Stephens Talks About the Series

Silenced Cry was released on April 23, 2007, but the creation of this book and its diverse set of characters go back to a fall afternoon in 2004. That was the day I wrote The Devil Can Wait. It will now be the second book in the Sam Harper Crime Mysteries series. Although I’ve changed the story line considerably, the idea for that book was sparked by a tale of a cursed ring my mother told me when I was eight. It will be released in late 2008.

I wrote The Devil Can Wait and two other books in the series which will follow this second one. However, I needed a fourth story to complete the set. I decided that instead of moving forward in time, to show the beginning. I felt there was much more to the Sam Harper character than catching criminals. With this first book, I wanted the reader to understand who Homicide Detective Sam Harper is and what drives him. Harper has his share of flaws. He doesn't always get it right, the evidence doesn't always fall neatly into place, and doors don't always open to reveal the answer.

Silenced Cry is a detective murder mystery with enough police procedures, investigative work, and bad guys to make even the pickiest mystery lovers happy, (or so I'm told). You’ll find all the reviews listed under The Body of Evidence. But reviews aside, this book is a story about the events, disappointments, and successes that transform the character, Sam Harper, into the man who emerges in the final pages of Silenced Cry.

My hope is that, you the reader, will find this book entertaining and that you will be drawn to follow Harper to his next great adventure in The Devil Can Wait ~ coming soon, fall 2008.