Darkscope

The Desert Waits

Dark Horse

Reviewer’s Choice

The Tombstone Rose
J. Carson Black, writing as Annie McKnight
Breakaway Media (Tucson)
0843946814, $3.99 via download

Some books you just can’t put down. If you are a fan of historical western fiction The Tombstone Rose will be one of them. The story of a young singer in the west of the 1880′s, it is densely packed with accurate historical facts. The story takes more twists and turns than any old-west stagecoach line. You never really know where the stagecoach will stop next, or even which stagecoach you are on.

The story concerns Charlotte Tate, a beautiful, young (18 year old) aspiring singer. She dreams of one day performing in New York City, and San Francisco, and she has the talent to do it. But for now she is stuck in dusty Tombstone. She is also in love with two men. The first is Morgan Earp, brother of Wyatt, and famous for his part in the Shootout at the OK Corral. The second is Jake Cottrell, an ordinary cowboy. Back in those days no respectable woman would date a cowboy, much less marry him.

The book breaks nicely into three sections. The first is a description of what life was like in 1880′s Tombstone. It had been only a wide spot in the road, until silver was discovered there. Then it became a wild-west boom town. At it’s height it had 110 saloons, about 30 houses of ill repute, and only 4 churches. It was not an easy place to live. There were two types of law. There was the town marshal, who really had no power, and the cowboys, who controlled the town and enforced their own law, usually at the point of a gun.

The second part of the book details Charlotte’s attempt to become a known singer. She is hired as an entertainer at a local theater. She assumes this means she will sing. Actually the entertainment she will provide is as a “bar girl” who flirts with the men and keeps them buying drinks for her and themselves. She leaves that job for another theater. That one is essentially a bordello, with live entertainment. She does perform there, but the patrons don’t care or even notice her because they are there for other reasons. At one point she is essentially kidnapped and sold into marriage to a man she has never met. She escapes, and joins a traveling entertainment troupe. She gets some fame, and becomes known as “The Tombstone Rose.”

The third part of the book describes Charlotte’s life after she leaves the theater. She had made a wise investment in a silver mine, and the investment paid off handsomely. She finds herself independently wealthy. She decides to build her own theater, at which she will be the feature performer. But she slowly realizes being a performer is not what she really wanted all along. Plus, she has her love life to figure out. J. Carson Black writes this section with a lot of sensitivity and skill. You will come to know who Charlotte really is very well, and what motivates her.

The Tombstone Rose is the best historical fiction novel I’ve read in a long time. Loaded with facts and descriptions, it is very well researched. The stories of the Gunfight at the OK Corral and the devastating fire of 1883 are correctly told and accurate. The book will appeal to a wide range of readers. For the history buffs, there are plenty of historical details there to consider. For fans of western novels the book gives a very nice description of what life was really like in the “wild west.” But at it’s core the book is a romance novel, so romance fans will find it enjoyable. I’d certainly recommend the book for anyone looking to do a bit of time travel, back to 130 years ago.

Don Martin
Reviewer

“Icon is a smart thriller that had me hooked from the start. J. Carson Black has outdone herself. I loved it!” – John Rector, bestselling author of Already Gone

From Booklist:
Any way you slice it, cult movie star Max Conroy is screwed when he sneaks out of his Arizona rehab center. Now clean of alcohol and drugs but suffering from hallucinations, the lead actor in the V.A.M. Pyre Chronicles is the unwitting object of an elaborate murder plot—conceived by those closest to him, including his beautiful actress wife and his agent, who are having an affair and hope to get rich from his estate. As Max tries to outrun the cabal’s eerily deadly assassin, Shaun, and her 12-year-old protege, Jimmy, he’s kidnapped for ransom by three amateurs. Fortunately, Max has physical as well as acting skills, plus the help of Police Deputy Tess McCrae, who has both a remarkable memory and a “spidey sense” that alerts her to danger. And there’s plenty of that, notably from Shaun, who continues to elude Max when he takes the offensive, and the authorities. Black, author of the Laura Cardinal crime-fiction series, has a corker here, a fast read full of nonstop action with a rising body count. Let’s hope this spawns a series of its own. — Michele Leber

“Icon rocks from start to finish. Its thumping action propels a story that’s suspenseful, ironic, and full of surprises. J. Carson Black has created a leading man to root for in Max Conroy – and the most chilling pair of villains I’ve come across in years.” – Meg Gardiner, author of Ransom River

As the numbers mounted up in the first few days, Breakaway Media chose to also offer the second and third books in the Laura Cardinal Series for free on that Saturday, the last day of the promotion. Dark Side of the Moon and The Devil’s Hour together accounted for more than 31,000 additional downloads! Darkness on the Edge of Town was catapulted into top rankings in the Amazon Kindle Top 100 Free, reaching #32, and all three books reached 1,2,3 rankings in Police Procedurals Free.

The books have retained top rankings currently with Darkness on the Edge of Town at #3 in Police Procedurals and #14 in Thrillers, Dark Side of the Moon at #7–Police Procedurals and #58–Thrillers, and The Devil’s Hour at #5–Police Procedurals and #37–Thrillers. A special thank you to all our readers who made this success possible.

For a limited time, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Dark Side of the Moon, and The Devil’s Hour are all available from Amazon.com for $0.99

Breaking News: J. Carson Black has three novels in the Amazon Top 100
#20 THE SHOP
#28 THE DEVIL’S HOUR
#59 DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN

Okay, now that we have that out of our system (wahoooo!), lets move on to the scintillating and entertaining Vincent Zandri and the latest installment of the Vincent Zandri and J. Carson Black Q&A.

Without further ado, you may now go to The Question of Multiple Climaxes from The Vincent Zandri Vox Blog–May 26, 2011

From Zandri’s post:
Ok, get your mind out of the gutter.
This is a family show after all.
But what J.Carson Black has me exploring this time is this: Is it possible for an indie author (to) experience multiple climaxes with his or her books or, what’s known as “spikes” up the E-Book, Kindle, and NOOK bestseller lists?