Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Meet the Authors 2021 -#Thriller Mark Bierman, #Fairystory Cathy Cade, #Family Alex Craigie

Over the summer I will be updating author’s details in the Cafe and Bookstore and also sharing their bios, books and recent reviews with you in this series…

Meet Mark Bierman

Born and raised on a farm near Brockville, Ontario, Mark Bierman’s childhood consisted of chores, riding horses, snowmobile races across open fields, fishing trips to a local lake, and many other outdoor adventures. He was also an avid reader of both fiction and non.

Transitioning towards adulthood also meant moving from the farm and into large urban areas that introduced this “country boy” to life in the big cities.

After a short stint as a private investigator, he moved into the role of Correctional Officer, working at both Millhaven Institution and Kingston Penitentiary, until it closed.

Mark’s  debut novel – Vanished

One of the recent 5* reviews for the book

Catherine A. Hamilton, author of Victoria’s War 5.0 out of 5 stars Witness the dark secrets that are kept about human traffickers in this debut novel!  Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2021

Everyone has heard of the horrors of modern-day human trafficking. We have perhaps even conjured images in our mind when we see a child who seems to be too far ahead of his mom or dad at the park! But who knows the parent of child who has been kidnaped?

Bierman changes all this in “Vanished!”

Characters Tyler and John have both suffered recent loss, and are willing to risk life and limb to spare a Haitian woman the same pain. But why are they willing to look for a little girl who has vanished into thin air?

Well—you’ll learn why when you read this action-packed adventure novel. I’ll give you a hint, these guys believe that any child’s life is worth fighting for! No more spoilers! Except to say that the setting is the exotic Caribbean island of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake has devastated most of the island.

The island’s problems with human trafficking started long before the coming of the earthquake. An attitude of tolerance toward the problem shocks the protagonist, his friends – and the reader.

So, when Tyler and John face the evils of human trafficking head on, I was right there with them. This is a heart-stopping read that brings to life the horror of modern-day slavery, and the sad truths about any nation willing to look the other way. Is this a problem that is unsurmountable? Will Tyler and John give up? And to what lengths will these men and their unlikely “friend” go to save one little girl?

Witness the dark secrets that are kept about human traffickers in this debut novel!

Rich in detail! Riveting! I recommend it to lovers of action adventure fiction that sheds light on real-life criminals, especially those who traffic children.  

50% of the proceeds from Vanished go to an organization that helps victims of human trafficking.

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And : Amazon UK – Follow Mark: Goodreads – Blog: Mark Bierman WordPress – Twitter: @mbiermanauthor

Meet Cathy Cade

Following a career in libraries Cathy began writing in retirement. Her writing has been published in ‘Scribble’, ‘Best of British’, ‘Flash Fiction Magazine’, ‘Tales From the Forest’, and ‘To Hull and Back Short Story Anthology 2018′. Her stories and rhymes also appear in the Whittlesey Wordsmiths’ anthologies ‘Where the Wild Winds Blow’ and ‘A Following Wind’ (also available from Amazon).

A novella, ‘The Pond People’, has been serialised on her blog at cathy-cade.com, where you will also find occasional short stories, flash fiction and verse.

Cathy lives with her husband and dogs, mostly in the Cambridgeshire Fens and sometimes in the shadow of London’s Epping Forest.

Books by Cathy Cade

A recent review for The Godmother

Apr 04, 2021 Louise Bélanger rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition

A modern Cinderella story with a cute adorable dog.
You may know Cinderella but do read The Godmother, it is way better!
Very entertaining! 

Read the reviews and buy the books : Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow Cathy: Goodreads Website: Cathy Cade – Facebook: Cathy Cade Wordsmith.

Meet Alex Craigie

Alex Craigie is the pen name of Trish Power.

Trish was ten when her first play was performed at school. It was in rhyming couplets and written in pencil in a book with imperial weights and measures printed on the back.

When her children were young, she wrote short stories for magazines before returning to the teaching job that she loved.

Trish has had two books published under the pen name of Alex Craigie. Both books cross genre boundaries and feature elements of romance, thriller and suspense against a backdrop of social issues. Someone Close to Home highlights the problems affecting care homes while Acts of Convenience has issues concerning the NHS at its heart.

Someone Close to Home has won a Chill with a Book award and a Chill with the Book of the Month award. In 2019 it was one of the top ten bestsellers in its category on Amazon.

Books by Alex Craigie

A recent review for Someone Close to Home

Pete Springer 5.0 out of 5 stars A page turner from start to finish  Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2021

Someone Close to Home is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. The story is told through Megan, who alternates between the young classical pianist to her disturbing time in a care facility. While the story is fiction, I found myself comparing Megan’s experiences with those of my mother.

Megan and her neighbor, Gideon, form a special friendship that blooms into a love story. Unfortunately, Megan’s mother is controlling and manipulative. Her dream is for her daughter to marry the playboy actor, Jordan. He tries to convince Megan he is in love with her, but the attraction seems to be based mostly because he is used to having women throw themselves at him.

If readers like villainous characters, this book has plenty. Some of the workers in the care home abuse the residents. There are moments where I was furious that the owner of the facility was far more concerned with profits and reputation rather than carrying for the residents most basic needs. About the only thing that I found challenging at times was trying to keep track of all of the characters as there are many caregivers and residents. I still have to rate the story five stars because the writing is excellent and the plot moves along at a steady pace. I know after finishing this book that this will not be the last book by Alex Craigie I will read.

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US – Follow Alex: Goodreads – Alex Craigie via: Facebook

 

Thanks for dropping by today and I hope you will be leaving with some books.. Thanks Sally.