Troubled Waters by Rene Gutteridge

Macey Steigel returns to her birth town in Kansas upon her aging father's death. She is reluctant to do so but does because she feels the need to reconcile her past. But when she arrives, she becomes sidetracked off of her original goal by her mother's disastrous financial situation. She immediately takes it upon herself to teach her mother basic work skills in order to land her a steady office job at a local corporation. During her entire stay, Macey is plagued with memories of her past mistakes and with urgings from her boss to return to her job as an anchor at a TV station. The entire time, her mother keeps trying to share something with her about her past but continues to cave before revealing her secret. However, she must do so before time runs out.

As usual, Rene Gutteridge demonstrates her flair for originality in Troubled Waters. There are good characters, which has become a positive staple to Rene's novels. Not only are most of them imperfect, but most have believable personalities. The one mistake Rene makes in this area is creating an unnecessary perfect male lead. His role never comes to anything and therefore shows that he was unnecessary. His part could have been improved by being given a personality or at least being imperfect.

Several realistic things happen throughout the book. In this type of confronting-your-past book, not many authors explore realistic side topics such as financial issues like Rene did in this book. Macey's personality makes her want to fix her mother's situation, which is something that could happen any day. These are the kinds of issues fiction needs to be based upon-realistic, everyday life situations that can serve to teach the reader how to avoid the mistakes the characters make.

As another plus, Macey's troubled past is her fault, as the reader finds out near the end of the book. Even though the situation is slightly overused, it is still realistic and something that could happen every day.

And to top things off, the end is realistic, as it should have been. Not all things work out, but the things that do work out work out in a realistic way. If Rene had just given the male lead a personality and some imperfection, we could be looking at a five star novel here. But since she did not, she will fall short of that honor.

However, this is not a book that should be overlooked. Troubled Waters is a prime example of the kind of fiction that should be on the market. I hope many authors learn this in the future.

4.5 stars

Ulterior Motives by Mark Andrew Olsen

Greg Cahill is a disgraced soldier who serves in prison ministry. He is dumbfounded when the US Army calls him, telling him they have a special job for him-one that they feel only he can do. An Al-Qaeda email has been intercepted that reveals secrets of a coming attack on America. The leader of the terrorist cell has been captured, but he isn't talking. He silently clings to his religion in a dark cell. The Army is desperate, therefore, they resort to extreme measures-they want Greg to befriend the man all America hates and, in an offer disguised as clemency, steal important information from him. But then Greg and Omar must flee for their lives under strange circumstances in order to stop the tragedy that is coming upon America.

As usual, Mark Andrew Olsen has crafted a five star idea backed up by extensive research. He has even added to his compliments imperfect characters with personalities. But as one can expect from a terrorist plot, there are problems with the end. An author has yet to craft a five star terrorist plot because they cannot cease meddling with the otherwise realistic end.

Greg has a troubled past, but it is a product of his own wrong choices. He is not a victim of anything but his own doing. This is a plus since this is a character-based plot. The character enactment is realistic. This is something most authors neglect in suspense plots because they believe it to be unnecessary. The fact that Mark has crafted good characters in this book shows that he is growing as an author.

But as with Mark's other books, he couldn't resist fixing a key part of the plot in the end. The plot was already an impossible plot, but he added to it with extra meddling. Other than this, Mark wrote the book to its full potential. If Mark continues to grow as an author, we could be looking at a five star book down the road. It is an encouragement to see that he did not get stuck in a rut with the The Watchers series.

All in all, Mark Andrew Olsen is among the most promising authors for the future.

4.5 stars

The Assignment by Mark Andrew Olsen

When the members of a covert order unearth a man who is alive in his own tomb, they attempt the keep him a secret from the world. The man claims he has lived for two thousand years, even though he does not look old at all. Despite their attempts to keep him undercover, the man leaves to continue to fulfill his mission-keep Satan from inhabiting a man before God is ready for the Rapture to begin. He travels the world following one man in order to keep the Destroyer away from him. Along the way, he gains the interest of the CIA, the Israeli Mossad, Hamas terrorists, renegade factions of the Vatican, a young priest, and a terrified grad student. The world is no longer the same place it was before this man came. He has seen the blood-stained history of this imperfect world, and he has lived to tell about it.

At a glance, this book looks like a bogus speculative book complete with exorcisms. Well, it has exorcisms, but it's not all that shallow. The immortal's identity is a very well explained, carefully crafted idea backed up with Scripture, believe it or not. It is not a mindless sci-fi idea, but a professional work of fiction.

However, the book is more of an exhibition for what the mysterious immortal has done and has gone through rather than a suspense tale. Never fear, there are pointless gunfights and near-death experiences to complete the seemingly mindless globetrotting experience.

It seems at first the Mark is not going to do anything original with this plot, until the reader reaches the middle of the book. That's when things start to get interesting. The book begins to take on more purpose and worth than it previously had.

By the end, there has already been the breaking up of a romantic subplot and a key character death. The one downfall of the book besides the wasted time at the beginning is the lack of good characters. Granted, they are imperfect; even the immortal is imperfect. This is a step in the right direction, but Mark should have used some of that wasted time to develop personalities. Perhaps it is a skill he will develop down the road.

It's good to know that authors like Mark Andrew Olsen are on the market, the type of authors that aren't afraid to try something original. That's always a plus in our book.

4 stars

Rolling Thunder by Mark Mynheir

John Russell is a homicide detective currently working on a case that involves a young boy who has been missing from the state foster system for six years. The case has become so hot, the Governor has gotten involved. Now it's down to him and his partners to track down the culprit. They have a list of suspects, but strange circumstances are not making it easy. This is all compounded by a man from John's past showing up in his family's driveway. He was a man John never wanted to see again-and thought he would never see again. This man opens up old scars and old wounds and drives a wedge between John and his family and God. He buries himself in the case because it's the only thing he can control at the moment. He hangs all his hopes on the case and becomes obsessed with justice-so obsessed that he begins to make crucial mistakes.

As the first book in the Truth Chasers series, a lot of things are decided in this book. Rolling Thunder introduces the characters and lets the reader know how well they will be developed. John is an imperfect lead in a position where a perfect male lead could be placed. He makes plenty of mistakes, enough to be realistic and convincing. Unfortunately, John is the only good character, but this can be blamed on the fact that this is a debut novel.

Mark shows off his expertise in the field of homicide investigating by crafting a realistic, believable case, complete with dead ends, false clues, rabbit trails, and incorrect suspects. The case is not straightforward like many amateur authors would make it. Mark knows the inner workings of cases, and he makes sure the reader knows that. Because of this realism, Mark introduces originality into the plot that other authors would not create. There are at least five small original aspects of the case, and this is a huge favor in Mark's direction.

The problems begin to surface when the last chapters roll around. Mark chooses to fix two major problems instead of just letting them alone. However, the end of the case is highly original and realistic, saving the book from a lower rating. But the end takes away John's flawed personality and paints him as a saint with a last ditch effort. It also destroys the basis for the original title in a short sentence that can easily be missed.

It is clear that Mark has some work to do, but one can hardly go wrong with the original potential Mark has.

4 stars

All Through the Night by T Davis Bunn

Wayne Grusza is a man running from a troubled past who decides to settle down in a senior community in order to be an investigative accountant. The seniors there then sweet-talk him into breaching the high security estate of a con artist in order to recover stolen goods. Wayne has no problem with the job, except for the fact that a female lawyer, also with a troubled past, is intrigued with Wayne and follows his every move. He feels himself developing an attraction to her, which is something he cannot afford. On top of this, an angel has appeared to another one of Wayne's clients, warning them of something to come. It will take more than Wayne's analytical brain to figure that one out.

The summary above can describe any and every T Davis Bunn book on the market. Anyone can invent this type of plot; it takes no skill. However, writing this type of plot with originality does take an amount of skill. And believe it or not, T has written a semi-original book. I never knew it to be possible, but he has, and that alone is something to celebrate.

This is a shocker-several of the characters have personalities! Though Wayne lacks a personality, he is an imperfect character! His troubled past is his fault! It's hard to believe that this type of simple originality is coming from an author who has written such cheap suspense in the past.

Surprisingly, All Through the Night is not suspense at all. T does not even force the book to be suspense. It is a normal plot about everyday life and people. However, this book does not come without its flaws. The characters move from one task to another like a fantasy quest, fixing them as they go along. Breaching the high security estate does not fill up the entire book; only about the first fifty pages. From there, Wayne flits around from task to task. While this is realistic, it is not realistic to have every problem fixed in the end. This is the main flaw of the book.

But there are other quirks like the unexplained disappearance of a potentially interesting character and the working out of the inevitable romantic subplot. But with this book, T Davis Bunn has shown that there is hope for even the most unlikely of authors.

So congratulations, Mr. Bunn, on your first Elite book.

4 stars

Thirsty by Tracey Bateman

Nina Parker is a recovering alcoholic who is returning to her hometown in Missouri from rehab to reconcile with her ex-husband and daughter. Her family is very inviting, but a gap remains between Nina and her ex, Hunt. Hunt is tired of dealing with her antics, even though Nina has been sober for quite some time. Nina wrestles with her past as she wrestles to quench her undying thirst. On top of this, an unknown evil has been residing in town for quite some time. No one knows about the evil except one person, Markus, and he has been unsuccessfully trying to warn Nina about it. He can't get through to her, so he begins to take matters into his own hands. But when bodies start to surface, the game rules change.

The best part about Thirsty is the imperfect, realistic characters. Nina and Hunt both have personalities and flaws. Flashbacks serve as hints to what Nina and Hunt have gone through, and these help develop their personalities. While the other characters lack personality, most of them are imperfect and serve as substantial characters throughout the plot. However, Tracey is very good at her character interaction.

Nina is not a victim of circumstance, but a victim of her own wrong choices. She has driven her family apart with her drinking, and now she wants to put it back together. Normally, I would say that a plot idea this good wouldn't need a subplot about vampires, but believe it or not, the vampire bit helps the rating. Tracey has her own ideas about vampires, and they are better than the stereotypical myths. Tracey made sure not to make this subplot cheesy or sensational, but as normal as it could be under the circumstances.

The central theme of the book is inner thirst and desire. This is demonstrated well in the title and in the plot. Nina thirsts for alcohol, and Markus thirsts for something else. This central idea brings up the rating as well.

There is a villain, but she is not mindless or sensational. She has a point and a purpose throughout the plot that she wants to achieve, and she actually believes in what she wants. These kinds of villains are step above your typical serial killer villain.

The only thing bringing down to rating is the typical end in which Tracey proceeded to fix most of the problems. Nina's situation ends up perfectly. This is a disappointment because her subplot had so much potential. The vampire subplot ends better, believe it or not, because of a key character death. This book could have made the Elite List without Tracey meddling with perfection.

All in all, there is hope for Tracey Bateman down the road as long as she keeps up her good character development and character-based plots.

3 stars

The Watchers by Mark Andrew Olsen

Abby Sherman has just had the strangest dream. No, more like a vision. In the vision, she became another person and was able to hold the Son of God. Now she has shared the news with the world by posting her entire vision on her MyCorner blog. Not long after this, she is put in the hospital by an unknown assailant that killed a close friend of hers. When she tells one of the nurses about her vision, she is about to admit her into the mental institution, until another nurse levels with her and tells her that she had the very same experience one day. This is compounded by an overwhelming response to her blog. Thousands of emails come in from women saying they all had the same experience. Another vision leads Abby to the jungles of Africa, where she crosses paths with Dylan, a man who was hired to kill her. The more Abby learns about her strange visions, the higher the stakes get and the more dangerous the chase gets.

As usual, Mark Andrew Olsen has written a professional plot based on a creative idea that is backed up by Scripture. The idea is well researched and well thought out as opposed to the cheap, slapped-together fiction we often see on the market. Mark is definitely a step above most authors because he means business. However, there are problems with The Watchers.

As usual, Mark is lacking in the character department. The main characters neither have personalities, nor do they make any mistakes. They are typical plot devices used to fill typical places in this plot. If Mark wants a five star book, he needs to work on his characters.

Another problem with the book is Mark's frequent use of sensationalism. The gifts and the visions cause him to be liberal with cheesy imagery and sensationalism. I see this very often in books like these. Authors feel the need to appeal to the public with sights of angels, healings, near-death experiences, and the like. Mark could have avoided this common mistake easily.

And lastly, generally everything works out in the end. Where there was potential to land this book onto the Elite List, Mark ruined it by meddling with the character's realistic situations. Mark would have done better to leave well enough alone. This would have put the book onto the Elite List instead of making it fall in line with other mediocre books on the market.

All in all, there is hope for Mark Andrew Olsen if he continues the normal track of an author and fixes his problems in order to become a better author.

3 stars

The Stain by Harry Kraus

Dr. Seth Berringer has just gotten himself into a bigger mess than he ever intended to get into. While returning home drunk one night, he stumbles across the body of a teenage girl, which, in his drunken state, proceeds to run over with his van. The authorities later reveal that the accident was a hit and run, and Seth remembers what he did that night. But telling his secret would potentially jeopardize his reputation in the town and his growing relationship with a beautiful woman. But little does he know that he has gotten himself caught up in a scheme to clone the blood of Jesus of the Shroud of Turin. The more he finds out, the higher and more dangerous the stakes become.

I usually frown upon plots involving the supposed Shroud of Turin because it is unlikely that God allows such things as Jesus' DNA to still exist on the earth. Besides that, the Shroud of Turin subplot does not hold much bearing on the core plot. In the end, it becomes very unnecessary.

Seth's "accident" at the beginning of the book serves to create early imperfection in him. However, he is the only imperfect character besides the villain. All of the other characters are just entities and plot devices. This book was obviously written before Harry knew how to develop good characters. There are also a handful of unnecessary characters that bring along worthless subplots that only serve to make the book longer but bring nothing worthwhile to it.

Seth's imperfection is the only original aspect of this book. All of the other aspects are typical and copycatish. Things work out for the good guys; things don't for the bad guys. An unnecessary romantic subplot also leads to a last-chapter conversion to make it work. And all of this happens without the unnecessary nature of the Shroud of Turin subplot.

So as you can see, when the unnecessary parts are removed from this book, there isn't much left, showing signs that this was a book written early on in Harry's writing career. We can all be glad about how far he has come by reading The Stain. But other than that, this book is a waste of time.

2.5 stars

The Night Watchman by Mark Mynheir

Ray Quinn used to be a tough Orlando homicide detective at the top of his game-until a freak barrage of bullets ended his career and his partner's life. Now he's retired with a painful handicap, battling the guilt of his partner's death. He numbs the pain however he can-whether alcohol or anger-while holding down a night job as a night watchman in an Orlando condo community. But when a pastor and an exotic dancer are found dead in one of the condos in an apparent murder-suicide, he feels the need to step out and do his duty for mankind by defending the "innocent" when the pastor's sister begs him to take on the case because her brother would have never done anything like that ever. He's a man of God after all. So Ray takes on an impossible, dead end case at the cost of his life to unravel a murder investigation so deep that it spans the Orlando political landscape and beyond. And someone wants to kill him before he finds out the truth.

What a disaster. What a mess. Where do I start? How do I write a short enough review about such a preposterous novel?

I've seen this time of novel time and again pop up everywhere throughout the suspense market, and they are all the same. The Night Watchman is just another carbon copy of the same old, worn out, ridiculous "suspense" tale. I mean, it would take more than two hands to count up the number of books that have used this very same plot pattern.

Let's start with the positive thing. Ray is an imperfect character. He has a personality and therefore has flaws. He is not a perfect male lead. However, none of the other characters are any good, including the perfect pastor victim and his sister, who forms the other end of the inevitable romantic subplot.

The impossible case Ray takes on is topped off with a ransacked apartment and nighttime beatings by men in black masks telling him to stop meddling (and a number of other Literary Trash lines). It also includes a corrupt politician and a convenient connection linking Ray's accident with the crime commited at the condo. And of course, the pastor was only at the condo because he wanted to help someone. This is all topped off with a showdown, with more Literary Trash lines.

Where did Mark Mynheir get the idea to write this? In his bio on the back of the book, it says he is an experienced homicide investigator among a number of other jobs he has had in the past. It also says he is known for his realistic fiction because is experienced in the field. The Night Watchmen is not, by any stretch of the imagination, realistic. There is nothing realistic about it except for Ray's character. This kind of stuff is shameful to the Christian market because it's no different than something someone would find in the mainstream market.

I can only hope that Mark will never write anything like this again.

1.5 stars

Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky

While driving in the rain one evening, Paul and Maddie veer off the road in order to not hit a deer that was standing in it, thus landing Maddie in the hospital with serious injuries. During the hospital stay, Paul thinks back to how he met his wife and how they fell in love. About how they felt when Maddie was suddenly going blind and how they were both afraid to profess their love to each other. Paul comforts himself with these memories and with prayer to the only One Who can heal his wife, but it ultimately comes down to Paul letting go and letting God do His own work.

Simple plot, original end. While the first half of the book seems typical except for good character development, the last few chapters make the whole book worth reading. It utilizes good characters instead of wasting them with a useless, typical end. And the best part about it is that Marlo pleased the public with this original end. She got away with it. It takes a good author to pull that off.

As I said, Marlo does a very good job of subtly developing her characters instead of forcing their personalities into your face. The character inaction and the purposes of each character are true to their personalities, showing signs of a good author. Granted, there are a few unnecessary, typical characters, but this does not detract from the rating because one hardly notices them.

Throughout the plot, it looked like Marlo was going to ruin this good book with a typical, sensational end. But instead, she surprised me by inserting the realistic end into this situation. She is not afraid to do such a thing, which means she has deep-seeded originality. The original end is topped off with another surprise that helps the reader understand one of the character's purposes more clearly.

The only advice I have for Marlo is to eliminate unnecessary characters or give them personalities. Other than that, keep up the originality! The market needs it.

5 stars