I am very excited to once again be on a Blog Tour for A Jordan Reed Mystery. Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for LAKE EFFECT (A Jordan Reed Mystery Book #2) by K. C. Gillis. I loved this adventure with Jordan even more than the first!
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
Mysterious marina accidents. Destroyed evidence. Can a tenacious reporter decipher the twisted clues at a small-town lake?
Jordan Reed is burned out from all the attention on her previous high-profile story. But when a new lead lands in her lap, she reluctantly postpones her vacation to investigate a classic New England marina. With hundreds of dead fish washing up on Copper Lake’s otherwise pristine shores, Jordan suspects a sinister cover-up.
But by the time she arrives on the scene, she’s surprised to discover the police chief eliminated every last carcass and seems hellbent on blocking her inquiries. And her search for the culprit takes a perilous turn when gambling kingpins descend on the city and a string of unexplained calamities plague the docks.
Can Jordan expose the corruption, or will she be the next to go belly-up?
Lake Effect is the second book in the fast-paced Jordan Reed mystery series. If you like steely female sleuths, gripping action, and clever twists that’ll keep you guessing, then you’ll love K.C. Gillis’s page-turning mystery.
Buy Lake Effect to dive into dangerous waters today!
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
LAKE EFFECT (A Jordan Reed Mystery Book #2) by K.C. Gillis is a mystery/thriller mash-up featuring journalist Jordan Reed. I have been looking forward to this addition to the series and I was not disappointed. This is the second book in the series, but it is easily read as a standalone.
Jordan Reed is tired of her celebrity status since her last adventure. All she wants is her much needed week of vacation, but her best-friend Travis asks her to check out an unusual occurrence at a friend’s family marina. East Bay Marina is a small oasis on beautiful Copper Lake in New England. One day hundreds of dead fish wash up on shore. The fish do not look normal and Jordan drops any plans of a relaxing week to investigate.
Jordan uses the location to spend some time with her sister and asks for Travis’ technical help once again. When she arrives at the marina, the fish have disappeared and she is warned by the local police chief to mind her own business. Luckily one of the marina workers, who just happened to be the chief’s son saved a fish that Jordan was able to deliver to Charlie Choi, her friend at the CDC for analysis.
Besides the troubling secrets surrounding the dead fish, there are multiple unexplained accidents occurring on the docks. An attorney for a state Senator and a fixer for a mob boss all descend on the marina. Is all of this tied together or are they separate players involved in multiple plots? Will Jordan be able to uncover all the plots and plans or will she learn too much to walk away?
I loved this adventure with Jordan even more than the first. Mr. Gillis was able to intertwine two fast-paced, unfolding conspiracies. While Jordan worked on discovering the two separate plotlines, I was impressed that even though they had separate motives, they had the same goal. I felt Jordan was more realistically portrayed as a dogged journalist in this story than the first. All of Jordan’s friends and all of the secondary characters, good and bad were fully fleshed and well written.
Jordan and Travis are great together and I am looking forward to seeing what they get up to in the future. I can recommend this book and look forward to many more in this series.
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About the Author
K.C. (Kevin) Gillis is the author of the Jordan Reed mystery series. Despite being a lifelong lover of stories and books, writing took a distant back seat as his professional career travelled through the Canadian Air Force, a decade as a chemist, followed by a long and continuing run in corporate America. With writing no longer in the back seat (but not quite yet in the front seat), Kevin how has the Jordan Reed series well under way. His personal interests focus on endurance and water sports. Having grown up in the Canadian Maritimes, he now lives in the US northeast with his wife, teenagers and a pair of black cats.
Today is my turn on the Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour for the first book in this new suspense/thriller saga – THE PINEBOX VENDETTA (Pruitt-Gallagher Saga Book #1) by Jeff Bond. This is a political “Hatfield vs. McCoy” thriller with hidden agendas, dirty tricks and memorable but not so nice characters.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book an about the author section and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
From the author of The Winner Maker and Blackquest 40 comes The Pinebox Vendetta: a genre-bending thriller that combines a love story, cold-case murder mystery, and political blood feud – told over the course of a single breathless weekend.
The Gallaghers and Pruitts have dominated the American political landscape dating back to Revolutionary times. The Yale University class of 1996 had one of each, and as the twenty-year reunion approaches, the families are on a collision course.
Owen Gallagher is coasting to the Democratic nomination for president.
Rock Pruitt – the brash maverick whose career was derailed two decades ago by his association to a tragic death – is back, ready to reclaim the mantle of clan leader.
And fatefully in between lies Samantha Lessing. Sam arrives at reunion weekend lugging a rotten marriage, dumb hope, and a portable audio recorder she’ll use for a public radio-style documentary on the Pruitt-Gallagher rivalry – widely known as the pinebox vendetta. What Sam uncovers will thrust her into the middle of the ancient feud, upending presidential politics and changing the trajectory of one clan forever.
The Pinebox Vendetta is the first entry in the Pruitt-Gallagher saga: a series that promises cutthroat plots, power grabs, and unforgettable characters stretched to their very limits by the same ideological forces that roil America today.
Genre: Thriller Published by: Jeff Bond Books Publication Date: February 19th 2020 Number of Pages: 264 ISBN: 1732255253 (ISBN13: 9781732255258) Series: Pruitt-Gallagher Saga, #1 Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
THE PINEBOX VENDETTA (Pruitt-Gallagher Saga Book #1) by Jeff Bond is the start of a new thriller series. This is a political “Hatfield vs. McCoy” thriller with hidden agendas, dirty tricks and memorable but not so nice characters.
The Pruitts and Gallaghers have battled for political dominance since the Revolutionary War.
Rock Pruitt left Yale under suspicion of murdering his roommate and even as his powerful family helped him then, they never publicly backed him in his future to claim political power.
Jamie Gallagher was an idealist who left Yale and joined the Peace Corp in Africa. Everyone believes he died assassinating an evil warlord.
Yale University class of 1996 is gathered for the weekend for their twenty-year class reunion. Samantha Lessing is attending with her teenage daughter. She wants her to love Yale as much as she did when she attended. Sam has come with an agenda though besides seeing old friends. She wants to interview her classmates about the Pruitt-Gallagher rivalry, also known as the pinebox vendetta to use as a radio-style documentary for her work.
This reunion weekend once again brings all the families together. Secrets will be uncovered, plots revealed and the vendetta continues on.
At the beginning I was not sure where this story was going. It has a time and scene jumping start that had me confused at first, but once the reunion starts and the characters get sorted, the plot started to intrigue me and then I could not put it down. The author’s writing style is lean and the plot moves quickly. I was not very happy when the book ended, but I did feel the author did not cheat and leave a cliffhanger because he did reveal the solution of the mystery from twenty-years-ago before the ending.
Samantha started out so beaten down and stagnant in her life and marriage, but in just this weekend she takes control of her life and I loved her life decisions at the end. All of the Pruitts and Gallaghers are twisted, corrupt, manipulative and just plain unlikable, but they were also memorable and sadly realistic.
This is a unique thriller and even though I did not like the main characters, I do want to continue reading more of this saga to find out what else Mr. Bond has planned for them.
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Excerpt
The meeting was to take place twenty minutes after sunrise. Jamie woke, having finally fallen asleep around four a.m., to the Somalis chatting in their native tongue over pieces of flatbread. He dragged himself aboveboard, feeling at once languid and jittery.
“Bread?” Abdi offered, tearing a piece from a slab.
“Thanks, no.” Jamie reached into his rucksack instead for a piece of biltong, the wildebeest jerky he’d grown fond of. “Has the general been about?”
“Yes, Josef saw him. The hat.” Abdi made a sifting gesture above his head to indicate the general’s beret.
The day was already scorching, the sky’s blue brilliance broken only by the boiling disk of the sun. The general’s yacht rocked softly in the west, appearing quite large now, its bow sleek and spear-like.
“They’re within gun range,” Jamie observed.
“Oh yes. We are in their scopes.”
As if to prove the point, Abdi raised a hand in the yacht’s direction and laughed. Nobody joined him.
The pirate named Josef, taller and broader in the chest than Abdi, loaded the ten-million-dollar briefcase into the first of three skiffs. Jamie stepped in after, fitting his rucksack into the hull—careful of the Akpeteshie inside—and tying back his hair.
Abdi took a minute instructing the two men staying back on the mothership. Was he arranging a distress signal? Telling them what to do if shots were fired?
Coordinating a double-cross?
There was no use worrying. Jamie had placed himself between dangerous people, but dangerous people performed the same calculations benign ones did. The pirates would keep up their end so long as the benefits remained clear: not only cash, but stronger ties with the general and the establishment of a new back-channel to the powerful Gallaghers.
The skiff loaded, Adbi yanked the outboard motor’s cord. The engine sputtered alive and settled to a rumbling purr. Josef untied them, flashing a grim thumbs-up to the men staying behind.
They charted a course for the general’s yacht. The sea felt choppier on the smaller craft, which didn’t bother Jamie—a lifelong boater and varsity swimmer in college—but did compel him to pull the rucksack protectively into his lap. If the Akpeteshie somehow ruptured against the hull, the mission would be lost.
As they neared the general’s yacht, the faces of his guards became visible—wary, textured faces. The carry-straps of AK-47s sawed their necks.
Abdi cut the motor and drifted in.
A section of railing was unclipped, and a ramp extended from the yacht’s stern. After helping Josef tie up, Jamie slipped the rucksack onto his back and boarded. The Somalis trailed him with the briefcase.
“Halkan, ku siin!” said one of the general’s men.
Abdi shook his head forcefully at the request—to hand over the briefcase. The guards backpedaled, their formation hemming Jamie and the pirates into a corner of the aft deck. Abdi and Josef walked with their bodies shielding the case as if it contained plutonium.
With these uneasy field positions established, the general’s men conferred briefly and parted to form an aisle to the pilothouse. General Mahad emerged.
The general wore his full dress uniform: navy blue, epaulets, ribboned medals. He lumbered forward with a mild limp, said to have originated during the Simba rebellion of 1964.
He raised his chin to Abdi, then spoke to Jamie. “Welcome to the one and true seat of Puntland, Mr. Gallagher.”
Jamie felt the man’s deep, scarred voice in his bowels. “That’s none of my concern. I’m here for Renée.”
The general smiled, his lips fat and sly. “How fortunate she is. You are the white knight, eh? Sir Jamie?”
The characterization stung, but Jamie pushed on. “I’ve been in touch with Humanitarian Dialogue—their helicopter is ready. Give me a latitude and longitude for the exchange and let’s get this over.”
“Your friends have the money?”
Every eye on the yacht turned to Abdi, whose knuckles tightened on the briefcase handle.
“Ten million,” Jamie said. “Count it if you like.”
The general crooked a finger at one of his men, who disappeared to the pilothouse. The man returned with a machine resembling a fax with bill-sized trays.
Abdi stepped forward with the briefcase. The man with the counting machine passed a handheld X-ray scanner around the case and swabbed a cloth along each edge.
He started for the pilothouse with the cloth, likely to perform a residue test for explosives, but the general stopped him. Then gestured for Abdi to go ahead.
When Abdi undid the clasp, the lip snapped open—ten million was a squeeze, even with an oversize case—and a few packets spilled out.
The counting began.
Now Jamie reached into his rucksack for the Akpeteshie.
“I’ve heard tell around campfires,” he began, gathering himself, “that you enjoy a certain Ghanaian beverage.”
The general grinned when he saw the bottle, squat, the neck’s glass bowed in the distinctive shape of a baobab tree.
“This is true.”
“Shall we drink together?” Jamie said. “It’s early, but I find a day started well nearly always ends well.”
The general palmed his jaw. There was a risk he would set the gift aside, but Jamie was counting on this subtle challenge to his manhood—in front of his crew, in front of Abdi and Josef. People like the general didn’t back down from such dares.
Jamie thought of his old classmate Rock Pruitt who’d downed a fifth of whiskey disproving a frat brother’s claim that prep-schoolers only drank martinis and smoked reefer.
“I would quite enjoy that,” the general said. “After the bottle is checked.”
Jamie raised a shoulder, feigning indifference as two men seized the Akpeteshie and held it sideways up to the sun, testing its feel in their hands, poking fingernails along the dripped-wax seal.
They would find nothing. Jamie’s sister Charlotte Gallagher, founder of internet-of-things giant SmartWidget and the eighteenth-richest person in the world, owned 45 percent of the local distillery that produced Akpeteshie. She had allowed Jamie to follow this lone bottle through the factory. At the final step, just before corking, he’d poured out 150 milliliters of liquor and replaced it with an equal amount of king cobra venom.
For fifteen months, Jamie had been inoculating himself with increasingly larger doses of the venom. He had started, after discussing the strategy at length with a Sudanese shaman, with a pinprick diluted in a pint of water. Last week, he had managed eight milliliters of venom—the amount a shot from the spiked Akpeteshie would deliver, depending on the pour—and suffered only dizziness, blurred vision, and severe cottonmouth.
When his men were satisfied the bottle was unaltered, the general took a pair of tumblers from the yacht’s fiberglass sideboard.
Tumblers, not shot glasses. Eight ounces at least.
“To finding a middle, eh?” The general poured each tumbler to the brim. “Two parties can start from opposite ends and, with good sense, find a common understanding.”
Jamie’s teeth pulverized each other in the back of his mouth. He’d always found the rhetoric of compromise disingenuous, whether it came from television pundits or the North Carolina Gallaghers exhorting the clan to give ground at the fringes of the abortion debate.
To hear it from the mouth of a man like Mahad? Revolting.
“To the middle,” he spat.
He raised the tumbler to his lips. Calculations whipped around his brain. Eight ounces divided by one point five…
Equaled six times the amount of venom his body had previously endured.
The liquid was amber, almost orange. As the glass tilted, Jamie imagined he saw currents of venom slithering among the palm wine. His fingers trembled. Some sloshed over the side, but not nearly enough.
In his periphery, Jamie became aware of Abdi and Josef arguing with the general’s men. Abdi slapped one empty well of the briefcase. The general’s men shouted. More rushed to the deck from below board.
The general balked at Jamie’s tone. “You do not like my toast. That is your right. You are the guest, so make your own.” He smirked about. “We are democratic here, aren’t we?”
Jamie ignored the low hoots. “To justice.” He regripped his tumbler. “To justice, and fair treatment for all living things.”
The general guffawed, big and toothy. “For ten million, yes. Why in hell not?”
Their eyes locked over the tumblers’ rims. Jamie perceived something in the man’s look, some hustler’s instinct, and knew if he faltered now—even for a moment—the trap would be blown.
Jamie stared into the lethal brew, waited for bright madness to rise, and drank. The Akpeteshie burned his throat. His jaw felt weak and daggers pressed into his eardrums from inside. Still, he kept his head tipped back and drank it all.
The general and several of his men goggled at the feat. When their eyes turned to him, the war criminal downed his, too.
“…no, the release!” Jamie heard behind him. “No money before release!”
“We will keep it.”
“No, us! We will hold the money.”
A guard wearing ripped denim leveled his rifle at Abdi. Josef stepped forward to push aside the muzzle. Another guard drove the butt of his rifle into Josef’s back, crumpling the pirate.
Jamie didn’t know how long he and the general had. During his inoculation, the symptoms would begin in about a minute, but he’d never ingested this large a dose.
His heartrate zoomed and breath pumped through his chest like air from a bellows—still, this could be the effects of anticipation.
“So, um…the release,” he said, feeling a vague duty toward Abdi. “If you…so I’ll call HD and be sure Renée, er…s’all okay with the money…”
Words were deserting him. The scuffle on deck was intensifying. Josef had recovered to pounce on the man in denim. Abdi was buried in a furious tangle of fists and churning hips.
Jamie didn’t understand the fight. Let them have the money—who cared?
He began to feel disconnected from his body, Abdi and Josef blending into other people he’d known in life, Gallaghers and Pruitts, senators and reporters, grad students and business titans, all fighting without reason, finding joy and enemies, grinding their life into the larger sausage.
The general unleashed a thunderous whistle and raised his hand for calm. The struggle paused. Every eye turned his way. He began to lower his hand but suddenly couldn’t.
His arm convulsed and became some bucking stick-animal beyond his control. His fingers twitched unnaturally. He grasped his throat, staggering back. Froth bubbled in his nostrils.
The man who’d retrieved the money scale from the pilothouse pointed at Jamie.
“What is this?”
Jamie tried answering, but his tongue would not obey, dead and heavy in his mouth. Pain gored his brain. Sweat screamed from his pores, a thousand beads altogether.
This wasn’t the outcome Jamie had wanted, but neither was it wholly unexpected. He thought now of life’s best moments. In Burundi, feeling that boy’s skeletal hand squeeze as he sucked a tab of enriched peanut butter. On the vineyard, fourteen years old, swinging his cousins round and round in celebration after his mother—the senior senator from Connecticut and Democratic National Committee chairperson—had succeeded in her long-shot campaign to retake majority control of the Senate.
Above all, though, he remembered kissing Sam. Seniors on their last night at Yale, about to go conquer the world, standing together in an entryway. Emotions spiked to the heavens. Their mouths came together in the gentlest, deepest touch he’d known before or since.
Samantha Lessing. God, she was it. The life he missed.
Half the general’s men were swarming the Somali pirates while the other half moved on Jamie. There was a gap between the two, but it was closing.
Jamie willed his tongue back into service.
“This was right,” he croaked. “Here, today. This was not a waste.”
And he believed this—dashing across the deck through grasping hands, over the gunwale, into the black ocean.
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About the Author
Jeff Bond is an American author of popular fiction. He lives in Michigan with his wife and two daughters, and belongs to the International Thriller Writers association.
Today I am very excited to share my Feature Post and Book Review for S.J. Grey’s TO CATCH A RAT (Darknet Series Book #1). This is the start of a new techno-thriller series that had me on the edge-of-my-seat from the start!
Below you will find a note from the author, a book blurb, my book review, an excerpt from the book and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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A Note From The Author
It was eighteen months ago when my husband told me about a weird and unsettling post on our local Neighbourly forum. A woman had posted that she felt unsafe in her home, that she was being watched, and listened to. She wanted recommendations for a good private investigator. This, I might add, was in suburban New Zealand, not the centre of London. It got me thinking. Was she paranoid? Or was she genuinely being spied upon—and why?
Tangents like these sit at the back of my brain for days or even weeks, fermenting into a fully-fledged plotline.
I was also playing around with the idea of a thriller series that would centre around the Dark Web, and the two ideas merged. The result is the Darknet series.
It’s part psychological suspense, part techno-thriller, part crime, part mystery. Whatever category you want to place it in, the early reviewers are loving it, and that’s good enough for me.
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Book Blurb
She said she was being spied on. No one believed her. Now, she’s dead.
Emma’s best friend Joss had a wild story to tell. She’d been hacked. She was being watched. She was in danger. No one believed her. Not even Emma.
Now she’s dead. The police write it off as accidental death, but Emma’s not so sure.
The more she learns, the deeper she’s drawn into a web of deceit and dark motives. Turns out Joss’s brother developed a revolutionary dark web application, one that people will kill to get their hands on. He’s now in jail on a dodgy manslaughter charge. And then there’s Emma’s boyfriend, who she discovers is lying about his identity.
Now Emma’s the one in danger, and she’s not sure who will believe her or who she can trust. Joss’s murder was only the start.
TO CATCH A RAT (Darknet Series Book #1) by S.J. Grey is the start of a new techno-thriller series that took off like a shot and had me engaged from the start. This thriller, even though it is based around computer hackers, the darknet and spies, is full of action and easy to read.
Emma’s best friend from childhood, Joss shows up on her doorstep talking about be spied on and followed. She begs Emma before she runs away if anything happens to her to please take care of her and her brother’s cat. Emma finds her fears difficult believe so after work she goes to check on her friend and finds her dead.
Emma gets drawn into nightmare of lies and deceit. Joss’ twin brother, Caleb escapes from prison where he has been set-up on a charge of manslaughter and he swears he is innocent, but can Emma trust he has not changed? He believes Joss was killed for a software program he wrote before prison and he wants to find her killer.
Emma also discovers her boyfriend, Mark has been lying to her about his identity and he has plans for Caleb. Can Emma and Caleb trust him? Who is he working for?
This story pulls you in right from the start with fast and furious action and hidden agendas. You never know who to believe, good or bad. I was surprised that I could be so engrossed in a techno-thriller. I was afraid it would be too jargon centric, but the few things I did not know were explained easily without interrupting the flow of the story. This book is set in New Zealand which was unique for me.
I loved Emma’s ability to overcome her fears and doubts to continually come through for those around her. I did have some difficulty accepting how many times Emma trusted Mark in spite of all of his lies. Emma’s parents were original and entertaining in their responses to her problems. I am looking forward to following all these characters into future books in this series.
I recommend this fast-paced new techno-thriller and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the Darknet series, #Red Team Attack.
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Excerpt
“What’s that?” Emma wasn’t sure if she spoke aloud, until Mark answered.
“What? Where?”
“There.” She pointed.
Adrenaline lent her speed, and she ran, her pumps slip-slopping on the wet grass. It had rained all day. The river roared, the water level high. She might be mistaken. It might be a plastic bag, caught on the rocks. Or a piece of clothing.
Mark caught up a few steps later. “Fuck,” he said, his voice harsh. He skidded to a halt and grabbed Emma. “Stop. Stop.”
She struggled against him. They were close enough to see it—a person, face down in the water.
“It might be Joss. We need to help her.” She had to force the words out. Her lungs were rasping.
“I’ll go.” His grip tightened. “Wait here. Here. Okay?”
“Hurry.”
He nodded, then strode to the river’s edge and bent over, as though checking the depth. Next thing, he sat on the bank and dropped into the water. It came to his middle. Not deep enough to drown in. Not for Joss. Like Caleb, she was a strong swimmer and always had been. Maybe it was someone else. An unlucky walker, swept down from the hills.
Emma clutching at straws. She couldn’t stand and watch. She crept to the bank, ready to help Mark climb out. Fear was now a drumbeat in her blood, booming in her ears.
He hauled at the body, rolling it over in the water.
Christ. It was Joss. Seeing her face, eyes wide open, was shocking. Nausea rose in Emma’s throat, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
Mark held his fingers against Joss’s throat. “I’m sorry,” he said. “She’s gone. There’s no pulse.” With Joss in his arms, he made his way to the edge, where he laid her with care on the grass, before hauling himself out.
For some reason, Emma sat on her ass. She didn’t recall doing that. Or maybe her knees gave way.
She gazed at her one-time friend. No words would come.
“Looks like her jeans snagged on something,” said Mark.
Tears pressed against the backs of Emma’s eyes, but she was frozen. “How did this happen?”
Mark crouched beside Joss, his forehead creased in a frown. “There’s a bump on her forehead, but she might have hit the rocks when she went into the water.” He looked up at Emma. “Fuck, Em. I’m sorry. She was your friend.” He straightened. “At last. The police are here. You going to come with me, to tell them?”
That meant standing up and walking and talking, none of which Emma was ready for. “I’ll wait with her.”
“I’ll be right back.” Mark jogged toward the cops.
She was alone, with what was left of Jocelyn. Emma shuffled across the grass, to sit beside her friend. It was freaking her out, the way Joss stared up at the sky with those sightless eyes. Who would tell Caleb? He’d be devastated; the last of his family was gone.
It was up to Emma to tell the police what Joss had been saying. Someone had to speak up for her, now she couldn’t do it herself.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’ll find out what happened, I promise.”
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Author Bio
SJ Grey is the author of the Darknet suspense series. She studied at Manchester University, graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, and has worked in IT for over twenty years, before settling in New Zealand. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her with her nose in a book and a coffee at her side. She’s also written a number of romantic suspense novels under a different name, before returning to her first love – high tech thrillers.
Music is interwoven so tightly into my writing that I can’t untangle the two. Either I’m listening to a playlist on my iPod, have music seeping from my laptop speakers, or there’s a song playing in my head – sometimes on auto-repeat.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SALVATION STATION by Kathryn Schleich. I loved this chase for a heinous female serial killer and I was surprised to learn this is the author’s first novel.
Below you will find a book synopsis, my book review and the author’s bio. Enjoy!
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Book Synopsis
When committed female police captain Linda Turner, haunted by the murders of two small children and their pastor father, becomes obsessed with solving the harrowing case, she finds herself wrapped up in a mission to expose a fraudulent religious organization and an unrepentant killer.
Despite her years of experience investigating homicides for the force, Captain Linda Turner is haunted by the murders of the Hansen family. The two small children, clothed in tattered Disney pajamas, were buried with their father, a pastor, in the flower garden behind a church parsonage in Lincoln, Nebraska. But Mrs. Hansen is nowhere to be found—and neither is the killer.
In St. Louis, the televangelist Ray Williams is about to lose his show—until one of his regular attendees approaches him with an idea that will help him save it. Despite his initial misgivings, Ray agrees to give it a try. He can’t deny his attraction to this woman, and besides, she’d assured him the plan is just—God gave her the instructions in a dream.
Multiple story lines entwine throughout this compelling mystery, delving into the topics of murder, religious faith, and the inherent dangers in blindly accepting faith as truth. While Reverend Williams is swept up in his newfound success and plans for his wedding, Captain Turner can only hope that she and her team will catch the Hansens’ cunning killer—before more bodies surface.
“Salvation Station is your next must-read mystery. Kathryn Schleich perfectly blends together a taut tale of murder in the church. A devilishly good tale.”—CARA LOCKWOOD, USA Today best-selling author of I Do (But I Don’t)
“Salvation Station is an edge-of-your-seat, page-turning thriller that might possibly leave you unable to sleep. This book is what we need in the world right now—a killer we can hate and a model cop we can get behind, showing us that women are as fierce as men and then some.”—MARGO DILL, Managing Editor, WOW! Women On Writing
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
SALVATION STATION by Kathryn Schleich is a debut police procedural suspense/thriller by a new to me author. It is an intense story revolving around a dogged police captain searching for a heinous female serial killer who preys on widowed preachers and their flocks.
I was surprised when I found out this is the author’s first novel. The intertwining plots of the police investigation lead by Captain Turner and the crimes and manipulations of Susannah Baker as she works her way into a new preacher’s life and televangelist show are well paced, compelling and realistic. The author was able to both move the plot along at a good pace and yet depict that this case took many months to solve.
Linda Turner is a police Captain that the author brought to life with her dogged pursuit of justice for Rev. Hanson and his two children. Susannah Baker is a serial killer who is a master manipulator with no conscious, but the author does give her a background that shows that she could have chosen a different path. Her only love is money and self-preservation. All the secondary characters were realistic and fully fleshed.
Religion plays a big part in this suspense/thriller, but not like you would find in a Christian themed book. Both Linda and Malachi state their suspicion of organized religion after years of being investigators and seeing the worst in people. The killer uses religion and peoples’ blind faith to manipulate and steal from them. Then you have the preachers who all truly believe and they only see the good and a second chance for happiness with the supposedly god fearing Susannah. I thought the author did a well-balanced depiction of good vs. evil with religion being used as both.
I can highly recommend this suspense/thriller!
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Author Bio
Kathryn Schleich has been a writer for thirty years. Her most recent publications include the short story “Reckless Acts,” featured in After Effects: A Zimbell House Anthology, and her story “Grand Slam,” published in The Acentos Review in May 2017. She is the author of two editions of the book Hollywood and Catholic Women: Virgins, Whores, Mothers, and Other Images, which evolved from her master’s thesis. Her guest posts have been featured on the Women On Writing blog, The Muffin, and she writes for the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation’s volunteer newsletter.
When she’s not writing, Schleich is likely volunteering in the education and arts communities in the Twin Cities, where she lives. Friends, family, good food, wine, and traveling are important aspects of her life. Salvation Station is her first novel and will be available in April 2020.
Today is my turn on this Partners In Crime Blog Tour. I am excited to share my Feature Post and Book Review for FLIGHT RISK by Cara C. Putman. I could not put this romantic suspense down!
Below you will find a book synopsis, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Good luck and enjoy!
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Book Synopsis
Bestselling author Cara Putman returns with a romantic legal thriller that will challenge the assumptions of truth tellers everywhere.
Savannah Daniels has worked hard to build her law practice, to surround herself with good friends, and to be the loyal aunt her troubled niece can always count on. But since her ex-husband’s betrayal, she has trouble trusting anyone.
Jett Glover’s father committed suicide over a false newspaper report that ruined his reputation. Now a fierce champion of truth, Jett is writing the story of his journalism career—an international sex-trafficking exposé that will bring down a celebrity baseball player and the men closest to him, including Savannah’s ex-husband.
When Jett’s story breaks, tragedy ensues. Then a commercial airline crashes, and one of Savannah’s clients is implicated in the crash. Men connected to the scandal, including her ex, begin to die amid mysterious circumstances, and Savannah’s niece becomes an unwitting target.
Against their better instincts, Jett and Savannah join ranks to sort the facts from fiction. But can Savannah trust the reporter who threw her life into chaos? And can Jett face the possibility that he’s made the biggest mistake of his life?
Book Details
Genre: Political/Romantic Suspense Published by: Thomas Nelson Publication Date: April 7th 2020 Number of Pages: 336 ISBN: 078523327X (ISBN13: 9780785233275) Series: This is a Stand Alone Novel Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
FLIGHT RISK by Cara C. Putnam is a new romantic suspense with a hero, heroine and plot that make it impossible to put down!
Savannah Daniels has worked hard to build a prospering law firm filled with trusted and loyal friends since her divorce fifteen years ago. Savannah has trouble trusting since her ex-husband’s betrayal, but she would do anything for her young niece, her sister and ex-husband’s daughter.
Jett Glover is a newspaper man fiercely dedicated to only writing the truth. His father committed suicide when Jett was just twelve years old after a reporter ruined his reputation with false reporting. Jett feels like he has the story of his career, a famous baseball player and three others are all implicated in an international sex trafficking ring. He has checked all his facts and his expose is printed.
The printing of Jett’s story and a commercial airplane crash somehow tied to two of Savannah’s clients are colliding with the start of the murder of the men implicated in Jett’s article. One of those men is Savannah’s ex-husband. Can Jett and Savannah trust each other enough to work together to discover the killer? Will the truth of Jett’s article be the whole truth?
I read this book from start to finish in one sitting. Savannah is such a strong and intelligent heroine, who is giving to everyone, except herself. She is so wonderful to her niece, even with her personal heartbreak and betrayal. Jett is wonderful at accepting Savannah as she is, but he wants her to let him in and trust him. This is a cozy romance with no sex, but a growing relationship based on learning to trust again. All of the characters in this story are fully fleshed and realistic.
The plot is fast-paced and continued to surprise me with several twists and red herrings. The author had my emotions all over the place and they were intricately intertwined with the characters and plot. This book is listed as a Christian thriller besides being a romantic suspense. There are a few places where Savannah prays for strength or guidance, but it is never out of character for her or an interruption to the flow of the story.
I highly recommend this romantic suspense and I cannot wait to read more of this author’s books!
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Excerpt
The conversation flowed over the antipasti course and into the pasta della casa. Every bite of Savannah’s manicotti alla fiorentina was wonderful, the ricotta and spinach blending perfectly. Just when she knew she couldn’t take another bite and get anything done afterward, thanks to the food coma, a waiter came out with a slice of cheesecake. Her mouth watered as she took in the raspberries atop the homemade delight. She put a hand on her stomach and then smiled. “I hope you brought fresh forks for everyone.”
The handsome waiter flashed a bright smile. “Whatever the birthday donna wishes is my command.” He gave a slight bow and turned away. A moment later when he returned, a fist of forks at the ready, his demeanor had changed.
Emilie watched him a moment. “What’s wrong, Antonio?”
“There has been a horrible accident. It is on the TV in the office.”
“What kind of accident?” Savannah leaned toward him. “Does it involve someone you know?”
“No.” The man shook his head, and not one of his dark hairs moved. Yet his eyes were weighted with sadness and the shadow of something more. “It is a plane. It looks bad.”
“Oh no.” The memory of a plane careening by as she looked out a courtroom window in downtown Washington, DC, years earlier flashed through her mind. Savannah fought a shudder as she withdrew a credit card from her phone case and placed it on the bill, only for Hayden to slide it back to her and replace it with her own.
“Thank you.”
Please let this be a terrible accident and not the beginning of another 9/11.
Jaime’s head was bowed over her phone as she clicked the screen. “Looks like an isolated crash.”
All Savannah could think was that Jaime should add so far to her sentence. “That’s what we all thought on 9/11 too.”
Then a second plane careened into the Twin Towers. She saw the plane that hit the Pentagon, and a fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania, killing one of her fellow law students. She cleared her throat and stood, motioning the gals to join her.
“Let’s get back to work and see what we can learn.”
As they left her favorite restaurant, her phone buzzed and she paused to pull it out of her pocket. She glanced at the text message on the screen and her blood froze.
911. From Addy. Their emergency code.
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Author Bio
Cara Putman is the author of more than twenty-five legal thrillers, historical romances, and romantic suspense novels. She has won or been a finalist for honors including the ACFW Book of the Year and the Christian Retailing’s BEST Award. Cara graduated high school at sixteen, college at twenty, completed her law degree at twenty-seven, and recently received her MBA. She is a practicing attorney, teaches undergraduate and graduate law courses at a Big Ten business school, and is a homeschooling mom of four. She lives with her husband and children in Indiana.
Today I am excited that it is my turn on this Blog Tour and I get to share my Feature Post and Book Review for INTO DARKNESS (A Shannon Ames Thriller Book #1) by T.J. Brearton. I love when I find an intelligent new protagonist and series to follow.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section with the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
They have been judged. The verdict – guilty. The sentence – death.
Two beautiful young women are found strangled, their bodies meticulously washed and groomed. The only thing they have in common – both worked as reporters for local TV stations.
A coincidence? Or something more sinister?
Rookie Special Agent Shannon Ames is assigned to the case and soon impresses with her brilliant intuition and startling ability to think outside the box.
But as Shannon takes a more prominent role in the investigation, she finds herself drawn into a deadly dance with a master of deception, a serial killer whose victims all work in media – journalists, influencers, reporters.
Shannon’s superiors are convinced it’s part of some grand attack on the free press, but she has a hunch these killings are much more targeted. And she follows that hunch – straight into the heart of darkness…
Into Darkness is a gripping mystery thriller that will keep you up all night as it races towards its shocking conclusion. Perfect for fans of David Baldacci, Robert Dugoni and Lisa Regan.
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
INTO DARKNESS (A Shannon Ames Thriller Book #1) by T.J. Brearton is the first book in a new FBI procedural thriller series by a new to me author. The protagonist of this series is a rookie FBI agent who is an independent thinker and has the intelligence to view a case from outside of the box.
Special Agent Shannon Ames is assigned to assist her new FBI associates and a team of NYC policemen on a case with one local female on-air reporter found dead and a second female media personality is missing. When the second woman is also found dead, Shannon finds herself chasing a serial killer who is targeting journalists, media personalities and social media influencers.
Shannon’s FBI superiors believe it is a terrorist set on attacking the free press, but Shannon believes these murders are more targeted and personal. The body count mounts as Shannon refuses to stop working on her theory as she suddenly comes between the killer and his final target.
I was completely engrossed in this fast-paced procedural thriller! Shannon is a great new protagonist who is beautiful, intelligent and willing to work hard to prove her theories and hunches. She does not just follow the easy and quick solutions of her fellow agents which causes some internal friction. This is the perfect antagonist for her because he is always misdirecting the authorities, but she stays on course. As the story progresses and you learn more about the killer, you cannot condone his killing, but his reasons for the murders tore me apart. All the secondary characters where realistic and I hope will return in future books in this series.
This thriller is easy to read with plenty of action, plot twists and misdirection which kept me reading. I will be looking forward to more books featuring Shannon Ames.
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About T.J. Brearton
T.J. Brearton’s books have reached half a million readers around the world and have topped the Amazon charts in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. A graduate of the New York Film Academy in Manhattan, Brearton first worked in film before focusing on novels. His books are visually descriptive with sharp dialog and underdog heroes. When not writing, Brearton does whatever his wife and three children tell him to do. They live happily in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate, New York. Yes, there are bears in the Adirondacks. But it’s really quite beautiful when you’re not running for your life.
T.J. is the author of Dead Gone and many other crime thrillers. INTO DARKNESS will be his first novel published with Inkubator Books.
