Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MURDER IN THE APPALACHIANS by Susan Furlong on this Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Kingsumo giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
On the run in the mountains… with a killer on their trail.
After unearthing secrets from her late brother’s police notebook, journalist Emma Hayes discovers his death was no accident—he was murdered. Only someone doesn’t want Emma to find out the connection to the cold case her brother was investigating…and they’ll kill to keep it that way. Now Emma must rely on local ER doctor Logan Greer to help her stay alive and follow a trail of elusive evidence. But as they unravel a conspiracy, they realize that the killer could be anyone hiding in the mountains…
Genre: Love Inspired Suspense – Romantic Suspense Published by: Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense Publication Date: April 1, 2025 Number of Pages: 206 ISBN: 9781335980533 (ISBN10: 1335980539)
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
MURDER IN THE APPALACHIANS by Susan Furlong is an edge-of-you-seat Christian romantic suspense/mystery with plenty of action, twists, and surprises. This standalone Love Inspired Suspense book is set in a small ex-mining town in the scenic West Virginian Appalachian Mountains.
Emma Hayes is an investigative journalist living in Washington, D.C. who returns to her twin brother’s mountain cabin after his death. He was a police officer, supposedly killed while handling a traffic stop, but after listening to a message left by him on her phone, Emma believes he was murdered while investigating a local cold case. In her search of his cabin, she finds his notebook but is then chased by a masked man and shot at. She escapes down the river.
On vacation and fly fishing on the river, Dr. Logan Greer discovers a woman on the riverbank freezing. He takes her to his free clinic and his sister, a physician’s assistant, takes care of her wounds, and they take her home. Emma does not know who to trust, but Logan gains her trust as he saves her life more than once. What Emma does not know is that the cold case she is looking into ties to the disappearance of Logan’s youngest sister.
Someone is determined to keep their secrets, and to stop the attempts on their lives, Emma and Logan must uncover the secrets of this cold case and find the killer.
This is one of those stories that pull you in and you just want to read it from start to finish. Emma and Logan are both dealing with trauma and loss and are at different places in their relationship with their faith. They are feeling many of the same things, but Emma’s feelings are fresh while Logan has had more years to deal with his feelings even though he continues to search for the truth of his sister’s disappearance. Their romance and faith journeys both felt realistic and believable. This is a Christian based romance, so there are a few kisses, but no sex scenes. The suspense plot is intense and kept me turning the pages and continually guessing who was involved and who was innocent. I was very satisfied with the resolutions in the suspense plot, the cold case mystery and the HEA.
I highly recommend this exciting Christian romantic suspense!
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Author Bio
Susan Furlong grew up in North Dakota where she spent long winters at her local library scouring the shelves for mysteries to read. Now, she lives in Illinois with her husband and children and writes mysteries of all types. She has over a dozen published novels and her work has earned a spot in the New York Times list of top crime fiction books of the year. When not writing, she volunteers at her church and spends time hiking and fishing.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SERIAL BURN (Lake City Heroes Book #3) by Lynette Eason on this Partner’s In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Kingsumo giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
She’s out for justice. But the arsonist she’s tracking is out for retribution.
Now the fire marshal of Lake City, Jesslyn McCormick is determined to find the person who started the fire that robbed her of her family when she was just seven years old. As the twentieth anniversary of the tragedy approaches, a string of fires–including at Jesslyn’s church–brings up all those old feelings and offers new evidence.
Because church fires are considered a hate crime, FBI Special Agent Nathan Carlisle is called in to work with local law enforcement. Nathan has his own past–one he’d prefer not to revisit. And focusing on helping Jesslyn track down the arsonist is a great distraction.
As both the case and the chemistry between Jesslyn and Nathan heat up, memories will come flooding in from the past to bump up against hopes for the future. And when Jesslyn comes face-to-face with her worst nightmare, she’ll have to confront her fears and rely on Nathan and her community of friends in order to survive.
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Thriller Published by: Revell Publication Date: January 21, 2025 Number of Pages: 320 ISBN: 9780800741211 (ISBN10: 0800741218)
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
SERIAL BURN (Lake City Heroes Book #3) by Lynette Eason is a twisted, fast-paced chase to catch a serial arsonist who appears to be seeking retribution against the fire marshal of Lake City. This is the third book in the Lake City Heroes Christian romantic suspense/mystery series and can easily be read as a standalone story, but each book adds more to the entire group of friends’ lives and stories, so I read them in order.
Lake City Fire Marshal Jesslyn “Jess” McCormick has studied, worked, and vowed, since she was seven years old, to become a fire marshal and find the arsonist who killed her family. As the twentieth anniversary of their death’s approaches, Jess does an interview stating her continued intention of finding the person who killed her family and with the help of her aunt, also announces her desire to build a youth center to honor of her father.
Jess gets called to the remains of a fire that has destroyed the church she and her friends attend. Since it was a church that was burned, it is investigated as a hate crime and FBI Special Agent Nathan Carlisle is called in. While investigating this and other arsons, Jess is attacked several times. Nathan goes into protective mode and calls in all their friends to help protect Jess. As the arson continues with each having a rare piece of jewelry dropped at the site, Jess and Nathan discover this is all tied back to her father. Will they be able to interpret the clues and discover the arsonist before Jess joins her family in a fiery inferno?
This story has a slow-paced Christian romance, but it moves quickly with many twists and red herrings in the suspense/mystery plot line. Jess is driven by her past and singularly intent on finding justice for her lost family which impedes her personal life from moving forward. Nathan has his own traumatic incident in his past and one of the subplots is between him and his brother which brings in a discussion of God’s forgiveness. Jess and Nathan have a slow growing chemistry, and nothing is really discussed between them about their budding relationship until after the climax of the arsonist plotline. All the plot threads come together for a suspenseful climax with a twist I was not expecting but was satisfying.
I recommend this addition to the Lake City Heroes series for the suspense/mystery plot, which is intense and intricately plotted, but the chemistry between the H/h left me wanting more.
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Excerpt
PROLOGUE
Someone had to stop her. She was going to ruin everything if left to do what she had planned. He clenched the steering wheel and narrowed his eyes. He’d have to be subtle. He couldn’t let her find out he was involved. He couldn’t let anyone find out. The price was too high.
And he was already paying a very high price—one he couldn’t afford to pay anymore. Refused to pay it. He could run. At the thought, he kept one hand on the wheel and reached out with the other to touch the bag on the passenger seat. He had enough money to leave, but a life of always looking over his shoulder wasn’t for him. And she’d never stop looking for him. No, it was better this way. Get rid of her once and for all.
His gut tightened, nerves thrumming as he followed her. If he was truthful, he was afraid of her. Of what she would do if she caught him . . .
But no. His plan was solid. She’d never know it was him. And at this point, he had no choice. He had to risk it. She had to be stopped. He fingered the bag once more and thought of all the years of pain and abuse. Of what the bag’s contents meant.
It was his means to the end. Period.
Without putting himself at risk.
He took a deep breath and went to implement the first step in the plan.
Lynette Eason is the USA Today bestselling author of Double Take, Target Acquired, and Serial Burn, as well as the Extreme Measures, Danger Never Sleeps, Blue Justice, Women of Justice, Deadly Reunions, Hidden Identity, and Elite Guardians series. She is the winner of three ACFW Carol Awards, the Selah Award, and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, among others. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and has a master’s degree in education from Converse College. Eason lives in South Carolina with her husband. They have two adult children.
Haunted by a half-forgotten past, former army photographer Remi Grant is working at an isolated storm-watching lodge on the rocky Washington coast when she receives a mysterious puzzle piece. The piece may be the catalyst to unlock a disturbing incident she struggles to remember–the event that sent her into hiding. But with heavy storms rolling in, she must focus on the present, not get caught up in the past.
When a mysterious man at the lodge saves her life–more than once–Remi becomes suspicious and confronts him. After a catastrophic event in his own life, former military pilot Hawk Beckett is trying to get some perspective at the suggestion of his former commanding officer. Faced with the fiercest storm to hit the coast in a decade, Remi and Hawk are forced into survival mode.
But they’re not alone at the lodge. Someone doesn’t want Remi to remember what happened–and they will stop at nothing to see her dead.
Elise’s Thoughts
Storm Warning by Elizabeth Goddard has non-stop action and mysterious circumstances with unexpected twists that will keep people totally engaged. There is international espionage, betrayal, and dangerous secrets.
The female lead, Remi Grant, is a former army photographer who has no memory of a tragic day in her past. She has moved to Cedar Trails Lodge, getting a job as the manager. Trying to work through her memory problems, it appears someone is trying to help her remember by sending her packages containing puzzle pieces and notes. Her quiet solitude is disturbed by a series of events that threaten her life. First there was the shredding of a rope ladder she needed to climb to get safely out of the ferocious ocean tides. Had it not been for the strong hand of a total stranger, Hawk Beckett, who pulled her to safety, she would have fallen to her death. He is at the Lodge to try to recover from the hurt and pain from a mission gone bad when an army helicopter pilot, loss of his job in law enforcement, and a fruitless search for his brother who he believes to be an assassin.
It seems that someone is trying to silence Remi permanently and Hawk always seems to be in the right place at the right time to help save her. They decide to team up and watch each other’s backs.
To add to the tension is the environment with the whipping winds, cold rain, and the dangerous Washington coast.
This gripping tale will take readers on a wild and crazy ride from the beginning chapter to the end with twists that will shock them. The story if full of shocking suspense.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: The idea for the story?
Elizabeth Goddard: I wanted to set a story off\\\\ the Washington coast for a very long time. There are people who come to watch the storms during the winter. I had in my mind to write a former military photographer. I put it all together to write a mystery surrounding a storm watching lodge.
EC: Does nature play a role?
EG: Yes, with its beauty and brutality that makes for a great suspenseful story. Hidden Bay is fictional but based on several bays in the Olympic Peninsula that are close to the ocean, rugged, with a rocky coast and a wilderness area. It has a rain forest with winds, cold, and rain.
EC: What role does the lodge play?
EG: It houses certain individuals that want to stay hidden from the outside world. It seems invisible to the world. It is based on a real lodge that overlooks the ocean. There is very limited cell service.
EC: How would you describe the female lead, Remi?
EG: She has amnesia. Someone who is wary, vulnerable, impulsive, secretive, built walls yet is determined, mysterious, and tough. She has brain trauma, which I relied heavily on research I had done regarding my own son who has a brain injury from ten years ago.
EC: How would you describe the male lead, Hawk?
EG: Charming, former Army as a Night Stalker, competitive, compassionate, and protective. He is very heroic who was a former Army helicopter pilot that delivered special ops teams anywhere in the world.
EC: What about the relationship?
EG: I have a book quote, “She came to the lodge to remember, he came to the lodge to forget.” She is originally distrustful of him. They are kindred spirits running from demons who are damaged.
EC: What about Cole, Hawk’s brother?
EG: They are two competitive brothers whose father pitted them against each other. They had a sibling rivalry. He is a hired gun, someone who is rogue, ghost-like. He has contempt for what he believes Hawk has become.
EC: Next book?
EG: It is Jo’s story, a forensic artist and a handy person on the run who was introduced in this book. She teams up with someone who was in book one to find out who wants to kill her. The title is Perilous Tides coming out in July of this year.
THANK YOU!!
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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.
Innocent lives at stake… Can a former soldier and his canine save them?
Helping a pregnant woman he comes across in a mountain storm puts Axel Sterling right into the path of ruthless human traffickers. Now it’s up to the ex-soldier and his dog to keep Summer and her unborn baby safe from the abductors she’s finally escaped. But between the icy wilderness and the armed gunmen following them at every turn, one wrong move could cost Axel and Summer their lives.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Ambush in the Mountains by Mary Alford a story of second chances, forgiveness, self-healing, compassion, unbridled trust, friendship, love, and redemption. As with most of her books she uses the weather as a character. Like the previous book, this book dealt with the dark subject of human trafficking in a compassionate and informative way.
The opening scene in the story has Elizabeth Wyse remembering her Amish roots when she enjoyed the snow. At 18 and during the last of her rumspringa, she let an English man, Ray, persuade her to leave her home, her family and everything she’d ever known, to be with him. Instead of having a happily ever after she was forced into human trafficking by threats to her family and physical abuse.
They changed her name to Summer and now eight years later, she aged out as being too old yet was allowed to “help” with the new girls and became Ray’s personal woman. After becoming pregnant with Ray’s child, he decided the baby could bring him big bucks. Although Summer had been and was still petrified at what Ray would do to her, to save herself and her baby she decided to escape. She also knew she had to try to bring Ray down to bring justice to the girls who were killed, save those still in bondage, and prevent any girls in the future falling victim to this monster. She’d save incriminating evidence from his computer onto a thumb drive. Fearful of him discovering the thumb drive, she hid it in the walls of the house they were living in.
It was during a moment of bravery and now 8 months pregnant she escapes. After running through the woods in the Tobacco Root Mountains during a heavy snowstorm, she ran into the path of a vehicle. Axel Sterling was with his dog Camo, driving home on an isolated road, barely missed hitting her. When he stopped to check on her and to find out why she was out walking in this storm they were fired upon. Survival mode kicked in, which meant getting this terrified, very pregnant woman, himself, and Camo to some place safe. Axel’s heroic dog Camo consistently throws himself into danger to protect those around him.
Now it’s up to the ex-soldier, Axel, and his dog, Camo, to keep Summer and her unborn baby safe from the abductors she’s finally escaped. But between the icy wilderness and the armed gunmen following them at every turn, one wrong move could cost Axel and Summer their lives.
This is an edgy, intense, and fast paced story with plenty of action. Readers will root for the characters and will fall in love with Camo.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?
Mary Alford: There is a human trafficking aspect to the story just like the previous book. When I read about it and saw survivor’s stories it touched my heart. I wanted to write in this book how the main character escapes human trafficking, to shine a little light on it. My forte is to include the weather and have the characters on the run from the bad guys. The weather is almost another villain in the story by giving a sense of urgency.
EC: How would you describe the female heroine, Summer?
MA: She was Amish and met this Englisher man during her Rumspringa. He said all the right things and convinced her to run away with him. Through her I touched on what those victims of human trafficking had to endure. She is strong-willed, fearful, has trust issues, vulnerable, damaged, guarded, terrified, and courageous. She tries to put being a mother-first because she is pregnant. She feels guilty about leaving her Amish family. She aged out but was kept around by Ray.
EC: How would you describe Axel, the hero?
MA: He feels he is on a mission, protective, patient, caring, and kind. Being a former soldier he is a bit of a wounded soul after he lost his best friend who was also a soldier. After he left the military he went to Montana, found a little cabin on top of a mountain. He enjoyed being isolated.
EC: How would you describe the bad guy, Ray?
MA: A predator who had Summer in this sex trafficking nightmare for eight years. He has killed before. Evil, manipulative, berating, and mean.
EC: What about the relationship between Summer and Axel?
MA: It takes her a long time to trust him. He helped her to overcome how she experienced darkness and to feel safe. Axel broke down Summer’s wall that she has up for self-preservation. As they try to escape the enemy they form a bond. Axel sees her courage and strength. He wants her to be happy.
EC: What was the role of the dog Camo?
MA: He was like the dog that helped those with PTSD: very comforting, loyal, former military dog, a Belgian Malinois, and protective.
EC: Abram and Lainey were in the previous book and are in this book also. Why?
MA: In the last book they just met. In this book, they are married. She is embracing the Amish lifestyle. They are both good friends to Axel.
EC: Next book?
MA: It comes out in April 2025. It is titled Amish Country Killer. The setting will be in an Amish community in Kentucky. The hero is now in law enforcement but is former Amish. The heroine is the new Chief of Police. The plot has several girls disappearing. The killer is targeting Amish women.
THANK YOU!!
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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 THE GARDEN GIRLS (FBI: Strange Crimes Unit Book #3) by Jessica R. Patch 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
On a remote Outer Banks island, a serial killer collects his prized specimens. And to stop him, an FBI agent must confront his own twisted past.
FBI agent Tiberius Granger has seen his share of darkness. But a new case sets him on edge. It’s not just the macabre way both victims—found posed in front of lighthouses—are tattooed with flowers that match their names. There’s also the unsettling connection to the woman Ty once loved and to the shadowy cult they both risked everything to escape.
Bexley Hemmingway’s sister has gone missing, and she’ll do anything to find her—including teaming up with Ty. That may prove a mistake, and not just because Ty doesn’t know he’s the father of her teenaged son. It seems the killer is taunting Ty, drawing everyone close to him into deeper danger.
As the slashing winds and rain of a deadly hurricane approach the coast of North Carolina, the search leads Ty and Bex to an island that hides a grisly secret. But in his quest for the truth, Ty has ignored the fact that this time, he’s not just the hunter. Every move has been orchestrated by a killer into a perfect storm of terror, and they will need all their skills to survive…
Genre: Christian Psychological Thriller Published by: Love Inspired Trade Publication Date: April 23, 2024 Number of Pages: 367 ISBN: 9781335463074 (ISBN10: 1335463070) Series: FBI: Strange Crimes Unit, Book 3 || Each is a Stand-Alone Novel
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
THE GARDEN GIRLS (FBI: Strange Crimes Unit Book #3) by Jessica R. Patch is a chilling and suspenseful romantic suspense/serial killer crime thriller. This is the third book in the FBI: Strange Crimes series, but it can easily be read as a standalone thriller. Each book focuses on a different member of the team, and I have read all of them.
FBI Agent Tiberius “Ty” Granger is the religious studies and cult expert on the southeastern area’s unit of the Strange Crimes. His past, in which he grew up in the darkness of a religious cult, is the reason he chases these monsters. He is a grown man who diverts people from truly understanding him with juvenile humor and song lyrics. The current case has Tiberius being personally lured to the Outer Banks by a serial killer collecting girls for his garden.
Bexley “Bex” Hemmingway’s sister has gone missing. Ty discovers the girl he loved, and her sister are alive, and it is her sister that is missing, but Bexley has an even bigger secret. Before they were separated by the cult, Bexley was pregnant. Now the serial killer is personally taunting Ty and placing everyone he cares about in danger.
With a hurricane on the way, Ty and Bex are about to discover a terrible secret on a private island. This serial killer has been plotting for a long time to get Ty into his world and destroy him.
I find Ms. Patch’s serial killer crime plots to be extremely well written and plotted. In this book, and the two previous ones in this series, I found it difficult to put them down. The killers are truly terrifying. The killers are dark and gritty, but interspersed with their depravity is the friendship, closeness and sometime humor of the Strange Crimes team as they work the clues. This is a Christian romantic suspense series and while I appreciated the author not cheating by solving every problem with just a prayer, I did feel at times the proselytizing was a bit too heavy for my taste, and that is present in all three books. Others who are more into the religious aspects of Christian fiction may not agree with me and that is their right. There is violence in these books, but they are serial killer crime thrillers and that is to be expected.
The characters of the Strange Crime Unit are all fully developed and engaging. With each book you discover more of what makes each individual click and why they do what they do. I enjoyed meeting all the members of the team and I find the crime plots make for a very edge-of-your-seat thrilling read.
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Excerpt
Prologue The Garden Girls
Sharp claws scrape along my neck.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
Buzzing fills the room, and I strain to open my eyes but they’re like molasses, thick and sticky and slow-moving. My stomach jumps and the room shifts as my blurred vision registers red walls and coffee-colored concrete. I inhale a hint of bleach and incense with a spicy note as I shift to survey the rest of the room, but my muscles ripple like languid water.
The air-conditioner kicks on, and the cold air raises chills across my naked body.
I’m…naked. A fist squeezes my lungs as panic rips through my system. My memories are disjointed.
Where am I? How did I arrive here?
What is happening to me? What has already happened? Shoe soles click on the floor and silence my questions.
I am not alone. Or…I wasn’t. The door closes with a quiet click.
Get up. Move. Run!
Gripping the sides of a massage table, I roll off, and my bare feet hit cool flooring. The walls close in and shift, and my stomach roils. Something is wrong. Off.
Floor-to-ceiling mirrors cover an entire wall, and my breath catches as reality comes into view.
Pink flower buds wend through a vine of black along my neck and upper back.
Confusion clouds my senses, and I stand cemented in place gawking at the angry red skin, sore and tender and smeared with glossy petroleum jelly.
A tight knot grows in my throat, and tears stab with heated force against the backs of my eyes.
I have to get out of here.
Behind me, I spot a twin bed with luxurious sheets and a thick white comforter as well as tattooing equipment. My hands tremble. Am I in a tattoo parlor? Why is a bed in here?
Lying on the floor next to the bed is an old iron cuff attached to a thick, heavy chain that is anchored to the wall.
Why is that in here and where are my clothes?
I snatch the downy comforter and drape it over my exposed body.
Run. Run. Run!
I open the door but have no clue which way to go or where he is or how long until he finds and cuffs me to that bed.
I’ve been trapped before at the hands of a vicious predator. Old memories surface and spur me across the carpeted flooring. The hall veers left. My eyes begin to adjust to the darkness as I flee to safety—no.
To a dead end.
Defeat leaches like muddy water into my soul, and my chest aches. The only choice is to turn around.
But he’s in that direction.
Sweat slicks down my temples and spine, springing up through my pores like an underground fountain as I return the way I came.
I see what might be a crack in the wall. Light seeps in from the other side. As I approach, I discover it’s a door made to look like part of the wall. I swallow hard and guide my fingers along the smooth wood until I feel a lever. I push it and the door releases, but it takes some grit to open it enough for me to slide through.
I expect some kind of lair or dungeon or God knows what—a wall with torture devices and cages—but it’s not.
It’s a living room with wall-to-wall windows overlooking dark water.
Where is he?
I suck in a breath as creaking registers on the stairs. There’s nowhere to hide, and the comforter is bulky and will easily give me away. I have no option but to ditch it in the corner. I can’t dwell on modesty.
Outside.
I dart toward the sliding glass door, silently slide it open and slip out into the warm night air before scrambling to the edge of the balcony. I crouch to make myself small, like when I was a child and needed to obscure myself.
Maybe he doesn’t realize I’m gone, but then it hits me.
I didn’t shut the secret door concealing the other rooms.
A sob bubbles to the surface as I shake uncontrollably like I’ve woken from anesthesia. The ground is far below me. I’d die or break my legs, maybe my spine. But I’d rather die than go back to that room.
To that chain.
To more tattoo needles.
To him.
I draw up my knees and wait, pray. Hope.
When the door doesn’t open, I scoot across the deck, the raw wood digging into tender flesh, but I need to see if the coast is clear.
What if he’s standing at the door, waiting? Watching?
I hear something and freeze.
One Mississippi. Two Mississippi…I count silently until I reach Twenty Mississippi and scoot again.
I can’t be sure if he’s nearby. If he is, deep in the marrow of my bones, I know the kinds of things that await me. I know what evil men can do. I’ve seen it. Experienced it.
Finally, I muster the courage to peep through the door. The room is empty and dimly lit from the one glowing lamp. I creep inside; my brain is fuzzy and spins.
No footsteps. Only bulging shadows in the corners.
I slither across the Berber carpet and inhale the newness. A set of stairs is on the other side of the open living concept. About ten feet of space isn’t occupied with furniture which means when I make a run for it, and he enters the room, I’ll have no cover.
If he doesn’t and I make it downstairs, he could still be waiting for me.
I try to form a defense plan, but my brain might as well be sludge. Making my move, more out of my flight response than logic, I army-crawl across the open space to the stairs.
Two sets of six. I practically roll down the first set and pause.
He’s not there at the small landing.
Six more to go.
This time I move slower, ignoring the adrenaline shouting sprint. I can’t. He could be waiting and I need to listen.
One…two…three…four…five…six. I pause again at the bottom of the stairs.
No light befriends me on the ground floor. Only darkness—and darkness is never a friend. Darkness is deceptive, offering false security. Nothing good transpires in darkness. It’s not a refuge to hide. But a place to be found. In the dark, I can’t see my predator, but I know he’s lurking.
The door is five feet away to freedom, and I sprint for it.
Hope blooms in my chest.
I mutter a prayer as I run. Three feet left.
Two.
Thank God, I’m here. I twist the knob.
It’s locked.
A cry cracks loose inside me, but I hold it down and fumble with the dead bolt.
Shuffling sounds across tile.
Closer. Closer.
I manage to turn the dead bolt and pull on the door, but it sticks.
He’s coming. The clicks are methodic, slow and measured as if he’s in no hurry. Like he knows I can’t escape. It’s a game.
Please. Please. Come on!
The door opens and I slip out, forcing myself to stay calm in case my mind is playing tricks on me and it’s not him. This time, I make sure to close the door behind me. The air is balmy and the wind rustles through the grass.
The briny sea air washes over my tongue and the marsh grass swishes as I dart down a private boardwalk that leads…I don’t know where. I only know to run and eat up the ground and create distance between me and the house of horror. Between me and him.
Thick walls of clouds block the moonlight.
A door slams. Then I hear something.
Thwupt. Thwupt. Thwupt.
He’s dragging something across the boardwalk. I dare not turn to look.
He’s coming.
Slow and methodical. Silent. Only the awful dragging noise.
Nothing comes into view but marshland and water surrounded by clusters of trees. Alligators lie in wait. I can’t remember how I know this. There are snakes and snapping turtles too.
But he’s behind me.
Plopping noises in the water draw my attention, and I freeze. What is it? Will it approach me or prey on me if I enter too?
I can’t risk staying on the boardwalk. I ease myself into the icy depths and it steals my breath. Slime oozes over my feet, and I sink into mire. Murky water reaches my waist, sending a shock along my abdomen, but I can’t gasp. Instead, I push through the grass and hope the stirring due to my movement won’t alert him of my location.
Sharp twigs and rocks gouge into the bottom of my feet, and I crunch my bottom lip to keep from crying. Marsh grass appears soft at a glance, but it’s strong and sharp like knitting needles and stabs into my flesh and tender places where I’ve been tattooed in flowers.
Ahead is a patch of dense trees that would conceal me even in daylight. A huge splash sends ripples only a few feet away, startling resting birds to flight. Now I know what’s been causing the dragging noise.
A canoe.
He’s cutting through the narrow channels and at an advantage.
I can’t stop now. I push through the mud, which tries to hold me captive, and toward the dense thicket of trees. I finagle my way inside, but it’s like camping in a thorn bush, and nettles rip my flesh. A quiet cry escapes my throat, and I cover my mouth.
Did he hear me? Does he know I’m here?
I shiver in the water, my teeth chattering as something lightweight drops onto the crown of my head and skitters into the thick layers before I can catch it.
I squeeze my eyes shut and clench my jaw to muffle a scream. What hideous legged creature is creeping through my hair?
What swims unseen below my waist?
Plop. Plop. Plop.
Fish, alligators, snakes…him?
“Daaaah, daaaah, dah daaaah,” his rich buttery tone sings. It echoes through the wetland and sweeps over my skin like icy talons. “I’ve got all night,” he continues singing. “I’ll take my time.” I cup my hands over my mouth to silence my chattering teeth. He’s close. So close. “I’ll find you. There’s nowhere to hide,” he belts out as if we’re in a Broadway show. His voice is magical and terrifying. “You belong to meeeee…You want only meee…”
I can’t stay here. He’ll find me. I work as silently as possible out of the thicket and away from the concentration of his voice. I hoist myself onto the wooden boardwalk because he believes I’m in the water. Rushing is out of the question. He’ll hear my footfalls. Slow and steady is about all I can muster anyway. My legs might as well be licorice sticks.
He’s still singing and slicing an oar through the water as I forge ahead, quickening my steps by a small measure until I finally reach the end of the boardwalk and am on dry ground. In the woods.
The woods mean I’ll find a road at the clearing. Help will drive by, and I’ll flag it down to freedom.
I wait a beat while my eyes adjust to greater darkness. The trees loom overhead, and the ground is mushy and mixed with sand. I stub my toe, tripping over roots jutting out, but press on. There’s a path and I follow it. Bike path maybe?
My feet are cut and bleeding and my head pounds. The path curves, then straightens out, and I halt.
Not a road.
Not freedom.
Before me is a long stretch of beach littered with driftwood and shells that cut into my feet. Beyond the beach is the endless sea. No homes. Only wetland to my back and the sea everywhere else.
I have no boat. No canoe. Nothing to propel me to freedom.
I’m on a private island, and I finally remember how I arrived.
***
Author Bio
Publishers Weekly Bestselling Author, Jessica R. Patch is known for her dry wit and signature twists whether she’s penned a romantic suspense, a cold case thriller, or a small-town romance. When she’s not getting into fictional mischief with her characters, you can find her cozy on the couch in her mid-south home reading books by some of her favorite authors, watching movies with her family, and collecting recipes to amazing dishes she’ll probably never cook. Sign up for her newsletter “Patched In” at www.jessicarpatch.com and receive a FREE short thriller exclusive to subscribers. Jessica is represented by Rachel Kent of Books & Such Literary Management.
Takes place in Alaska with the characters that are rescue workers and law enforcement.
Book Description
When country music star Oaken Fox joins survivalist Mike Grizz’s new adventure show in the Alaskan wilderness, he just wants to boost his fan base. But when tragedy strikes, and Air One Rescue must save them, Oaken just wants to quit. Too bad his producer has other plans—signing him on with Air One Rescue as a recruit and making a reality show…
EMT Boo Kingston did not join Air One Rescue to train a celebrity. But she’s a rookie to the team, so yes, she’ll train Oaken and keep him alive and not for a minute pay attention to his charm…
And then five women go missing from a resort during a bachelorette weekend gone south. Now, Air One and the rescue team will have to use all their skills–and manpower, including Oaken–to find them before a blizzard settles in. But can they work together before tragedy strikes?
Elise’s Thoughts
One Last Shot has country music star Oaken Fox joining a survivalist new adventure show in the Alaskan wilderness, to boost his fan base. But when tragedy strikes and Air One Rescue must save them, Oaken wants to quit. But his producer decides to change the premise, signing him on with Air One Rescue as a recruit and making a reality show. EMT of Air One Recue Boo Kingston is tasked to train this celebrity. After five women go missing from a resort during a bachelorette weekend gone wrong, the Air One Rescue team will have to use all their skills and manpower–including Oaken–to find them before a blizzard settles in.
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Book Description
Axel Mulligan was built to be a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. He could swim faster, endure longer and became a miracle for those in peril in the sea. Until a tragedy destroyed him and sent him home, to Alaska.
Now, three years later, he’s not going to let the past repeat itself, so as an Air One rescue swimmer, he’ll do anything to save lives. Including lose his own—which is what he expects when he goes into the icy waters of the Bering Sea, trying to rescue a cruise group of tourists. But for the voice on the other end of the Ham radio, he might have given up, let hypothermia win.
But it didn’t. Now he’ll do anything to find the voice and thank her.
Except the voice—Flynn Turnquist—is not who he thinks. A national wildlife researcher, she’s deep in the bush, tracking wolf pack patterns. Or is she? In fact, she’s a former cop, tracking down a serial killer. And she’s close enough to see his handiwork in the trail of bodies. She nearly had him—until he escaped into the Bering Sea. But she just knows he’s still alive…and she’s sure she’s on his trail…
When Axel finds Flynn…and what she’s really up to, it stirs up a terrible nightmare he’s been dodging for years—the kidnapping and death of his own cousin. Worse, he’s led the killer right to her doorstep. Now, it’s a race through Alaska to stay alive… and when tragedy strikes again, he must choose between rescue or redemption…
Elise’s Thoughts
In One Last Chance the plot begins with Axel Mulligan going into the icy waters of the Bering Sea, trying to rescue a cruise group of tourists. But for the voice on the other end of the Ham radio, he might have given up, letting hypothermia win. She uses banter, pleading, and encouragement to keep him focused on rescuing himself.
The voice is Flynn Turnquist, a detective who, tracks down serial killer. And she’s close enough to see his handiwork in the trail of bodies. She is afraid one of the killer’s victims is her sister Kennedy who disappeared a few years ago. She and Axel work together to search for Kennedy and to find answers about what really happened.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the series?
Susan May Warren: I wanted to write about a rescue team in Alaska. I created a team in a previous book, Sky King Rescue, to rescue a character. This is how I came up with this team. One Last Shot, the first book in the series, came about from the reality TV I watch. I wondered what happens to these everyday people who found themselves in the limelight but have left the big screen. I also like how rescue plays into the story, literally and figuratively. The heroine was a rescue worker but both she and the hero had to rescue their reputation, their dreams, and their souls, as well as they did physical rescues.
EC: Do you like reality TV?
SMW: Yes, especially adventure ones. But I am not a massive reality TV person. I am a total rescue TV show junkie. I am currently binge watching the show, “Trapper.” I think I will write an upcoming book with a character who will be a trapper.
EC: What about the setting of Alaska?
SMW: My son Peter was born there, and we lived there for a time. I am enthralled with this setting. I did have some stories set here with my earlier books. It is an extremely wild and remote place. The terrain and the river in this story were like an antagonist. People have moose in their backyards. We have a good friend, Duane King, who is a Bush Pilot there and gives me information for my stories.
EC: How would you describe the hero, Oaken Fox in One Last Shot?
SMW: In another book, Flashpoint, Fox was a country music singer who wrote a soundtrack for a movie. Then I decided to put him in my rescue book. I am a total country music junkie. He is pampered, a want to be survivalist. Imagine the country music singer Brett Young. Oaken’s sister died after having a fight with him. His career came about after replacing his sister who was also a country music star.
EC: How would you describe the heroine, Boo Kingston, of One Last Shot?
SMW: I made her a reality TV star and described why she was called Boo. Her reputation was damaged on social media. She likes to improvise, is adaptable, spider-man type skills, brave, calm, fierce, and fearless. A loner with secrets. She feels betrayed by the reality show stuff. She is no-nonsense. She takes her privacy seriously. Because she is an ex-Marine, she has those skills of let’s get the job done, with a sense of loyalty and teamwork.
EC: What about the relationship?
SMW: She is guarded and cautious about it. They grow into deciding they want to watch each other’s back but do have trust issues. Oaken is sunshine, while Boo is grumpy. I had him learn about her secret early in the story. She is more protective of him. They find themselves working together.
EC: What about the second book in the series, One Last Chance?
SMW: I was watching a You-Tube video about the Coast Guard, and how the people on the ship were trying to survive after it went down. Someone had said ‘had it not been for the voice on the radio, I would have given up.” I wanted to write that scene of how someone encouraging and believing in the person could keep them alive. I wanted to try to figure out how the hero’s boat went underwater but he survived. Plus, I added a serial killer as part of the story.
EC: How would you describe the heroine in the story, Flynn Turnquist?
SMW: She comes to Alaska to find her missing sister, Kennedy. She is a detective who hunts serial killers. She feels trapped and is obsessed in finding out what happened to her sister. She is super driven. She is angry, focused, and meticulous because she is searching for answers. She is much more of a lone wolf.
EC: How would describe the hero, Axel?
SMW: He is happy-go-lucky and easy going. He is a team player. He is also responsible, funny, kind, and charming. He wants closure to find out what happened to his cousin.
EC: What about the relationship and how does the “Titanic” movie come into play?
SMW: She helps keep him focused. She is guarded. Both are driven by justice and redemption. The question in my mind, would Jack and Rose from Titanic really have made it with the obstacles set aside? In Flynn’s mind she is wondering if she, like Rose, is just sucked into a relationship versus a “real” long-lasting one.
EC: Kennedy versus her sister Flynn?
SMW: Kennedy had taken alcohol and drugs. She is a free spirit, selfishly independent. She has been described as the light with Flynn the darkness.
EC: Next books?
SMW: The third book in this series, One Last Promise releases in August of this year featuring Moose and Tillie. The last book in the series, One Last Stand releases in October of this year will feature Shep and London, who has a secret identity.
I will also be writing books that will come out in 2025 about the Minnesota Kingstons, Boo’s family. There will be heists and prison breaks. It will start out with the wedding of Boo and Oaken.
There will also be a three-book series titled, “Call of the Wild,” a K-9 branch out in 2026. This series will be about tracking people. Axel’s brother, Moose, will be featured.
THANK YOU!!
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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.
