C. Matthew Smith

Twentymile had a cleverly devised plot, with some surprising twists and turns along the way that made me doubt and wonder to the very last page. I think it is a stylistic triumph and also a very good read.

In short, Twentymile by author C Matthew Smith is an edge-of-your-seat thriller, so if you love suspense I would suggest giving this book read. It isn’t very often I read a thriller of this type where I can immediately picture it given a big screen conversion, but that is what happened here. Very highly recommended.… (plus d'informations)

When wildlife biologist Alex Lowe is found dead inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it looks on the surface like a suicide. But Tsula Walker, Special Agent with the National Park Service’s Investigative Services Branch, isn’t so sure.

Smith’s engrossing debut boasts a highly atmospheric setting and Its sharp prose builds suspense through a series of twists that sent a chill up my spine as I read some parts. It builds to an unpredictable finale, I didn’t see it coming anyway. Twentymile is a clever, compelling thriller deserving of a big-screen makeover. I think this is a bestseller-in-waiting, and marks out C Matthew Smith as an upcoming author to watch.… (plus d'informations)

An edge of the seat thriller – and a debut novel of substance!

Georgia author C. Matthew Smith earned his degree in English from Davidson College and in Law from the University of Georgia. He is a practicing attorney who has published short stories in Mystery Tribune, Mystery Weekly, and Close To The Bone among others. He is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Atlanta Writers Club. TWENTYMILE is his debut novel.

Revealing a keen sense of atmospheric creativity, Matthew opens his story with a strange murder scene as follows: ‘May 10 The same moment the hiker comes upon them, rounding the bend in the trail, Harlan knows the man will die. He takes no pleasure in the thought. So far as Harlan is aware, he has never met the man and has no quarrel with him. This stranger is simply an unexpected contingency. A loose thread that, once noticed, requires snipping. Harlan knows, too, it’s his own fault. He shouldn’t have stopped. He should have pressed the group forward, off the trail ad into the concealing drapery of the forest. That, after all, is the plan they’ve followed each time: Keep moving. Disappear.’

The dark journey in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina provides one the more scintillating thrillers, and the adventure is outlined as follows: ‘When wildlife biologist Alex Lowe is found dead inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it looks on the surface like a suicide. But Tsula Walker, Special Agent with the National Park Service’s Investigative Services and a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, isn’t so sure. Tsula’s investigation will lead her deep into the park and face-to-face with a group of lethal men on a mission to reclaim a historic homestead. This encounter will irretrievably alter the lives of all involved and leave Tsula fighting for survival – not only form those who would do her harm, but from a looming winter storm that could prove just as deadly. A finely drafted literary thriller, TWENTYMILE delivers a propulsive story of long-held grievances, new hopes, and the contentious history of the land at its heart.

C. Matthew Smith gives evidence of a strong new voice on the literary scene. His writing is crisp, involving, and beautifully descriptive, able to secure the reader’s attention form the first page to the last. An impressive debut, this! Highly recommended.… (plus d'informations)