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Craig A. Hart

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Serenity: A Vigilante Justice Action Thriller (The Shelby Alexander Thriller Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Craig A. Hart (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.1 6,607 ratings

Book 1 of 9: The Shelby Alexander Thriller Series

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Northern Michigan. A cold winter's night. A tragic death.

Retired prizefighter Shelby Alexander finds his quiet life in Northern Michigan shattered when a local girl collapses by his barn and dies in his arms.

Drawn into a dangerous web of turf wars and family feuds, Shelby reluctantly accepts ten grand to investigate the young woman's death, only to find himself in the crosshairs of a killer.

As bodies drop and bullets fly, Shelby must rely on his street smarts to navigate a treacherous landscape of backwoods justice.

With newcomers threatening to upset the balance of power and old wounds reopening, Shelby's retirement becomes a fight for survival in this explosive men's adventure tale.

A must-read for fans of hard-nosed heroes, adrenaline-fueled suspense, and gritty, small-town noir. The first book in the Shelby Alexander Thriller series, "Serenity" promises to keep readers on the edge of their seats as they follow Shelby's quest for justice in a world where every shadow holds danger.

From the Publisher

old model sedan in the woods, red background, night time setting

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This story pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the last word is read." - Amy's Bookshelf Reviews

"My kind of book: short, brisk, and just a flat-out enjoyable read." - Erik Therme, author of the Harlow Series

"One of today's master thriller writers." - The San Francisco Review of Books

About the Author

Craig A. Hart is a stay-at-home father of twin boys, an author, and an audiobook narrator. He has served as the editor-in-chief for The Rusty Nail literary magazine, the manager for Sweatshoppe Media, the publisher for Northern Lake Publishing, and the director for Northern Illinois Radio Information Service. The former host of the interview program The Games & Writers Show, he is now the co-host of the Good Sentences podcast. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, he currently lives in Iowa City.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01MA43ZX3
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Northern Lake Publishing LLC (October 14, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 14, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4254 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 292 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #253,116 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #644 in Pulp Thrillers
- #1,197 in Hard-Boiled Mysteries (Kindle Store)
- #1,290 in Hard-Boiled Mystery

Customer Reviews:
4.1 6,607 ratings

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Craig A. Hart

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Craig A. Hart is a writer of thrillers. In a past life, he was also director for Northern Illinois Radio Information Service, a broadcast outreach that brought daily news and information to the visually impaired.

In 2015, Kindle Press published his literary novel BECOMING MOON. NPR affiliate Northern Public Radio featured BECOMING MOON in their Winter Book Series, and it won Best Novel of Summer 2015 from Pinnacle Awards. He is also the author of the historical mystery NIGHT AT KEY WEST, which is based on true events.

In 2016, he publishing SERENITY, the first book in the popular Shelby Alexander Thriller Series. Serenity alone has been downloaded over 400,000 times by eager readers.

In 2022, he launched the Maxwell Barnes Adventure Thriller Series, co-written with S.J. Varengo. The award-winning first book in that series, MAYAN SHADOWS, was published on May 11, 2022. Two more books follow in that series: MAYAN THUNDER and MAYAN TEMPEST.

A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Craig lives in Iowa City, Iowa with his wife, sons, insane dog, and anti-social cat. Don't forget to follow his Amazon profile for up-to-date info on new releases!

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

6,607 global ratings

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Piaras

An action-packed mystery that draws you in from the beginning

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2017

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Whatever flaws we might identify or frustrations we might feel are trivial in comparison to a reader's pure joy in losing himself/herself in a narrative. When all the elements come together: an intriguing plot, thoughtful, profound themes, complex, troubling, characters, and language that will amaze for its clarity, directness and confidence; we gratefully set all analysis aside and give ourselves up to the sheer magic of a great book. And for me, Serenity (The Shelby Alexander Thriller Series Book 1), is such a book.

Author Craig A. Hart weaves a tale of mystery and suspense, with intriguing twists and turns that will easily captivate the reader's attention from the beginning. The author paints an action-packed story in a very vivid and convincing way.

This captivating and commendable work had me immersed from the beginning. The story flowed from scene to scene with ease, and the author shows exceptional ability when it comes to storytelling. There are plenty of attention-grabbing moments in this page turner that will take the reader on a compelling and gripping journey.

It’s one of those books that come along once in a while that makes you want to read it non-stop until you get to the end. I’m giving nothing further away here. And this, I hope, will only add to the mystery and enjoyment for the reader. I will say, however, that fans of the mystery, thriller and suspense genre will love having a nibble on this one!

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iamnotabookworm

I think I stumbled on a gem.

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2017

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I got this from the author. He was featured in one of the newsletters that I signed up for. The newsletter said to just email Mr. Hart if I was interested to review his book. And I did and here I am reviewing it. This review just took a while to come out because I only got the chance to read the book last month.

This is the first of a series. And of course, my first to read a book by this author. Shelby Alexander is obviously the main character in this story. He is a retired boxer. This is how, by some unfortunate event, a dead body was found on his yard to be precise, got him started on being a private detective. Serenity is the name of the town which to me is a contradiction. It is in no way serene. First a dead body, then a turf war between two drug-dealing cartels. What's serene in that?

I think I stumbled on a gem. Craig A. Hart is a good find. I was fortunate that I listened to my instincts to sign up to review this book because this was such a suspenseful read. I felt sorry for Shelby being a greenhorn in private investigation and be constantly shot at. He only just started and it seemed like people are out to terminate him. Not a good omen for a starting PI, right? Not to mention, he did not on his own volition decide to be a PI. He was approached to dig and ask around to find the killer of the dead boy and how it ended up on his property. What's more, he is now in close contact with very shady characters. The very same people who trusted him to find the people responsible for the death of their sister. Yes, the dead body in his yard was the sister of the major drug-dealing family in Serenity. With the danger he is in becoming more real and deadlier, Shelby used the resources available to him, like his girl friend who works at a bar and a friend who is not from Serenity.

In the end, it turned out a lot of interests are playing this deadly game. Selfish, very deadly and high stakes are involved and Shelby has to outwit the unknown and faceless enemy to stay alive and save those that are caught in the crossfire.

I give this 4/5 one-cup coffee makers. Though, this was kind of melancholy and dark, I enjoyed reading this book. Mr. Hart is shaping up to be one really good mystery writer. And my favorite author's list has a lot of space for more mystery writers since it's my favorite genre. I am looking forward to read Serenity Avenged. Another book of the same author and also part of this series. What other deadly situations will Mr. Alexander get entangled in?

Thank you Mr. Hart for this worthwhile read. Looking forward to reading more of your books, whether in this same genre or not.

There was a hunger inside humanity, a craving for conflict. It was how it pulled itself out of the ooze and rose to rule the planet. It was biology.

- Craig A. Hart, Serenity -

3 people found this helpful

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ShoppinMama

Good action geared a little more towards a male audience..

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2023

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A retired boxer gets involved in a drug war when a woman ends up dead on his property.
The plot is good and the book is well written. The characters are interesting and I did enjoy it. You do have to be able to suspend a bit of belief at times but we have to do that for most action books and movies. Some things didn't add up. The main character is in his sixties but his internal dialogue seems much older than that. Maybe the men I know in their 60's are young for their age but this character comes across as being in his late 70's or even 80's based on how he thinks. His actions however, would only be able to be done by a pretty fit man. Shelby doesn't work out and is sporting a dad bod so that is a bit of a stretch.
A few comments and scenes in the book are definitely geared towards a male audience and may not sit well with a female reading the book.
It was entertaining. I may or may not read the next one but if you like an action book this isn't a bad one.

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Katz

A very fast paced action thriller with lots of twists and turns!!

Reviewed in Canada on May 14, 2020

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This book grabs you by the throat right in the beginning and doesn't let go until you read the last words on the page. Shelby makes a deal with a man of questionable ethics, but for a very honourable reason. After that you wonder if he will make it out alive. The action is so fast it's hard to figure out who is who and who's side they are on. Shelby has to work fast and smart in order to figure things out before it's too late. A great start to a new series. Looking forward to the 2nd book in this series, "Serenity Stalked". Highly recommended.

Kindle Customer

Fast and brilliant

Reviewed in Italy on December 26, 2018

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Fron the very start this is a roller coaster of a book soo difficult to put down (i read it in 2 days and one of them was christmas). Great character Mr Shelby believable in his thoughts and actions. Simple but captivating story. Body count soon rises and we readers like Shelby have to get to the bottom of this little mystery.
A very well written thriller and a total recommendation to fans of lee child and brian deville.

Father Ted

"Terrific thriller"

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2018

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From the first page you realise you are safe in the hands of a mature writer. The descriptive passages of the settings throughout the book are detailed enough to place you in the middle of the action, but they never detract from the story. As for the characters, we learn so much about them with only a few well-crafted sentences that we imagine we've known them all our lives. Or we've read about them in a previous book by this writer. That takes a skilled wordsmith and as well as having that in his tool bag, Craig A Hart tells a hard-hitting, often brutal tale of a man of principle standing up to the forces of evil where that action comes thick and fast.

Karin

easy read

Reviewed in Germany on June 10, 2018

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with some humor and an interesting story, surprised of the ending. Will get another book of the serenity books soon

Manoj

Kept interested

Reviewed in India on May 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

Short and punchy. Setting was good, characters too. Kept interest alive till the last page. Looking forward to the next one.

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Serenity: A Vigilante Justice Action Thriller (The Shelby Alexander Thriller Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

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