About the Book

Book: The Scarlet Pen

Author: Jennifer Uhlarik

Genre: Christian Historical Suspense

Release date: July 2021

Engaged to a Monster

Book 12 in the True Colors series—Fiction Based on Strange-But True History

Enjoy a tale of true but forgotten history of a 19th century serial killer whose silver-tongued ways almost trap a young woman into a nightmarish marriage.

In 1876, Emma Draycott is charmed into a quick engagement with childhood friend Stephen Dee Richards after reconnecting with him at a church event in Mount Pleasant, Ohio. But within the week, Stephen leaves to “make his fame and fortune.” The heartbroken Emma gives him a special pen to write to her, and he does with tales of grand adventures. Secret Service agent Clay Timmons arrives in Mount Pleasant to track purchases made with fake currency. Every trail leads back to Stephen—and therefore, Emma. Can he convince the naive woman she is engaged to a charlatan who is being linked a string of deaths in Nebraska?

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About the Author

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a preteen, when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a BA in writing, she has won five writing competitions and was a finalist in two others. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers and is a lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, teenage son, and four fur children.

More from Jennifer

Hello, Readers! For all who might never have read one of my stories or come across me, it’s great to meet you! I’m a wife, a mom, a (young!) grandma, and an author—among many other things. My author tagline is “Where Grit Meets Grace.” If you’re familiar with my writing at all, you’ll know that most of my stories at least touch on a bit of the difficult side of life. Death, abandonment, war, addiction, or who knows what else you might find. The Scarlet Pen is no different.

Given that this novel is the final installment in Barbour’s True Colors series, the story revolves around a true crime from history—in this case, the murders of serial killer Stephen Dee Richards—AKA the Nebraska Fiend. Anytime you’re dealing with someone so depraved as he, you’ll find plenty of “grit” to write about. But that’s only half of my tagline. Remember, it’s “Where Grit Meets Grace.”

While I love a story that delves into difficult topics and, in some cases, pushes the characters right to the edge of what they can handle, I also love a truly redemptive story. When I was asked to write for this series, the ideas that drew me the most were the ones that had something redeeming in the actual history. There were plenty of interesting historical killers I could’ve chosen where I could have manufactured a positive, even happy ending through the fictional characters in the book. In the case of Stephen Dee Richards, there was no manufacturing needed. The “grace” part was already written. The end of Stephen’s story is precisely why I chose to write about him. I hope you’ll find it as though-provoking and compelling as I did. Happy reading!

My Thoughts

The Scarlet Pen is written by Jennifer Uhlarik. This is book 12 in the True Colors series. The true color series takes real life cases and history and places fictional characters into it. I’ve read the whole series. They are all standalone novels. However I’ve enjoyed learning about all the different events in history that I didn’t know existed.

In the Scarlet Pen we travel to 19th century Mount Pleasant, Ohio. We see Emma reconnecting with her child hood friend, Stephen. The two have sparks fly immediately and they become engaged quickly. However Stephen leaves to claim his fortune. He sees out on a business adventure.

Clay is a secret service agent who has been looking into a bunch of crimes including counterfeit cash and murder. Clues are leading to Stephen. Clay questions Emma who doesn’t want to believe charming Stephen would be responsible. Clay continues to present the mounting evidence and Emma refuses to believe he’s a serial killer.

So, I disliked Stephen immediately. I did feel bad for Emma. She is young, naive and doesn’t want to think the man who has charmed her could be responsible for the crimes Clay is saying. Clay is the hero of the story. He kept coming back with more stuff to show Emma.

This book does contain some gruesome parts. It may be sensitive to some. The book is suspenseful, and full of mystery. I did some research that this book is based on and the author did a wonderful job capturing so much of the true story.

I received a copy of this book through the Celebrate Lit Blogging Program, all thoughts are my own.