Title: Forever
Doomed
Author: MaryAnn Kempher
Genre: Mystery
It's not wise to wander the cruise ship
Forever alone at night. You might not live to see daylight.
Detective Jack Harney agrees to do an old
Army buddy a favor. Curt Noble had some personal business to attend to, he
didn’t say what. What he did say was he needed someone to temporarily take over
his duties as head of security on the struggling cruise ship Forever. Jack
hesitates, but he owes Curt his life so agrees. He’s told the worst mischief he
can expect to encounter will be the occasional shoplifter, or drunk. Instead,
one week into the cruise, a beautiful red head and a member of the crew are
ruthlessly murdered. Are the two murders connected? It’s up to Jack to find
out. He must find the killer before the ship returns to Tampa’s port, or worse,
before another dead body is found. This won't be easy. The ship is old, it's
security systems outdated, and clues are few, or so it seems at first
It’s not just a sense of obligation that
motivates Jack to agree to Curt's request; Jack moved thousands of miles,
started over, and still can't get Amy O'Brian out of his heart or mind. When
she shows up on the ship, as part of a large wedding party, Jack must fight to
stay focused. To make matters worse, Amy isn't his only distraction; a sexy and
mysterious woman has made it her mission to seduce Jack.
As the body count rises, and time slips
away, Jack has to ask himself, “Did someone commit the perfect crime?”
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H0OFCDY
Excerpt:
The man had to pull hard on the back entrance/exit to the kitchen that
led directly outside. Though he worked out and was strong, the door tended to
stick. That night was no different. With one good yank, it opened. He entered
cautiously, looking around to ensure the room was empty. Technically, he wasn’t
supposed to be in the cafeteria at that late hour, but with the costume ball
going on, and the room finally empty, he had to take a chance.
Time was running out; the ship had been at sea a week and there had been
only a few opportunities to be alone in the kitchen. There was always someone
there, even after hours, but that night everyone was gone, working the party.
Even the pastry chef, who could usually be found in the kitchen at all hours of
the night preparing cakes and pies, especially with the baked goods competition
about to begin, was absent. The lights flickered. Damn thunderstorm. He opened a refrigeration unit, took out things
for a sandwich, and walked over to the pantry door with plans to pull out a
container that was inside. He was startled to see Matt Smith enter the kitchen.
“What are you doing in here?” asked Matt.
The man felt like a prize fool for what happened next, because it didn’t
have to happen. If he hadn’t been surprised by Matt’s entrance, he would have
thought of a perfectly plausible excuse. But he panicked and without thinking,
grabbed the rolling pin off the counter and swung it at Matt’s head. It
happened so fast, he didn’t even realize he’d done it until he heard the gasp
come from the direction of the door that led to the cafeteria. Someone was at
the kitchen door’s window.
He ran to the door in time to see a woman rushing from the cafeteria. He
went back to Matt and felt for a pulse. Damn
damn damn! He’d have to take care of this on his own and he needed to be
quick. He went to the outside door, looked out, and when he saw that nobody was
there, easily picked up Matt’s body, took it outside, and tossed it overboard.
He leaned against the closed kitchen door,
breathing heavy, his heart beating fast. After a minute, he straightened up,
smoothed his shirt, and went back into the kitchen. He walked over to the swinging
door and peered out the window. The
seating area was empty, the woman long gone.
Review:
Well,
I’m usually not a huge fan of murder mystery books, but I’ve gotta admit… I really
enjoyed this one. I felt like it was
very clever of author MaryAnn Kempher to not only introduce the murder events
fairly quickly into the story, but she also allowed the details to unfold
through the perspective of several different characters, which had me engaged
in the mystery right from the start.
The
story was very fast paced and had wonderful flow… the characters, although
completely different in backgrounds and personality blended well together and had
great depth and development. I loved the
fact that the story wasn’t just a crime mystery, but also included elements of
romance and several witty moments of comedy.
I have to say that my favorite character… wasn’t one of the main
characters, but one of the minor side individuals by the name of Chef Philippe,
the pastry chef on the cruise ship… I swear, with the description of the crazy “Doc
Brown” from the “Back to the Future” movies and constantly yelling out “Saboteurs!”
every time his character was included in a particular dialogue, just had me giggling
my ass off! In addition to crazy Chef
Philippe, we also have “Bridezilla”, jump-outta-the cake stripper gram, a
couple of pastry loving, “Golden Girl” chef groupies, the equivalent of “Bill
& Ted” on the security team having an excellent adventure and catty
ex-girlfriends all rounded out the cast of side characters… Now that’s entertainment!
Even
though this is actually a sequel to another book written by MaryAnn Kempher, it
can certainly be read as a stand-alone.
I hadn’t read the first book and had no trouble following along with
this one. All in all, this was an
enjoyable and very entertaining read that brought so many different facets of
genres but all woven together in an wonderful story. Great job Miss Kempher!
3.5 Stars ~Kathy
Author Bio
MaryAnn Kempher loves to write mystery with a dash of
romance. She spent her teen years spent living in Reno NV where her first book,
Mocha, Moonlight, and Murder is set. The setting for her second book, Forever
Doomed, was inspired by her love of the ocean. Her writing influences include
favorite authors Agatha Christie, Jane Austen and Janet Evanovich. Her guilty
pleasures include any and all sweets, including a good cup of Mocha. She is
married with two children.
or her website: mkempher.com
Purchase MaryAnn’s books here:
http://BarnesandNoble.com
http://amazon.co.uk
http://amazon.ca
If you purchase Forever Doomed in paperback for under
$11, you can get the Kindle version for just 99 cents.
