I have discovered a new author…well, that’s not quite true. Let me rephrase that. While I’ve never met her, I’ve known Nike N. Chillemi virtually through the author loops at ACFW for a few years now. And hers is one of the few blogs I read for pleasure. I read a lot of blogs about the craft of writing, but few others due to lack of time.
Nike (pronounced like the shoe) writes Christian mysteries, both historical and contemporary. Acts of Malice is a Lavendar Raines/Mac “Mackey” Mackenzi Novel, and it’s the first in the series. I already have the 2nd one preordered. I really enjoyed this story! But first here’s the back cover copy:
Lavender Raines gets the ‘doorbell ring’ no wife ever wants to get. Her husband has been brutally murdered, and the FBI is more secretive than helpful. The problem is, authorities found his body in Caracas when she thought his business trip had taken him to New Orleans.
Mackey just opened a second resort-town restaurant, this one in Ribault Beach, Florida … but now the clandestine security organization that sends him on covert missions from time-to-time wants him to find Lavender’s husband’s killers.
Forces within the “Deep State” have shaped circumstances that will alter the course of both their lives. Then a local man is found murdered. Mackey is emotionally shut down about his own life, but protective of others. Lavender is a pillar of strength in her family, but distrusting of Mackey and guarded around him. Can they find common ground amidst this treachery and turmoil?
My take:
Acts of Malice is a nail-biting, page-turner. I really identified with Lavender Raines. The good life she has is suddenly turned upside down with the murder of her husband, George, who was not in New Orleans where he was supposed to be. And she has to keep that he was murdered secret because what he was doing was top secret.
Then Lavender meets Mackey at the funeral and is very uncomfortable around him. Maybe because Mackey is really an operative for Janus Agard, the head of a quasi-governmental, clandestine organization. Lavender’s husband, who had a photographic memory, was Agard’s accountant and was killed because of his association with Agard. Mackey is tasked with looking after Lavender and with discovering who killed her husband. When a second murder happens, Lavender fears it may be tied into George’s death, and she begins her own investigation.
The story is full of twists and turns that will keep you reading until the end. You can purchase Acts of Malice at Amazon.
You can also check out her other books at her website https://nikechillemi.com/.
Acts of Malice takes place in Florida and encompasses Thanksgiving and Christmas. Most of us think of cold weather, and even snow when we think of those holidays. Is it hard to imagine sand instead? Leave a comment telling me what kind of weather you associate Thanksgiving and Christmas with, and I’ll enter you in a drawing for a book from my library.
I forgot to pick November’s winner last week. And the winner is… Lucy R!
And Valita is the winner picked to receive the loan of One Day Gone by Luan Ehrlich!
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Comments 27
Haha, a good question! What’s weird for me is thinking of actually getting snow outside during Christmas! We don’t get snow in Auckland ever, and during Christmas it’s only gonna be on Mount Ruapehu, etc. Christmas weather for us is beach/BBQ weather! Beautiful blue skies and beetroot colored arms, neck, and face when you forget to put sunscreen on! Down here you get burnt in 10-20 minutes if you aren’t well-tanned!
Author
Oh, wow, Monique! I think I’d like your weather!! Although I’ll admit I do love the change of seasons…when we get them. lol Often we go straight from winter to summer and vice-versa. Thanks for stopping by.
Well, the first 26 years, and 11 more mid-life it was cold and snow. But for the rest of these 71 years it’s been sunshine and warm weather in San Diego and Tucson.
Author
So you know what you’re missing, Tim. lol. Probably not the snow and cold. Merry Christmas!
Yes, it would be hard to imagine Christmas with sand. We are used to cold, but not usually snow.
Author
I know what you mean, but I think I could get used to it! 🙂 However, we’ve had a few years when it was 70 degrees at Christmas and everyone complained it didn’t seem like Christmas, Priscilla. lol
Here in the southwest corner of Tennessee we know the weather for Thanksgiving & Christmas can be anything from a balmy & beautiful 70° to cold & rainy, & rarely very cold with some sort of frozen precipitation. We seem to trend toward freezing rain rather than snow. I would be happy with balmy every year!
Author
Me, too, Pam! And while snow can be beautiful, down here in the South, it just complicates things. lol Thanks for chiming in!
I do associate Christmas especially w/ snow but am perfectly delighted to spend the last few in warmer places–no complaints at all.
Author
And we are delighted to have you, Delores! Thanks for dropping by.
I haven’t heard of this author, but the book sounds intriguing. I’ll have to look for it. For Thanksgiving, that varies from year to year here in Virginia but I typically think of a sunny, cool day, maybe long-sleeve or light jacket weather. That is best case. For Christmas, I can deal with colder weather but prefer not to have wind, rain, ice, snow, etc. I’m okay with some snow a couple of days after Christmas when most family gatherings have already taken place.
Author
That’s my thoughts, Edward! Snow would make it VERY difficult for people to get to where they’re going down here. Thanks for your comment!
I can handle the cold that we have here in Indiana, but I definitely prefer no precipitation. We of course have weather in the winter all over the place. I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to a warm Christmas. The only thing I need to make it feel like Christmas is the decorations not the weather lol. The book sounds great. I will have to check it out.
Author
I agree, Nicole! The older I get, the more I love warm weather! Thanks for stopping by.
Oh, wow. Thank you! I associate Thanksgiving and Christmas with colder temps, rain, ice, sleet, and snow. WV is fickle.
Author
We know all about fickle weather here in North Mississippi, Lucy! lol Thanks for stopping by!
This book sounds good. Here in the Florida panhandle on the coast, our weather can be anything, warm or chilly. Next week, we are expecting temperatures in the lower 30’s a night or two. One year, we have sailed after Thanksgiving lunch but it was chilly on the water and one year in early December, we had snow. Growing up in south Georgia, we had snow on Christmas morning once. Just rather not have rain.
Author
Gloria, I really don’t want rain on Christmas! I remember once the temps hovered right at 32 degrees with rain, but we never got any snow…or ice, either. Thank goodness. Thanks for stopping by.
Gloria, The first year when I came down to Jacksonville and stayed with author Linda Rondeau for a week, I was so over dressed. I remember going into a Walgreens with my coat in my hands and people were in the aisles in shorts and flip-flops. It was in the low 80s. This year it’s pretty normal. Coolish to cold at night, getting up to low to mid 70s in the afternoon.
Thank you for having me on your blog. I’m so glad you enjoyed ACTS OF MALICE. I certainly enjoyed writing it.
Author
It was a compelling read, Nike! Looking forward to the next one. Thanks for stopping by.
usually it is warm here in Mississippi during Thanksgiving & Christmas but would love to have a white Christmas for a change.
Author
I can remember maybe five white Christmases in Southwest Tennessee and North Mississippi. One was an 18″ snow and really disrupted everything. lol. But a white Christmas is nice, too as long as it doesn’t get on the roads. Thanks for stopping by, Shelia!
Pat, thank you for the recommendation! Living in Texas, where the weather is finicky, one never knows what to expect for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas.
Author
You’re welcome, Caryl! And we have finicky weather here in Mississippi, too!
I grew up in Illinois so the usual weather would be snow, cold, ice and/or a combination of these. However, I’ve been on the Oregon coast for well over 20 years now, so our usual weather is rain & cold. We rarely get snow and when we do it shuts down everything! We will occasionally get freezing rain and I really hate going anywhere in it. Thankfully, we have mild weather for the most part. 🙂
Author
Trixi, I have been known to drive in snow, but never ice. And when we get an inch of snow (sometimes even less) EVERYTHING shuts down. Thanks for stopping by!