ASPIRINGHOLLYWOOD

 James G. Davidson II recently published his second novel, "One Part Death," featuring Elliot Turner, the brilliant character Davidson created in his first mystery thriller, "Some Like Them Dead."  Davidson, a talented crime writer, making a splash in the genre, is no stranger to the worlds he creates.

 

The author's past is just as impressive, thrilling, and dangerous as the backgrounds of the well-developed characters that populate his twisted mystery stories. A former Special Agent with the U.S. Air Force's Office of Special Investigations and a retired operative and Chief of Station for the Central Intelligence Agency, Davidson is most certainly inspired by a life that he once lived.

 

"One Part Death" is a paranormal action thriller that follows former Special Agent Elliot Turner and his team as they attempt to unravel a twenty-year-old mystery. Their challenge is to unravel a corporate conspiracy that covered up the mass poisoning of an entire village in West Africa. The team is comprised of Elliot, now a reluctant psychic operative working for the government out of area 59; his former OSI partner, Darcy Joplin; and Prosper Inoni, an enigmatic genius, and scientist who was orphaned because of the mass poisoning. Their journey takes them from New Mexico to Washington, D.C., to Africa while engaged in a deadly game of cat and mouse with an assassin working for a shadowy cabal. The investigation is complicated by the kidnapping of Darcy's life partner, Amanda. The adventure features plenty of action, dry wit, and snappy banter.

 

Davidson's first novel, "Some Like Them Dead," introduces Elliot Turner as a criminal investigator for the Air Force Office of Special investigations. Elliot tries to hold on to his sanity and career as he struggles with his erratic telepathic and clairvoyant abilities while attempting to catch a serial killer who uses the military to change his killing fields every few years. This case takes Elliot from the plains of Colorado to the Far East. It begins an odyssey that will introduce Elliot and the reader to a new type of organization and criminals with skills he would never have imagined.

 

According to fans of Davidson's work, "Some Like Them Dead" is a page-turner, riveting, an excellent read, a satisfying thriller with fast-paced action and witty banter.  Full disclosure, Mr. Davidson is a long-time friend and colleague whom I have admired for decades, and he has now succeeded in impressing me again with his talent as a writer and storyteller. "One Part Death" and "Some Like Them Dead" are both worthy of Hollywood movie adaptations.