Crosshairs by Russ Heitz www.russheitz.com CROSSHAIRS is exciting, vibrant, mesmerizing as Russ Heitz draws the reader into a votex of mystery and human values laced with suspense and realism.  The main character was so real I found myself arguing with his deepest beliefs and had to remind myself that he was a fictional person created by a master writer.  Only once before have I read an author with such a scintillating and adept talent for building characters we care about and that was the great Daphne DuMaurier. CROSSHAIRS isn't just another mystery book.  Heitz plunges the reader into a maelstrom of channels and eddies that defy resolution.  His characters speak; they are real; they are different.  We like them.  We hate them.  We are dazzled by them.  We root for them.  We disagree with them.  But mostly, we care about some and want others brought to justice.  The challenge of wondering why anyone would so heedlessly take lives with a soup-upped target rifle carries the reader into a feeding frenzy of intrigue.  He wants to know not just who the killer is, but what else is going to happen to this newly-elected Sheriff.  And we cheer for him because he is totally inexperienced at what he does and yet he does it well. In CROSSHAIRS, Russ Heitz has envisioned the lives of fascinating people and series of murders that rivet the reader into reading "just that one more page" until the entire book is consumed. If you are an early-to-bed reader, be prepared to travel along with CROSSHAIRS until the small hours of the morning.  The book is jus that good!

The Draw: A Kentucky Civil War Story by Ed Ford Civil War Battle Comes Alive THE DRAW is a fast-paced and fascinating account of the Battle of Richmond.  Although the battle was the second largest to be fought in Kentucky and was one of "the most decisive and complete Confederate victories of the entire war," it has been overlooked because it was fought at the same time as Second Manassas.  Ed Ford has created, as he puts it, "a work of Faction -- fiction based on fact" -- to make the battle come to life. It is apparent that Mr. Ford has done his research.  Vivid descriptions of the aftermath of the battle were particularly compelling. The description of the Mt. Zion Church, used as a field hospital for both northern and southern wounded, made me feel as if I were in the church -- hearing the cries of the wounded, feeling the heat, smelling the stench, seeing the bloodstains. I particularly like Mr. Ford's use of dialogue.  No dry history lessons here!  The reader learns through conversations that the common soldiers on both sides were pretty much the same -- young men, many from farms, who were just doing their duty as they saw it.  Northern fears were voiced succinctly:  "If Kirby Smith crosses the Kentucky River there's nothing to keep him from invading Ohio."  Southern reasons for seceding from the Union were stated as clearly. This gem of a book has everything -- troop movements, skirmishes and battles, the field hospital, civilians who were affected by the battle in their midst and spies for the South.  There is even one retreating Union soldier who felt he was "an offensive majority of one," since he still managed to fire a few shots as he ran. As I read THE DRAW, I realized it is a cross between The Killer Angels and The Red Badge of Courage.  This is a not-to-be-missed book.