Dentophobia—the fear of going to the dentist. Studies indicate that as many as one in five people suffer from the malady. Because sufferers experience anything from slight anxiety to full-blown panic attacks, many forgo their dental care rather than visit their dentist. The phobia is irrational, as most are. After all, there’s nothing sinister about…
Aryan Art? A bizarre lawsuit has been filed against the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. The New York Post reports that 33-year-old Justin Renel Joseph is suing The Met for their “offensive aesthetic whitewashing” in several paintings depicting Jesus Christ as pale-skinned with blond hair. Joseph claims that this “Aryan” Jesus caused him “personal…
Mr. Smith Goes to Prison is a memoir by Jeff Smith about how a senator from Missouri ended up behind bars for one year, and what it taught him about America's prison crisis (available September 1, 2015). In 2009, Smith lied to the Feds about seemingly minor campaign malfeasance and earned himself a year and…
Believe No One by A. D. Garrett is the second thriller to feature DCI Kate Simms who finds herself on sabbatical in St. Louis where trouble seems to follow her (available July 21, 2015). Detective Chief Inspector Kate Simms is in the United States on sabbatical with St. Louis PD. She is working with a…
Mean Business on North Ganson Street is the story of a black police detective exiled from the sunny southwest to a decaying, crime-ridden town in the rust belt, which also has a cop killer on the loose (available September 30, 2014). From the cinematic first sentence of the first paragraph of the first page of…
Bad Bones by Linda Ladd is the sixth Missouri-based mystery featuring homicide detective Claire Morgan where a frozen and broken corpse is found in a state park (available September 29, 2014). A nasty ice storm covers Missouri, and Canton County Homicide Detective Claire Morgan and her partner are stuck directing the slip-and-slide traffic when they…
A Swollen Red Sun by Matthew McBride is a southern noir thriller where dirty cops cross paths with drug dealers in a Missouri town once dubbed the Meth Capital of the World (available June 17, 2014). Matthew McBride's A Swollen Red Sun is a disturbing and heartfelt piece of country noir, equal parts Donald Ray…
Every Hidden Fear by Linda Rodriguez is the third mystery in the Skeet Bannion series about the Missouri campus police officer who must prove her son's friend didn't commit murder, even though her boss is quick to believe he did (available May 6, 2014). In Every Hidden Fear, the third outing for Skeet Bannion, Linda…
RedDevil 4 by Eric C. Leuthardt is a futuristic thriller about a neurosurgeon brought to assist police with a series of horrifying murders in 2053's St. Louis (available February 4, 2014). Dr. Eric Leuthardt’s debut novel, RedDevil 4, is described as a medico-techno-thiller. It might be described also as speculative fiction, since this neurosurgeon and…
