Fatal Gift by H. Michael Frase 1996 First Ed. Hardcover Book w/ Dust Jacket

Leaving her job to escape the sexual advances of her boss, Kasey Rietman drives aimlessly into the night, but her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, making her a witness to the murder of a Nashville socialite and the target of some very powerful people

A plucky Nashville steakhouse waitress poses as a clairvoyant in order to track down the killer of a beautiful local socialite in this suspense novel debut, which is nearly sabotaged by overwriting and a slow beginning. Kasey Riteman, 28, is mired in early alcoholism, waking up all too often in strange beds with strange men. After she thwarts the sexual advances of her boss with a good kick and a giant can of green beans, she flees to the countryside, only to get stranded with a flat tire after nightfall. Alone and lost, she witnesses the rape and murder of a beautiful young woman celebrated for her associations with music stars and community leaders. Having identified the killer by his vanity license plate, yet seeking to avoid involvement as an official witness, Kasey concocts a history of past episodes of clairvoyance. Claiming she saw the victim's murder in a dream, she enlists the aid of an ambitious local female TV news anchor to help find the missing woman's body. When it is discovered that the victim had been taping bedroom conversations with her politically powerful lovers, and that several of the tapes are missing, Kasey is suspected by both the cops and the killer of knowing much more than she has let on. Though bogged down in the first half by unnecessary exposition and internal musings, the plot and the writing pick up in time, moving more surely toward an action-packed, if less than fully satisfying, resolution that has sequel written all over it. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; Doubleday Book Club featured alternate; Japanese rights to Kodansha; film rights to Grand Productions.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Urbane mobsters, nasty biker trash, nosy reporters, and corpses aplenty dot the Nashville hills in a first thriller about the people behind the people behind Music City. Kasey Riteman, a failed country singer, quits her waitress job and aimlessly wanders the backroads beyond Davidson County until a flat tire forces her to seek assistance. While walking, she spies the rape, murder, and crude burial of a beautiful blond woman by a pond-scum biker stupid enough to put his nickname, JOEYBOY, on his license plate. Should Kasey, a gorgeously athletic divorc‚e without children, tell the cops, the media, or avenge the killing in her own way? Adapting the Elmore Leonard formula of inspired amateur going up against sleazy types, Frase has his plucky heroine do a little of all three. Pretending to be a psychic, she leads an ambitious television reporter to the scene of the crime, gaining immediate fame and fortune and the wary interest of skeptical, handsome Police Chief Jordan Taylor. What Kasey doesn't know is that the murder was a mob hit, that the victim had evidence linking sex-crazed mob boss Mario Giacano to smarmy Tennessee Governor Wayne ``Buddy'' Williams, and that one or more of the cops under Chief Taylor's command are in Giacano's pocket. Complications lead to corpses as Joey ``Joeyboy'' Griffin murders Kasey's best friend, as well as her ex-husband and other ne'er-do-wells standing between him and the witness to his crime. Author Frase is strong on research and procedures--his catalogue of cops, crooks, and music industry also-rans are far more interesting than his somewhat ditzy heroine. Stuck in a plot that turns so much on coincidence and dumb luck, Kasey actually wonders if she just might be a little bit psychic after all. A tabloid-fantasy thrill-ride imbedded in a Nashville crime story that doesn't hang on a Music City hook. A competent debut, despite the psychic silliness. ($50,000 ad/promo; author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

After witnessing the murder of a Nashville socialite, spunky protagonist Kasey Riteman devises a means of avenging the victim without revealing her own identity. But her plan backfires, putting her directly in the path of a hired killer. This tightly plotted, high-energy thriller is a tour de force for first novelist Frase. Although some scenes are overwritten and others lack freshness, the author is an engaging storyteller, and his experience working with law enforcement agencies lends authenticity to the proceedings, police and otherwise. Frase handles the scary consequences of the somewhat overused premise in a compelling manner, delaying the resolution with tension-building complications sure to satisfy the most demanding of suspense readers. The likable Kasey is vividly drawn and emerges as a multidimensional heroine, especially in scenes with Brandie Mueller, an ambitious TV news anchor after the dramatic story and her Emmy. Movie rights have already been sold, and demand will no doubt be created by the hefty advertising schedule. Recommended for mystery and popular collections.
Molly Gorman, San Marino, Cal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.