imagination or the lens of reality.
Award Recipients
God’s Salvation Manifesto by James Hales
SANJIVANI SCROLLS by Harshad Bhatt
Y by J.D.M. Sullivan
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information.
Fire at the Track – A Harness Racing Mystery
Fire at the Track by M.J. Evans is a harness racing mystery built around a barn fire that kills twenty-eight horses and shakes the Liberty Racetrack community to its core. The book opens with the thrill of the sport, especially the rise of Eat My Dust, then quickly turns that excitement into grief, suspicion, and an insurance investigation. At its center is Callie Oaks, an investigator with real horse-world experience, who goes undercover at the track to find out whether the fire was an accident, negligence, or something far more deliberate.
What makes the book work best is how strongly it understands the emotional world of horse people. The horses aren’t background decoration. They’re the reason everyone is there, and the reason the crime feels personal. The line “They were like family” captures the heart of the story in a simple way, because the loss in Barn 7 isn’t treated as just property damage. It’s a wound shared by owners, trainers, grooms, drivers, and even the night watchman who can’t forgive himself for saving only one horse.
Callie is an appealing lead because she’s capable without feeling slick or distant. Her undercover identity, Haylie Norr, gives the story a nice layer of tension, especially as she gets pulled back into the rhythm of barn life and into training the filly Sunny. The mystery moves through insurance fraud, gambling debts, grief, jealousy, and cover-ups, but it stays grounded in everyday racetrack details: feedings, stall assignments, vet records, training routines, and the politics of a tight community where everyone knows everyone else’s business.
The book also has a warm secondary thread in Callie’s connection with reporter Paul Coffman. Their relationship doesn’t take over the mystery, but it gives the story a softer place to land after some heavy material. By the end, when the investigation has exposed Tommy Valdez and Frank Morrison, and the track begins repairing both its safety systems and its sense of trust, the final stretch with Callie, Sunny, and Paul feels earned. The closing idea that survivors “get back in the sulky, gather the lines, and race toward whatever finish line waits ahead” fits the book’s steady, hopeful view of recovery.
Fire at the Track is a sincere, horse-centered mystery with a strong sense of place and a lot of affection for the harness racing world. It’s part crime story, part community drama, and part comeback story. The best parts are the ones where the book lets readers feel the barn, the track, the grief, and the bond between people and horses. It’s a conversational, accessible read for mystery fans, especially readers who like animals, racetrack settings, and stories where justice matters because the victims mattered.
Pages: 287 | ASIN : B0GMDMX3HY
BIRTH RIGHT Secrets of Silent Shadows
BIRTH RIGHT: Secrets of Silent Shadows by Christophe Medler is a historical mystery thriller set in Tudor England, beginning with the murder of Robert Pakington, MP, outside St Thomas of Acon in 1536. From there, the story follows Juan Zaragoza, a Spanish orphan and acolyte, as he tries to uncover why his mentor was killed and what “veiled secret” Pakington died protecting. The investigation pulls Juan into the dangerous religious politics of the Reformation, the hidden world of the Knights Templar, the Vatican, and the mystery of his own birth.
What I liked most was the book’s sense of place. The author clearly enjoys the texture of Tudor London: the fog, the cold streets, the taverns, the chapel rituals, the stink and bustle of daily life. At times, I felt as if the city itself was another character, watching Juan step out of the safety of church life and into a world that is far more violent, compromised, and complicated. The historical detail gives the story weight, and the genre works best when the murder mystery and the political danger feed each other. There is a real “secret history” energy here, the kind that makes you want to keep turning pages because every symbol, coin, letter, or whispered warning might matter.
I also found Juan’s journey more interesting than a simple chase for a killer. He begins as someone sheltered and devout, but the book keeps testing that faith. That choice gives the novel its emotional spine. Sometimes feel the story wants to explain a lot, and some dialogue carries more exposition than natural conversation. But I also get why the author makes that choice: this is a book built on hidden orders, religious conflict, family secrets, and historical context. It wants the reader to understand the machinery behind the danger, not just watch people run from it. When it slows down, it is usually because the author is laying another stone in the path.
I would recommend BIRTH RIGHT: Secrets of Silent Shadows to readers who enjoy historical fiction with a conspiracy mystery at its heart, especially those drawn to Tudor England, religious intrigue, the Reformation, and stories about lost identity. It will suit someone who likes a detailed, old-world adventure more than a stripped-back thriller. If you enjoy novels where history feels smoky, crowded, and full of locked doors, this one has plenty to offer.
Pages: 329 | ASIN : B0GS2RQCTL
Go Big
Birds of Prey Don’t Sing follows a gifted and deeply broken assassin who takes on the hardest case of his career, murdering a priest and making it look like divine judgment. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I set out to write the most unique assassin thriller that I could, and to do so I focused on M.O. and backstory. Michael Harrier’s clients choose two targets—one to kill, and one to frame for the murder. Once that elusive M.O. was set, I created several dual-target jobs, some inspired by real events, others distilled from my imagination. Because this was the first book in the series, I felt I should go big, with the hit that seems impossible, but ends up being plausible. And that job was informed by a serendipitous bit of then-unrelated research I happened upon in the early stages—that’s when the spark became flame.
Michael is both sympathetic and terrifying. How did you balance those sides, and how important was trauma in shaping his worldview and actions?
I balanced that by trying to make him human first. And yes, trauma was key to his backstory. Pretty much every assassin in the genre is ex-government (CIA, Mossad, MI6, etc) or ex-military, and for good reason, but I wanted to break from that tradition. So to me, a key part of a self-made assassin, without resorting to a stereotypical sociopath (who would be difficult to sympathize with), is their upbringing, which needed to involve trauma and pain. A wounded human forged in trauma as opposed to a natural born killer; more nurture than nature. And I’ve long been fascinated by how trauma can both inform and misinform our intuition, judgment, and decisions, and I liked how this paradox played out for Michael as his story unspooled.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Justice, morality, trauma, intuition, redemption, and human connection.
Do you see Michael’s story continuing in future books?
Yes. I have more ideas than time, but book two is underway.
Author Links: GoodReads | X | Website | Instagram
Michael Harrier has built his reputation on a system no one else uses. Every contract comes with two targets. One dies. Someone else takes the blame.
It’s worked flawlessly for years.
Until now.
What should be a clean hit starts to unravel. A woman with a violent past pulls him off course. A single mistake threatens to expose everything. And for the first time, Harrier is forced to improvise.
Meanwhile, LAPD homicide sergeant Jordan Becker is hunting a killer he can’t pin down.
But he’s built his career on getting results where others stall out.
The case doesn’t follow any rules. The evidence doesn’t hold. The story keeps shifting. And the deeper Becker digs, the clearer it becomes he’s chasing someone smarter, faster, and always just out of reach.
As Harrier’s world tightens and Becker starts to break through, both men are pulled into a game where every move has consequences—and no one is as untouchable as they think.
Because this time, getting away with murder isn’t the hardest part.
It’s controlling what comes next.
Clifford’s War: Redivivus
Clifford’s War: Redivivus begins as a missing-person thriller and quickly widens into something knottier: after Grace Dillenger’s ex-husband Raymond takes their daughter Hadley on a long-promised trip and both vanish en route to a mountain lodge, Grace calls in private investigator Clifford Dee, a man tied to her past through an earlier criminal entanglement. What follows is part family crisis, part snowbound investigation, part conspiracy story, with Clifford tracing wreckage, half-truths, burner phones, compromised allies, and a threat that proves larger and stranger than the original disappearance.
Grace isn’t written as a decorative victim; she’s wealthy, sharp, culpable, frightened, and often difficult in ways that feel earned rather than schematic. Clifford, meanwhile, has the reassuring ballast of an old-school thriller lead, but he’s not a granite slab. He notices people, reads rooms, leans on his team, and carries his own fatigue. I especially liked how the novel keeps widening its aperture: what starts as a desperate maternal summons becomes a procedural hunt with digital sleuthing, fieldwork, improvised alliances, and an undercurrent of old violence that never quite stays buried. The ensemble gives the book a welcome elasticity; Bailey in particular adds both warmth and voltage.
The book likes gadgets, backstory, operational detail, hidden networks, Latin tags, near-cinematic reveals, and that plot expansion makes the book feel propulsive. I found myself carried along more often than not. Reed has a sincere feel for place and comfort objects, coffee, snow, warm cars, lodges, weapons, maps, phones, files, and those tactile details give the suspense a lived-in grain. The prose is generally direct, but it occasionally swerves into melodrama or over-explanation; even so, I preferred that earnestness to the bloodless polish of many contemporary thrillers. Redivivus has a pulpy heartbeat that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I’d hand this to readers of mystery, suspense, crime fiction, conspiracy thriller, and investigative adventure who like capable teams, personal stakes, and a story willing to sprawl beyond its initial premise. It feels closer in spirit to Brad Thor or early David Baldacci than to the cooler, more austere end of crime fiction, though some readers may also catch the found-family teamwork and momentum that make Harlan Coben so readable. This is a missing-girl thriller with a conspiratorial afterburn that’s hard to set down.
Pages: 295 | ASIN : B0FXY6RH92
Detective Lucian
Detective Lucian is a romantic suspense novel that drops a love story into the middle of stalking, assault, kidnapping, and a police investigation on Haven Island. At its center are Josie Hale, a realtor whose life is shaken when a showing turns into an attack, and Detective Lucian Warrick, the gruff, intensely competent officer who takes the case personally almost from the first page. The book moves between danger and desire, building a small-town world where everyone seems connected, and every new clue pushes the romance and the threat forward at the same time.
Author Neri Lopez does not circle around the book’s emotional stakes. She gets right into fear, attraction, jealousy, protectiveness, and lets those feelings sit close to the surface. That gives the story real momentum. I could feel how the book wants to be read fast, almost in one long breath. I also liked the alternating points of view because they keep the romance active instead of distant. We are not just told Lucian cares. We watch him fight it, deny it, and then fail in a relatable way. At the same time, Josie never feels like she is only there to be rescued. Even when she is terrified, she still has personality, pride, and bite.
I was especially interested in the author’s choice to lean hard into contrast. Lucian is controlled until he is not. Josie is rattled but stubborn. The island setting feels sunny on the outside, but underneath it there is real menace, which fits the “protecting paradise” idea nicely. That blend is where the book works best for me. It understands that romantic suspense is not just about chemistry or just about plot. It’s about pressure. It’s about watching two people try to reach for each other while the ground keeps shifting under them. Some scenes are sharp and funny, others are genuinely unsettling, and that swing gave the book a live-wire energy I kept responding to.
I felt like this book knew exactly what kind of ride it wanted to deliver: high-stakes romantic suspense with a protective detective, a strong-willed heroine, real danger, and a strong emotional payoff. I would recommend it most to readers who like their romance hot, their suspense close at hand, and their characters emotionally open rather than polished. If someone enjoys small-town romantic suspense, protective hero stories, and series fiction where side characters make the world feel bigger, I think Detective Lucian will be a very easy book to fall into.
Pages: 274 | ASIN : B0GF3C26DB
