An emergency call to pick up an injured stallion on the side of the road sends Alexandra Hart, the new owner of Hart’s Horse Rescue, into action. A recent addition to the area, she is not impressed when the animal’s taciturn owner shows up. With his less-than-stellar disposition, he’s the kind of man she normally avoids at all costs, unfortunately, he owns the ranch just down the road.
However, when the manhunt for a pair of escaped prisoners gets a little too close for comfort, Jonas turns out to be a better neighbor than she expected.
The Alex who shows up at his ranch to help with his prize stud’s recovery is not exactly who Jonas Harvey expected. This is the same bleeding heart he met on the side of the road. Worried she’s not up for the job, he’d prefer to keep a close eye on her but his High Mountain Trackers team gets called in to track down a group of domestic terrorists.
But the slip of a woman proves him wrong. On all fronts. Alex not only charms his horses but him as well, and when trouble comes calling she proves to be a worthy ally to boot.
***
Elise’s Thoughts
High Meadow by Freya Barker has strong independent women facing off against alpha-males. It is a modern-day western suspense with added doses of romance.
The story is set in Libby Montana where Jonas Harvey has the High Meadow Stud Horse Ranch, which neighbors with Hart’s Horse Rescue. When one of Jonas’ horses goes lame with a leg injury, Alex Hart is asked to help heal him. Jonas did not expect Alex to be a female but finds a woman who is confident in her abilities to heal horses a la the Heartland TV show.
The suspense comes when two escaped convicts begin working with nationalists and homesteaders who are setting bombs. Because Jonas also has a business, the High Mountain Trackers, they are asked to find the domestic terrorists and help to assist the arrogant FBI and DHS agents. After retiring from the Special Forces Jonas had set up the High Mountain Trackers with his ex-military buddies, Fletch, Sully and Bo. This elite team uses all the special talents and knowledge acquired during their military careers to track and rescue, or recover, the lost, or the hiding.
Alex and her friend Lucy have a business that rescues abandoned and abused horses as well as dogs and a donkey. New to the area, they would have to build the rehabilitation reputation of their farm. But everything is put on hold until the convicts are found because they have decided to set up their terrorism operations on Alex’s land.
The hero and heroine are respectively in their fifties and forties. While working together both Jonas and Alex realize there is a chemistry between them. Although they did not seek out a romance it seems to have found them. Now Jonas must use his gruff skills to protect her, while she shows him that nobody will push her around and she will not avert danger. Readers will enjoy learning about the characters while getting a riveting mystery/thriller. This first in a four-book series is filled with action and great banter between the characters.
***
Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Why the setting?
Freya Barker: My daughter lives out in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and she does a lot of camping down into Montana. Most of my writing takes place in the Colorado area, but I thought Montana would be interesting to write about, especially since it is a place I always wanted to go. A photographer friend of mine showed me a picture she had taken of a rancher, that became the cover for High Meadow. I decided to write about Lincoln County in Montana. The homesteader idea came from discussions with my son, an avid hunter.
EC: Why a horse rescue for the female lead, Alex?
FB: I always dreamed of having one when I was younger. As a three-year-old growing up in Holland I saw a functioning farm behind us. At that age I was put on a Belgium horse. I had no fear and loved the experience. I had been around horses my entire young life. I adore horses. My dream growing up was to come to Canada to have enough space to own a horse. I emigrated to Canada when I was twenty-seven with my young children. LOL, I have lived in Canada for over thirty years and still do not have a horse.
EC: How would you describe Alex?
FB: Independent, motivated by idealism, emotional, passionate, strong, determined, big-hearted, and pragmatic. She is a bit of an earth-mother type. She has preconceived ideas which can make her a bit naïve. She relocated herself to a place where she knew nobody so I would say she is also adventurous. The main drives in her life were to raise her son after her husband was killed and to build up a business.
EC: How would you describe Jonas?
FB: He is a traditionalist and old fashioned. He has lived in a male dominated environment, being surrounded by ranchers and having been in Special Forces. He is considerate and can be a charmer when he wants to be. Jonas can also be open-minded.
EC: What about the relationship?
FB: It is a mature relationship. Neither is looking for a partner, yet there was some chemistry both could not ignore. There is not a lot of angst, emotional situations, in the relationship, but more a cerebral approach. I am not a fairy tale writer and want it to be real. I hope I reflected that they could talk about misunderstandings and their feelings. I put in my books how others see the relationship before the hero and heroine and will tease them. Because they are slightly older characters people around them can see what is happening first. In the beginning Alex is guarded but not for long, because she was willing to open to a possibility.
EC: Ama/Jonas relationship versus Lucy/Alex?
FB: They both behave as siblings. With Lucy and Alex there is friendship, a little bit of big sister, and nurturing from Alex to Lucy. With Ama/Jonas she is the nurturer. Both Lucy and Ama are direct and blunt. Lucy has a defense mechanism because of what happened to her that makes her more abrasive. Ama is also loving, and the directness is part of her personality. Both control the household.
EC: Why the military angle?
FB: I have had military angles before. I group of my friends are ex-military. I use the veteran component. Readers get a certain picture of an alpha male. It is a quick way for people to identify with the characters. It is also a way to honor them. A lot of skills learned in the military can be used, for example tracking. Jonas was in Afghanistan, Alex’s late husband fought in Afghanistan, and Alex’s son is fighting in Iraq. It made for a credible source since they step up to the plate and would not sit by the sidelines. I also tried to make it realistic. I asked people who knew and did research to find out information.
EC: The thriller end has a lot of 3-letter agencies?
FB: There are jurisdictional issues. It can be different from state-to-state and county-to-county. In this case I researched the town and county. I found out how the departments worked.
EC: Next books?
FB: The book just out, book two, is High Stakes. The hero is Fletch who is a broody individual and likes to be in the shadows. He has spent some time in Canada and was found there by Jonas when assembling his team. Fletch lives off the grid. Because he is a tracker he was approached by a woman, Nella, whose sister, Fili, is missing. There is a lot of wildernesses involved as with tracking, tracing, adventure, and hiking. Book 3 called High Ground comes out in August. The hero and heroine are Sully and Fili. Book 4 will be released in December. The hero and heroine are Bo and Lucy.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SONG GIRL: A Mystery in Two Verses by Keith Hirshland on this Virtual Authors Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Description
Detective Marc Allen is ready to leave the Raleigh, North Carolina, Police Department. Two murders that happened on his watch have apparently been solved thanks to a suicide note confession written by a distraught father. But Allen isn’t buying it. He’s convinced that the man’s adopted daughter, Teri Hickox, is the one responsible for the heinous crimes. With his personal life a muddle and his professional career unsettled he decides the best thing for him is a change of scenery.
The detective, now in Colorado Springs, is working new cases and making new friends. One of those friends is Hannah Hunt who, after suffering a freak accident, finds herself only able to speak in song titles. Another is a mysterious drifter who lives out of an old Dodge van and goes by “the champ”. But as Allen builds a new future, events unfold showing him that he can’t escape his past.
SONG GIRL: A Mystery in Two Verses by Keith Hirshland is an engaging character driven mystery/police procedural. The main protagonist as well as a few other characters are carried over from the previous book, The Flower Girl Murder, but because this story isin a new location with a new crime mystery, it is easily read as a standalone novel.
Detective Marc Allen is ready for a change in his life. He decides to move from Raleigh, NC to Colorado Springs. CO. He is working with new colleagues on new cases in the police department and he is also making new friends in his personal life.
At the same time, an old case from Raleigh which was supposedly solved with a suicide note becomes active again. Marc was never happy with the case resolution, and he seems to be right. The man left notes for his adopted daughter, and they suggest she is the real killer and when the Raleigh police look for her, they find she has disappeared.
Marc finds building his new future may only be possible if he can resolve his past.
This story is written with wonderful characters that are fully developed and woven together throughout the story. The reader is continually surprised by how each character’s past and revelations fit into the story and effect the present. Marc is trying to build a new life with his new puppy and friends. He is an intelligent and diligent detective that I really like. The secondary characters are all unique and bring not only intrigue, but humor to the story. The plot moves slowly at first as all the players’ histories and pieces of the puzzle are intertwined, but as the plot moves forward the pace picks up. The book was impossible to put down and delivers a big twist at the end.
I highly recommend this fascinating mystery.
***
Excerpt
Hannah decided the best place to have that drink was the bar at the Rabbit Hole so that’s where she went. Dirk wasn’t working and a bartender she didn’t know was.
“Bartender,” she said sitting down.
“Customer,” the bartender said with a smile. “Day drinking?” she asked.
“Does anybody really know what time it is?” Hannah said. This is kinda fun she thought.
“Does anybody really care?” the bartender added.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere.”
“What can I get you?”
“One bourbon, one scotch, one beer.”
“You having a record year?”
“You have no idea.”
“I’ll get your drinks, George Thorogood. By the way you’re a riot.” Hannah’s phone rang; she saw it was Ramp.
“Hi there.” Rampart heard the background noise. “You in a bar?”
“You may be right. Everybody’s drinkin’.”
“Are you at the Rabbit Hole or in a Billy Joel song?” he asked.
“Both.”
“Go slow, we’ll meet you there soon.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” She said and hung up.
“What the heck was that?” Rampart said to his phone. Then he called Tracey back.
“We need to rally the troops,” he said after she had answered.
“Why? What’s up?”
“Hannah’s already at the Rabbit Hole,” he answered and hung up.
In short order Rampart and Tracey made it to the bar, greeted Hannah and ordered drinks. Allen arrived a few minutes after that.
“What’s your pleasure?” the bartender asked him as he sidled up next to Rampart.
“What’s everybody else having?”
“Beer,” she pointed at Ramp. “Ketel One Cosmo,” Tracey was next. “And song girl there is all over the map.” Allen looked at Hannah.
“Song girl?” he said. She just shrugged her shoulders so he turned back to the bartender. “I’ll have a Mad Hatter,” he indicated, asking for the establishment’s signature Manhattan.
“My fav,” she said, walking away. A minute later she was back and setting a glass in front of him. Allen picked it up.
“To Hannah,” he said, “glad you’re back among the living.”
“Salute,” Rampart said, lifting his beer.
“Kampai,” Tracey added.
“Let’s have a party!” called Hannah. They all clinked glasses. They shared some laughs and then some appetizers and about an hour in Hannah had had enough.
“I’m outta here,” she said, standing up.
“So soon?” Tracey asked.
“No time like the present.”
“I’ll give you a lift,” Rampart offered.
“Don’t be silly,” she declined, “I’m walkin’.”
“You sure?”
“I’m positive.”
“See ya Hannah,” Tracey said.
“Take it easy, young lady,” Allen added.
“I’ll call you later,” her brother told her as she started to walk away.
“I’ll be around,” Hannah sang as she headed up the stairs.
“Okay does anybody else think that was incredibly weird?” Rampart asked after Hannah had gone.
“What?” Tracey wondered.
“Hannah, that’s what. The way she talked, the way she acted, what she said. All of it. It was weird.”
“Well Ramp she did just come out of a coma,” Allen argued.
“I realize that and I said that to myself but something is going on.”
“Like what?” Tracey asked.
“You’re going to think I’m crazy butshe’s talking in song titles! Didn’t you notice?”
“I did,” it was the bartender.
“You two are imagining things,” Allen countered.
“Am I? Are we?” He pointed at the bartender. “She called her song girl. And when I spoke with Hannah on the phone earlier, she was here. She said, and I quote, ‘You may be right.’ And then she said—”
“End quote,” the bartender said.
“Excuse me?” Ramp asked.
“You didn’t say end quote after ‘right.’ You said ‘and I quote’ but you didn’t ever say end quote.”
“Seriously?”
“And you were right, she was here.” Tracey chimed in.
“Just stop!” Rampart raised his voice. “When she left she sang ‘I’ll be around.’ That’s an old Spinners song!”
“Ooh, I love that song,” Tracey smiled. “Joan Osborne sang it too.”
“So did Hall and Oates, I think,” the bartender added.
“You people are impossible!” Rampart threw up his hands.
“I’ll have one more Mad Hatter,” Allen told the woman behind the bar.
♪♫♪
***
About the Author
Keith Hirshland is an Emmy Award–winning sports television producer with more than three decades of experience producing live and pre-recorded programs that aired on ESPN and ESPN2. Among the first forty people to be hired by the Golf Channel in 1994, Hirshland was in the middle of the action when that network debuted in 1995. He provided his talents for Golf Channel, as its live tournament producer, for two decades.
Cover Me Boys, I’m Going In: Tales of the Tube from a Broadcast Brat is a memoir about his experiences in the television industry. Published by Beacon Publishing Group, Cover Me Boys was recognized as the Book Talk Radio Club Memoir of the Year. Hirshland’s second book, and first work of fiction, Big Flies, was published in 2016 and is the recipient of the New Apple Awards “Solo Medalist” in the True Crime Category. Hirshland followed that success with his third book, The Flower Girl Murder. In 2020 Beacon Publishing Group released Murphy Murphy and the Case of Serious Crisis, Hirshland’s third mystery novel. It was a Top Shelf Magazine First Place award winner and was named the Book Talk Radio Club Book of the Year for 2020.
Song Girl Hirshland’s fifth book is the sequel to The Flower Girl Murder and was released in January of 2022. All five books are available at www.keithhirshland.com, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other bookstores.
Keith Hirshland lives in Colorado with his wife and their Pyredoodle Mac.
I am very excited to once again be posting on the HTP Winter 2022 Mystery & Thriller Blog Tour. Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE WRONG VICTIM (A Quinn & Costa Thriller Book #3) by Allison Brennan. I have already reviewed and loved the first two books in this series and am happy to share this blog post for book #3, also.
Below you will find an author Q&A, an about the book section, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
***
Author Q&A
1.What type of research do you do when thinking of and writing your novel? The Wrong Victim uses both the FBI and local police department, do you speak with individuals who actually work in these fields?
I love research. It started long before I published my first book — I read true crime, watched true crime documentaries, read about current events. Once I was published, I found experts willing to talk to me! In 2008, I participated in the FBI Citizens Academy, and to this day the Public Information Officer (now retired) is happy to answer my questions. I’ve toured Quantico, visited the morgue (twice!) and viewed an autopsy, been on several ride-alongs with local police and sheriff, and have several people across all areas of law enforcement to ask questions. In fact, my oldest daughter is now a police officer, and she’s working on getting me a ride along in a specific precinct where I plan to set a future book. She also connected me with a K-9 officer when I was writing a short story about a retired K-9.
For THE WRONG VICTIM, I reached out to a writer friend of mine who is a retired ATF agent — he was instrumental in helping me with the explosives.
I write fiction and take a lot of liberties with the information I learn. However, I want to be as realistic as possible. To me, as long as what I’m writing is plausible, then I’ll go with it. I write to entertain first and foremost, and sometimes too many forensic details or investigative facts can slow down a story. I’m always seeking to find the right balance.
2. How do you decide where to base your story? This book is based in the San Juan islands and I know Matt Costa’s special team travels.
The premise of the Quinn & Costa mobile response team series is that they are a well-trained group of FBI agents who travel to small, rural, and underserved communities — places where local police may not have the resources to handle a complex investigation such as a serial killer or, in the case of THE WRONG VICTIM, an explosion. So I look for places where setting fits the story. For this book, I had the idea first — a charter boat explodes, who was the intended victim? So that told me I needed a remote, water-based community and looked on a map. The San Juan Islands immediately drew me in, and after reading about the area, I quickly made the decision. I had planned to visit before I wrote the book, but alas, 2020 was not a year for travel, and so I relied on interviews and the internet for information.
3. Do you travel or visit the places you write about first?
If I can, but unfortunately, sometimes that isn’t possible. That’s when research and interviews come in handy!
One of my earlier books, I thought I had researched very well — even talking to people who lived in the region (Seattle) and looking extensively on maps. But I made a mistake about how to get from Point A to Point B and a reader pointed it out. Now I take much more care in making sure I get these details right if I’m writing about a place I don’t know well.
I had wanted to visit the San Juan Islands before writing THE WRONG VICTIM — not just for the book, but because I’d always wanted to go there. Unfortunately, 2020 happened and that wasn’t possible. The book I recently finished writing, the currently untitled fourth Quinn & Costa book, takes place in the bayou in Louisiana. I’ve been to Louisiana many times, and my best friend lives there. While I created a fictional town, I drew upon my personal knowledge and the help of my bestie!
4. How did you come up with your idea for a loaned LA officer who cannot return due to her undercover work?
When I was writing the first Quinn & Costa book, Kara Quinn — the Los Angeles detective on leave — wasn’t going to be a series character. She was going to be a catalyst of sorts for Matt Costa, the team leader. So creating her character, I thought it would be fun to have her as an undercover detective, someone has a unique skill set that would be valuable in Matt’s current investigation.
Well, by the time I finished writing the book, I knew Kara had to return. I just loved her character and felt she had the most growth to do in the series, plus would provide a different perspective to the crimes because of her background. I didn’t know even after I finished writing the book how or why she was going to be on loan to the FBI, I had to sit on that for a few days until I worked out something that made sense to me.
5. How do you decide which books become a series versus a stand alone story?
This is a great question!
For me, all stories — stand alone or series — start with character. Without compelling, interesting, and complex characters, the story falls flat.
In a series, the characters must be interesting enough that readers will want to revisit them and see them in different situations. This is why police procedurals and amateur sleuths truly lend themselves to series books. You like the world, the characters, how they grow over time and want to revisit them over and over and see what’s going on in that world. The same way, I think, television viewers like favorite shows. The plots are interesting and often twisty, but readers (or viewers) really return to find out what happens to the people we’ve grown to love and hate and worry about.
So when I have an idea that is predominately character based — a team of FBI agents, for example — I focus on making those people as real and authentic as possible with an eye toward how they are going to grow and develop over multiple stories. I still want to have a strong plot — so I put them in situations or solving cases that are dangerous or interesting. By the end of the book, I want my characters to learn something about the team or themselves, to grow in some way, however small it might be. I want the series books to stand alone — so new readers can find the books in the middle of the series — while also giving regular readers a character growth arc from book to book.
For a stand alone, while characters are ALWAYS going to be important, they are there for one story only. They need to have a complete character arc from beginning to end so that the reader is fully satisfied at the story conclusion. Plot is important in both types of stories, but in a stand alone the situation/plot provides a stronger framework and backbone than in a series. There is often a universal theme that resonates, that is in some ways bigger than the story itself. Stand alones, at least for me, are about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances — so readers wouldn’t expect those characters to return in a different story.
***
About the Book
A bomb explodes on a sunset charter cruise out of Friday Harbor at the height of tourist season and kills everyone on board. Now this fishing and boating community is in shock and asking who would commit such a heinous crime—the largest act of mass murder in the history of the San Juan Islands.
Was the explosion an act of domestic terrorism, or was one of the dead the primary target? That is the first question Special Agent Matt Costa, Detective Kara Quinn, and the rest of the FBI team need to answer, but they have few clues and no witnesses.
Accused of putting profits before people after leaking fuel endangered an environmentally sensitive preserve, the West End Charter company may itself have been the target. As Matt and his team get closer to answers, they find one of their own caught in the crosshairs of a determined killer.
THE WRONG VICTIM (A Quinn & Costa Thriller Book #3) by Allison Brennan is another great addition to this this series. The Mobile FBI Team is back together for a for an investigation on the San Juan Islands that kept me turning the pages to the exciting conclusion. This book can be read as a standalone, but I believe the series is best read in order to completely understand the team’s dynamics.
An explosion on a charter cruise ship kills nine people. When the Mobile FBI Unit gets to the island, they have a multitude of suspects. The part-time captain is retired FBI and investigating an old case that he believes is not an accident, but murder, the charter company has daily environmental protestors, and the widow of one of the men killed is set to inherit millions with his death.
As the team investigates each lead, they are also dealing with tension within their group. Kara and Catherine are both on site for this investigation and they are having problems working together. With Matt’s history with Catherine and his secret personal relationship with Kara, everyone is trying to decide how and if they can work together.
The interpersonal relationships between team members are fully fleshed out with real issues and flaws that lead to believable characters that could walk right off the page whether you like them or not. The secondary characters on the island are also realistically portrayed. The individual plot lines are intricate and masterfully woven together into a storyline that kept me turning the pages all the way to the conclusion.
I highly recommend this crime thriller and the entire series! I am looking forward to more.
***
Excerpt
Jamie already regretted leaving Friday Harbor.
She listened to Cal’s message twice, then deleted it and cleaned up after dinner. Hazel was watching her half hour of PAW Patrol before bath, books, and bed.
Her dad’s remote house near Rogue Harbor was on the opposite side of the island from where they lived. Peaceful, quiet, what she thought she needed, especially since her dad wasn’t here. He was an airline pilot and had a condo in Seattle that he lived in more often than not, coming up here only when he had more than two days off in a row.
She left because she was hurt. She had every right to be hurt, dammit! But now that she was here, she wondered if she’d made a mistake.
Cal hadn’t technically cheated on her. But he also hadn’t told her that his ex-girlfriend was living on the island, not until the woman befriended her. She wouldn’t have thought twice about it except for the fact that Cal had hidden it from her.
She had a bad habit of running away from any hint of approaching drama. She hated conflict and would avoid it at all costs. Her mother was drama personified. How many times had young Jamie run to her dad’s house to get away from her mother’s bullshit? Finally when she was fifteen she permanently moved in with her dad, changed schools, and her mother didn’t say squat.
“You should have stayed and talked it out,” she mumbled to herself as she dried the dishes. The only bad thing about her dad’s place was that there was no dishwasher.
But Cal was coming to see her tonight. He didn’t run away from conflict. She wanted to fix this but didn’t know how because she was hurt. But he had to work, so she figured she had a few hours to think everything through. To know the right thing to do.
“Just tell him. Tell him how you feel.”
Her phone buzzed and at first she thought it was an Amber Alert, because it was an odd sound.
Instead, it was an emergency alert from the San Juan Island Sheriff’s Office.
19:07 SJSO ALERT! VESSEL EXPLOSION ONE MILE OUT FROM FRIDAY HARBOR, INJURIES UNKNOWN. ALL VESSELS AVOID FRIDAY HARBOR UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
Her stomach flipped and she grabbed the counter when a wave of dizziness washed over her.
She turned on the small television in the kitchen and switched to the local news. She watched in horror as the news anchor reported that a West End Charter yacht had exploded after leaving for a sunset cruise. He confirmed that it was the Water Lily and did not know at this time if there were survivors. Search and rescue crews were already out on the water, and authorities advised all vessels to dock immediately.
Cal had been scheduled to work the Water Lily tonight.
Hazel laughed at something silly on PAW Patrol. Jamie caught her breath, then suddenly tears fell. How could—? No. Not Cal. She loved him and even if they had problems, he loved Hazel more than anything in the world. He was the best father she could have hoped for. Hazel wasn’t planned, but she was loved so much, and Cal had made it clear that he was sticking, from the very beginning. How could she forget that? How could she have forgotten that Cal had never made her feel inadequate, he’d never hurt her, he always told her she could do anything she wanted? He was always there for her…when she was bedridden with Hazel for two months. When she broke her wrist and Hazel was still nursing, he held the baby to her breast every four hours. Changed every diaper. He sang to Hazel, read her books, giggled with her in makeshift blanket forts when thunder scared her.
And now he was gone.
There could be survivors. You have to go.
She couldn’t bring Hazel to the dock. The search, the sirens, the fear that filled the town. It would terrify the three-year-old.
But she couldn’t stay here. Cal needed her—injured or not, he needed her and she loved him. It was as simple as that. Rena would watch Hazel so Jamie could find Cal, make sure he was okay.
“Hazel, we’re going home.”
“I wanna sleep at Grandpa’s!”
“I forgot to feed Tabby.” Tabby was a stray cat who had adopted their carport on cold or rainy nights. He wouldn’t come into the house, and only on rare occasions would let Jamie pet him, but she’d started feeding him. Hazel had of course named him after a cat on her favorite show.
“Oh, Mommy! We gotta go rescue Tabby!”
And just like that, Hazel was ready.
Please, God, please please please please make Cal okay.
*
Ashley Dunlap didn’t like lying to her sister, but Whitney couldn’t keep a secret to save her life, and if Whitney said one word to their dad about Ashley’s involvement with Island Protectors, she’d be grounded until she graduated—and maybe even longer.
“We’re going to be late,” Whitney said.
“Dad will understand,” Ashley said, looking through the long lens of her camera at the West End Charter boat leaving port. She snapped a couple pictures, though they were too far away to see anything.
She was just one of several monitors who were keeping close tabs on West End boats in the hopes that they would catch them breaking the law. West End may have been able to convince most people in town that they had cleaned up their act, and some even believed their claims that the leakage two years ago was an accident, but as the founder of IP Donna Bell said time and time again, companies always put profit over people. And just because they hadn’t caught them breaking the law didn’t mean that they weren’t breaking the law. It was IP who documented the faulty fuel tanks two years ago that leaked their nasty fuel all over the coast. Who knows how many fish died because of their crimes? How long it would take the ecosystem to recover?
“Ash, Dad said not a minute past eight, and it’s already seven thirty. It’s going to take us thirty minutes just to dock and secure the boat.”
“It’s a beautiful evening,” Ashley said, turning her camera away from the Water Lily and toward the shore. Another boat was preparing to leave, but the largest yacht in the fleet—The Tempest—was already out with a group of fifty whale watching west of the island in the Haro Strait. Bobby and his brother were out that way, monitoring The Tempest.
Ashley was frustrated. They just didn’t have people who cared enough to take the time to monitor West End. There were only about eight or nine of them who were willing to spend all their free time standing up to West End, tracking their boats, making sure they were obeying the rules.
Everyone else just took West End’s word for it.
Whitney sighed. “I could tell Dad the sail snagged.”
“You can’t lie to save your life, sis,” Ashley said. “We’ll just tell him the truth. It’s a beautiful night and we got distracted by the beauty of the islands.”
Whitney laughed, then smiled. “It is pretty, isn’t it? Think those pictures are going to turn out? It’s getting a little choppy.”
“Some of them might,” she said.
Ashley turned her camera back to the Water Lily. The charter was still going only five knots as they left the harbor. She snapped a few pictures, saw that Neil Devereaux was piloting today. She liked Neil—he spent a lot of time at the Fish & Brew talking to her dad and anyone else who came in. He’d only lived here for a couple years, but he seemed like a native of the small community. She’d talked to him about the pollution problem from West End, and he kept saying that West End fixed the problem with the old tanks and he’d seen nothing to suggest that they had other problems or cut corners on the repairs. He told her he would look around, and if anything was wrong, he’d bring it to the Colfax family’s attention.
But could she believe him? Did he really care or was he just trying to get her to go away and leave West End alone?
Neil looked over at their sailboat, and both she and Whitney waved. He blew the horn and waved back.
A breeze rattled the sail, and Whitney grabbed the beam. “Shit!” she said.
Ashley put her camera back in its case and caught the rope dangling from the mast. “You good, Whit?”
“Yeah, it just slipped. Beautiful scenery is distracting. I got it.”
Whitney bent down to secure the line, and Ashley turned back toward the Water Lily as it passed the one-mile marker and picked up speed.
The bow shook so hard she thought they might have hit something, then a fireball erupted, shot into the air along with wood and—oh, God, people!—bright orange, then black smoke billowed from the Water Lily. The stern kept moving forward, the boat in two pieces—the front destroyed, the back collapsing.
Whitney screamed and Ashley stared. She saw a body in the water among the debris. The flames went out almost immediately, but the smoke filled the area.
“We have to help them,” Ashley said. “Whitney—”
Then a second explosion sent a shock wave toward their sailboat and it was all they could do to keep from going under themselves. Sirens on the shore sounded the alarm, and Ashley and Whitney headed back to the harbor as the sheriff’s rescue boats went toward the disaster.
Taking a final look back, Ashley pulled out her camera and took more pictures. If West End was to blame for this, Ashley would make sure they paid. Neil was a friend, a good man, like a grandfather to her. He…he couldn’t have survived. Could he?
She stared at the smoking boat, split in two.
No. She didn’t see how anyone survived that.
Tears streamed down her face and as soon as she and Whitney were docked, she hugged her sister tight.
I’ll get them, Neil. I promise you, I’ll prove that West End cut corners and killed you and everyone else.
ALLISON BRENNAN is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over thirty novels. She has been nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International Thriller Writers and the Daphne du Maurier Award. A former consultant in the California State Legislature, Allison lives in Arizona with her husband, five kids and assorted pets.
Citizen K-9 ‘s plot has a high school friend of the Cold Case Investigative team vanishing. They decide to investigate what happened and are not deterred by threatening incidents. The Paterson Police Department has created a cold case division, and they want to hire the private investigators known as the K Team to investigate the crimes. The team members include Corey Douglas and his K-9 partner, German shepherd Simon Garfunkel, recently retired from the force, Laurie Collins, wife of defense attorney Andy Carpenter, who used to be a cop as well, and Marcus, an enforcer type.
Their first cold case hits home for the K Team. A decade ago, at Laurie’s tenth high school reunion, two of their friends vanished. At the time Laurie had just left the force, and Corey was in a different department, so they had no choice but to watch from the sidelines. With no leads, the case went cold. But now they risk their lives to find out what really happened.
Best In Snow has defense attorney Andy Carpenter’s golden retriever, Tara, discovering a body. The murder victim is Mayor Alex Oliva, who had an infamous relationship with the newspaper. Last year a young reporter published an expose and was fired for libel. Now, the young reporter – and prime suspect– has Andy Carpenter agreeing to take the case. As the evidence piles up Andy must get to the truth to prove his client innocent.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Citizen K-9 and Best in Snow by David Rosenfelt have dogs in the background. The former movie executive turned author knows how to create a plot that has a good mystery, some action, and likeable characters. These two series usually come out every year. The “Andy Carpenter series” is more of a legal thriller, while the “Citizen K-9” series delves into Cold Cases and is a spin-off with many characters overlapping between series.
Both these books have an entertaining cast of characters, lots of plot twists and turns, humor, wit, surprises, court room drama, and suspense. Readers will enjoy these reads.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Role of the dogs?
David Rosenfelt: In the Andy Carpenter books they are just pets, although they do find bodies. They are not crucial to the books. In the Citizen K-9 books the dog has a role being a former police dog. One of the books, Play Dead, had a dog that was integral to the plot. For the first time they put a dog on the cover. It sold like twice as many copies because there was a Golden Retriever on the cover. With dogs on the cover there had to be dogs in the book. Usually, a dog gets Andy into the case.
EC: Is Citizen K-9 a spinoff of the Andy Carpenter series?
DF: Yes. It is a third in a series. For some bizarre reason they are selling well so there will be more stories. Laurie, Andy’s wife, a retired police person, works with others to solve cold cases. I never have a eureka moment with ideas. The Andy Carpenter books are legal thrillers, and this book is a conventional thriller with some humor.
EC: The retired police dog is named Simon Garfunkel–are you a fan?
DF: Yes, but that is not why I gave the dog that name. I used the name because I am into dog rescue benefits. I had a character name auctioned off. The person who won the auction wanted their dog’s name, Simon Garfunkel, to be used in the book. Since I liked the name, I used it.
EC: Do you want to tell us about the dog rescue?
DF: Yes. Andy Carpenter started a dog rescue in the second book of that series. My wife and I started a dog rescue while living in California after our wonderful Golden Retriever, Tara, died. We started volunteering in the Los Angeles animal shelters, which are horrible. We did not want to see dogs put down, so we started our own foundation. We ended up rescuing 4,000 dogs. If one of the dogs was unplaceable they came home as our pet. We never had less than twenty-five dogs in our house. We are dog maniacs. Right now, we have thirteen because the rescue shelters in New England are terrific.
EC: Did you have any bad experiences?
DF: Once, a year and a half collie mix came into the shelter with a broken leg. Nobody would fix it, and nobody would adopt her because of her leg. Someone working there had moved the dog from cage to cage so her management thought it a different dog. She brought the dog to a vet. We rescued that dog. She was the greatest dog we had for fourteen years.
EC: How would you describe Corey, a former police dog handler, now a PI and part of the Cold Case Investigative team. He is the main character in your Canine series books.
DF: He had an occasional temper. I was looking for different personality traits from Andy. He is courageous. He likes to be a rule follower. The means is far more important than the end to him.
EC: What about Andy from the Best in Snow book?
DF: Andy is me. He thinks like I do, and we are in the same world. He has a warped sense of humor like me. He believes the end justifies the means. He is independent, sarcastic, sometimes obnoxiously badgering, no understanding of women. He became wealthy in book 1.
EC: How would you describe Laurie, his wife and now PI?
DF: No nonsense, direct, doesn’t take any gruff. She does have a soft side. She is very protective of Andy. In book 4 she received this offer and was pondering leaving Andy. In book 6 and book 7 I brought her back and put them together.
EC: Where did Marcus, the enforcer, come from?
DF: I probably ripped him off from Hawk of the Spencer books. Marcus evolved. He has a lot of idiosyncrasies. He has this whole other life that Andy does not know about. In this book Marcus speaks for the first time. He loves classical movies. No one knew he is married and has a child.
EC: Next book(s)?
DF: Holy Chow is the next book, coming out in July of this year. A woman rescued a dog from Andy, and she is murdered. The other book is titled Santa’s Little Yelpers, a Christmas book coming out in October. In this book Andy represents someone.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Robin Lockwood is an increasingly prominent defense attorney in the Portland community. A Yale graduate and former MMA fighter, she’s becoming known for her string of innovative and successful defense strategies. As a favor to a judge, Robin takes on the pro bono defense of a reprehensible defendant charged with even more reprehensible crimes. But what she doesn’t know—what she can’t know—is how this one decision, this one case, will wreak complete devastation on her life and plans.
As she recovers from those consequences, Robin heads home to her small town of Elk Grove and the bosom of her family. As she tries to recuperate, a unique legal challenge presents itself—Marjorie Loman, a surrogate, is accused of kidnapping the baby she carried for another couple, and assaulting that couple in the process. There’s no question that she committed these actions but that’s not the same as being guilty of the crime. As Robin works to defend her client, she learns that Marjorie Loman has been hiding under a fake identity and is facing a warrant for her arrest for another, even more serious crime. And buried within the truth may once again be unexpected, deadly consequences.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Darkest Place by Phillip Margolin brings the reader right into the courtroom. As a former defense attorney, he uses his personal experience to create a suspenseful trial. There he explores the two sides of the Shaken Baby Syndrome and if postpartum psychosis really causes paranoid delusions.
The title plays into the personal story of the main character, Robin Lockwood, when she suffers a devasting loss. Anyone who has lost a loved one knows they can go down to a very dark place. The impact on Robin’s life has brought on depression. She goes home to gain solace from her mother who chastises her and reminds her that she was a prominent defense attorney, Yale graduate, and a former MMA fighter. Her mother sympathizes with Robin’s loss but knows she must make a new life for herself.
As she is recovering, she is asked to assist on a case in her hometown. It involves the defendant being accused of kidnapping, abusing a baby, and assaulting a couple. Marjorie Loman is accused of kidnapping the baby for whom she was a surrogate and assaulting the adoptive parents. Working on her defense Robin gets experts to disavow the Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Robin also discovers that Marjorie has an arrest warrant back in Oregon in connection with the torture and murder of her husband, Joel, with whom she was involved in a contentious divorce and who had wiped out their joint bank accounts. Joel also had been embezzling millions from his company and was being threatened by gangsters.
This story has it all including kidnapping, murder, assault, surrogacy, shaken baby syndrome, theft, divorce, postpartum depression, embezzlement, and stolen identity. Margolin puts some twists in to make the story even more interesting.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Phil Margolin: The Oregon Criminal Defense Organization is a fabulous group that I have been a member of for centuries. Even though I stopped practicing law in 1996 I stayed a member. They have seminars. There was one on junk science which fascinates me. One of the lectures is about the Shaken Baby Syndrome. Because there are two sides, I wanted to write a trial about it where both sides are put on display. I also wanted to have Robin return home to her roots.
EC: Can you describe the Shaken Baby Syndrome?
PM: It is a child who might have brain damage. But there are no bruises on them. No broken bones. How is it explained? After reading about it, I do not think it should be used in court. No one can have any scientific proof because it can never be done. The biomechanical experiments showed that no one can generate enough force to cause those types of injuries. Scientific theory should never be used, and this one can never be tested with actual children. Of course, babies should not be shaken, but that is not the question. What must be asked, will the severity of the shaking cause injuries?
EC: How would you describe Robin?
PM: This is my seventh book with her. All are stand alone. In my first book, she was a young lawyer who gets a dream job with a brilliant attorney that shows signs of dementia. She used to be a professional fighter. She grows up with older brothers who are wrestlers. Robin is brilliant. Now she is grief stricken, depressed, and a survivor.
EC: You also lost a loved one?
PM: Yes, my first wife Doreen. I went through a horrible of 2.5 years being miserable, depressed, and missed her a lot. She was gorgeous, brilliant, and the nicest person. There is not a day goes by that I do not think of her. I am now remarried to Melanie, getting very lucky. She is incredibly smart and built a business into a multi dollar corporation. Yes, I did use a lot of my own feelings.
EC: How would you describe Marjorie, the antagonist?
PM: Hardened, angry, a manipulator, and shows no remorse. She does have this postpartum psychosis after she gives birth to the baby, and it is taken away from her.
EC: Why the Perry Mason reference?
PM: My editor thought it would be interesting to use. This is from my background. I devoured all the adult murder mysteries in elementary school. I read almost every Perry Mason book and decided then I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up. It was easy to put into Robin’s background. Her mother watches reruns and now appreciates what Robin does after seeing her in action.
EC: What about the next book?
PM: It will also be a Robin book. It opens with her having a nightmare and struggling with her loss. Then it jumps to a key witness admitting he did the murder to his lawyer. The lawyer knows there is a guy rotting on death row who is innocent but cannot do anything about it because it was a confidential communication. It comes out in November and is titled Murder at Black Oaks. The wife of this lawyer is very wealthy. She recreated a manor house with secret passages and dungeons. Everyone there including Robin and her investigator are sealed off because of mud slides. They found someone stabbed to death in the caged elevator.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Racing boat captain Olivia Monroe never imagined breaking up with the ocean and starting a fake relationship with too-charming cowboy Rhett Diaz. Now her family’s insisting Olivia and Rhett take an adventurous road trip as a “couple.” Only somewhere between zip-lining and rappelling down a waterfall, Olivia’s rediscovering her courage—and dangerous new feelings for Rhett. But how can a sailor love a landlocked cowboy…especially one with secrets?
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Cowboy Meets His Match shows why Melinda Curtis writes great wholesome romances with a lot of humor. Besides romance, this story is about family, second chances, love, compassion, and finding oneself by making new beginnings.
All three main characters, Olivia Monroe, Rhett Diaz, and Sonny are struggling with the direction of their futures, which is why they agree to go on a road trip together.
It all started after Olivia, a famous racing boat captain and champion, had her boat capsized. She is now hiding out with her cousins in Second Chance, Idaho, struggling to find her courage and leave her fears behind. She has hired Sonny, a sports psychologist, to help her regain her self-confidence. But things do not go as planned after she impulsively kisses a handsome former rodeo star turned rancher, Rhett. Her cousins see this and fall for the pretense that Rhett and Olivia are a couple. They promise to invest in a new extreme sports company if he takes Olivia and Sonny on a road trip.
Together the three go on a trip to try out different adventures. Because of a bet between Sonny and Rhett, Olivia is forced to make choices of which extreme sport they will try. This includes zip lining, mountain bike trails, hang gliding with eagles, and rappelling down a waterfall. After each thrill ride it appears that the fake relationship between Olivia and Rhett is turning real.
Per usual, Melinda Curtis does not disappoint. This story of finding one’s inner strength and overcoming fears whether physical or emotional is a great read.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for this story
Melinda Curtis: I knew that I wanted to write about a racing boat captain who had a near death experience and then lost her nerve. She needs to rebuild and retool her life. I wanted a hero that was a good match to her. I did not see her recovery helped by a regular rodeo or ranch cowboy. I added the thrill seeker element to test her courage and limits.
EC: Did you do any of the extreme adventures you wrote about?
MC: No way! In my youth I was a bit more courageous. But as I grew older, I find myself being more careful. I literally married someone who does not like horror movies or roller coasters, so I have stopped even going on them when we go to amusement parks. This is how far I have fallen.
EC: How did you chose the adventures?
MC: I did some research and had some friends who mountain bike. My children have done zip lining, so I asked them about their experiences. I did Google thrill seeking and found rappelling down a waterfall, which I thought was nuts. I found it fascinating to get into the psychology of people that do it. I thought about putting in hang gliding from the times I was younger and flew with my father who piloted small planes.
EC: How did you write the scenes about “getting back into the saddle?”
MC: I was in a car accident when I was eighteen where I was hit by a drunk driver. The car turned over and landed on top of a fire hydrant. I was amazed that nothing happened to me. Thankfully, I had my seat belt on. Yet, I could not drive for a while. I did not have a scratch on me but mentally it was horrifying.
EC: How would you describe Olivia before and after the accident?
MC: Before: She was a little too full of herself. I have heard elite athletes talk and wondered where is their humility? This is how she was. She had the feeling nothing will happen to her. In a previous book she was not a very good sister. Olivia was headstrong, only thought of her career, determined, independent, and assertive.
After: She was lost and was searching for her old self. She was going through a process that in the next stage of her life who was she going to be and who did she want to be, having a character growth. She got in touch with her softer side and was able to relate to people better. Olivia did doubt herself.
EC: How would you describe Rhett?
MC: A headstrong cowboy who decided to step back. He is also searching for his future. He is willing to compromise his morals to get what he wants out of life. He took Olivia on this trip on a misdirection. Rhett is kind, caring, protective, a risk taker, teaser, and an adrenaline junky. He tried to charm ladies.
EC: What about the relationship?
MC: It is alpha to alpha. She was a very strong powerful woman. On some level they understand each other. She is his platform where he can spring from. He encouraged her to go and do these adventures. She gave him a sense of a true partnership. He liked to push her buttons because she constantly put-up fences that he wanted to tear down.
EC: What about Sonny, her sports psychologist?
MC: He is a whack-a-doodle. Like Rhett and Olivia, he is trying to reinvent himself and find his next act. He decides to express his softness through his love of baby goats. Sonny is her surrogate, father-figure, cheerleader, and mentor. He pushes her also.
EC: Why goats?
MC: Growing up I did live on a sheep ranch. I was looking for something enduring, yet, comedic. I wanted something warm and cuddly where Olivia would hold it and have a breakdown moment with tears falling.
EC: Next book?
MC: It is called Healing the Rancher that comes out in May. It is a “Beauty and the Beast” type of story. The heroine is a social media manager who wants to land an account with a beef supplier chain, like “In and Out.” She is a princess type that needs to be with the client on a ranch. The hero is gruff on the outside.
In August will be my next Harlequin. It is going to be a Thanksgiving book titled A Cowboy Thanksgiving. It is book twelve in the “Monroe series” that wraps everything up. There are a lot of themes of family. The bounty of the harvest is upon us. Also, in August due to come out is the third in an anthology I write with three other authors.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
