Book Releases || July 12, 2016 || Demon Hunters & Korean Mafia


"Pigeon River Blues" by Wayne Zurl

A Touch of Morning Calm

A Sam Jenkins Mystery

by Wayne Zurl

Sam Jenkins’s experience as a New York detective and Tennessee police chief may be varied, but none is more interesting than his encounter with Korean organized crime.

Two former call girls, hoping to establish a legitimate massage therapy business in Prospect, ask for Sam’s help after a Korean mobster attempts to extort protection money from them. Jenkins agrees to investigate but wonders, is their business really aboveboard?

Sorting out truth from fiction in this complicated investigation becomes only a minor problem for Jenkins after a Korean girl, employed by the ex-hookers, is found murdered. And the trouble doesn’t stop there.

When bodies begin piling up, Sam finds it difficult to link the victims other than by their ethnicity. That’s when he again turns to the women in his life for assistance in his police endeavors. His wife, Kate; desk sergeant, Betty Lambert; and TV news anchor, Rachel Williamson, all contribute significantly to the successful closure of two murders in Prospect and finding who killed a pair of thugs in nearby Knoxville.

As often happens, an old colleague from Sam’s days in New York visits his former boss and the touristy town of Prospect, Tennessee. Retired Detective Fred Mazzio becomes intrigued with the murders and volunteers to team up with Jenkins’s assistant, John Gallagher, another ex-New York cop, and follow the undeveloped leads. The two former partners bicker constantly, but lend their fifty years of police experience to the investigation.

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Short Excerpt

Prologue

Long before there was much ado about the division of North and South Korea at the 38th parallel, that land was known to the rest of the world as Koryeo.

In those ancient days, a dynasty existed in Koryeo called Chosun. To those people, the loose English translation of Koryeo meant The Land of Morning Calm.

If you’ve ever been to the Korean countryside, you know the phrase is appropriate. The same could be said for the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.

But not all the time.

 

Chapter One

For the last two years, I’ve spent nearly one third of my life with Sergeant Bettye Lambert, my administrative officer and occasional partner. We get along famously—most of the time.

At my age, you’d expect I’d know how to deal with women, but experience shows I’m not as smart as I think. If I inherited the ability to handle the opposite sex efficiently, I would have taken a different job—like a hairdresser. But apparently in that area I’m hopeless. So I remain a cop.

The main telephone rang on Bettye’s desk. If the caller wanted me, she would buzz my phone and forward the call. Nothing happened. Moments later, she stood in my office doorway, looking a little miffed.

I could always tell when things weren’t going her way. She cocked her left hip to the side and rested a hand there. I thought she looked attractive. With her right hand, she leaned on the doorjamb and scowled at me.

At least she isn’t holding a gun.

“It’s your friend—that cheap blonde,” she said.

“Who?”

Bettye shook her head, and her blonde ponytail swung back and forth. “You know who.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t. Who are you talking about?”

“Well, you seemed to get along with her just fine. It was me she didn’t like.”

“Huh?” I remained in the dark.

“You damn well know who I’m talkin’ about, Sam Jenkins. That blonde we met on the Cecil Lovejoy case—that one from Chicago.”

“Ah-ha.” A light in my brain switched on.

“Yes, ah-ha. Now pick up your damn phone.”

Bettye gets away with saying things like that because we both know how important she is to my little police department. And hearing a note of jealousy in her voice boosts my ego.

“You’re beautiful when you’re angry,” I said. “Just why are you angry?”

“Lord have mercy, you’re pathetic.”

I tried a smile. “That may be true, but you’re still hopelessly in love with me.”

“Not after today, darlin’. I said answer the phone. That one’s waitin’ for ya.” She turned and walked away.

Sergeant Lambert made reference to a woman named Veronica Keeble. Two years ago, after a local man, one Cecil Lovejoy, was murdered in Prospect, Bettye and I interviewed Mrs. Keeble. Sort of a suspect at the time, Veronica was thirty-five-years-old, blonde and absolutely gorgeous. Did I mention she was an ex-hooker?


"Jack Slade: Night of the Hunter" by Richard DawesJack Slade: Night of the Hunter

 by Richard Dawes

Jack Slade, Demon Hunter, special operative for the Diamond Group, travels to San Francisco to help the police solve a series of vicious murders. Once there, he finds out that behind the murders is a powerful vampyre whose goal is world control. He fights the monster’s assassins, battles his half-demonic minions and finally faces the vampyre himself in an epic battle for dominance. In the process, Slade discovers secrets about himself that will change his life forever.

 

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Short Excerpt

Chapter One

Jack Slade paused in his climb up the face of the mountain and looked around at the Romanian countryside. It was a little before midnight, and like an unblinking eye, the full moon shimmered in the crystalline sky. It cast a silvery sheen over the densely wooded mountain range that dropped precipitously to the valley far below. In the distance, farmlands dotting the valley floor resembled a huge quilted coverlet stretched out in the misty darkness. Slade clung like a lizard to a rock-faced promontory six hundred feet above the valley, with still another hundred feet to go before he reached the top. Leaning out, he gazed upward and sighted the crumbling ruins of an ancient castle perched like an eagle’s aerie upon the crest.

Shaking the sweat from his eyes, he continued climbing.

Half an hour later, he reached the summit, climbed over the edge and flopped onto his back to catch his breath. He glanced at the moon again; at this height, it seemed close enough to touch. Perhaps it was fatigue, or maybe anxiety over what he knew was awaiting him beneath the castle, but he would swear the moon had become sinister, even menacing.

Grinning to keep his vivid imagination in check, Slade got to his feet and brushed the dust from his black leather jacket and dark trousers. He made sure the Colt .38 automatic was in its holster to the left of his belt buckle, angled for a cross-draw, and extra clips lined the back of his belt beneath the jacket.

Then he looked around.

The castle had been constructed in the fourteenth century, but hadn’t been occupied since the seventeenth. Now, it was only a ruin, with broken walls, collapsed ceilings, stone blocks and rotting timbers scattered everywhere. As he moved cautiously through the rubble, searching for an entrance, he thought back to the old gypsy woman who gave him the information about the castle. Slade found her in a village in the valley, and when he told her what he was looking for, she took him into her trailer and demanded to see his palm.

After scrutinizing his hand for some time, the wrinkles on her face deepened, and she gazed at him sadly. “You walk a dark path, young man,” she said in a voice thin with age. “You have one foot in this world and one foot in the other. It is your dark destiny to be a hunter—a hunter of demons.” She shook her head. “Your life is war, but this war will not end until the earth itself fades away.”

It was then she told him that what he searched for was at the top of the mountain beneath the castle ruins. And she told him about the entrance.

He saw it just where the old woman said it would be.

At the foot of a collapsed wall, almost hidden by fallen, rotten timbers, was a black hole leading down into the ground. Slade lifted an oaken beam, pushed it out of the way, then bent and peered inside. Only blackness met his gaze. A foul, rancid odor, like the stench of rotting flesh, struck him forcibly in the face. He pulled a flashlight from his pocket, flipped it on and aimed the beam into the hole. The entrance to a tunnel angled downward beyond the range of the light.

Taking a deep breath, Slade shifted the flashlight to his left hand, pulled the automatic, bent his six-foot frame almost in half and entered the cavern. The incline was gradual, and after about twenty feet, the tunnel opened up and widened so he could straighten and walk normally. The cave was cut from solid rock and continued downward into the bowels of the mountain. Slade directed his flash to the walls and ceiling, but he stopped when his foot struck a solid object. Shining the light downward, he saw that he just kicked a human skull. Casting the torch around, he discovered to his horror that half-buried skulls and bones littered the floor of the tunnel.

Suddenly he heard howls, like ravening beasts, sweeping up from the blackness beyond the light. The very darkness became malevolent—it clawed at the feeble light of the torch like some alien entity, seeking to devour it.

A drop of sweat cut a long icy furrow down Slade’s spine.

Book Releases || May 17, 2016 || Famous Singers & Bodyguards

"Pigeon River Blues" by Wayne Zurl~ Detective Mystery ~

Pigeon River Blues

A Sam Jenkins Mystery

by Wayne Zurl

Sam Jenkins thinks no good turn goes unpunished when the famous singer he’s assigned to protect decides it’s hate at first sight.

Famous country and western singer C.J. Profitt receives death threats from a group of rightwing zealots. Chief Sam Jenkins gets the job of keeping C.J. safe while she performs at a charity benefit.

Problems arise when C.J. says she’s dead against any police involvement. Jenkins uses friends and professional colleagues to foil a plot destined to kill not only the local girl turned celebrity, but hundreds of innocent people.

 

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Books Release || March 22, 2016 || Detectives & Paranormal Mysteries

Did you know Melange has two imprints?

For romance readers, check out Satin Romance and subscribe to the blog HERE.

For fans of young adult / teen reads, check out Fire & Ice YA Books and subscribe the the blog HERE.

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~ Detective Mystery ~

Heroes and Lovers

A Sam Jenkins Mysteries

by Wayne Zurl

For an exciting exclusive story, TV reporter Rachel Williamson helps Chief Sam Jenkins with a classic fraud investigation. But the case puts Rachel in jeopardy and her abduction by a mentally disturbed man, changes her life forever.

After several frustrating days, Jenkins uncovers a significant clue and leads a team deep into the Smoky Mountains to rescue his friend. But after Rachel is once again safe at home, they find that her problems are far from over.

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~ Paranormal Mystery ~

Midnight’s Edge

Book 2: The Possession

by David Chappuis & Michael Klinger

Successful in his plan to return to the mortal realm, Jeremy Wickcliff believes he’s found his son, whose body will allow him to continue to live, and he has brought back his sister, Rachel, as part of his resurgence plan for the Wickcliff family. However, the son that he thinks is his isn’t, and Rachel isn’t exactly his ally. Trapped in the Wickcliff mausoleum in the spirit realm, the Wickcliff ancestors have their own plan to return to life in the mortal realm, with or without Jeremy’s help.

As the witches begin to piece together Jeremy’s plan after a visit from his wife, Lucy, in spirit form, they realize that they must band together in an attempt to stop him from bringing his family back and to banish him back to the ghost realm. With a battle between good and evil takes place on the grounds of the Wickcliff cemetery, the outcome will change the lives of the residents of Sleepy Meadows forever.

 

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Books Release || March 8, 2016 || Mysteries & Thrillers


~ Mystery ~

A Leprechaun’s Lament

A Sam Jenkins Mysteries

by Wayne Zurl

A stipulation of the Patriot Act gives Chief Sam Jenkins an easy job; investigate all the civilians working for the Prospect Police Department. But what looks like a routine chore to the gritty ex-New York detective, turns into a nightmare. Preliminary inquiries reveal that a middle-aged employee didn’t exist prior to 1975.

Murray McGuire spent the second half of his life repairing office equipment for the small city of Prospect, Tennessee, but the police can’t find a trace of the first half.

After uncovering nothing but dead ends during the background investigation and with frustrations running at flood level, Jenkins finds his subject lying face down in a Smoky Mountain creek bed—murdered assassination-style.

By calling in favors from old friends and new acquaintances, the chief uses resources developed during a lifetime in law enforcement to learn the true story of the man everyone called Typewriter Murray.

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~ Mystery & Thriller ~

Weave a Murderous Web

 by Anne Rothman-Hicks & Ken Hicks

No good deed goes unpunished. When Jane Larson—a hot-shot litigator for a large firm in New York City—helps out a friend, she is sucked into the unfamiliar world of divorce and child support.

Jane’s discovery of the deadbeat dad’s hidden assets soon unravels a web of lies, drugs, and murder that keeps getting more dangerous.

Soon, Jane is involved in a high stakes race to recover a missing suitcase of cash and catch the murderer before she becomes the next victim.

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~ Mystery ~

Family Education

A John Seraph Mystery – Book Three

by C.G. Eberle

When college student Jacob Ragnar is found shot to death, suspicion immediately falls on Professor Burke Kendall. After some time, John Seraph begins to investigate, leading to threats against him, and a murder attempt on his life.

Meanwhile, John’s old friend, Denise, has asked for his help with a delicate situation she’s in. A psychotic sadist, who happens to work for John’s father, is stalking one of her employees, an escort. This turns into a bigger problem for John than he can imagine.

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Books Release || April 16, 2015 || A Police Mystery Collection

From New York to the Smokies

by Wayne Zurl

Five mysteries spanning more than four decades in the life of career police officer Sam Jenkins.

THE BOAT TO PRISON—set in 1963 when a teenaged Jenkins and his friends attempt to foil a plot to kill a Long Island union leader and keep Sam’s shop steward father from doing hard time.

FAVORS drops readers into a New York of 1985 when Lieutenant Sam Jenkins mounts an unofficial investigation to learn why one of his civilian employees isn’t overjoyed about her promotion to police officer and uncovers a history of unreported and unspeakable crimes.

ODE TO WILLIE JOE, ANGEL OF THE LORD, and MASSACRE AT BIG BEAR CREEK brings the reader up to date with three adventures of Chief Jenkins and the officers of Prospect PD, a police department serving a small town in the Great Smoky Mountains of east Tennessee. UFO sightings, a serial killer on the loose, and the most brutal murders and feud between mountain folk since the Hatfields and McCoys pushes Sam to use every trick he’s learned in a lifetime of detective work to resolve these incidents on his “peaceful side of the Smokies.”

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