Florida Gothic...May Not Be What You Think... Mitzi Szereto Does...Unique...

(Turn the sound down low for background mood...)

Got to tell you right away, that Florida Gothic was not what I expected... As a long-time gothic fan, I was expecting something like Heathcliff, or other similar novels where people live in castles and there is romance, suspense and more...NOT! So, if that is what you're looking for, don't buy this...

On the other hand, Mitzi Szereto has written in a range of genres and I've always liked her writing, so I was willing to read on...Be prepared, this Gothic is from the Horror side of Gothic--and horror is what you're going to get! Starting with how the main character is...killed...

On a muggy Sunday evening, Ernesto Calixto Martinez is run over by an expensive black Hummer with the vanity license plate kngpdro. There are no calls to 9-1-1, no attempts to keep him from going into shock, no offers of comfort. There’s nothing but the SUV driver speeding away, leaving a broken old man to die in his own pee and shit on a dark Miami road by a smelly canal. 

Ernesto’s not yet fully dead when the alligator finds him. After making quick work of his left arm, it takes some chunks out of his already scrawny right leg. As he listens to the sound of sharp prehistoric teeth crunching tired old bone, he drifts in and out of consciousness, convinced he must be dreaming—hoping he must be dreaming. His brain feels like a waterlogged ball of cotton, but it’s not water but blood that’s misting his thoughts. Only after he dies does Ernesto appreciate the extent of the damage done to his body. His left arm has been torn off at the shoulder, leaving behind a bleeding gash festooned with ribbons of raw flesh and tendon, the alligator having slithered back into the murky canal to savor its tasty prize. As for his leg, its meat and muscle have been pulverized to a lumpy pulp by a primitive creature as efficient in killing as it is lying in wait for victims. Ernesto nearly vomits when he sees it. 

Except the dead can’t vomit...

~~~

Ernesto is not only a victim of a hit-and-run... a nearby alligator sees him and waddles over for an unexpected meal!

Gory death...gory afterlife... You know, something like the infamous scene everybody thinks of when they say "Thanks for the ride, lady..."

A dead man’s rage is like no other. Ernesto can feel it bubbling like boiled tar inside the dead shell of him until it spills from his lips in gluey strings of blood-blackened bile. He rages at the man who hit him; he rages at the drivers who ignored him; he rages at the people responsible for the creature that took what remained of his life away. That’s what happens when baby alligators are dumped in lakes and canals after their owners discover their “pets” won’t stay small forever. Usually you hear about it when the adult versions show up on a golf course and interrupt someone’s game. Then it’s reported as a funny news story—something to be chuckled over after the reports of drug busts, government corruption and murder are presented. An old Cubano’s gator-mangled body probably wouldn’t qualify as a funny news story.

~~~

I try not to enjoy revenge...but I've got to admit, this guy deserved to take it! So be prepared for a hunt like no other, as Ernesto finds hate, anger and a need for revenge keeps burning even after death...

He had plenty of time to think and, first, realized that he had died just as his daughter had...by a hit-and-run... and the one who killed her had just got out of jail... He would be the first... He knew unfairness in this world was wide and sometimes it seemed to come from God. He was willing to take it from Him... But, not from his peers, those humans who chose to act in evil, drinking and driving, without taking responsibility for what they did! Indeed, was God allowing him to stay here for exactly what he had in mind? How would he know? But he continues on his search...

He lives alone as he finds his way through the world that holds evil, his only friends the bugs and maggots that now occupy his home and even his body... But he sits remembering his beloved Esperanza.

Ernesto decided to go outside. He wanted to see the moon, possibly for the last time. Its brightness lit up the closed Venetian blinds like the screen in a movie theater, reminding him of happier times. He and Esperanza enjoyed looking at the moon together. They would hold hands and he’d sing to her “Moon Over Miami” from the film, though he was no Don Ameche. Back when they were dating, they went to see the musical at a movie house in Matanzas, though by then it had been out for more than a decade. Ernesto wanted to relive those joyful moments, but the stark aloneness of his dead self staring up at the sky with his dead eyes couldn’t bring them back...

~~~

I admit that I am not a fan of this type of horror, but there is an underlying story that is intriguing even while horribly graphic... Just as the terrible horror is happening in Florida right now, and other catastrophes across the world, including Texas, we are pulled into the individual story that arises out of the world we live in. Ernesto lived after death for a length of time... and when the door knocked, he was ready...

Soooo, "thanks for the ride..." Mitzi! Your writing saved this book for me... I don't know how you do it...But, those who enjoy graphic horror, do check it out!

GABixlerReviews

Mitzi Szereto (mitziszereto.com) is an author and anthology editor of multi-genre fiction and non-fiction. She has her own blog Errant Ramblings: Mitzi Szereto's Weblog, and a web TV channel Mitzi TV, which covers the "quirky" side of London. Her books include Oysters and Pearls: Collected Stories; Rotten Peaches (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles) and Normal for Norfolk (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles) - the cozy mystery/satire series co-written with celebrity author bear Teddy Tedaloo; Phantom: The Immortal (co-written with Ashley Lister); Love, Lust and Zombies; Darker Edge of Desire: Gothic Tales of Romance; The Wilde Passions of Dorian Gray; Thrones of Desire: Erotic Tales of Swords, Mist and Fire; Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts; Red Velvet and Absinthe: Paranormal Erotic Romance;  Getting Even: Revenge Stories; Dying For It: Tales of Sex and Death; In Sleeping Beauty's Bed: Erotic Fairy Tales; and Wicked: Sexy Tales of Legendary Lovers.

P. C. Zick Presents Fascinating Family Drama While Highlighting Environmental Issues!

A beach after an oil spill. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"News reports on Deepwater Horizon--early May
"Wildlife experts and volunteers continued to prepare for the worst as April
gave way to May. Uncertainty in the movement of the Gulf Stream caused
emergency operations to open in Tampa and Miami with an eye on the North Carolina coast as a possible area where the slick might move if the
winds continued. As the wildlife struggled, another uncertainty loomed.
Hurricane season started June 1 and lasted for six months. Questions
swirled about "what if?"
"By the first week of May, two weeks after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, dead sea turtles began washing up on the beaches near Pass
Christian, Mississippi. Beach walkers discovered the stranded animals on
sand darkened by the blood seeping from the turtles' nostrils and
underbelly.
"The Sea Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi, opened a special lab-
oratory to hold twenty-three loggerhead, leatherback, and Kemp's Ridley
carcasses awaiting necropsies..."
~~~

Trails in the Sand

By P. C. Zick



Zick's latest novel is totally different than my earlier read--Live From the Road--Click over to my review if you haven't read it yet. I loved that one, but her latest is more serious, more "today's headlines" and more drama that shares a contemporary love story like no other I've read... It is a novel that covers three generations and shows the dark side of things learned through and from our ancestors. An important book in several ways.

The main character, Caroline Carlisle is an environmental writer. She also has a marine biologist degree which has served to ensure her acceptance and respect from those with whom she works. Zick chose to use turtles as the focus of her story, tying it into the family background; however, the news coverage could have been related to all ocean life affected...

By oil spills...

“Everything’s going to work out,” Gladdy said. “You’ll see. Daddy will forget all about it once he goes back to work on Monday.”

“He’s not going to forget, Gladdy. Not this,” Alex said. “And neither will I. Do you think you can forget it ever happened?”

“I can try. You can try. Let’s just put it out of our minds as if it never happened. Please, Alex. We have to.”

“It won’t work. It’s hopeless,” Alex said.

“Look,” Gladdy poked her brother who was older by ten months.

She pointed to the edge of the shoreline only feet away from where they sat on the sand. The light from the rising moon illuminated the beach in a soft white bath.

“It’s a loggerhead,” Alex said as a sea turtle lumbered out of the ocean and laboriously began its march to the dune line. “You can tell by its big head.”

“I bet it’s going to lay eggs,” Gladdy whispered.

They sat motionless as the turtle, not more than fifty feet away, pulled itself through the sand. The loggerhead moved slowly but steadily, using first the front right and then the left rear flippers to pull it forward. Then it repeated the action with the other diagonal flippers. Its march from the sea was distinct from the other species of turtles that came ashore in Florida to lay eggs. The green turtle, Kemp’s ridley, the leatherback, and the hawksbill also laid their eggs on the beaches of the peninsula, but loggerheads were by far the most numerous.

The female loggerhead, so graceful as it floated and swam in the ocean, now tromped through the sand dragging nearly 300 pounds of body weight. Every few minutes, it would stop and dig its snout into the sand.

“She’s testing the temperature,” Alex said. “That’s exactly how it was described in that book Daddy threw in the trash tonight.”

Alex read any book he could find about the ocean. Archie Carr just published a book about the sea turtles, and Alex checked the book out of the library in Calico, where the Stokleys lived, before they came to St. George Island for the summer. He’d received special permission to keep it for three months. When his father came to the dinner table that night and saw Alex sitting with his elbows on the table and The Windward Road propped up on his glass of milk, Arthur Stokley snatched the book and walked out through the kitchen to the back porch and threw it in the trash.

“We do not read at the table,” Dr. Stokley said when he returned. “You have the manners of a heathen and the sense of a moron. You never fail to disappoint me...”

“I’m up to 82,” Gladdy said. “There’s 83 and 84.”

After counting 124 eggs, they watched as the sea turtle filled in the cavity with its rear flippers and then swept the area in an effort to disguise what lay beneath the surface.

When the turtle finished her job, nearly two hours after she came from the sea, she began the slow return back to the ocean. Alex rose from the sand and followed the loggerhead.

“Alex, what are you doing? You can’t go swimming after dark – the undertow is too strong.”

“Did you know sea turtles always return to lay their eggs on the beach where they were hatched?” Alex said as he walked backwards into the sea following the trail of the female loggerhead. “The eggs will hatch in about two months, Gladdy. Be sure to come down here every night and wait for them to emerge so you can help them go home. Remember 124 eggs and remember the location.”

Alex turned toward the ocean and kept walking until the sea engulfed him, and he went under.

“Alex, come back,” Gladdy yelled out over the surf, but the only answer came from the sound of the waves lapping the beach. “We’ll find a way.”

Gladdy pulled the corners of the tablecloth up around her shoulders and waited for her brother to reappear. The waves came back to shore time after time, but as she sat transfixed in her spot on the beach, Alex never returned with them. ~~~

Readers will learn about not only the oil spill disaster but a coal mine disaster in West Virginia... Moving back and forth between the disasters to the family life affected by each of those disasters presents an extremely engaging interplay between the news that many of us just hear about, to those lives that are involved. This adds much greater depth to Zick's book in my opinion.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caretta_caretta_060417w2.jpg

The Prologue begins in 1956 within Caroline's mother's life. She and her brother had been close, having the same interests and love for being out of doors. Alex loved the sea and they had gone out to sit one night when a loggerhead had crawled on shore to lay her eggs. Some internal instinct led them back to the shores where they were born as well... (This later plays a major role in the oil spill damage control)

That night when the loggerhead had finished and went back into the ocean, Alex had followed and followed her into the sea.

Gladdy had sat there watching, waiting for him to come back--until she realized he wasn't coming.. .

It was after that that Gladdy changed and when she married and had two children, she chose to ignore Caroline and Caroline had always wondered why... Caroline and her sister had never really gotten along either, especially with her mother constantly pitting the two against each other. Fortunately, Caroline had her father to support her as much as possible, but sometimes what he said was just as confusing, because he would never explain why he was willing to defend her mother.

Now, Caroline is married to Simon, her childhood friend, with whom she'd been in love since they met as children. But this is her third marriage and Simon's second... And Simon's first wife had been Caroline's sister... A little complicated? You don't know the half of it, as they say... Because.when her mother dies, Caroline finds journals that her mother had kept to herself--from her grandfather, from Alex and from Gladdy.

The truth is slowly coming out, but is it too late? Sometimes families keep secrets, thinking it will protect the family name and the individuals. But when those secrets have changed the lives of those involved? Can finding out the truth ever make it right again?

Zick has done an excellent job spotlighting the safety issues caused, normally, by the "bottom-line emphasis" routinely chosen by corporations. At the same time, she has created a set of characters that come alive, as if you are right there in the midst of the family discussions, or should I say arguments? Can love make it through when family members totally opposes the love between two people? Zick has certainly made the love between her two main characters strong enough. But...

This family tree has so many limbs that there is no way to follow unless you're reading the novel. I highly advise that you do. The drama is superb--intense, unbelievable in ways you least would expect and surprising in how much you may see issues that have occurred in your own family. Highly recommended!

GABixlerReviews

About the Author
P.C. Zick’s career as a writer began in 1998 with the publication of her first column in a local paper. By day, she was a high school English teacher, but at night and on vacations, she began writing novels and working as a freelance journalist. By 2001, she left teaching and began pursuing a full-time gig as a writer. She describes herself as a "storyteller" no matter the genre. Currently, she writes two blogs. Trails in the Sand is her fifth novel and the second one self-published. She published Live from the Road in May 2012. Her blog and her novels contain the elements most dear to her heart, ranging from love to the environment. She believes in living lightly upon this earth with love, laughter, and passion. She resides in Pennsylvania with her husband Robert.

An important song used in novel...provided for your enjoyment.

Walter Ramsay's Tucker Lee Anderson is Back to Stop Corrupt Judge!

Location of Brevard County within the state of Florida (Photo
"Who could have thought, Mitch smiled to himself, that
Tucker Lee Anderson would be the new media sweetheart of Central Florida? Hell, if not the entirestate. Tucker's eye-opening investigative reports into the
growth of local corruption, from past to present, had shocked this quiet, sometimes pretentious community.
"How Tucker came about his information was a heavily
guarded secret--until now. Mitch had planned to let the
secret out; well, at least a little lead of it. The very idea that a prominent figure, a corrupt one at that, had been
brought to his knees because of a dream--yes, a dream--that a small town reporter had had was sure to attract more attention for the paper, as well as, of course, revenue...
The U.S. Globe was one of the biggest gossip magazines
in the United States...but it sold, and sold well..."
credit: Wikipedia)

Coastal Access

By Walter Ramsay


I was excited to get to spend some more time with Tucker Lee Anderson, who I had met in Beneath the Dune (check that review). What? You don't talk about characters as if they were friends? That's a shame because it means that you've never taken the time to really read a book, gotten to know the characters, and allowed them to affect you, with you as an admirer Certainly I have and I appreciate Walter Ramsay's bringing Tucker Lee back to this fan!


Tucker has many surprises coming in Coastal Access. One is that somebody wants him dead! And he has no idea why...

Tucker is living on a docked boat, owned by his boss. He has been well-regarded after his investigative report (in Beneath the Dune) and has moved into more reporting than just sports. He even has a new office! But he still has to deal with his boss being willing to place him into situations that he doesn't want...

Now Mitch had leaked to a local news reporter that he was able to gain information and solve some cases through dreams and knowledge provided by his ancestors. Fortunately, when she finally got to talk with Tucker, he took a direct approach and seriously shared his past, causing her to move from the usual "spooky" story to one that was very well presented. That was important because he was on his way to the investigation and writing of a major media disclosure of a local long-term resident!

And a corrupt project that had already begun, in which he was right in the middle! Not only does he not know he's involved, he also cannot figure out what and why "coastal access" was a goal for Judge Arnold Galley and a consortium of local and other businessmen.

Another dream was what started the questions. His dream had been of a beautiful woman with two children walking along a beach in Central Brevard... And then the boys were gone and the woman was frantic, turning to Tucker begging to know where they were... He wanted to know more!

He'd already been talking to Craig, a life-long friend who was now a detective. Things were getting more confused as a man is killed in the woods and Tucker attempts to search his cabin. Not only are they prevented from this by two guards, but when Tucker tries to sneak back--the cabin is gone!

Then his next door neighbor (on his own boat) is also gone and Craig alerted Tucker that he didn't really exist, that there was no record of the man Tucker called Doug and with whom he had developed a good relationship...

And then his daughter gets in real trouble when her boyfriend leaves her stranded in the same area, when she refuses to make out with him!

Problems, information, misdirection--all coming out, forcing Tucker into reaction mode... But he has help, you will discover, as you read this thrilling page-turner that combines the paranormal with local political criminal corruption that ultimately places Tucker in serious danger...

What a wonderful character and series! Ramsay is a dynamic writer that keeps readers working with his main characters in trying to put pieces of information together, some of which goes back to the time of the Civil War! I certainly enjoyed hating the bad guys and even Tucker's ex-wife to some extent...LOL You'll understand that though... The suspense keeps building, while an alligator (with red eyes) even gets into the act. I loved it! If you haven't met Tucker Lee, I recommend that you start with Beneath the Dune and go right into Coastal Access for a Tucker Lee Anderson marathon...


GABixlerReviews

Walter is a part time resident of the Central Florida coast.  He became enamored with the beauty, culture, and people of this pristine area over 30 years ago, and still can't get enough.  He has vigilantly taken the time to delve into the history of this beautiful coast line and incorporated that background into his writings.

Walter spent much of his earlier years traveling the Florida coast from Saint Augustine to Key West from his father's home in Daytona Beach.When not working on his next novel, Walter enjoys reading as well as outdoor activities that include surfing and jogging.

Walter is married to the former Michele Lee Sperber, and along with his children, they look forward to splitting their time between their homes at the Jersey Shore and Brevard County Florida.

Walter Ramsay's Mystery Sizzles with Suspense and Mystic Revelation!

Image by JelleS via Flickr

"Tucker for the first time, had a clear view
of his great-great-uncle. His long hair
was raven black, his body tanned and
muscular. His face had sharp, distinctive
features. The high cheekbones, slim nose,
and wide, almond-shaped eyes gave him
a unique look. Tucker was astounded to
see his ancestor at such close range.
Osci sat cross-legged with the palms of
his hands resting on his knees. Tucker
was drawn to the opposite site of the fire...
'My nephew, Osci started, 'You are my
chosen one..." (p. 154)

Beneath the Dune


By Walter Ramsay






What a very cool book! I loved the concept, the merge of history and American Indian mysticism and the acquisition of justice, albeit after hundreds of years...



"Oh, there was a time when big things were planned for me. But wow, how things had changed. A budding star on the court and my extended future resting on bigger things to come later on in the newsroom. I had my sights set on being the guy to sign autographs and in my later years be the announcer who says, 'At the buzzer, what a shot to win it all! Your new NSA champions are...!' Damn, ESPN would have loved me." (p. 6)

Losing a planned career in the sports arena can follow you through the rest of your life. For Tucker Lee Anderson, it had resulted in his working sports for a local paper, which was even limited to just community and high school news! "This was my purgatory. High school and recreational sports, no coverage of college or pros. That was our policy." (p. 9)

So Tucker spent a lot of his time cruising, drinking and flirting...and ignoring calls from his ex for child support. It didn't matter that he was living in a trailer and she and the kids were now with their stepfather and living in a million-dollar home...

But readers will see a major change in him when he is asked to cover for another reporter and provide a news story when the remains of a baby were found in the dunes...

His boss and the police thought it was the body of the last victim of a serial killer. It seemed like old news to many of the news agencies, so his boss decided to have Tucker interview Ed Ventara, who was already scheduled for the death penalty. Not only did Ventara assure Tucker that the body was not that of his last victim, but he was found dead in his cell soon after, supposedly from suicide.

Besides by then Tucker knew how and when the baby had been killed...

He had been visited by his ancestor through a series of dreams that had taken him back to around the time of the civil war. His ancestor had fell in love with a white woman who had been married off by her father, thinking he would be providing protection and family for her during the war. The husband had been cruel before he too left for the war. Osci was gentle and wonderful and their love brought forth a child...

But the final ruling announced was that the child was Ventara's final victim and the cold case was officially closed...What Tucker and his connections had determined to be true--that the body was too old to have been Ventara's victim, for instance, was falsified by higher officials. Even his boss, who had been looking for a big story now told Tucker to back off. But Tucker now had a purpose to his life, one that was important to him and his family. All he had to do was figure out how to ensure this cover up not only was not permitted, but that he could fulfill his promise to his ancestors that justice was done!  

Walter Ramsay not only provides a remarkable main character who I hope will be seen in future books, but his addition of important strategic "honest" people in positions where they were able to assist in solving a crime that was being covered up by those high enough to ensure lies were told, provided a much-needed moral to the story that corruption cannot be carried on forever and justice will ultimately be served... Given some of the  stories in today's headlines, I found solace in Ramsay's main characters, knowing that, in the end, justice will indeed prevail... A great whodunit, but even more, a literary historical fiction novel worthy of consideration by all.

Book Received Via

Bostick Communications

GABixlerReviews