Series Spotlight: Code Blue by Jamell Crouthers

Code Blue by Jamell Crouthers

The Code Blue: An Oath to the Badge and Gun series chronicles a police officer named Gary who has been on the force for a few years. He soon is entrenched in a lot of lies, corruption, racism and agendas being pushed by his superiors. The question throughout this series is whether he as a good cop becomes part of the corruption or does he report it?

Part of this series features his son Gary, Jr who is a young teenager wanting to be like his father and go into the police force. He soon learns through the news daily that the police force is not what it
really is. Gary ends up having to share the truths of what goes on at work and the relationship between him and his son changes because of it. Now it becomes up to Gary what he is going to do about what goes on at work.

Title: CODE BLUE: AN OATH TO THE BADGE AND GUN – Part 1

Author: Jamell Crouthers

Publisher: Independent

Pages: 87

Genre: Poetry prose/literary fiction

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Police Chief Bulletin #1

My fellow police officers, thank you for
your hard work,

Putting your life in the line of duty
every day.

This will be the first of many bulletins
that I will be sending,

Your supervising officer will be having
meetings about my bulletins.

I want to address an issue that’s been
going on in our community,

There have been too many minorities
driving in our neighborhoods.

I’ve been told by residents that they’re
scared and afraid of them,

I don’t know exactly why as I am not in
the streets everyday.

In order to get control of our community
again we must pull over cars,

Any car that is expensive and they look
out of place, pull them over.

Find a reason to pull these cars over,
whether it’s a tail light,

Or they can be driving too slow, too fast,
failure to signal when changing lanes.

There are certain cars to look for, especially
tinted windows,

Ferraris, Bentleys, Mercedes Benz,
Lamborghinis, you get my drift.

You know the procedure, asking for a
driver’s license and registration,

Make sure that you’re assertive in your
behavior and taking control of situations.

I want officers to be partnered up in the
cars while you’re on duty,

We need to conduct these pullovers between
7pm and 5am daily.

It seems to be that at night these
minorities are driving through our neighborhood,

Even if you recognize cars and know who
these people are, pull them over.

I can’t have our citizens of our community
constantly calling me about this,

So let’s clean this up as soon as possible
and I want it tracked how many you do.

I want three done a week amongst partners
and body cams will show that,

If you have to agitate a driver to
escalate a situation, do it.

Cars swerving means they must be drunk or
high so sniff out the car,

Find a purpose and reason to search the
car without a warrant.

I appreciate your time in reading this
bulletin,

If you have any questions or concerns,
please consult your supervising officer.

Police Chief

Case #1-Pull Them Over

I just read the bulletin sent from the
police chief,

I’ve been on the force for a few years and
I’m speechless reading it.

My name is Gary and I’m a favorite in the
community as an officer,

But I’m starting to realize my police
department is changing quite a bit.

This is my journey and reflection of cases
I’ve been part of,

This is my diary of my life as a police
officer on the force.

These cases were over a span of a year and
they had a huge impact on me,

It started to make me question my oath as
a police officer.

This becomes a battle of code blue,
paycheck and pension,

Versus what’s right for the people in my
community I’m sworn to protect.

I have a son named Gary, Jr. who knows
what I do for a living,

He prays everyday before I leave for work
that I come home.

He knows I do it to protect the community
and do what’s right,

Not to be an authoritarian with a badge
and gun on my holster.

I give respect when respect is given to me
by people,

I’m not any different than others and I
was never part of a power trip.

Well….until I was given direct orders to
become meaner and tougher,

I was backed into a position of doing
what’s told by my boss versus what’s right.

My commanding officer called me into his
office at the beginning of my shift,

He told me that it’s time to cleanup the
neighborhoods that we patrol.

Little did I know what he truly meant even
though that bulletin was serious,

I didn’t see anything wrong with the city
and towns we patrolled.

Title: CODE BLUE: AN OATH TO THE BADGE AND GUN – Part 2

Author: Jamell Crouthers

Publisher: Independent

Pages: 89

Genre: Poetry prose/literary fiction

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Title: CODE BLUE: AN OATH TO THE BADGE AND GUN – Part 3

Author: Jamell Crouthers

Publisher: Independent

Pages: 99

Genre: Poetry prose/literary fiction

ORDER YOUR COPY:

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______________________

Meet the Author

Jamell Crouthers is a poet, author, blogger and podcaster who has taken on a journey of writing in the prime of his life. He has been writing poetry since the age of 13 but never thought he could utilize

his talent to tell stories and write books. He is not the traditional author as he writes his books in poetry format with a focus on storylines and societal issues.

After publishing 11 books (so far), his goals and plans are to continue writing books on taboo subjects that aren’t discussed enough in today’s world and bringing those main subjects to the forefront. Jamell’s blogs tackle societal issues, how he writes his books, his journey as an author and some motivational blogs that will get you to focus on your goals. His goal and moniker is, “to change the world, one book at a time.”

Website Address: www.aquarianmind.info

Blog Address: www.aquarianmind.info

Twitter Address: www.twitter.com/aquarianmind1

Facebook Address: www.facebook.com/aquarianpoet1

Series Spotlight: The Lizzy Gardner Series by T.R. Ragan

When Lizzy Gardner was only seventeen, what should have been the perfect night became the perfect nightmare. Kidnapped just blocks from home after a romantic evening with her boyfriend, Jared, she woke up to find herself at the mercy of a depraved serial killer. Imprisoned and tormented for months by the maniac she came to know as Spiderman, Lizzy narrowly escaped, the only one of his victims to survive. But Spiderman escaped too, outwitting police and cursing Lizzy to spend her life looking over her shoulder…

Fourteen years later, Lizzy is a private investigator who teaches self-defense to teenage girls in her free time. She does what she can to help others protect themselves and to forget the horror of her ordeal, yet fears she will always be known as “the one who got away.” Then she receives a phone call from Jared, now a special agent for the FBI, with grim news. The killer has resurfaced, this time with a very specific target—Lizzy. And he’s made it clear that she will not escape him again. So begins a chilling game of cat-and-mouse, a terrifying, heart-pounding hunt that only one will survive.

Private investigator Lizzy Gardner knows a thing or two about living in the past. As a teenager, she was terrorized by a serial killer, an ordeal that haunted her for more than a decade before the maniac was finally stopped. So when terminally ill Ruth Fullerton begs Lizzy to reopen the cold case into her daughter’s disappearance, it’s hard to say no. More than twenty years have passed since Carol Fullerton vanished, abandoning her car by the side of a California freeway. The police wrote her off as a runaway, yet something tells Lizzy the truth isn’t so simple…

Carol’s cold case has barely begun to thaw when Andrea Kramer shows up at Lizzy’s door. Andrea’s sister, Diane, has been missing for months, and she’s convinced a charismatic weight-loss guru—part Tony Robbins and part Richard Simmons—is responsible. Diane was obese, but could her obsession with losing weight have led to her disappearance?

As if two active missing persons cases weren’t enough, Lizzy is also trying to manage her two teenage assistants, including one as wounded and haunted by her past as Lizzy.

Fast-paced and deftly plotted, this impressive follow-up to the best-selling Abducted finds Sacramento PI Lizzy Gardner in over her head—but more determined than ever to help those no one else will.

A serial killer is terrorizing Sacramento, preying on happily married couples and unleashing unspeakable cruelties upon his victims. The ordeal rekindles disturbing memories for private investigator Lizzy Gardner, who barely escaped a serial killer’s clutches only years ago. But while most Sacramento residents are hiding in the shadows, paralyzed by fear, Lizzy is compelled to go after the Lovebird Killer.

So it’s no surprise that, when a routine workers’ compensation case suddenly leads her and her two young assistants onto the killer’s trail, she welcomes the chase, determined to bring him to justice before he can claim another victim. She never imagines he could be two steps ahead, watching her every move and plotting his bloodiest, most triumphant conquest of all.

Desperate for better ratings, radio psychologist Madeline Blair tells her listeners she’s being stalked, unaware that her long-time listener and biggest fan, Seth Brown, will do anything to protect her. When her publicity stunt is revealed, Seth becomes enraged by her deceit and dangerously unhinged.

When her friends mysteriously begin to vanish and damning evidence points to Madeline, she turns to private investigator Lizzy Gardner for help. Lizzy knows her way around a murderer’s mind, after surviving her own horrifying ordeal at the hands of a serial killer years ago.

As Lizzy closes in, Seth Brown is undeterred. Madeline wanted a stalker and now she has one. Nothing is going to stop him. He’s obsessed.

T.R. Ragan is the bestselling author of the Lizzy Gardner series. Since publishing in 2011, she has sold nearly one million books and has been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, the L.A. Times, PC Magazine, Huffington Post, and Publishers Weekly. She and her husband, Joe, have four children and live in Sacramento, California.

Learn more about T.R. Ragan at www.theresaragan.com.

Find Ragan's books at Amazon!

Spotlight: Robert Greer, Author of the CJ Floyd Mystery Series

Today we are going to shine the spotlight on the work of Robert Greer and his CJ Floyd Mystery series.



Latest release: BLACKBIRD, FAREWELL

Featuring the vivid characters and streetwise dialogue that have made the CJ Floyd series a critical and commercial success, BLACKBIRD, FAREWELL introduces CJ Floyd’s protégé and is a punch-packing whodunit that exposes the dark side of the pro-athlete good life.

PRAISE FOR THE LATEST IN ROBERT GREER'S CJ FLOYD MYSTERY SERIES:

“Every entry in the versatile Greer's CJ Floyd series (The Mongoose Deception) is different in scope and theme. Here, he takes on professional and college basketball, the pressures placed on young men to perform, the media hype, and the organized crime possibilities of point shaving and drug dealing. Much like Les Roberts's mysteries about Cleveland, Greer's books in this series also give readers a strong sense of place (the Denver area) and a rare look at a diverse community that works together regardless of racial and economic barriers. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal, starred review

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:



THE DEVIL’S HATBAND

Cheroot smoking African-American bail bondsman CJ Floyd is a man who plays the odds whether chasing down bond skippers, keeping a thumb on Denver's gang-bangers, or working on the occasional bounty hunting case that comes his way. When a couple of corporate "oreos" toting fashionable briefcases and sporting manicured nails appear in CJ's office one day asking him to locate the missing daughter of a federal judge, CJ reluctantly accepts the job, hoping the money he earns will help him meet his always shaky expenses for the month. Seems the missing woman, Brenda Mathison, has skipped out on a high paying, high tech job at Carson Technologies with proprietary bio tech documents.

PRAISE FOR THE DEVIL'S HATBAND

"CJ Floyd is the archetypical lone-wolf, American private eye, smart, tough, principled and complex in the best Philip Marlowe tradition." —Booklist

"Comparisons with Walter Mosley will surely follow Greer on his road to literary success. But look to the cultural texture and tremendously affably characters for Greer's distinctive style. Examine also the professional background knowledge laced throughout the writing and it's easy to understand the difference." —Columbus Dispatch



THE DEVIL’S RED NICKEL

For CJ, the case begins when a beautiful black woman hires him to look into the death of her father, one LeRoy Polk, a.k.a. Daddy Doo-Wop, a famous Chicago D.J. Sleek, smart, and hard-driving Clothilde Polk is sure her father did not die of the heart attack doctors first suspected. Before long, he realizes that the death of Daddy Doo-Wop is part of a bigger story, one that reaches back to Chicago in the fifties when the Mob called the tune. From payola to paychecks, from the dirtiest of deals to some old tapes that still might be worth gold, CJ is entering into a realm where a great melody can lead to a deadly refrain, and where someone has a murderous hit parade of his own.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE DEVIL'S RED NICKEL

"The energy just leaps off the page... The characters are well-drawn, his scenarios compelling and evocative -- think of Dashiell Hammet and Chester Himes in a pickup truck." —Austin Chronicle

"Jam-packed with action and characters and local color... The plot rips along so quickly, you just plunge ahead with the hope that Greer will pull it all together for you later... lively and intricate and rich in detail... one heckuva ride." —Mostly Murder



THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE

PRAISE FOR THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE

"Greer relaxes into a lean, loose style that fits his western mysteries like a beat-up pair of lizard-skin boots." —New York Times Book Review

"Greer has a great sense of place and a knack for fixing his colorful characters in your mind, offering an unusual background of Colorado diamond mining, the rodeo, and black life in Denver ." —Detroit News and Free Press

ABOUT THE BOOK: There were only two things that terrified retired rodeo star and all-around gadfly Hambone Dolbey. One of them was water. So when Hambone's lifeless body was found floating in a wet suit, those who knew him best knew for sure that the cowboy had been murdered.



RESURRECTING LANGSTON BLUE

No one emerges unscathed from war, and ER doctor Carmen Nguyen is no different. More than thirty years after Vietnam , when the ghosts of that distant war come calling, Carmen decides to look for her father, Langston Blue, an army sergeant and Vietnam combatant, whom she never knew. Blue remains a shadowy figure, forever missing from Carmen's life and presumed dead since the end of the war. But Ket Tran, Carmen's feisty aunt and the guiding light in her life, has a sliver of evidence that Blue may still be alive—and on U.S. soil. Carmen enlists the help of CJ Floyd to find him.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT RESURRECTING LANGSTON BLUE

"A taut mystery intertwined with political intrigue and colorful detail." —Ebony

"A great plot setup, with the ever wily and determined C.J ready to match wits with all comers. Strongly recommended." —Library Journal, starred review



THE FOURTH PERSPECTIVE

PRAISE FOR THE FOURTH PERSPECTIVE

"[A] great, convoluted mystery, possibly Greer's best in his CJ Floyd series—it's an absorbing read filled with surprises." —The Denver Post

"Entertains with interesting characters and a good puzzle. It should please Greer's current fans and attract new ones." —The Boulder Daily Camera

ABOUT THE BOOK: When a young Nicaraguan immigrant appears in CJ Floyd's recently opened Denver antique and western collectables store toting a rare book on Montana medicine, CJ uses the last cash he has to purchase the book. A book that turns out to contain a lot more than the dry mundane history of the medical profession in Nineteenth Century Montana. When the young student is found murdered in an alley a few blocks from CJ's store, a police investigation pegs CJ as a suspect, and CJ must turn to his comrades to investigate the killing themselves.



THE MONGOOSE DECEPTION

In unraveling America 's most important twentieth-century political crime, CJ enlists the aid of his always-faithful cadre of street-smart former rodeo cowboys and friends. CJ puts his own life on the line as he travels the potentially lethal trail that may lead to the identity of the killer, and to the one person living who actually knows the entire story about who killed JFK.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE MONGOOSE DECEPTION

"Expertly crafted." —The Denver Post

"African American investigator and bail bondsman C.J. Floyd (The Fourth Perspective) and his cohorts get caught up in a series of murders that may be linked to the assassination of John F. Kennedy—Greer gives the JFK killing a newish spin in a riveting story..." —Library Journal

This spotlight first appeared at The Book Connection.

Spotlight: Deputy Tempe Crabtree Mystery Series by Marilyn Meredith

With the recent release of eighth book in Marilyn Meredith's Deputy Tempe Crabtree series we are going to spotlight all eight books today, starting from the most recent release, Kindred Spirits and working down.



Kindred Spirits

Kindred Spirits is about a troubled marriage, a husband who planned the "perfect" murder, a murder victim whose spirit won’t rest until the murderer’s identity is revealed, the genocide of the Tolowa nation, and two dangerous trips for Deputy Tempe Crabtree as she searches for answers.






Judgment Fire

A shaman warns Deputy Tempe Crabtree her life is in danger. The death of a battered wife leads Tempe to participate in a Native American starlight ceremony that brings back hidden memories of her painful high school days. She attempts to help the delinquent son of the murdered woman, is threatened by his step-father--the primary murder suspect, deals with a man who may be mentally ill, and renews acquaintances with not such good friends from her younger years. A second fire brings judgment to the guilty party.




Calling the Dead

In Calling the Dead, Native American Deputy Tempe Crabtree puts her job in jeopardy by investigating two suspicious deaths without permission from her superiors. She jeopardizes her marriage to the local minister by using Native American ways to call back the dead in order to solve a mystery.




Wingbeat

A hidden marijuana farm and the murder of a long lost granddaughter keep Tempe busy, while her husband has troubles of his own--when the description of a man who exposes himself to school children sounds just like Hutch.




Intervention

Tempe and Hutch escape to a mountain lodge for a longed for second honeymoon. Instead they find themselves surrounded by a disgruntled group of Hollywood has-beens. A murderer takes advantage of a white-out storm that takes out the electricity and phone service.Tempe shifts into official mode to investigate the murder. Will she be able to discover who the killer is without becoming a victim herself?

Unequally Yoked

The search for a missing child takes Tempe Crabtree on a quest for a murderer, which includes participation in a Yanduchi ceremonial and a dilemma in her relationship with her husband.



Deadly Omen

Tempe Crabtree, part Yanduchi, is the resident deputy of a small community called Bear Creek. Recently married to a Christian minister, raising a teenage son, Tempe is in the process of learning about her own heritage. Assigned to keep peace at a native American Pow Wow Tempe discovers the body of a young woman who was a candidate for princess. Tempe finds herself drawn into the investigation in spite of clear warnings from the male detectives to stay out of the case.



Deadly Trail

The tranquility of the Bear Creek in the southern Sierra is disrupted by the suspicious death of the owner of the local Inn. Investigating a murder case isn’t Deputy Tempe Crabtree’s job, but when the detectives don’t look any further than Nick Two John as the primary suspect, Tempe begins asking questions.

Putting the planning of her wedding to Pastor Hutch Hutchinson on hold, it doesn’t take long for her to discover there are several more people who wanted the victim dead, including his wife. Tempe follows the trail of clues, putting her job, her upcoming marriage, and herself in peril.


About Deputy Tempe Crabtree: Native American, Tempe Crabtree is the resident deputy of the area surrounding Bear Creek, a small mountain community which includes the Bear Creek Indian Reservation. She has a son, Blair, by her first husband who was killed in the line of duty as a California Highway Patrolman.

Her second husband, Hutch Hutchinson, is the pastor of the community church.

Hutch and Tempe have a good marriage though he worries about the dangers of her job and the threat to her soul when she uses Native American spiritualism to find out the answers in difficult cases.

Bear Creek is similar to where Marilyn lives in the Southern Sierra. Bear Creek Indian Reservation bears a striking resemblance to the reservation nearby. However, Marilyn always reminds people she is writing fiction.

You can find Marilyn on the web at fictionforyou.com.


This spotlight first appeared at The Book Connection.