Novel 'Death Row Defender,' A Legal Thriller By Ray Dix, Is Finalist For A Third Literary Award

EPIC, the Electronically Published Internet Connection, has announced that 'Death Row Defender,' the mystery / legal thriller by Ray Dix, is one of four finalists for best mystery novel of 2005 published in electronic format. In 'Death Row Defender,' retired Public Defender, Woody Thomas, struggles with his own doubts of his client's innocence, the police, the system, an assassin, and his own past to exonerate a death row defendant.

St. Petersburg, FL (PRWEB) January 3, 2006 -- Ray Dix’s legal thriller / mystery, 'Death Row Defender,' has been named one of four finalists for an EPPIE Award for best mystery of 2005 published as an e-book. The EPPIE awards, presented by EPIC, the Electronically Published Internet Connection, honor the best electronically published books of the year. The winner chosen from the finalists will be named Saturday, March 18, 2006 in San Antonio, TX, during EPICon 2006. For more on EPIC, EPPIEs, and EPICon, visit: http://www.epicauthors.org/index.html

This is the third time 'Death Row Defender' has been recognized with an award for excellence. Prior to publication, Attorney Dix’s novel received awards from the Maryland Writers Association as a 2003 Novel Contest award winner, and from Authorlink, as a New Author Contest award winner (in 2000 under the title 'Clearwater Run'). 'Death Row Defender' is published in both electronic format and trade paperback.

Reader reviews for 'Death Row Defender' have also been favorable:

"PD Dude," a California Public Defender with a blog, says of 'Death Row Defender:' "The story is very interesting, the drama is very real, and aside from the thriller aspect to the book, it gives a terrific insight into the life, mindset, and complexity of a defense lawyer." "The book is a quick read, once you start it is engrossing and hard to put down." For the complete review, see the 12/22/05 submission at: http://publicdefenderdude.blogspot.com/
    
“Narayan of Rebeccasreads highly recommends ‘Death Row Defender’ as an impressive legal thriller & a must-read for the student of criminal law. . . right up there with the best lawyer/author writers. . .” (excerpted from Amazon.com). The full review is found on http://www.rebeccasreads.com/
    
William C. McLain, a capital appeals attorney from Tallahassee, Florida, describes 'Death Row Defender' as: “. . . a page turner. . . compelling . . . crisp and fast . . . captures the stress, the frustration and the excitement that accompanies the defending of a capital case through the courts.” (From the back cover of 'Death Row Defender')

In addition to being a member of EPIC, Dix is a member of the Mystery Writers of America http://www.mysterywriters.org/ and is active in the organization’s Florida Chapter http://www.mwa-florida.org/index.htm. He is also a member of the Maryland Writer’s Association http://www.marylandwriters.org/, and the Florida Writer’s Association http://www.floridawriters.net/

As a capital crimes defense attorney for the State of Florida, author Ray Dix helped provide the last line of defense for men and women sentenced to die. As an Assistant Capital Collateral Representative in Tallahassee, he reinvestigated murder convictions and assisted in death row appeals. Mr. Dix also worked as an Assistant Public Defender, where he tried juvenile, misdemeanor and felony cases, and wrote several hundred appeals. Dix served in both the Army Security Agency (1966-1970) and the Coast Guard Reserves (1974-1976). He later designed and built boats on the Chesapeake Bay.

Ray Dix lives in Florida, where he enjoys beaches, sunsets and sailing. He is currently writing the next Woody Thomas Novel.

The publisher of 'Death Row Defender,' Hard Shell Word Factory, is a royalty paying publisher of works by established and new authors for sale in electronic and trade paperback format. Hard Shell Word Factory publishes book-length quality non-fiction and fiction--Romance (all categories), Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Western, Historical, Mainstream, Young Adult and Children's books.

'Death Row Defender,' is distributed in print through Ingram, and is available in e-book and trade paperback through on-line and brick-and-mortar booksellers. The novel is also available directly through the publisher in both formats on line at: www.HardShell.com
e-book ISBN 0-7599-4259-5    
paperback ISBN 0-7599-4260-9

###