Among the favorite words an author likes to hear are: “I really liked your book.” The other favorite words are: “Your book has been accepted for publication.” So, I am pleased to announce that the fourth in the award-winning Frank Nagler Mystery series, “The Red Hand,” has been accepted for publication by Imzadi Publishing of […]
Imzadi Publishing author Michael Stephen Daigle keeps bringing home awards and accolades for The Weight of Living, the third Frank Nagler Mystery. The Weight of Living has now been listed as one of the Independent Press Awards 2018 Distinguished Favorites!
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The search to find the name and home of a barefoot young girl wearing a tank top and shorts on a cold March night leads Ironton, N.J., Detective Frank Nagler down the twisting, dark path of a family whose history has ensnared many victims, including a nun from Nagler’s youth and Calista Knox, a companion of Nagler’s best friend.
The third Frank Mystery, “The Weight of Living,” brings Nagler and his friends dangerously face to face with an evil that knows no bounds and threatens to consume anyone in its path.
It is a story with twists and turns as Nagler fights through layers of lies and half-truths and searches a sketchy past to bring the chance of healing to the damaged, and a criminal to justice.
“God has given me many tasks. This is the last.” – Sister Katherine Marie.
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The Weight of Living Awards & Accolades
NOTABLE 100 BOOK in the 2018 Shelf Unbound Indie Book Contest.
FIRST PLACE Mystery category winner – 2017 Royal Dragonfly Book Award Contest.
Cover art award – GOLD MEDAL, 2017 Cover Contest sponsored by authorsdb.com
Daigle hits his stride in this third Frank Nagler Mystery. The characters are strong and convincing, and the plot is unpredictable, with sudden twists that take even a careful reader by surprise. The setting is dark, unsettling and gritty, a northern NJ city caught up in the aftermath of decades-long political corruption and financial hardships. Detective Frank Nagler is the last honest man in this city, the white knight who defends the weak and downtrodden. Of the three books in the series, this is the one that pulls out all the stops and tells a story of such depravity and evil that there will be times when you pause your reading and you’ll want to wash your hands. But it’s in this juxtaposition of the dark and light that the exquisite tension of the story builds, the decency and strength of the Nagler character is revealed and the sordid mystery of the little girl left filthy and neglected in a dumpster unfolds. This book is recommended reading if you’re looking for an inventive plot and boldly drawn characters.
I’ve read all of the Frank Nagler mysteries, they are all page turners. The Weight of Living was an even more intense page turner. If you haven’t read any of them, I highly recommend them to you, you will be caught up in the web created by this talented author.
I greatly enjoyed the first Frank Nagler story, “Swamps of Jersey.” The writing is superb, settings so vividly portrayed as to be nearly palpable. The plot is engaging and the main character captivating. I was thrilled to learn that a second Frank Nagler story was in the works and couldn’t wait to read it. In “A Game Called Dead,” Frank Nagler is still intriguing, a man whose sense of morality drives him to soldier on despite his deep personal pain. I may have actually hit on one of the clues well before the book ended which didn’t at all detract from the reading pleasure. The story isn’t so much a “whodunit” as a “why they dun it,” and the wide-ranging effects of the crime. I was rooting for Nagler to solve it because this very private person reveals himself in the how and why of his detective work. The only question I had left when I was finished was “when’s the next Frank Nagler book coming out?” The Weight of Living didn’t disappoint. It presents a mystery that kept me guessing until the very end. The crime involves stones that many influential people would like to see unturned, stones that have kept secrets buried for generations. Despite grave opposition and at personal cost, Nagler, driven by his moral code, compassion, and commitment to help the helpless, keeps digging until his and his worthy cohorts have uncovered the truth. I sincerely hope this series continues.
