Jaden E. Terrell's RACING THE DEVIL

This isn't a book review. I don't do those any longer. Well, mostly.


I met the author of Racing the Devil in September at Lee Lofland's Writer's Police Academy in North Carolina, and came home with an autographed book that, frankly, appeared on the surface to be closer to amateur than promising. Know what I mean? I placed it on my TBR pile and looking at it over the past few weeks, was pretty much guilted into reading it. Although I enjoyed meeting the author, someone I believe will be a friend beyond that one little conference, I was concerned about not liking Terrell's words and finding myself kind of stuck for a response.


Turns out, that isn't a problem. (Phew!)


Terrell straps us on to a ride from the first page, and doesn't let us get off until the last. Racing the Devil is quite simply a fast-paced, well-written, character infused, plot-driven, gorgeous read. I literally gave myself the gift of time to read on when I should have been attending to other things. 


Part of Suspense Novelist's reason for existence is, in its own small way, to showcase talent. Jaden E. Terrell has it, and this first novel is Exhibit A.






CR: Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain.


It's all better with friends.

Writer's Police Academy: Underwater Recovery

This was fascinating to me. I suppose it might have something to do with all of the "Lake" movies I've watched over the years where bodies were stowed underwater.

The thing is, most of the Underwater Recovery Team's time is spent recovering evidence—weapons, stolen property and things along those lines. Not so much bodies.

But, if you are writing about a body in the depths, here are some interesting bits:

Prior to body recovery, photos are taken and as much area as possible is processed for evidence.

The bag (pictured) used to recover the body is easily 6+" long and about 4" wide. It is bright yellow with bright blue straps. It comes in five pieces.

There are at least two divers involved in a recovery. One is literally the mule who carries all of the equipment down. The other diver is responsible for making sure the body is kept as intact as possible, and knows exactly what needs to happen first, second, third, etc., in terms of securing it within the body bag.

A pony bottle (pictured in the foreground) holds about 19 cubic feet of air and is used to fill the bag with enough air to slowly float the body to the surface. The divers are with it as it rises.

This is just a sampling of what Underwater Recovery had to offer, so I would encourage any of you to dig a little deeper if you need to. Contact your local unit, or consider attending the next Writer's Police Academy.



CR: Breathing Water by Timothy Hallinan on my Kindle.

It's all better with friends.

From My Writer's Police Academy Notes: On Firefighters

A group of student firefighters raised the flag our first morning on the campus of Guilford Technical Community College in Greensboro, North Carolina. We were attending Lee Lofland's (The Graveyard Shift) Writer's Police Academy.

When the students placed their hands over their hearts and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, most of the attendees (who were paying attention) followed suit. It was a nice moment.

Then, one of the students broke rank and walked over to a bell. He rang it five times, pause, five times, pause and five more times.

In the days before cell phones and 9-1-1, call boxes used to be scattered throughout towns and cities across America. The communication device in the old ones was a bell. Each call box was numbered. If someone spotted a fire, and the closest call box was 762, they would ring 7-6-2 so people would know the approximate site of the fire.

5-5-5 is the code for a downed firefighter.



CR: Breathing Water by Timothy Hallinan on my Kindle.

It's all better with friends.