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Chester D. Campbell

Author of Secret of the Scroll

11 Works 233 Members 8 Reviews 1 Favorited

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The man known to others as Bryce Scott isn’t thrilled about taking the “Lovely Lane Sliver Shadows” bus trip to New Orleans. The possibility of a hurricane that is currently in the West Indies arriving at New Orleans isn’t what concerns him. Not only is he doing to be forced to spend time with other people from a local area church and talk to them, he is going to be forced into dealing with the very real possibility his cover has been blown.

While it is October 1999 and years since he testified, the mob never forgets. The mob in this case is the Vicario crime family. Their capo, Boots Minelli, is in town. The only reason Bryce Scott has a chance to do anything is Boots Minelli has had a very public heart attack and is incapacitated. What he told the others is secondary to the very real major question Bryce faces---what does he do now to stay alive?

As a hurricane gains strength and leads towards New Orleans, Bryce Scott takes the bus trip and makes plans to deal with ending the chase once for all. It has been a long time since he faced the Germans in World War II, but he isn’t going down without a fight. How to do it without involving innocent passengers is just one of a growing list of problems he faces as the miles pass.

This is an interesting mystery thriller style read that contains a few surprises. While it has less humor in it than the Greg McKenzie Mysteries do, there are the occasional small bits of humor. All and all, Hellbound by Chester Campbell is a good read that keeps the reader turning the pages to see how Bryce will deal with the killers after him as well as some of his fellow bus passengers. Some of them just might be as bad as the killers.

Hellbound
Chester Campbell
http://www.chestercampbell.com
Night Shadows Press
http://nightshadowspress.net/
February 2015
ISBN# 978-0986162206
Print (e-book also available)
232 Pages
$15.00

E-book version supplied by the author in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
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kevinrtipple | May 3, 2015 |
I'm not normally a big thriller fan, and if I do read them I only finish if the body count is kept to a reasonable number.

Thankfully, Chester Campbell can write an outstanding thriller without needing 40 or more people dead most by spray shooting of sub-machine guns.

I also worried a little about the theme since it seems very close to all the "copy cat" things that followed the phenomenal success of "The DaVinci Code". Even though the book came out before DaVinci there were some similarities and I wondered if I would enjoy the book.

No worries. This is nothing like the 24-hour settings of Dan Brown's books and there is plenty of time for character development in this one.

Retired Air Force OSI officer Greg MacKenzie and his wife are on the last leg of their trip through The Holy Land when a street vendor convinces Greg to purchase a "dead sea" scroll copy. Only when he is home does he realize that he has been made a pawn in getting a priceless artifact out of the country. What follows is a tense game of hide 'n seek, with Greg hiding the artifact and with several very nasty groups of people trying to make him give it back.

I enjoyed this (and send a special "Thank You" to Chester Campbell for selecting me in his drawing for a free copy of one of his books). Now, I have to get others in the series to see what happens to Greg and Jill in the future.
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bookswoman | 1 other review | Jul 6, 2013 |
The Good, The Bad and The Murderous: A Sid Chance Thriller is the second book in the series that began with The Surest Poison. As such, while this novel could be read as a stand-alone, there are the occasional references to the earlier book in the series. It is recommended that you read that book prior to this one.

Djuan Burden has been arrested for murder by the Metro Nashville Police Department. It isn’t the first time this has happened and once again his Granny does not think he did it. While Jasmine LeMieux has arranged for defense counsel, she wants Sid’s professional assistance as a private investigator. She also pledges to volunteer her help and is not about to take no for an answer. While Sid doesn’t want the case, he agrees to look into things a little bit and listen to what the grandmother says.

It isn’t long before he is fully involved and not just because he owes powerful business woman Jasmine LeMieux. She has problems of her own and she better start taking them very seriously. As both situations escalate proving the truth of the matters becomes harder and harder.

Readers familiar with author Chester Campbell’s work are sure to like this one. In both the Greg McKenzie Mysteries series and this series, the characters are real, the clues are few, and the suspects are many. Plenty of action and adventure abound with nothing reaching ridiculous levels that would throw readers out of the read. Book two of this series, The Good, The Bad and The Murderous: A Sid Chance Mystery is a tighter faster read than the first and a better book in my opinion.

The Good, The Bad and The Murderous: A Sid Chance Mystery
Chester Campbell
http://www.chesterdcampbell.com/
Night Shadows Press
http://www.nightshadowspress.net
November 2011
ISBN# 978-0984604449
Paperback (also available as an e-book)
264 Pages
$15.00

Material was picked up during the author’s recent free e-book promotion for my use in an objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2013
Mind Slices and Carpathian Shadows, Volume II
Book Reviews and More http://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/
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kevinrtipple | Mar 30, 2013 |
Although there are at least 3 nasty murders and some tricky situations for husband and wife team Greg and Jill, I found THE MARATHON MAN a fairly light read.
I have mentally put it into the category of geezer lit which means that is you are under about 60 you may not want to read it. Check out other geezer lit authors such as Mike Befeler.
Greg and Jill, in their 60s, have been married for 40 years, and have only been working as private investigators since Greg's retirement. This is apparently their 4th adventure.… (more)
 
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smik | 1 other review | Mar 9, 2010 |

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Works
11
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Rating
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Reviews
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