Judgment Day: A Novel [Paperback]

Wanda L. Dyson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2010

Sensational journalism has never been so deadly.
 
The weekly cable news show Judgment Day with Suzanne Kidwell promises to expose businessmen, religious leaders, and politicians for the lies they tell. Suzanne positions herself as a champion of ethics and morality with a backbone of steel—until a revelation of her shoddy investigation tactics and creative fact embellishing put her in hot water with her employers, putting her credibility in question and threatening her professional ambitions..
           
Bitter and angry, Suzanne returns home one day to find an entrepreneur she is investigating, John Edward Sterling, unconscious on her living room floor. Before the night is over, Sterling is dead, she has his blood on her hands, and the police are arresting her for murder. She needs help to prove her innocence, but her only hope, private investigator Marcus Crisp, is also her ex-fiancé–the man she betrayed in college.
                       
Marcus and his partner Alexandria Fisher-Hawthorne reluctantly agree to take the case, but they won’t cut Suzanne any slack. Exposing her lack of ethics and the lives she’s destroyed in her fight for ratings does little to make them think Suzanne is innocent. But as Marcus digs into the mire of secrets surrounding her enemies, he unveils an alliance well-worth killing for. Now all he has to do is keep Suzanne and Alex alive long enough to prove it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“High-octane straight from the start. With breakneck action, high-strung suspense and characters you can’t help but root for, Judgment Day is an irresistible read.”
—Tosca Lee, author of Demon: A Memoir

“The Queen of High-Octane Suspense has done it again! Wanda Dyson takes us on a roller-coaster ride worthy of a whiplash warning. High suspense, romantic tension, and even comic relief will keep you riveted and turning pages as fast as you can read. It’s all in there!”
—Bonnie S. Calhoun, owner and publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine

“Judgment Day is packed with action and adventure. Private detective duo Marcus Crisp and Alexandria Fisher-Hawthorne are fascinating and keep the story rolling with their wit, sarcasm, and teamed-up tactical skills reminiscent of many favorite action-adventure movies. Dyson has penned a great suspense with strong Christian themes in Judgment Day!”
—Ronie Kendig, author of Dead Reckoning and Nightshade

“From page one I couldn’t put this book down. Suzanne is a highly flawed individual in the fight of her life. When she’s forced to call in Alex and Marcus to unravel who’s trying to frame her, they instead unravel an evil plot that ends with harvested organs. The pacing is tight, the characters people I want to know, and the plot so intricate I literally could not stop reading. Two thumbs up for those who love tightly written suspense with a very light twist of romance.”
—Cara C. Putman, author of Canteen Dreams and A Promise Forged

“Judgment Day is Dyson’s best suspense to date! The current-event woven expertly into the fast-paced plot kept me turning the pages. For a fabulous, edge-of-your-seat, keep-you-up-late novel, Judgment Day is not to be missed!”
—Robin Caroll, author of Deliver Us from Evil and Fear No Evil

About the Author

Wanda Dyson lives on a working horse farm in Maryland, boarding and keeping a menagerie of critters. She is the author of four acclaimed suspense novels including Shepherd’s Fall and the co-author of Why I Jumped, the true story of Tina Zahn.  

Product Details

• Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (September 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400074754
• ISBN-13: 978-1400074754
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,130,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Silver Spring, Md. in 1955, Wanda left Maryland at the age of 18 to see what the world had to offer. After living in NYC for a year, it was off to TN, then OH, MA, NJ, FL, PA, DE, and finally back to Maryland just before the release of her first book. She currently lives on a 125 acre horse farm in Western Maryland with 12 horses, her German Shepherd, Maya, Australian Shepherd, Dusty, various chickens, barn cats, and two pet rabbits. She still likes to travel, but prefers to visit for a week or two rather than move there. Although her recent week-long trip to Ireland made her long to move for the sake of adventure just one more time.

She is currently working on another high-octane suspense novel. You can visit her website for her appearance schedule, book release updates, and more at www.WandaDyson.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good mystery read..., October 1, 2010

By 

Janna R. Ryan (Nebraska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Judgment Day: A Novel (Paperback)

I have enjoyed Wanda Dyson's books in the past and was really looking forward to this book. Since I was reading this book based on the author and not the content I didn't read the back of the book first, I just read and enjoyed every moment of the book. Great plot, wonderfully flawed characters (I hate perfect characters) and enough twists and turns to keep me flipping the pages fast! Wanda is a master of letting the reader in on somethings while holding just enough back to make us beg for more. One interesting note... after finishing the book I turned it over to finally read the back cover copy and see if it did the book justice. Well, I was a little surprised to see that it names the wrong dead person in Suzanne's house... a minor detail since who it named as dead is actually a main antagonist for a large part of the book! Someone missed that mark on that one (I bet it gets changed before the reprint), but Wanda wrote a book that I truly enjoyed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mysterious yet forgettable, July 7, 2011

By 

Courtney - See all my reviews

This review is from: Judgment Day: A Novel (Paperback)

Have you ever watched that show TMZ (I think that is what it is called)? Where they basically are reporting gossip about celebrities and calling it "news". Well, the main character reminded me of those reporters. Susan is reporter that isn't really reporting on celebrities but she was basically reporting information that she couldn't fully back up. She was accusing people of things without full proof. She is judging w/o the facts.

Then one day it all blows up in her face when she comes home to find someone unconscious and then they die and she is blamed. Everyone starts to judge her and she turns to her ex-fiancé' who is a detective for help.

This story was just okay for me. Not sure what to say about it. I enjoyed the crime that was described; it was very unique and kept the plot very entertaining. However, I never really connected at all with the characters. I barely remember their names even right after putting the book down. I also noticed a lot of holes in the story and way too many characters involved to keep them all straight.
The main character Susan was a snob and she drove me nuts. I didn't find her sob story very convincing and I didn't believe her turnaround either, she was just unconvincing and unlovable.

I wanted very much too really like the two detectives, Alex and Marcus, but again they just fell short. Marcus was not a memorable person, he didn't seem like a strong lead guy and he being a detective wasn't described well. Also, the fact that Alex and Marcus were supposed to be Christians was just not believable.

Again, the plot was unique. The crime was fascinating and I had no trouble reading the book or enjoying the suspense and mystery involved. I just found the characters to be dull and boring and I just didn't connect with the story.

I do think other readers would enjoy this, especially those that like mystery and suspense.
WaterbrookMultnomah provided me with a review copy of this book. I received no other compensation, and all opinions about the book are my own.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A book review by Free Book Reviews, March 23, 2011

By 

Albert Robbins III "Albert Robbins III" (Sioux City, IA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Judgment Day: A Novel (Paperback)

Judgment Day: A Novel


I thought the plot line was excellent and fast moving and I enjoyed the story thoroughly. I was able to get wrapped up in it easily enough though I felt that the story itself would've been far easier for me to enjoy and become flabbergasted if I were twenty years younger and not already desensitized to all the atrocities life has to offer. Forgive me for the moment of cynicism.
Wanda, the story line is absolutely incredible but I believe you could've done far more with it. You have the talent, use it. You were able to weave an in-depth tale of gaining wisdom and self-discovery though I did have a little bit of trouble getting into the beginning because I thought that though you brought several story lines into the same book and I admire that because it shows that you have the talent to place yourself in multiple situations at one time, the emotions and consequently the characters in the beginning lacked depth because you didn't seem to feel comfortable placing yourself in the role of the character about whom you wrote. If you're going to write from the point of view of a villain, be the villain and likewise with the saint. You gave so much to the self-discovery of the main character and made me empathize and relate to her very well toward the end, make me hate the villain too.
I also felt that some of the characters were somewhat typecast and nothing less than what one would expect of a modern day ass-kicking ball-busting heroine who has no problem firing a weapon but can't seem to get in touch with her "feminine side". She's is just as likely to strap a holster and firearm to the inside of her thigh underneath the ballgown she's wearing while simultaneously putting on glamour makeup and styling her hair flawlessly and can't help but pull it all off with aplomb. There's also the hero that's so lost in not crossing her and getting on her bad side that he'll refuse to stand up for himself and seems to look at her like she's the greatest creature on God's green earth anyway.
All in all, the story was relatively clean aside from some sketchy violence and I appreciated that there were no tawdry scenes that normally occupy one spot or another in a mystery thriller though I believe that there was missing character development and most of the journey of the main character brings to mind the line, "None are so blind as those who choose not to see." Though I didn't absolutely love it, I liked the story and think it suits well for an evening of light pleasure reading if a person has a few hours to spare.