SOUTHERN SUSPENSE

Southern Suspense

In the spirit of Porchscene’s continuing effort to celebrate the Southern voice and our commitment to introduce new Southern fiction, we’d like to make our readers aware of a couple of new suspense novels. Okay, there’s just a bit of shameful self-promotion here, as one of the authors is our very own Tom Lawrence, but hey, he initiated this whole Porchscene project, so we thought we’d give him a  well-earned plug.

Set in and around Mobile, Alabama, Jake’s Revenge is the first in a series of mystery/suspense novels by Tom Lawrence, which follows the “extracurricular” pursuits of retired army counterintelligence officer, Major Mary Jo Thibodaux. Jake’s Revenge finds the protagonist successfully operating her own civil engineering firm in the beautiful southern city of Mobile, but missing the exhilaration that her colorful military career provided.

Her intensity itch is effectively scratched when she’s offered the task of unraveling a 50 year old mystery that may or may not be connected to the Kennedy family, the 1960s civil rights movement, the KKK and/or the New Orleans mob. As the book develops, the reader begins to fully understand why Mary Jo Thibodaux is worthy of her army nickname, “Shiva the Destroyer.”

Although Tom has four other book publications to his credit, Jake’s Revenge is his first fictional offering. The book can be found on Amazon, where it was released just last week.

Successful Minneapolis CEO, Helen Warner, is desperate to escape her past. A close friend and travel agent convinces her that the best place to drop out of sight for a while is on a little island in the Bahamas. Because time is of the essence, the Agency charters a jet to take Helen there.

Veterinarian, Jackson Andrews, is also fleeing from a recent staggering event in his life. Flying his private plane from Orlando to the small Bahama Island of Walkers Cay, he checks into the only hotel on the island and contemplates his options.

These two individuals, each burdened with their own shocking personal secrets, take desperate precautions to protect their privacy. But while they try to remain aloof; they are intrinsically drawn to each other like moths to a flame. Could the crisis in their lives actually weld them together and provide trust, affection and a possible solution to their problems?

Transformations is James Smathers’ first novel, but it will likely not be his last. Transformations by James Foley Smathers is also available on Amazon.