Suspense Magazine July 2013

Jodie Renner Editing
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Begins, Writer’s Forensics, and Suspense Magazine.
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THE HEALER
By Antti Tuomainen
A thriller/mystery with a dash of ‘end of the world’ spice, this novel
offers readers an interesting look at the vibrant area of Helsinki.
In the midst of constant rainfall that’s flooding the land, food and
water have become almost non-existent. With fading power across the
city, the Internet and all electrical systems have turned unreliable. With
whispers of the plague coming forth, citizens are leaving the city in
droves, making for greener pastures. In addition, Amazon rain forests are
on fire and the United States has been attacked by missiles sent from drug
cartels in Mexico. It seems that most of Europe is at war, there is no police
protection or medical care and, frankly, unless you’re richer than Midas
you can forget receiving any help at all.
In the midst of all this is the story of a serial killer roaming the streets
of Helsinki, who has named himself The Healer. Killing families he feels
are responsible for creating the huge mess that the world now finds itself
in, The Healer is good at his work. And because the police presence has
dwindled to almost nothing, the killer remains on the loose, causing
havoc wherever he goes.
Tapani Lehtinen, a poet, is one of the few people who still live in the
city. The day his wife, Joanna goes missing, he suddenly finds himself on a
quest to follow a murderous monster roaming the area. As Tapani searches
for her, he discovers that his wife got a lead on The Healer and may have
met with harm. But in this dystopian world, nothing is as it seems.
Scared and angry, Tapani must deal with secrets that actually link his
wife to the very killer he’s seeking.
The author has done an extremely good job, causing
readers to feel the shivers all around them as they try their
best to make it through this strange, eerie world. A definite
keeper!
Reviewed by Amy Lignor, author of “The Sapphire Storm:
Tallent & Lowery Book Two” published by Suspense
Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine
THREE LIVES OF TOMOMI
ISHIKAWA
By Benjamin Constable
Tomomi Ishikawa aka Butterfly is the perfect best
friend for Ben. She is vivacious, loves to drink and
smoke, and hang out in bars, alleys, and back rooms.
She is also full of surprises...like leaving a suicide note
and a scavenger hunt for Ben. There is no body to grieve
over, just a note she leaves him with her computer and a pen. She
believes Ben can write well and what she shows him and what he finds
will make a really good story for him to put to paper.
Ben is consumed with Butterfly’s death and plays along with
what he believes to be her final request, a treasure hunt. Searching her
computer turns up files with some colorful, yet disturbing names that
make Ben feel quite uncomfortable. Unfortunately for Ben, it’s not a
treasure he’s hunting but Butterfly’s very disturbing past.
Butterfly leaves wild clues, making Ben climb statues, break into
private property, and ride subways back and forth, over and over just
to see if he can find the clue in the split second it appears through
a window. He is obsessed with this game until he finds himself
wondering if he is in fact the game.
Believing he is enjoying the beauty of Paris and New York that
only Butterfly would be able to see and share with him (that is her
dying wish, right), Ben discovers that beauty to her is also very
deadly. Butterfly shows him how she has helped others in her past,
with their “sadness,” which, for Butterfly’s entertainment only, she
turns into complete depression for them. Following her clues leads
Ben to discover that Butterfly was (and apparently still is) a very
dark serial killer…he thinks.
Relying on his imaginary cat, Cat, to keep him sane, he not only
follows Butterfly’s clues but Cat’s as well. Follow Ben and Cat on their
scavenger hunt from the streets of Paris to the underground of New
York City.
A wonderful debut novel and a must read.
Reviewed by Sherri Nemick for Suspense Magazine
THE SHADOW TRACER
By Meg Gardiner
The novels that can be set into the ‘fantastic’
category may be slim, but this standalone mystery by
Meg Gardiner certainly found a place in that ‘elite’
group.
As our story opens, readers are five years in the
past watching Sarah run through the woods with her
baby in her arms, when she’s confronted by a man. Sarah refuses to
stop and gets to her car. The man pulls a gun…but chooses not to fire.
Five years later, Sarah, along with her daughter, Zoe, are living in
Oklahoma City where Sarah has a career as a skip tracer. Sarah locates
people and then hauls them into court.
Things are going just fine until Zoe is involved in a school bus
accident that sends all the passengers to the ER. Zoe’s medical tests
offer up a discovery that no one—certainly not Zoe—knew about:
Although Sarah is a relation, she is not Zoe’s mother.
Facts regarding the child’s birth start to flow, and after all is
revealed (or is it) police, FBI, even the U.S. Marshall, are on the
hunt for Sarah and Zoe who once again have run. To top it all off, a
mysterious group that perhaps had something to do with Zoe’s real
mother are mob related, and will not stop until they get this child into
their ‘family.’
As friends help Sarah and Zoe stay off the radar, Sarah must rely
on her well-honed skills as a skip tracer to help her avoid the pitfalls
that occur when people attempt to stay off the grid. She hopes that the
people tracking her are not nearly as good as she is when it comes to
doing the job right.
Plot twists galore, readers never quite know who the bad guys are
or what they’re actually after. A ‘master’ writer, Gardiner is certainly
right on the money where this suspense is concerned! Well done!
Reviewed by Amy Lignor, author of “The Sapphire Storm: Tallent &
Lowery Book Two” published by Suspense Publishing, an imprint of
Suspense Magazine
42  Suspense Magazine July 2013 / Vol. 049