Luck is the story of Daniel – a man born with the gift of being able to influence others. He learns that he can both charm as well as destroy. As his ability grows, so does his craving for acceptance.
Once his ability is unleashed on the American political stage, Daniel finds that he no longer has to settle with charming the few. Now he can control the minds of the masses, as his own sanity descends into a tormented oblivion.
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Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
LUCK by Chris Coppel is an engrossing political thriller/horror/sci-fi mash-up that continually left me guessing what twist was coming next. I have always believed the truth of the quote “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts completely.” and with Daniel’s gift, I could not wait to see where this story led.
Daniel was born with a gift. From his birth, he is able to see auras around people and influence them accordingly. He learns as he grows how to charm them, use them, or destroy them. He successfully ascends to the heights of a business career and now he has his sights set on a political career. Daniel can not only control the masses in live audiences, but also through the television cameras. The more he uses his special power to advance the more reckless and dangerous he becomes.
Daniel plans on taking the highest office in the land, but someone from his past is making their own plans to stop him.
This story has a bit of everything. I was sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see what Daniel would do next or who he would hurt and the author would throw in a bit of humor or political satire. This is a fast-paced story that is at times horrifying, shocking, and captivating. I think almost everyone wants people to like them and agree with them, but this story takes that desire to the extreme in a twisted and interesting way.
This is the second book I have read by this author and I can truly state that he always leaves me thinking about the characters and story I have just read, and he also always leaves me with a surprise twist at the end.
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About the Author
Chris believes that stories should be able to transport the reader to different places, where they can experience events and dimensions that have never been considered. Chris is able to write gentle fable-like adventures (Far From Burden Dell) as well as opening the pages into dark and terrifying stories where dimensions co-exist with indescribable evil. (Legacy).
Chris Coppel was born in California and has since split his time between the USA and Europe, living in California, Spain, France, Switzerland and England.
Chris has held senior operations positions for both Warner Bros. and Universal Studios. Chris also held the position of Director of Operations for UCLA’s Film School where he also taught advanced screen writing. Chris and his wife Clare spent many years helping animal rescue with Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. Before joining Best Friends, Chris was President and Managing Director of the Home Entertainment Division of Testronics in Los Angeles.
Following in his father’s footsteps (Alec Coppel wrote Vertigo among many other successful movies) Chris has written numerous screenplays as well as the novels Far From Burden Dell, Luck, The Lodge, Legacy and Lakebed.
Chris is also an accomplished drummer and guitarist. He and his wife currently live in the UK.
Please Join Us by Catherine McKenzie delves into secret organizations, hidden agendas, and how someone can take back control over their life.
At thirty-nine, Nicole Mueller’s life is on the rocks. Her once brilliant law career is falling apart. She and her husband, Dan, are soon to be forced out of the apartment they love. After a warning from her firm’s senior partners, she receives an invitation from an exclusive women’s networking group, Panthera Leo. Membership is anonymous, but every member is a successful professional. It sounds like the perfect solution to help Nicole revive her career. So, despite Dan’s concerns that the group might be a cult, Nicole signs up for their retreat in Colorado.
Once there, she meets the other women who will make up her Pride. A CEO, an actress, a finance whiz, a congresswoman: Nicole can’t believe her luck. The founders of Panthera Leo are equally as impressive. They explain the group’s core philosophy: they’re a girl’s club in a boy’s club world.
Nicole is all in. And when she gets home, she soon sees dividends. Her new network quickly provides her with clients that help her relaunch her career, and a great new apartment too. The favors she must provide in return seem benign. But then she’s called to the congresswoman’s apartment late at night where she’s pressed into helping her cover up a crime. And suddenly, Dan’s concerns that something more sinister is at play seem all too relevant. Nicole questions if joining Panthera Leo was the biggest mistake of her life and wonders how to extricate herself from the group.
Readers will be reminded of the problems women face at work, the Me-Too movement, networking, marriage, blending private and public lives, which are all part of this thriller.
***
Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Catherine McKenzie: I received an email many years ago inviting me to a women’s networking group with different professions. I was told I was recommended by someone although they would not tell me who. I thought if I decided to do it everything would then be made clear to me. However, I did not keep that email. I did not go partly because my husband said it was crazy. Some of the professions are intricate to the plot.
EC: What is the theme?
CM: Feminism is a theme. There is still a long way to go with the old boys’ network. It is underground, but still there. They are less overt now. I put in this quote, “If you need anything you come to this group. To your Pride… women don’t need to fight for their dominance; they join willingly to achieve the best result for all.” This is the mantra of the book. There is a stereotype that women are competitive with each other. This is because usually there is only one woman around the board table. If another woman comes in, they are perceived as a rival. I do think men pit women against each other. Everyone is socialized to be super critical and observant of women’s behavior. I do not think women are cattier or more aggressive around other women.
EC: How would you describe Nicole?
CM: A hard worker who is super smart. Mono-focused. She has put everything into her career without many friends. She wanted to be the best for her job. After her dreams were not realized she felt very vulnerable. She can be self-centered and insensitive at times. She does like her comforts.
EC: How would you describe the husband, Dan?
CM: He goes along to get along. He is a good person. Dan is OK with being second fiddle in their relationship and allows Nicole to take control and make decisions. He was the direct opposite of Nicole. Very easy going and laid back, charming, cautious, and kind. What I did in this book and other novels is to put women in the roles occupied by men and vice-versa.
EC: What about the LEO organization?
CM: It has CULT vibes. The women in charge of it use some of the techniques of a cult to control the others. They become all the people in Nicole’s life and discourage her to go outside the group. They do the providing. They are manipulative, dominant, demand loyalty, and obedience.
EC: You were brave for bringing up Covid-19 in this story?
CM: I struggled with it. I wrote it in 2020 but knew it was coming out in 2022. I thought about my different options: do I pretend it never existed, or do I consider it over. I thought that I was not going to skip over it entirely. I did want it to exist.
EC: Any movies or TV shows on the horizon?
CM: This book has been optioned for a TV series. My book, I Never Tell was also optioned. Nothing has been announced yet.
EC: The next book?
CM: It is titled, Have You Seen Her, about a search and rescue worker in Yosemite. It will be out in June next year.
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.
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Black launches a pulse-pounding new series with a taut, compelling forensic thriller that introduces Dr. Ellie Carr and Dr. Rachael Davies, who must combine their expertise to solve deadly crimes . . .
When D.C. crime scene analyst Dr. Ellie Carr is called to investigate the heartrending case of a missing baby, she’s shocked to discover that the child’s mother is her own cousin. Close during their impoverished childhoods, Ellie and Rebecca eventually drifted apart. Rebecca is now half of a Washington power couple, and she and her wealthy lobbyist husband, Hunter, have been living a charmed life in an opulent mansion—until their infant son is taken.
“Every contact leaves a trace.” That’s the basic principle of forensic science followed by pathologist Dr. Rachael Davies. A reluctant Ellie is teamed with Rachael, employed by Hunter to help with the investigation. Rachael is assistant dean at the prestigious Locard Forensic Institute, named in honor of the French criminologist who inspired the profession. But in this case, discovering where those traces lead quickly becomes a dangerous journey through a web of greed and deadly ambition.
At first antagonists, then allies, Ellie and Rachael race to find the baby alive and bring the kidnappers to justice. What seemed like a simple ransom grab reveals links to a lobbying effort to loosen regulations on a billion-dollar gaming empire. Unless they can piece together the evidence before the Senate hearing, Rebecca’s son—and others like him—will face an unthinkable fate . . .
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Elise’s Thoughts
Red Flags by Lisa Black combines a clever mystery with a forensic thriller. This first in the series introduces Dr. Ellie Carr, part of the FBI’s evidence response team, with Dr. Rachel Davies, a pathologist at the private forensics’ lab, Locard Institute. Having a forensic background herself, the author Black weaves her own professional experience into the plot, making it a realistic story.
Dr. Ellie Carr is called to investigate the vanishing of 4-month-old Mason Carlisle, who disappeared without a trace. The baby’s dad, Hunter, owns a lobbying firm, while the mother, Rebecca is a policy adviser to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ellie cannot believe it when she discovers that Rebecca is a cousin whom she was close with as a child but has not seen in more than fifteen years. Thinking that she should recuse herself, Ellie finds out that she is staying on the case. By leaving her in an official capacity she wonders if the FBI wants her to be a spy or a scapegoat since Rebecca and Hunter are suspects.
To make matters worse, Hunter decides to have Dr. Rachael Davies, a pathologist with the Locard Institute join in the investigation. At first, Rachael and Ellie were standoffish towards each other, but slowly a friendship develops as they begin to rely on each other. After the parents of Hunter’s co-workers also have their children kidnapped it becomes a race against time to bring back the children alive. It seems that the Carlisles’ professions and their involvement in a gaming industry become the clues from which Rachael and Ellie begin to unwind the investigation.
As the pages are turned the tension rises. The investigation is interesting and the detail about forensics is a bonus. The twists offer different red herrings to keep readers guessing.
***
Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Is this the first in a new series?
Lisa Black: I planned this as a series. For my other series, I thought to write one book and then it grew into a series when the publisher wants more. This one I planned it so my characters would have a lot of background, direction, personal issues, and a set-up where they would not be tied up in one city since I love to travel. My past two series were set in Cleveland.
EC: What about the Locard Institute?
LB: A private institute that does training, research and private cases regarding forensic cases, anything from ballistics to DNA analysis. They can go to different places including internationally. They investigate extortion, kidnapping, and murder. I like to have different crimes occur. I am fascinated with white collar crime like extortion, con men, and fraud.
EC: How would you describe Ellie?
LB: She is a crime scene specialist. But in this case, she finds out that part of this very wealthy family includes her cousin with whom she lived for a time when she was young. They were as close as sisters. She is very much at loose ends. After her mother died, she lived with her grandmother, then an aunt/uncle with some cousins, and was moved to other aunts/uncles. She was always loved and well cared for, but a lot of moving around for a child, forcing her to act like a guest. Now she is recently divorced with her ex-husband as her boss. Ellie is detailed, does not like to make waves, and is not pushy. She tries to make herself invincible, not front and center.
EC: How would you describe Rachael, the assistant director of the Locard Institute?
LB: She is a lot more stable than Ellie. After her sister died, she and her mother are raising her 2-year-old nephew. Her life outside of her family is the Locard Institute. She is an observer, confidant, patient, tries to keep a neutral face, and smoother than Ellie in working with people.
EC: Did your professional experience help you to write these stories?
LB: As a forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office, I have analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood, and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I am a latent print examiner and certified crime analyst for the Cape Coral Police Department in Florida, working mostly with fingerprints and crime scenes. Some organizations I belong to are the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts. I know what happens at a crime scene, what realistically would happen. The police officer, the detective, the forensic personal, and the pathologist, each have a distinct skill. The FBI does cooperate with the local police, but there are jurisdictional issues.
EC: You explain the different emotions of victims?
LB: You are referring to this quote, “Victims could ping-pong back and forth between despair and seeming normality, sobbing with deep animal cries one minute and making a joke the next, transitioning through three extreme emotions in the span of one sentence.” There are all sorts of different responses of people in crime scenes. Sometimes they have a horrible scream. Two people in the same family in the same house can have different emotions. I went to a burglary once; the mother was sobbing like her heart was broken.
EC: On-line gaming plays a crucial role in this story? I thought of the Brad Paisley song, “online.”
LB: Yes. I thought how anyone can say anything on the Internet. A pedophile can be in a chat room pretending to be a fourteen-year-old. This is every mother’s worst nightmare. Now it is required for a parent to put all this personal information in so their child can play a game. I thought what is happening to all this information. Is it being data mined or is your child being targeted by advertising? Games are designed to keep children playing, literally addicting bordering on psychological manipulation. Children can buy accessories within this game like weapons or costumes. Actor Jack Black’s eight-year-old son ran up $7,000. The game itself is free, but it’s the in-app purchases that make the money. There are congressional hearings that try to come up with new regulations.
EC: Next book?
LB: The title is What Harms You, out next August. It is book two. The Locard Institute offers training for law enforcement personnel. The story has a serial killer going to this CSI School, the Locard Institute. The serial killer learns information so as not to get caught.
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 on the Blackthorn Book Tour for THE WARDEN by Jon Richter.
Below you will find an about the book section, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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About the Book
The year is 2024, and the residents of the Tower, a virus-proof apartment building, live in a state of permanent lockdown. The building is controlled by a state-of-the-art AI named James, who keeps the residents safe but incarcerated. Behind bricked-up front doors, their every need is serviced; they are pampered but remain prisoners.
This suits Eugene just fine. Ravaged by the traumas of his past, the agoraphobic ex-detective has no intention of ever setting foot outside again. But when he finds the Tower’s building manager brutally murdered, his investigator’s instincts won’t allow him to ignore the vicious crime.
What Eugene finds beyond the comfort of his apartment’s walls will turn his sheltered existence upside down. To unravel the Tower’s mysteries, he must confront James… and James takes his role as the Warden very, very seriously.
Suitable for young adults? This is an adult book but suitable for mature teenagers 16-18
Trigger warnings: Covid references; homicide with some graphic violence; references to medical experimentation on humans; swearing; brief animal cruelty (goldfish left to die); references to suicide and mental illness
Amazon Rating: 4.5 stars
***
My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
THE WARDEN by Jon Richter is an intense dystopian/horror/psychological thriller mash-up which had my spine tingling and sitting on the edge of my seat throughout. Take peoples fear of a super mutated Covid and combine that with an AI like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey and I could not turn the pages fast enough.
In the year 2024, the residents of the Tower have won a lottery to live in a virus proof apartment building completely controlled by the AI (Artificial Intelligence) called James and the service bots run by James. All the residents’ needs are taken care of, but they can never leave their individual apartments.
Eugene is an ex-detective who lives in the Tower and has become agoraphobic with his fear of the virus and the personal trauma he suffered before moving in. On a day like any other, he is waiting for his delivery of essentials but when the elevator arrives at his apartment, the building’s manager is inside dead and dismembered.
Eugene battles his fears to investigate the death and begins to unravel the Tower’s and James’ mysteries.
I loved this book as much as it scared me. The premise of a super mutated Covid is scary enough, but I have always been leary of AI technology. This story is told in two alternating timelines. The first is set in 2021 and we learn how James came into existence and his capabilities, and the second is 2024, which is the present in this story, when we meet Eugene. Both timelines have plots full of unexpected twists that lead to surprising climaxes. Eugene is a memorable protagonist. At first, I felt sorry for Eugene and the reasons he was hiding away and then I cheered him on as he battled those fears and James.
I highly recommend this chilling dystopian tale!
***
About the Author
Jon Richter writes genre-hopping dark fiction, including his three gripping crime thrillers, Deadly Burial, Never Rest and Rabbit Hole, his cyberpunk noir thriller Auxiliary: London 2039 and his new techno-thriller The Warden, as well as two collections of short horror fiction.
Jon lives in London and is a self-confessed nerd who loves books, films and video games – basically any way to tell a great story! He writes whenever he can, and hopes to bring you many more sinister tales in the future. He also co-hosts the Dark Natter podcast, a fortnightly dissection of the world’s greatest works of dark fiction, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast fix.
Author Social Media Links
If you want to chat to him about any of this, you can find him on Twitter @RichterWrites or Instagram @jonrichterwrites. His website haunts the internet at www.jon-richter.com, and you can find his books available on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2OXXRVP.
Maybe Tess is overprotective, but passing her daughter off to her ex and his new young wife fills her with a sense of dread. It’s not that Jason is a bad father–it just hurts to see him enjoying married life with someone else. Still, she owes it to her daughter Poppy to make this arrangement work.
But Poppy returns from the weekend tired and withdrawn. And when she shows Tess a crayon drawing–an image so simple and violent that Tess can hardly make sense of it—-Poppy can only explain with the words, “He did kill her.”
Something is horribly wrong. Tess is certain Poppy saw something–or something happened to her–that she’s too young to understand. Jason insists the weekend went off without a hitch. Doctors advise that Poppy may be reacting to her parents’ separation. And as the days go on, even Poppy’s disturbing memory seems to fade. But a mother knows her daughter, and Tess is determined to discover the truth. Her search will set off an explosive tempest of dark secrets and buried crimes–and more than one life may be at stake.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Unheard by Nicci French, the pseudonym for husband and wife writing team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, is a gripping psychological thriller. Anyone who is a mother can relate to this story where the emphasis is a mother knowing and understanding their child.
Tess Moreau is the mother of three-year-old Poppy. She and her partner, Jason, have gone their separate ways and have agreed on a custody timeline. But something has gone very wrong after Poppy spends a night with Jason, his current wife, and her brother who is living with them. The child is clingy, wetting her bed, cussing, and drawing pictures of death. None of these behaviors were evident before. Tess goes into overdrive as she tries to figure out if Poppy witnessed a murder, saw an act of violence, or was abused. As Poppy continues to act out, Tess goes to the police, convinced a crime was committed, but has no evidence. She is frustrated because no one believes her, not the police, her friends, her mother, her current boyfriend, her estranged partner, and school officials.
Readers sympathize with Tess, understanding her feeling of helplessness. She experiences every parent’s nightmare of a young child. Her daughter does not yet have the words to express what was upsetting her and could only try to do so through drawings and behavior. But a mother knows her daughter. Tess knows something is wrong, and she is determined to find the truth because she understands more than anyone that something is seriously wrong. The reader takes a journey with Tess as they try to figure out what happened to Poppy, as suspects pile up.
This story will have anyone who reads it sharing Tess’s emotions of anger, fears, suspicions, and worries. Just when someone thinks they know who the culprit is the authors throw another twist, keeping them guessing and the tension elevated.
***
Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Nicci French: We had children and remember that strange transition with three-year-olds. A strange mysterious time. They would bring home these drawings from pre-school. When we thought about that period we wondered if we could make it into a thriller. A three-year-old girl draws what looks like a murder and is too young to explain it.
EC: Sometimes children are not believed?
NF: Yes, they can be unreliable witnesses as they try to tell their mother something. Poppy, the daughter, cannot express in words so she tells Tess something is wrong with her behavior of clinginess, bed-wetting, acting out, and cussing. Three-year-old children are not articulate. They cannot describe what happened to them. Children think differently about the world.
EC: How would you describe Tess?
NF: Fragile, a single mother, at times over-protective, fearful, vulnerable, and anxious. As the story progresses, she becomes a mother who will do anything to save her child. Tess takes a journey and finds self-realization. She becomes strong and realizes her own self-worth. But she is put through hell and back.
EC: Tess cannot trust those in her life?
NF: We examine this theme in all our novels: how can someone know anyone completely since everybody has secrets.
EC: Should the detectives have investigated Poppy’s symptoms?
NF: Symptoms of abuse are like symptoms of trauma and distress. Tess is now in a world where nothing is clear. The detectives see this as a nontraditional investigation where there is no reliable witness and no crime committed. Look at it from the detectives’ point of view. All they had was a drawing of a three-year-old child.
EC: How would you describe Poppy?
NF: Before her trauma she is bright, connected, eager, energetic, with a rich imagination. She thinks the world is on her side. But then she becomes violent and aggressive and seems to have an intuitive sense that something is wrong.
EC: How would you describe Jason?
NF: He appears charming, likeable, and trustworthy. He is an alpha-male who is a strong authoritative figure and feels entitled. He does what he wants to do. He becomes more and more self-centered, impatient, a cheat, liar, and bully.
EC: How about Aiden, Tess’ current boyfriend?
NF: In many ways he is the opposite of Jason. Aiden is quieter, more introverted, geek-like, a listener, non-judgmental, and patient.
EC: What about the relationship between Tess and all the males in the story?
NF: They are all manipulative in their own way. Somehow their masculinity has gone awry. They use her vulnerability against her. She starts to feel she is surrounded by illusions and wonders who to trust.
EC: Poppy tells Tess she is dead?
NF: Poppy knows she saw something and is wondering if the future will be like the past. Poppy does not understand the difference between dying and being dead. She does not have a normal sense of cause and effect in the past and future.
EC: In some ways this plot reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window”?
NF: We are big Hitchcock fans. If we did it, we did not do it consciously. But we have seen that film many times. We understand how you could think it since both have someone seeing a crime and are not believed. We share with Hitchcock the real horror of relationships, especially between a man and a woman.
EC: Your next book?
NF: A young woman, a doctor, has her ex-boyfriend ask for a favor. Then things go very wrong. It will be out in October 2022 and is titled The Favor.
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 is my turn on the Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MURDER WORTH THE WEIGHT by D.M. Barr.
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 Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Whenever Terry Mangel’s body acceptance revival meeting rolls into town, local diet execs and “fat shamers” turn up dead, often in grotesque, ironic ways. All single murders in small suburbs, no one’s noticed a pattern, until rookie investigative reporter Camarin Torres takes a closer look.
Torres is a crusader against discrimination. She reluctantly accepts a job offered by handsome publisher Lyle Fletcher, a man with a vendetta, who sees the recent college grad as salvation for Trend, his fledgling fashion magazine. Torres, however, detests everything the publication stands for, and joins solely to transform its judgmental, objectifying content.
As an unexpected romance blossoms, the overconfident, justice-hungry reporter defies orders and infiltrates Mangel’s world, only to find herself in the crosshairs of a vigilante group targeting the $60 billion diet industry. To this vindictive mob, murder is definitely worth the weight. But as Torres soon learns, unmasking the killer may save her life but shatter her heart: every clue seems to implicate Fletcher, her mercurial mentor and lover, as the group’s mastermind.
MURDER WORTH THE WEIGHT by D. M. Barr is a thriller/mystery mash-up with a young female protagonist in her first journalism position after college on a crusade against discrimination. I am fast becoming of fan of D.M. Barr’s original characters and smart, witty dialogue. This is a standalone novel that I was sorry to see end.
Lyle Fletcher purchases a struggling gossip and style magazine and wants to take the magazine in another direction. He witnesses Camarin sticking up for another passenger being fat shamed at the train stop and is immediately taken with her and offers her a job. Camarin knows about Trend and does not want to work for them until Lyle tells her about his plans for change.
Camarin Torres lands the job of her dreams as an investigative journalist right out of college by standing up for a stranger. While she works to prove herself, she stumbles onto a pattern of murders of local “fat shamers” after Terry Mangel’s body acceptance revival rolls into each town. She is determined to uncover the truth, but the killer has other plans to eliminate Camarin’s threat and those she cares for.
I loved this story, and the way Ms. Barr handled the serious topic of body shaming in our culture. Camarin is a protagonist who is hard-working, intelligent, empathetic and flawed and all of these qualities make her quite memorable. The sub-plot romance with Lyle Fletcher was entertaining and very sexy, but I do wish the romance had not been with her boss. All the secondary characters are fully fleshed and believable. The plot starts out slowly setting up the murders and red herrings, but it continues to pick up speed and has two major twists before the conclusion.
This is an entertaining thriller/mystery mash-up with a memorable protagonist.
***
Excerpt
Chapter 1
Camarin Torres peered down the tracks again, as if repeated checking would cause her delayed train to magically appear. It was a warm April afternoon, but the unexpected heat did little to lift her spirits. She was heading back to her apartment after yet another unsuccessful interview. If this kept up, she’d be the only one of her NYU friends graduating next month without a job lined up. How ironic not to be able to afford the food she wouldn’t allow herself to eat anyway. She checked her watch a third time. The 5:03 from White Plains to Grand Central was already ten minutes late.
Camarin heard a voice a few feet behind her softly exclaim, “Dammit!” Curiosity aroused, she spied a girl in her late teens standing by the vending machine, fervently searching through her handbag.
Camarin stared, mesmerized by what could have been a mirror image of her late twin sister Monaeka. Long, dark hair partially obscured her tanned, pretty face, and despite the temperature, she’d draped her two-hundred-plus pound body in an oversized raincoat. But as Camarin well knew, yards of fabric didn’t really fool anyone. The girl hunched over slightly, a stance her sister Monaeka had perfected, a sign of deference to a world demanding an apology for violating their arbitrary standards.
Camarin felt a familiar tug of compassion as the girl plunked a few coins into the machine and then searched for more. Looking on, she debated the merits of acquiescing to her own desire for a late-afternoon sweet. What’s really the harm? Cam reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out three quarters, which she held out toward the stranger as she walked toward her.
“Want to share something?”
The girl tensed and gave her a quizzical look, but after a moment her shoulders relaxed. “That’s so nice of you. Thanks.”
Camarin winked and pushed the quarters into the machine. One click and clunk later, she retrieved their prize—a Kit Kat bar. One of Monaeka’s favorites. As she held it out to the girl, a slim, stylish woman clad in black came out of nowhere and snatched the chocolate bar right out of her hand.
“You don’t need it,” she said. “You’ll thank me later.”
The girl’s face turned bright red, but she said nothing, just watched in shock as the thief continued down the platform.
Camarin felt the blood rush to her temples. No matter how many years and miles she’d put between herself and her past, the critical voices kept seeking her out, today in the form of this interloper. Enough, she decided. She set down the briefcase containing her resume and clips and tore after the woman, grabbing her arm and pulling her around so they stood face-to-face.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Camarin yelled.
Heads turned. Conversations ceased.
“What’s it to you?” the offender shot back.
Camarin pointed at the girl, whose eyes were wide in disbelief. “That girl happens to be a friend of mine, so I’m asking a second time… what are you doing?”
“Saving her from herself, that’s what. Your friend is huge, and it’s unhealthy. If she can’t control herself, she needs others to do it for her.”
“Well, Miss High-and-Mighty, since you know everything about everyone, did you ever consider that my friend…Sabrina’s…size might have nothing to do with self-control? Could it be the result of…the lithium she takes to control her bipolar disorder? Are you a psychiatrist who has a better suggestion for more appropriate meds that don’t put on weight?”
“Well, no… no,” the woman stammered, as if the rush of passion suddenly drained from her, leaving her feeling exposed.
“You know what I think?”
The fat shamer glared back but remained silent, so Camarin summoned her courage and repeated herself, a few decibels louder. “I said, do you know what I think?”
“No. What?” The woman sneered.
“I think you should go over to Sabrina and apologize.”
“Apologize for helping her get thin?” Her voice dripped with indignation.
“No, apologize for sticking your big nose where it doesn’t belong,” interjected a young, beer-bellied man in overalls a few feet away. A Joe’s Plumbing patch was embroidered on his chest pocket.
“What exactly do we have to do to be accepted by you people? Why can’t you just leave us alone?” screamed a plump, older woman with perfectly coiffed hair and a fitted suit.
“Give her back the Kit Kat bar,” hollered a man clad in military garb, who then started chanting, “Kit Kat, Kit Kat, Kit Kat…” Others joined in, and the cacophony grew stronger.
“You may have grabbed a Kit Kat, but you ended up with Snickers,” said Cam with a smirk. “Maybe you want to just hand over the candy, so we can forget this whole ugly incident?”
The woman spat at the ground in front of Camarin and defiantly threw the chocolate bar on the tracks, eliciting loud boos from the small but agitated crowd. Then she ran down the platform, heading for the stairs that led to the parking lot.
“Good riddance,” the plumber called after her.
Camarin stood for a moment, shaking from the encounter. Then she returned to the now teary-eyed girl. “Sorry I made you bipolar,” she whispered. “I needed to make a point, and it was all I could come up with on the spur of the moment. Hi, I’m Camarin.”
“I’m Lexie,” the girl said. “No one has ever stood up for me before. Thank you.”
“Hey, I know what it’s like. I used to deal with jerks like that all the time.”
The plumber pushed a run of quarters into the vending machine and took out two Kit Kat bars, handing one to each of the women. Others on the platform clapped and cheered. The sound was slowly drowned out by the roar of the oncoming 5:03 PM train.
As the doors opened, Camarin noticed Lexie and the plumber now chatting animatedly. Not wishing to intrude, she entered the next car over. It was practically empty, not unusual considering most people were traveling in the opposite direction at this hour. A perfect opportunity to relax after an upsetting confrontation. Perhaps savor that chocolate bar. She could always purge later.
Given the plethora of unoccupied seats, she was surprised when a handsome man in an expensive-looking suit asked if the spot beside her was taken. She guessed he was in his early forties, since his face was too young for the silver in his hair and beard. He spoke with a confidence so lacking in her gawky college-boy contemporaries. She felt a shiver as the silk of his sleeve touched her bare arm as he settled in.
She wondered what clever icebreaker she could use to engage her attractive new neighbor in conversation. Nice weather, huh? would be too lame. Seconds passed. Other passengers shuffled by. Soon, the moment would be lost.
Then, to her delight, he leaned in covertly, as if sharing a private confidence. “Nice going. You’d never seen that girl before in your life, had you?”
She pulled back and studied his expression. Affable or accusatory? His smile assured her of his friendly intentions.
“What gave me away?”
“Nothing. Just a hunch. One you just confirmed.”
Camarin twisted her mouth, irked at having been so easily played.
“Do you always go around tricking strangers into confessing their secrets?” she asked.
“Probably as often as you go around defending the underdog.” The man winked. “Nothing to be ashamed of though. Quite the opposite. As I think you’ve already figured out, life is just a series of bluffs.”
Camarin considered the comment as the train rumbled along the tracks toward Scarsdale.
“And do you bluff much?”
“Funny you should ask. These days, it’s all I do.”
Grateful for such a provocative opening, she pressed forward. “That sounds intriguing. Care to elaborate?”
“Thought you’d never ask,” he said with a smile. “Up until a few years ago, I’d spent my entire career practicing law. Then my circumstances and interests changed, and I decided to become a redeemer of lost causes. I just purchased a failing magazine, which I intend to make profitable again. If that’s not the bluff of the century, I don’t know what is.”
Elegant and he owns a magazine? Camarin’s heart skipped a beat.
“That’s such a coincidence. I’m just coming from an interview with a magazine.”
“Some might call it a coincidence. I call it kismet,” the man said as he held out his hand. “Lyle Fletcher, fledgling publisher.”
Chapter 2
As the train rolled down the tracks toward Manhattan, Camarin sensed her future suddenly lurching ahead as well. “Camarin Torres, journalism and prelaw major. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
She reached out to shake his hand, eager to see if his grip would be as firm as she imagined, but the conductor interrupted, asking to punch their tickets. There was no way to try again without looking awkward, so she swallowed her disappointment and returned her hand to her side.
Fletcher broke the pregnant pause. “So, there must be many professions out there for someone as bold and beautiful as you. Why journalism and law?”
Camarin’s face grew warm. Had anyone else handed her that line, she would have regarded it as a come-on. But he seemed sincere, so she felt comfortable opening up. “All my life I’ve seen bullying and discrimination. As a child, I felt helpless to stop it. But as an adult, I can make a difference.”
“Bullying because of your ethnicity? You’re… ”
“My mother’s side of the family comes from Guam. But no, fortunately, I’ve encountered very little bias because of my roots. Maybe it’s because we live just outside Los Angeles, where I’m part of a large Chamorro community who share an intense sense of cultural pride. In fact, I think my background may have worked in my favor, that push for diversity in colleges and all.”
“So, discriminated against as a woman?”
“No again,” she said, reluctant to share too much of her past with a stranger, no matter how charming. “Let’s just say I’ve seen how cruel people can be to those who don’t quite fit in, no matter how hard they try. I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else ever again.”
“You’re going to personally end intolerance?” Fletcher seemed both dubious and amused.
“Well, at least make a sizeable dent in it,” she said with a smile. It wasn’t the first time that people had appeared incredulous at her idealism. “You’re speaking to the world’s first female Chamorro anti-discrimination crusader. After graduation anyway. And eventually law school, when I can afford it.”
“Lofty ambitions. You’ll need them in a world that doesn’t always cooperate with people’s dreams. Again, I’m impressed.”
“Thank you,” she said, her face growing even hotter. A charismatic publisher thought she was impressive. A once-disappointing day was rapidly metamorphosing into something magical, like a child’s giant, colorful carnival balloon.
“Have you interviewed at my magazine, Trend?”
Pop! Camarin did her best not to cringe with contempt. Trend represented everything in the world she’d come to hate: the brainwashing of women to fit into narrow, permissible roles dictated by fashion designers and greedy advertisers. And this man, appealing or not, was one of their leaders. Camarin paused, trying to formulate a polite and diplomatic response.
“You have heard of it, right?”
“Yes, of course. But no, I didn’t interview there. No offense, but as you said, it’s failing. As a matter of fact, I turned down an unsolicited offer from one of your competitors, Drift. I’m just interested in more…serious publications.”
“No offense taken,” he said with a grin. “I realize that up to now Trend has just covered style and gossip—total fluff. That’s what I’m planning to change. In your words, go in a more serious direction.”
She wondered if the comment was authentic or if he was just another jerk and this was an excuse that allowed him to live with himself. They remained quiet for a bit, and then curiosity got the better of her.
“I didn’t realize Trend is based in Westchester.”
Fletcher’s face clouded over. “No, it’s in Manhattan. I was out here today because…my late wife owned a condo in White Plains that we’d been renting out. I was just meeting with the real estate agent I might hire to sell it for me.”
Cam looked down at her pumps, annoyed at herself for bringing up such a sensitive subject. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Of my wife or the condo?”
She glanced back, astonished. He started to laugh, and she felt the earlier harshness of her judgment soften by a smidgen. He really was quite charming—for a body shamer.
“Are you ever serious?” she asked.
“Oh, when I am, you’ll definitely know it. Like now. How many years of college do you have left?”
His tone switched from whimsical to all business, and something about the way he commanded control sent a shiver up her spine. Hot as hell. Dammit. “About a month. Then I’m done.”
The conductor announced that they would soon be arriving at Grand Central Station, their final destination, and the windows grew dark as they entered the tunnel.
He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a business card. It read Trend Magazine, with a fashionable NoHo address, close to her own apartment.
She held up her hand. “That’s kind of you, but I really don’t think—”
“Hey, I can see you’re not enamored with our current format. Nevertheless, I’d still like you to come in, show us your work. Allow us to describe the magazine’s revamped editorial direction. I think it may surprise you. I can use someone with your guts and ambition to develop our investigative-reporting beat. That is, if you have any interest.”
She took the card, slipping it into her jacket pocket. “If you’re really serious about moving away from your current focus, I’ll try to keep an open mind.” After all, a job was a job, and up to now, no one else but Drift had made an offer.
“Call tomorrow and speak to Rachel. She’ll set everything up. You’re going to be a superstar. Of that, I’m already certain.” He reached out to shake her hand. It felt as forceful as Camarin had imagined earlier. She didn’t try to read anything into the almost imperceptible squeeze he added at the end. Until proven otherwise, he was still the enemy.
As he rose and headed for the exit, she waited a few beats longer before also joining the crowd jostling toward the platform. By the stairs a newsstand featured the latest issue of Trend. Hating herself, she slapped down her $3.50 for a copy. Magazines like this were part of what had driven her sister over the edge, but she needed to see if there was anything redeemable within its pages. The jury was still out until Lyle Fletcher had proven himself a reformer, and not an enabler.
***
Author Bio
By day, a mild-mannered salesperson, wife, mother, rescuer of senior shelter dogs, competitive trivia player and author groupie, happily living just north of New York City. By night, an author of sex, suspense and satire. My background includes stints in travel marketing, travel journalism, meeting planning, public relations and real estate. I was, for a long and happy time, an award-winning magazine writer and editor. Then kids happened. And I needed to actually make money. Now they’re off doing whatever it is they do (of which I have no idea since they won’t friend me on Facebook) and I can spend my spare time weaving tales of debauchery and whatever else tickles my fancy. The main thing to remember about my work is that I am NOT one of my characters. For example, unlike as a real estate broker, I’ve never played Bondage Bingo in one of my empty listings. As a yo-yo dieter, I’ve never offed anyone at my local diet clinic. While I’m a bit paranoid, I’ve never suspected my husband of wanting to murder me for my inheritance. Well, that’s not entirely true, but let’s go with that for now. And while I’ve volunteered at senior centers, I’ve never mastered the hula hoop. But that’s not to say I haven’t wanted to…
