The Interview

Last week, I had the pleasure to interview with Linda Thompson of The Authors Show. She spent about thirty minutes with me for a chat that will air Monday December 12 at Midnight, and will run for 24 hours. www.theauthorsshow.com  

Several days later, after she read the book, she wrote me.

 

Hi DB,

OMG man, The Lesser Sin was one of the best books I've read in a long time. Gritty, gory, and horrific in places, it also shouted the need for understanding of the victim, the need for real justice, not what currently serves as such. Below is the review I've written and posted on my favorite sites. I could not find it on Kobo, so you might want to place your book on that site as well. Please feel free to use this review as part of your marketing endeavors.

Please, please, please bring Hanna back, and let me know when the next one is available.

Sincerely,

Linda

Her review follows.

The Lesser Sin

It’s been many years since I’ve read a book that was at the same time captivating yet disturbing, violent yet compassionate. DB Corey’s. The Lesser Sin kept me up at night needing to see what was coming next, and would wake me from a nightmare about Daemon. The character development in this novel is outstanding and Corey’s writing can easily be compared with that of John Sanford, Michel Connelly and even Patricia Cornwell. The way this book ends leads me to believe that we will hear from Hanna again in a sequel to The Lesser Sin. There are a lot of subtleties in this book that may raise a few eyebrows, particularly when Corey writes about the inadequacies of our justice system and rules of law. Personal beliefs aside, the longer you let these ideas roll around in your head, the more they begin to click. While I do not condone vigilante justice, nor do I believe Hanna’s way is ideal, I do believe that change is needed. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a genuinely good thriller full of suspense, intrigue, and a truly believable story line. I can only hope this is only the tip of the iceberg for a very good author.

~ Linda Thompson, Host of www.TheAuthorsShow.com. 

See what Linda means when she says: 

“… captivating yet disturbing, violent yet compassionate.”

“…subtleties in this book … may raise a few eyebrows.” 

amazon.com/dp/1534622438 

Best Regards,

DB

Website - www.dbcorey.com

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Chain of Evidence - http://amzn.to/1O73tnT

Being Young, Being Old

I stumbled across a YouTube book review vlog today written and recorded by Emily Cait. She reviewed a collection of short stories and essays, The Opposite of Loneliness, by the late Marina Keegan. The theme was one of youth, and Emily found that refreshing as many young writers attempt to write “old.” Beyond their years. I thought about that for a few minutes, comparing memories from my youth to those of my age now, and odd as it may sound, I decided that I prefer being old, and relish the fact that I managed to survive my youth.

Marina Keegan wrote about being young, but experiencing old things like her old car, handed down by her grandmother. She wrote about finding it full of memories as she cleaned it out to pass it on, according to Emily. My youth was full of old cars as well, but not hand-me-downs like hers. Mine were clunkers that had seen better days. They were full of memories too, none of them good. Leaking tires, worn-out hoses, over-heating engines, I found no fond memories there. I could write about that aspect of my life now—now that I am old. I suppose that young writers, should they endeavor to write “old,” need to take a bit of creative license as they expound on things they had not learned or experienced. I imagine they have to if they are to write about years they have not lived. They have yet to fully experience life and have little to draw on. To write, one need experience stuff.

Someone asked me in an interview why I waited so long to write my first novel. I replied that I wouldn’t have been able to write it any sooner. I wasn’t smart enough. George Bernard Shaw once said, “Youth is wasted on the young.”  I didn’t quite get that when I was young. How could I? I was never old. But I am now, and to be honest, I like it better. I’d love to have the younger body for sure, but I would find the lack of experience that comes with youth, off-putting.  

Best Regards,

DB

Website - www.dbcorey.com

Twitter - @dbcorey

DB Corey on Facebook - tinyurl.com/mltv6rs 

DB Corey Author FB site bit.ly/DBCorey-Author

The Lesser Sin - http://amzn.to/2b1zJjM

Chain of Evidence - http://amzn.to/1O73tnT

DB Corey's Infrequent Newsletter - Vol. 2 March 2016

DB Corey's Infrequent Newsletter! No SPAM - All The Time Vol. 2  March 2016  View this email in your browser Beyond the Novel Join this Newsletter!

The Infrequent News Harlequin re-releases CHAIN OF EVIDENCE  Some months ago, my publisher, Intrigue, told me that Harlequin Publishing was interested in re-releasingChain of Evidence for their Worldwide Library Worldwide Mystery Collection. I always thought of Harlequin as a publisher of Romance novels. Shows what I know. It seems they cover every genre across the spectrum. I am flattered, to say the least. Proof of Death…  His retirement and what's left of his career are at stake. But Detective Sergeant Moby Truax is determined to prove his young captain wrong. Truax is convinced the recent deaths of beautiful young women are the work of a copycat, not the serial killer he's been pursuing. There's nothing to link these victims to the older women who'd already lost their lives to the Cyanide Killer…despite the evidence.  The case is tangled enough without FBI special agent Frances Vecchio interfering. Especially when her unorthodox methods set Truax against Baltimore's ruthless power brokers…and goad a savage murderer to up his game. Now Truax must put his instincts in play to save innocent lives—even as an obsessed killer lies in wait to take his… Novel #2 Is Ready! The Lesser Sin  (Sneak Peak Here) The next effort is complete, edited and everything, and as you can see, I've decided on a title (Thanks Maggie). Since Harlequin took such an interest in my 1st novel, I thought I'd see how they felt about my 2nd before self-publishing.  The Lesser Sin - a tale of a murdered woman, a corrupt judicial system, and a sister driven to right the wrong done her family.  Hanna Braver is a CIA sniper in the service of her country. A devout Catholic, she prays for forgiveness with every enemy life she takes. But when the judicial system bends the rules to acquit her sister’s killer, she crosses the line and seeks from God, through her childhood priest, permission to carry out the death sentence he so richly deserves. For the sake of her immortal soul, the priest denies her absolution for a sin she has yet to commit. Furious with the priest, with God, and the Church, she ignores the priest’s counsel and sets out to avenge her sister. I hate SPAM as much as anyone, so you will get none from me.  Only cool stuff. Best Regards,  DB

If you wish to continue receiving this highly infrequent and rarely published newsletter, you can officially SUBSCRIBE at the bottom. However, if you feel you couldn’t possibly read another super entertaining and informative mailing, you can officially UN-subscribe at the bottom as well.  But we’ll miss you. My mailing address is: PO Box 853 7476 New Ridge Rd Ste G, Hanover, MD 21076 You can subscribe or unsubscribe from this list.

Kindergarten Church

I attend church almost every Sunday with Maggie because she “suggests” that I go. She says if I want to be with her in Heaven for all Eternity, I should be more diligent.

I asked if I could sleep on it.

And so it is that every Sunday, I follow her to the far side of the pews on the left, genuflect, and slip sideways into a seat. Here, I must tell you that Maggie has a knack of selecting the one pew in the entire church that is, in my opinion, flawed in one way or another. Either the kneeler isn’t quite right, or the sun blasts through the stained glass window as a warning of things to come, or there is a nearby child, or two, or three, just waiting for Mass to begin so they can test their new and ever improving vocal chords.

Now before you condemn me to Hell for hating children, let me point out that I have four beautiful grandchildren that I love dearly and that nothing is farther from the truth. I love children. Just not in church. I know I know … it’s not their fault. I understand it’s hard for the little ones to stay still for an entire hour that most adults would slit their wrists to avoid. But the parents— They should know better. Taking a screaming child out of the church would do wonders for their Immortal Soul.

Mine too.

So today, Maggie selected a pew two rows from the back. That was good. It made for a quick getaway. Because beside us, and in the pew behind us, sat two & three year-old children with their respective parents, and I was smack dab in the middle of them. I nudged Maggie and nodded.

“They’re just babies,” she said, her blue eyes blazing with Hellfire and Brimstone. “You should be more tolerant. Especially in church.”

I must admit, the two little girls in our pew were very cute and well behaved, but Mass hadn’t started yet, and I fully expected that when it did, all He— All heck would break loose. Then a young family seated themselves in the pew in front of us with their two young girls, settling in directly in front of the children in our pew. I was outnumbered.

I heard their mother call them by name: Sadie, a little brunette with a green-print pullover, and Sophia, a demure strawberry-blonde in pink. Mom pulled out a large baggie containing two well-used coloring books and a smaller bag of crayons; some broken in half, all rounded on the ends. She whispered something to her girls and flipped down a kneeler. Using it as a seat, the two transformed the pew into their own private desk and started the very serious work of keeping within the lines.

It wasn’t a moment later that Sade and Sophia were whispering with the two little girls in my pew, peeking through the space in the bench, sharing their coloring books and crayons, a couple toys, and just having a grand ol’ time. I couldn’t help but smile. Then I noticed Maggie was smiling at me. Apparently, there’s hope for me still.

Toward the end of Mass, the girls had tired of their Kindergarten Church, but by then it made little difference. The priest was wrapping it up and folks were gathering their things and their children, and no doubt looking forward to a little breakfast and their Sunday morning shows when they got home.

I know I was.

Have a wonderful, and tolerant, week.

Best Regards,

DB

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JUDAS: Heaven? Or Hell.

The 5th Sunday of Lent. Easter is upon us. And today, as Maggie and I step into our tiny neighborhood church for Mass, the organist, as she does around this time every year, plays a montage from the album Jesus Christ Superstar (c. 1970), a rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice.

It’s a personal favorite.

Depending on your age, you may or may not have heard this amazing work. If you haven’t, do yourself a favor. Check it out. Easter season is the perfect time.

The opera is loosely based on the final week of the life of Jesus Christ, and is told (sung) from the standpoint of Judas Iscariot, one of Christ’s chosen twelve apostles and the one who betrays Him with a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane.


Judas’s actions, according to scripture, led directly to Christ’s crucifixion. Now, every Christian on the planet knows that Jesus died on the cross for the salvation of Mankind. Moreover, according to The Bible, it was the primary reason for his existence here on Earth, eclipsing his role as Messiah, and that of setting the foundation for the Christian faith. Saving Man was his specific reason for being here. So, as I do every year around this time, put on the opera and revisit Judas’s role in the saga, debating with myself as to his fate.

I believe that had the death of Christ occurred earlier, within the realm of The Old Testament, I’m guessing Judas may not have been given the opportunity to hang himself, should the decision to betray Christ had been of his own Free Will. In The Old Testament, God reigned as an angry and vindictive god, and probably would have drowned him, or fire-bombed him from the sky. That’s just my opinion, of course, but that’s how I see the difference between the Old and New Testaments.

But since the New Testament was the overarching guide at the time, it tells us that Judas hangs himself in remorse for his betrayal of the Son of God. It reports that he betrayed Christ in a deliberate and premeditated act for thirty pieces of silver and did so of his own Free Will; Free Will being the gift from God that allows Man (or Woman) to make their own decisions in this world. But in spite of the assertion that Free Will was in full effect, and that God knew of Judas’s scheme but did not “direct” him in his role, there are some who see Judas as a pawn in the sacrifice of Christ, simply because Christ’s destiny was to die for the sins of Man, suggesting that God, in effect, needed a fall guy.

If one takes Judas’s act of betrayal as one of Free Will, one can understand why he would burn in Hell; and I did for the longest time, until the advent of this opera which put an entirely different spin on the episode for me. If Christ’s purpose here was as a sacrifice for the sins of Man, one could assume that the role Judas played in the crucifixion of the Son of God was preordained, and therefore, could not have been an act of Free Will, thus letting Judas off the hook. But Judas hung himself afterward, before Christ died for our sins; so if he died before he could have been forgiven, did he indeed descend into Hell? Moreover, suicide is a sin worthy of Hell’s fire, so given that, there are now two reasons why Judas would burn.

However, if Judas was simply the catalyst in the grand scheme of Man’s salvation, if he was part of the machinery that was set in motion to save us sinners, would God not have considered that and treated him as such? Thereby allowing that Judas’s act of betrayal was part of the master plan—and forgiven him?

Maybe. But what about his suicide? Was that part of the design? Or was the decision to hang himself solely a result of Free Will on Judas’s part? Thereby condemning him to Hell, anyway?

In the opera, as in The Bible, Jesus prays in Gethsemane, doubtful and troubled at his role in God’s plan to save Mankind.

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me…”

This suggests that Christ’s sacrifice had been preplanned by a higher authority, and if Christ had no say in it, how could Judas?


Something to think about next time you’re in church.


Happy Easter, and Best Regards,
DB

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Harlequin’s re-release of Chain of Evidence.