When you go into a book store, is the first stop you make the mystery, suspense or thriller section? If so, don’t miss Brian Gardner’s debut novel, “The Drowned Rat.” This book will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first to the last page. It is a fantastic read for any author but an outstanding read for a first-time author.
Gardner had moved to Ohio when he started getting notes taped on his front door. The notes were addressed to a different person, so for a time, he just ignored them. They started out with a young woman wanting to reconnect with someone she had met in a bar, but as time passed, the notes got more desperate, and later, they became threatening in nature. One day he came home to find a dead rat hanging from his door knob and a note comparing him to the now dead rat. Gardner decided it was time to call the police. The incident at the police station he describes in the book happened much as it did in Gardner’s real life. Much later, he was telling the story to a cousin and it was suggested he should write a book. So he took his cousin's advice, and the results is “The Drowned Rat.” Add two childhood friends — one who grew up to be a computer specialist and the other a career FBI agent — and you have two interesting and believable heroes.
Gardner has lived in Fort Smith for the last 14 years and now works in the telecommunications industry as a network engineer. He is a big fan of author Patrick O'Brain, who has written a series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, fascinating adventures aimed at the young adult male. Who can forget O’Brain’s Aubery-Maturin series about the friendship of a naval captain and the ship's surgeon set aboard an English Navy vessel?
Another of Gardner’s favorite authors is C.S. Forester, who wrote the Horatio Hornblower series of naval warfare adventures. Many of Forester’s fans will remember Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn in the unforgettable film “The African Queen.” This highly acclaimed movie was filmed in 1951 by director and filmmaker John Huston and was based on Forester’s popular tale. The film went on to receive several nominations for academy awards with Bogart winning the best actor award for his performance.
If you are a fan of this type of novel, you can find “The Drowned Rat” by Brian Gardner at Barnes and Nobel or through Amazon.com. This columnist, for one, is looking forward to the next book by this outstanding new author.
I wish you a happy and prosperous new year filled with much happy reading.
Linda Laughlin of Fort Smith writes book reviews and author profiles focusing on local authors for the Times Record. Linda’s second book, “Fight for Your Life,” is now available from Amazon.com. You can follow Linda on Facebook, email her at BookNook.TR@gmail.com or check out her web page at LindaLaughlin.com.