Shame the Devil

by Joel Mark Harris

Determined to stop drinking and put the nightmares to rest, journalist and former war correspondent John Webster wants to turn over a new leaf. But when a mysterious woman phones him out of nowhere about an oil company and its corrupt top executives, Webster fi nds himself dragged into a dangerous chess game played by the most powerful minds in the country. The whistleblower hands Webster a secret document indicating that Nerno Energy's largest oil site may actually be completely dry. As Webster digs deeper into the secrets of the energy company, he finds shocking evidence of corruption at the highest levels, perpetrated by people who will stop at nothing to silence him. Webster learns Nerno Energy is being readied for sale to foreign interests who may have their own agenda-an event with implications for the security of the whole of North America. This knowledge drives Webster to return to his old destructive habits and threatens his sanity, his relationships, and his life. When people start dying around him, Webster races to untangle this large conspiracy and bring those responsible to justice.

354 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2013

About the author

Joel Mark Harris is an award-winning British-Canadian journalist, novelist, screenwriter and producer. Born in Vancouver, he graduated from Langara Journalism School in 2007 and worked for the Squamish Chief newspaper before freelancing. At Langara, Joel got the idea to write a series of books about a journalist, the first of which is called A Thousand Bayonets. In the novel, a former war correspondent named John Webster maneuvers through the seedy underworld of Vancouver, trying to bring a vicious drug lord to justice. A Thousand Bayonets won an Editor’s Choice Award from Author Solutions.

In 2008, Joel went to British Columbia Institute of Technology for a public relations degree. After doing various jobs in the PR field, Joel wrote and produced Neutral Territory, a film about Henry Huge, who must return to his crazy Swiss family after falling into money troubles. Neutral Territory was nominated for a Maverick Award for Best Cinematography and Best Picture at the Beloit Film Festival. It won best feature film at the Interrobang Film Festival. It is also an official selection of the Beijing International Film Festival and the New York International Film Festival. Joel was nominated for best screenplay for Neutral Territory in the World Music & Independent Film Festival

Joel is currently writing a screenplay called Shots, a coming-of-age story about Carter, a teenager, who gets his first job at a coffee shop. He is also working on a sequel to his novel called Shame the Devil.

Reviews

[Karen Gail Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this book this morning, and finished it about an hour ago.

John Webster,a former war correspondent now working for the Daily Globe in Vancouver receives a call from an anonymous woman who tells him that the proposed drilling site Nerno Energy has in the Gulf of Thailand has no oil. The reports of oil were faked to drive up stock prices for the corporation.

John travels to Calgary, where Nerno is located, and begins an investigation. While Nerno executives try to silence John, he is turning up corruption in the company. Then there are murders, violence, international involvement. What more could you ask for?

This book has an exciting plot, interesting and dangerous characters, and is never loses your attention.

[Mao · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this book and finished it in one go. I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. Overall a great book and one I would highly recommend. It isn’t filled with dramatics and over the top situations but rather intense and suspenseful. This book portrays a realistic insight into the world of a journalist and most importantly, the internal issues John Webster faces when he investigates Nerno.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[Book Riot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shame The Devil is the second book by Joel Mark Harris that I have read. I really enjoyed it as much as the first. There was plenty of character development and tons of mystery and suspense. The whole story line was interesting and believable and it was good to meet up with main character, journalist John Webster, again.

[Frank Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good book. It deals with a company purchasing land with oil under it and selling it this way in investors, all the while knowing there was no oil under this land. Reporter John Webster receives this information and starts following up on it and it leads him on a merry journey of lies, deception, hacking into bank accounts and of course, a homicide or two thrown in.

[J. Ewbank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by Harris has everything you could want in a mystery. Characters which are understandable and realistic and whom you come to like or not like as the case may be. The plot keeps you reading and not wanting to put the book down. A very good job.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" "Wesley's Wars" and "To Whom It May Concern"

[J. Ewbank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by Harris has everything you could want in a mystery. Characters which are understandable and realistic and whom you come to like or not like as the case may be. The plot keeps you reading and not wanting to put the book down. A very good job.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" "Wesley's Wars" and "To Whom It May Concern"

[Ash]

Won in a giveaway. Looking forward to reading my first Goodreads win!