Posts Tagged ‘thriller’

Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush ~ Review And Giveaway

Posted: October 24, 2024 in Excerpt, giveaways, reviews, suspense, thriller
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FROZEN LIVES
by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush
October 7 – November 1, 2024 Virtual Book Tour

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Synopsis:
A Coroner’s Daughter Mystery

 

Dr. Emily Hartford is back in Frozen Lives, the next thrilling mystery from Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.

Chicago surgeon Emily Hartford has never quite shaken off the dust of her hometown in Michigan. She may be a professional success and have a princely boyfriend in the Windy City, but she can’t seem to let go of being “the coroner’s daughter” from Freeport. Once again, she finds herself pulled back upstate during a wintery late March when Jeremiah, the eleven year-old son of her best friend, Jo, goes missing on the frigid shores of Lake Michigan. Emily immediately joins the search for the boy. To everyone’s relief, Jeremiah turns up days later, alive and unharmed. But tensions remain high, and suspicions of every sort continue to grow. Jeremiah’s account of his abduction doesn’t add up and Emily worries about Jo’s unraveling marriage. Jeremiah’s recovery, it turns out, is not the end of their terrifying tale. It’s only the beginning … For moving among them is a devious, malevolent force. Sowing panic while seeking to fulfill his own twisted needs, this wolf in sheep’s clothing leaves a trail of rack and ruin, negligent to the damages in his wake … and the bodies he leaves behind. Emily solidifies her role as coroner’s daughter when she puzzles out this madman’s chilling machinations. Risking everything dear to her, Emily goes the icy distance to end his killing spree.

Praise for Frozen Lives:

“Fast paced, engaging, evocative.” ~ J.A. Jance “FROZEN LIVES is what a thriller should be—dark, twisty, and oh so scary. Lock your doors and enjoy.” ~ DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Jake Longly and Cain/Harper thriller series and co-creator of the Outliers Writing University “Jennifer Dornbush scares the living hell out of me. When I want to stay up all night, I just read one of her books, and Frozen Lives doesn’t disappoint. On par with Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, Frozen Lives weaves a terrifying tale of evil, paranoia and when you go to bed at night make sure your doors are locked tight. A terrific story.” ~ Don Bruns, USA Today Best Selling Author “Chilling! Jennifer Dornbush has crafted a thriller that haunts the mind and can keep you deep in the pages into the wee hours! A not to miss psychological mystery with twists and turns throughout.” ~ Heather Graham

 

Book Details:

Genre: thriller, suspense, female detective

Published by: Blackstone Publishing Publication Date: October 29, 2024 Number of Pages: 350 ISBN: 9798212638364 Series: The Coroner’s Daughter Mysteries, 4

Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | Blackstone Publishing

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MY REVIEW

I read the exciting synopsis for Frozen Lives and knew I had to read it. The story takes place in Michigan and I was born there. Got me curious.

Emily dropped everything and rushed to the icy shores of Lake Michigan upon learning her best friends young son had disappeared. Miraculously, he reappeared days later with a story that didn’t compute. Thus the mystery deepened. And the closer Emily got to the truth, the most dangerous things became.

When the opening scene grips me, I get excited, cross my fingers and toes and hope the rest of the book is just as gripping. And it was. The author had me coming and going, with no solid idea of the who, what and why. And the characters were genuine. Not perfect, just human beings.

And the villain of the story. It doesn’t have to be a creature or something supernatural to make you fear the dark.

As I got closer to the end, I hoped the author would make it a killer one. Done deal!

4 STARS

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Enjoy this peek inside:

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About Author Jennifer Graeser Dornbush:

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Jennifer Graeser Dornbush

The television or movie screen is the closest most people will ever come to witnessing the forensic world. But Jennifer Dornbush was raised in it. As the daughter of a small-town medical examiner whose office was in their home. There were body parts in the fridge. She investigated her first fatality, an airplane crash, when she was 8 years old. Picking up pieces of skull with her father who simply saw it as an anatomy lesson. The first of many coroner lessons she experienced over two decades. After exploring journalism and high school teaching, Jennifer turned seriously to screenwriting where she began to connect her coroner world to her writing. She sought out a degree at the Forensic Science Academy in Los Angeles to gain more forensic training and earned a unique kinship with LA’s top CSIs, fingerprint specialists, DNA scientists, and detectives. To share her love of forensics with the writing world, she authored the top selling non-fiction authoritative book, Forensic Speak, used by not only by show-runners and writers, but also crime investigators and law enforcement. She created an Amazon top selling mystery novel series, The Coroner’s Daughter, which she is currently developing as a series for TV. Her crime thriller, Hole in the Woods, is currently optioned for screen. She is a contributor to mystery anthologies, Hotel California and Thriller. She has also penned two true crime books. As a screenwriter Jennifer wrote the theatrically released film and novel, God Bless the Broken Road (2018), adapted a popular YA novel to script, and sold a children’s show. She is currently developing TV drama series and feature films with various productions companies. As a forensic consultant, she is frequently asked to consult with TV writers on shows such as: Bull, Conviction, Hawaii Five-O, Leverage, Suits, and Rectify. She teaches screenwriting and mentors aspiring writers. Jennifer is a member of the Writers’ Guild of America, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, & the FBI Citizen’s Academy Alumni.

Catch Up With Jennifer Graeser Dornbush: www.JenniferDornbush.com Goodreads BookBub – @jgdornbush1 Instagram – @jgdornbush YouTube – @ForensicSpeakJenniferDornbush Facebook – @JGDornbush

 

 

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and opportunities to WIN in the giveaway! Click here to view the Tour Schedule  

 

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN!

This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Jennifer Graeser Dornbush and Blackstone Publishing. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.

 

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Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Tours

 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

A Little Getaway by Bonnie Traymore ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Posted: October 19, 2024 in Excerpt, giveaways, suspense, thriller
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A Little Getaway

by Bonnie Traymore

 

Publication date: October 9th 2024
Genres: Adult, Suspense, Thriller

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“Traymore’s page-turner is a tension-filled psychological thriller, where the line between friend and foe is razor thin.” Tracey Devlin, USA TODAY bestselling author

A little getaway takes a deadly turn for Morgan and Kyle Murphy in this spicy suspense thriller about a marriage filled with passion, dark secrets, and suspicions.

Morgan Murphy has always longed for a romance for the ages. And she’s found it with the love of her life, husband Kyle Murphy—until their spicy marriage suddenly starts to cool off.

Is Kyle preoccupied and distant because of a problem with his development project? Or is it something worse? Could Kyle Murphy be…cheating? He’s hiding something, that’s for sure. And Morgan’s determined to find out what it is.

With the help of gal pal Carla Flores, Morgan tracks her husband’s movements, and the signs increasingly point to infidelity, the ultimate sin in Morgan’s book. When Kyle increases their life insurance and surprises her with a weekend getaway to get their mojo back, she goes on the offensive and hatches a plan to make him come clean about what’s been going on.

But before she can pull it off, Morgan’s attacked and nearly kidnapped, and Kyle vanishes from the resort without a trace. With no clue as to who took Kyle or why, she’s not sure who is the biggest threat: the shady investor he owes money to, the police, or the guys she hired to teach Kyle a lesson. With the clock ticking, she needs to find out soon.

Before they come for her, too.

Goodreads / Amazon

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Enjoy this peek inside:

Morgan

I smell death in the air. A briny scent with an undercurrent of decay, wafting in from the murky sea outside our sliding glass door.

“Kyle?” I call out again.

Nothing.

Maybe he went for a walk on the beach?

But that wasn’t the plan.

Something’s not right.

I close the door and lock it.

Where did he go?

A log pops in the fireplace, and I startle. This was supposed to be a romantic little getaway, but so far, things have been tense.

“I have a surprise for you, Morgan,” he said, about a week ago.

So here I am, in this little cottage on the beach that he picked for us, in the middle of nowhere, a few miles north of Monterey Bay. A chance to rekindle our marriage. Put some spark back into it. The resort, if you could call it that, is a series of separate units on a vast swath of beachfront land, one step up from a trailer park. I suppose it could be romantic under different circumstances, with the rugged beach outside our door and a cozy fire inside.

I have a bad feeling, though. I came out of the shower and saw a few drops of blood in the bathroom sink. I figured he’d cut himself shaving. And now he’s nowhere to be found. A chill runs up my spine. This place is getting creepier by the minute. Do I wait here like a sitting duck?

The office is on the other side of the property, and I’m not sure if anyone’s there at this hour of the night. It’s not that late. Just after nine in the evening. But even when we checked in, around noon, it took a good twenty minutes for the woman to come to the front desk and help us.

I don’t want to overreact, so I decide I’ll take the car and drive to the store.

Better safe than sorry.

We talked about the fact that I needed milk for my morning coffee. It’ll buy me some time, and when I get back, maybe he’ll be here, wondering where I’ve been. And if it turns out to be nothing, I can keep this little freak out to myself.

But we took his car, so I have to find the keys. I rush into the bedroom and look around. I thought I saw them on the dresser, but they’re not there.

His pants are draped over the back of a chair.

I check the pockets.

Nothing.

My heart starts to race.

I rifle through his carry-on bag.

No luck.

His cell is gone, along with his wallet. I wonder if he went out for provisions while I was in the shower? But the car is parked near the office, a few cottages away, so I can’t see if he’s taken it. I pick up the house phone and call the front desk, thinking maybe the attendant could check if the car is there. It rings and rings and nobody answers.

My heart races even faster. Rushing into the kitchen area, I survey the options. I grab the utility knife. With its five-inch blade, it’s the best option. This is a risky move. I’ll look like a psycho walking around with it if someone sees me, and the last thing I want is to call attention to myself. But the place seems deserted, so it’s unlikely I’ll be spotted.

Who comes to a beach resort in the middle of winter?

This was his idea, I remind myself.

And now I’m here.

Alone.

At a deserted resort.

Clenching the knife in my fist, I step out the sliding glass door and start making my way to the front office.

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About Author Bonnie Traymore:

Bonnie Traymore is the Amazon Bestselling author of seven domestic/psychological thrillers. Her thrillers feature strong but relatable female protagonists who peel back the layers of suburban American life and give readers a peek inside. The plots explore difficult topics such as jealousy, infidelity, murder, and the impact of psychological disorders, but she also includes bits of romance and humor to lighten the mood from time to time. She’s an active status member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America.

Bonnie has a doctorate in United States history and has taught at top independent high schools as well as Columbia University and the University of Hawaii. Originally from the NYC area, she resides in Honolulu with her family.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

 

GIVEAWAY!

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

From Dawn To Dusk by Ellis K. Popa ~ Trailer Reveal And Giveaway

Posted: October 18, 2024 in giveaways, thriller, Trailer, YA
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Today Ellis K. Popa and Rockstar Book Tours
are revealing the trailer for DAWN TO DUSK, the second book in her YA thriller
series book which releases November 26!

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Check out the awesome trailer and enter the giveaway!

 

On to the reveal!

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About The Book:



DAWN TO DUSK (The
Awaken Saga #2)

by Ellis K. Popa

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Pub. Date: November 26, 2024

Publisher: And Fire Books

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 431

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Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/DAWN-TO-DUSK-POPA 

 

She thought they’d never find her.
She was wrong.

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Kat and Maksim have been hiding in a
sleepy Mediterranean town. It’s paradise, heaven on earth… So then why is
Maksim eager to send Kat home? And why has he been acting strange since making
contact with a certain hacker?

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Kat is determined to find out, but when a misstep in her “investigation”
infuriates the hacker and her crew, the fallout puts Kat and Maksim on a
collision course with the crime syndicate that’s been hunting them down. With
nowhere else to turn, they seek asylum in Paris with an old friend of Maksim’s,
hoping for a place to lie low. Things seem calm, hopeful… until a
heartwrenching betrayal by Maksim comes to light.

As the evidence piles up, Kat is forced to rely on the kindness of his old
friend, a Frenchman who’s there to help pick up the pieces of her broken heart.
But not everything is what it seems in the City of Light, and Maksim isn’t the
only one keeping secrets. Kat’s intuition, her instinct, even her vivid,
foreboding dreams are no match for this game of cat and mouse.

The chess pieces are in place. The crime syndicate is closing in. Will Kat wake
up to the truth before it’s too late?

Dawn to Dusk is the thrilling continuation of The Awaken Saga, a YA crossover
series that begins with a cryptic scavenger hunt and transitions into an
action-packed thriller. Perfect for fans of The Bourne Identity, Angels
& Demons, and Holly Jackson novels like The Reappearance
of Rachel Price and Five Survive.

 


“Ellis K. Popa (delivers) an
amazing story full of mystery, intrigue and romance.” – John Benedict, Bestselling Author of Adrenaline ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“A gripping and unforgettable read that heralds Popa as a rising star
in the genre…” – Elicia Meairs, Netgalley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Get ready for an exhilarating ride that will keep you guessing until the
final, breathtaking conclusion. Perfect for fans of puzzle mysteries like Inheritance
Games and Da Vinci Code and clever crime fiction like
‘Sherlock’, The Reappearance of Rachel Price, and A
Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.


Awards & Recognition for Awaken the Dawn: The Awaken Saga, Book
1…

Cascade Awards – 1st Place
Blue Seal Awards– 1st Place
The Selfie Awards UK (London Book Fair) – Shortlist: Top 8
The Wishing Shelf Awards UK – Finalist
Page Turner Awards UK – Finalist
Killer Nashville Readers’ Choice Awards – Finalist: Top 6 (All Genres)
Claymore Awards – Finalist: Top 6
Silver Falchion – Top Pick
Writers’ League of Texas – Finalist
Badge of Honor – 1st Place (Fiction) / Runner Up (All Genres)
Write to Publish – 2nd Place
Serious Writer’s Writer of the Year – Semifinalist


Worldwide praise for Awaken the Dawn…


“Go ahead, go add this to your TBR!”– Books with Cats
(Europe) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“This book blew me away. It was thrilling.” – Mark M.,
Goodreads (US) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“This is an absolutely delicious book. I both devoured it in one day,
and savoured every word!” – Charlotte, Blue Fairy Bugs Books
(UK) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The book was absolutely amazing and I couldn’t get enough of it. I
can’t wait to see what happens next.” – Scarlet Le Clair,
Horror & Romance Author, Editor + Netgalley Reviewer (UK) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

About Ellis K. Popa:

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When Ellis
isn’t moonlighting as a coffee aficionada, you might find her adventuring
through Transylvania, doing photoshoots in Old Town Bucharest, or otherwise
trying to talk her husband into moving to Eastern Europe. She’s a lover of
history with a penchant for World War II and the Cold War, and her favorite
places in the world are Wallachia in beautiful Romania and the Dalmatian Coast
of Croatia. She’s also an award-winning writer and budget-minded travel expert.

Sign up for Ellis’s
newsletter!

Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

Peek Inside And Giveaway ~ Spiral by Randy Dean Noble

Posted: October 8, 2024 in Excerpt, giveaways, horror, thriller
Tags: , ,
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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Spiral organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Randy Dean Noble will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner.  Don’t forget to enter!

And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Spiral

by Randy Dean Noble

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Genre: Horror / Thriller

Synopsis

They’re in the number one watched game in the world… or so they were told. But they have no memory of who or where they are. Something beyond their wildest imaginations awaits to mercilessly strike them down. And looming in the darkness is something worse… much worse.

Green—named after the color of car he’s driving—awakens on the side of a dark highway surrounded by dense forest. And he’s in an old muscle car with no way to tell time, no cell phone, and the radio doesn’t work. When he encounters others like himself, they have to join forces to unravel the mystery surrounding them. Yet, trust doesn’t come easily—someone amongst them is a saboteur.

With their lives at stake, they are compelled to engage in a race where being last means certain death. They must disentangle the truth that threatens to consume them, before they spiral out of control.

Spiral is a gripping tale of survival, coalition, and the terrifying secrets that lie hidden in the shadows.

Prepare for a rip-roaring, adrenaline-fueled ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

If you enjoy books by authors like Dean Koontz and Blake Crouch that involve supernatural thrills laced with fast-paced action, then check out Randy Dean Noble’s exciting horror thriller, Spiral, today.

Enjoy this peek inside:

A high-pitched scream pierced the air. And it wasn’t the creature. It was a human scream. A woman’s scream.

I ran. It was very close.

“Justin,” Blue said. “WAIT!”

I ran full tilt, Blue’s words not an option. Without a thought about the creature, I dashed out onto the highway, outside the protective barrier. The scream had come from the left.

It was pitch black, but I still had the flashlight from the bunker. I turned the light on, pointed it up the highway, and bolted forward.

I heard a car start up. Probably Blue.

I didn’t know I could run so fast, and I wasn’t panting too heavily yet. The checkpoint was a white glow above the tree line when I turned my head and glanced back while continuing to run forward.

And then there it was, Black’s car. She had stopped right in the lane, and all I could think of was someone or something had blocked her path. Otherwise, why didn’t she pull over to the shoulder? As I came up to her car, I panned the flashlight. There were no skid marks—she didn’t slam on the brakes.

The driver’s side door was wide open.

Darkness encompassed the area like a shroud, like a living thing closing in. Without my light, I’d be tripping over myself.

A car rumbled nearby, getting louder. Headlights soon blazed around me, which was a relief, the darkness no longer pushing at my back. I didn’t wait, flashing my light inside Black’s vehicle. Nothing seemed out of place, no sign of a struggle, no blood.

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About Author Randy Dean Noble:

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Randy Dean Noble is a supernatural thriller kind of guy. He grew up in Canada on a slew of movies and books (action/adventure, horror, sci-fi, and fantasy), all of which have inspired his writing interests. Working a plethora of minimum wage jobs took Randy into computer science and a career in I.T. (because he didn’t want to eat PB&J for the rest of his life). But his passion has always been writing, and his dream is to be a full-time fiction author. He writes stories he wants to read, which end up as fast-paced thrilling escape stories meant for one thing: to entertain the reader from beginning to end. His most recent work, Spiral, is a horror thriller wild ride you won’t soon forget.

Author Links: Website / Facebook / TikTok / Instagram

Buy Link

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

Peek Inside And Giveaway ~ Rabbit Moon by Jan D. Payne

Posted: October 1, 2024 in Excerpt, giveaways, Mytery/Thriller
Tags: , ,
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Rabbit Moon

by Jan D. Payne

 

Publication date: September 17th 2024
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller

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They say you can’t go back home, but Marin Sinclair, end-of-life doula, doesn’t expect her life to be in danger when she answers a mysterious plea for help from a long-ago friend and returns to Dinetah, the Navajo Nation. Her past there holds memories she is reluctant to confront, but what about her life then would make someone want to kill her?

Navajo Nation Police Sergeant Justin Blue Eyes shares a connection with Marin from the past, and he has a few questions of his own when Marin disappears―such as why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agents investigating the abandoned uranium mines on the reservation and how Marin is connected.

Marin needs to survive to find any answers, and to do so she is forced to run, going off the grid on her own in the Lukachukai mountains with unknown killers close behind.

Goodreads / Amazon

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Enjoy this peek inside:

The Bilagaana woman’s eyes were wide and staring, and even if she wasn’t a ghost-witch Haastiin Sani thought maybe she was crazy. Only someone crazy would have been out here alone in the dark and the rain. Crazy people must be treated with care, and the same for ghost-witches. It didn’t help to make them angry.

He looked at the woman, considering.

She was trembling now, as if cold, but witches and crazy people both were known to be clever. The sooner he saw her off the better, and he jerked his chin toward the direction of his camp and motioned the woman to follow. He would show her every hospitality and then gently nudge her on her way.

She looked somewhat better when he gave her a cup of hot coffee and offered the frybread his daughter had left for him, inviting her with a nod to take it, and tears came into her eyes as her lips and chin began to tremble.

Very much like a normal person, but it could be a ruse to cause him to relax his vigilance so she could blow corpse dust over him. He busied himself with the fire and wished fervently to be rid of this evil.

Marin knew she made this man very uncomfortable, and she thought she even knew why, considering where and how he had found her, but she didn’t know how to relieve his fears without making things worse.

“Thank you,” Marin murmured to the old man. “Ahéhee’,” she repeated.

She studied the man on the other side of the fire. His face was seamed and wrinkled, his frame was tall and spare beneath the loose shirt of red cotton tied with a woven sash. His gray hair was worn long, and there was a turquoise bead woven into a strand of hair near one temple.

A hogan was built higher up the slope, a blanket hanging across the eastern door, and an empty sheep pen was tucked into a rocky cliff a short way from it. A handsome bay horse wearing a rope halter stood nearby, sheltering under overhanging boards propped between a few corral poles and the cliff.

She looked around for the sheep she knew must be somewhere close by, and the dogs, but they weren’t in sight. She didn’t see any sort of vehicle either, or any other person besides the old man, watching her surreptitiously.

The old man cleared his throat suddenly, and she flinched, startled, but instead of speaking, the old man rose to his feet and walked toward the corral.

She stood as well, thinking he meant for her to follow, but he gave no sign, and she paused.

Passing Marin without word or look, he ducked under the hogan’s blanket door, emerging a moment later with an ancient-looking saddle, a bridle, and a thick saddle blanket woven in red and black yarns.

Silently, he began to saddle the horse, smoothing the blanket across the horse’s back and throwing the saddle over, pulling the cinch tight. He put the bridle on last, settling the bit into the horse’s mouth before reaching to adjust the braided ear straps. Without looking at her, he walked back, thrust the reins towards Marin, and spoke for the first time.

“You go now,” he said, and pursed his lips, pushing his chin toward the east.

Marin opened her mouth to object to taking his horse and slowly closed it again. The old man was giving her a way to get down the mountain, and she had no wish to bring trouble to him if Tolliver managed to follow her here.

She took the reins.

Haastiin Sanii grunted and stepped away toward the fire, and Marin tied her jacket to the saddle, surprised when he returned and pushed the remainder of the frybread into her hands.

“Over there,” he said, pointing again with his chin, “is a good way down.”

She waited for any more words the man might offer, for he seemed to be listening and thinking carefully, but he said nothing. He slapped the horse on the rump and stepped away.

“You go now,” he repeated.

Marin mounted, then turned in the saddle. “I’ll leave the horse at a trading post below,” she said.

Haastiin Sanii shrugged, relieved, as he watched her ride away. She was someone in a lot of trouble or someone bringing a lot of trouble, but he had done the best he could.

He looked down at his sash and fingered the gun he had found beside the spring, then looked down the trail at the woman on his grandson’s horse. He wondered if she knew a flashflood was coming and if she knew enough to stay out of the canyon.

He shrugged again, figured a ghost-witch would know and a crazy person wouldn’t care.

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About Author Jan D. Payne:

Drawing from her years in the Southwest and the Navajo Nation, Jan Payne writes on themes of courage, regret, hope, and restoration in a world of created kinships. Through her characters’ lives and shared dangers—Marin Sinclair, end-of-life doula; Sergeant Justin Blue Eyes of the Navajo Nation Police; Cullen MacPherson, agent for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Garret Washburn, teenaged ward of Marin’s, and Lewis George, Raven spirit-guide-cum-trickster—she takes readers on a journey through the complex interactions of cultural backgrounds and personal histories, highlighting the way kinships forged in crisis have the power to reshape our lives.

Jan Payne lived on the Dineh (Navajo) reservation in Sanostee, on the New Mexico side of the Lukachukai mountain range, where she spent summers climbing mesas, taking camping trips on horseback, exploring ghost towns in the mountains of Colorado, or working with her dad breaking and training horses in Sanostee. Her two most memorable summer jobs were at a Durango, Colorado dude ranch working with pack mule trains and a brief stint as a camp cook at a uranium mining site.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

Insensible Loss by Linda L. Richards ~ Review And Giveaway

Posted: September 27, 2024 in Excerpt, giveaways, reviews, suspense, thriller
Tags: , , ,
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Insensible Loss by Linda L. Richards Banner

INSENSIBLE LOSS
by Linda L. Richards
September 9 – October 4, 2024 Virtual Book Tour

 

 

Synopsis:
The Endings Series

 

Her life is over . . . yet somehow she carries on

After attempting to sever all ties to her life as a hired assassin, a woman struggles to understand who she has become. She knows she doesn’t want to kill again–but it proves to be a difficult habit to break, particularly in a world where people are after her and those she loves most. Adrift and disconnected, she meets an old woman: Imogen O’Brien, a world-famous artist who has spent the last three decades living a hermit-like existence on a rustic desert estate in a national forest. Imogen invites her to stay and work for her, offering mentorship in return as the woman deepens her own interest in art. What quickly becomes apparent is that elements of Imogen’s past are shrouded in danger, sorrow, and darkness. Rather than growing as an artist, the former hitwoman soon finds herself enmeshed in a dangerous mystery with strands that stretch decades into the past.

Praise for Insensible Loss:

“Deception, loss, and the past all collide in this propulsive thriller. A skillfully crafted plot combined with memorable characters makes Insensible Loss a must read.” ~ James L’Etoile, award-winning author of Face of Greed and the Detective Nathan Parker series

 

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller/Suspense

Published by: Oceanview Publishing Publication Date: September 17, 2024 Number of Pages: 320 ISBN: 978-1608095148 Series: The Endings Series, Book 4 | Each is a Stand-Alone

Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

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MY REVIEW

I’ve been wanting to try this series. My plan was to start at the beginning but, even though I started further into the series, this easily read as a stand alone. Mind you, I do plan to go back and start at the beginning now. The characters are so genuine and the main protagonist is an assassin trying to leave that world behind. Her name is never revealed. She’s been living in a forest with her dog. His name we do get to know, Phil.

Phil is the reason she’s where she is now. He took off and chasing after him led her to Imogene, an artist living in seclusion. The older woman offers her a job. Okay, that’s a good start. But Imogene lives secluded for a reason and the former assassin will have to use her talents once again.

In suspense thrillers I usually expect a whopping opening and loads of action throughout. Insensible loss didn’t go that way. It was quieter suspense and thrills. Sneaky ones the author made sure you might not see coming. I didn’t feel an urgency to keep reading, but in a way, I did. I’d think, okay, this is a good place to stop for now. Then, I’d keep reading. Like when you’re eating a snack and think I’ll just eat one more. This book made me hungry for more.

4 STARS

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Enjoy this peek inside:
CHAPTER ONE
I am gazing into an abyss. When I plant my feet on the edge of the cliff, all I see is a canyon yawing below me. I see the canyon, and my feet, tightly laced into trail runners. Below and beyond my tidy feet, red rock can be seen everywhere, edges softened by millennia, but deadly still. And steep. Arcadia Bluff. It has a gentle sound, this location. But the reality is anything but gentle. A rough rawness that would seem to be able to accommodate anything one pitched in that direction. Wild west. There’s that, but also more. The secrets of an earth so raw and new, it doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up. It happens that the physical landscape matches what is going on in my heart, but this is mere coincidence. And anyway, everything is connected. I am in a remote part of one of the largest national parks in the United States, and I am all alone, but for my dog. Again, aside from that dog, I feel as if I have been alone for my whole life, but that isn’t true. What is true: everyone I’ve ever loved is dead. Some of them by my hand. But all of that was before. Here is now. I stand on Arcadia Bluff and the canyon below my feet seems to careen out endlessly. The aforementioned abyss. The red rock, dotted by trees and even the occasional cactus, seeming to sprout from the rock at odd angles, because the perpendicular drop doesn’t support normal growth. In the distance, far below me, I see a sliver of silvery blue. Maybe it’s a river or the edge of a lake, but when I look straight down, between my feet, I see nothing but rock and cactus and peril. It gives me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach to look down, so I try to avoid doing that. We drove in my old Volvo to get here, the dog and I. The car is dear to me. I’ve had it a long time and it performs elegantly. Like a tank. An elegant tank. It is a premium car, or it was, but now it is ancient. In good condition, but unremarkable, one of the things about it that I’ve always cherished: it has never drawn comment. And no one would suspect that under the trunk’s false bottom they would find two Bersa Thunder 380 handguns and a whole lot of cash. The car is now my home, my armory, and my bank. Who needs anything more? Well, maybe I do. But never mind. The journey, that’s the thing. To get here, the path we traveled in that old Volvo is a forestry road. The road is marked on maps as little more than a trail. It is unpaved and unremarked. And putting it that way—the path we traveled—makes it sound like a destination. It wasn’t that. It is just the place where, for the moment, we have ended up. When this moment is complete, we’ll travel some more. Maybe come to something else. It’s what we have now, this life made of almost nothing. As you will have guessed, this state of near nothing didn’t happen overnight. A while ago I left behind the hollowed-out shell of the life I had created. The sham. The farce. The life in which I lived while I processed all of my grief. Tried to process all of my grief. Do you know what I discovered? You don’t process grief. It lives inside you, waiting for you to trot through the minefield that is life. Waiting for you to make just that one step and the grief explodes back into your face. If you were to process it—like cheese, like peanut butter—at a certain point it would be smooth and glossy and perfectly digestible. Consume it and forget it. But grief isn’t like that. It waits around because all it actually wants is to bite you in the ass. I sound bitter. The tonic in a vodka drink. I don’t mean to, but there you are. Sometimes what you feel overrides everything you know. After I left said reconstructed and hollowed-out life, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was basically—entirely?—homeless. My dog. And me. Homeless and aimless. I had my car. Several handguns. A few small things that I had come to treasure. And a whole whack of cash. The cash was necessary, because this is what I no longer possessed: any form of identification or credit cards. Or anything that said I was a person at all. I had simply disappeared. You mostly can’t do that forever. A myriad of small things will trip you up. You can’t travel by air. You can’t book a motel. You can’t call an Uber. Or bank. When you start to think about it, there are more things you can’t do than what you can. After a while you need a landing spot. And you need a plan. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here goes another run. Once upon a time—like a fairy story—I was a mom. A wife. A cornerstone of my community. I had a house. A pebble-tech pool. A minivan with leather seats and televised communication. I had all of the accoutrements of suburbia, right down to the suburb. Tree-lined streets that I traveled to get to my job and take my kid to his school. I had attractive but not fiendishly manicured lawns. A home. That’s what it was. My husband, my son. Me. We were a family. We had a home. One day there was an accident. People were killed. My child. Ultimately my husband, too. I was unexpectedly alone. All I had was a whole bunch of mortgaged crap I hadn’t even dreamed of wanting in the first place. After a while of being alone and having no money, I needed a new job and I started taking contracts to kill people. You see how my narrative breaks down right there? I mean, everything was going along well, from a storytelling standpoint. I’d engaged your sympathy. Maybe even your interest. And then— boom!—I blow all that goodwill with a simple revelation. Yes. Killing people. For money. What kind of nice lady does that? No kind, that’s what. But it let’s you know at least part of why I run. And so here we are. Standing on the edge of a cliff. And I’m not expecting to jump.

CHAPTER TWO

Lately I’ve noticed that I have become afraid of the dark. It doesn’t make sense to me. I am aware of no new trauma that might have led to this condition. Nyctophobia. I have read about it. I have googled, as they say. I’ve “done some research.” So I know a little about the condition that currently plagues me. I’ve read that it is fairly normal or, at least, not uncommon. I’ve read, also, that fear is healthy. In our natural state, I guess, fear is what keeps us alive and safe. For months, I have found myself waking from peaceful slumber and moving to instant terror when the dark is encountered. The dog smells the fear, or at least that is what I guess. When I wake in this way, I can hear him rustling about as he comes to me. He lays his muzzle on whatever part of me he can reach: my hand or my arm or even a bit of toe. And he’ll stay there like that, breathing quietly, until my demons have passed, or I turn on a light. Usually, I turn on a light. There are things you can do, that’s what I’ve read, as well. And there is evolved language around it. You can deal with your triggers or work at desensitizing yourself to darkness. This sort of healthy self-examination has never been my forte, and so after a while, I come up with my own solution: I begin to sleep with the light on. It keeps the demons at bay. All of this would probably be of more concern if we had a home anymore, the dog and I. But we don’t. As I said, we are traveling, no destination in mind other than a vague and distant future that at present has no shape. Every day, we cover many miles in the Volvo. The forestry roads in Arizona’s Cathedral National Park seem endless. The park itself seems endless, as well. We keep traveling, only occasionally surfacing for fuel or other supplies. We do that at small gas stations either within the park or just on the outskirts. Places that take cash and don’t ask questions. Then we delve right back into the depths of the park. We just drive and drive and drive, stopping only for calls of the body, as well as those infrequent times when I run out of steam. At those times, since we are out—literally and actually—in the middle of nowhere, I just stop the car, then pitch the small tent that lives over top of the false bottom of the trunk. And then I try to rest. The closest I ever get to actual rest is when the dog settles down somewhere near me, then gets to snoring peacefully. Something about that sound is hypnotic to me. I’ll surf behind it until, sometimes, falling under the spell of the simple, primal cadence, I fall asleep. In and out, in and out. I float away on a column of dog snores that lead to core sleep, when my subconscious scrambles to make up for time lost. In the morning we pack up and head out again. Where are we going? Why? I don’t have answers. I don’t even have questions. All I know is that everything is behind me. I’m not hopeful about what is in front of me, but it’s better than going back. Everyone knows that you can’t go back. *** Excerpt from Insensible Loss by Linda L. Richards. Copyright 2024 by Linda L. Richards. Reproduced with permission from Linda L. Richards. All rights reserved.

 

 

About Author Linda L. Richards:

 

.Linda L. Richards is the award-winning author of over a dozen books. The founder and publisher of January Magazine and a contributing editor to the crime fiction blog The Rap Sheet, she is best known for her strong female protagonists in the thriller genre. Richards is from Vancouver, Canada and currently makes her home in Phoenix, Arizona. New for 2024: INSENSIBLE LOSS, the fourth book in the Endings series featuring a reluctant hit woman struggling towards the light. Linda’s 2021 novel, the first in this series, ENDINGS, was recently optioned by a major studio for series production. Richards is an accomplished horsewoman and an avid tennis player, and is on the National Board of Sisters in Crime.

 
Catch Up With Linda L. Richards: LindaLRichards.com Goodreads – @lindalrichards BookBub – @linda1841 Instagram – @lindalrichards Threads – @lindalrichards Twitter/X – @lindalrichards Facebook – @lindalrichardsauthor

 

 

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Panic Peak by William A. Liggett ~ Review And Giveaway

Posted: September 20, 2024 in giveaways, Interview, reviews, thriller
Tags: , , ,
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  Panic Peak by William A. Liggett
Category: Adult Fiction (18+), 254 pages
Genre: Cli-Fi Thriller 
Publisher: Consilience Press LLC
​Publication Date: February, 2024
Content Rating: PG-13: Very occasional f-word and sh*t in dialog

Book Description:

How can a single glacier grow dramatically while hundreds are shrinking around the world?

This paradox confronts a young glaciologist Kate Landry as she looks down at her research site buried under shocking mounds of new snow. Little does she know that Mount Olympus is in the bulls-eye for a sophisticated geoengineering experiment being conducted by a scientist who has convinced a secretive international oil cartel to fund his dubious climate modification techniques. While Kate struggles to understand why the glacier is growing and begins to unravel the entire nefarious scheme, she also struggles to avoid the unraveling of her developing relationship with social psychologist Grant Poole. The more Kate uncovers on the glacier, the more her own life is at risk. Can she expose the unethical and dangerous geoengineering operation without being caught before she’s stopped? And at what risk to her life?

BUY THE BOOK:
AMAZON 
add the goodreads
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MY REVIEW

I’ve only read a few cli-fi thrillers and after reading the synopsis I thought this was a good one to try. It didn’t disappoint, in many ways.

A mysterious iceberg that appears to be growing while others disappear. What’s behind that? Natural or man’s interference.

The setting, Mount Olympus. Subzero temperatures and isolated. Where the environment is an adversary. That’s something I really like in a story. A test of human endurance all it’s own.

A hidden agenda, along with the requisite villain. A must for any good thriller book.

And a female protagonist. One who’s double tough, self confident and willing to stick to what she knows is true. But also, flawed. Which makes her believable and makes you rout for her.

I thoroughly enjoyed Pain Peak and now want to see what else the author has to offer.

4 STARS

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Guest Interview with William Liggett, Author of Panic Peak

  • Your main character is a woman who is passionate about her research and teaching. How did you arrive at that?

I was raised in a family with a strong, well-educated mother and three sisters. I have always thought that women’s contributions should be respected as much as men’s. If we ignore the voices of female scientists, we are losing half of the knowledge we could otherwise gain.

I wanted Kate’s leadership and commitment to scientific knowledge and aspiration to save her glacier to inspire her students and others. Not everyone responds well to her passion for her work, which creates a challenge for my character, but also reflects the tension in our culture.

  • What inspired you to write a book about geoengineering?

After publishing my first cli-fi novel, Watermelon Snow, I was visiting with a climate scientist friend, Yaga Richter, who recommended that my next novel deal with geoengineering. She had been studying this controversial subject using computer models, and she described some of the concerns that her fellow scientists had. For example, someone might actually inject chemicals to block solar radiation without authorization. Also, unanticipated side effects such as droughts, floods, and wildfires could result from altering the climate. Since I began writing my novel, articles that describe geoengineering studies and concerns have increased exponentially.  It has become a hot topic.

  • Based on the scenes you describe it sounds like you’ve spent time on Blue Glacier. Can you say more about that?

Years ago, I lived in the research station on the side of Mount Olympus, Washington, between June and September collecting data as an employee of the University of Washington’s Blue Glacier Project. Our crew was flown to the station one at a time in a single engine ski plane that landed on the snow and took off down the side of the snow-covered mountain. Part of our assignment was to measure the depth and rate of flow of the glacial ice. This required us to carry equipment from the top to the bottom of the glacier while taking care not to fall into the deep crevasses along the way.  We learned to appreciate the raw beauty while skirting the many hazards. It was a perfect setting for an adventure (Watermelon Snow) and a thriller (Panic Peak).

  • Describe your next book in the Warming World Adventures series.

Panic Peak places Kate at the center of the action with Grant supporting her, often from a distance. It features her passion for her work, but also permits her scientific and mountaineering skills to shine. My next novel will feature Grant’s approach to combating global warming and will reflect his positive worldview. As a social psychologist, he sees ways to overcome the resistance to climate mitigation that others don’t see or agree upon.

Because I believe people are hungry for progress and good news about the climate, I’m thinking of setting my next novel in the future when humanity has gotten the climate under better control. Perhaps Grant is now in his 70’s and his granddaughter is eager to learn what he and others did to bring about the reversal of a climate disaster. I’m thinking of her documenting his story as a tribute to him and her grandmother, Kate.

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Meet the Author:

Bill Liggett writes fiction that blends behavioral and earth sciences in the recent cli-fi (climate fiction) literary genre. His goal is to paint a hopeful future based on solutions to global warming.

He holds a BS in geology and an MA in education, both from Stanford University, and a PhD in applied social psychology from New York University. Among the many positions he has held over the years, he taught in high school and college, conducted behavioral science studies for IBM, and consulted with health care and educational organizations.

Wherever he lives, he loves being outdoors. Home for him has included the West Coast, East Coast, Alaska, and now Colorado, the state of his childhood. He and his wife, Cathy, live in Niwot, Colorado.

connect with author:  website ~  X/twitter  ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads

 
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PANIC PEAK by William A Liggett Book Tour Giveaway

 

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Alexandr by Chris DeBrie ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Posted: September 9, 2024 in Excerpt, giveaways, thriller
Tags: , ,
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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Alexandr organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Chris DeBrie will award a $20 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner. Don’t forget to enter!

And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Alexandr

by Chris DeBrie

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Genre: Graphic Novel Thriller

Synopsis

Alexandr is a professional hitman with one client. His recent marriage to a childhood friend has him ready for retirement. But he doesn’t yet realize that his final target is different than all the rest. Follow Alex into a version of Earth which includes superhumans, witches, and otherworldly beings. DeBrie brings you dozens of characters and situations, seemingly all on the same course to destruction.

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Enjoy this peek inside:

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About Author Chris DeBrie

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DeBrie has published more than fifteen comic books and novels, including the mystery “Cap’n Random”. He has produced music for rockers and hip hoppers, coached youth basketball, hoards a special Swedish meatball recipe, and tutors elementary school students. Call him a multihyphenate, or a jack of all trades, master of none… your choice. Find us on socials by typing “With Lurv” into your browser.

Author Links: Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / MeWe

Purchase Link: Amazon

FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED

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Peek Inside And Giveaway ~ She’s Got The Time by M.O. Mack

Posted: September 5, 2024 in Excerpt, giveaways, thriller
Tags: ,
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She’s Got The Time

by MO Mack

 

(Suite #45, #3)
Publication date: August 29th 2024
Genres: Adult, Thriller

From author M.O. Mack comes the third, heart-stopping thriller in the Suite #45 series, SHE’S GOT THE TIME.

SENTENCED FOR A CRIME SHE ONLY WISHED SHE COMMITTED…

Emily has broken plenty of rules. Some she regrets. Others, well, not so much.

Running from her husband Ed for example? No regrets. He was a controlling predator who trafficked women while working for the FBI. But had she known she’d end up working for a group of hit men, she might’ve made different choices. Big regrets.

On the bright side, the group only kills bad guys. On the not-so-bright side, every cartel south of the border wants the group dead, and she’s number one on the cartel’s list.

Emily also regrets trusting Charge, her hit man boss. She regrets caring about him more than she should.

But when the feds arrest her for the murder of her ex, Emily knows she’s been set up, and all signs point to Charge. Why would he do this to her? The prison is filled with cartel gangs, and there’s a price on her head.

Can she find a way out before her time is up?

The clock is ticking…

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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Enjoy this peek inside:

“I thought you loved me,” she said, knowing now that the confession he’d made after she’d saved him all those weeks ago had just been another lie.

Charge jerked his head back, like she’d taken him off guard. “What’s that have to do with anything?”

“It’s everything.” Because he’d told her that while he’d been preparing to do the hit on Ed, he’d watched her from afar and fallen for her. He’d said it was the reason he’d helped her after she’d run from Ed. “You’ve been playing me this entire time. Haven’t you? The story about you loving me was a scam to get me to keep working for you.” And it had worked. He’d probably done it because he believed she’d eventually lead him to Ed.

“I don’t have time for this right now. And I’ve proven my loyalty to you.”

“No. You said whatever you had to in order to make me trust you.” She hung her head. “I can’t believe I fell for it.” Not to mention, she’d started having feelings for Charge. She’d taken a life for him. She’d risked her own ass, too.

“I’m sorry you think that,” he said smugly, “but it doesn’t change the situation or what has to be done next.”

“And just what’s that? Am I supposed to take out the warden next? Or the head of one of the gangs here so you get paid?” She pushed back in her chair. “I’m done, Charge. Done.”

“Don’t be silly. You won’t get out of this prison alive unless you pull your head from your ass, Justine, and follow my instructions.”

This again. And why did he always call her Justine when he wanted to control her? Did he think it was some kind of psychological magic wand to garner compliance?

He went on, “You only have a day, two max, before someone realizes you have a ten-million-dollar price on your head. You don’t have much time, but it’s enough time to—”

“No, Charge. No more. I’m not buying into your crap. I mean, look at where I am.” She tried to throw her hands in the air, but they were chained to the table. “We both know I’m not getting out of here. Not after I killed that guard. At best, I’ll survive a week, and if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to enjoy what little time I have left.”

About Author M.O. Mack:

Obviously, M.O. Mack is a cover. Don’t bother looking for the author’s true identity. She must remain secret due to the sensitive information written in her stories…

Okay, most of all that is total rubbish! M.O. is a full-time author from the great state of Arizona, who loves making stuff up and hates a slow story. The faster the better! Most days, M.O. tries to avoid the news (too icky) so it doesn’t interfere with writing nail-biter stories.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Newsletter

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all the missing girls by Linda Hurtado Bond ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Posted: August 25, 2024 in Excerpt, giveaways, suspense, thriller
Tags: , ,
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 A tenacious TV reporter has 48 hours to illegally enter Cuba, find
her sister, and avenge her mámá. Don’t miss the
spine-tingling sequel to Emmy-award winning journalist Linda Hurtado
Bond’s immersive thriller, All The Broken Girls.

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All the Missing Girls

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by Linda Hurtado Bond

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Genre: Thriller, Suspense

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Once you enter their world, there is no escape…in this gripping and
undeniably chilling thriller from Emmy-award winning journalist Linda
Hurtado Bond.

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As a crime reporter for a Tampa TV news
station, Mari Alvarez knows when an investigation enters dangerous
territory. But with her estranged sister missing and almost no
information to go on, Mari can’t trust anyone but herself to find
the truth. Now she has just 48 hours to sneak into Cuba undetected,
track down her sister…and pray to her orisha that she’s not too
late.

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This is nothing like reporting in her neighborhood,
though–a place she knows like the back of her hand. In Havana she
has no contacts and only an ice-cold trail of cryptic clues. When
Detective Tony Garcia offers to help, Mari puts aside her instincts
and tries to let someone in. But soon they’re caught in a maze of
lies, deception, and an undercurrent of the island’s own
witchcraft, a sinister Brujería.

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Every lead draws Mari
further into this world of shadows, especially when her sister isn’t
the only young woman who’s gone missing. Each step pushes Mari and
Tony toward a revelation they never saw coming. And as they close in
on the horrifying truth, one thing becomes clear…no one will let
them leave Cuba alive.

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Amazon
* Apple
* B&N
* Google
* Kobo
* Entangled
Publishing * Bookbub
* Goodreads

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Day One

 

One a.m.

Forty-seven hours left

Tony’s family farm

We tiptoe through a dimly lit garage. Enrique goes first, Orlando

second, his GoPro out and recording. I’m holding on to Orlando’s shirt. Tony walks

behind me. We lug our gear with us, so moving isn’t easy.

 

As we enter the house through the kitchen, I take note of one single

light bulb hanging without a cover from the ceiling. It sways as we pass, casting light in

waves across the bare cement walls.

 

Towels cover the windows, even though it’s still dark outside.

Enrique pulls back a sheet hanging over an open archway, and as

soon as we walk through, nervous energy embraces me. Candles burn in place of

lamps, and the glow illuminates eager faces. Almost a dozen of them.

“Americano!” A one-armed man, in a faded Nike T-shirt and ripped jeans, pulls Tony in

with his stump and slaps him on the back with his good hand. “Americano!”

 

Tony gives a few pats but pulls away.

The Americano seems uncomfortable with raw emotion.

Similar greetings swirl around us, like an emotional tornado wanting

 

to suck Tony up.

 

They must all be relatives of his, crammed into this living room,

moving around so quickly, I can’t tell if the floor is shifting or it’s me. The heat and

humidity add to the feeling the room sways, like I’m riding waves.

 

Most of those gathered are older men, but there are two women, a

couple of teens, and one three-legged dog, an ugly, multicolored mutt with sad blue

eyes.

 

One of the women draws me into her arms, hugging me; Spanish

endearments roll into my ear. My heart swells in reaction to the smell of lavender on the

woman’s skin. The scent reminds me of my Abuela Bonita’s Violeta perfume. I squeeze

my eyes shut. I will not cry.

 

My clothes, moist from the five-hour boat ride from America, must

be dampening her dry clothes. I’m starting to tremble, so I don’t want to be held tightly. I

really need to pee, but I’m ashamed to ask, because Tony is busy being washed around

in this tsunami of a family reunion. Orlando is busy recording. All of that is more

important than my needs.

 

Tony hasn’t seen these family members since he left Cuba as a

baby. Twenty-eight years ago. It hits me—he, too, has lost family, if not to murder or

kidnapping, to separation by both water and politics.

 

The first time his mother invited me to dinner at her house in Tampa

a month ago, Tony didn’t eat, because he was too busy caring for his ninety-year-old

grandfather. Watching him feed the older man, stroking his hair, helping him to bed,

stirred something in me.

 

His grandfather must have meant a lot to the owners of this house,

too, because a painting of a younger version of him hangs on the living room wall. He’d

been a dissident, and because of a few rallies against Fidel Castro, he’d been arrested

and imprisoned. When he finally made it to America, his physical and mental state had

been damaged beyond repair. Tony became his caretaker, a constant reminder, he told

me, of Cuban suppression, imprisonment, and torture.

 

Tony’s temporal artery pulses. He didn’t come to Cuba only to help

me; he came for the revenge against those who wronged his family. And to save those

he could.

 

We stare at each other, no words needed.

His conflicted emotions weigh heavy in my chest. My heart aches. It

 

literally hurts. For him. For me. For us.

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Also by the Author: 

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All the Broken Girls

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Get it on Amazon

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 Linda Hurtado Bond is an award-winning journalist for Tampa’s Fox 13
by day and author of romantic thrillers by night. She has won 13 Emmy
awards, numerous Society of Professional Journalist and Associated
Press awards, as well as a Florida Bar and an Edward R. Murrow award.
A breast cancer survivor, she’s also active in the Tampa community
with The American Cancer Society, Hooked on Hope, and The Shoot for a
Cure, raising money and awareness any chance she gets. She’s the
mother of five, four athletes and an adopted son from Cuba. She has
passion for world travel, classic movies and solving a good mystery.

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