Books published by Black Rose Writing

"This important, nail-biting crime thriller about MS-13 sets the bar very high. One of the year's best thrillers."Best Thrillers dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. The drug trade along -94 and I-43 corridors and the Milwaukee Metro area by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El Salvador. from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had killed his cousin the previous summer.Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O'Connor and Paul race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else, especially George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the ring has its roots in a high school among the students and staff.

"McCarthy perfectly weaves together suspense, dangers, and an intriguing storyline that will compel readers from start to finish...an enthralling and energetic writing style that is sure to enrapture any reader." -The Red-headed Book LoverCharlene Butler, a.k.a. Charlie, is beautiful, independent, and a successful pub owner in downtown Montreal, but prefers not to discuss her past, or the main reason for her success. When she anonymously receives strange letters and the police don't show an interest in the case, she is convinced by Frank, her best friend, to hire a private investigator to help her solve the mystery. However, PI Simm seems to have a few secrets of his own.Charlie and Simm join forces when the harassment escalates from letters to explicit threats. Their investigation leads them from the safety of her home, through Montreal's underworld, to organized crime in Dublin, Ireland. What they discover contradicts Charlie's most fundamental beliefs in herself and ultimately makes her doubt her own character.

"A lovely look at a version of life as we know it. The characters are well written and the bird is a hoot. Most lives are not perfect, but most have those special moments. Read this book for a peak into those moments." -Memory Lane, Vine VoiceLucas and Grinder are more than a little surprised and confused to hear that their mother, Millie, who they haven't heard from in over thirty years, has died. Now her best friend wants them to come to Pittsburgh to take care of their mother's effects, chief among them being Paul.A road trip ensues with memorable stops at a Racino, a Pittsburgh landmark greasy spoon, and finally a ride on an incline trolley to meet their mother's friend, Janice. They are taken aback when she introduces them to Paul, an African grey parrot in the depths of grief, who has things to say that will change their lives. And so a transformative adventure begins.

The dragon screamed in pain as one of Stepha's arrows lunged deep in his throat. Jermys was on the canok in moments. In one move, he recovered his axe and placed it to the creature's throat as well. The dragon moved quickly and was within one talon swing of killing the dwarf when Schram swung his talon equally fast across its throat, severing his head from his body."Stop," shouted Schram toward the other dragon. "This is your chance to end the killing."The canok did not move as Jermys was still on top of him. The canok's eyes were cold and lost and were locked on that of the large female dragon before Schram. "Do it, my queen. Kill the dwarf, and together we will kill Schram."There was a pause, and all seemed to get deathly quiet. Then, the dragon moved. "No!" Scram hollered as he saw her intent.She lifted her talon up to strike the dwarf a deadly blow. Schram did the same.After 220 years, they thought it was over. They thought they had beaten their enemy and ended the Dragon Opression. They had lost friends and family, but they had saved their world. Now, new friends have emerged, and some from the past have returned. A new prophecy was issued, defining the end of life as they know it.Thirty days-thirty days!-to either turn Schram over to the true power on Troyf or die. The one question: Are the four weapons and staff enough to prevent the death of the dragon?The Death of the Dragon is the continuation of Kenneth Kappelmann's award-winning Hidden Magic series featuring The Return of the Dragons and The Dragon Unknown.

As Seen in Scream MagazineDisturbed is set in the Coal Region of Northeast Pennsylvania, a grimly haunted region with a bloody history of conflict between oppressed miners and wealthy coal barons. Many believe that even today, the ghosts of the Molly Maguires - a secret Irish organization that waged war against oppressive labor practices in the 19th Century - still roam the landscape.Into this setting arrives Jonah Frost, a young man with a history of mental illness. Little does he know his new home is inhabited by its former resident, hell-bent on continuing her life's vendetta. Even as Jonah attempts to forge a new life and friendships, he must battle both his own demons and those from beyond the grave.

IndieReader Best Books - June 2018Featured in the New York Review of BooksAspiring engineer Hank Galloway wants two things in life: to snag a coveted position working for NASA and to get an accurate diagnosis of his mental illness.Hank doesn't realize how serious his disorder is until he's hospitalized following a mental breakdown near his California college. Medical experts try to give him answers but can't provide him with the peace or relief he desperately craves. Despite their assurances, his mental health keeps deteriorating.Hank's struggles don't just affect him; they also threaten to derail his relationship with his girlfriend. Worse still, Hank's overbearing father demands that he move back home to Georgia and go on disability. But that would mean giving up on his dream career, and Hank isn't ready to do that, despite his fears of suffering another breakdown. Will Hank achieve his goal of sending ships beyond the stars, or is he destined to remain grounded?

"Mystery fans who prefer their whodunits in a cozier form than the old school hard-boiled will be pleased." -IndieReader ApprovedA mysterious fire in a remote forest clearing; a woman's charred bones; unexplained tracks in the rutted road-the only clues Deputy Andi Pelton has to what happened. Then she meets an old man living alone in a forest compound that obviously houses many people. Sex trafficking in the Montana wilderness? As Andi and psychologist Ed Northrup struggle to solve the brutal and fiery murder, Andi faces a fear she didn't know she had. The horrors they unearth lead them deep into the appalling reality of prison gangs and a cult led by a malign Bishop-and threaten to overwhelm Andi and Ed's romance and her growing bond with her "step-girlfriend," Ed's adopted daughter, Grace. Will that center hold when Andi finds the killer holding a knife against her throat? And if it does and she succeeds, will she be able to face her greater fear?

2018 American Fiction Awards Finalist -Mystery/Humor2018 PenCraft Awards Winner for Literary Excellence"A truly hilarious mystery in the tradition of Janet Evanovich, Thomas Davidson and Rich Leder." -Best ThrillersMurder has come once more to the seaside town of Crab Cove, testing the mettle of "almost handsome" Detective Simon Grave and his "nearly invisible" partner, Sergeant Barry Blunt, who investigate a locked-room mystery with a significant twist: the prime suspects are in the locked room, not the victim, a logic-defying situation that challenges the team at every turn.As if murder weren't enough, they must also investigate the simultaneous disappearance of The MacGuffin Trophy from that same locked room, the studio of artist Whitney Waters, famous for her stylized paintings of red herrings.Who is/are the killer(s)? How did he/she/they get out of the locked room with the trophy, kill the victim, and return unnoticed by others in the room? These and other questions, including the limits of logic and the meaning of life, are posed and perhaps even answered in this quirky, near-future mystery. Yes, there are robots.