She Said ~ A Crime Novel by Mitchell D. King

When 17 year old honours student Mia Kennedy heads downtown with her friends for a night of drinking she notices a rather attractive Robert Harris seated at the bar.  The 38 year old divorced trucker is unwinding after a stint on the road when Mia befriends him under the pretence that she is 24, not 17. Soon enough a relationship ensues and after four steamy encounters Robert finds himself accused of sexual assault by the bright, athletic teen. The charges are brought to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador where every detail of this forbidden liaison is publicly dissected, exposed for the world to see. Which way will the scales of justice tip?

She Said ~ A Crime Novel is Mitchell D. King's first foray into the world of crime writing. A practicing lawyer with a prestigious firm in St. John's, Newfoundland, King draws on his legal experience in crafting a captivating story that exposes bias, stereotyping and the ever present flaws of the judicial system.

Mia walked with her friends to their usual corner table and, on the way, noticed a familiar face out of the corner of her eye. She stopped dead in her tracks as Amber and Ashley took their seats. Under the neon lights flashing above sat the man who Mia had met some months before. He wore a dark leather jacket over a black hoodie. As he had last time, he wore black jeans that were rolled up and paired with black combat boots. His beard was as grizzly as she remembered. Mia noticed that he didn't have a hat on his head this time, and she thought his hair looked nice. It was combed over to the side in a haphazard way, but it was a healthy head of hair. A warm feeling crept into her stomach and flowed down her legs, sinking like an anchor. 

King's narrative is expertly organized and well written. The fast-paced easy to follow storyline is told from the viewpoint of many different people including jurors, attorney's, family members and the main characters themselves, Mia and Robert.  As each person's perspective is presented, the reader gains new insight into the case and the sometimes complicated backstory of the individuals. This technique creates, within the reader, an acute awareness of the biases that affect decisions and judgements, challenging one's perception of innocence or guilt. The fact that the story takes place in familiar St. John's settings throughout the capital city and outlying areas is a nice touch. King's decision to also include the courtroom as a story backdrop is quite effective in authenticating the tale but also at providing disturbing insight to some of the workings of the criminal justice system. Readers will become part of the jury, immersed in the arguments presented for both sides but will also experience some inner conflict by knowing what has truly occurred.

She Said is a great first crime novel for Mitchell D. King. Wonderfully analytical and psychologically insightful, the story propelled me to just keep turning the pages. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger and it did sadden me but perhaps there's more to come from author Mitchell King, or at least I hope so. She Said ~ A Crime Novel is a Flanker Press publication. 

Seventh Son: My Road To Success by Jim Scott

 I was eight and had developed no thoughts around money other than there was never any extra. I also knew Thursdays were paydays, and for that day there was a lot of food in the house. Every other penny went to buy clothes and anything else we might need.  Not many dollar bills slipped into the cash pouch of my father's wallet and stayed there, and if there were any, they'd already been proactively claimed for future use. Nobody had spare money except, it seemed, Alphonsus Keefe. A business owner..... I knew, even at such a young age, that this was something worth striving for.

Seventh Son: My Road to Success is the memoir of self-made millionaire and successful entrepreneur Jim Scott. Born into a working class blended family of 12 children in the Central Newfoundland town of Windsor, life was rough for the seventh son of a paper mill worker and his hard-working bride. But as luck should have it, the Celtic fable of good luck and prosperity that is often bestowed upon a seventh son proved true. This memoir is an autobiographical series of snapshots demonstrating how one ordinary man turned misfortune to fortune, while staying true to his humble beginnings and family values. 

At the age of 16, on the heels of his father's death, the carefree days of boyhood were over. The agony of grief was tremendous and not having a father to assist with navigating the hurdles of being a teenager were tough. Thrust unwillingly into manhood and failing school, Scott left with Grade 8 education to help support the family. Like so many other Newfoundlanders, Scott tried studying at the college but ended up leaving the province and working menial jobs. Eventually he found success as a millwright and secured work with IOC in Labrador City. As is common in the trades industry, Scott was no stranger to a litany of layoffs and found himself travelling to find work. Over the years he worked on the Hibernia and Terra Nova Offshore Oil projects and travelled to the US to work on the Big Dig Project. Eventually, Scott's vast experience as a tradesman and savvy business acumen resulted in his decision to establish his own project and construction management firm at the age of forty four. Standard Consulting Inc. was born and lived for nine years as a multi million dollar operation until it was sold to a national engineering firm. Jim Scott was fifty-three.

Seventh Son: My Road to Success truly portrays the arduous journey to success and offers hope to those on a similar path. There are many turning points in the memoir as the author writes with truth and purpose, inviting the reader to walk in his shoes. At times it was overly detailed and I found myself skipping over some of the technical writing relating to his business affairs however, many people will easily relate to Scott's early experiences (childhood shenanigans, first romances, death and divorce) and will come to appreciate the lessons gleaned from his life that supported his success. Seventh Son: My Road to Success by Jim Scott is a Flanker Press publication. 

The River Murder by Patrick J. Collins

Author,  Patrick Collins is back!! Back with his thirteenth novel, The River Murder. Inspired by true events, Collins weaves another criminal tale of murder, suspicion and lost love set against a backdrop of religious rioting the likes of which the 1884 British Dominion of Newfoundland had likely never seen before.  

Set in the outport town of Harbour Grace Sergeant Sean Ryan is tasked to police the emotionally charged and tense community of Riverhead. On the heels of the infamous religious riot known as the Harbour Grace Affray, which saw the killing of four protestant men and the leader of the Irish Catholics, Patrick Callahan,  the community is deeply divided following public inquiries and trials which saw the exoneration of the Head Constable,  not guilty verdicts and finally acquittals for 19 Riverhead men. There is strong public dissent and great mistrust within the community but Sergeant Ryan,  a 12 year police veteran from Cork, Ireland, was the only officer who had not been involved in the Affray on that fateful day and would likely gain the trust of the Riverhead people. Certainly, being a Catholic himself and distantly related to the Callahans would also endear him to the community, one would think. 

The young police officer is propelled into action one June morning, when thirty five year old Thomas Callahan, the son of the late Patrick Callahan, was found floating in the river with a gunshot wound to his chest. The investigation is complicated and the Sergeant faces many obstacles and roadblocks.  As he works to gain acceptance and navigate a volatile situation fraught with complex social issues, he must also decipher his own mental health challenges while discovering that his former lover had been in a romantic relationship with the deceased man, Thomas. Will Sergeant Ryan gain the trust of the people and solve this gruesome murder?

In true Patrick Collins style, the author magically and expertly intertwines the unique factual history of his Harbour Grace home within a fictitious storyline. Complete with a detailed Prologue outlining the tumultuous events of the Boxing Day riot in 1883 as well as a map of the Harbour Grace area showing the location of the narrative, readers will have a better understanding of the storyline and like me, will have a desire to visit this quaint Newfoundland town. The story reads like a true who-done-it crime novel and readers will be introduced to many characters as the story develops and the mystery unfolds. The abundance of characters necessitated a reread of some sections in order for me to keep things straight but I still enjoyed trying to figure out who killed Thomas. Just when I thought I had figured it out, I discovered I was wrong. Needless to say the ending of the book did catch me off guard. Good job, Mr. Collins, on a great history lesson and an entertaining read!