Bookworm Corner

James William Peercy took a head-first leap into mystery writing with his first published novel, "Without a Conscious," and after reading this book, the reader will wonder what took Peercy so long to begin publishing his work.
 Peercy does not shy away from the fact that the inspiration for this novel was his father's recent battle with cancer.
Within the opening pages of the novel, he explains how his research into the disease and its history helped him write the novel. He ends the prologue by challenging the reader to learn about Johanna Budwig and her cancer research.
"Without a Conscious," is a fast-paced novel about a college student, Cliff, who wakes up to find an envelope has been slid under his door. The envelope contained pictures of a murdered elderly woman.
Moments after looking at the pictures, Cliff recives a phone call from an unknown number asking where "it" is. Cliff asks, "Who wants to know?" and the person on the line replies with, "You have 24 hours." Before Cliff can ask what "it" is, the line goes dead and there is a knock at his door.
Two FBI agents come in and question him about the murdered woman, his grandmother. As a law student, Cliff knows that the police not the FBI investigate normal homicides.
The reader is instantly drawn into the story because of how personal it becomes.
Cliff now has 24 hours to figure out who killed his grandmother and why, who the person on the other end of the phone is, why the FBI is following him and who can be trusted.
All of this happens within the first chapter of this 300-page novel that keeps the reader in a frenzy trying to follow the characters that are constantly on the move.
Rooted in conspiracy and centered around the biology department at the college he attends, Cliff finds himself in the middle of a huge cover-up scheme by the US government.
This novel has family drama, violence, and Cliff stumbles upon love in a corner store clerk, Penny, who narrowly escapes death in one of the many shootouts of the novel. She becomes his right hand and sidekick, but Cliff continually questions how he came to be in an ideal romance at such an inopportune time.
The purpose of Penny's character in the novel is to help break up the action and give the reader something steady to focus on while Cliff is moving from his home to his friends home, his job, his college campus, and his grandmother's home. It also keeps the novel personal and appeals to the romantic audience.
As time ticks by, he finds out just how much his grandmother had been hiding about her life and how much trouble she was really in.
Can Cliff decipher the clues his grandmother left behind? If he finds out what "it" is, should he give it to the FBI or the man on the phone? Is Penny really as innocent as she seems? Who are the good guys? Will Cliff even make it through the 24-hour period?
This mystery crime thriller, released in June, will keep the reader guessing from beginning to end.
The only criticism is that so much happens within a 24-hour period. The author could have made the timeline more realistic by placing it over a 48-hour period.
Peercy is a 46 year old Californian native and computer scientist. He currently resides in Denison, Texas and owns Computer Communications Solutions in the same city. Peercy is set to release his second novel, a fantasy, in the fall.