SECONDS (The Salvation Society Series) by Freya Barker is a new book in Corinne Michaels’ Salvation Society world series featuring multiple authors. This series is filled with Navy SEALs, CIA operatives, strong heroines, suspense, action, romance and so much more! Each romantic suspense in the series stands on its own.
Reagan is a smart and determined criminal defense lawyer. After leaving a large firm with her paralegal, Sally, she is now building her own practice from scratch. One bad decision she is working to overcome is an ex in the prosecutor’s office, who has made it his main objective is to defeat her every time they sit opposite each other in court.
Reagan’s office shares a building with Callum McGregor’s Bail Bond office. Cal is the boss in an office of bounty hunters, Reagan’s landlord and her older brother’s friend. When Cal finally meets Reagan, it is an irresistible attraction. He knows the code of not touching a friend’s sister, but he is 45 and has never felt this attraction with any other woman.
Cal may be an alpha bounty hunter, but he needs Reagan’s professional expertise the moment he returns from returning a skip and run who accuses him of sexual abuse. As Cal and Reagan work together to uncover the reason Cal is being set up, they do not realize that another danger is waiting for the chance to destroy Reagan.
Once again, I can state that I have never read a Freya Barker contemporary romance/romantic suspense that I have not loved! Her mature characters are strong, accomplished and ready for that perfect mate and their HEA. Cal and Reagan spontaneously combust no matter how hard Reagan tries to remain professional and I loved it. The romance and suspense plots are perfectly balanced and intertwined and kept me turning the pages.
I highly recommend this book and author! I am looking forward to checking out the other books in the Salvation Society world.
***
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
Today I is my turn on the blog tour for the first book in a new British Police procedural/mystery series featuring a rather unique protagonist. I am excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE DENTIST (The DS Cross Mysteries Series Book #1) by Tim Sullivan.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Blurb
A homeless man. Violently strangled. No leads. Except his past.
An outsider himself, DS George Cross is drawn to this case. The discovery of the dead man’s connection to an old cold case then pulls Cross in further. Convinced this is where the answer to the murder lies, he sets about solving another that someone has spent the past fifteen years thinking they’ve got away with.
Cross’ relentless obsession with logic, detail and patterns is what makes him so irritatingly brilliant. It doesn’t exactly make him popular with colleagues or his superiors, though. He has numerous enemies in the force wanting to see him fail.
Red flags are soon raised as suspicious inconsistencies and errors in the original detective’s investigation come to light. Now retired, this ex-cop has powerful friends in the force and a long-standing dislike of Cross.
Set in picturesque Bristol in the Southwest of England, it’s not long before the city reveals its dark underbelly, in a case of intriguing twists and turns whose result astonishes even those involved.
Difficult and awkward, maybe. But Cross has the best conviction rate in Avon & Somerset Police. By far. Will this case put an end to that?
THE DENTIST (DS Cross Mystery Series Book #1) by Tim Sullivan is the first book in a new British police procedural series with an intricately plotted mystery and a rather unique protagonist. A DS with Asperger syndrome would seem unlikely, but the syndrome is on a spectrum and his absence of social skills and empathy is more than compensated for by his meticulous pursuit of facts and justice.
DS George Cross has the best conviction rate in the Avon & Somerset Police. The prosecuting lawyers all love to get his cases because every fact is checked and in a logical order for an easy conviction. This attention to detail does not always make Cross an easy person to work with though. He is brilliant at his job, but he is not good with his colleagues. He does not understand many social cues that everyone else takes for granted.
A homeless man is found murdered. Cross and his partner Ottey begin to investigate and soon find a suspect, but Cross does not believe he is responsible for the man’s death. They discover that the wife’s murdered man was a much loved dentist until the murder of his wife fifteen years previously. Cross believes the solution to their present case will be solved with the resolution of the wife’s murder.
Suspicious inconsistencies begin to be raised in the original investigation. Now retired, the officer in charge of the wife’s murder is hiding something behind powerful friends on the force. Cross and Ottey are following a trail that will shock all involved.
I enjoyed this new DS protagonist and all of his quirks. The rapport between Cross and Ottey is revealed throughout the story and as much as Ottey complains, she also finds Cross interesting and someone she can learn from. The third person working with Cross is Alice Mackenzie who is a police trainee. She is innocent and eager, but she has to learn how to interact with Cross which leads to some humorous exchanges and no recognition of her hard work except in Cross’ mind because he does not feel it is necessary to verbalize. The plot is very detail oriented with plenty of twists and surprises. I liked every revelation of character and plot in this mystery which made for an excellently paced read.
I recommend this mystery and DS Cross. I am looking forward to many more books in this series.
***
About the Author
TIM SULLIVAN made his first short film before graduating from Cambridge University. His ambition to become a screenwriter was formed not so much by this experience but as an attempt to foil his father’s determination to turn him into a lawyer.
Within weeks of leaving university armed with a law degree he had met the film maker Derek Jarman and persuaded him to commission an original screenplay from him entitled BOB UPADOWN and so a career was born.
A few months later he joined Granada Television as a researcher. Here he was commissioned to write the first of many television scripts for the company. Two sitcoms entitled THE TRAIN NOW LEAVING and THE GREASY SPOON followed by the crime dramas MYSTERIOUS WAYS and MAIGRET.
While at Granada he was selected for the prestigious Directors’ Training scheme when only 26. Previous encumbents had included Mike Newell, Roland Joffe, and Michael Apted, more recently Julian Farino. Among other credits he directed CORONATION STREET, MADE IN HEAVEN, THATCHER THE FINAL DAYS and THE CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES with Jeremy Brett.
During this time he also co wrote the screenplays for the movies A HANDFUL OF DUST starring Kristen Scott Thomas, Judi Dench and Alec Guinness and WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD starring Helen Mirren and Helena Bonham Carter, both with producer the legendary TV producer Derek Granger (BRIDESHEAD REVISITED).
Upon leaving the bosom of Granada and venturing into the wild wide world of the freelance film maker he wrote and directed the movie JACK AND SARAH starring Richard E Grant, Samantha Mathis, Ian Mckellen, Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins. This led to a commission from New Line Pictures to write the screenplay WALKING PAPERS based on the Jay Cronley novel of the same name.
This screenplay came to the attention of execs at Universal and Imagine who then asked Tim to do a page one rewrite of a western for Ron Howard entitled THE PRETENDERS. Tim enjoyed working with Ron for over a year on this.
He then wrote an original screenplay, PERSONAL SHOPPING, which was promptly snapped up by Paramount for producer Scott Rudin.
He spent four months working for and with Jeffrey Katzenberg at Dreamworks animation as a production writer on the movie FLUSHED AWAY. Impressed by his work Katzenberg commissioned him to write a script for SHREK 4 which wasn’t used as a different storyline was decided upon as a director came on board.
During this time he was actively involved in British television directing the last ever ninety minute episode of the BAFTA award winning series COLD FEET. As well as a TV movie for ITV called CATWALK DOGS written by Simon Nye.
He was commissioned by the BBC to write a pilot for a TV series he invented called BACKSTORY as well as another pilot for the ITV network entitled OFFSPRING.
He also wrote HIS MASTER’S VOICE for the BBC as a radio play starring Rob Brydon which was broadcast in 2015.
He recently wrote the screenplay for LETTERS TO JULIET starring Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave.
Oscar winning producers of The King’s Speech, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman then commissioned an original screenplay from him entitled THE WEDDING DRESS.
Tim is writing and co-producing and co-writing an animated feature screenplay for Hasbro and Paramount which is in production and scheduled for release in 2021.
He has now embarked on a series of crime novels featuring the eccentric and socially-awkward, but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross. Set in Bristol in the south west of England, Cross’ methods often infuriate his colleagues and superiors “not so much a thorn in my side as a pain in my arse,” according to his boss DCI Carson. But his conviction rate, thanks to his dogged persistence and attention to detail, is the best in the force. The DENTIST is in the first of a series.
Tim lives in North London with his wife Rachel, the Emmy award-winning producer of THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA and PIONEER WOMAN.
He is currently the UK chair of the Writers’ Guild of America (West).
MISS ETTA: A NOVEL by Deanna Lynn Sletten is a captivating historical fiction book which imagines the life of Etta Place who was the partner of the Sundance Kid. Etta disappeared from history, but Ms. Sletten has done an epic job of reconstructing facts when known and extrapolating when not known. When reading or watching the movie about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I have always wanted to know what happened to Etta and this book is a rendering of the story that I could not put down and happily satisfied my curiosity.
In 1895, Ethel Emily Pleasants is about to start her first teaching position when she meets Harry Longabaugh, also known as the Sundance Kid. Emily is beautiful and very ladylike, but she grew up on a ranch and is able to ride and shoot as well as any man. She knows Harry and his best friend Butch are outlaws, but she loves the Kid so much she is willing to give up everything to follow them. Harry uses the alias Place while on the run and so Emily becomes Etta Place.
In 1911, Emily Pleasants arrives in Pine Creek, Minnesota with her three years old son, Harry to accept a teaching position in their small-town school. Edward Sheridan meets the widow with her son at the train depot and quickly falls in love. Emily hopes that this will be the place where she can finally quit running and looking over her shoulder as the Pinkerton men have never stopped looking for her, Harry and Butch. She wants a safe place to raise her son.
Etta travelled the world with the outlaw men she loved until they were separated and she disappeared from history. What happened to Etta Place?
I loved this story! Ms. Sletten brought Emily “Etta” to life for me and whether the facts and imaginings are true or not, I hope her life was just like this story. Ms. Sletten’s characters are all fully fleshed and you just fall into the story and do not want to leave. It is a grand adventure with plenty of romance, action and history.
I highly recommend this story and author!
***
About theAuthor
Deanna Lynn Sletten is the author of MISS ETTA, THE WOMEN OF GREAT HERON LAKE, MAGGIE’S TURN, THE LAKE HARRIET SERIES, and several other titles. She writes heartwarming women’s fiction and romance novels with unforgettable characters. She has also written one middle-grade novel that takes you on the adventure of a lifetime. Deanna believes in fate, destiny, love at first sight, soul mates, second chances, and happily ever after, and her novels reflect that.
Deanna is married and has two grown children. When not writing, she enjoys walking the wooded trails around her home with her beautiful Australian Shepherd or relaxing on the lake in the summer.
Deanna loves hearing from her readers. Connect with her at:
Today I am very excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on this blog tour for DEADLINE by Geoff Major. This is an exciting new book by this debut author. I could not put it down and was completely shocked by the ending.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Blurb:
Adam Ferranti was drinking away his waking hours, getting by in a regional newspaper in the North of England. An award-winning journalist, he moved to England to escape the media glare that followed his spectacular fall from grace at The Washington Post; only to be thrust back in it when a mysterious serial killer decides to make him his confidante.
DS Stephanie Walker is a successful member of the West Yorkshire Police force. Whilst she is tough and results-driven at work, with a fearsome reputation on the streets, she hides the domestic abuse she suffers at home.
She finds Ferranti exceptionally difficult to deal with, but he’s her only chance to stay close to what the elusive killer is planning next. Ferranti reluctantly complies with the Police, even though he is fighting his own personal demons, but when his best friend is murdered by the killer, it suddenly gets personal. And suddenly, no-one is quite who they seemed to be.
DEADLINE by Geoff Major is an exceptionally chilling serial killer/spy thriller/British police procedural/mystery/suspense/thriller mash-up. Every time I thought I knew what was going on, Mr. Major would throw in another plot twist or red herring that completely sent me in another direction and the ending shocked me!
Adam Ferranti had the story of his career at the Washington Post pulled out from under him and quashed by the FBI. After that disappointment he becomes a war correspondent in Afghanistan and then takes a position with the Yorkshire Post in England. Down and out, he suddenly begins to receive mysterious calls from a serial killer.
Detective Sergeant Stephanie Walker is a talented star at work, but abused by her husband in their home. DS Walker is in charge of the murder investigation, when Ferranti comes to the police station with his story of being contacted by a serial killer who has set them on a deadline until the next killing. At first the two butt heads, but eventually Stephanie starts to like and have feelings for Ferranti.
Stephanie is pulled from the case officially when her husband is considered a suspect. She continues to be updated by the DS Hobbs who replaced her and works the case with Ferranti. But nothing is as it seems with MI5, a U.S. Senator and long buried secrets about to emerge as well as a serial killer who continues on his deadline.
Clear some time because once you start this book you are not going to want to put it down. It starts out as a common serial killer investigation, but the plot quickly morphs into so much more. The characters are all fully fleshed and many have secrets that are revealed cleverly throughout the plot. The ending completely shocked me and I love when a story can do that to me. I was completely and pleasantly surprised by this debut author.
I highly recommend this book! This is a book you are going to want to get your hands on as soon as possible and I know everyone will be talking about it, especially the ending.
***
About the Author
A long time ago, Geoff Major had an idea for a story, whilst walking his girls to primary school. Two years ago, he decided he had the time and patience to try to write the story down. His wife was wholly supportive, so he turned from full-time to part-time for four months and now – 23 years after that idea first popped into his head – it has been published.
As a self-employed business consultant for 18 years and a fundraising adventurer for 10 years (including ski-trekking 50 miles, over 6 days and 6 nights, to the geographic North Pole), he now works for a debt charity whilst plotting his next three books
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Blackthorn Book Tour for THE ANCESTOR by Lee Matthew Goldberg.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author;s social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Blurb
A man wakes up in present-day Alaskan wilderness with no idea who he is, nothing on him save an empty journal with the date 1898 and a mirror. He sees another man hunting nearby, astounded that they look exactly alike. After following this other man home, he witnesses a wife and child that brings forth a rush of memories of his own wife and child, except he’s certain they do not exist in modern times—but from his life in the late 1800s. After recalling his name is Wyatt, he worms his way into his doppelganger Travis Barlow’s life.
Memories become unearthed the more time he spends, making him believe that he’d been frozen after coming to Alaska during the Gold Rush and that Travis is his great-great grandson. Wyatt is certain gold still exists in the area and finding it with Travis will ingratiate himself to the family, especially with Travis’s wife Callie, once Wyatt falls in love.
This turns into a dangerous obsession affecting the Barlows and everyone in their small town, since Wyatt can’t be tamed until he also discovers the meaning of why he was able to be preserved on ice for over a century.
A meditation on love lost and unfulfilled dreams, The Ancestor is a thrilling page-turner in present day Alaska and a historical adventure about the perilous Gold Rush expeditions where prospectors left behind their lives for the promise of hope and a better future. The question remains whether it was all worth the sacrifice….
THE ANCESTOR by Lee Matthew Goldberg is a unique suspense/thriller that merges two timelines, the past and present in one family in small town Laner, Alaska. Mr. Goldberg has written a family saga about greed, jealousy, love, sacrifice, acceptance, friendship and being a part of a family.
A man wakes up emerging from the ice in Alaska. He has no memories, but he does have a journal which the year 1898 and a mirror. He hears shots and follows the sound to find two hunters and he is shocked to find that one appears to be his identical twin. He hides in their truck and peers through Travis Barlow, the hunter’s window of his home to see a woman and child. They begin to bring back memories of his own life and he remembers his name is Wyatt Barlow.
Wyatt realizes he has been frozen since his journey to Alaska during the gold rush. He is sure he found gold, but he does not remember where. Wyatt ingratiates himself with Travis, who he realizes is his great-great grandson. Wyatt wants the gold to help his current family, but he also has a dangerous obsession which will affect of the current generations of Barlows.
I enjoyed this book on so many levels. The writing is gritty and stark as the frozen landscape of Alaska. I was always waiting for the next twist in the plot as Wyatt learned more about present time and revealed more of his true self. The characters in this book are all fully fleshed and realistically portrayed. This suspense/thriller is an original story with plenty of drama and adventure.
I highly recommend this suspense/thriller by an author who never fails to give me a unique story.
***
About the Author
Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of the novels THE DESIRE CARD, THE MENTOR, and SLOW DOWN. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. The second book in the Desire Card series, PREY NO MORE, is forthcoming in 2020, along with his first Sci-Fi novel ORANGE CITY.
His new endeavor will be as the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Fringe Press and Fringe Digital, dedicated to publishing fiction that’s outside-of-the-box.
His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests.
After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, Cagibi, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City.
Today, I am excited to be on the Saint Justice Blog Tour. I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SAINT JUSTICE (Christopher Wren #1) by Mike Grist. I love reading action packed vigilante hero thrillers that let you cheer for no-holds-barred elimination of bad guys!
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Blurb
Hundreds of human cages hidden in the desert. One man with nothing to lose.
Christopher Wren pulls off I-70 after three weeks on the road and walks into a biker bar in Price, Utah. An arbitrary decision he’s about to regret.
The bikers attack Wren, leave him for dead and steal his truck.
Now he’s going to get it back.
From a secure warehouse in the desert. Ringed with fences. Filled with human cages.
As Wren digs deeper, a dark national conspiracy unravels and the body count mounts, but one thing is for sure.
SAINT JUSTICE (Christopher Wren #1) by Mike Grist is the start of a new vigilante thriller series featuring an ex-CIA operative. I love these over-the-top, action packed vigilante thrillers especially when they give me a protagonist like Christopher Wren and escapism writing where evil always loses and I cannot put the book down.
The soon to be ex-CIA operative who goes by the name of Christopher Wren has been dismantling cults, cartels and corporate conspiracies all around the world. What the company did not know is that Wren had a kept a secret life outside of his job. While working cases for the government, Wren collected a vigilante army of his own called the Foundation.
Wren is looking for a fight and he finds it at a biker bar, but they are not an average club. The Vikings are a small part of a large chain in a human trafficking organization with ulterior motives. There is nothing more abhorrent to Wren than human trafficking. He calls for help from members of the Foundation and they come without hesitation.
As Wren works to uncover the leaders of the trafficking organization, he needs all the help he can get and he finds that this may be turn out to be his last fight.
I love this genre of thrillers. Yes, the protagonist can be so wounded there is no way he can plausibly continue on, but he does. And yes, the protagonist can get out of any situation to fight again, but that is what makes them so much fun. Christopher Wren, as other heroes such as Jack Reacher and John Wick, has a moral code that can step over the legal lines, but is always on the side of justice. And do not forget, there is always a tortured past or incident that sets them on their path and a terrible injustice that they must correct or stop.
Mr. Grist has written this type of genre book perfectly with a great balance of tortured protagonist and a fast-paced plot with plenty of action, weapons, and blood. I could not put it down and cannot wait for more adventures with Wren.
I highly recommend this vigilante thriller with a great, new protagonist – Christopher Wren!
***
Aboutthe Author
Mike Grist is the British/American author of the Christopher Wren thriller series. For 11 years Mike lived in Tokyo, Japan, exploring and photographing the dark side of the city and the country: gangs, cults and abandonedplaces. Now he writes from London, UK, about rogue DELTA operator Christopher Wren – an anti-hero vigilante who uses his off-book team of ex-cons to bring brutal payback for dark crimes.
