Mike Pace

Tom Booker is in a hurry to pick up his daughter from her mother’s. Not only has he promised to take her to the Air and Space Museum, but if he doesn’t show up reasonably soon, he will catch seven kinds of grief from his ex-wife.
As he is crossing Memorial Bridge, he is texting his ex-wife. His car drifts into on-coming traffic and as it crashes into a mini-van, he realizes that his daughter, three of her friends, and his ex-sister-in-law are the van’s occupants. When he awakens, the show more crash site has frozen in time. A young, yuppie couple approach Tom to make a deal. They will rewind time and let his daughter live, but he must agree to provide five souls, one every two weeks, in exchange for the van’s occupants to live.
Tom quickly agrees, not fully understanding what he has committed to do. When he awakes again, he feels what happened was a hallucination. Only when his ex-sister-in-law is brutally murdered does he realize what he has done. He isn’t a killer and doesn’t even know how to go about planning a murder, much less four more.
Tom’s moral quagmire is at the heart of this fast-paced, absorbing novel. I was on the edge of my seat from the opening scene to the last page. Author Pace could have gotten away with having only four occupants in the as by the time the fourth soul was delivered to Satan’s representatives, Tom’s quandaries were starting to get a bit predictable. Some nice twists at the end involving a priest made for a satisfying ending.
I do have two things to criticize. First is the cover. The dust jacket gives the appearance that the book is to a legal thriller, but that’s far from the case. If I had seen the book in a bookstore, I probably would have passed. Yeah, I judge a book by its cover. Second is the genre. The dust jacket is lists the genre as thriller but it’s more paranormal suspense or supernatural than thriller.
Still, One to Go was a heart-stopping read, that I would give six out of five star, if I could. Highly recommend it. show less

First-time novelist Mike Pace has turned in a high stakes horror thriller about a demonic light that begins terrorizing the inhabitants of a small southern Maryland town.

Cumberton, Maryland, is one of those quiet little college towns where nothing of any importance ever really happens. Sure, the local college kids might cause a few problems every now and then, but these kids attend Starr College, the flagship college of the Reverend Starr, a world-class televangelist, who virtually runs the show more town. In DEAD LIGHT, problems begin when an ancient box containing, well, some kind of demonic MacGuffin that manifests as a light and can bring about the end of the world, is accidentally exhumed by some horny college students at the local cemetery (is it ever a good idea to have sex in a cemetery?). What follows is a rash of suicides among college students, and very public, very messy ones at that. The local sheriff, Eston Booker, is under a lot of pressure to white-wash the whole affair, since it seems to reflect poorly on the college and Reverend Starr himself.

Booker quickly realizes there’s a lot more going on than just a couple of despondent college students. He’s assisted in his investigation by a tough-as-nails female detective from Baltimore named Tucchi, who is ordered to take a vacation and try (unsuccessfully, as it turns out) to relax. The pair certainly end up biting off more than they can chew when they’re forced to battle demons and stop what seems to be the imminent end of the world at the hands of Satan.

There are some flashback chapters set on a slave ship as it travels to America and in an early American colony that provide some of necessary backstory for DEAD LIGHT. On the one hand, these provided some needed depth and an understanding of what was actually going on in the novel. On the other, I was skeptical of a satanic cult operating opening in the 1660s and the flashbacks themselves were a bit spread out in the narrative, so they sometimes became either jarring or too much of a tease.

Some of the elements of DEAD LIGHT just didn’t work for me, and seemed slightly humorous and out of place. For example, the demonic light also manifests itself with the scent of burnt cookies or figs, and is accompanied with a sensation like a mosquito bite on the back of the neck. Seems kind of silly to me. Also, I thought that the demons that eventually appear also lack a genuine sense of menace. I’d have liked to see more genuinely scary touches.

DEAD LIGHT was a quick-moving pageturner. It’s a thrill ride, and a fun one at that. It’s not a classic of horror fiction, and it’s certainly not going to change the way you view the genre, but it’s a fun book. Sometimes that’s exactly what you’re looking for, especially if you need to load up your Kindle before you head to the beach. If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller that doesn’t require a great deal of concentration, then DEAD LIGHT may be just what you’re looking for.

Review copyright © 2013 J. Andrew Byers show less

A book so good- so funny, original and with just the perfect combination of faith, horror, murder and more! So much more!
Mike Pace sent this book to me as part of a drawing - I remember winning it but I don't remember who hosted it. Regardless, I'm grateful I won because this book was mind-warping!
(Original book cover, modified by me for blog.)

One to Go is about some seriously bad luck! Tom's a smart guy. Book smart. Many of us know, you can have all the book smarts in the world but if you show more carry no common sense, you're going to have some trouble. Tom knows the law- he works for the law, but he doesn't follow the rules, especially when he's drinking and driving. And texting and driving... which is what gets him into the situation this book finds him. He's caused an accident that gets his sister-in-law, nieces, friends and his own daughter killed. Yes, KILLED! But a strange couple, who can change all that, offer up a deal.

Tom is given a second chance, to save his little girl, her friends and cousins and even his sister-in-law, but at a price so great, it places him in constant jeopardy! Dangers where his own life is risked to save theirs! He's a hot mess the entire story, from the very beginning but it's such a train wreck, you can't help but keep reading! You don' know whether to cheer for Tom and his ignorance or for the ones who are pushing him over the edge - but you cheer nonetheless,

This book was a huge breath of fresh air. It was different, original and a push that kept me reading. It's not a huge book, but with my hectic scheduling, I probably could have finished this in two days. It took me a little over three. I enjoyed it so much- I'd probably reread this one. I'm so happy I own it. You should check it out too. You'll be slapping your forehead, running the palm of your hand down your face and kicking at the air, envisioning Tom's butt before you- kinda good. Ha! Read it while I move on! 📚
Ratings: 👓👓👓👓👓 out of 5 specs
*Before the Fall is next.
**Novel won in a giveaway.
For the full Review: http://bit.ly/OnetoGoNovel show less

An ancient evil is being unleased on a small quiet college town of Cumberton, MD all because an old cemetery needs to be moved to build a new dormitory. When 2 students venture to the cemetery for something more than studying, one falls into an open grave. There they discover an old box and decide to open it thinking maybe treasure, but when they open it they see a flash of light and then nothing. What they have done is unleashed Lucifer's light and later that evening the suicide's begin show more because it's hungry for souls.

Anna Tucci is a Baltimore Homicide detective who is ordered to Cumberton for some R & R and a need to get her anger under control. While on a fishing boat they reel in the first victim and Tucci partners up with Sheriff Estin Booker to investigate.

This is not a book that you can put down. It grabs you from the first page and keeps you til the last with plenty of twist and turns. I have to admit that towards the end I was yelling at the characters and sitting on the edge of my seat. That is the mark of a really good book. I received this book from the author through LibraryThing for an honest review and I honestly loved this book. I highly recommend it and hope to read more by Mike Pace. show less