TopShelf Magazine April 2018 | Page 27

reviews REVIEWS Sleuth Paperback $28.99 Political Paperback $13.95 Thriller Hardcover $28.00 BITE-SIZED WHODUNNIT BRINGS BACK THE INTRIGUE FAST-PACED, HEART- MYSTERIES WRITTEN IN THE OF THE COLD WAR IN A STOPPING READ Jim “Zig” Zi garowski lovingly puts to rest our VEIN OF AGATHA CHRISTIE THRILLING NEW WAY fallen men and women at Dover Air Force Base. After his parent’s death, Jonas Kirk found himself with a wealth of money, but no direction in his life. He traveled around the world looking for direction, but finding none still, returned to his small town of Woodland Park. It was there that he found interest in the newspaper clippings on homicide, and entered himself into college at Hamlin to study criminology. Following college, he met Sergeant Chester Devin after coming across what appeared to be a homicide while at a friend’s party. This collection follows his tales of solving crimes with the sometimes-reluctant help of Devlin and ensuring that Lady Justice and Mr. Scales are given their due, as murderers are punished. Dick Snyder provides an expressive, almost lyrical narrative to the stalwart Jonas Kirk. Bite-sized whodunnit mysteries classically written in the vein of Agatha Christie are quickly devoured in THE JONAS KIRK MYSTERIES. ~Kris Miller, TopShelf Reviews www.TopShelfMagazine.net It’s late January 1988, and CIA agent Tracie Tanner is still reeling from the Moscow mission where she barely escaped with her life. Her boss, CIA Director Aaron Stallings, has received intel that there is a secret Soviet military base in the Ural Mountains. Stallings gives Tracie what appears to be a simple mission: travel to Bashkir, extract as much information as she can about the base and return home in four days. But once Tracie gets to the location, she sees something that changes her mission entirely. Ryan Smith, the CIA agent that saved her life during the Moscow mission, has been captured and is being held prisoner in this secret military base in Bashkir. Tracie vows to save his life as he did hers or die trying. Ever smart and cunning, Tracie Tanner, faces a moral dilemma in this one that will eternally haunt her. Taut with tension and packed with bone-chilling scenes that leap off the pages, The Bashkir Extraction brings back the international intrigue of the cold war in a thrilling new way. With each piece he puts back together, he likes to think he also puts back a piece of his shattered heart. So, when Zig sees the name Nola Brown come across his desk after a plane crash claiming seven lives, he breaks both the military’s and his own rules for the chance to work on the girl who saved his daughter’s life, giving him an additional eleven months to spend with his now deceased daughter. There’s only one problem: upon beginning his job he finds that the woman lying before him is not Nola. Further befuddling, is that three people signed off that she was. A note found hidden on the unidentified woman’s body confirms that Nola saw something on a mission she shouldn’t have; a mission named Operation Bluebook dating back to the days of Harry Houdini, and one that may get Nola killed for real next time. Near broken characters are at the heart of this high-octane suspense thriller amidst a web of deceit and lies. The Escape Artist is a fast- paced, heart-stopping read that will keep you up until the wee hours of the morning. ~Kris Miller, TopShelf Reviews ~Kris Miller, TopShelf Reviews TOPShelf magazine APRIL2018 27