Shots Fired: MJ Williamz
Author: Cheri Crystal
June 20, 2009
Anyone who has ever been in a long-term relationship can vouch for the inevitable changes, good and bad, many couples face that are bound to occur over time. It’s not unusual for even the most loving and compatible lovers to start taking each other for granted. They may grow in different directions and even experience loneliness at times. When it feels as if “The air had gone out of their relationship so slowly she hadn’t noticed at first,” Kyla Edmonds feels abandoned and blames Echo for choosing her business over her. Maybe one partner gives in to temptation and strays, maybe one becomes emotionally unavailable but the reason that stands in the way of the intimacy and trust is immaterial. Still, is it a reason to commit murder?
A lucrative health club owner, Echo Flannery is the prime suspect in the attempted murder of her partner of eighteen years. Detectives Pat Silverton and Tom Magnell of the Bidwell Police Department sort through thick clouds of suspicion gathering substantial evidence and suspect a love triangle.
Envision two moms, Kyla and Echo, and their fourteen-year-old son Colton, living in suburban bliss with everything going for them in the well-manicured sleepy neighborhood. Add temptress Jenny Vasquez, Echo’s “nut-job ex-employee” who is rumored to having an affair with her boss and is described as, “Dark skin, sexy eyes, long silky hair, and tits for days,” and somebody is shooting at Kyla. It’s not far-fetched to imagine Kyla being paranoid after such an ordeal but can the love of her life have anything to do with it? That’s what Kyla wracks her brain to remember, what Echo tries hard to forget, and what is stumping the police. Can they figure out the motive and bring the criminal to justice before more tragedy strikes?
MJ Williamz, in her first romantic thriller has done an impressive job of building up the tension and suspense. Kyla’s amnesia following the shooting and car accident is frustrating. Like Kyla, we want to trust Echo and believe she’s not had a hand in the shooting, but if she didn’t, then who did?
Williamz has a firm grasp of keeping the reader guessing and quickly turning the pages to get to the bottom of the mystery. Shots Fired clearly shows the author’s ability to spin an engaging tale and is sure to be just the beginning of great things to follow as the author matures.
Shots Fired
MJ Williamz
Bold Strokes Books / $15.95
ISBN 13: 978-1-60282-035-7
Paperback, 232 pp.
