Review of "No Good Deed"!

Brian Triplett of TheExaminer.com posted a detailed, insightful review of my short story collection, No Good Deed. He does a great job capturing the tone and mood of the book, and provides a lot of detail (but not too much) so that the reader will get a good picture about whether or not this book is right for him/her. He also mentions another collection, The Cleaner, which is also largely River City, but it contains one-off stories whereas No Good Deed is grouped by character, much like my other anthology, Dead Even.

A cool element to the review is that he got the book from the Spokane County Library District, which is beaucoup awesome, because that is what libraries are for.

If you're looking for River City stories to hold you over until the next full length River City novel (Place of Wrath and Tears - I'm working on it!), No Good Deed and The Cleaner will definitely give you your fix. The fun part about the stories for me (and hopefully for you) is that they explore support and lesser characters on their own center stage, which will likely never happen in a novel. I mean, who among you River City readers knows who Officer Aaron Norris is? Ah, but he pops up a little bit here and there, but not so much that I imagine you even recognize the name. But in "Helping Out", he gets to tell his story, and he is the star. That's just one example. You also get to meet characters who are not in other River City novels, but do interact with characters you already know, such as in the title story from The Cleaner (no, he's not a hit man).

Give them a try! They're free (at the library) or cheap ($2.99 for the ebook)!

Speaking of free, if you haven't downloaded it yet, my short story "The Bastard Mummy" is still free as an ebook on all platforms, such as Kindle or Nook. Add to that my two-story collection, "In the Shadow of El Paso," which is free from Smashwords in all ebook formats -- and will be free on Amazon as soon as they see it is free elsewhere.

Did I mention those were free?

"Some Degree of Murder" Reviews

Books and Beans has reviewed Some Degree of Murder, my latest book, penned with Colin Conway. The reviewer gave the novel 4 cups (out of 5), which equates to "Really Liked It." The review is here. Here's an excerpt:

Some Degree of Murder entertainingly examines people, what human nature is, and just what people will do when they're pushed right to the edge of a cliff, whether it's anger, grief, greed, or simple survival. Once someone takes that final step over the edge, there's no telling how far they'll fall, and all their decisions are relative (a degree) of where they're currently at.

After reading the entire review, I have to conclude -- she gets it. She gets what Colin and I were striving for in this book.

And that is always a satisfying connection.

Preview of SOME DEGREE OF MURDER

Brian Triplett of Examiner.com has previewed my novel (written with Colin Conway) Some Degree of Murder. 

Triplett does his usual good job of capturing the essence of the book, as well as the intention Conway and I had in writing it.

For those of you who wanted another River City novel, this is set in that fair burg, and you'll recognize several of the characters.

The book will be officially released on May 1st, but due to the way the different systems work, I will begin "releasing" it this weekend, so you may find it available in your favorite format even sooner!

Some Degree of Murder by Frank Zafiro and Colin Conway
ISBN-13: 978-1475161182
ISBN-10: 1475161182

A young woman has been murdered in River City. Police Detective John Tower is assigned to the case but there are few clues to go on. As he digs into the case, he's soon picking up hints that this murder may not be the killer's first ... or his last.

Virgil Kelly lives in the shadowy world of the criminal underground. He's just arrived in River City with a single-minded mission: find his daughter's killer and bury him.

In his search for a murderer, Tower uses his experience and training along with all the expertise of modern forensics.

In the hunt for his prey, Kelley uses intimidation and violence, tools which he wields with precision and anger.

Virgil Kelley and John Tower are on a collision course. Somebody is going to die.

River City will never be the same.

Review of the Last Horseman

Author Bonnie Paulson recently reviewed my novel, The Last Horseman.

She wrote:  I'm a fan of vets and this book did it for me. I'm new to Zafiro's work, but so far, he's hooked me.

I don't do summaries. You want to know what happens, read the blurb above. I do have to tell you my heart pounded, my breathing quickened, I clicked my Kindle button sometimes before I was even done with the page, it moved that fast.

Zafiro has hidden gritty bits of romance and in-your-face action into parts I wasn't expecting.

Don't be surprised, when you pick this up, to be taken on a ride and gripped so hard in his fist you're certain your lungs will never be the same. I loved it and am heading off to read another one of Zafiro's thrillers. Loved it!

You can learn more about Bonnie Paulson here.

Someone Noticed...

My two-story collection, In the Shadow of El Paso, is available on Smashwords for free and Amazon for .99 (It will be free as soon as Amazon "sees" it is free elsewhere). Brian Triplett of the Examiner.com noticed and wrote about it, and featured Smashwords, its history and how it operates, too.

(Thanks, Brian).

At 13,000 words, this collection is really more of a short, two-part novella. The stories, "In the Shadow of El Paso" and "Jack's Town" are related and sequential.

Thanks to Matt Rose for designing a cool cover.

P.S. I am going to make this title available in print sometime next week (for cheap, cheap, cheap) for those of you who still prefer to hold paper in your hands.

Post GetLit! Thoughts

Wow.

That's the biggest thought I have after having had the chance to be part of Spokane's GetLit! festival, put on by my alma mater, Eastern Washington University.

I got to do a reading and be involved in a fun, well attended panel.

It is a thrill to be in that environment, surrounded by writers and readers and people who are completely grooving on the creative process.

So thanks. Thanks to EWU and Melissa Huggins and Asa Bradley. Thanks to Andrew Marcus Corder and Sam Ligon (for saying hello).  Thanks to K.L Cook for being cool at our reading, and to Rebecca Zanetti and Sherry Jones for being the same at the panel later in the day. Thanks to the local chapter of the RWA for being so supportive of their members and for considering me a friend of the chapter. Thanks to Bill and Louise Saylor for coming out on a Saturday. Thanks to everyone who was friendly (which was just about everyone I met!) and interested. Thanks to Brian Triplett for being a cool guy and a funny to boot*.

And thanks to my wife, Kristi, for being ever, ever supportive.

GetLit! was awesome. If you didn't check it out this year, do so in 2013. You'll be called you did.


Frank

*best exchange of the weekend goes like this:

Sherry Jones:  "I have a writer friend who is a Zen Buddhist, so she brings that to her writing. She talks about staying in motion to avoid that monkey mind. You know the monkey. He's the one in the background, telling you that you suck."

Me:  "I do know that monkey.  He hangs out at my house all the time. And he throws poo."

Brian Triplett (ten minutes later):  "The monkey pays half my rent."

Free, New Zafiro eBook!

My two-story collection, In the Shadow of El Paso, is now available for free from Smashwords!

Carl is a Yankee cop in a small Texas border town. Isabella is a beautiful Mexican woman that everyone in town loves, including the hapless Pete and the wealthy, powerful Jack...but most of all, Carl. Part romance, part police procedural, IN THE SHADOW OF EL PASO contains two short stories that explore love, race, class and the ambiguity that exists on the southern border.

It will shortly be available in all formats on your favorite ebook site for free (or .99, if that platform doesn't allow for free books).

Many thanks to Matt J. Rose for the cool cover design!

You can go to Smashwords now and get it free in any format, and keep an eye out on Amazon, B&N, etc., as it'll trickle into those formats soon.

This is just a thank you to all the cool readers out there who enjoy my work. There is more coming, as you know, in the form of a couple of novels, but I will have to come up with some more free stuff before the end of the calendar year, too...

Enjoy, and as always, I'd enjoy anyone's feedback.