Mitford with a Dark Side

I have book cases full of books I intend to read. Yes, book cases. Not shelves.

I’m a book nut, but I don’t have time to read all of them. I keep saying that one day I’ll be able to read a book a day, because that is what it will take to  read through my library.

This week I chose a book that I’ve wanted to read for a long time, but something else always seemed to get in the way.

This book does what some in the publishing world would avoid–a conversion scene smack dab at the beginning of the book.

And you know what?

I loved it.

I love conversion scenes–whether they are in a book or in real life. Because conversions are real. People realize that something is missing and that something is God.

Wolfe Boone (“Boo”), the best-selling author of horror novels, is saved.

But what does it mean for a town named Skary, Indiana whose livelihood depends on this celebrity to thrive? With establishments like the Haunted Mansion Restaurant and Sbooky’s Bookstore the entire town’s success hinges on the success of this writer.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book with its Mitford feel. It made me laugh at some of the absurd things the town busy-body tried to do.

There was even a scene where a character passes out in a movie theater. If that sounds far-fetched to you, read about my sister’s true-life experience.

I wish I had read  BOO  by Rene Gutteridge years ago–yes, I’ve had it for years.  (Oh, and according to the author’s website, this might become a movie. I certainly hope so!)

The Pawn by Steven James

I met Steven James at my first Blue Ridge Mountain Writers Conference back in 2006. By then he had written a ton of stuff and I purchased a couple of his books.

I admired him because he could tell the story of Cinderella in spoonerisms.  He made me laugh.

This year’s conference was no different.

He demonstrated how people/things steal our Joy. I laughed so hard I cried.

You would never suspect that someone that funny could be a master at serial killer novels. Nothing funny about that.

He has a lot of dead bodies in his book, The Pawn–A Patrick Bowers Thriller, and weaves a complicated plot using a brilliant FBI agent with a PhD in Environmental Criminology.

I meant to ask the author if there is such a discipline as Environmental Criminology.

I guess I’ll have to google it.(According to google, there is).