December 1903: While Wilbur and Orville Wright’s flying machine is quite literally taking off in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina with its historic fifty-seven second flight, their sister Katharine is back home in Dayton, Ohio, running the bicycle shop, teaching Latin, and looking after the family. A Latin teacher and suffragette, Katharine is fiercely independent, intellectual, and the only Wright sibling to finish college. But at twenty-nine, she’s frustrated by the gender inequality in academia and is looking for a new challenge. She never suspects it will be sleuthing…
Returning home to Dayton, Wilbur and Orville accept an invitation to a friend’s party. Nervous about leaving their as-yet-unpatented flyer plans unattended, Orville decides to bring them to the festivities . . . where they are stolen right out from under his nose. As always, it’s Katharine’s job to problem solve—and in this case, crime-solve.
As she sets out to uncover the thief among their circle of friends, Katharine soon gets more than she bargained for: She finds her number one suspect dead with a letter opener lodged in his chest. It seems the patent is the least of her brothers’ worries. They have a far more earthbound concern—prison. Now Katharine will have to keep her feet on the ground and put all her skills to work to make sure Wilbur and Orville are free to fly another day.
TO SLIP THE BONDS OF EARTH (Katharine Wright Mystery Series Book #1) by Amanda Flower is the perfect mash-up of biographical fiction and cozy mystery featuring an overshadowed and forgotten sister finally being recognized for her strengths and accomplishments and weaving into the facts of her life a smartly plotted cozy murder mystery. This is the first book in the series, and I am thoroughly hooked.
Katharine Wright is a brilliant scholar, teacher, and suffragette who also runs the family household of her reverend father since the death of her mother at the age of fifteen. Besides all these personal accomplishments, she also assists her brothers, Wilbur and Orville, with their books in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. While disappointed when she is passed over for a head teaching promotion, she is very excited by a telegram received from her brothers in North Carolina stating that they have flown their motorized flying machine.
When the brothers return for the Christmas holidays, Katharine talks Orville into attending a Christmas party given by the head of the PTA. Orville’s coat goes missing and when the siblings find it, it is in the billiards room with a dead man stabbed with a screwdriver. One of Katharine’s students is in the room with blood all over his shirt and the design papers for their flying machine Orville had in his coat pocket are missing. Katharine’s student is arrested, but Katharine is not satisfied with the detective’s conclusions.
Katharine begins asking questions that lead to the prominent men of Dayton having secrets that are worthy of blackmail, but do they lead to murder? And the flying machine design papers are still missing, could they be worth killing over?
I loved this story for so many different reasons. I knew nothing about Katharine and was happy to be introduced to a strong, independent, educated woman who was so accomplished in a time when it was not common. She lends herself to being a perfect protagonist in a mystery plot with her curiosity and tenacity. The depth of research into Katharine’s life, the Wright family, and all the history of the period is evident and intertwined seamlessly throughout the book. The cozy mystery plot has all the red herrings and twists that keep the reader guessing, and it gives believable resolutions to all questions by the end.
I highly recommend this engaging historical cozy mystery and I cannot wait for more mysteries to follow in this series.
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About the Author
Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over thirty-five mystery novels. Her novels have received starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Romantic Times, and she had been featured in USA Today, First for Women, and Woman’s World. She currently writes for Penguin-Random House (Berkley), Kensington, Hallmark Publishing, Crooked Lane Books, and Sourcebooks. In addition to being a writer, she was a librarian for fifteen years. Today, Flower and her husband own a farm and recording studio, and they live in Northeast Ohio with their two adorable cats.
New York, 1908: The days are getting longer—and warmer—in Manhattan. Molly Murphy Sullivan doesn’t want to leave her home in the city, but typhoid is back, and she’s expecting. So she heads north with the children to summer with her mother-in-law in Westchester County. Molly tells herself it won’t be so bad, after all the countryside is pretty, and she’s determined to make the best of it. Even if she’s leaving her husband, Daniel, behind. And at least she’s not the only one heading north. Her great friends, Sid and Gus, are headed to the Catskills to visit Sid’s family.
Though her mother-in-law is a surprisingly excellent host, Molly quickly grows bored. And when Sid and Gus invite her to visit, Molly jumps at the chance to stay with them at an artist’s community. What a pleasant time they’ll have, so far from the city, although Sid isn’t so enthusiastic about having to visit her family in the nearby Jewish bungalow community. But deep in the Catskills, tensions are running high, and it’s not long before a body delays Molly’s return to Westchester.
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Elise’s Thoughts
In Sunshine or In Shadow by Rhys Bowen and Clare Bowles the focus is on the good friend of Molly Murphy, Sid. As with all these books readers get a glimpse of what is happening in the time period that is weaved throughout the story. This book is very relevant because it delves into the Catskills before it became a resort and how antisemitism flourished, just as today.
Because of the typhoid epidemic in the city, Molly and her children decide to stay with her mother-in-law in Westchester. Molly, who’s bored, visits her friends, who are staying at an artists’ retreat near Sid’s relatives. Sid’s grandfather’s alleged ill health was just an excuse to get her to the Catskill farm, where a matchmaker has brought possible mates for both Sid and her cousin Mira.
Mira’s match, Mr. Simon Levin, has made many enemies. Sid’s match is a college professor she finds interesting but has no intention of marrying. While out walking in the woods, Levin is shot with his own rifle, and the local police immediately focus on Mira, as a suspect. After her friends beg Molly to help Mira, she unearths other motives for his murder.
The reader is kept guessing as to who the murderer was almost to the very end, with clues strewn throughout. Where it really shines is in the descriptions of life during that time period, 1908, and all the historical information on the early Catskill resorts. A riveting murder, fun characters, interlaced with tidbits of historical information make this story a great read.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How much are you involved in writing this story?
Rhys Bowen: Very involved. We talk through the story idea. Then Clare does some research, and we see what we want to incorporate. In the first couple of books, we wrote alternating chapters. Now Clare is writing more, but I am still going in and giving my suggestions. I am still very hands on. Working with someone else is a gift because they have enthusiasm and new ideas.
Clare Broyles: If I do write a scene or a chapter she reads it immediately for feedback, and vice-versa.
EC: How did you get the idea for this story?
RB: We realized we never focused on Sid and her Jewish heritage. We thought it might be interesting to have her family wanting to have her married off. With the typhoid epidemic everyone wanted to get out of the city, but Jewish people were not welcome at the normal resorts. They decided to go up to the Catskills and stay in primitive cabins. We used typhoid to get Molly out of the city. Even some upscale houses became sick. This is why we bought in the cook, “typhoid Mary,” who went from household to household affecting the families.
CB: We wanted to write everything going on at the Catskills. It had its beginning in 1903. Park Rangers were just coming into existence. Their chain of command had them reporting to NYPD, a perfect line to Daniel. They had the mining in trouble. There was also the growing environmental movement that started to clash with the big quarry there. Plus, there was a Bohemian community of professional women. Ontera was its name. We fictionalized it. We wanted to show that it was a place where woman could be free.
EC: Your story is very relevant today considering what happened on October 7th and the antisemitism going on in the US today. Do you agree?
RB: It is very relevant now. It did not matter how respected someone was or how rich, it was hard for Jewish families to get out of NYC. They were still not welcome. The police detective in this story exhibited the underlying antisemitism that comes out all the time. My health club is in the Jewish Community Center and there must be a guard outside and now there is a sheriff’s car.
CB: There were stories around that time that had to deal with the ‘No Hebrews allowed” signs at the upscale resorts. Unfortunately, this continues to be relevant throughout the years.
EC: There is a portrayal of the different levels of Judaism. Please explain.
CB: Sid’s family was wealthy and less religious versus the religious immigrant strain.
RB: One of my oldest friends in New York picked up some tiny things we did to make it more accurate. She did loads of research for us.
EC: The Catskills?
CB: It was based on fact. Some background, there were some wealthy Jewish philanthropists that wanted to help Jewish immigrants. This was about fifty years before. They bought large tracks of land in the Catskills to give to arriving families who instead of farming made money by renting out cabins.
EC: How would you describe Mira, Sid’s cousin?
RB: She is an interesting character. Not much of a fighter. Not strong-willed or independent. She is hopeful. She is very young who has been a sheltered Jewish girl. Sid and Gus gave her options in life.
EC: You also go into arranged marriages?
RB: Her role in life was to marry whoever her family chose for her and live happily ever after. We put in this quote from Sid, “This is how it is done in the old country. Parents chose a spouse, daughters obey, with a question of dowry and financial advantage. Love did not enter into it.” Gradually we see Mira gaining strength throughout the story. There were very few opportunities for women. Sid and Gus survived because they had money. Maybe this is easier than online dating now.
CB: It is not just the Jewish community that does this. We first considered to set it in Boston with Gus’ family. Women at the time did not have much of a voice. Mira’s family did not force her into marriage but made that option the most attractive. I think Gus’s family in Boston would have done the same thing.
EC: How would you describe the victim, Levin, who was chosen to marry Mira?
RB: He is brash. He is someone who talks about how good they are at their job and how much money he makes. He is annoying and sleezy. He is not trustworthy but is clever enough to convince people he might be a good match.
CB: He talks a good talk.
EC: What about your next books?
RB: The historical novel comes out in August titled The Rose Arbor. It takes place in 1968 with a little girl vanishing. The heroine is a journalist. Her roommate is a police officer. They go down to the South of England. Through their research they find out that three little girls evacuated during WWII also disappeared. This book is a jigsaw puzzle tying all the cases.
CB: The next Molly book has Bridie growing up, a fourteen-year-old. Ryan, a playwright, has written and acted in some motion pictures. Bridie is offered a part. It is titled, Silent as The Grave. It takes place in 1908. The very interesting part of the stories are the situations that lead to a murder. The way the people acted and felt in history.
RB: The special effects were all real. Someone tied to the train tracks was real, taking terrible risks. This all is presented in the book. It comes out the same time next year. All our books are linked to real time. We think about what happened then and how do we tie into it. I like to learn when I read. The sleuth character and how she handles things that stretch her makes the story interesting. When people write me fan mail, they never say that was a clever plot, but say “I love Molly,” which is what matters.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE GIRL WITH THE RED HAIR (The Dutch Girls Book #2) by Imogen Matthews on this Bookouture Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
1942, Amsterdam. The Nazi occupation has shattered the lives of inseparable best friends Hannie and Sonja. The canals and rainy cobbled streets they once strolled down are now patrolled by soldiers day and night, who arrest people at will and beat those who resist.
Hannie can’t stand by and watch the lives of the innocent be destroyed by the evil occupiers. At great danger to herself, she joins the underground resistance, where she meets the charming and mysterious Jan. She covers her bright red hair to avoid detection by the Nazis while distributing fake IDs. And she makes a promise to Sonja and her little sister Maya, who are Jewish – she will hide them and keep them safe, no matter the cost.
But as the German grip on the country tightens with each passing day, Sonja’s worst fears come true when members of her family are taken prisoner. With Jan by her side, Hannie goes undercover as a nurse to try to free them. But she’s devastated when she discovers they’ve been taken to a concentration camp in the isolated far east of the country. Is she too late to save them?
And when Sonja goes missing, Hannie is terrified the worst has happened – has someone betrayed her best friend? Hannie knows her most dangerous task is now ahead of her. Can Hannie save Sonja, and will she have to make the biggest sacrifice of all to bring her home?
THE GIRL WITH THE RED HAIR (The Dutch Girls Book #2) by Imogen Matthews is a heart-wrenching historical fiction novel set in Nazi occupied Amsterdam in 1942 featuring two best friends, one a law student who joins the Dutch resistance and the other a Dutch Jew. Even though this is the second book in the Dutch Girl series, it is easy to read as a standalone.
Hanni and Sonja are inseparable best friends who find their lives slowly changed as the Germans invade and begin to impose their laws against the Jews as they did in Germany. Hanni witnesses many injustices imposed on Sonja for being a Jew and refuses to just stand by. She joins the Dutch resistance and vows to help her friend. When Sonja goes missing, Hanni is willing to sacrifice anything to bring her home.
This story is well written and researched with interesting information about the counterfeiting of documents and the sacrifices made by Dutch resistance fighters. The story demonstrates the heroism and selflessness of people during the worst of times vs. the depravity and cruelty of others. This is an emotional story, and while I enjoyed it, it did not have for me the depth of fear, believable emotional reactions, or pull me in as other historical fiction books I have read. I do believe this would be an excellent story for YA readers of this genre though.
Overall, an intriguing historical fiction story.
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About the Author
Imogen Matthews writes novels based on true stories about the Netherlands during the German occupation in World War 2. Some stories she discovered by chance, others are based on her Dutch mother’s own experiences of hardship and survival during the Hunger Winter of 1944-45.
Her first novel, The Hidden Village, is set in the Veluwe woods, a beautiful part of Holland that Imogen has visited frequently over the past 30 years. It was in these woods that she discovered the story of the real hidden village which provided shelter in underground huts for Jews during WW2. Imogen retells the story of the hidden village with characters drawn from real life and from her imagination.
Within weeks of publication in 2017, The Hidden Village became an international bestseller, ranking at the top of a number Amazon’s most-read book lists.
Following on from The Hidden Village comes Hidden in the Shadows, which has the pace of a thriller yet is also a love story. It tells the story about two young people who are brutally torn apart and must find a way to be together against all odds.
The Girl Across the Wire Fence, is set in Amersfoort, Netherlands, and is based on the unforgettable tale of two young lovers who risked everything to keep hope alive in the very depths of hell – the little known Dutch concentration camp called Kamp Amersfoort.
The Boy in the Attic is a dual timeline novel in which Anna discovers a bent sixpenny coin on a silver chain amongst her father’s possessions that leads her on a journey to discover the grandmother and grandfather she didn’t know she had in wartime Holland.
The Dutch Girls is a new series based on the true story of three female activists who worked in the Dutch resistance. The Girl from the Resistance is the first to be published in October 2023.
Imogen’s WW2 novels are published by Bookouture, a digital imprint of Hachette.
Based on the real life of Lieutenant Annie Fox, Chief Nurse of Hickam Hospital, The Woman with a Purple Heart is an inspiring WWII novel of heroic leadership, courage, and friendship that also exposes a shocking and shameful side of history.
Annie Fox will stop at nothing to serve her country. But what happens when her country fails her?
In November 1941, Annie Fox, an Army nurse, is transferred to Hickam Field, an air force base in Honolulu. The others on her transport plane are thrilled to work in paradise, but Annie sees her new duty station as the Army’s way of holding the door open to her retirement. But serving her country is her calling and she will go wherever she is told.
On December 7, Annie’s on her way to work when the first Japanese Zero fighter plane flies low over Hickam’s Parade Ground. The death and destruction that follow leave her no time to process what’s happening. She rallies her nurses, and they work to save as many lives as they can. But soon their small hospital is overwhelmed. Annie drives into Honolulu to gather supplies, nurses, and several women who will donate blood. However, the nurses are Japanese Americans, and the blood donors are prostitutes.
Under Annie’s leadership and working together in unexpected ways, they make it through that horrific day, when one of the Japanese American nurses and Annie’s friend, Kay, is arrested as a suspected subversive. As Hickam tries to recover, Annie works to find her friend and return Kay to her family. But Annie’s love for her country is put to the test. How can she reconcile the American bravery and resilience she saw on December 7 with the prejudice and injustice she witnesses just a few months later?
THE WOMAN WITH A PURPLE HEART by Diane Hanks is an enlightening, engaging, and heartbreaking historical fiction based on just a moment in a truly heroic career Army nurse’s service on one of the most infamous days in American history. This is a story of an inspiring woman that I was unable to put down.
Lt. Annie Fox served her country in the battle hospitals of WWI, was transferred to the Philippines and now in November of 1941, she is transferred to Hickam Hospital on the Army/Air Force Base near Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. Rather than being excited, she senses this is the Army’s way of moving her into retirement, but she is determined to do her duty and train her new group of nurses to the best of her ability.
As she walks to the hospital to work on the morning of December 7th, enemy fighter planes bring unbelievable death and destruction. As Annie does everything she can to support her young nurses and solve problems in unique ways to just survive the day and then the week, but her love of country is put to the test with the prejudice and injustice she witnesses in the aftermath.
I always love learning about new people and/or new things when I pick up historical fiction books and I learned so many new bits of information in this captivating story. Not only did this book enlighten me about Hickam Base, but the racial tensions that were already evident before the attack on the Hawaiian Islands during this time. The author brings Annie to life, and I felt real empathy for her as an older, single woman in that period and in the Armed Forces. I am so glad that Annie’s heroism, ingenuity, and bravery were recognized and rewarded in her lifetime, and I hope with this historical fiction book she can go on inspiring many more woman and girls who discover her story.
I highly recommend this wonderful historical fiction book!
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About the Author
Diane Hanks has a BFA in Creative Writing from Roger Williams University and an MA in Professional Writing & Publishing from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. A medical writer by day, she has written numerous screenplays and recently returned to her first love—writing novels. Diane also is a mentor for the Writers Guild Initiative, which makes the art of storytelling accessible to underserved populations. When not writing, she enjoys walking by the river near her home.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE LEOPARD OF CAIRO (Apex Predator Espionage Thrillers Book #1) by Bayard and Holmes on this Author Marketing Experts Blog Tour.
Below you will find a guest post from the authors, a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book, and the authors’ bios and social media links. Enjoy!
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Guest Post from the Authors
As Bayard & Holmes, we are known for accuracy in our espionage tradecraft. This is due to Jay Holmes’s fifty years of military and intelligence experience fighting against the Soviets and the terrorist groups they sponsored during the Cold War, straight through to the current Global War on Terror. As a result of our experience and authenticity, people like to ask us questions about the shadow world.
One of the common questions we receive is, “What are some of the most common mistakes writers make about the CIA?” The answer to that would be vocabulary.
Our espionage professionals at the CIA do not refer to themselves as spies. The word “spy” is considered a bit derogatory. As Holmes says, “Spying is seamy. It’s what the Russians do.” Technically, spies are foreigners who are spying on us, or they are foreigners who are spying on other countries for us.
Also, and this is a big one for the folks at the CIA, the intelligence personnel at the Agency are not “CIA agents.” In the world of the CIA, agents are people, most often foreigners, who are spying for our behalf on their own or other foreign governments.
The exceptions to that rule are the actual guards at the physical facilities. For example, if you were to go to headquarters, the personnel in security who would greet you at the gate are “CIA agents.” An easy rule of thumb is that if the position someone holds regards law enforcement, physical protection, or facilities security, they are agents.
In other words, Jack Ryan is not a CIA agent, but the guard he talks to at the front gate of headquarters is an agent, and the foreign spy who gives him information is an agent.
Instead of being spies or agents, our intelligence personnel are referred to as “officers” and “operatives.” Intelligence personnel at the CIA are technically called officers, which is a label particular to the CIA. CIA officers are actual employees of the CIA rather than contractors, and they get pretty touchy when you call them agents.
The term operative can apply to CIA officers and contractors, as well as to personnel from other civilian and military intelligence organizations. The term is rather vague and has no official definition, but it generally refers to men and women who work in field operations.
So to sum things up, Jack Ryan is not a spy or an agent, he is a CIA officer who must guard against foreign spies, collect intelligence from foreign agents, and sometimes goes into the field with operatives.
This is just one example of the accuracy that is the hallmark of our Bayard & Holmes fiction. To supplement, we have a Truth & Fiction section at the end of The Leopard of Cairo and all our novels, and we are happy to take your questions about the shadow world at the Contact page at our website, BayardandHolmes.com.
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Book Summary
John Viera left his CIA fieldwork hoping for a “normal” occupation and a long-awaited family, but when a Pakistani engineer is kidnapped from a top-secret US project and diplomatic entanglements tie the government’s hands, the Intelligence Community turns to John and his team of ex-operatives to investigate — strictly off the books. They uncover a plot of unprecedented magnitude that will precipitate the slaughter of millions.
From the corporate skyscrapers of Montreal to the treacherous alleys of Baluchistan, these formidable enemies strike, determined to create a regional apocalypse and permanently alter the balance of world power. Isolated in their knowledge of the impending devastation, John and his network stand alone between total destruction and the Leopard of Cairo.
THE LEOPARD OF CAIRO (Apex Predator Espionage Thrillers Book #1) by Bayard and Holmes is an edge-of-your-seat international espionage thriller with storytelling that pulls you into exotic locations and takes you on a thrilling adventure to stop a plot to change the world’s governments balance of power. This is the first book in the series, and I cannot wait to get started on book #2, The Panther of Baracoa.
John Viera has left the CIA to start a “normal” life, but occasionally gets called back into off-the-book operations with a team of other ex-operatives who are able to accomplish jobs the government legally or politically cannot. John and the team are sent to discover why an engineer and his young daughter have been kidnapped, but what they discover is just the tip of the iceberg in a conspiracy that could end up killing millions.
This plot never lets up on the action and peril. The authors are able to introduce you to many characters, both good and bad, while never losing the fast pace of the story and also surprising you with the many plot twists throughout. John Viera and the rest of the team are fully developed both in their personal lives and their contributions to the team. The intrigue and mystery of the shadow cabal is a great way to keep me hooked and ready to grab the next book in the series.
I highly recommend this exciting start to this international espionage thriller!
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Excerpt
THE LEOPARD OF CAIRO
John Viera jumped back from the swirl of soot. The bright green-and-blue Quetta city bus choked out another cloud, and a donkey beside it snorted, rattling its cart full of secondhand housewares. The vendor in the driver’s seat searched the crowd for one last customer. John ignored his hopeful glance and watched the bus chug deeper into the bowels of the Hazara Town market district.
The aroma of fresh bread sweetened the stench of exhaust that hung over the rush-hour crunch. John ducked into the bakeshop’s recessed doorway and scanned the street.
Bright paints battled vainly to beautify cement walls between dirty gray roll-down metal shop doors. Signs above the portals broadcast goods and trades in Urdu and English, revealing the creep of Westernization into the Islamic stronghold. Above John’s head, electrical wires crisscrossed, tying the one- and two-story structures together.
Vendors bustled to secure their wares in time for evening prayers. Mothers gripping plain cloth shopping bags herded children down sidewalks while bicycles competed with cars and donkey carts for street rights. None of them appeared to notice John. Western influence was widespread enough that he did not stand out with his collar-length umber hair, reddish beard, blue jeans, and khaki jacket.
Satisfied there were no immediate threats from the street, he glanced at his watch: 5:45. Martin would be waiting. John exited the bakery doorway and continued in the bus’s wake.
A bicyclist veered into traffic, and a truck swerved and jerked, cutting off a rusty sedan. The sedan’s horn blared. John flinched and pressed his hand to his ear.
¡Hostias! ¡Qué idiotas! He wished for a split second that he was still crouched in the mountains of Afghanistan, where he was sanctioned by the US government to capture or kill hostile actors, or at least to slam their heads in their car doors. In the city, though, he was constrained by rules of law and discretion. John quelled his irritation and strode to the corner.
He crossed with the light and visualized the remainder of his route to Martin’s. His MI6 counterpart had said his good-byes only a few weeks before, anticipating the welcoming women and rich cigars he would explore at his new post in Cuba. What ill wind could have blown the man from paradise back to hell so soon? Had he identified the mole in MI6? John picked up his pace.
An open truck shoved past, its load of sheep bleating protests through warped wooden slats, stinking of mud and hay. John wrinkled his nose. A block up the street, the truck spun a U-turn through an unlikely gap in the traffic and parked in front of a restaurant.
The bus ahead of John stopped at the corner across from the sheep. Passengers crowded on. Then a shopkeeper stepped from his corner store and threw his arms wide. The bus driver sprang to the sidewalk. The men clasped in a hug and submerged into conversation.
A fresh-faced woman in a pink hijab and sky-blue kameez veered around the talking driver, a little boy in tow. The child hugged a toy blow-up horse and grinned as if he clutched the Koh-i-Noor diamond. John gave the boy a smile when he passed.
Suddenly, three men in gray kameez tunics and salwar trousers burst around the opposite street corner. John’s head snapped up, drawn by their speed and focus. They stopped and scanned the crowd. One pointed toward the truckload of sheep and then pulled a pistol and fired.
John dove behind a parked car and drew his Makarov pistol from his waistband. Fight or flight? He stilled his urge to fire back. The last thing he needed was to become embroiled in a local turf war, particularly so near Martin’s. He only hoped his friend was not involved. He had to get to Martin.
More shots. Horns blared, and cars crowded one another to escape. The bus driver levitated into his vehicle. He threw it into gear and bullied his way around the corner. People who had sheltered behind the bus scrambled toward shops, even as shopkeepers slammed down their corrugated metal doors. Only two people weren’t moving—the child with the toy horse kneeling beside the woman in the pink hijab.
Blood seeped across her shoulder and rib cage. She gestured toward a shop with her good arm and shouted in Urdu. “Run. Now. Run.” The child burrowed closer.
John shoved his pistol in his waistband and charged to the woman. He swept her up and spoke to the boy in Urdu. “Follow us.” He sprinted toward a spice stall. The child dropped the horse and dogged John’s heels. The shopkeeper met John’s eyes, shook his head, and crashed down his metal door.
A bullet whizzed past and shattered a divot from the cement wall. John ducked away from the flying chips. The woman in his arms screamed, and her gaze sought her son. The boy tugged the end of her kameez and let go.
“Here,” cried a voice.
The bus driver’s friend crouched, holding open a slice of doorway at his corner shop. John ran, the boy beside him. The man rolled up the door to let them in and then slammed it down behind them.
Frightened people shuffled aside, and John laid the woman on the floor. Bright red oozed from her shoulder, shading her blue kameez a deep purple. She gripped her arm close and grimaced. John whipped off his jacket, peeled out of his T-shirt, and pressed the cotton against the wound.
The woman groaned. “Hakeem. Where is Hakeem?”
“I have him.” A man pushed forward and showed her the child in his arms. “He is unharmed.”
John spotted the shopkeeper. “Call an ambulance, and bring some towels.”
“We don’t have towels,” the man said. A woman with her hands full of T-shirts pushed past him.
“We can use these. I’m a nurse.” She knelt beside John. “I will care for her.”
“Thank you.” John moved out of the woman’s way and turned to the store owner. “Where is your bathroom?”
The man pointed to a door at the back of the store. John wedged through the people and opened it onto a reeking closet where a window gaped wide above a hole in the ground with a footprint on each side. He pulled himself through the window into an alley, and he landed on his feet and ran.
Three blocks later, he slowed to a walk. A knife vendor gawked and John glanced down. His blood-smeared jacket hung open, revealing his bare six-pack. He zipped up the coat.
A block away, a sign reading Changezi’s tilted across the street front of a three-story cement apartment building. In front, a white panel van purred to life and whisked away as John crossed the street. John circled toward Changezi’s dwelling at the back of the building. He turned the corner and froze.
Changezi’s goat pen hung open, and his three nannies clustered at his front door. John’s skin prickled. Even Changezi’s youngest child would not be so careless with such valuable property. He drew his pistol and shooedthe goats the five steps into the pen. Then he knocked at the manager’s door. Silence answered—a sound unprecedented from a home with two wives and five young children.
John bounded up the steps to Martin’s old apartment door. A bullet hole gaped next to the doorknob, and splinters littered the ground. His heart racing, he hugged the wall, pistol in hand, and tried the knob. The door swung wide. More silence.
He ducked low and peeked around the corner into the apartment’s shadowed hallway. Nothing. He crept up the passage to the living room.
A threadbare divan squatted under a window next to a weathered table that had been tipped sideways. Two straight-backed chairs stood by an upended bowl with two apples on the floor.
“Come out,” John said.
A man rose, his hands up. His gaze riveted to the bloodstains on John’s jacket, and his knees quivered. “Don’t shoot. I have a wife and child. Please.” A woman in a navy-blue headscarf peered from behind him. She clutched a bundle in her arms.
John lowered his weapon slightly. “I’m looking for a man named Martin. He’s English. My height and build. Blond hair and blue eyes. Have you seen him?”
The man’s eyes grew wide. He shook his head. “I saw nothing.”
John dropped his pistol to his side. “I don’t even need to know your name. What happened, and did you see him?”
“Nothing. Nothing happened.”
The woman’s glance darted from John to her husband and back. Then she lowered her eyes and stared at the child in her arms.
“It’s clear a bullet came through that door recently. I’m not with whoever did that. I only want to find my friend.” John retrieved an apple from the floor and settled into a chair with the manner of an overlord. “I can see something happened here, and I’m not leaving until you tell me.” He raised the apple to take a bite.
“Wait,” the man said.
John moved the apple away from his mouth and cocked his head.
“I saw a blond man in the hallway. I was taking out my trash, and he ran out of the flat next door. He jumped down the rubbish chute. Then three men ran up the stairs and started shooting. I barely made it back inside.”
John stood. “Have you seen these men before?”
“Never.”
“What did they look like?”
The man shifted and glanced toward the door, as if expecting the men to reappear. His voice was barely audible. “Black hair and gray clothing. That is all I saw.”
John’s mind flashed on the shooters at the market, and dark fear unfolded. He tossed the unbitten apple to the man. “Thank you.”
He readied his Makarov and stole from the apartment. The next door slanted ajar. Standing against the wall, John reached out and tapped it. It creaked open. A sharp whiff of bleach wafted into the hallway. He peered inside.
Chaos. A table skewed sideways, kitchen drawers dangled, and stuffing sprouted from chair cushions. No sign of Martin. John scanned the debris and noticed a minute red spot on the carpet. He knelt down and touched it. Then he sniffed. The iron tang of blood filled his nostrils.
John bolted down the stairs to the trash room. A red trail spotted from the Dumpster to the back door and stopped. A chill ran up his spine. He combed the alley. It was empty—no one and no clues. Martin was gone.
***
Author Bios
Piper Bayard is an author and a recovering attorney with a college degree or two. She is also a belly dancer and a former hospice volunteer. She has been working daily with her good friend Jay Holmes for the past decade, learning about foreign affairs, espionage history, and field techniques for the purpose of writing fiction and nonfiction. She currently pens espionage nonfiction and international spy thrillers with Jay Holmes, as well as post-apocalyptic fiction of her own.
Jay Holmes is a forty-five-year veteran of field espionage operations with experience spanning from the Cold War fight against the Soviets, the East Germans, and the various terrorist organizations they sponsored to the present Global War on Terror. He is unwilling to admit to much more than that. Piper is the public face of their partnership.
Together, Bayard & Holmes author non-fiction articles and books on espionage and foreign affairs, as well as fictional international spy thrillers. They are also the bestselling authors of The Spy Bride from the Risky Brides Bestsellers Collection and were featured contributors for Social In Worldwide, Inc.
When they aren’t writing or, in Jay’s case, busy with “other work,” Piper and Jay are enjoying time with their families, hiking, exploring back roads of America, talking foreign affairs, laughing at their own rude jokes until the wee hours, and questing for the perfect chocolate cake recipe.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for NEVER FALL AGAIN (Gossamer Falls Book #1) by Lynn H. Blackburn on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links and a Kingsumo giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Landry Hutton has spent three years rebuilding her life behind the secure gates of The Haven, an exclusive resort on the outskirts of Gossamer Falls, North Carolina. As the artist-in-residence, and with her pottery prized by The Haven’s guests, Landry is finally ready to settle in permanently. She wants to give her daughter, Eliza, a safe home to grow up in and hires former Marine Callum Shaw to handle the construction.
Cal grew up in Gossamer Falls and always knew he would someday join his family’s business. He longs for a family of his own but has almost given up on that ever happening. Landry is funny, gifted, and everything Cal could ever want in a partner, but he vows to keep his distance. Landry has a daughter and a past. Cal has been down that road before and barely survived when the woman he loved left, taking her two sons with her. He can’t bear to lose like that again.
Before construction on the house can begin, Landry’s pottery is destroyed in a suspicious fire. It soon becomes clear that Landry and Eliza are in grave danger–but because of whom? But, after losing one relationship, he is hesitant to try again.
Genre: Romantic Suspense Published by: Revell Publication Date: March 12, 2024 Number of Pages: 352 ISBN: 9780800745363 (ISBN10: 0800745361) Series: Gossamer Falls, Book 1
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
NEVER FALL AGAIN (Gossamer Falls Book #1) by Lynn H. Blackburn is a wonderful start to a new Christian romantic suspense series. Set in small-town Gossamer Falls, North Carolina, this story features a slow burn romance with a focus on second chances, trust, and personal peril. This is a new-to-me author, and I am definitely going to check out her other books.
Landry Hutton is determined to give her five-year-old daughter, Eliza, a safe life after a not so happy marriage where she learns to be very hesitant around religious men. She has rebuilt her life as an artist -in-residence for the last three years at The Haven, an exclusive resort, and her pottery is prized by all. Landry is ready to have a home built for her and Eliza when her pottery shop goes up in flames. It is arson.
Callum “Cal” Shaw is a former Marine and now works with his two brothers in their construction company. When he is hired by Landry to build her home, he discovers Landry is everything he wants, but he keeps his distance due to his past. Before he starts work on her home, the pottery shop is destroyed. It becomes clear that Landry and Eliza are in danger, but from whom? Can Callum protect Landry and Eliza without becoming even more involved in their lives?
This is a fantastic Christian romantic suspense that has a slow burn romance, two individuals trying to fight their attraction due to their pasts, a suspense plot that builds to an exciting resolution, and a faith focus that does not overpower. The author does an excellent job of introducing us to the main characters in Gossamer Falls that will be the focus of future books without going to in depth and losing focus from this book’s plot line. I was also very happy with the inclusion of Cal’s golden retriever, Maisey, who is instinctively an emotional support dog without formal training. This story exceeded every one of my expectations and I cannot wait for the next in the series.
I highly recommend this Christian romantic suspense!
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Excerpt
They passed several offices before they reached an open door.
“Maisy. Stay.” That same deep voice from the intercom floated to the hallway.
“Oooh! A dog!” Eliza dashed into the room.
Her little sprite was fast and already halfway across the office before Landry realized what was happening. “Eliza, wait!” Fortunately, she stopped at Landry’s words.
“I know, Mommy. Never touch a dog without permission. I just want to see.”
Eliza turned her big brown eyes toward the man who had come around his desk and knelt beside a dog now quivering with excitement.
The man—Callum Shaw, she assumed—met her daughter’s eyes and said, “Your mom’s right. You can’t ever rush at a dog, even dogs as gentle as this big baby. But if it’s okay with your mom . . .”
His eyes, which were as blue as the Carolina sky, now met hers. There was humor and gentleness. And shadows. Something dark flitted across his gaze. But then he blinked and it was gone.
Landry nodded her permission, and he turned all his attention back to her daughter. “This is Maisy. She’s a golden retriever. She’s three years old. She loves long walks in the woods, sunbathing, peanut butter, and belly rubs.” He demonstrated the belly rub. Maisy melted under his touch, and Eliza crept closer. “You can pet her. Maisy doesn’t bite my friends.”
Eliza dropped to her knees beside Callum and held out her hand toward Maisy’s nose.
Maisy took a quick sniff and rewarded Eliza’s good behavior with a lick. Callum stayed where he was until it was clear to everyone that Eliza and Maisy were set, then he rose to his feet and extended a hand. “Ms. Hutton.”
“Landry. Please.”
“Landry. A pleasure.”
Landry kept the contact brief. “Sorry, my hands are rough.” She turned them palms up. “Hazards of the job.”
Why had she said that? What did it matter if her hands were a bit on the crispy side? She didn’t have to prove anything to this man. Embarrassment crept across her and burst through her pores, heating her neck and face, and now she had no idea what to do with her hands. Should she put them down? Tuck them behind her back?
Callum glanced at her hands and turned his own up. “Same here.” He heaved a dramatic sigh. “It’s to my eternal despair that I’ll never land that hand modeling contract I’ve always hoped for.”
His easy humor made it automatic to tease him back. “Well, there’s always ditch digging.”
“Good point. If this construction gig doesn’t work out, I’ll have something to fall back on.” Callum turned his attention to Eliza. “And I gather your name is Eliza?”
She giggled with the abandon unique to happy children. “That’s right, but sometimes Mommy calls me Liza or ZaZa, but never Lizzy because that’s too close to Landry, and it gets confusing.”
Landry tried to keep a straight face as Eliza parroted what she’d heard Landry say too many times to count.
“It’s a pleasure, Ms. Eliza.” Callum pressed a hand to his chest. “I’m Cal Shaw. I’ll answer to Callum, but not LumLum because”— he dropped his voice to a stage whisper—“that’s just not dignified.”
Eliza’s laughter filled the room. Bronwyn hadn’t been wrong about Cal Shaw. He was very good with children. Even now, he kept his attention on Eliza. “Are you good here with Maisy while your mom and I talk?”
“Yes, sir.”
Cal grabbed a legal pad and pen from his desk and took the chair opposite the one he directed Landry to sit in. From their seats, they could both see Eliza and Maisy.
She waited for him to start the conversation, but maybe she was supposed to go first?
“She’s a beau—”
“Land—”
They both stopped talking, and his smile seemed genuine as he nodded to her. “Please. Go ahead.”
“I was going to say your dog is beautiful.” She willed her body to stop flushing scarlet, but it refused to cooperate. She didn’t have to see herself to know that her face, neck, chest, and even her feet were on fire. This was why she did best behind the walls of The Haven. She could interact with the patrons there with minimal difficulty. But put her out in public, and she became a tongue-tied, socially inept disaster.
Cal’s grin held mischief, and he leaned toward her. “If all goes as planned, she’ll be pregnant soon. I bet Eliza would love a puppy for Christmas.” His voice was cajoling and teasing, but at least he had the good sense to keep it too low for Eliza to hear.
He winked in a way that was friendly and not flirtatious, and Landry understood why Bronwyn liked him so much. He leaned back and in a normal voice said, “I gathered from your conversation with Carla that you’re going to build nearby.”
“Yes. I have three acres on the edge of Pierce land.” She watched him carefully as she spoke and was unsurprised when his grip tightened on the pen at her words.
“How long have you lived in Gossamer Falls?”
“Long enough to know the Pierce and Quinn families don’t get along.”
***
Author Bio
Lynn H. Blackburn is the award-winning author of Unknown Threat, Malicious Intent, and Under Fire, as well as the Dive Team Investigations series. She loves writing swoon-worthy Southern suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy, but her grown-up reality is that she’s a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters by putting them into terrifying situations while she sits at home in her pajamas. She lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina, with her true love, Brian, and their three children.
