Blog Archives
A 360-Degree View
Dream Me Dead follows a dead woman watching her husband’s trial for her murder, who tries to leave clues for the living as to what happened to her. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
As living people, we only know what we are told, or what we assume to be true, but if the story is told through the eyes of a deceased person, they are able to have a 360-degree view of the world, and there is no more room for speculation. Peggy Prescott knows exactly what happened to her and how it happened, but she only reveals bits and pieces of her story so that the reader can begin putting the pieces together until they make sense. If she revealed everything at once, it would not be exciting. When someone has to work for the reward, the goal is that much more exciting and fulfilling. The reader feels challenged to put their mind to work as the clues accumulate. The reward, therefore, is worth the effort. Peggy knows her life on earth was valuable, and wants the readers to appreciate her trials and tribulations, making her life, and death, more meaningful. Hopefully, it gives the reader the idea that everything we do, everything that happens to all of us, will one day make sense.
What intrigues you about the paranormal that led you to explore this direction in your psychological thriller novel?
I have always questioned the paranormal, believing that we can only know what we know, but that is not the entire story. I believe in unseen entities, good and bad, who guide us along the way, preparing us to make better choices, be fearless, love deeply, and know that when someone dies, they are still with us. Those whose death was unexpected need for those left behind to make sense of things, and to dig deeper for clues that finally are revealed. Timing is everything, especially for those who search for answers. When I look up at the sky, I see endless possibilities, other lifetimes, souls who have moved on, souls who have remained for a while to keep their loved ones safe. It is an endless cycle of love and possibilities, that intrigue me the most. We have miracles all around us if only we look for them.
What was the most challenging part about writing a mystery story, where you constantly have to give just enough to keep the mystery alive until the big reveal?
The most challenging part of writing a mystery/psychological thriller is to ask the reader to be part of the story, to immerse themselves in the richness of the characters, and to follow the clues as they appear. This cannot occur if the reader becomes bored with the story, or finds that they cannot relate to the characters, so my job was to create characters who come alive, who the reader wants to root for, or despise, but cares about deeply one way or the other. The clues have to be available, but hidden, and can be found just beneath the surface if the reader looks hard enough. For me, the characters in Dream Me Dead are taking the reader on a journey and asking them to believe that they exist, if only on the pages, but remain in our hearts as real people.
Will there be a third book in the Dream Me Home series? If so, what can readers expect, and when will it be available?
Yes, there will be a third book, entitled Dream Me Gone, which will challenge the reader to take a stand, knowing that just as in life, each person can view the same problem differently, depending on their own personal experiences. I know what the ending is, of course, but that’s because I am a believer that anything is possible. Being an optimist and hopeless romantic, I will determine that the ending comes from a place of love, but others, those who are realists, who employ logic as their first language, are welcome to view an ending that makes sense in a realistic world. In other words, just as the readers will align themselves with specific characters, they will also stand firm on a logical conclusion. Everyone should feel that the time they put in to reading the Dream Me Home series was time well spent.
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The Perfect One
The Perfect One pulled me in right away. The opening sets the tone for a dark and twisting story built on secrets, obsession, and the fragile edges of relationships. The book follows several characters whose lives intersect around a brutal murder in a secluded cabin, and the story unfolds through shifting perspectives that slowly reveal old wounds, hidden affairs, and long–buried resentment. It reads like a slow burn that keeps tightening, chapter after chapter, until every character feels like both a suspect and a victim.
Some chapters felt intimate and tightly drawn, the kind that keep you leaning closer because the emotions feel raw and too real. Other moments felt almost playful, like the author knew exactly when to pull back before things got too heavy. I liked that mix. It made the pacing unpredictable in a good way. I also enjoyed how the book handled tension. It did not rush, and it did not give easy answers. Instead, it let scenes breathe with quiet detail that sometimes made me uneasy. I appreciated that slow drip of dread. It made the world feel lived in and messy, which fit the characters perfectly.
What surprised me most was the emotional twists. I kept catching myself feeling sympathy for characters I had sworn I disliked ten pages earlier. Then the story tossed in another reveal, and my feelings flipped again. I love when a book does that. It makes me feel like I am part of the mess rather than just watching it. The ideas beneath the plot lingered with me, too. The story pokes at pride, loyalty, and the ways people hide things even from themselves.
Everything came together in a way that made sense for the world the author built, even when the truth was painful. I would recommend The Perfect One to readers who enjoy psychological thrillers, character–driven mysteries, or stories where the emotional stakes matter just as much as the plot. If you like books that take their time and let you sit in the characters’ minds while feeding you tension bit by bit, this one will be a great fit.
Pages: 360 | ASIN : B0FM1F3QKW
Carnage in D minor
Carnage in D Minor follows Leeza Allen’s rise from a prodigious Southern piano talent to a battle-hardened military veteran who is struggling to hold herself together while trauma keeps dragging her back into the dark. The novel blends psychological suspense with a deeply personal story about survival, family, fear, and the brutal tug of the past. From childhood recitals in Beaufort to the nightmares she carries home from deployment, the book moves between tenderness and terror with an intensity that caught me off guard. The story paints a heroine who is gifted and broken and stubbornly alive. It builds a world where beauty and violence keep brushing up against each other in quiet but devastating ways.
I found myself pulled in by the voice of the book. The writing swings sharply between raw emotion and calm precision. I liked that. It made me feel as if I was inside Leeza’s head even when I wanted to reach out and steady her. The scenes around her childhood are vibrant and warm. Then the tone shifts when the story lands in adulthood where PTSD, addiction, and grief turn everything jagged. That contrast shook me a little, and honestly, that is what made the book memorable. The author seems to understand trauma from the inside out. The panic attacks. The sudden triggers. The numbing habits that pretend to help but only make the ground softer under your feet. Those moments felt painfully real. The writing has a rhythm that matches Leeza’s state of mind. Sometimes measured. Sometimes chaotic. Sometimes barely holding onto structure at all. I felt myself riding those waves with her.
I also found myself reacting strongly to the ideas the book brings up about responsibility and the human mind. The novel keeps circling back to the question of why people break the way they do. It shows trauma not just as an event but as a rewiring of a person’s internal world. I appreciated that the story never treats addiction or homelessness or depression as simple problems with simple solutions. There is frustration in Leeza’s voice. Anger too. And a fierce compassion that pushes her to believe she can fix the unfixable even while her own life is slipping through her fingers. At times, her determination feels reckless. At other times, it feels heroic. I found myself rooting for her even when she made choices that scared me.
The novel is gripping and emotional and often uncomfortable in ways that feel purposeful. I would recommend Carnage in D Minor to readers who enjoy psychological fiction that digs into trauma without sugarcoating it. It is also a strong pick for anyone drawn to stories about gifted women trying to rebuild themselves after the world has already taken too much. If you want a book that feels honest and relatable and a little bruising in all the right ways, this one is worth your time.
Pages: 265 | ASIN : B0G1CN78FG
Dream Me Dead: A Story of Betrayal, Infidelity, and Love
Dream Me Dead is a psychological thriller with a strong emotional core, and its premise grabs you from page one. The story follows Peggy Prescott, who opens the book by telling us she is dead and determined to reveal the truth about her husband Rob, a respected surgeon now on trial for her murder. What unfolds is a layered mix of courtroom drama, trauma, suspicion, and blurred realities, all threaded through Peggy’s unsettling perspective as she watches events play out from beyond the living world. As the story progresses, her memories fracture and re-form, her sense of the living and the dead becomes porous, and the real history of her marriage to Rob surfaces piece by piece.
Peggy’s voice is striking because it’s calm even when what she describes is horrific, and that contrast creates a tension that stays with you. Author Laurie Elizabeth Murphy makes deliberate choices here, especially in letting Peggy narrate from a place suspended between worlds. It lets her speak plainly about betrayal, longing, and fear, but with an eerie restraint. I found myself reacting not only to the events but to how Peggy processed them, especially when her certainty about what happened collides with the medical team’s insistence that her memories are confused.
Murphy also isn’t shy about leaning into the messy parts of human behavior. The trial sequences give the book a legal-thriller pulse, but underneath the questioning and objections you feel the emotional wreckage of this family. Rob’s arrogance, Peggy’s desperation to be believed, the daughters’ anger, even the way secondary characters like Dr. Steinbrenner or Mrs. Stoner color the narrative with their own biases and wounds. It becomes clear that this story isn’t just about a crime. It’s about the stories people tell about themselves to survive. And because the book blends psychological fiction with elements of suspense and the supernatural, it has room to explore those ideas without having to explain every mystery. Sometimes it’s the uncertainty that keeps you reading.
By the time I reached the final chapters, I felt the book had shown me both the exterior plot and the interior landscapes of these characters, which is where it’s strongest. It’s a thriller, yes, but one with emotional weight and a haunting, almost dreamlike undertow. I’d recommend Dream Me Dead to readers who enjoy psychological suspense that leans into character and memory as much as plot. If you like courtroom tension, unreliable narration, and stories that sit somewhere between mystery and emotional reckoning, you’ll enjoy this book.
Pages: 355 | ASIN : B0F1WG5JHK
Exploring Fear
Fear Struck follows a crime writer who, while writing his latest murder mystery, has his door broken down by police and is arrested for a murder that looks like one of the scenes in his book. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
As a writer, I often feel like a conduit for someone else’s ideas, with words flowing so quickly that I sometimes wonder where they are coming from. This experience sparked a question for me: what if a writer suddenly became the instrument for someone else’s story in a very real and dangerous way? This personal connection to the story became the seed for Fear-Struck and its psychological thriller setup.
The truth is, many of my novels begin with a simple “what if.” Whispering Lessons is a good example. I asked myself, what if someone had secretly followed Jesse James and his gang, watched them bury their stolen treasure, and then dug it up after they rode away? Could that be why so many of those legendary treasures have never been found? Those two words, “what if,” open the door to endless possibilities, and they are often the starting point for my strongest storylines.
What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?
There are so many layers to the human condition that writers need to pay attention to, because those layers are what make fiction feel real. In Fear-Struck, I delved deep into the debilitating impact fear can have on a person. It doesn’t just consume the main character. The suspect gets overwhelmed by it, too. Even the people in the prison around him react out of fear.
Fear is universal. It shapes decisions, drives behavior, and sometimes clouds judgment. Our minds are incredibly powerful, and our thoughts can either protect us or harm us. In this story, fear becomes almost a character in its own right, influencing everyone in its path. That kind of emotional truth, rooted in what people really experience, is what makes fiction resonate.
When you first sat down to write this story, did you know where you were going, or did the twists come as you were writing?
For Fear-Struck, I actually did know the storyline before I began writing. That is unusual for me, as I am not usually a plotter, but in this case, I could clearly see the characters and the journey ahead of them. I knew the ending, and I knew how I wanted to move from the moment of the arrest all the way to the final reveal.
What mattered most to me was exploring fear, not just telling a crime story. I wanted to look at how fear shapes people from the inside out. The reviews have been incredible, and many readers mention how closely they connect with the characters and their reactions. I think that connection exists because fear is something we all face in one way or another. It is a profound human experience, and that truth comes through in the story.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
I am currently writing Book Two in the series. It starts as Kutter is still dealing with the emotional aftermath of what happened in Book One, where he was arrested for a murder that resembled a scene in his own book. These lingering effects push him into a situation unlike anything he has ever faced before. This new challenge forces him to grow in unexpected ways.
In this next installment, Kutter, the main character from Fear-Struck, finds himself sitting across from an unapologetic and prideful serial killer. His personal revulsion toward this man directly clashes with his responsibility to uncover the names of the victims. That internal battle is something many of us understand, because we all face moments where our emotions collide with what we know we must do.
I am thrilled to share that I am aiming to have the next book ready for readers in early 2026. I cannot wait to continue Kutter’s journey and share the next chapter with you all.
Author Interview: GoodReads | BlueSky | Facebook | Pinterest | Website
Detective Tweed believes Kutter’s pages hold the truth. Kutter swears he’s innocent. Yet with each revelation, a darker reality emerges—one bound to him by blood.
Relentless and chilling, Fear Struck will keep you guessing until the final, shocking twist.
Eclipsed by Fate
James Lloyd Brown’s Eclipsed by Fate is an intricate legal and psychological thriller that intertwines professional ambition, personal conflict, and moral compromise. The novel follows Madelyn, a newly minted law graduate, as she joins a small but promising law firm led by Byron Dozier and Edith Devareau, two accomplished attorneys whose shared history carries quiet tension. What begins as a story of legal mentorship and ambition soon unravels into a deeper narrative involving a brutal assault, an elaborate fraud scheme, and a dangerous web of pharmaceutical corruption. At its core, the book examines how trust, loyalty, and hidden desires shape the decisions that define its characters’ lives.
Brown’s greatest strength lies in his ability to merge intimate character drama with the scale of a legal conspiracy. The professional relationship between Byron and Madelyn is depicted with care and restraint, revealing both mutual respect and the unspoken boundaries of power and influence. Likewise, the dynamic between Byron and Edith carries an emotional depth that feels authentic. Their unfulfilled affection gives the story an undercurrent of melancholy that balances the procedural and investigative elements.
The novel’s atmosphere is rendered with striking clarity. The opening chapters, set against a snowbound Minneapolis, set a cinematic tone that immediately draws the reader in. The introduction of Detective Lawrence Melville, who investigates the assault on student Diedrek Thurston, is especially memorable. Melville’s quiet grief, stemming from the loss of his brother, parallels the moral fatigue that runs through much of the book. Brown uses setting, cold streets, sterile hospital rooms, the tense quiet of law offices to reflect the internal struggles of his characters, creating a mood that feels both realistic and unsettling.
At times, the pacing slows under the weight of detailed exposition. Brown’s careful attention to the workings of law and medicine, while impressive, occasionally interrupts the narrative flow. Yet these moments are offset by scenes of real emotional resonance, particularly those exploring Madelyn’s lingering fear of relapse from LeBlanc Syndrome. Her vulnerability, and the moral choices it forces upon those around her, give the novel its emotional gravity.
Eclipsed by Fate is a thoughtful and ambitious work that rewards patient readers. It will particularly appeal to those who enjoy character-driven legal thrillers that probe ethical boundaries rather than rely solely on suspense. Brown’s writing is deliberate, intelligent, and quietly affecting, a story that lingers long after the final page.
ISBN: 9798986000350
My Twelve-Year-Old Wife
My Twelve-Year Old Wife is a dark, time-bending thriller about love, grief, and the unrelenting pull of fate. It follows Dan Fox, a husband desperate to find his missing wife, Celia, only to have a twelve-year-old girl appear at his door claiming to be her. What begins as a mystery about disappearance spirals into something stranger, a story that slips between timelines and emotions, showing how trauma, memory, and devotion can warp across the years. The book plays with horror and science fiction but stays grounded in its aching humanity. Each chapter peels back another layer of the impossible, until the reader is as disoriented and haunted as Dan himself.
The writing is cinematic and unnerving, full of tight, fast sentences and moments that hit like a punch. I could feel Dan’s confusion and fear, his disbelief when he’s confronted with a version of his wife that shouldn’t exist. The story toys with logic but never loses its emotional truth. The prose has this eerie stillness, a rhythm that feels like breathing in the dark, and the pacing moves between slow dread and heart-hammering tension. I caught myself whispering “what?” out loud more than once, which almost never happens when I read. The author’s control over mood and momentum is impressive. Even when scenes leaned into the surreal, the characters kept me anchored.
But what hit me hardest wasn’t the time travel or the mystery, it was the loneliness. Beneath the weirdness, this is a love story about guilt and obsession. Dan’s desperation feels raw and a little ugly, and Celia’s time-fractured existence is both tragic and strange. Their connection stretches and twists, but it never breaks. I could sense how much the author wanted to explore what happens when love is stronger than reality itself. At times, the dialogue can feel blunt, but it works here, it fits people who are terrified and grasping for sense in the middle of madness.
My Twelve-Year Old Wife is for readers who like their stories unsettling, who don’t mind questioning what’s real and what’s imagined. If you liked Dark, Arrival, or The Time Traveler’s Wife but wished they were more psychological and eerie, this book is for you. It’s weird, bold, and relatable.
Pages: 194 | ASIN : B0FD87Y85R
Fear Struck
Fear Struck was intense and emotionally powerful, and also kind of creepy. It starts with Orson Kutter, a crime writer whose imagination bleeds a little too close to real life. One minute he’s hammering away on his keyboard, writing about murder and mystery, and the next, the cops are breaking down his door and slapping cuffs on him for killings that look suspiciously like scenes from his books. It’s one of those stories where reality and fiction twist around each other until you’re not sure which one’s real anymore. The whole setup feels like watching someone slowly wake up inside their own nightmare. It’s dark, smart, and honestly a little creepy in that “am I next?” kind of way.
I’ll be honest, this book made me anxious in the best way. I love a good murder mystery, and Fear Struck doesn’t just give you one, it gives you layers of them. I kept trying to guess if Kutter was guilty, if he was being framed, or if he was losing his mind. The writing pulls you into his paranoia so deeply that you start feeling trapped with him. The scenes in the jail, the smell of sweat and fear, the endless echoes, I could almost hear it. The story moves fast, but not in a shallow way. Every chapter left me thinking, “Okay, just one more,” until it was 2 a.m. and I was questioning my life choices. What really hooked me, though, was how Oliver plays with the line between author and character, fiction and truth. It’s almost meta, but not in a pretentious way.
The writing is really sharp. I like how Oliver doesn’t waste time with fancy words or filler. It’s cinematic, full of tension, and just messy enough to feel real. There were moments where I felt sick for Kutter, moments where I didn’t trust him at all, and moments where I wanted to scream at everyone around him for being blind. That’s good storytelling. Some parts slowed a little, sure, and a few twists I saw coming, but the emotion stayed raw. There’s this heavy mix of guilt, fear, and desperation that makes the book feel alive.
If you like stories that make your heart race and your brain spin, this one’s for you. Fear Struck is perfect for murder mystery junkies who like their thrillers dark, psychological, and just a little too close to home. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys Gone Girl or Misery but wants something with its own strange heartbeat.
Pages: 392 | ASIN : B0FRRK8HGX
LITERARY TITAN 