Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: River of Lies by James L’Etoile

RIVER OF LIES

by James L’Etoile


January 6 – 31, 2025 Virtual Book Tour


A Detective Emily Hunter Mystery

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for RIVER OF LIES (A Detective Emily Hunter Mystery Book #2) by James L’Etoile 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

Detective Emily Hunter must be the voice for the voiceless

The homeless camps spread throughout the city of Sacramento are a topic of heated debate among residents. They’re considered undesirable—a nuisance—an eyesore. But when the camps fall victim to a string of devastating arson attacks, Detective Emily Hunter and her partner, Javier Medina, dive into the investigation and become acquainted with the real people whose lives have been destroyed.

The attacks only begin to draw attention when two of the victims are identified as the city’s former anti-homeless mayor and a camp social worker—but rather than strengthening the push for justice, the movement to completely abolish the camps intensifies.

The investigation becomes politically charged when Emily discovers who stands to gain from burning the homeless out of their shelters. She struggles to balance the high-stakes investigation with caring for her Alzheimer’s-stricken mother, whose condition is rapidly deteriorating. The investigation uncovers an unlikely suspect and a reluctant witness standing between Emily and the shocking truth. Can Emily overcome resistance and her personal obstacles to halt the attacks?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211049706-river-of-lies?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=BafHYRDtuL&rank=1

River of Lies

Genre: Police Procedural; Thriller
Published by: Oceanview Publishing
Publication Date: January 7, 2025
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 9781608095896 (ISBN10: 1608095894)
Series: A Detective Emily Hunter Mystery, 2

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

RIVER OF LIES (A Detective Emily Hunter Mystery Book #2) by James L’Etoile is an intriguing, socially relevant, and twisted crime thriller/police procedural featuring a smart and determined female detective in Sacramento, California. This is the second book in the series which can easily be read as a standalone, but the first book, Face of Greed, is an excellent read that I highly recommend, also. 

Homicide Detective Emily Hunter and her partner, Detective Javier “Javi” Medina are given the politically charged case where homeless encampments are being torched by men in black when a dead man is discovered to have been killed, and it turns out to be the ex-mayor. When another body is discovered at the scene of the next arson and it is once again not a homeless victim, Emily and Javi are caught between investigating the deaths and the new mayor’s office working to abolish the camps and disbursing the homeless while eliminating the crime scenes.

Emily discovers a homeless mother, and her young daughter are somehow tied to the deaths, but with the political interference and threats, the potential profits involved in the elimination of the homeless camps, and the public perceptions of the homeless population, she and Javi must work fast to unravel the motives behind these murders to catch the killer.

Emily and Javi are a great pair of detectives with the perfect blend of smart investigative skills, empathy for victims, and care for each other as partners. Their personal lives are blended seamlessly into the story and add moments of levity to the otherwise serious situations. Besides her high stress job, Emily is also dealing with a mother who has Alzheimer’s and is deteriorating rapidly. The crime plotline is intricately written and realistic with many twists throughout this fast-paced story. When I think I know what is going on and I have a solution in mind, Mr. L’Etoile always has another surprise in store for me and what I think is the ending, is not. These books always need to be read to the very last word and I love that.

I highly recommend this tremendous crime thriller/police procedural from Mr. L’Etoile. If you haven’t picked up any of his books yet, you are missing out.

***

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

It would be easy to float away in the darkness and let the current pull her under, too. She’d thought about it several times before—in her “dark times,” as her ex-husband used to call them.

Lisa’s life hadn’t turned out the way she’d hoped. Abusive parents, a failed marriage, the booze—so much booze—all swirled together to set her on this path. Losing her apartment finally put her out here. Now this. She thought she’d escaped, but running from her past hadn’t worked. The ghosts of years past had stripped everything away. Lisa had nothing left, not even hope.

The tug of the Sacramento River on her legs was temping, and the spring snow runoff numbed Lisa’s thighs as she waded out.

Lisa closed her eyes and pictured herself lying back and allowing the river to put an end to it.

“Momma?”

Lisa’s eyes shot open.

Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted the faint outline of her daughter standing on the riverbank. The eight-year-old wore a thin blue t-shirt with a unicorn on the front, a threadbare pair of jeans, holding a stuffed bunny with one ear missing. The girl’s face registered confusion.

“Baby, go on back to the tent,” Lisa said. 

Lisa felt her daughter would be better off without her. The mother’s sins cast a damning shadow. But she couldn’t abandon Willow. Not like this. Lisa knew what it was like to be an orphan in an unfriendly world. The future of an eight-year-old alone in a homeless camp wasn’t the life Willow deserved. 

“Momma, what are you doing?” 

Lisa’s eyes welled. She didn’t need to tell her daughter the world was a hurtful place. She’d keep the secrets and not let her know there was nothing worth living for—for now. 

“I’m coming, baby.” 

Lisa turned and waded back toward the bank. Her daughter spent the last two years in one homeless camp or another. The tightly packed shelters made Lisa’s claustrophobia itch. 

Lisa reached for her daughter and grabbed her, lifting the girl into a tight hug. Tears streamed down Lisa’s cheeks. Not because Lisa wanted to end her suffering. She’d considered that option before. The tears came from nearly making Willow an orphan and leaving the innocent girl behind in a homeless camp. Willow couldn’t fight off the predators who lurked in the darkness—like they did tonight. 

From the river’s edge, the camp spread a quarter mile in either direction. There was never any official count because people came and went, died, were arrested, or simply disappeared from the camp. Lisa guessed there were over two hundred people living here in the city’s forgotten shadows. 

It was time to move. When the camps get too big, bad things happen, and people talk. 

Lights flickered from small campfires and lanterns throughout the settlement. Lisa thought they looked like fallen stars. She hugged Willow a little closer and followed the trail back into the camp. 

She unzipped the fly on their tent and scooted inside. Their belongings—a change of clothes, a towel to share, and two children’s books lay on one end of the nylon dome tent. A pair of sleeping bags took up most of the space. Lisa knew they were lucky to have them—others didn’t. 

“All right, sweetie, let’s get you settled in for the night.” 

Willow wiggled into her sleeping bag with her stuffed rabbit. Lisa grabbed a book, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, one of her daughter’s favorites. The eight-year-old could recite most of the story by heart. 

Lisa opened the book when a loud commotion erupted outside. It wasn’t uncommon in the camp. Fights over property, drugs, or imagined slights fed by drugs, alcohol, and glitchy mental health were a daily occurrence. Lisa learned the best thing to do was stay out of it and never get involved. 

It sounded like the usual dust-up until the screams began. 

“Stay here, Willow.” 

Lisa crawled to the tent flap, zipped it open, and poked her head out. 

Fire. 

Flames erupted on the far side of the camp. It was always a risk in the cardboard condos and plastic tarp shelters along the riverbank. This was different. At least six structures were ablaze. People were running, backlit by the orange and yellow glow. The evening delta breeze fanned the flames, igniting another dozen tents. 

The cheap nylon shelters went up like dried rice paper. 

“Baby, get your shoes on.” 

“What is it, Momma?” 

“We need to—” 

Lisa spotted two men in the chaos, both outlined by the flames behind them. They weren’t running. One set the next row of tents ablaze. The second man wielded a baseball bat and swung the aluminum cylinder at anyone who came near. A sickening tink sound echoed among the rows of tents when he bounced the bat off a man’s shoulder. 

Lisa grabbed her daughter’s hand, pulling her from the tent. The girl’s eyes grew large when she spotted the fires. 

Willow pulled away and ducked back into the tent. 

“Willow Marie, don’t you pull away from me. Come here. We need to get away.” 

Lisa felt the heat from the fire. It was spreading fast, and the flames jumped up into the trees within the camp. 

Bending into the tent, Lisa found Willow gathering her stuffed animal and the books. 

“Come now, we need to—” 

Tink

Lisa fell flat on the ground. The rounded end of the baseball bat shoved at her ribs. Dazed from a blow to the head, she didn’t move. Lisa registered a man’s boot stepping over her. 

The flames grew closer. 

Willow’s fear backed her into the far corner of the tent. 

Lisa’s ragged voice called to her daughter. “Willow. Listen. I need—I need you to run. Hide. Go to the safe place—the rock where we hide things. Stay until I come for you.” 

“I don’t want to go. I’m scared.” 

“I know, baby. You have to be brave. Take Mr. Bunny and go, now.” 

Willow clutched her stuffed animal, the book, and stepped through the tent flap. 

“Momma, you have an owie.” 

“I know, baby. I’ll be okay.” 

It was a lie. Lisa knew she was far from okay. She could feel the pressure in her head building with each heartbeat. 

“Go to the place we talked about, honey. Go quick.” 

Willow’s eyes welled. She didn’t budge, frozen in fear before a scream from someone nearby broke her from the trance. Another row of tents went up in flames. 

“Go.” 

Willow hugged her bunny and trotted toward the river. Lisa lost sight of her through the smoke billowing through the camp. 

She tried to get up and couldn’t move her legs. She crabbed forward using her arms, inching away from the burning camp. 

Her tent flashed, and the flames consumed it in seconds. The melting fabric, plastic and nylon fibers fell on her. The molten material burned through her clothing and ate into the flesh on Lisa’s back. 

The pain seared into her. Screams around her meant she wasn’t the only one. The two arsonists headed in the same direction Willow had fled. 

“Stop them,” she cried. No one could hear over the chaos of the burning camp. 

Lisa now wished the water had brought a calm end to everything. She didn’t expect this—the fire, searing flame, and torture. Part of her believed she deserved this fate for the pain she’d caused. Willow didn’t. The girl didn’t understand. Now, Lisa worried about what would happen to her sweet little girl. Mr. Bunny would not be enough. 

The last thought before the flames ate at her pant legs. “I’ve failed you.”

***

Author Bio

James L’Etoile uses his twenty-nine years behind bars as an influence in his award-winning novels, short stories, and screenplays. He is a former associate warden in a maximum-security prison, a hostage negotiator, and director of California’s state parole system. His novels have been shortlisted or awarded the Lefty, Anthony, Silver Falchion, and the Public Safety Writers Award. River of Lies is his most recent novel. Look for Sins of the Father and The Red List, coming soon. He is the host of Authors on the Air, served as a board member of his local Sister-in-Crime chapter, sits on the Mystery Writers of America national board, and serves as the Director of QueryFest at ThrillerFest for International Thriller Writers.

Social Media Links


www.jamesletoile.com
Prison to the Page Newsletter
Goodreads
BookBub – @crimewriter
Instagram – @authorjamesletoile
Threads – @authorjamesletoile
Facebook – @AuthorJamesLetoile

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | Oceanview Publishing

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KINGSUMO GIVEAWAY

https://kingsumo.com/g/1rxqxx1/river-of-lies-by-james-letoile

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Madness on the Island by Stewart Giles

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MADNESS ON THE ISLAND (DI Liam O’Reilly Mysteries Book #14) by Stewart Giles on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Blog Tour.

Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Blurb

Midsummer madness has hit the island of Guernsey with a vengeance.

The residents of the peaceful island are behaving irrationally.

It starts with an exclusive dinner party where two lifelong friends are hospitalised following a brutal fight, but things soon spiral out of control.

The first body is found, and Detective Inspector Liam O’Reilly is sent out to investigate.

A man has been maimed beyond recognition. The injuries he has sustained suggest that there is a maniac on the loose.

The killer is soon apprehended, and O’Reilly thinks that will be the end of it.

But when another mutilated corpse is found soon afterwards, O’Reilly realises he’s dealing with something very different to anything he’s come across before.

The killer of the first victim will be the one to shed light on the sudden madness that is spreading around the island, and O’Reilly will find himself in the middle of the most disturbing case of his career.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/217143024-madness-on-the-island?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=iQANKQKS9e&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

MADNESS ON THE ISLAND (DI Liam O’Reilly Mysteries Book #14) by Stewart Giles is another intense, intricately plotted addition to this fantastic series. This can be read as a standalone for the crime mystery plot, but the characters evolve over each new book, and I have enjoyed reading them all in order.

The madness begins at an annual summer dinner party on the island of Guernsey. After the wine is served, the fights begin. Several people were injured and some severely and need hospitalization. Before DI Liam O’Reilly can even begin to sort out what occurred and who is responsible, he is called out over the next two days on four murders that leave the killers claiming a complete loss of memory like the people from the dinner party. The only connection seems to be the brand of wine involved in all the scenes to cause this madness.

Another great addition to the DI Liam O’Reilly Mysteries series. I was once again surprised by all the twists and turns this book took. The crime plot kept me turning the pages from beginning to end and I did not figure out the solution until it was presented. Liam is on top of all the nuances of the clues and interrogations as usual. We also get to see his softer side when one of his cats is ill and he spends more time with his new wife. I enjoyed watching the interactions between Liam and his teammates, also. This is always a must-read series for me, and I always finish it in one day and must wait anxiously for the next.

I highly recommend this great addition to the series!

***

Author Bio

After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.

In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later.

3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series.

The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.

I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results.  I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018.

After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.

The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.

The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow. I also have another series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey, the Detective Liam O’Reilly series. There are also 3 stand alone novels.

Social Media Links

Website: www.stewartgiles.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stewart.giles.33

Twitter: @stewartgiles

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Frozen Lives by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush

FROZEN LIVES

by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush


October 7 – November 1, 2024 Virtual Book Tour


A Coroner’s Daughter Mystery

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for FROZEN LIVES (Coroner’s Daughter Mysteries Book #4) by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush on this Partner’s-In-Crime Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Kingsumo giveaway.

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Book Description

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.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209528321-frozen-lives?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_12

Frozen Lives

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

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

FROZEN LIVES (Coroner’s Daughter Mysteries Book #4) by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is an edge-of-your-seat crime thriller/amateur sleuth mystery featuring Chicago surgeon Emily Hartford who gets pulled back to her small hometown of Freeport, Michigan when her best friend and son go missing. This is easily read as a standalone crime thriller and the author does a great job of intertwining Emily’s life from the previous books, so I never felt lost with her current relationships.

Emily is happy sharing a surgical practice in Chicago with her boyfriend, but she just cannot let go of her smalltown roots and all of her friends in Freeport, Michigan. She receives a call for help when her best friend Jo’s son, Jeremiah, goes missing. He is discovered a few days later unharmed, but the man who took him is still free. With accusations only ramping up the tensions in Jo’s crumbling marriage, Emily feels the need to support her friend.

As they all try to get back to a normal routine, no one knows the danger has not passed them by and it is about to become a race to find a twisted kidnapper and rescue Emily’s friends from a possible watery grave.

I could not put this book down and I am surprised that I had not read any of this series previously. If you have not either, this is a good book to jump in on because the author does a great job of giving the reader enough of Emily’s past and relationships so as not to be confusing. That said, I will be going back to read the previous three books because I enjoyed the author’s fast paced crime plot and hope the other three are just as interesting and well written. Even knowing who the kidnapper/killer is does not distract from the increasing tension and emotional involvement as the book races to a climax. I am excited to read the next book now that Emily has accepted the role she was born to have and to see what happens with her surprise personal ending.

I highly recommend this crime thriller/amateur sleuth mystery and look forward to reading more in this series.

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Author Bio

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.

Social Media Links

www.JenniferDornbush.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @jgdornbush1
Instagram – @jgdornbush
YouTube – @ForensicSpeakJenniferDornbush
Facebook – @JGDornbush

Purchase Links

Amazon –     https://pictbooks.tours/jofJf    
BN –     https://pictbooks.tours/VXE6b      
BookShop.org –     https://pictbooks.tours/OI98e    
Publisher –     https://pictbooks.tours/JmCiC  

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KINGSUMO GIVEAWAY

https://kingsumo.com/g/199o7d1/frozen-lives-by-jennifer-graeser-dornbush

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Zenith Man by McCracken Poston, Jr.

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for ZENITH MAN: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom by McCracken Poston, Jr. on this AME Bog Tour.

Below you will find an author Q&A, a book synopsis, my book review, an excerpt from the book, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Author Q&A

How did you do research for your book?

Since my book is about a murder trial in which I was the defendant’s lawyer, the research was first done for the trial. Beyond my case file, I did other research in the media archives and other places to piece together the strange story of Alvin and Virginia Ridley.

Which was the hardest character to write? The easiest?

Unplanned, my book also became the true story about the relationship between me and my father. I wrote it truthfully, but any time you are writing about a loved one, it can be hard. The easiest character to write about was my client, Alvin Ridley, although he was a tough client!

What made you write a book about the Zenith Man?

This was the most incredible story to live through. After the trial ended, I immediately felt that this would be a good book.

Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

So far, I have written nonfiction.

There are many books out there about true crime. What makes yours different?

My story is the inside account of being the criminal defense lawyer for a most unusual defendant.

What advice would you give budding writers?

Write the bones of your story down quickly. You can add the other stuff later. Save the stories!

In your book you state….”The voters would get their change, but mostly the faces would stay the same.” Why is that?

The rash of partisan party-switching that took place in Georgia after my last political race (and first defeat).

Do you have another profession besides writing?

I am a full-time criminal defense lawyer, thanks to the second act that Alvin Ridley gave me, and for 28 years I have been a part-time juvenile court judge.

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing down experiences and stories all of my adult life. Social media allowed me to share vignettes and short tales, all true stories.

Do you ever get writer’s block? What helps you overcome it?

Maya Angelou once said “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Until recently, I understood this agony. She was speaking to me.

What is your next project?

I have been blessed with many interesting legal cases, but I am also drawn to trying my hand at fiction – perhaps based on true stories.

What genre do you write and why?

Nonfiction. The story I had to tell is a true story.

What is the last great book you’ve read?

I recently reread The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?

Someone I know told me that they could hear my voice in the writing of my book.

If your book were made into a movie, who would star in the leading roles?

I refuse to jinx it, but the Alvin Ridley role is Oscar bait!

If your book were made into a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack?

I would love classic 1980s Athens, Georgia music, to wit: Pylon, B52s, R.E.M.

What were the biggest rewards and challenges with writing your book?

I was frustrated in the telling of the story in other ways over the years.

In one sentence, what was the road to publishing like?

For years like the tortoise, then at once like the hare!

What is one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring author?

Keep at it.

Which authors inspired you to write?

Grisham, Turow, King

What is something you had to cut from your book that you wish you could have kept?

My first draft was 177,000 words. Obviously, lots had to go. But I think it came out about right.

***

Book Synopsis

Was this small-town TV repair man “a harmless eccentric or a bizarre killer” (Atlanta Journal Constitution). For the first time, Alvin Ridley’s own defense attorney reveals the inside story of his case and trial in an extraordinary tale of friendship and an idealistic young attorney’s quest to clear his client’s name—and, in the process, rebuild his own life.

In October 1997, the town of Ringgold in northwest Georgia was shaken by reports of a murder in its midst. A dead woman was found in Alvin Ridley’s house—and even more shockingly, she was the wife no one knew he had.

McCracken Poston had been a state representative before he lost his bid for U.S. Congress and returned to his law career. Alvin Ridley was a local character who once sold and serviced Zenith televisions. Though reclusive and an outsider, the “Zenith Man,” as Poston knew him, hardly seemed capable of murder.

Alvin was a difficult client, storing evidence in a cockroach-infested suitcase, unwilling to reveal key facts to his defender. Gradually, Poston pieced together the full story behind Virginia and Alvin’s curious marriage and her cause of death—which was completely overlooked by law enforcement. Calling on medical experts, testimony from Alvin himself, and a wealth of surprising evidence gleaned from Alvin’s  junk-strewn house, Poston presented a groundbreaking defense that allowed Alvin to return to his peculiar lifestyle, a free man.

Years after his trial, Alvin was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a revelation that sheds light on much of his lifelong personal battle—and shows how easily those who don’t fit societal norms can be castigated and misunderstood. Part true crime, part courtroom drama, and full of local color, Zenith Man is also the moving story of an unexpected friendship between two very different men that changed—and perhaps saved—the lives of both.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/157995299-zenith-man?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=AH1gVat6bE&rank=2

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

ZENITH MAN: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom by McCracken Poston, Jr. is a captivating debut true crime/court room novel told by the small-town Southern attorney of a man accused of murdering his wife no one knew he had. This is the first time I have heard of this case. Court room dramas can sometimes be very boring or dry, but this case is fascinating, and I could not put the book down.

Alvin Ridley had been considered “different” his entire life in Ringgold, Georgia. One day in October 1997 Alvin called 911 to report the death of his wife. No one knew he was married or that anyone was even living with him. Alvin tried to tell the authorities he found his wife dead in her bed with her face in her pillow after an epileptic seizure, but the coroner believes it is a murder, and he is arrested.

McCracken Poston, Jr. returned to his law career after a failed Congressional election and failed marriage. Alvin was known to Poston as a local character who used to sell and repair Zenith televisions. Alvin asks Poston to represent him after his arrest and he agrees because he just cannot believe Alvin is capable of murder.

Alvin is a difficult client, but Poston learns how to bargain and deal with his idiosyncrasies. As evidence is disclosed, Alvin and his wife’s lives are examined, and Poston spends more time with Alvin, he is determined to prove Alvin innocent.

This is a story that pulled me in from start to finish. Mr. Poston’s storytelling brought Alvin to life on the printed page. He is honest about his personal failings and his misunderstanding of Alvin, who was years later diagnosed to be on the Autism spectrum, even as he grows to care about his client personally. As the story progressed, I felt more and more compassion and empathy for Alvin. His care of his mother before she died, his love of his wife, his care of his cats, and his love and pride in his TV repair shop all showed how he tried to always do what was right, but because of his paranoia and autism, many others in his small-town ostracized him. What we do not understand, we fear. His chosen inscription on his tombstone made me cry. With Alvin not being diagnosed at the time of his trial, you wonder how many other “different” people have been wrongly accused and imprisoned over the years.

I highly recommend this debut true crime novel with a defendant I will not soon forget.

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Excerpt

Prologue

October 4, 1997

Emerging from his late parents’ run-down house on Inman Street, itself for years the target of local innuendo, Alvin Ridley, failed television repairman and the town bogeyman, abruptly turns to lock the door. Glancing around to see if his perceived tormentors are watching him, he pulls open the formidable homemade gate and then slowly drives a thirty-two-year-old Chevrolet pickup truck through it. Then he jumps back out and quickly closes and locks the gate with chains and a padlock.

Two-tenths of a mile down Evitt Street, he carefully drives the 25 mph speed limit right past the local volunteer fire department, visibly staffed with an ambulance and professional EMTs always on the ready, and turns south on U.S. Highway 41, away from town. Thinking better of it less than half a mile later, he pulls into the roadside monument for the 1863 Battle of Ringgold Gap and turns around.

Continuing to drive slowly, as if it were a usual lazy Saturday morning, he pulls into the ShopRite parking lot and tries the pay phone on the exterior wall. Unsuccessful with this attempt, he gets back into the truck and drives through two parking lots to a pay phone located along LaFayette Street, behind the Catoosa County Courthouse Annex and Jail. He puts coins in the phone and calls, if you believe the later speculation, a funeral home to retrieve a dead body from his house. He most certainly calls Erlanger Hospital in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, but is instructed that this is a matter for the Catoosa County authorities.

Reluctantly he dials 911. The Catoosa County 911 office is just across the street. The operators could look out the single window facing LaFayette Street and see the stooped figure making the call.

“Catoosa 911. Where is your emergency?”

A pause, and then he answers flatly, giving his home address.

“What’s the problem?”

Again, lacking emotion, he says, “I think my wife’s passed out.”

The operator confirmed the address.

“Yeah.”

“Is she breathing?”

“I don’t think so—it’s behind the steel plant there.” He adds matter-of-factly, “I’m calling from a pay phone booth.”

“You don’t have a phone at your house?”

“There’s no phone there.”

This is the portion of the 911 call, in the detached voice of the caller, that is instantly spread around the world upon the revelation that a dead body was found in the ramshackle house on Inman Street. The immediate problem for investigators is, who was this soul? Certainly not the alleged spouse of the infamously solitary Alvin Ridley. Ridley said it was his wife, but can produce no identification for her. The body of the woman he calls his wife—Virginia—is declared dead by the coroner Vanita Hullander, who plans to take it to the hospital across the county in Fort Oglethorpe, and the next morning,deliver it to the state crime lab in Atlanta.

The portions of the 911 call not shared with the public or played on the news stations were the parts where the caller shared that his wife was, in his words, “epi-letic”, or that he ended the call with a request: “Please hurry.”

Later that morning, five miles to the south, an extremely hungover failed politician, failed husband, and marginally failing lawyer, rises. Too down and broken to even drive to Athens to see his beloved University of Georgia Bulldogs play, and seeking something for his blinding headache, he drives slowly into town.

***

Author Bio

McCracken King Poston Jr, is a criminal defense attorney and former state legislator in the Georgia House of Representatives. He gained national attention for his handling of several notable cases that were featured on CNN Presents, Dateline NBC, A&E’s American Justice and Forensic Files.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.mccrackenpostonjr.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/McCrackenPostonJr

Twitter: https://x.com/RealZenithMan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mccrackenpostonjr/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mccracken_poston_jr

Purchase Links

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3MR4iaL

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/157995299-zenith-man

Author Marketing Experts tags for social media:

Twitter: @Bookgal

Instagram: @therealbookgal

Feature Post and Mini Book Review: The Wraith’s Return by Raemi A. Ray

Book Description

Some secrets are safer lost at sea…

London based lawyer Kyra Gibson returns to Martha’s Vineyard and the beach house she inherited for an extended summer holiday. Still reeling from her father’s brutal murder and the role she and the handsome detective, Tarek Collins played in uncovering it, Kyra is hopeful for some peace and quiet. But when a summer squall reveals the wreckage of the pirate ship, Keres, rich with rumored treasure, all hopes of peace are dashed. Conservationists and treasure hunters descend on the exclusive island to lay claim to the ship. When two of the salvagers are killed, Kyra and Tarek’s friend, pub owner and amateur historian, Gully Gould is arrested for murder.

Determined to prove Gully’s innocence, Kyra, Tarek, and reformed playboy Chase Hawthorn team up to clear their friend’s name. But someone wants the treasure for themselves. And with someone willing to kill for it, there is more than just danger lurking along the island’s caves and coves. There is death.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205807378-the-wraith-s-return?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=wllnrQjvsf&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

THE WRAITH’S RETURN (Martha’s Vineyard Murders Book #2) by Raemi A. Ray is the second book in the Martha’s Vineyard Murders series with Kyra returning to Martha’s Vineyard for an extended summer holiday and finds herself and her island friends helping one of their own accused of murder. This story can be read as a standalone, but I feel the books are best read in order as the main characters continually evolved in their relationships from book one.

This book has murder, conservationists vs. fisherman, islanders vs. vacationers, and a historical pirate story, and treasure hunters all combined in this mystery read. I am not sure if it is because there is so much going on, which should have made for many red herrings, but when I reached the end, I felt the killer was just there with no build up of tension or foreboding until very close to the end. All the information and side characters were interesting, but at times slowed the plot pace. I love Kyra, Tarek, and Chase and find them all to be interesting characters. I look forward to following them in future books, but I have to say that I liked the mystery plot in book one, A Chain of Pearls, better. The characters pulled me through this story more than the mystery plot.

Overall, a little bit of a let down after such a great debut.

***

Author Bio

Raemi A. Ray’s travels to Martha’s Vineyard and around the world inspire her stories. She lives outside Boston. When not writing or traveling she earns her keep as the personal assistant to the resident house demons, Otto and Dolph Lundgren.

Social Media Links

Website: https://raemiray.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaemiRay/

Instagram: @miss_raemi

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-wraith-s-return-martha-s-vineyard-murders-book-2-by-raemi-a-ray

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Deadly Protocol by Roger Corke

Hi everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEADLY PROTOCOL by Roger Croke on this blog tour.

Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links, Enjoy!

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Book Blurb

Dr Ronnie Ackerman wakes up in bed alone. Her boss, Nobel Prize-winner Professor Hasely Stone, and the man she got drunk with the night before, is downstairs in the sauna, brutally murdered.

Who did this, and why?

Stone had been working with total dedication on the ultimate cure for all cancers. Was he killed because he failed, or because he succeeded?
Ronnie panics, clears the house of all traces of her overnight stay, and then sets out on a mission to find out.

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

DEADLY PROTOCOL by Roger Corke is a fast-paced, twisted, roller coaster ride mash-up medical/political thriller featuring an American research doctor working in England and a British television reporter. I could not put this debut book down and I am so excited there is a proposed second “Deadly” book that I cannot wait to read.

Dr. Veronica “Ronnie” Ackerman is having second thoughts about her move to London six months ago, even though she is working for one of the most brilliant cancer research doctors in the world. Professor Hasely Stone talks Ronnie into coming to his home on the pretense of a business dinner, but after too much alcohol, they end up together in bed. When Ronnie wakes up, Hasely is not in bed. As she looks for him before leaving, she discovers him brutally murdered in his home sauna. Terrified, she tries to eliminate any evidence of her presence and goes on to work.

Journalist Daniel Plowright is one of the Professor’s success stories with his new protocol. When he meets Ronnie, they find a professional and personal connection that has them working to uncover why there are an increasing number of dead bodies connected to the protocol. They find themselves and some friends they make along the way are up against not only violent killers, but a secret plot within the highest echelons of the English government.

This is a page turner that starts off with a terrible murder and keeps up the pace from start to finish. Ronnie is an interesting protagonist, who I did not like at first, but once you get to know her; she is very human, making human mistakes, but she wants to make everything right in the end. Her pairing with Daniel works well as they both work to unravel this twisted plot of murder, intrigue, and corruption. Even though the intricate main plot ends with typical reasons for a crime, the paper Hasely rights about the economic consequences of curing all cancers is chilling. It is hard to believe this is a debut novel because it has everything I want when I pick up a book that calls itself a thriller.

I highly recommend this debut medical/political thriller!

***

Author Bio

TV journalist Roger Corke has spent more years that he cares to remember travelling to all parts of the world, making investigative documentaries for series like the BBC’s Panorama, Channel 4’s Dispatches and ITV’s World In Action and Tonight. It was whilst he was on a filming trip to America that he came up with the plot of Deadly Protocol.

“I was talking to a scientist working there who told me that they had made great strides in cancer research over the past few years.” says Roger. “I asked him whether that meant a cure for cancer might come soon. His answered floored me. He said ‘they may have found a cure for cancer but an lot of people would have a lot to lose if it ever saw the light of day’. Straight away, the plot for a thriller jumped out at me.”

Roger is now writing the sequel to Deadly Protocol, called Deadly Messages.

Social Media Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rogercorke

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roger.corke

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Protocol-Roger-Corke-ebook/dp/B0DFYBLBQ3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FC6RZV3BDYEP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.nAFW5sVunKU