Refugio High School graduate earns Literary Titan award

“Your book deserves extraordinary praise, and we are proud to acknowledge your hard work, dedication and writing talent,” Anderson wrote.

Anderson described “Lagniappe” as a novel that balances “domestic tenderness with tactical menace.”

“It is a story about second chances bought at a high price,” he wrote. “Lagniappe is a hard-edged thriller with a homesick heart.”

The novel follows Brock Beckett, a military veteran confronting danger in the fictional community of Destiny, Arkansas. Anderson said McLemore gives the character “bruised restraint, moral exhaustion, and a surprisingly literary mind.”

The reviewer recommended the book to readers of military thrillers, crime fiction, mysteries, small-town suspense, political intrigue and family drama.

“Destiny may look like a modest Arkansas town of cafes, churches, ranchland and school-board politics, but the book steadily reveals that even a peaceful place can become a firing line,” Anderson wrote.

Literary Titan awards are based on an editor’s review and rankings from a peer board, according to the organization. Selected books are featured on Literary Titan’s website along with an official review and author interview.

“I was taken completely by surprise by the recognition given to an author’s debut novel,” McLemore said. “The Destiny, Arkansas Series of novels is a mystery/thriller look at life lived by mostly ordinary people as the small town of Destiny, Arkansas, faces the threat of a growing evil.”

McLemore is a former editor of The Hope Star. He retired after more than 30 years as a reporter and editor in Texas and Arkansas and lives in Hope, Arkansas, with Carolyn, his wife of 51 years.

His next book, the legal thriller “Gravitas,” is scheduled for publication in September.