Warning
Signs by award winning author Jan Christensen is made up of three short
stories that were previously published in print and online markets. This collection
is a bit less than 19, 000 words and each story is a good one. Each story has a
small intro, a brief explanation of how the story came about, and details on
where the piece first appeared.
The book opens with the longest story “Warning Signs.” Rhoda isn’t happy with her ex-husband Hank for a lot of reasons. For one thing he isn’t paying his child support for their daughter Tiffany. To draw attention to the problem, Rhoda had a bright idea to put up a few wanted posters with Hank’s picture prominently displayed along a local highway. He owes fourteen thousand in back child support and with Tiffany in kindergarten and other issues, Rhoda is desperate.
The book opens with the longest story “Warning Signs.” Rhoda isn’t happy with her ex-husband Hank for a lot of reasons. For one thing he isn’t paying his child support for their daughter Tiffany. To draw attention to the problem, Rhoda had a bright idea to put up a few wanted posters with Hank’s picture prominently displayed along a local highway. He owes fourteen thousand in back child support and with Tiffany in kindergarten and other issues, Rhoda is desperate.
Somebody put up a “For Sale” sign in her front yard and
Rhoda is sure Hank did it. She decides to retaliate by placing “garage sale”
signs in his new more expensive neighborhood so that Hank and his new wife
Melanie can get a dose of their own medicine. It is going to be a busy Saturday
for Hank and his wife and serves them right.
The war takes a new turn that Sunday morning when
she comes outside to find her ex dead beside her car with the apparent murder
weapon, one of her old iron skillets, on the ground next to him. Rhoda takes
the skillet, washes it, and puts it away where it belongs in her kitchen before
calling 911. Rhoda soon learns she wasn’t the only one angry at Hank and
possibly wanted him dead.
28 year old Connie is not divorced yet but the
divorce is coming in “Overkill.” She
is supposed to meet with her divorce attorney, Jerry, but one thing after
another happens delaying her arrival at his office. When she finally does get
there she finds him apparently dead at his desk. The murder weapon still
embedded deep in his chest.
Soon named as a suspect and arrested, Connie has no
choice but to take help anywhere she can get it to clear her name. That
includes her soon to be ex-husband Howard who has more on his mind then
clearing her name.
The final story titled “Quack” involves a
kidnapping. Awhile back Josie defended a
guy, Harley Summers, who shot up a local coffeehouse. Fortunately he didn’t hit
anyone but he still ended up serving jail time.
He is now out supposedly none too happy about having had to serve jail
time. That makes him the obvious suspect
when Josie disappears and her aunt Reba is told that the ransom is 50K. The police can’t be involved and fortunately
Reba is not only also a lawyer, but a resourceful woman who has people she can
trust.
Coming in a bit less than 1900 words this small short
story collection is a fun and fast read full of mystery and double dealing with
the occasional flash of humor. These three stories feature women who can handle
their business and deal with whatever comes their way. Feisty and independent,
the heroines don’t wait to be rescued but take action on their own to get the
job done. Violence is kept at a minimum in these three stories as are the body
counts and descriptions of the death scenes. Instead, the focus in Warning
Signs is more on the psychology of people and their relationships and
how folks may interact in ways that are not revealed until the aftermath of a
murder.
The award winning author has publicly stated Warning
Signs is the first of a collection series with more around various themes
planned in the future.
Warning Signs (Warning Signs #1)
Jan
Christensen
April
2012
Amazon
Identifier-- B007ROBUOC
E-Book
$0.99
Material supplied by the author in exchange for my
objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2012
1 comment:
Got my copy and can't wait to read these stories. I'm a big fan of Jan's.
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