Since the death of his twin brother, Oliver’s caught between pleasing his fans and finding himself. Emery finds him first.
Emery has never felt more alone. Raising her daughter is both her pleasure and her pain as she struggles to hold on to her job as a bartender and keep a roof over their heads. With no one to help them—no support system—any unexpected expense or late bill could turn their whole world upside down.
Reeling from the death of his twin brother and bandmate, rock star Oliver Smith is trying to drink his problems away. Apparently he isn’t very good at it; they follow him wherever he goes. Also in hot pursuit are the paparazzi, who catch Oliver at his lowest low.
He could have walked into any bar in California, but he walked into hers. Emery helps Oliver lose the crowd, and they find themselves alone: two people whose paths are marked with loss and pain. However, they hold an unshakable hope for healing. They find solace together, but can their love withstand the world?
THE MIXTAPE (Mixtape-Reihe Book #2) by Brittainy Cherry is an emotionally intense rock star contemporary romance that is heartbreaking in so many ways. You will need the tissues for this read. While this rock star romance is the second in the series, the characters are completely different from book one TheWreckage of Us in the series and stands on its own.
Emery is a single mother working as a bartender barely making ends meet, but she is a strong, kind-hearted and loves her little girl more than anything. Five-year-old Reese is Emery’s light and with the help of a neighbor in her apartment building, who is also a therapist, she is dealing with her fear of not being enough for her daughter and other personal issues.
Oliver is half of the twin duo of super pop stars. When his brother, Alex is killed in a car accident that he survives, he falls into an intense depression for months. Skipping a return concert, Oliver is drunk and while Emery helps him escape paparazzi, she loses her job as a result. When Oliver finds out what he has done, he hires Emery as his cook and she begins to show Oliver that he can trust her and with help, he can learn to deal with his anxiety and depression.
The main characters in this romance both start off in different places with difficult lives but are able to come together and help each other to move forward in their journeys. Music also plays an integral role in their entire lives and aids in their coming together and healing. You learn through flashbacks that Emery is dealing with so much more than just being a single mother and it is amazing that she is the loving and giving person she is in the present. Reese is a spot of sunshine and laughter when things get too heavy. All the secondary characters where fully fleshed and realistic, good and bad. The sex scenes are explicit, but not gratuitous. I feel all the exceptionally difficult mental health issues interwoven throughout this story were handled in a believable manner by this author.
I highly recommend this emotional roller-coaster rock star contemporary romance!
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About the Author
Brittainy Cherry has been in love with words since the day she took her first breath. She graduated from Carroll University with a Bachelors Degree in Theatre Arts and a minor in Creative Writing. She loves to take part in writing screenplays, acting, and dancing–poorly of course. Coffee, chai tea, and wine are three things that she thinks every person should partake in! Brittainy lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When she’s not running a million errands and crafting stories, she’s probably playing with her adorable pets.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for CODE NAME SAPPHIRE by Pam Jenoff on the HTP Books Winter 2023 Historical Fiction Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
A woman must rescue her cousin’s family from a train bound for Auschwitz in this riveting tale of bravery and resistance, from the bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris
1942. Hannah Martel has narrowly escaped Nazi Germany after her fiancé was killed in a pogrom. When her ship bound for America is turned away at port, she has nowhere to go but to her cousin Lily, who lives with her family in Brussels. Fearful for her life, Hannah is desperate to get out of occupied Europe. But with no safe way to leave, she must return to the dangerous underground work she thought she had left behind.
Seeking help, Hannah joins the Sapphire Line, a secret resistance network led by a mysterious woman named Micheline and her enigmatic brother Matteo. But when a grave mistake causes Lily’s family to be arrested and slated for deportation to Auschwitz, Hannah finds herself torn between her loyalties. How much is Hannah willing to sacrifice to save the people she loves?
Inspired by incredible true stories of courage and sacrifice, Code Name Sapphire is a powerful novel about love, family and the unshakable resilience of women in even the hardest of times.
CODE NAME SAPPHIRE by Pam Jenoff is a historical fiction story of two cousins set in Brussels during WWII. It is based on the true story of Belgium resistance fighters stopping a train bound for Auschwitz and assisting in the escape of Jewish people from the cattle cars. It also begins with the fictionalized, but true story of a ship of Jewish refugees refused landing in Cuba and returned to Europe.
Hannah Martel has lost everything. Her fiancée is killed by the Nazis, she has miscarried their baby, and she is wanted for her drawings of seditious cartoons. When the ship to Cuba she is on is refused landing, her hoped for salvation disappears. Her last hope is her cousin, Lily who lives with her surgeon husband and young son in Brussels. While she is happy to be reunited with her cousin, the Germans have recently invaded Belgium and Hannah is afraid for her life and wants to leave Europe.
Hannah is able to make contact with a resistance network called the Sapphire Line, run by Micheline and her brother Matteo. She joins the group with the promise from Micheline to get her out of the country for her help. When Lily and her family are arrested and slated for deportation to Auschwitz because of a mistake on Hannah’s part, Hannah must decide how much she is willing to risk and sacrifice to save those she loves.
This is a story with so many plot twists and harrowing circumstances that I just kept turning the pages. The historical facts that this novel is based on were well researched. Hannah and Lily at first represented the two differing lines of thought for Jewish people during the German occupation, those who wanted to or tried to leave and those who thought they could ride out the occupation in their homes, but none were safe. While I liked Hannah and Lily, I was really drawn to Micheline. I usually love a romantic element in a story, but the triangle in this story I could have done without. This is still a book I read from start to surprising conclusion.
I recommend this gripping historical fiction tale.
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About the Author
Pam is the author of several novels, including her most recent The Woman With The Blue Star, as well as The Lost Girls of Paris and The Orphan’s Tale, both instant New York Times bestsellers. Pam was born in Maryland and raised outside Philadelphia. She attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Cambridge University in England. Upon receiving her master’s in history from Cambridge, she accepted an appointment as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. The position provided a unique opportunity to witness and participate in operations at the most senior levels of government, including helping the families of the Pan Am Flight 103 victims secure their memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, observing recovery efforts at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing and attending ceremonies to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of World War II at sites such as Bastogne and Corregidor.
Following her work at the Pentagon, Jenoff moved to the State Department. In 1996 she was assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Krakow, Poland. It was during this period that Pam developed her expertise in Polish-Jewish relations and the Holocaust. Working on matters such as preservation of Auschwitz and the restitution of Jewish property in Poland, Jenoff developed close relations with the surviving Jewish community.
Having left the Foreign Service in 1998 to attend law school at the University of Pennsylvania, Jenoff practiced law at a large firm and in-house for several years. She now teaches law school at Rutgers.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for HUNTERS POINT: A Novel of San Francisco by Peter Kageyama on this Virtual Blog Tour.
Below you will find an author Q&A, a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Author Q&A
What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
I didn’t think of it as a literary pilgrimage when I did it, but a 2007 trip to visit Michigan at the invitation of a friend of mine who worked for the State of Michigan truly changed my life. My friend invited me to come see the other side of the story about Michigan, and Detroit in particular, that was not being talked about in the media. At that time, Michigan and Detroit were really struggling.
My friend took me all around the state and introduced me to a bunch of people who were doing amazing work, most of it small and very underfunded, but they did it out of a profound sense of love for their communities. This struck me because I realized that as long as there were people like these, then places like Detroit would never truly fail. Love and an emotional connection to our places was the secret ingredient that no one was talking about, or writing about. The genesis of my first book, which introduced the central thesis of all my nonfiction work, began from that trip. And that trip was my first step towards being a writer.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
I actually did because I am fairly well established as a non-fiction writer and speaker. I have become known as the “City Love Guy” which is great because in the discrete field of urbanism and community and economic development, having an identity is fantastic. I thought perhaps that fiction might dilute or muddy that identity. Perhaps it will, but overall I’d like to believe that my books, my speaking and consulting has built up a pool of goodwill that will cross over into this new venture.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I think readers of fiction want a good story and characters they can cheer for and relate to and be scared for – and if we can offer them a few twists and turns they have not seen before, that is great. True originality is very rare, so most of us are mashing up familiar tropes, with some new angles and additions to make something that is BOTH new enough and familiar enough to keep us turning the pages.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
For me, I did not realize that I wanted to build a body of work until I finished the first novel. I had so enjoyed writing the main characters that I knew I had to continue their stories. Some stories have a definitive end and stand very much on their own. Perhaps some day I’ll write one of those, but in the meantime, I’m totally excited about the many adventures I have seen in my characters’ futures.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Hiring a professional line editor was a revelation. I had thought the manuscript of my first novel, Hunters Point, was fairly clean after I had gone through it, as well as my publisher, my publicist, my story editor and two passes by my wife who is incredibly meticulous. Still when the manuscript came back with hundreds of corrections, I was shocked and forever sold on hiring that outside set of professional eyes!
Where do you prefer to write?
I am a coffee shop guy. Even though I put in my noise canceling headphones, there is still enough background noise and distraction. Some may be surprised that I listen to music while writing, but not just any music. I have a specially created playlist called “Writing” and all the songs on there are ones that I am always happy to hear. The key to the playlist is that I never have to skip over a song or an artist, which could break the flow of what I am doing at the moment.
The only place I find that I can write at home is on our balcony and usually at night. We live in Florida and during the day it is either too hot or too bright, or both so I find myself gravitating out there in the evenings.
What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?
The two main characters of my novel Hunters Point are directly based upon my mother and father. So for me, writing about them is a way to honor them. For my father in particular, I have found that this series of books has been and continues to be a way for me to have a conversation with him, even though he passed away over twenty years ago. As for the other folks I have based characters upon, my friends specifically, I think ‘don’t embarrass them’. For example, there are a pair of characters in Hunters Point that are directly based on two of my good friends here in St. Petersburg, where I live. They start out and you think they are bad guys and maybe even a little stupid, but they turn out to be decent, resourceful, funny and a necessary part of the story.
Some of the other characters that are actual historic figures, raise a different set of ethical questions.What are the ethics of writing about historical figures?
I think it depends on how close to bone you write the story. For example, you can be outrageous like in the book, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, which I think is fantastically creative. No one is likely to take issue or be offended because it is so far out there. But if you take a well-known figure, such as Bruce Lee as Quentin Tarantino did in the movie and novelization of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and have a controversial scene with him, you may draw some ire.
When I included Jimmy Stewart as a character in Hunters Point, I tried to base his actions on research and extrapolation of what is popularly known about the man. If you are going to include a figure that is well known, I think readers expect that character to act the way they would expect. It would be much easier and more convincing to create a new, unique character to do something that would be seen as wildly out of character for an historical figure such as Jimmy Stewart.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
Because I am an urbanist at heart, someone who studies cities, it felt very important that San Francisco, the location of my debut novel, Hunters Point, feel authentic. Even though the story is set in the late 50’s, there is still something about walking the streets, seeing the actual places that you write about, that makes them feel more real. Of course the other great tool in the writer’s arsenal, is Wikipedia! I am constantly amazed how researching one question leads me down a rabbit hole that leads to a whole new and amazing set of facts. I also highly recommend Google Street View as a way to put yourself in a place that maybe you can’t readily travel to. Those images give you a sense of place that can be translated into authentic descriptions and narration.
How do you select the names of your characters?
Kats Takemoto is named after my father’s two best friends; Masa Taketoshi and Peter Matsumoto. Takemoto. I took the nickname Kats, short for Katsuhiro, because it sounds cool and also because in Daniel James Brown’s outstanding book, Facing the Mountain, he chronicles the Japanese American experience during World War II. One of the more memorable figures was named ‘Kats Miho’ a soldier with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Kats was an amazing example of bravery, loyalty and love of his country and his comrades. And like I said, ‘Kats’ sounds cool!
The character Molly Hayes is named after my mother, Molly Hazen. She too was a red-headed Irish woman from Ohio. Some of the other names that appear in the book and the coming sequel, are friends and people from my past. Sometimes it is just a name but other times, I am using real backstory and characteristics. As for what is fact and what is fiction, well I will leave that for the readers to guess.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
I don’t want to jinx myself, but I have been pretty lucky in all the books I have written, the main draft has come quickly. Six months seems to be about the time frame, give or take travel, family commitments and football season. I will say that I started in on the sequel to Hunters Point within a few weeks of completing the first book, and if I could clear the decks more thoroughly, I know my productivity would increase. But such is life.
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Book Description
The Cold War and the Beat Poets of North Beach collide in 1958 San Francisco in Peter Kageyama’s noir thriller about a Japanese American private eye investigating the mysterious goings on at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.
SAN FRANCISCO, 1958
World War 2 veteran, Katsuhiro, “Kats” Takemoto is a Nisei, second generation Japanese American and the private detective for those who don’t get noticed by the police or get the attention of traditional private eyes. The city is exploding with population growth and creative expression as the Beat poets and artists fill coffee shops and galleries. When a young Beat poet enlists Kats to keep his family from being pushed out of the Bayview Heights neighborhood by a shady developer, Kats learns that the conspiracy to take over the land around Hunters Point runs deep into Cold War fears and politics. Kats takes on the US government, the Navy, unscrupulous businessmen and the west coast mafia as he and his friends race to find the truth.
Award winning author Peter Kageyama’s debut novel brings the post-war San Francisco scene to life with historic characters including Jimmy Stewart, Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, Alfred Hitchcock and Shig Murao, along with the dynamics of racial identity for Japanese Americans finding their footing again in America following the war and internment.
HUNTERS POINT: A Novel of San Francisco by Peter Kageyama is a compelling historical P.I. crime mystery that engaged me immediately. The historical research mixed with a unique San Franciscan Nisei P.I. and an intricate plot kept me reading from page one to the end in one sitting.
P.I. Katsuhiro “Kats” Takemoto is asked by a friend to help a boat building family in Bayview Heights that is being strong-armed to sellout and move. As Kats begins to investigate who is behind the threats, he discovers local government hiding future plans for the area, criminal builders and mob bosses looking for a windfall, and the U.S. government trying to manipulate everyone to cover up their need to keep the public unaware of the nuclear waste problems at the Hunters Point naval base.
Kats and a group of old and new friends work to get to the bottom of the greed, corruption, and conspiracies to find a way to help their friends in Bayview Heights and stay alive at the same time.
I loved this book! Kats is an engaging and unique main character. His friends, both famous and not, were all interesting and added depth to the story. The research done for not only Kats family history but also Hunters Point history is intertwined throughout the story without ever slowing the pace of the plot. The plot has plenty of action scenes, both the usual with fists and guns but also intelligent nonlethal action with smoke bombs, pepper bombs, and snakes. The detective work and discoveries are well paced, and the conclusion is gratifying. I am very happy this is a proposed series because I am looking forward to many more cases with P.I. Kats Takemoto.
I highly recommend this historical crime mystery!
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About the Author
Peter Kageyama is the author of For the Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places, the follow ups, Love Where You Live: Creating Emotionally Engaging Places, and The Emotional Infrastructure of Places. In 2021, he released For the Love of Cities REVISITED, a revised and updated version of his award-winning book.
In 2023, his debut novel based on the post-internment life of his parents was released by St. Petersburg Press.
Peter is a special advisor to America In Bloom and was a Senior Fellow with the Alliance for Innovation, a national network of city leaders. He is an internationally sought-after community development consultant and grassroots engagement strategist who speaks about bottom-up community development and the amazing people who are making change happen around the world.
New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep blasts off with an exciting new science-fiction fantasy adventure with a dash
of historical romance. This action-packed space opera features a mix of magic and technology, along with a soul mates and enemies-to-lovers story.
A WOMAN WHO SEES EVERYTHING . . .
Few people know the name Vesper Quill. To most folks, I’m just a lowly lab rat who designs brewmakers and other household appliances in the research and development lab at the powerful Kent Corp. But when I point out a design flaw and a safety hazard in the new line of Kent Corp spaceships, everyone knows who I am—and wants to eliminate me.
I might be a seer with a photographic memory, but I don’t see the trouble headed my way until it’s too late. Suddenly, I’m surrounded by enemies and fighting for my life.
I don’t think things can get any worse until I meet Kyrion Caldaren, an arrogant Regal lord who insists that we have a connection, one that could be the death of us both.
A MAN WHO CAN’T FORGET HIS PAST . . .
The name Kyrion Caldaren strikes fear in the hearts of people across the Archipelago Galaxy. As the leader of the Arrows, the Imperium’s elite fighting force, I’m used to being a villain, as well as the personal assassin of Lord Callus Holloway. Even the wealthy Regals who live on the planet of Corios are afraid of me.
But everything changes when I meet Vesper Quill. I might be a powerful psion with telepathic, telekinetic, and other abilities, but Vesper sees far too many of my secrets.
Thanks to an arcane, unwanted quirk of psionic magic, the two of us are forced to work together to unravel a dangerous conspiracy and outwit the deadly enemies who want to bend us to their will.
My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
ONLY BAD OPTIONS (A Galactic Bonds Book #1) by Jennifer Estep is the start of an electrifying new sci-fi romance/space opera series with smart main characters involved in a slow burn romance and great world-building. I was completely sucked into this new world of royalty, magic, and tech.
Vesper Quill is a considered a lowly lab rat at Kent Corp., but she is able to see problems with products, fix them, and develop new designs for much more. When she discovers a flaw design in the companies new spaceships, she becomes a liability that must be eliminated.
Kyrion Coldren is the most feared warrior of the Imperium’s elite fighting force and the personal assassin of Lord Callus Holloway. When he crosses paths with Vesper on a conscript ship which is meant to be the death of her, she ends up helping them both escape death.
Due to arcane magic, Vesper and Kyrion have a psionic link that neither wants, but to survive the deadly intrigue swirling around them they must work together to uncover a dangerous conspiracy and protect the secret of their link from everyone.
I really enjoyed this new world and thought Vesper and Kyrion are both great new characters. They are smart, determined, and excel at what they do. They also both have backstories that make you feel for them and understand why they act the way they do to all the situations they face. All the psionic abilities, or lack thereof, add interesting twists to the story. The conspiracy plot investigation by Vesper and Kyrion moves at a fast pace, while their romance is a completely different story. While this book does not end on a complete cliff-hanger, it does leave you ready for remaining questions to be answered in the next book.
I recommend this first book in the Galactic Bonds series for the start of a new sci-fi romance/space opera that is riveting.
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About the Author
Jennifer Estep is a New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author who prowls the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.
Jennifer is the author of the Elemental Assassin, Section 47, Galactic Bonds, Crown of Shards, Gargoyle Queen, and other fantasy series. She has written more than 40 books, along with numerous novellas and stories.
In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys hanging out with friends and family, doing yoga, and reading fantasy and romance books. She also watches way too much TV and loves all things related to superheroes.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE BONE RECORDS by Rich Zahradnik 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. Good luck on the giveaway and enjoy!
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Book Description
NY Police Academy washout Grigg Orlov discovers an eerie piece of evidence at the scene of his father’s brutal murder: a disc-shaped X-ray of a skull. It’s a bone record–what Soviet citizens called banned American songs recorded on used X-rays. But the black-market singles haven’t been produced since the sixties. What’s one doing in Coney Island in 2016?
Grigg uncovers a connection between his father and three others who collected bone records when they were teenage friends growing up in Leningrad. Are past and present linked? Or is the murder tied to the local mob? Grigg’s got too many suspects and too little time. He must get to the truth before a remorseless killer takes everything he has.
Genre: Mystery Published by: 1000 Words A Day Press Publication Date: November 2022 Number of Pages: 338 ISBN: 9798985905649
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
THE BONE RECORDS by Rich Zahradnik is a non-stop fast paced thriller filled with Russian mobsters and government agents, corrupt NYPD police, and FBI agents, good and bad, all after a young protagonist caught up for unknown reasons in international intrigue.
Grigg Orlov has never felt he belonged in his neighborhood of Little Odessa. Born of a Russian immigrant father and a Jamaican mother, he is plagued with prejudice his entire life. His father reappears after a six-month absence only to have both chased and his father killed. Grigg finds a disc shaped x-ray of a skull on his father’s body. It has an individual old song recording on the opposite side. He learns the discs were called bone records which in the old Soviet Union were sold on the black market with banned American music, but what does this have to do with his father?
Grigg and his ex-girlfriend, Katia, discover an old connection his father had to a group of friends in Russia and bone records, but what does that have to do with the present day run for his life from Russian mobsters and government spies? With no help from law enforcement, Grigg must find the truth before he and Katia end up dead.
This is a thriller with a stubborn and flawed young protagonist that the author is able to make me still care about and follow on this harrowing investigation and run for his life. The history of the bone records was interesting and new to me. The vivid descriptions of the neighborhood of Little Odessa and Coney Island made both feel real and integral to the story. I felt at times the number of mobsters, spies and corrupt law enforcement officials was over the top, but it certainly kept the action and Grigg moving. Every plot thread is tied up at the climatic ending, I just wish a few were answered sooner in the story because for me, all the solutions were rushed into the last chapters with much of the story being threat and chase.
I recommend this entertaining thriller with its unique protagonist and plenty of action and suspects.
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Excerpt
Chapter 1
Friday, August 19, 2016
Grigg’s reunion with his father was brief—eight minutes to be exact—and ended when a man with a nickel-plated revolver shot Dad twice.
Three hours before the violence began, Grigg struggled through the crowd on the Coney Island subway platform. He was the last to reach the stairway to the station’s exit. Again. Even the old folks were gone. His wrecked knee held him back.
Outside the station, Deno’s Wonder Wheel turned slowly, towering over the amusement park that took its name from the ancient fifteen-story ride. The wheel’s spokes glowed a hot neon white. Hazy coronas surrounded all the lights.
Tick-tick-tick-tick.
Grigg had started wearing his father’s Timex soon after he had gone missing. He put the watch up to his ear, as he’d done too many times before. It wasn’t loud enough to be heard. The clockwork noise was in his head. Maybe a reminder to keep looking. Maybe a reminder that six months was already too long in missing persons cases.
His father’s watch read 8:18 p.m.
He limped away from Coney Island’s amusement parks toward his house on West 28th off Mermaid Avenue. As he did, the street darkened. He checked behind him more than once. The neighborhood became far less amusing as night came on—and the farther you went from the fun parks. Mugging wasn’t the thrill ride Grigg needed. He didn’t want any more trouble. He had a lifetime’s supply. His long days pinballed him between two jobs and the search for his father.
But despite Grigg’s best efforts, the minutes and hours and days kept spinning off the Timex, found by the police in a Howard Beach motel room, the last place his father was seen before he vanished into the thin March air. Their empty house waited to reflect Grigg’s loneliness back at him. His mother had died when he was eighteen months old. His boss at the city’s claims adjustment office rarely talked to him outside of giving orders. All of his connections—he couldn’t really call them friends—in the neighborhood he owed to his father. Dad, like the rest of them, had immigrated from Russia. Unlike the rest of them, he’d married a woman from Jamaica, a union that guaranteed Grigg would always be on the outside in Little Odessa.
The rubber soles of his cheap dress shoes slapped the wet pavement. A thunderstorm had blown through while he was on the subway, leaving behind the sticky-thick humidity. His messenger bag tugged on his shoulder.
He went over the lead he’d uncovered tonight. Going door-to-door in a Midwood apartment building full of Russians, he’d talked briefly to a tenant named Freddy Popov, who recognized Grigg’s father when shown a photo. Popov said a man—maybe a cop—had been canvassing the building with a picture of Grigg’s dad four weeks earlier. Inside the man’s apartment and shielded by Popov, someone said something in Russian. Popov got hinky, then said he didn’t know anything more and slammed the door. Grigg banged on it until a woman across the hall threatened to call the cops. He left with only the knowledge that someone else—maybe a cop?—was also searching for Dad. Still, that bit of info was his biggest lead to date.
Grigg limped up to the small, two-story brick house—kitchen, living room, two bedrooms over a garage—a duplicate of the other attached homes on the street. He unlocked the steel gate, then the front door, and stepped inside.
The thunk of the door closing echoed through the house. Two days ago, Grigg had moved everything out except for the sleeping bag in his bedroom of twenty-seven years and a blue duffel, readying the old house for its new owners. He turned the deadbolt.
He shouldn’t be staying here tonight. He’d spent all his free time on the search for Dad, right up until the closing on the sale of the house. Even at the end, he’d hoped for a breakthrough that would save him from selling. He’d signed the papers yesterday, writing a check for $1,650—most of his savings—because the house was underwater on a second mortgage his father had taken out. Grigg knew the out-of-state buyers wouldn’t be moving in for three weeks, so he’d kept a copy of the key.
Trespassing in my own house. Inviting trouble when I already have too much.
The plan was to use the next three weeks to find an apartment share, but the lead from Popov tugged at his thoughts. Would it pull so hard that he’d spend his free time searching for Dad and end up homeless? He ducked his own question and instead pictured going back to demand Popov tell him more. He shook his head. He could barely keep his mind on his housing problem for the space of a single thought. He took a beer out of the refrigerator, went up to his room, and rolled his sleeping bag into a fat pillow to lean against.
Grigg popped open the 90 Years Young Double IPA. Nine percent alcohol. The strong stuff he’d dubbed “floor softener.” He downed two sixteen-ounce cans, and the ache faded from the muscles in his damaged leg.
He took out his phone. He’d run through his data allowance last week. Three days until the new billing cycle. At least he had his music. He played the Decembrists, their songs about revenge and ships at sea set to jangly indie rock. He followed with the Killers, then Vampire Weekend.
Tick-tick-tick-tick.
His father’s watch read 11:20 p.m.
He opened his notebook and wrote down “Day 191” along with what he’d learned. It was longer than any previous entry—yet not long at all. So many days. The silence in the house chilled him, sending goosebumps in waves over his arms and thighs. He got up and turned down the air conditioner. It wouldn’t help. He missed his father’s voice, the way it had warmed their home. They could talk about everything and anything, a lot of anything, but such interesting anything. Dad was always there with his questions, his curiosity, and his deep interest in whatever Grigg was up to. There were days his father was more intrigued by Grigg’s job than Grigg was. Even that helped.
A fourth beer. He floated on the wood floor of his empty bedroom. Slept.
A thump. The floor hardened underneath him. Another thump. Half buzzed, halfway to a headache, Grigg opened his eyes. He heard it again. Not a dream. On the roof. He followed the steps above him to his father’s empty bedroom. He was about to switch on his phone’s flashlight when legs—silhouetted by the glow from the street across the way—dangled over the room’s tiny balcony. They descended slowly, inching, hesitating, as if the intruder were no expert at this sort of move. The toes stretched to touch, and finally, the person dropped, stumbled, and landed on their knees.
Grigg didn’t know whether to laugh or arm himself. If this was a robbery, then the joke was going to be on a thief who’d picked a house with nothing in it. Grigg decided discretion was the better part of whatever, returned to his bedroom, and pulled the stun gun from his messenger bag. Ever since he’d been attacked when he was in the police academy—suffering the knee injury that forced him to drop out—he hadn’t felt safe unless he carried the weapon.
He placed the messenger bag next to his duffel in the hallway in case he needed to get out fast. In the kitchen, he grabbed his second six pack as a backup weapon.
Of course, he could escape by the front and leave the intruder for the police to deal with. But if he did, then the buyers would be notified, and he’d lose the three weeks of temporary housing he’d been counting on.
He crept through the doorway into the main bedroom.
The figure, whose face remained in deep shadow because of the streetlight glow from behind, rattled the handle to the single balcony door, used his elbow to smash in the square pane nearest the knob, reached in, and turned the simple metal lock. As he pushed the door open, Grigg stepped forward, hit his phone’s light, and thrust forward the stun gun.
“Get the fuck out of my house!”
The figure froze. “I’m not going to hurt you, Grigg.”
Grigg moved closer.
“Dad? Dad!”
Full beard and longer hair, but it was him.
Grigg didn’t know whether to hug his father or scream at him.
“I came to say goodbye,” Dad said.
“Goodbye?”
“I’m leaving. For Russia. I don’t know when I’ll be able to return. It’s the only way.”
“I don’t understand.” Any of it. “You said you’d never go back.”
“It’s the only way to fix things.”
***
Mystery writer Rich Zahradnik
Author Bio
Rich Zahradnik is the author of the thriller The Bone Records and four critically acclaimed mysteries, including Lights Out Summer, winner of the Shamus Award. He was a journalist for twenty-seven years and now lives in Pelham, New York, where he is the mentor to the staff of the Pelham Examiner, an award-winning community newspaper run, edited, reported, and written by people under the age of eighteen.
Today is my turn to share my Feature Post and Book Review for CHAOS ON THEISLAND (DI Liam O’Reilly Mysteries Book #9) by Stewart Giles on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions 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
If there’s one thing Detective Liam O’Reilly hates, it’s bombs.
The Irishman transferred to the peaceful island of Guernsey to escape that kind of thing.
So, when random explosions start taking the people on the island by surprise, O’Reilly wonders if moving to Guernsey was such a good idea.
It soon becomes clear that the bombs are a smokescreen for something else. Something more sinister is going on, and when a gang of masked men enter the equation, O’Reilly realises this has nothing to do with blowing things up.
A team of armed men, dubbed the Fab Four Robbers by the press, soon capture the hearts of the people of Guernsey, and chaos hits the island.
O’Reilly is facing the worst dilemma of his career.
Many residents of the island are championing these thugs.
This new breed of criminals disguised as John, Paul, George and Ringo are about to educate O’Reilly in the fine art of chaos.
CHAOS ON THE ISLAND (DI Liam O’Reilly Mysteries Book #9) by Stewart Giles is another engaging mystery/police procedural featuring DI Liam O’Reilly and his team on the island of Guernsey. This is the ninth book in the series and while the characters’ relationships continue to grow, each crime plot is unique and is solved by the end of the book so they can be read as standalones.
April Fool’s Day is not a good day for police, and it is an especially bad day for DI Liam O’Reilly as a bomb explodes on Guernsey island. Liam hates bombs. As everyone is busy at the site of the blast, four men in Beatles masks rob a high-end jewelry store. The island paper nicknames them “The Fab Four” as they continue to cause chaos on the island. At first there are no casualties, but that soon changes with Liam and his team no closer to uncovering who they are and understanding what their motive might be.
Liam knows there must be a motive for the Fab Four’s crimes, but it will take his and his team’s usual dogged determination and out of the box investigative skills to stop the chaos on the island.
Once again, Mr. Giles has led me on an exciting chase with DI Liam O’Reilly. I love this protagonist and series. Not only is the crime mystery captivating, but there are also many changes going on in Liam’s personal life in this book. I always look forward to catching up with Liam, his daughter, and the members of his detective squad. The Fab Four disguises were an entertaining way to bring song references and debates about who you liked best of the four into the story even though these four were killers. I was guessing and surprised right up to the end in this fast crime read that I could not put down.
I highly recommend this crime mystery addition to the DI Liam O’Reilly series!
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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 first 8 books in the Detective Liam O’Reilly series are now available. There are also 3 stand alone novels.
