"Riveting reading..." (Foreword Reviews)

It's one a.m. Do you know where your teenagers are? Prosecutor Dana Hargrove makes it a point to know. But one night, in the dead of winter, she should have known more.

In February 2009, Dana is the newly-elected district attorney of a suburban county north of Manhattan, where she lives with her husband, attorney Evan Goodhue, and their two teenage children. The Great Recession has seen a rise in substance abuse and domestic violence. It's also the era of burgeoning social media, an intoxicating lure for wayward and disaffected teens who find new methods of victimization: a game to some, with no thought of the consequences.

During an arctic cold snap, the body of a high school student is discovered, lodged in the ice floes of the Hudson River. People are crying for justice, but there doesn't seem to be a law that fits. Days later, in one hellish night, Dana's children are sucked into a criminal investigation against several of their classmates, making her a convenient target for community outrage.

In Deep Zero, the fourth standalone legal mystery featuring the dynamic prosecutor, Dana walks the tightrope like never before in her tricky balance between professional ethics and family loyalties.

"Excellent... A law buff's delight" (Mystery Scene Magazine)

It's 1994. The murder rate in New York City is sky high, and Dana Hargrove's caseload is soaring. As a top prosecutor in the district attorney's office, Dana belongs to an elite cadre on the "homicide chart," a 24/7 rotation of on-call responders to murder scenes.

Dana is also a young mother, juggling the competing demands of career and home. Her next shift on the chart couldn't come at a worse time. Distracted by concerns about the live-in caregiver for her two-year-old, Dana barely survives an exhausting week of battles in the courtroom. A surprise witness of dubious credibility has surfaced, threatening to undermine her airtight case against a reputed gang member, on trial for the murder of a rival. In the midst of it all, Dana pulls graveyard shift on the chart and receives a call in the middle of the night, plunging her into a new murder investigation that hits dangerously close to home.

A tragic crime forges the painful intersection of family and career at the center of Homicide Chart. In a dilemma of heart and conscience, Dana is forced to question every choice she's made about her life and the people she holds most dear.

"Eleven compulsively readable short stories..." (Foreword Reviews)

Loves big and small, crimes forgiven or avenged. These are the themes that drive the eleven diverse stories in this collection of psychological suspense from storyteller V.S. Kemanis.

Meet the husband and wife team Rosemary and Reuben, master chefs known to sprinkle a dash of magic into every dish. Lucille Steadman, a dazed retiree who can’t explain why she’s left her husband, only to discover, too late, the meaning of love and commitment in the most surprising place. Franklin DeWitt, an esteemed ballet critic who witnesses (or abets?) a bizarre criminal plot to topple a beautiful Soviet ballerina. Rosalyn Bleinstorter, a washed-up defense attorney whose stubborn belief in her own street savvy leads her unwittingly into a relationship with an underworld figure.

These are just a few of the colorful characters you’ll get to know in these pages, where all is fair in love and crime. While the endings to these tales are not always sweet or predictable, and self-deception is rarely rewarded, the lessons come down hard and are well learned.

A criminal prosecutor is bound to make a few enemies over a decades-long career, and Dana Hargrove is no exception. Who has it in for her?

In 2015, the former prosecutor is in her second year as a trial judge in Manhattan. It’s a new world. Dana cut her baby teeth in the DA’s office during the crack epidemic, the ’80s and early ’90s. Now, the murder rate is a fraction of what it was, and public opinion about incarceration is softening. So is Dana. As a judge, she agonizes over every sentencing decision before her.

Midlife has also hit Dana hard on a personal level. She misses her children and adjusts to the empty nest by immersing herself in work. Instead of growing closer to her husband Evan, their relationship becomes strained. What is happening to them?

Tension builds as Judge Hargrove presides over two high-stakes media cases. The defendants: a glamorous dot-com millionaire who killed her business partner, and an orthopedist who runs a deadly pill mill. In the public mail bag, the judge receives a message from an anonymous crank. Then her family starts getting letters that sound all too personal. Someone with an agenda is harassing and shadowing Dana and her loved ones.

In Seven Shadows, the judge and her pursuer are on a collision course meant to teach Dana the meaning of empathy and the value of the people she cherishes most.

"A true page-turner" (Kirkus Reviews)

Just months on the job, rookie prosecutor Dana Hargrove is faced with an impossible choice between her career and personal relationships. It's 1988, at the height of Colombian cocaine trafficking in New York City, and Dana has been assigned to a team investigating money laundering by the Cali Cartel.

Dana isn't happy with her assignment. As the junior member of the team, she's handed nothing but grunt work, analyzing bank records. But in the course of tracing the flow of dirty money, Dana unwittingly stumbles upon alarming evidence that threatens a close friendship. Left out of the loop by her superiors, she undertakes her own investigation and connects the dots between ambiguous clues. In a few dark days and sleepless nights, Dana questions her loyalty to friends, her employer, and the ethical code she is bound to uphold. As the investigation unravels, Dana and her friends are thrust into a living nightmare of Cartel greed, blood, and retribution.

Thursday's List explores questions of professional integrity, the insidious influence of cultural biases, and the triumph of personal bonds of friendship between two unforgettable women.

Buy two and save! Forsaken Oath and Deep Zero, the third and fourth standalone novels in the popular Dana Hargrove series: mystery, thriller, and suspense.

Prosecutor Dana Hargrove strives for justice in every case she investigates, juggling the demands of a high-powered legal career with her loyalties to friends and family. Each novel pits Dana against tough criminals and dilemmas of ethics and conscience.

Reviewers praise V.S. Kemanis as “an excellent writer” (Mystery Scene Magazine), “a writer of high caliber” (The U.S. Review of Books), and “a talented weaver of scene and exposition” (Kirkus Reviews). Kemanis is an attorney with years of experience in criminal justice. Her intuitive sense of the human psyche and expertise in the law imbue her writing with authentic detail and psychological depth. The “characters are well defined, very authentic, painted with a deft hand. This is Ms. Kemanis’ real talent. She makes us care for the characters” (Online Book Club).

Forsaken Oath

In 2001, Dana is a veteran prosecutor, chief of a large trial bureau in the Manhattan D.A.’s Office. Past cases and former rivals come to haunt Dana, posing the greatest challenge yet to her professional integrity as she fights to protect her good name and the sanctity of her family life against the threat of a criminal scheme. Forsaken Oath “is informed, thrilling action in and out of the courtroom, and few can portray it better than V.S. Kemanis” (San Francisco Review of Books). “A thrilling legal mystery that I couldn’t put down… Highly recommended!” (Amazon customer 5-star review).

Deep Zero

Dana is back in 2009 as the newly-elected District Attorney of a suburban county where her two teenage children attend school. While overseeing a high-profile murder trial, Dana is thrust into investigations of cyberbullying and a raft of teen crime among her children’s peers. In Deep Zero, the dynamic prosecutor walks the tightrope like never before in her tricky balance between professional ethics and family loyalties. “A compelling legal thriller… Deep Zero distinguishes itself with its powerful blend of vivid writing, legal expertise and insight, and finely and compassionately drawn characters” (Foreword Reviews). “This book is fantastic” (Amazon customer 5-star review). “A vivid and engaging page-turner…” (Amazon customer 5-star review).

Buy two and save! Thursday’s List and Homicide Chart, the first two standalone novels in the popular Dana Hargrove series: mystery, thriller, and suspense.

Prosecutor Dana Hargrove strives for justice in every case she investigates, juggling the demands of a high-powered legal career with her loyalties to friends and family. Each novel pits Dana against tough criminals and dilemmas of ethics and conscience.

Reviewers praise V.S. Kemanis as “an excellent writer” (Mystery Scene Magazine), “a writer of high caliber” (The U.S. Review of Books), and “a talented weaver of scene and exposition” (Kirkus Reviews). Kemanis is an attorney with years of experience in criminal justice. Her intuitive sense of the human psyche and expertise in the law imbue her writing with authentic detail and psychological depth. The “characters are well defined, very authentic, painted with a deft hand. This is Ms. Kemanis’ real talent. She makes us care for the characters.” (Online Book Club).

Thursday’s List

In 1988, Dana Hargrove is a rookie prosecutor, the junior member of a team investigating money laundering by a Colombian narcotics cartel. When she stumbles upon shocking evidence implicating her close friends, Dana is thrust into a living nightmare of cartel greed, blood, and retribution. “A true page-turner” (Kirkus Reviews). “Keeps you guessing…” (Amazon customer 5-star review). “This book really sucked me in.” (Amazon customer 5-star review).

Homicide Chart

Dana is back in 1994 as an experienced homicide prosecutor. One night on graveyard shift, Dana is pulled into the investigation of a tragic murder that hits dangerously close to home. “A law buff’s delight, with intelligent discussions of unusual legal situations and excellent courtroom combat” (Mystery Scene Magazine). “A real page turner, keeping me with a constant need and anticipation to know what was going to happen next” (Amazon customer 5-star review).

2019 Eric Hoffer Award, Short Story/Anthology Category

2019 Montaigne Medal Finalist

Your Pick is the ideal introduction to the short fiction of V.S. Kemanis. Carefully selected from the author's four collections, the dozen stories in this volume are reader favorites. These are the stories that have resonated deepest, bringing tears and smiles, wonder and discovery.

"Powerful and thought provoking... Recommended without reservation." (Book Viral)

"Kemanis knows how to build a story and keep it going." (Foreword Reviews on Love and Crime: Stories).

From the introduction by the author:

"Dear Readers, I've listened to you and learned from you. These are your picks. New Readers, take these stories and escape into worlds unknown yet familiar, imbued with universal situations, conflicts, and emotions. My characters are everyday people navigating the breadth of human experience: love, loss, attraction, repulsion, rejection, acceptance, despair, joy, temptation, loneliness, creativity, self-discovery, failure, success. Enter the lives of these characters and let them stir feelings deep within you."

Your Pick includes stories from these collections by V.S. Kemanis:

Love and Crime: Stories (Top Shelf Book Awards 2018 Finalist): "Rosemary and Reuben" and "Journal Entry, Franklin DeWitt" (first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine)

Dust of the Universe, tales of family (Commended, SPR Book Awards 2014): "My Latvian Aunt" (a Glimmer Train Top-25 award winner), "Like Love," "Reckoning," and "Dust of the Universe"

Everyone But Us, tales of women (The Kindle Book Review Awards 2013 Nominee): "The Cost of Ice Cream," "Pianissimo, Fortissimo," and "The Missing and Uninvited"

Malocclusion, tales of misdemeanor (BP Readers' Choice Awards 2014 Nominee): "Malocclusion," "Gray Zone," and "Fractals"