Island Life (Five Star First Edition Mystery) [Hardcover]

Michael W. Sherer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Five Star First Edition Mystery | Publication Date: March 2008

How do you live without someone whos been part of your life for twenty years? Jack Holm begins to find out when his wife doesnt return to their suburban Seattle home after shopping one day. Her absence is not unusual given her flight attendants job, and its a respite from recent marital discord, so Jack feels relief not worry. But when a day goes by with no word, then another, Jack, his teenage daughter and ten-year-old son do worry. After three days, Jack reports her missing. Suddenly, Jack is swept up in a terrifying conflagration of events that threaten to tear his world apart. The police suspect him of foul play. Children and Family Services suspects him of abuse. And someone is spying on his kids. Now a single dad, Jack tries to help his kids deal with their mothers disappearance, but when hes arrested on suspicion of murder, he stands to lose it all. The state and his mother-in-law want to take away his kids. The police want him in jail. Abandoned by friends and family, Jack has nowhere to turn, and the mounting evidence begins to make him think he might actually be a killer. But mysterious phone calls and a CD containing child pornography that turns up in his wifes belongings convince him otherwise. He quickly realizes the only way to stay ahead of the law and prevent his children from being put in foster care is to find out what happened to his wife. With new-found courage from a woman who believes in his innocence and the help of another outcast, Jack pursues a shadowy Japanese Yakuza crime boss from Seattle to Las Vegas and back, putting himself and all the people he loves in mortal danger.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sherer takes a break from his Emerson Ward series (Death Is No Bargain, etc.) with this solid stand-alone, a mystery thriller set on an island near Seattle. Jack Holm, who's just lost his PR agency job, has a lot more to worry about after his flight attendant wife, Mary, goes missing. An overly descriptive opening slows the action, but tension builds as Jack faces life as a single father with two unruly kids, 10-year-old Tyler and 15-year-old Kelsey, who fear the worst. Meanwhile, in therapy sessions, Jack reflects on an unraveling marriage, alcoholism, soccer brawls, a car wreck and other family woes that culminate in the discovery of Mary's battered body on a Christmas tree farm. Earthy detective Ed Mankewicz suspects Jack's involved, though after Jack's arrest, the evidence against him isn't clear either to Jack, his slick lawyer or the reader. Creepy-looking strangers lurking around the local school add suspense to an unrelenting tale of personal calamity that ends on a gratifying note of hope. (Mar.)
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Review

Sherer takes a break from his Emerson Ward series (Death Is No Bargain, etc.) with this solid stand-alone an unrelenting tale of personal calamity that ends on a gratifying note of hope. --Publisher's Weekly

In a shift from his Emerson Ward mysteries (Death is No Bargain, 2006, etc.), Sherer creates a suspenseful tale of a family stressed by the conflicts murder reveals. --Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 385 pages
• Publisher: Gale Cengage (March 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594146330
• ISBN-13: 978-1594146336
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,679,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

After stints as a manual laborer, dishwasher, bartender, restaurant manager, commercial photographer, magazine editor and public relations executive, Michael W. Sherer decided life should imitate art. He now is a freelance writer and marketing communications consultant specializing in food and beverage (because he loves to eat). He also is a certified food safety instructor. Mike grew up on a farm in northern Illinois and lived in Chicago for 20 years. He and his wife and three of their four children now live outside Seattle. Mike is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the Authors Guild. He has published five novels in the Emerson Ward series (An Option On Death, Little Use For Death, Death Came Dressed In White, A Forever Death, and Death Is No Bargain), and expects a stand-alone novel, Island Life, to be published soon. He's now hard at work on his sixth Emerson Ward mystery. To find out more, please visit his Web site at www.michaelwsherer.com or www.emersonwardmysteries.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A thriller well worth your time, April 13, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Island Life (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

When someone that has been intimately connected to you for twenty years disappears, how do you move on with your own life? Jack Holm has to learn how to do just that when his flight attendant wife doesn't return home following what Jack thought was a day of shopping.

Days go by without word from Jack's wife. He doesn't panic at first because he thinks she may have taken a flight and not informed him or their son and daughter. And since the couple's relationship has been strained, he is initially concerned, but doesn't panic. He does share his concerns about her disappearance with his therapist. But he also shares that he wishes his wife were dead.

When she is found murdered, Jack finds himself involved in events that threaten his family and his own life. The police suspect him of murder and Child Protection wants to take his kids. The real complication, and perhaps danger, is that his family is being spied on. But who is doing the spying? And why?

Jack is forced to deal with the loss of his wife, a precarious financial situation, that fact that he is facing a murder charge and that his children are grieving. And his sister-in-law and mother-in-law are not helping matters.

Phone calls, a mysterious CD containing child pornography, and the Asian mob, all send Jack on a wild ride to find the answers to his wife's murder. If he isn't successful, he may lose everything.

Island Life is a dark and exciting novel. The plot sizzles and the emotion is powerful.

Armchair Interviews says: Those who love thrillers will surely enjoy Island Life.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars superb crime thriller, March 21, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Island Life (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

In a Seattle suburb, Jack Holm lost his position at J Marketing Communications and has not found salaried work since; instead he has opened a marketing consulting business out of his home. His wife Mary is unhappy with this arrangement as it means she will have to accept more flight attendant assignments to supplement their income.

Mary goes shopping but fails to return home. Jack assumes she got a call for a flight and had no time to tell him. Their two children fourteen years old Kelsey and ten years old Tyler are concerned and though he hides it so is he. After a few days pass, he calls the police. Detective Ed Mankiewicz believes Mary ran off with someone else or Jack killed her. As time passes, more people begin to accept that Jack is a spouse killer until even his kids begin to wonder. Only a soccer mom thinks he is innocent. When Mary's shallow grave is found, Ed arrests him. Desperate to prove his innocence and keep his children with him, Jack investigates Mary's last days in hopes of finding clues to uncover the identity of his wife's killer.

Although Jack's logic to wait a few days before calling the cops seems off kilter and contrived to add to the belief he is guilty, readers will relish this superb crime thriller. The story line is character driven as just about everyone has convicted Jack including the cops who are not looking elsewhere. Jack is an anti hero placed in a desperate situation who responds with courage he never knew he possessed especially as he begins to unravel the motive, which links him to a dangerous person willing to kill his kids to end Jack's pursuit.

Harriet Klausner