Random Road: Introducing Geneva Chase

By Thomas Kies

It's a crime scene worthy of Hieronymus Bosch, so shocking and so senseless it challenges the local law and intrigues veteran reporter Geneva Chase whose career may be dying alongside that of her small town newspaper.

The Sheffield Post headline shouts, "Cops Call Murder Scene 'Slaughterhouse." On the scene, Genie spurs the Deputy Police Chief to tell her quietly, "Six bodies...all nude...hacked to pieces." Even tough Geneva shivers. How could such a slaughter happen on Connecticut's moneyed Gold Coast? To privileged couples inside a historic 1898 Queen Anne mansion on the shoreline of Long Island Sound? Where is the protection afforded by the gated community and the security technology in place?

For Geneva, battling alcoholism and bad choices, writing this story is the last chance to redeem herself. She's lost every other major news job she's had. Working at her hometown newspaper is the end of the line - there will be nowhere else to go.

But ink still flows thick in her veins. Her story on Sheffield's unlikely killing field is the Post's lead, soon picked up by metro papers, and she keeps it, exposing the turbulence beneath the rich and entitleds' secrets, their ability to buy off embarrassments. She's also tracking community connections, watching a hit-and-run case disappear through a large donation, interviewing dangerous suspects, visiting a swingers club, joining cops for a burglary bust, and taking a guided tour to spot history's underwater ghost.

All this despite the distractions of the married man she can't quite ditch and the sweet if shaky love affair she starts with an old high school sweetheart. Can she keep her drinking under control and do her job well enough to keep from getting fired, finish the story, not further screw up her life? And not get killed? Thomas Kies' gripping first novel with its corkscrew of a plot, asks, "Do things happen for a reason, or is everything random?"

Random Road is Thomas Kies' debut novel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Release date: May 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781464208034

Thomas Kies

Author of the Geneva Chase Mystery Series, Thomas Kies lives and writes on a barrier island on the coast of North Carolina with his wife, Cindy, and Lilly, their shih-tzu. He has had a long career working for newspapers and magazines, primarily in New England and New York, and is currently working on his next novel, Graveyard Bay.

Reviews for Random Road

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Random Road is the first book in the Geneva Chase series. Geneva is an unlikely heroine, she is an investigative reporter, assigned to the crime beat, for a local newspaper. She is also an alcoholic, therefore, she is undependable, and her bosses are concerned. When she reunites with a childhood friend, she is surprised at the depths of her feelings, but he is also an alcoholic, so that is not a good situation. Geneva is covering the crime of 6 naked bodies found sliced and destroyed. Their connection is a surprise, and those responsible for the crime should shock you. I really enjoyed this novel, from the very flawed Geneva, and her relationships with others. In her life, those relationships mean everything. I wanted to root for Geneva and I also wanted to shake some sense into her. The story felt very real. I am looking forward to reading the remaining books in the series.

[lostinalibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Once writing for a big newspaper, Genie she has been on a downward spiral for years due to her alcoholism and is now just holding on to a small-town rag. Her life is just one giant screw-up. She’s having an affair with a married man and due to a mishap while intoxicated (she punched a police officer), she has to attend AA meetings although she’s still drinking. While at an AA meeting,she runs into Kevin, her best friend from high school who is also attending. Their reunion quickly develops into a romance. But her job still comes first even though not a lot happens of interest until a gruesome murder takes place and not only is she the first reporter on the scene but the police officer in charge has a crush on her.Ok, I have mixed feelings about Random Road byThomas Keis. What I didn’t like - The murder itself gets little space in the book which seems more about her relationship with Kevin, her drinking, her affair and its aftermath and her drinking,her manipulation of the cop to get exclusives while drinking, her investigation of a string of burglaries and, of course, her drinking. But, worse, after getting short shrift throughout, the solution to the murder is,well, let’s say, you migjt as well forget about any attempt to suspend your disbelief.But most of all, and admittedly, judging from other reviews I’ve read, I’m in the minority here, I really didn’t like Genie. I got tired of the drinking, the fact that every man wanted her while, with only a couple of exception (one was Kevin’s 13-year-old daughter and the other was blind), every other woman was jealous of her or at least disliked her, although given her behaviour that makes sense. I get the whole noir aspect of the character but thoughnoir characters are deeply flawed, hard drinking anti-heroes but the dialogue both internal and external makes them compelling and that is lacking here. The closest she come is sarcasm.What I liked - the book is well-written and I enjoyed the story of the blind woman.So,yeah, not a big fan but, as I mentioned earlier, this seems to be a minority opinion so I recommend you check this one out yourself.

[she_climber · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So great I can't wait to read the next one in the series! This shocked me because I immediately started thinking I wouldn't like. I have no patience for alcoholic characters (The Girl on the Train had me so annoyed through the whole thing I can't believe I finished it.) But from the get-go Genie is drinking so many times throughout the day I lose count, failing miserably at AA, sleeping with a married man, and about to lose her job as a journalist at her hometown paper - the only paper that would still take her after too many drunken disasters. So what happens next - she runs into her best friend, Kevin, from high school, in an AA meeting, of course! He too has been unsuccessful in his attempts to stop drinking and now that he and Genie has reconnected and formed a romantic relationship the party never stops.But something happened. The story got more and more interesting and I focused on the grizzly murder of 3 couples found in pieces and how Genie seemed to always be a little ahead of the police chief (I really like the relationship between the two - so different than the animosity we've come to expect between police and journalists.) Until the end when she confronts the killers in a scene that will have you at the edge of your seat.I really enjoyed this book despite how unlikeable Genie was in the beginning. In the end, I was actually in love with her. At the end of the book there was a sneak peek at the next in the series and I never read those, but this time I did and I'm am excited about the direction this series goes. Now to get my hands on Darkness Lane: A Geneva Chase Mystery.I would like to thank #Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a copy of #RandomRoad in exchange for an honest review.