Featured Author: Reb MacRath

Diane Rapp:  I originally connected with Reb after reviewing his book Nobility (Fast and the Furies Suspense Book 2).  I was astounded by his writing abilities and compared his work to O'Henry in my review.  Since that first exposure, I continue to be delighted by his characters and descriptions.  The stories are imaginative, filled with facts, startling discoveries, and often pack a punch.  

Reb MacRath: Born in Buffalo and educated at the NY State University College at Buffalo, I lived in Canada for ten years. There, I worked as a freelance writer, with a syndicated column, before returning to the States.  My first novel, The Suiting, was the first of four novels published under the name Kelley Wilde. It won a Stoker Award for Best First Novel and was optioned for film. But I retired from horror in 1993 after my fourth novel, Angel Kiss.  And I set out to learn to write the books that I like best to read: mystery and suspense. The nine books I've published on Amazon reflect my commitment to these new writing goals:  to thrill, delight, astonish, move and inspire.

Diane Rapp:  On this blog, Reb chose to feature one book from each of his groups: horror, mystery and romantic suspense.  I enjoy the antics of the character Boss MacTavin, who is not an ordinary hero but really fun to read. As Boss fights the bad guys, I found myself humming the Jimmy Croce tune "Big, Bad, Leroy Brown" but inserted Boss into the refrain.  (Note: sex, blood, and violence are part of these stories.) Charlotte Kills

http://tinyurl.com/pwb4k6f

The third Boss MacTavin mystery is a standalone title that takes the rugged Southern Scot on his most dangerous Correction. To pay back a marker to a San Francisco don, Boss accepts an assignment in Charlotte: verify that a death was really accidental. But the assignment proves to be far more than the do-nothing task Boss expected. And he finds himself trapped in dangerous web involving east and west coast mobs, a smoking hot widow with no time for tears, and a gang of crooked cops. 

Diane Rapp: When Reb writes about trains, you hear the wheels clack on the tracks, smell the steam, and feel the rumble under your feet.  This story takes readers on a ride through time.

Red Champagne

http://tinyurl.com/o3c5vw6

Time travel, magic, mystery and murder combine in a short tale of romantic suspense set aboard the world's greatest train--The Twentieth Century Limited--on Christmas Eve, 1938. And it all begins when a retired thief cracks a safe to save a child...in the presence of the cop who's tried to catch him for years.
Monster Time

http://tinyurl.com/qc4ek32

Halley's Comet, when insulted, shows how spiteful a comet can be in 1986. The California Zephyr is sent scream-rolling back in time. As the train runs out of track, passengers frantically jump for their lives...learning that they've landed in 1906 San Francisco. One by one, those who fail to blend in end up in cells on Alcatraz. Unknown to San Franciscans, though, something far more frightening than the 'strangers' has hit town. The train has also brought a new kind of monster: as handsome as the Sundance Kid, but half vampire and half hyena. His name is Austin Blacke...and he is powerfully hungry for the blood of his own day. MonsterTime is the second re-release of the four novels written as Kelley Wilde from 1988-1993.  Formerly called Mastery, it has been extensively rewritten and edited. 

More Links:

Amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/octpn2u

Blogs:
Southern Scotch:  http://rebmacrath.blogspot.com

The Seattle Kid:  http://theseattlekid.blogspot.com/