Readers Review DEAD of KNIGHT-A Jack Staal Mystery and post to Amazon.com
Dead of Knight' a thrilling mystery,
By E. Chan (
Not this book. William Potter crafts his novel in a way that keeps the
reader flipping the pages, eager for the next plot twist. The viewpoint
of the narrator switches often between the "good guy" and the "bad guy"
but it delves into the minds of both characters flawlessly. I have to
give extra credit to Mr. Potter for creating a rather brilliant
antagonist, a.k.a. "Birthday Boy"; readers can both sympathize with him
and understand how he has come to be who he is.
Furthermore, the ending to the novel wrapped up a superbly written
storyline. I already can't wait for the next installment in the Jack
Staal series. Well done, Mr. Potter. I am your fan.
The best mystery I've read in a long time.
By Lonna H. (
I have always been a huge fan of mystery books, but this one I couldn't
put down. The plot twists will have the reader guessing what is going
to happen next. I highly recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a
great mystery.
By Mick (
Next you follow the detectives and police trying to figure out who
committed the heinous murders. The killer is nicknamed "Birthday Boy"
since he is murdering people on their birthdays. Each murder has a
signature that it is the same killer. A sickening signature that you
will have to read the book to find out as I don't want to spoil it.
The media is on the backs of the cops and detectives to find the serial
killer. The cops and detectives start to get a lead to the killer….
If you like mystery thrillers you will love Dead of Night- a Jack Staal Mystery by William R. Potter.
By Cassie Mae
Next you are taken back to "Tyro" and how he feels after he has
committed these murders. He is very frustrated with the world and feels
safe living in his mother's basement. "Tyro" who later changes his name
and becomes "Damian Knight" feels as if he is doing good in the world
as he thinks of himself as a Soldier of Justice.
Back and forth you will read faster and faster as the mystery unfolds.
I highly recommend this book if you love mystery books about revenge or if you want a really good book to read.
Get Ready to Love this Mystery,
Louise Kennedy (
G. Reba (
In "Dead of
Knight", author William Potter takes you into a world of his creation
not so different than our own. The characters are realistic and
believable in both traits and tendencies. Is it so hard to imagine a
killer that chooses people the way the "Birthday Boy" does? In today's
world....not really. People commit heinous crimes for many different
reasons, but figuring out the why is not nearly as important as
discovering the who.
Take a step out of your comfort zone and see if you can solve this
riveting mystery before Detective Jack Staal does. No matter what your
literary preferences, this is one mystery written for all. A page
turner through and through, highly recommended for anyone that enjoys a
great "who-done-it" story with some twists along the way....
Dead of Knight is a Jack Staal mystery. Jack is a detective in a fictitious town located in
Jack not one to give up, begins a cat and mouse chase of “The Birthday Boy.” How will this cat and mouse game end? You will have to read the book and find out for yourself. It is full of egos, distrust, and the dogged determination of one detective to find the serial murderer running loose and staying one-step ahead of the IHIT unit.
Dead of Knight is a gripping novel that could be taken out of cases that have been in papers about the failings of not comparing notes and not listening to experienced officers that have been reported. This novel is a work of fiction that could be a slice of real life. Let’s hope that it never comes to be reality.
Told from two perspectives, that of the cat, and the mouse, but who is who? Is the detective chasing the murderer, or is the murderer chasing the detective in Dead of Knight? Only by reading the book will you find out who is the ultimate winner in the chase.
by RJ Medak for AllbooksReviews.com
Xlibris (2008)
ISBN 9781436312530
Reviewed by for Reader Views (7/08)
“Lighting the Dark Side” contains a collection of six refreshingly different short stories. Each one is very unique and cannot be compared to the others. I really enjoyed reading the stories. They are about human nature and how we deal with hardships. Sometimes we overcome them, sometimes we obliterate them and sometimes we just make adjustments in ourselves to live with them.
What I discovered really interesting is that in almost every story, I found aspects of myself in the characters. This allowed me to feel like I could relate to what they had going on inside themselves. Some of these aspects ranged from a desire for vigilantism in situations with no other way out; a desire to help others by going way beyond what is expected; and that need to ask myself why I allow things to happen when I know the outcome ahead of time. Kind of like, why did I do that again? The examples in the stories are so much more interesting than any story that I have possibly lived.
Each short story or novella is very complete within itself, however, I found myself wishing that the stories would go on longer. I wasn’t ready to leave the lives of these interesting characters. This is what made the book even more fun because I found myself thinking about the stories later on, wondering what happened to people that never even existed. The characters are very well developed and intricately woven into their plots that they seem very real. Their humanity is expressed through their shortcomings, and their need to change their situations.
This book, “Lighting the Dark Side,” by William R. Potter, will definitely be enjoyed by all fans of fiction. I think that it would make an excellent selection for a reader’s group or for a college course. I would love to hear the interesting discussions that will be held about these stories.
Genre: Fiction/Short Stories
Title: LIGHTING THE DARK SIDE (Six Modern Tales)
Author: WILLIAM R. POTTER
The book jacket claims these tales will exercise our emotions, capture our imagination, and challenge us to think in new directions. Well, I’m here to tell you all that the author delivers on all that plus much, much more! These novellas and short stories are definitely page-turners, but what impressed me the most was their character-driven force. Potter skillfully intertwined succinct narrative and some natural, fast-paced dialogue to present characters so real, they leapt right off the page and captivated me immediately.
Lighting the Dark Side is a collection of three novellas and three short stories, including plenty of action, thrills, suspense, mystery, and even romance. We start with an engaging story of an improbable romance between an obsessive-compulsive geek and a drop-dead gorgeous woman, seemed doomed from the start. Next, there’s an artist trying his best to thrive and find love in spite of overbearing, cruel parents. Following that, Potter changes directions and we’re treated to a well-done, hard-boiled police procedural with a nice twist. An end of the world by approaching comet thriller is on tap after that, with some great flash-forward writing as well as another ingenious plot twist. Now, these are all wonderful tales, but I believe Potter saved the best two for last. The title, Blessing or Curse is self-explanatory, referring to a big lottery win. A kidnapping for ransom follows and we’re treated to some of the author’s best dialogue. It’s hugely entertaining and there are virtually no wasted words Elmore Leonard style. And finally, Potter ends (all too soon) with a heart-warming tale of a wayward teenage street whore and a gentleman with a rescuer complex. It’s a great, intertwined plot where all the characters come together, in the same spirit of the Academy Award winning movie, Crash. Once again, Potter showcases his writing skills, this time with skillful interspersing of critical backstory in such a way as to avoid slowing the plot.
Well, you’ve probably guessed that I am highly recommending Lighting the Dark Side. As I said, all the stories are captivating but more than that, I urge you to take note of the writer’s skill at character development and I’m sure you’ll be impressed. In fact, I shouldn’t think it’d be long before a major publishing house snaps Mr. Potter up because he belongs on the bookshelves with the likes of Jeffery Deaver and Peter Abrahams.
Highly recommended by reviewer: Jan Evan Whitford, Allbooks Reviews
Published by: Xlibris Books. ©2008
ISBN: 978-1-4363-1253-0 Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4363-1254-7 Hard cover
257 pages
June 2008
William R. Potter
Xlibris (2008)
ISBN 9781436312530
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (9/08)
“Lighting the Dark Side: Six Modern Tales” consists of six short stories, all of which are very different and unique, spanning the full gamut of fictional genres. The six short stories included in the book are: “Bent, Not Broken,” “In the Gray,” “Prominent Couple Slain,” “May 18, 2010,” “Blessing or Curse?,” and “Surviving the Fall.” After reading all three of the novellas and all three of the shorter works, I can honestly say that I enjoyed each and every one of them.
My
favorite novella in the book was the very first one, “Bent, Not
Broken.” It is about a man named Dwayne Johnson who is plagued by
severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We watch Dwayne struggle
as what are normal day to day activities for most of us are much more
challenging for him. His anxieties are compounded by the fact that his
co-workers gang up on him by moving things in his cubicle that he needs
to have just so. You can’t help but to feel for the poor guy. Dwayne
meets a girl and falls in love with her, but his many issues will be
the cause of much strain and difficulty in the relationship.
It is in this first novella that the meaning of the title of the book,
“Lighting the Dark Side,” is revealed as well. Dwayne’s girlfriend
Dee-Dee is in a mud bath reflecting and meditating. On the phone to
Dwayne she tells him that she is “just spending some time lighting the
dark side.” She says, “everyone has a dark side” which is “that
ugliness about our personality that scares the people who see it.”
What we need to do “is to fight it, to turn a light against it.” (p. 65)
Each story draws you in within the first few sentences and will hold your attention through the completion. All of the characters are well developed and seem very real. I became so involved in each tale that I found myself wishing that these weren’t short stories and that each work was a full-length novel instead. Don’t get me wrong, the writing was very thorough and the stories were not lacking anything, but I enjoyed the characters and the writing style so much that I just wished that they were longer! In the author’s biography that was sent along with the book it states that he is “re-working two full-length novel manuscripts for publishing” and if these works are anything similar to “Lighting the Dark Side: Six Modern Tales” then I can’t wait to read them!
