Tag: #bookblurb

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Ancestor by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Hi, everyone!

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!

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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….

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54552798-the-ancestor

Purchase here: https://downandoutbooks.com/bookstore/goldberg-ancestor/

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

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.

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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.

Social Media Links

Website – Leematthewgoldberg.com

FB – https://www.facebook.com/leemgol

IG – https://www.instagram.com/leematthewgoldberg/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/LeeMatthewG

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Saint Justice by Mike Grist

Saint Justice (A Christopher Wren Thriller #1) by Mike Grist

#SaintJustice #AChristopherWrenThriller @michaelgrist @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours

Hi, everyone!

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!

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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.

They picked the wrong guy to teach a lesson.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54148381-saint-justice

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

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!

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About the 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.

Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelgrist

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

Website: http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/

Purchase Links

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2XEWCiG

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/33Hdfyi

Audible: https://adbl.co/3kxKNoz

Publishing Information

Published in paperback, audio and digital formats on 10th June 2019

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Little Falls by Elizabeth Lewes

Little Falls by Elizabeth Lewes

#LittleFalls @Elizabeth_Lewes @crookedlanebks @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours

Hi, everyone!

Today I am on the blog tour and sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for LITTLE FALLS by Elizabeth Lewes.

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

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Book Blurb

She tried to forget the horrors of war–but her quiet hometown conceals a litany of new evils.

Sergeant Camille Waresch did everything she could to forget Iraq. She went home to Eastern Washington and got a quiet job. She connected with her daughter, Sophie, whom she had left as a baby. She got sober. But the ghosts of her past were never far behind.

While conducting a routine property tax inspection on an isolated ranch, Camille discovers a teenager’s tortured corpse hanging in a dilapidated outbuilding. In a flash, her combat-related PTSD resurges–and in her dreams, the hanging boy merges with a young soldier whose eerily similar death still haunts her. The case hits home when Sophie reveals that the victim was her ex-boyfriend–and as Camille investigates, she uncovers a tangled trail that leads to his jealous younger brother and her own daughter, wild, defiant, and ensnared.

The closer Camille gets to the truth, the closer she is driven to the edge. Her home is broken into. Her truck is blown up. Evidence and witnesses she remembers clearly are erased. And when Sophie disappears, Camille’s hunt for justice becomes a hunt for her child. At a remote compound where the terrifying truth is finally revealed, Camille has one last chance to save her daughter–and redeem her own shattered soul.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49772280-little-falls

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

Little Falls by Elizabeth Lewes is an intense debut suspense/thriller/mystery mash-up from this author and I would be interested in seeing it become a series. I was pulled right into the story which not only has plenty of action and suspense, but it is seen by the reader through the eyes of the main character who is still suffering from PTSD after returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Camille Waresch returned to her small hometown in Eastern Washington after serving several tours as a frontline medic. She is trying to connect with her teenage daughter who grew up with Camille’s parents while she was overseas and is always angry with her, deal with her PTSD and keep her job as a county property tax inspector. Her father also left her the local gas mart as a permanent income and place to live about the shop.

While doing a routine property tax inspection, Camille discovers a badly tortured young boy hung by barbwire in a barn. She immediately has a severe PTSD flashback to a similar scene from her time in Iraq. The two victims merge in her dreams and she does not know if she can trust her memories, but the dead boy was her daughter’s boyfriend and she becomes involved in the investigation over the concerns of her childhood friend, Sergeant Darren Moses.

The closer Camille gets to the truth the more danger she is in. The gas mart is broken into, her truck in blown up and evidence she discovers for Darren disappears. The two cases, past and present converge. Her daughter disappears and she has one last chance to save her daughter and herself.

I love a protagonist like Camille when they are trying to be “normal”, but everyone and everything is against them. I feel the author did a great job of portraying her PTSD, difficulty in returning to civilian life and the inability to tell if Camille was telling the truth, remembering something from the past or having false memories. The plot moves at a fast pace between past and present and occasionally I was confused because you are only viewing everything through Camille’s eyes. I am hoping Ms. Lewes picks up these characters again in future books because I think there is still so much she can do with Camille and the other secondary characters.

I recommend this debut suspense/thriller/mystery and I am hoping for more.

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About Elizabeth Lewes

Elizabeth Lewes is a U.S. Navy veteran who served during Operation Enduring Freedom as a linguist. A practicing attorney, she resides in Seattle with her family. 

Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Elizabeth_Lewes @elizabeth_lewes

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

Purchase Links

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3jSSe9e

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3fbXr8K

Google Books: https://bit.ly/33d25ke

Book Depository: https://bit.ly/336hnYg

Barnes and Noble: https://bit.ly/3ghek3i

Publishing Information:

Published by Crooked Lane Books in hardcover, audio and digital formats on 11th August 2020

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Say No More by Karen Rose

Say No More (The Sacramento Series #2) by Karen Rose

#SayNoMore @KarenRoseBooks @headlinepg @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn on the Say No More Blog Tour. I am very excited to share my Feature Post and Book Review for SAY NO MORE (Romantic Suspense #24, Sacramento #2) by Karen Rose. I loved the first book in the Sacramento series and I can happily say book #2 did not let me down.

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

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Book Blurb

Perfect for fans of James Patterson and Karin Slaughter, this is the second gripping instalment of the Sacramento series from Sunday Times bestseller Karen Rose. An explosive crime thriller, Say No More will keep you gripped until the final page.

If they ever catch you, say nothing. Admit nothing. Never tell.

Mercy Callahan never thought she’d be able to talk about her past. When she arrives in Sacramento to make peace with her brother Gideon, and to help find the brutal cult that took away her childhood, she is finally ready to talk. But when Ephraim Burton – the man who made her life a living hell – follows her there, she realises she might never be safe.

Rafe Sokolov would do anything to have Mercy back in his life and would go to any length to protect her. But when it becomes apparent that Ephraim is more determined than ever to get Mercy back, even Rafe might not be able to stop the trail of destruction he leaves in his wake. As Ephraim draws near, it’s clear it’s not just Mercy who is in danger; those closest to her are firmly in his sights.

Will Mercy sacrifice herself to help bring Ephraim down? Or will he finally get what he’s always wanted…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50156405-say-no-more

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

SAY NO MORE (Romantic Suspense #24, Sacramento #2) by Karen Rose is the second book in the Sacramento romantic suspense series. I loved the first book “Say You’re Sorry” so I was very excited to get book #2 and it did not disappoint. It is just as action packed, intense and suspenseful with another great H/h pair.

Mercy Callahan escaped a cult seventeen years ago and has moved on with her life. She still feared that Ephriam, who took her as his wife at the age of twelve and abused her, would never give up looking for her. She did not know that the man who killed her mother and almost killed her told Ephraim she was dead.

During the FBI hunt for a serial killer, Mercy and her brother, Gideon reconnect and Mercy meets his closest friend, Rafe Sokolov. Mercy has returned to Sacramento to apologize to Gideon for running away after being saved from the serial killer and see if her feelings for Rafe are real. While at the airport, Mercy is almost abducted by Ephriam who has discovered she is alive and her death faked.

Mercy and Rafe are determined to find and uncover the cult’s secrets as Ephriam leaves a trail of dead bodies and will do anything to take Mercy back to the cult dead or alive.

Karen Rose always writes longer books that go in depth into the hero and heroine and their personal connections with an action filled and suspenseful plot that weaves everything together into a great romantic suspense read. I was looking forward to reading more about Mercy after meeting her in the first book. She had misunderstandings that needed to be revealed. Her character has been through so much and yet she still has the capacity to trust and love. Rafe has had his own personal loses and it let him understand Mercy better than anyone else. The romance builds very slowly due to Mercy’s abuse, but you know it is going to be strong and solid by the HEA. All the secondary characters are as fully fleshed as the H/h and even with the different and large family units on both ends of the country, it is never confusing. You can read this book as a standalone, but I believe you will enjoy it more if you read “Say You’re Sorry” first.

This book has everything I look for in a romantic suspense. I know I will get action, suspense, unexpected plot twists and an H/h I will fall in love with. I am always excited to get a new story from this author to catch up with all the families and the previous main characters.

I highly recommend this romantic suspense and the Sacramento series!

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About the Author

Karen Rose was introduced to suspense and horror at the tender age of eight when she accidentally read Poe’s The Pit and The Pendulum and was afraid to go to sleep for years. She now enjoys writing books that make other people afraid to go to sleep. Karen lives in Florida with her family, their cat, Bella, and two dogs, Loki and Freya. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, and her new hobby – knitting.

Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenRoseBooks

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

Website: http://www.karenrosebooks.com/

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

Purchase Links

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/39sS03O

Waterstones: https://bit.ly/3g2Qs3b

Book Depository: https://bit.ly/2WX26VO

Google Books: https://bit.ly/32VguBC

Hive.co.uk: https://bit.ly/3f2Akxp

Publishing Information:

Published in hardcover, audio and digital formats by Headline on 6th August 2020

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Come Join the Murder by Holly Rae Garcia

Hi, everyone!

Today I am posting for Blackthorn Book Tours Presents blog tour. My Feature Post and Book Review is for COME JOIN THE MURDER by Holly Rae Garcia.

Below you will find a book blurb, my book review and the author’s bio and social media links. This is a poignant and dark murder thriller that kept me turning the pages.

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Book Blurb

“This is a novel I would read and reread and recommend to others. Fans of vigilante and desperado revenge will delight in this horror story.” — Horror Tree.

Rebecca Crow’s four-year-old son is dead, and her husband is missing.

Divers find her husband’s car at the bottom of a canal with their son’s small, lifeless body, inside. The police have no suspects and nothing to go on but a passing mention of a man driving a van. Guilt and grief cloud Rebecca’s thoughts as she stumbles towards her only mission: Revenge.

James Porter knows exactly what happened to them, but he’ll do anything to keep it a secret.

James didn’t plan to kill Rebecca’s son, but he’s not too broken up about it, either. There are more important things for him to worry about. He needs money, and his increasing appetite for murder is catching the attention of a nosy detective.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52737915-come-join-the-murder

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

COME JOIN THE MURDER by Holly Rae Garcia is a short, poignant and dark crime thriller by a new author that kept me turning the pages. Graphic and at times difficult to read, I still could not put it down until I knew the final resolution for the dual narrators.

Rebecca Crow and her husband, Jon tried for a long time to have a child. Now Oliver is four years old and a miniature copy of her husband. Rebecca stays home to catch up on work as her husband and Oliver head to the beach for the day. On the way home, their car has a flat. After calling AAA and Rebecca, she agrees to wait for them at the car repair shop, but they never show up.

Her husband’s car is found at the bottom of the canal with her son’s body inside. Her husband’s body is missing. Guilt and grief take over Rebecca’s every thought and all she can focus on is revenge against the person in the old van who destroyed her family.

James Porter did not plan to kill Rebecca’s son, but he is not feeling any guilt over it either. James needs money and he is finding it increasingly easier to kill to get it. As James’ trail of bodies begins to draw attention from a nosy detective, he also realizes someone else may be looking for him and his van.

Rebecca and James are dual narrators throughout this short novel. Rebecca is twisted by the pain, regret and loss she now endures into a woman seeking revenge and believing she can find some closure. James is a taker who finds he increasingly enjoys the kill. The plot spirals into a psychological thriller that leaves you comparing the two and finding that both may have started differently, but are they now truly different? This story has graphic violence, but I never felt it was gratuitous because it was demonstrated by both main characters.

I feel this is a gripping story of grief and murder that I find I cannot quit thinking about and analyzing.

***

Author Bio

Holly Rae Garcia’s debut novel, Come Join the Murder, was released on March 27th, 2020 by Close to the Bone Publishing (UK). Her short fiction has been published by Siren’s Call, The Bookends Review, Rue Scribe, Pen to Print, The Australian Writers’ Centre, and Trembling With Fear along with a few anthologies. Holly lives on the Texas Coast with her family and five dogs.

Links

     My Website: https://www.hollyraegarcia.com/

     Book’s Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084FHXZZL

     Book’s Goodreads Page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50978801-come-join-the-murder

     Twitter: @HollyRaeGarcia

     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HollyRaeGarciaAuthor/?modal=admin_todo_tour

     Instagram: @HollyRaeGarcia

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Deadly Vengeance by O.M.J. Ryan

#DeadlyVengeance @OMJRYAN1 #InkubatorBooks @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn on the Deadly Vengeance Blog Tour. I am very excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEADLY VENGEANCE (Detective Jane Phillips Book #3) by O.M.J. Ryan. I love this series!

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

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Book Blurb

Some people can never escape their past.

When the fifteen-year-old daughter of UK munitions dealer, Sir Richard Hawkins vanishes without a trace – the race is on to find her. But Sir Richard and his wife’s worst fears are realised when they receive a video of Hollie, tied to a chair, with a masked man holding a gun to her head.

The ransom demands are simple, pay four million pounds in cash – or they’ll never see their daughter again. DCI Jane Phillips is assigned to the case, and has no idea of who, or what she’s up against. But as the investigation unfolds, it becomes clear Hollie’s kidnapping was the work of a formidable gang – who operate in the shadows and will stop at nothing to get what they want.

As the pressure mounts, can Phillips and the team find Hollie before it’s too late? Or will this investigation signal not only the death of the Major Crimes Unit, but one of her beloved team, as well?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54377800-deadly-vengeance

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

DEADLY VENGEANCE (Detective Jane Phillips Book #3) by O.M.J. Ryan is the latest suspense/thriller/ British police procedural in the DCI Jane Phillips series. I love this series and am always very happy to return to Manchester with Jane and all her teammates.

Holly Hawkins is kidnapped from a Halloween party at her parent’s country club. It was a precision job with no clues left behind. Her parents receive a video of a terrified Holly stating her father has exactly one week to get four million pounds together for the ransom drop with no excuses or Holly will be killed.

DCI Phillips and her team are assigned the case, but they also have to deal with a Hostage Negotiator from the Met who wants all the glory without doing any of the work. Every clue ends in a dead end and the money must be dropped.

Will Jane and her team be able to find Holly as the pressure mounts, or will they be too late? And when they finally have a chance to solve the kidnapping, one of Jane’s team may not see it to the end.

There are a few British police procedural series that I absolutely have to keep up with and they are Angela Marsons’ Kim Stone series, Robert Brynzda’s Erika Foster series and O.M.J. Ryan’s Jane Phillips is the third. Mr. Ryan has created wonderful characters that could walk right off the page. His plots are always intricate and the investigations intriguing. This book, as the rest, can be read as a standalone because the main plot/crime is always solved in each book, but the characters grow and evolve so in my opinion it is more satisfying to read them in order.

I highly recommend this book and the entire Detective Jane Phillips series!

***

About the Author

Hailing from Yorkshire, OMJ Ryan worked in radio and entertainment for over twenty years, collaborating with household names and accumulating a host of international writing and radio awards. In 2018 he followed his passion to become a full-time novelist, writing stories for people who devour exciting, fast-paced thrillers by the pool, on their commute – or those rare moments of downtime before bed. Owen’s mission is to entertain from the first page to the last.

Deadly Vengeance is the third Detective Jane Phillips book in the series and OMJ’s fourth book with Inkubator Books.

Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OMJRYAN1 @OMJRYAN1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OMJ-Ryan-2449880305025779/

Website: https://www.omjryan.com/

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

Purchase Links

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3glPeQ6

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2AolDGu

Publishing Information

Published in digital format by Inkubator Books on 19th July 2020