J A Nevling

Being burned is a very tragic event, especially when it is a baby who is badly burned, even through the efforts to keep this to a minimum by her father who is also burned. A tragedy which could so easily happen through a brain focusing on the wrong thing at the wrong time. An overtired brain, a stressed brain, or in this case, a distracted brain.

The big game is on TV and Jim, the father, is baby-sitting his nine month old daughter, Anna, who is currently sleeping, to give his wife, Sharon, some time out with her friend Katie. When he hears Anna fussing, he does all the right things, cleaning her, changing her, and putting her bottle on to warm. What he doesn't realize is going to change all their lives in the next several minutes. A gas explosion is going to set the house on fire, not a small fire but a raging fire. Jim's efforts to get the baby out of her crib are next to impossible. The crib is burning and as he tries to bring her out avoiding the worst of the flames surrounding her, she falls through the side of the fiery crib. He does the right thing to try to protect her, stumbles outside and passes out.

When Sharon arrives at the hospital she learns both that her husband will survive, but Anna has been so badly burned it will mean a long recovery at best, but they don't know at this point if she will survive. Though the doctor does not want Sharon to see her at this time, she absolutely insists, and this action will clinch the effects that soon will engulf the whole family. Sharon will soon turn her back on her husband and they will be separated. The stage is now set for the mystery part of the book.

J.A. Nevling certainly knows how to write emotion. He also knows how to write a sequence of awful proportions in a way that the reader knows what is going on, but is not horrified to the extent that he/she will find the book so upsetting it will be impossible to read further. The reader instead will stay focused on the story as it unfolds and will have trouble putting it down. This book is meant to be read. It will be emotional by its nature, but there is so much more than the fire and its results. Once Sharon has moved away, Anna is going through her various treatments, and Jim is dealing with his feelings of guilt, remorse, and the loss of Sharon, the mystery portion of the book begins to unfold.

Sharon has found a small apartment and a good job at Prescott Industries, a new life she can not quite separate from the old. When a marriage is based on real love, it doesn't separate easily. Yet soon it becomes apparent that a transition has happened in Sharon's personality. She can't understand it, she often sleeps too much and feels strangely different. She seems to lose time, her ability to focus has changed, and she has some memory lapses. When she is run off the road as a car rams her from behind, she begins to feel someone is out to kill her. The detectives she talks to have some doubts but decide they should look into it. This is a real mystery, and there are several suspects, but the ending is shocking, and at the same time satisfying. This book is a definite adventure in reading. It speaks to the fallibility of people, love in its truest form, runs the gamut of several emotions, and is well worth the read. I enjoyed the book, which seems strange in light of the difficulties involved, but that is how well-written it is.… (mehr)

Jim and Sharon seemed to have the whole America dream going for them. They had a nice home and had a wonderful baby girl. But their dream turns into a nightmare in one instance as a horrible accident turns everything to ash.

Most of this book is told in the present with flash backs to the reason that Sharon and Jim are separated and living 100's of mile apart. Sharon has taken a job as an accountant at Prescott Inc. and is on the verge of starting an affair with her boss. He assigns her the task of checking the accounts when an audit is announced. While in the office here the files are kept she discovers a secret door and can swear that someone is spying on her. She discovers a secret that she feels could be the reason someone is trying to kill her.

I found this a very interesting mystery and I really had no Idea who was the culprit till the very end. I did find Sharon's character unlikable even though I really wanted to like her. That didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book though.… (mehr)

In Burned: A Tragic Mystery, first time author J.A. Nevling weaves an exciting tale of intrigue and suspense that kept me turning the pages long past the time when I should have been sound asleep.

Sharon and Jim Nagol are first time parents living in San Diego with their 9 month old daughter, Anna. While Sharon is out for the day with a friend, Jim is left to tend the baby and enjoy the football game on the big screen TV. Unfortunately, his first time alone with his daughter ends in tragedy when a fire breaks out and both are seriously hurt and possibly dying. As events continue to unfold in the aftermath of the accident, the author takes us a few months forward where we find Sharon living in an apartment, alone, in Los Angeles. She has a new job as an accountant at Prescott Incorporated, where she gets hit on by her boss and stumbles across some shady bookkeeping that may or may not, land her in a heap of trouble. After she is nearly killed in an accident that really isn’t an accident, the wild ride really begins and t he reader is left guessing until the very end.

The author writes the story in an alternating present/past format that adds to the mystery and tends to leave the reader on the edge of a cliff for a chapter or two. I think this was the best move for this story as it wouldn’t have been interesting or exciting if written in chronological format.

I also liked the fact that the author didn’t go on and on with flowery character descriptions and rarely used simile or metaphor to make his point. Sometimes all that needs to be said is “she has a perfect smile” instead of going on for a paragraph or two about how her smile is like a summer day. The simple writing style moved the story along and was refreshing after reading so many of the unnecessarily wordy stories that are out there today.

All in all, I would recommend this book to those who like a story that is well written, has interesting characters, and isn’t afraid to get to the point with as few words as possible. I applaud J.A. Nevling for producing such an appealing and dramatic story that kept me, the person who always figures things out before the conclusion, in suspense until the very end.… (mehr)

The first time Jim Nagol is left in charge of his infant daughter, tragedy strikes and he and his daughter are both severely burned when he accidentally leaves a stove burner on with no flame. His daughter Anna’s burns are so severe, doctors are not at all sure she’ll make a recovery.

Now seven month’s later Jim’s wife, Sharon, has left her husband and is living alone in an apartment two hours away. Sharon cannot forgive Jim for the accident and is struggling to make ends meet by working for Prescott Incorporated as an accountant.

When two of the company’s top executive both make unwanted passes at Sharon she knows that if she now reveals that she found some unexplained company expenses during a recent audit her findings would be seen as retaliation. She has no choice but to stay quiet and work on how best to reveal the embezzlement to the proper authorities.

But driving home one night she’s forced off the road in a hit-and-run accident and when the police investigate there is more than one suspect including the two company executives and her husband Jim with whom she had an explosive argument with that same day.

Burned alternates from the present and Sharon’s troubles and back to the time of the accident and the weeks following it. I like this approach because as soon as the story gets good it skips in time and you’re left with a major cliff hanger for the next few chapters when you pick up again but get another cliff hanger with the second story line.

Nevling does a great job of keeping the suspense going and laying out the perfect mystery. My only disappointment with the book is the dialogue between most of the characters. There were more than a few times when I would think to myself, “Who talks like that?” Otherwise the book is a recommended read for all mystery and suspense readers.… (mehr)