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Merrick McKnight Mystery #1
Thunder Beach
A desperate, late-night phone call.
A girl in trouble.
A man with a guilt-haunted heart.
Lightning flashes out over the Gulf. Thunder rolls down Panama City Beach.
Thousands of bikers have descended on the Miracle Strip for one of America’s premiere biker rallies, but a storm is blowing in, its relentless approach pitiless, menacing.
Amid the bikes and beer and bikinis, crimes of unspeakable brutality are being committed—one of which touches too close to home for former reporter Merrick McKnight.
Now, chasing down a vicious killer like the elusive lead of a once-in-a-career type exclusive, Merrick is living the story of his life—and that’s just what it might cost him.
Take a nocturnal tour of Panama City like only a local can give. Experience the endless party, collect the clues, listen to the lies, search for the truth.
Between crashes of thunder, a killer strikes, and a young woman’s life hangs in the balance. Merrick will do anything he can to save her, but will that be enough?
A girl in trouble.
A man with a guilt-haunted heart.
Lightning flashes out over the Gulf. Thunder rolls down Panama City Beach.
Thousands of bikers have descended on the Miracle Strip for one of America’s premiere biker rallies, but a storm is blowing in, its relentless approach pitiless, menacing.
Amid the bikes and beer and bikinis, crimes of unspeakable brutality are being committed—one of which touches too close to home for former reporter Merrick McKnight.
Now, chasing down a vicious killer like the elusive lead of a once-in-a-career type exclusive, Merrick is living the story of his life—and that’s just what it might cost him.
Take a nocturnal tour of Panama City like only a local can give. Experience the endless party, collect the clues, listen to the lies, search for the truth.
Between crashes of thunder, a killer strikes, and a young woman’s life hangs in the balance. Merrick will do anything he can to save her, but will that be enough?
232 pages, Paperback
First published April 19, 2010
About the author
Michael Lister
320 books237 followersNew York Times bestselling and award-winning novelist Michael Lister is a native Floridian best known for his literary suspense thrillers as well as his two ongoing mystery series, the prison chaplain John Jordan "Blood" series and the hard-boiled, 1940s noir Jimmy "Soldier" Riley Series, and the post-apocalypic suspense thriller Cataclysmos.
Visit www.michaellister.com for more information, or follow his youtube channel - Writing and Life at https://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelL...
The Florida Book Review says that "Vintage Michael Lister is poetic prose, exquisitely set scenes, characters who are damaged and faulty" and Michael Koryta says, “If you like crime writing with depth, suspense, and sterling prose, you should be reading Michael Lister," while Publisher's Weekly adds, “Lister’s hard-edged prose ranks with the best of contemporary noir fiction.”
Michael grew up in North Florida near the Gulf of Mexico and the Apalachicola River in a small town world famous for tupelo honey.
Truly a regional writer, North Florida is his beat.
Captivated by story since childhood, Michael has a love for language and narrative inspired by the Southern storytelling tradition that captured his imagination and became such a source of meaning and inspiration. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in theology with an emphasis on myth and narrative.
In the early 90s, Michael became the youngest chaplain within the Florida Department of Corrections. For nearly a decade, he served as a contract, staff, then senior chaplain at three different facilities in the Panhandle of Florida—a unique experience that led to his first novel, 1997’s critically acclaimed, POWER IN THE BLOOD. It was the first in a series of popular and celebrated novels featuring ex-cop turned prison chaplain, John Jordan. Subsequent books in the series include BLOOD OF THE LAMB, FLESH AND BLOOD, THE BODY AND THE BLOOD, BLOOD SACRIFICE, and RIVERS TO BLOOD, and each takes readers through the electronically locked gates of the chain-link fences, beneath the looping razor wire glinting in the sun, and into the strange world of Potter Correctional Institution, Florida’s toughest maximum security prison. Of the John Jordan series, Michael Connelly says “Michael Lister may be the author of the most unique series running in mystery fiction. It crackles with tension and authenticity,” while Julia Spencer-Fleming adds “Michael Lister writes one of the most ambitious and unusual crime fiction series going. See what crime fiction is capable of.”
Michael also writes historical hard-boiled thrillers, such as THE BIG GOODBYE, THE BIG BEYOND, and THE BIG HELLO featuring Jimmy "Soldier" Riley, a PI in Panama City during World War II. Ace Atkins calls the "Soldier" series "tough and violent with snappy dialogue and great atmosphere . . . a suspenseful, romantic and historic ride."
Michael Lister won his first Florida Book Award for his literary novel, DOUBLE EXPOSURE, a book, according to the Panama City News Herald, that “is lyrical and literary, written in a sparse but evocative prose reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy.” It is a contemplation of life and death, art and meaning, set deep in the swamps of the Apalachicola River, a thriller about a wildlife photographer whose camera traps capture a crime, that shows the beauty and danger of the Panhandle paradise.
His second Florida Book Award was for his fifth John Jordan novel BLOOD SACRIFICE.
Visit www.michaellister.com for more information, or follow his youtube channel - Writing and Life at https://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelL...
The Florida Book Review says that "Vintage Michael Lister is poetic prose, exquisitely set scenes, characters who are damaged and faulty" and Michael Koryta says, “If you like crime writing with depth, suspense, and sterling prose, you should be reading Michael Lister," while Publisher's Weekly adds, “Lister’s hard-edged prose ranks with the best of contemporary noir fiction.”
Michael grew up in North Florida near the Gulf of Mexico and the Apalachicola River in a small town world famous for tupelo honey.
Truly a regional writer, North Florida is his beat.
Captivated by story since childhood, Michael has a love for language and narrative inspired by the Southern storytelling tradition that captured his imagination and became such a source of meaning and inspiration. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in theology with an emphasis on myth and narrative.
In the early 90s, Michael became the youngest chaplain within the Florida Department of Corrections. For nearly a decade, he served as a contract, staff, then senior chaplain at three different facilities in the Panhandle of Florida—a unique experience that led to his first novel, 1997’s critically acclaimed, POWER IN THE BLOOD. It was the first in a series of popular and celebrated novels featuring ex-cop turned prison chaplain, John Jordan. Subsequent books in the series include BLOOD OF THE LAMB, FLESH AND BLOOD, THE BODY AND THE BLOOD, BLOOD SACRIFICE, and RIVERS TO BLOOD, and each takes readers through the electronically locked gates of the chain-link fences, beneath the looping razor wire glinting in the sun, and into the strange world of Potter Correctional Institution, Florida’s toughest maximum security prison. Of the John Jordan series, Michael Connelly says “Michael Lister may be the author of the most unique series running in mystery fiction. It crackles with tension and authenticity,” while Julia Spencer-Fleming adds “Michael Lister writes one of the most ambitious and unusual crime fiction series going. See what crime fiction is capable of.”
Michael also writes historical hard-boiled thrillers, such as THE BIG GOODBYE, THE BIG BEYOND, and THE BIG HELLO featuring Jimmy "Soldier" Riley, a PI in Panama City during World War II. Ace Atkins calls the "Soldier" series "tough and violent with snappy dialogue and great atmosphere . . . a suspenseful, romantic and historic ride."
Michael Lister won his first Florida Book Award for his literary novel, DOUBLE EXPOSURE, a book, according to the Panama City News Herald, that “is lyrical and literary, written in a sparse but evocative prose reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy.” It is a contemplation of life and death, art and meaning, set deep in the swamps of the Apalachicola River, a thriller about a wildlife photographer whose camera traps capture a crime, that shows the beauty and danger of the Panhandle paradise.
His second Florida Book Award was for his fifth John Jordan novel BLOOD SACRIFICE.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 26, 2017
Left breathless
A testament to fatherhood in a fast-paced nonstop search for a young girl who has been abducted to be used in the sex trafficking business. How Michael Lister continues to knock them out of the park, only he knows. I've read all of the Int The Blood series and plus the related ones and now I'm just going to have to go check out all the ones I haven't yet read. That's the kind of writer you are. You make me hungry to get everything you've created. Don't stop. More......more.....more!
A testament to fatherhood in a fast-paced nonstop search for a young girl who has been abducted to be used in the sex trafficking business. How Michael Lister continues to knock them out of the park, only he knows. I've read all of the Int The Blood series and plus the related ones and now I'm just going to have to go check out all the ones I haven't yet read. That's the kind of writer you are. You make me hungry to get everything you've created. Don't stop. More......more.....more!
April 20, 2020
Merrick McKnight
I read all the blood series books last fall. This was about Merrick and somehow I missed it. It gives some good background I would have liked to have had then, but didn't need then. He's always been a very interesting character. Have to see if I missed anything else. Great story. Glad I fell into it.
I read all the blood series books last fall. This was about Merrick and somehow I missed it. It gives some good background I would have liked to have had then, but didn't need then. He's always been a very interesting character. Have to see if I missed anything else. Great story. Glad I fell into it.
December 10, 2020
Short But Action Packed
This is a great Lister style book. No pretense just a pore driven plot line action packed all the way through. Well it starts slow and then goes to a rolling boil. This is about the character Merrick not John Jordan. In this book Merrick has a lot of guts. Read it.
This is a great Lister style book. No pretense just a pore driven plot line action packed all the way through. Well it starts slow and then goes to a rolling boil. This is about the character Merrick not John Jordan. In this book Merrick has a lot of guts. Read it.
January 4, 2024
Liked the actual writing, a good style and pace.
Did not like the main character though, at all.
Most readers of "mainstream lit" would, I think like him though, I'll leave it at that cause he is a good author, worth reading but this one just didn't do much for me, yet I don't feel I want my time back or anything.
Did not like the main character though, at all.
Most readers of "mainstream lit" would, I think like him though, I'll leave it at that cause he is a good author, worth reading but this one just didn't do much for me, yet I don't feel I want my time back or anything.
June 29, 2018
Best ever. The usual excellent nail biting story you expect!
Starts slow but accelerates the fever pitch quickly! Fear, heart pounding excitement and years of Jay are all included! Another Luster number one!
Starts slow but accelerates the fever pitch quickly! Fear, heart pounding excitement and years of Jay are all included! Another Luster number one!
July 10, 2021
I bought this book because of it's setting of Panama City Beach, Fl. I enjoyed the author's use of local businesses, bars, parks, etc. that I have visited and am familiar with. The story however, was just average to me.
June 21, 2019
Highly Emotional
Very informative on a subject that needs to be addressed. A very charged and emotional book I will not forget!!
Very informative on a subject that needs to be addressed. A very charged and emotional book I will not forget!!
September 10, 2022
Hero Merrick
Great to read more of Merrick. He has more depth and character in this book than what I noticed in the John Jordan series. An all around good guy.
Great to read more of Merrick. He has more depth and character in this book than what I noticed in the John Jordan series. An all around good guy.
May 31, 2010
Merrick McKnight is a journalist without a job. The woman he is in love with is a stripper and married to someone else. Merrick’s wife and son are dead and Casey and Kevin, his stepchildren, whereabouts are unknown to Merrick.
Thunder Beach is a rally where bikers gather on the Miracle strip in Panama City for a bash held twice a year. Merrick roams the crowd heading for a strip joint where he hopes to see Regan, the stripper he is involved with when he spots a copy of the official events magazine for Thunder Beach. The cover is a picture of Casey, the stepdaughter that has been gone from his life for sometime.
Merrick finds Casey but she is older and independent and tells Merrick that she is doing well but will contact him if she needs him. That call comes much sooner than expected and Merrick finds that Casey’s life is in danger. Merrick begins a desperate search that takes him to alleys and back rooms and reveals a completely different life style than is shown on the surface.
Old contacts and good friends are called to help in the search to find Casey before her time runs out. The suspense is high and the search dangerous but Merrick is determined that no one will keep him from finding Casey. Regan or Raven as she is known on the stage lends her help for a while.
Michael Lister has a unique style to his writing that keeps the reader on edge and turning the pages.
Thunder Beach is a rally where bikers gather on the Miracle strip in Panama City for a bash held twice a year. Merrick roams the crowd heading for a strip joint where he hopes to see Regan, the stripper he is involved with when he spots a copy of the official events magazine for Thunder Beach. The cover is a picture of Casey, the stepdaughter that has been gone from his life for sometime.
Merrick finds Casey but she is older and independent and tells Merrick that she is doing well but will contact him if she needs him. That call comes much sooner than expected and Merrick finds that Casey’s life is in danger. Merrick begins a desperate search that takes him to alleys and back rooms and reveals a completely different life style than is shown on the surface.
Old contacts and good friends are called to help in the search to find Casey before her time runs out. The suspense is high and the search dangerous but Merrick is determined that no one will keep him from finding Casey. Regan or Raven as she is known on the stage lends her help for a while.
Michael Lister has a unique style to his writing that keeps the reader on edge and turning the pages.
November 27, 2014
Thousands of bikers have descended on the Miracle Strip in Panama City for one of America's biker rallies. Amid the bikes, beer and bikinis, crimes of brutality are being committed—one of which touches close to home for reporter Merrick McKnight. Between crashes of thunder, a killer strikes, and a young woman's life hangs in the balance. A surprising interesting book with twists and turns that keep you reading.
December 14, 2012
Former reporter Merrick McKnight is in a one-sided love affair with a stripper when he finds out his estranged stepdaughter is also a stripper, and targeted for kidnapping by sex slavers. Set against the backdrop of the Thunder Beach motorcycle rally in Panama City Beach, Florida, THUNDER BEACH is a great read with a strong emotional pull.
August 25, 2010
I don't recall ever reading a novel before that didn't have chapters. When I first realized there were no chapters in this book, I was a bit nonplussed, but as I continued reading, I realized this added to the immediacy of the story as the protag raced to save the life of a loved one.
July 12, 2015
Thunder beach is for sure one you need to read it is very out there I guess you could say it's another one that will keep you on your toes. It is set more in the town instead of in a prison setting . It is sill a mystery suspense type but instead it is set more in a rural area
May 7, 2014
Fellow local author who is excellent. Have read all of his books and each one is quite different but each overwhelmingly good.
May 1, 2017
Although I categorized this book as "read," I never finished it. In fact, I couldn't get past the first few chapters. I started this book on the recommendation of the author in the Jordan Jordan series, to get to know a character he was going to introduce in Book 12 of that series. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the plot (which, I'm sure was pretty good if his John Jordan series is any indication) because the editing and formatting was so poor. I'm a stickler for grammar and good editing, and this book not only had major flaws such as switching between past and present tense, but it also did not use quotation marks for dialogue. Instead, there were dashes to start the dialogue! I had difficulty understanding who was talking, and when dialogue ended and narrative began. The frustration was so intense, I couldn't enjoy reading...so I didn't finish the book.
If Michael Lister could get someone to edit the book and format it properly, I'd be willing to give this story another try.
If Michael Lister could get someone to edit the book and format it properly, I'd be willing to give this story another try.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews