Review: Trackle for the Fall: Once Wicked Always Dead! Check Out Info/Review!

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Once Wicked

   Always Dead

Back Cover Blurb

What happens when a family's darkest secrets put lives in jeopardy? How far would you go for love?

Molly Madison is unaware of the Sociopath who is on the loose, creating havoc with a sense of their own justice. Her life is shattered by the sudden death of her beloved parents and the revelation of her husband Phillip’s affair – with another man – Molly leaves the life of Country Clubs and the luxury of city life in Florida and heads west to Montana, resolved to run the family ranch, and to move on with her life. Her attraction to Clayton Leatherbe, the ranch foreman, is instant, but before a romance can blossom, the ranch falls prey to sabotage by wealthy land developers determined to drive Molly out, and Clayton learns of a family secret and collides with the Sociopath that could put the ranch – and Molly’s life – in jeopardy.

A sharp mystery that swirls with family secrets, betrayal, love and loss, Once Wicked Always Dead is a strong debut from an author with literary blood in her veins.

By T. Marie Benchley

Author Bio


T. Marie Benchley is an author and student in life. With a family heritage of actors/writers including famed author Peter Benchley of "Jaws and The Deep", she was introduced to classic literature at an early age and remains a passionate reader. Although the only sharks on her pages are attorneys and the monsters in her plots are sociopaths, her primary desire is to entertain her readers.

Though formally educated in journalism and marketing and is also an avid traveler, finding inspiration for her novels by studying people and listening to their stories. Happily married with a son and daughter, she divides her time between Florida and Montana.



Once Wicked Always Dead
By T. Marie Benchley
M.M.W.E. Publishing House
ISBN: 9780984478712
325 Pages


They called her a sociopath, but she knew what she really was—she was a woman on a mission to eliminate all those individuals, usually men, who preyed on the innocent. And the first man to go was her stepfather! To do so, she was willing to assume the role of the “school girl” and dress and act out the role they wanted her to play, because they didn’t have the real thing right at the moment. Only this little girl was deadly for those who were wicked...

T. Marie Benchley has created quite a story! Normally, the serial killer takes the lead role; not so in Once Wicked Always Dead. In fact, that there is a killer loose is not the primary story, although, there is a later merge that is truly outstanding and unparalleled in my experience!

Molly Madison had just turned 45 when her world started to fall apart. On their way to visit, her parents had been killed in an accident. The relationship between her and her husband, Phillip had not been close for many years. He was always working and now was considering running for public office. After the shock of hearing about Molly’s parents, Phillip almost immediately realized that by selling their large ranch, he would have sufficient funds to begin his campaign.

Never knowing that her father had been thinking about leaving the ranch to his foreman, Clayton Leatherbe, who had become like a son to him, and knowing the Phillip would want the ranch sold, Molly was immediately caught in the pressure placed on her to sign the papers to sell the property.

And to further challenge Molly’s life, she was told face-to-face by her husband’s gay lover that he and Phillip were in love and she really had no place in his life anymore!

Only thing was that Phillip did not agree with his lover, even though they indeed had been involved. For Molly, it was just too much. She left Phillip and moved back into her parents’ home and began to take over the activities of her parents in running the ranch.

There were many there in Colorado who were interested in getting all or part of that large spread. Soon, trouble started, with fences being cut, fires started and a murder takes place when a car is set on fire. But the man who was in the car comes as a big surprise and Molly begins to wonder if there is anybody that can be trusted!

What a perfect blend of character creation and manipulation! Readers are continuously caught off guard as to what these characters choose to do. Molly is a strong forgiving woman who comes back into her real self as head of the ranch and finds her own romance along the way.

Benchley is a cousin of Peter Benchley of Jaws and The Deep. For me, however, T. Marie in Once Wicked Always Dead has written a romantic suspense thriller that will be broadly read and remembered, perhaps even more so than for Peter's novels. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and strongly recommend you seek out T. Marie Benchley’s debut book!

Book Received
From M.M.W.E Publishing House

G. A. Bixler