The Voice Thief Review

 

Writer: Jeff Kerr

Publisher: Vinci Books

Kindle Price: $5.99

Paperback: $11.99

Release Date: February 4, 2026

 

Adam Cash has worked as a deputy in Pinyon for a year, but no one is throwing him a party. Worse, he’s bored. Five months have passed since Cash had a mystery to solve. Cash invests his scant resources into the upkeep of his parents’ old house and 200-acre property. He pays a local teen, Travis Bolton, to help him out with odd jobs. But the woman he loves, Edie James, lives hours away while she completes her nursing degree. How will his life change when Sheriff Gabe Santos assigns Cash a cold case? And how will it affect his long-distance relationship with Edie? Let’s leap into The Voice Thief and see!

 

Story

After badgering his old Army buddy, Sheriff Gabe Santos has invested in cubicles for his deputies. Having his own place in the police station gives Cash a better feeling of belonging than working at a conference table. But when Gabe calls him into his office and hands him Lauren Swafford's file, it arouses bad memories.

 

The High School teacher went missing shortly before former Sheriff Griff Turner's murder, when all the evidence pointed to Cash. With his parents moving to Austin, his long struggle to secure a job in law enforcement, and Edie abandoning him, Cash has struggled to sink new roots into his hometown. Even when he visits his old high school, most of the teachers and staff he interviews are new to him.

 

As Jeff Kerr keeps the spotlight on Adam Cash, he occasionally shares scenes seen from other characters. One of those is Steve Jenkins, Cash's best friend and the owner of Packsaddle Brewing. While Cash fought in Afghanistan and attended Sam Houston State University, Steve built his future in Pinyon. Steve's growing circle of friendships has given him an appreciation for local history. So as Cash investigates Lauren Swafford's murder, Steve sets out to prove that a Comanche

marker tree stands on the property of Cash's reclusive neighbor.

 

Cash loves Edie. But when a mystery interests him, it consumes him. Things get dicey when his girlfriend and her six-year-old son come to visit. Still, Jeff Kerr makes The Voice Thief an enjoyable, fast-paced read. He focuses less on Cash's relationship struggles and more on discovering what happened to Lauren Swafford while pursuing other mysteries seemingly linked with her disappearance.

 

Final Thoughts

At times, Deputy Adam Cash has struggled to settle into his job, respect the chain of command, and sort out his love life. But in The Voice Thief, Jeff Kerr delivers a taut mystery rooted in his love of the Texas Hill Country, and shows why people like Adam Cash invest their lives in the small town of Pinyon.

 

Rating: 5 Stars

 

To look inside, see The Voice Thief on Amazon.com. 

 

For how this series began, and to see photos of the town that inspired Pinyon, see my review of the Blunt Force Trauma audiobook. 

Roadkill Review

 

Writer: Jeff Kerr

Cover Artist: Stuart Bache 

Publisher: Vinci Books

Kindle ebook: $4.99

Release Date: June 25, 2025

 

After completing two tours in Afghanistan and a university degree, Adam Cash returned to his hometown of Pinyon, Texas. While he waited for an opening in the Pinyon Police Department, Cash watched his former girlfriend from afar. Edie James endured a painful divorce. She raised her son while working at the Firewheel Café. Cash wanted to rekindle the flames of love with Edie. But he also struggled to get along with another woman. Cash left Bernadette Fenster pregnant after a one-night stand. Bernadette wants nothing to do with him. Cash wants access to their daughter, Emma.

 

When Cash and Edie finally try to give love another try, Cash struggles with jealousy and commitment. Then Edie delivers a bombshell. She and her son Luke are leaving Pinyon, Texas. Can Cash hold onto Edie? Or will life bring another woman better suited to his needs? Let's grab an iced tea from the Firewheel Café, leap into Roadkill, and find out!

 

Story

Pinyon is a small town in the Texas Hill Country. In a state that boasts some of the highest road fatality figures in the United States, the back roads can be perilous and easily swallow a compact car. Ranches dot the arid landscape. Cash has taken over his parents’ former house and land since their move to Austin. As a police deputy, he never has enough time to take care of the 200 acres his parents own. So, when he meets a 14-year-old boy who wants to work, Cash offers him a job in Roadkill. 

 

Jeff Kerr modeled the Firewheel Café on the Redbud Café in Blanco, Texas.

 

 

Travis Bolton is a hard worker, and his grateful mother invites him over for dinner. Edie has always been Cash's vision of beauty. Heather Bolton takes Cash's breath away. Even with Edie and her son Luke living in Austin, Cash wants to make their long-distance relationship work. But Heather likes him, and her beauty enthralls him.

 

After working for several months, Cash is slowly finding his feet as a police deputy. He and Sheriff Gabe Santos are learning to trust each other. Cash has found an able partner in recent hire Keisha Hodge. Then Santos throws him a curveball. The Sheriff has hired Carson Rutledge straight out of the Police Academy. Cash realizes some of the burden of training Carson will fall on his shoulders. But when veteran deputy Deke Conrad reports two dead bodies on a poorly maintained back road, Cash must train Carson as he investigates the men's deaths.

 

In Roadkill, Adam Cash investigates cattle theft, a notoriously difficult crime to prosecute. The fledgling deputy must also solve the death of two rustlers. The popularity of bow hunting complicates the investigation, as tracing arrows to killers also seems unfeasible. As suspects join the tally of murder victims, Cash struggles with his commitment to faraway Edie and his attraction to the beautiful woman who lives nearby. 

 

 

Jeff modeled the Pinyon Courthouse on the Blanco Texas Courthouse.

 

 

Final Thoughts

Jeff Kerr’s previous Adam Cash novels have explored Cash’s rocky road to reconciliation with Edie, his fight with Bernadette for access to his daughter, and his love of country music. In Roadkill, Jeff Kerr devotes more of the narrative to Cash's investigation than ever before. Jeff Kerr seasons the story with reminders of how easily Cash could fall prey to the corruption that once infected the Pinyon Police Department. Roadkill is a mature work from a talented crime author and a worthy addition to any reader's collection. 

 

5 Stars

 

For more on the author, see Jeff Kerr's website.

You can purchase Roadkill on Amazon. 

 

Murder Creek Review

 

Writer: Jeff Kerr

Cover Artist: Cheynne Edmonston

Paperback: $9.99

Kindle ebook: $0.99

Release Date: October 23, 2024

 

Adam Cash's life in Pinyon, Texas, is finally settling down. He has proven worthy of being a police deputy. Bernadette Fenster lets him visit their daughter, Emma. The idea of a committed relationship with Edie James seems less frightening. Cash even has time to embrace an old hobby. How will he react when a brutal attack endangers one of the first people who welcomed him back to Pinyon? Let’s pull on our boots, leap into Jeff Kerr’s new novel Murder Creek, and find out!

 

Story

Adam Cash’s family is growing. He has gained Sheriff Gabe Santos’ trust and sees him and his wife Katrina at social events. Cash may not be a match for Keisha Hodge on the basketball court, but he likes the whip-smart deputy. He gets along with Deke Conrad, even if the holdover from Sheriff Turner’s tenure prefers writing speeding tickets to solving crimes. But before he secured his dream job as a deputy, Emil Bergheim hired Cash to help with his fencing business. Cash found Emil an honest and fair employer. So, when a robbery and shooting puts Emil in the hospital, this shakes Cash up. 

 

 

Cash visits this Austin store after noticing a suspect's boots.

 

 

Cash is also having trouble on the home front. Things are going so well with Edie James that he bought a bed for Luke and gave her son a room for the nights she spends with him. Suddenly, Edie is talking about leaving the Firewheel Café and applying to nursing programs at distant universities. When he tries to talk her out of going, Cash pushes Edie away. Then there’s Bernadette. She has a new boyfriend, and Cash worries how the man’s growing relationship with her might affect their daughter, Emma. Finally, there is Reid. His younger brother’s burgeoning career in the music business encouraged Cash to pick up the guitar again. But when the trail of clues from a corpse on Emil’s property points toward The Whistling Armadillos' drummer, Reid accuses Cash of hounding a prized bandmate for no good reason. 

 

 

Cash visits this Austin restaurant after leaving Cavender's.

 

 

Adam Cash has been on rocky ground with his parents since he returned to Pinyon after graduating from Sam Houston State. His parents envisioned a different career for their eldest son, and he learned something disturbing about their past. Many of the suspects live in Austin, where his parents currently reside. In Murder Creek, Cash loses time with Edie and his work family at the police station. While spending days away from the town he loves, Cash opts to spend his free time with his brother or casual acquaintances over his parents. And in Austin, Adam Cash takes advantage of all the restaurants he can’t enjoy in tiny, remote Pinyon. 

 

 

An Austin restaurant that Cash and Emil Bergheim love.

 

 

Cash may be a good dancer, but he’ll need to mind his footwork if he wants to solve a murder, recover all the money the thieves stole from Emil, protect Bernadette from her worst instincts, mend his fracturing relationship with Edie and everyone else in his life without blowing up his life in Pinyon, Texas. But then, getting everything you want out of life can prove more difficult than mastering the Texas Two-Step.

 

 

Cash pursues a hunch at Mozart's Coffee Roasters at Oyster's Landing

 

 

Final Thoughts

When robbery and murder endanger a former employer, Cash risks everything he has built in Pinyon and endures familial difficulties with his parents and brother to protect a man battling the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease in Jeff Kerr’s novel Murder Creek.

 

Rating: 5 Stars 

Peruse Jeff books and connect with him at Jeff Kerr's website.

Find Murder Creek at Amazon.com.

Blunt Force Trauma Audiobook Review

 

 

Blunt Force Trauma Audiobook Review

Writer: Jeff Kerr

Narrator: Ric Chetter

 

Adam Cash is a man deeply in love. He wants to rekindle his relationship with Edie James, the High School sweetheart he left behind to join the Army. He hopes to capitalize on his bachelor’s degree in criminology and his Police Academy training by gaining a job in law enforcement. Adam yearns to spend more time with his infant daughter Emma, even if Bernadette Fenster keeps pushing him away after burdening her with responsibility from their drunken one-night stand. But most of all, he loves his hometown of Pinyon, Texas. Adam wants to spend the rest of his life there and safeguard the small town's future. So why does Adam feel like he is on the outside looking in? Let's leap into Blunt Force Trauma and find out!

 

Story

Adam Cash returned home after serving two tours in Afghanistan and getting a degree at Sam Houston State University. At least, he returned to the house he grew up in. But his parents have traded Pinyon for a better life in Austin. Adam managed to talk them out of selling the house that generations of his family called home. He hopes to restore the surrounding acreage to encourage native wildlife. But all that takes money. And after a year in Pinyon, he's still stringing barbed wire for a pittance.

 

Jeff based the Pinyon courthouse on this one in Blanco, Texas.

 

 

Opportunity beckons when the Pinyon Police advertise a vacancy on their website. Adam’s hopes rise when he gets an interview. But Sheriff Griff Turner harbors ill will toward Cash from their High School days. The interview in the police station at the Pinyon Courthouse escalates into a confrontation, with neither man believing he can work with the other. With his hopes in ruins, Adam sees little hope of remaining in Pinyon and pursuing his desired career. As he discusses his dilemma with his childhood friend Steve Jenkins, who runs Packsaddle Brewing, Adam gets an idea. The local elections are approaching. If he can't serve Pinyon as a police deputy, perhaps he could protect it as the town's Sheriff?

Texas Cannon in Blanco was Jeff's inspiration for Packsaddle Brewing.

 

Taking the spotlight doesn’t come easy for Adam. While he made it through college, he wishes his organizational skills were better. He knows someone who can help him. But will Edie James agree to organize his electoral campaign?

 

Steve started Packsaddle Brewing after graduating from Pinyon High.

 

 

While Adam seeks to establish a foothold on his future, forces align against him. They bear him no malice. It's just business. And it's a dirty business, one the foulest ever conceived by man. Adam Cash makes an easy target. After fighting to win his dream job, Adam flees his home. Sure, Adam could run to his parents' house in Austin. They would doubtless hire lawyers to protect him. His father's HVAC business could fund his defense. But someone murdered Griff Turner, and the acting Sheriff of the Pinyon Police, Clovis Ward, is eager to arrest him. Adam has friends like Steve and Edie, who can help him. But there is only one person sufficiently driven to clear his name before the good people of Pinyon: Adam Cash.

 

Jeff modeled the Firewheel Cafe where Edie works on Blanco's Redbud Cafe.

 

As Adam investigates Sheriff Turner’s murder, he uncovers other reasons why Griff wouldn't want to hire him. Adam learns why a local frozen yogurt shop only opens two days each week. He discovers public servants who abuse their positions for personal gain. He even uncovers skeletons in his own family's closet. After his novel Refuge, Jeff Kerr once again shines a spotlight on the dangers facing those who hope for a better life by immigrating illegally to the United States. Jeff Kerr enhances Adam Cash's story by showing how Human Traffickers seize upon their prey and bend them to their will. It's a despicable business made possible by good people who, like Adam, need a little extra income and those who refuse to report the evildoers for fear of retaliation.

 

Adam gives a speech at the Firewheel Cafe while campaigning for Sheriff.

 

 

While Blunt Force Trauma makes for an enjoyable read, Ric Chetter’s narration advances the audiobook to the next level. Ric Chetter’s hard-bitten bass voice evokes an old cowboy sitting around a campfire, spinning a yarn for his fellow Texans after a long, hot day in the saddle. His voice handles male and female voices equally well and enthralled me from beginning to end. While I prefer music, I occasionally listen to audiobooks or podcasts when I walk. I must admit that when I faced high temperatures, low energy, or a bad mood, I had to trade Chetter's narration for music to power through my walk. But when temperatures fell, and I felt happy and energetic, I returned to Blunt Force Trauma.

 

Final Thoughts

Jeff Kerr discusses weighty issues as he spins an entertaining story and brings all his storylines to a satisfying conclusion, leaving me happy that I listened to the audiobook of Blunt Force Trauma. 

 

Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

 

Check out the ebook, paperback, and audiobook at Amazon.com

Learn more about his books and subscribe to his email at Jeff Kerr's website.

 

Review: Second Death by Jeff Kerr

 

 

Author: Jeff Kerr

Cover Artist: Cheynne Edmonston

Paperback: $9.99

ebook: $0.99

 

 

 

After serving his country in Afghanistan, Adam Cash wanted to join the police force in his hometown. Instead, he got blamed for the sheriff's murder. While clearing his name and finding the killer, Cash brought down a human trafficking ring. Will life get less dangerous for the new deputy in Pinyon, Texas? Let’s leap into Second Death by author Jeff Kerr and find out!

 

When an explosion rocks a gas station, Deputy Cash discovers a hidden tank in an incinerated truck. The driver, Ralph Spencer, was smoking while stealing diesel fuel. Cash finds a gold coin in his pocket. Learning that Ralph had a regular income but no job, Cash smells a mystery. Fellow deputy Keisha Hodge, another recent addition to the Pinyon Police force, is keen to help Cash investigate. But even after Ralph’s girlfriend Alissa goes missing, Sheriff Gabe Santos insists Ralph's death was due to Ralph's greed and carelessness, nothing more.

 

But then, Gabe Santos has a lot on his mind. After inheriting the job from his predecessor, a local rancher forced the county commissioners to hold a special election. Santos hates all the paperwork his new job brings. Still, he never wants to work for a corrupt sheriff again. So he asks Cash’s girlfriend, Edie James, to help run his campaign. But the rival candidate’s offer to purchase Edie’s services endangers Santos’ poorly funded campaign.

 

In his sequel to Blunt Force Trauma, Jeff Kerr throws many obstacles into Adam Cash’s path. He’ll battle a doubting boss, threats to his love life and family, and attempts on his life as he follows a trail of financial breadcrumbs across state lines to find Alissa and discover Ralph Spencer’s killer. Plus, there's also an alligator named Jeremiah. He's always hungry for his next meal!

 

Warning: Second Death contains racism, sex scenes, and religious themes.

 

Second Death is available at Amazon.com

Visit Jeff Kerr's website

Revisit Jeff's first Adam Cast novel with my review of Blunt Force Trauma 

 

 

Blunt Force Trauma Review

 

Adam Cash served two terms in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Jeff Kerr's novel Blunt Force Trauma, he's returned to his hometown of Pinyon, Texas. Yet despite his service to his country, a university degree, and training at a police academy in Austin, he’s stuck doing odd jobs. When Sheriff Turner—a high school rival—rejects his application, Adam’s had enough. If Adam can’t belong in this small town, he’ll rule it as the new sheriff!

 

Trained to return enemy fire, Adam makes a poor impression as a political candidate. Yet the morning after losing the election to his rival, deputies find the sheriff's body. As the evidence piles up, all fingers point Adam's way. Forget innocent until proven guilty. Adam must find the sheriff's killer to avoid prison in Blunt Force Trauma.

 

Adam's far from perfect in Jeff Kerr's novel. His yearning to see the world left his girlfriend's life in tatters. A drunken one-night stand left another woman with a child to raise. Jack’s hair-trigger anger, his penchant for endangering his friends, and a sense of entitlement make him far from perfect. Yet Adam’s not a murderer. Now, if only he can prove it.

 

Jeff Kerr paints a scathing portrait of small-town Texan life in Blunt Force Trauma. Corruption and greed plague the innocent and make good people's lives miserable. Can one good man balance the scales and make Pinyon a town worth living in again? Pair this High Plains Drama with chocolate milk and cookies, and find out!  

 

For more see Jeff Kerr's website or preorder your copy at amazon.com

Review: Refuge by Jeff Kerr

 

Writer: Jeff Kerr

Cover Artist: David Provolo

Publisher: Treaty Oak Publishers

Paperback: $7.49

Paperback Release Date: May 28, 2023

Kindle: $2.99

Kindle Release Date: July 17, 2023

Also available from Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Apple Books, and Kobo

 

Economic hardship forced Miranda Flores' family to leave Albuquerque, New Mexico, and return home. When her brother allied with the wrong people, the Salvadoran government ordered her family slaughtered. After fleeing her homeland, how will the city of her youth welcome her? Let's leap into Jeff Kerr's new novel Refuge and find out!

 

Story

Tragedy strikes after sneaking into the United States. Separated from her friend Fecundo, Miranda travels alone to Albuquerque. Yet cameras track her movements. Many people view all nonCaucasians—even U.S. citizens—with suspicion. She can't even purchase goods and services legally without an implanted microchip.

 

I wondered why Miranda and Fecundo chose to sneak into the United States in Jeff Kerr’s new novel Refuge. Wouldn’t it have been easier and safer to find another home—at least a temporary one—in another Central or South American country? For that matter, why not try Cuba, Jamaica, or the Bahamas? Ten years ago, Miranda's family got shafted by the system. The situation for illegal aliens living within U.S. borders has worsened since. Still, when you’ve got a gun against your head, you go with what you know, even if it’s grasping at straws. Miranda and Fecundo had friends and relatives in the U.S. Thus, their nightmare journey to the United States, which Jeff Kerr revealed in his stories "Death Train" and "Into The Fire," available at Bookfunnel.com.

 

Art

Jeff Kerr paints the United States in broad strokes. From local law enforcement to the White House, all levels of government play a role. Politicians have partnered with White Supremacists and Anti-Immigrant coalitions. Ordinary citizens become watchdogs and often take the law into their own hands. Any non-Caucasian, at any time, can be rounded up for questioning, beaten, or sent to an internment camp. At times, I wished Jeff Kerr would have enhanced the dystopian future in Refuge with a more detailed history of how it came about. Yet that would have slowed the pace. And sadly, the seeds for this type of future are rooted in our history: our treatment of Japanese citizens during World War II; our distrust of Middle Eastern citizens following September 11, 2001; and the way many blamed Asians for the Covid-19 pandemic. Such examples of racial hatred, and the insurrection on January 6, 2021, ground Kerr’s dark vision.

 

He also draws his characters with precision in Refuge. They define themselves through their words and actions, and I never forgot who was who. As the story unfolds, we learn more about Miranda—the girl she was and the woman she's become. She meets people from her past, finds work, and makes friends and enemies. Yet the incident puts U.S. agents on her trail. She’s never safe. She’s always at risk.

 

The intense themes and fast pace dominate my recollection of the book. Still, while writing this review, my wife asked if Jeff reduced the tension with humor. When I shook my head, she said I'd often smiled or chuckled when reading Refuge. I can only assume that the interactions between Jeff's appealing and sympathetic characters were so truthful that I took heart from them. I rooted for Miranda—and hoped she could make a new life for herself—all the way through.

 

Final Thoughts

Grounded in historic and contemporary racial hatred and supported with nationalist and anti-immigrant zeal, Jeff Kerr's novel Refuge demonstrates how prejudice can fuel fascism and how delicate and precious democracy is.

 

Rating: 4 Stars

 

P.S. Thanks to Jeff Kerr & Treaty Oak Publishers for sending me a review copy of Refuge. 

Related Links

Jeff Kerr's website: www.jeffreykerrauthor.com

 

 

How Times Have Changed

Last week while I waited for my wife to have outpatient surgery, I read a short story from Kevin J Anderson's anthology War Of The Worlds: Global Dispatches. It imagined Winston Churchill in South Africa meeting a character from H. Rider Haggard's Allan Quartermain novels. 

 

I also read End Of The Line, a free short story I downloaded from Book Funnel. It concerns two immigrants trying to escape certain death in Central America by sneaking into the USA via Mexico. It's a particularly vivid portrayal of the difficulties faced by illegal immigrants, and serves as a prequel to a novel Jeff Kerr will release later this year.

 

While she had surgery, and then slept in Recovery, I read three issues of Bishop War College. For more, see my review of Bishop War College #4.

 

 

During the week, and later when my wife had to spend two nights in the hospital, I read A Contest Of Principles by Greg Cox. While Kirk oversees an election on one planet, McCoy goes missing on another. Spock follows the doctor, but gets kidnapped for his troubles. I haven't finished it yet, but it's nice to read a new novel set during the period of the original series. 

In my youth, I hunted for Star Trek books in bookstores, and comics on convenience store spinner racks. I rarely found everything I wanted, and few original novels set during the original series had been published. Now I read comics online, and can read books on my phone and kindle. Maybe I'm easily impressed, but I'm still a little in awe of how radically times have changed.