RRR presents... NO SUCH THING AS GOODBYE by Karen Špiljak - GUEST POST!

Hi there!

Welcome back to another day of bookish goodness, here at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we've got our BOOK SPOTLIGHT shining on a NEW Thriller/Crime Fiction release on tour now with Rachel's Random Resources. It's all about freedom and the price we're willing to pay to attain it...a perfectly timed title, what with the recent holiday here in the U.S., but I digress. We're bringing the bookish news AND a special GUEST POST from the author herself! So KEEP READING as we focus in on today's title in the spotlight...

No Such Thing as Goodbye

by

Karmen Špiljak

About the book...

A spy with a criminal past. A dark family secret. Freedom at the cost of betrayal.

To escape her mobster family, Toni fakes her own death, but before she can start anew in Mexico City, she’s pulled into a world of spies and deadly secrets. Her new life crumbles when she discovers her boss is keeping secrets of his own.

When word gets around that Toni’s brother is on his way to Mexico, she fears the worst - he wants to hunt her down. Cornered and with nowhere to turn, Toni must decide: will she run once more, or will she risk her life for a chance of freedom?

---> GRAB YOUR COPY TODAY <---

AMAZON | APPLE | GOOGLE | KOBO | B&N

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~~~ GUEST POST ~~~

The inspiration behind Toni’s story

...from author Karmen Špiljak

When I set out to write my first thriller, I only knew three things; one, that my spy would be a woman, two, that she wouldn’t be your classic spy working for or against a country, and three, that she’d set out on a long journey that would take her around the globe.

Did I know that it would also include a mobster family? Not until Antonia Morretti knocked on my door one day, metaphorically speaking, unpacked her sizeable luggage and started talking. I hardly had enough time to write it all down, then worked on her story for two more years. The kind of things I found out about Toni’s past and her relationship with her twin, Nino, and their older brother, Jimmy, made me understand why she went to such great lengths to get away.

Nevertheless, her new life wasn’t going to be an easy one. As Toni plunged into different spy missions in Mexico City and Guadalajara, she slowly realised that her past would continue to torment her. Her new boss, Carl Lindhardt, sent her off to investigate an array of financial crimes and asked her to choose a long-term mission. What exactly, though?

As Toni was trying to figure out how best to put her experiences and knowledge to use, I drew inspiration from my past work in an environmental NGO and the illegal wildlife trade they were fighting against. I’d initially had another series in mind for this topic, but my protagonist seemed to have made her own plans and I had no choice but to go along with them. While we were both trying to figure out what would happen next, the distance between Toni and her family started shrinking.

Despite Toni’s best efforts to keep away from her brothers, she found herself squeezed between her old life and the promise of a new one. Could she ever be anything other than a mobster’s sister? Could she ever really choose her own destiny or would her brothers continue to control her life from afar? When Carl told Toni that her brother is coming to Mexico City, she was forced to make a hard decision, one that could either save or kill her. Which way would she go?

‘No Such Thing as Goodbye’ is the first book in a series, where Toni meets quite a few intriguing characters that push her limits and help her make tough choices. She even manages to uncover some of her boss’s secrets and how he came to recruit her. However, if you asked Toni about it, she’d probably credit her cat, Purrito, for most of the good decisions she takes throughout the book.

What is in store next for Toni and her crew? Certainly investigating more of the illegal wildlife trade, spying on dubious characters and returning home to admire Purrito’s paw-scratched furniture. Toni might be tempted to put her feet up, but she won’t have much time before things start heating up. After all, they will settle down in the city of spies.

What about her mobster brothers, who are going to be just across the border? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

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About the author...

Karmen Špiljak is a Slovenian-Belgian writer of suspense, horror and speculative fiction.

Her short fiction has been awarded and anthologised. Her thriller, ‘No Such Thing as Goodbye’, was shortlisted and received an honourable mention at 'The Black Spring Crime Fiction Prize 2020'.

She lives in Sao Paulo with her husband, two mischievous cats and an undefined number of literary characters.

Find out more on www.karmens.net

TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS | FACEBOOK

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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this promotion, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today and be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

RRR presents... RAT ISLAND by John Steele - SPOTLIGHT + EXCERPT!

Hi there! 

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers. 

Today, we’re shining the BOOK SPOTLIGHT on a title that is a bit more nitty gritty than our usual fare, but that doesn’t make it any less worthy because hey...we all need a bit of mystery, a bit of underhandedness, and a bit of morally compromising decision making at play once in a while, right? Ladies and gents, today’s title in the spotlight and blog tour guest is... 

Rat Island 

by 

John Steele 

About the book... 

'A REAL CONTENDER FOR CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR' David Peace 

'FANS OF DON WINSLOW WILL LOVE THIS' Claire McGowan 

New York, 1995. Cop Callum Burke arrives in New York from Hong Kong, drafted in as part of an international investigation into organised crime. 

With the handover of Hong Kong to China only a couple of years away, gangsters are moving their operations out of the territory and into New York ahead of the looming deadline. 

Burke’s experiences with East Asian crime and the Triads’ links to the Irish Mob make him the perfect man to send in undercover. 

But as he infiltrates these vast and lethal criminal networks, bodies start to pile up in his wake and his conscience threatens to send him over the edge. 

And when Burke’s NYPD handlers push him to continue the investigation at all costs, he may have to cross the line from cop to criminal just to stay alive… 

Readers of Don Winslow, Michael Connelly, Steve Cavanagh, Richard Price and John Sandford will love this dark and morally complex novel which presents a searing portrait of mid-1990s New York as you’ve never seen it before. 

AMAZON UK | US 

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PRAISE FOR RAT ISLAND AND JOHN STEELE: 

'A nonstop thrill ride... a lyrical, super read filled with plenty of intrigue, action and suspense and sent against an exotic and seldom explored corner of crime fiction' Gerald Posner 

'RAT ISLAND speeds and thrashes with the dangerous energy of the Manhattan streets which are so vividly recalled' Gary Donnelly 

'John Steele writes with grit, pace and authenticity' Claire McGowan 

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~~~ EXCERPT ~~~ 

 In this early extract from Rat Island, set in 1995, Irish-born cop Callum Burke has just met his NYPD contemporary, Mike O’Connell. Burke will go undercover with an Irish mob in the city as part of a larger investigation into a heroin pipeline and he studies his targets as he ponders his fate.

Milburn had gone for a piss. O’Connell had stepped out of the room. Callum had grabbed a whiskey from the mini-bar. Bobby Ho had balked.

Callum downed the shot in one. O’Connell walked back in the room.

‘Well, alright,’ said O’Connell. ‘Now daddy’s out of the room, let’s us kids have some fun.’

He gestured to the photocopied sheet tacked on the wall with the mugshots and surveillance photographs of the players they were here to take down.

On top, like the star on the Christmas tree: Tony Lau – 14K Triad Dragon Head. Callum had been avoiding looking at the shot. The last time he’d seen Lau in the flesh, the man had sworn to kill him. Lau had declared his blood vendetta, not with words, but with Triad hand signs. He would be in Hong Kong, picked up by the RHKP when the rest went down.

The first row of pictures below Lau were players from Lau’s large faction of the 14K Triad.

The third row showed members of the Hip Sing Tong Association from New York Chinatown, including the leader, Sammy Ong, and his closest advisor, Papa Ng.

O’Connell pointed at Bobby Ho.

‘These are the guys you’ll be listening to. Some real-time taps, some recordings. We got a place for you on Mott Street to observe the Tong Headquarters, too. Stay well away from these psychos, though.’

He cocked a thumb at the row below. The Flying Dragons street gang from Chinatown, the Tong’s homicidal muscle.

O’Connell tucked his thumbs in his belt, pushed out his chest and gave Callum a shit-eating grin as he cocked his head toward the bottom row of photographs as though revealing the prize on a gameshow.

‘And these assholes are gonna be your new best friends, Burke. Say hello to The Walsh Crew.’

Callum looked at the New York Irish mob. The leader, Fintan Walsh. Jimmy Mulligan, the right-hand man, and others. At the end of the row was Paddy Doolan.

O’Connell said, ‘You boys ready to go to work?’

Callum scanned the pictures again. The crazy-paddy mugshots of the Irish. The hair-slicked, comic book sneers of the Flying Dragons street gang. The surveillance photographs of the Hip Sing Tong men.

Were someone to pin the cops’ shots on the opposite wall, they’d follow the same order of importance, he thought. The feds at the top; then the NYPD and Milburn. Below them, Bobby Ho, vital for his language skills.

And at the bottom, Callum. His was the dirtiest, shit-end-of-the-stick deal in the whole game.

Callum knew to build a Federal racketeering RICO case in the US, law enforcement needed a lot of evidence. The DEA and NYPD team had already been working the case for months. Now Bobby Ho was in place to help transcribe the Tong wiretaps. But they needed more on the Irish crew. The Walsh outfit were the potential weak link. If the task force could build a solid racketeering case against the Irish, they’d have some insurance.

While the biggest, head-in-the-clouds target was Tony Lau, the Dragon Head, the Triads were far too cautious – had too many resources with which to distance themselves from the heroin trail in New York.

The US Tong operated in a closed society. The hope was that Bobby Ho could accrue enough to prosecute but it was a huge ask.

But bust the Irish and prove a connection, and the task force could prosecute the Chinese through association. At least, that was the theory.

Paddy Doolan, last mugshot on the row of Walsh Crew photographs, was a hanger-on who grew up with the top men in the old neighborhood. He was erratic, a romantic, and a sucker for a pilgrim from the old country come to America to make his way. Callum would turn up, another Irishman trying his luck in the Big Apple, and hope Doolan would bite and take to him.

Then, once undercover, Callum would push to get work with the Walsh crew and pray no one took a bite out of him with a .44.

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About the author... 

John Steele was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1995, at the age of twenty-two he travelled to the United States and has since lived and worked on three continents, including a thirteen-year spell in Japan. Among past jobs he has been a drummer in a rock band, an illustrator, a truck driver and a teacher of English. He now lives in England with his wife and daughter. He began writing short stories, selling them to North American magazines and fiction digests. He has published three previous novels: RAVENHILL, SEVEN SKINS and DRY RIVER, the first of which was longlisted for a CWA Debut Dagger award. John’s books have been described as ‘Remarkable’ by the Sunday Times, ‘Dark and thrilling’ by Claire McGowan, and ‘Spectacular’ by Tony Parsons. The Irish Independent called John ‘a writer of huge promise’ and Gary Donnelly appointed him ‘the undisputed champion of the modern metropolitan thriller’. 

TWITTER 

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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this promotion, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today and be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

RABT Book Tours presents... REPROBATION by Catherine Fearns - EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY!

Reprobation

Crime Thriller/Mystery

Date Published: 16th October 2018

Publisher: Crooked Cat

Are You One Of The Elect?

Dr. Helen Hope is a lecturer in eschatology – the study of death, judgment, and the destiny of humankind. She is also a Calvinist nun, her life devoted to atoning for a secret crime.

When a body is found crucified on a Liverpool beach, she forms an unlikely alliance with suspect Mikko Kristensen, lead guitarist in death metal band Total Depravity. Together, they go on the trail of a rogue geneticist who they believe holds the key – not just to the murder, but to something much darker.

Also on the trail is cynical Scouse detective Darren Swift. In his first murder case, he must confront his own lack of faith as a series of horrific crimes drag the city of two cathedrals to the gates of hell.

Science meets religious belief in this gripping murder mystery.

Excerpt

In this scene Deaconess Margaret Mills, a figurehead of the Sisters of Grace, subjects the congregation of St Michael’s Church to one of her threatening sermons. Sister Helen’s feelings about the Deaconess are beginning to change, and at the end of the service, she tells her first lie.

‘All of us are sinners. All people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath, unfit for any saving good. Inclined to evil! Dead in their sins! Slaves to sin! Without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit, they are neither willing nor able to return to God, to reform their distorted nature, or even to dispose themselves to such reform. I say again, All of Us Are Sinners!’

This last sentence was said with such venom and volume that several members of the congregation who were sitting in the front pews visibly recoiled. Deaconess Margaret Mills always began her Wednesday evening sermons from the pulpit, in a gentle voice tinged with a hint of menace. She would build gradually, moving from the pulpit to the floor, a crescendo of portentous threats as her whole body would come into play. She was a natural performer, with eyes widening and narrowing at just the right moments, catching individuals so that they wanted to look away in shame but couldn’t. Her voice would range from ominous low to shrieking high, the gentle Northern accent sounding impossibly grand in this part of the world. There was no comfort to be had from her sermons, only the fear of God struck into one’s heart, and this was the appeal. For the residents, for the visitors, for Helen. Most of the congregation loved the firebrand thrill of the performance, the horror-film quality of the fear. But for Helen, the fear was real, visceral. She craved this punishment, this constant, caustic reminder of her sin. After some more fire and brimstone, the Deaconness softened and brought kindness, a sweet manipulation for her audience.

‘Yes, all of us are sinners. And nothing brings the beauty of Jesus Christ to sinful people, believers, and unbelievers alike, as powerfully as God’s own Scriptures. The Scriptures are the basis of our teaching, of our Gospel, for the word of God is the only word. And we do not question the word of God. From this comes our happiness’.

She smiled for a moment then suddenly, spectacularly, turned up the anger again.

‘And to those who complain about this grace of an undeserved election and about the severity of just reprobation, we reply with the words of the apostle ‘Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?’

Her eyes were wild now and ranged from one person to the next in fury. St. Michael’s Church was small, more of a chapel than a church, having been built originally to serve only the Argarmeols family and their employees. There was no division between the nave and chancery, and no room for aisles flanking the nave at its edges. Therefore there was no escaping the Deaconess's wrath as she stalked the pews, allowing herself to be an eager vessel for the bitter rage of the Calvinist God. The majesty of this church interior lay in its absurd height; in typical Victorian Gothic style, it had been built to aspire to the sky, drawing the eye upwards and reminding the worshipper how very far above him his God was to be found.

‘God’s plan cannot be changed; God’s promise cannot fail; the calling according to God’s purpose cannot be revoked!’

She sighed with theatrical exhaustion, closing her eyes and raising her hands in supplication, before wringing them and returning to the pulpit. She was disappointed with her flock, this rabble of hopeless candidates for heaven. She looked from one face to the next, expectant. The Deaconness taught religious education part-time in a local private school, and Helen, sitting in her usual position on the front pew, sometimes amused herself at the thought of the terror she must instill in those teenagers.

‘May God’s son Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of God and gives gifts to humanity, sanctify us in the truth, lead to the truth those who err, silence the mouths of those who lay false accusations against sound teaching, and equip faithful ministers of God’s Word with a spirit of wisdom and discretion, that all they say may be to the glory of God and the building up of their hearers. Amen’.

At the end of the service, Helen waited as the small congregation filed out in a silent purge, wrapping their coats against the cold autumn evening, Helen approached Margaret who was collecting her papers together at the altar.

‘Deaconness?’

Margaret spun around. ‘Yes, tell me.’

‘Would it be ok if I took the car overnight tonight?’

Margaret’s eyes and body language betrayed a momentary flicker of disappointment - she had been hoping Helen might ask something else.

‘I thought I might go and see my mother.’

‘Are you sure that’s a good idea, Helen? You’ve tried very hard, but it only seems to upset you every time. Has something happened?’

‘No, no, I… just think it’s important to keep showing I’m there for her, you know.’

‘Of course.’ There were those hands on Helen’s shoulders again. ‘Drive safely and come and see me tomorrow when you return, let me know how it went.’

‘I will Margaret, thank you. And may I take some money from the kitty? I think we need petrol.’

About the Author

Catherine Fearns is a writer from Liverpool. Her first novel, crime thriller Reprobation, was published by Crooked Cat on October 16th, 2018. Her second, Consuming Fire, will be out in February 2019. As a music journalist, Catherine has written for Pure Grain Audio, Broken Amp and Noisey. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in Toasted Cheese, Succubus, Here Comes Everyone, Offshoots, and Metal Music Studies. She lives in Geneva with her husband and four children.

 

Contact Links

Website

Twitter

Blog

Goodreads

Purchase Link

Amazon

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Want You Dead by Peter James

Hi guys!

Welcome back to the site that aims to bring the bookish fun every day of the week, Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're throwing a pre-book birthday release party for a title that hits store shelves tomorrow.  It comes to us via Minotaur Books and marks the tenth installment in the Roy Grace series from an author whose known for his Mystery writing skills.  Was I impressed with my first venture?  We shall see.  Ladies and gents, grab your favorite reading seat in a nice, bright spot (trust me, there's enough dark within), it's time to greet today's book of choice...

Want You Dead

by

Peter James

9781250030207

Minotaur Books

About the book...

Single girl, 33, redhead and smouldering, love life that’s crashed and burned. Seeks new flame to rekindle her fire. Fun, friendship and—who knows—more maybe?

In Peter James' Want You Dead, thirty-year old Red Cameron meets handsome, charming and rich thirty-five year old Bryce Laurent through an online dating agency, and is instantly attracted to him. But as their love blossoms, the truth about his past begins to emerge, and with it his dark side. Everything he has told Red about himself turns out to be a tissue of lies, and her infatuation with him gradually turns to terror.

Within a year, and under police protection, she evicts him from her flat and her life. But far from being over, her nightmare is only just beginning. For Bryce is obsessed and besotted with her. He intends to destroy, by fire, everything and everyone she has ever known and loved—and then her, too. It's up to Detective Superintendent Roy Grace to stop him before it's too late...

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Okay, here it is.

I'll give the author mad props for several things...

...first, getting us inside the head of a real loon.  Bryce Laurent is never represented as anything other than what he truly is and for that I appreciate the candor.  You get to read chapters straight from his crazy-8's mind as he stalks and tortures, plots and plans, and eventually meets the final pages of the book.  Are those his final pages?  Umm, I can't confirm or deny but I am definitely a fan of the ending, for more reasons than one.

...second, he really knows how to make sure the reader sees every angle of every moment.  No, I'm serious!  There are about 5-7 chapters (maybe more) all titled the same date and the same evening that simply change voices between the characters.  You learn just what Red was doing as Bryce was eyeballing her through her window like a creepo.  You understand just how much the doctor was concerned not with simply his life but what those he loved would come to even as his final moments approached.  You find out where the good detective is while the events that will affect him are unfolding.  Each piece of the puzzle is visited in order to create the larger, red slashed and splashed picture.

...third, he writes well rounded characters.  By books end, you really feel like you know each person the spotlight fell on.  You feel for their losses and celebrate their wins.  You enjoy the false hope initially found when it seems like everything is going to be all right and then the bottom falls out.  You even cringe as that bottom is falling out because you're not quite sure where it will land.  

Now, in the overall sense of the novel, it would seem I am in favor of things...and in fact I am, but I would remiss in stating that I am its number one fan.  It could be me, perhaps I wasn't truly in the mood for this particular type of novel when it came time to start it, but I wasn't as entranced with the WHOLE picture as I would have liked to be.  To me, the very things that worked for it and showed the author's talent, worked against it for me.  The length and way the story spiraled in on itself left me feeling over informed.  The intensity with which Bryce's obsession was explored seemed repetitive, almost overkill.  I get it, he's crazy, head over heels for Red and nothing anyone can say or do will stop him from having her...and ONLY him.  So much time was devoted to him, I can only think that if some things were cut here and there, it wouldn't have detracted from the story and yet you'd have lessened the page count  (and no, I'm not afraid of big books, in fact I love them...just my impression).

So, in the end I did in fact enjoy the read and would recommend it highly to fans of detective stories, Crime Fiction (to some degree), and Fiction fans in general...just with those few words of caution.  The true joy of reading is that every reader takes something different from the story and the experience.  In this case, I invite you to be the judge and jury on your own....

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About the author....

An established film producer and scriptwriter, James (@peterjamesuk) lived in the U.S. for a number of years and produced films, including The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, and Joseph Fiennes. A TV adaptation of the Roy Grace series is currently in development, with James overseeing all aspects, including scriptwriting, In 2009, James was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Brighton in recognition of his services to literature and the community. He is Patron of Crimestoppers in Sussex alongside Vera Lynn and in 2012 was made Patron of The Whitehawk Inn. In 2011, James became Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association. He has won many literary awards, including the publicly voted ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards People’s Bestseller Dagger in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize for Perfect People in 2012.

James’ novels have been translated into thirty-six languages and three have been turned into films. All of his novels reflect a deep interest in the world of the police, with whom he does in-depth research and has unprecedented access, as well as science, medicine, and the paranormal. James divides his time between his homes in Notting Hill in London and near Brighton in Sussex.

SITE   |   BLOG    |    FACEBOOK   |    TWITTER

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ARC for review courtesy of Lauren at Wunderkind PR.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title as well as their future promotions, be sure to stop by their site.  This title is set to release TOMORROW via Minotaur Books, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.

Until next time...happy reading!

PRE-BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell

Hi guys!

Welcome back to another week here at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're getting in the party spirit with a title that's ready to don it's birthday best.  That's right!  Today's spotlight shines on a Crime Fiction title that releases TOMORROW from an author most know and many love.  It marks the 22nd installment in this particular series starring none other than Kay Scarpetta.  Ring a bell or two?  It should, but if not, allow me to make the formal introductions.  Ladies and gents, today's book of choice is...

Flesh and Blood

by

Patricia Cornwell

97800623253411

William Morrow

About the book...

It’s Dr. Kay Scarpetta’s birthday, and she’s about to head to Miami for a vacation with Benton Wesley, her FBI profiler husband, when she notices seven pennies on a wall behind their Cambridge house. Is this a kids’ game? If so, why are all of the coins dated 1981 and so shiny they could be newly minted? Her cellphone rings, and Detective Pete Marino tells her there’s been a homicide five minutes away. A high school music teacher has been shot with uncanny precision as he unloaded groceries from his car. No one has heard or seen a thing.

In this 22nd Scarpetta novel, the master forensic sleuth finds herself in the unsettling pursuit of a serial sniper who leaves no incriminating evidence except fragments of copper. The shots seem impossible, yet they are so perfect they cause instant death. The victims appear to have had nothing in common, and there is no pattern to indicate where the killer will strike next. First New Jersey, then Massachusetts, and then the murky depths off the coast of South Florida, where Scarpetta investigates a shipwreck, looking for answers that only she can discover and analyze. And it is there that she comes face to face with shocking evidence that implicates her techno genius niece, Lucy, Scarpetta’s own flesh and blood.

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Okay, first things first, I was OVER THE MOON when I found out I was going to get my hot little hands on a copy of the LATEST KAY SCARPETTA NOVEL before it hits store shelves.  No, REALLY!  Though in more recent years, I haven't always kept up with her adventures, back in the day (as in a scant few back), I was a hardcore reader of the series.  I started with From Potter's Field, worked backwards from there (is it MY fault that I discovered these amazing characters a few books into the series the first time around?  I think not....) and then forwards once again.  Right up and through Black Notice and Southern Cross (the latter is not a Scarpetta novel by the way), I was HOOKED.  One thing led to another and I fell away from the series a bit...but I always felt that familiar tug, heard that heady whisper of "read me, you know you want to" any time a new one released.  Anywho....as soon as this one came into focus, I was there like yesterday's news.  I submitted my interest and with a little luck (and the fab folks at William Morrow), scored a copy to call my own and exuberantly share with all of you. 

I was asked by one of my Twitter tweeps to make a comparison of her work as she hasn't read the series yet and was intrigued.  While I usually lump it into the writing I was interested in during that phase of my reading (James Patterson and John Sanford), I also said this...she's more about the puzzle and bigger picture, then about the nonstop action.  Funny part, the promo material on this one has a quote that says the book has a "never-stop action plot".  Just goes to show you that each readers takes away something a little different.  Now, back to the story...

It was like greeting old friends by opening this cover.  Though I hadn't bothered to write or call, they still welcomed me back into their group with open arms.  A little older and a little wiser, they were no worse for wear....except for the suspicion being thrown around like so much confetti; and this confetti is dangerous because it involves specialized bullets, sniper-esque shooting skills and an agenda that seems to far fetched to be true.  Your attention is pulled this way and that as each clue comes your way, each tidbit is revealed, leading ultimately to a final showdown that just might end the lives of more than one of our close knit "family".  I gotta hand it to Ms. Cornwell, I wasn't sure how things were going to end up when the pages were dwindling and I still had no final move made....but she saved it for the end.  (Sneaky, sneaky...)

Recommended read for Crime Fiction fans, Kay Scarpetta devotees, and those who simply love a great mystery that makes you think as well as "belong".  For those of you that haven't read her work before, you won't be completely lost, but it will make some connections and the back story eluded to make more sense if you get a few under your belt.  Pay careful attention to Lucy....that's all I'm saying.  ~whistles~

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About the author....

PATRICIA CORNWELL is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Kay Scarpetta series. Her bestsellers include Dust,The Bone Bed, Red Mist, and Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper-Case Closed. Her earlier works include Postmortem—the only novel to win five major crime awards in a single year—and Cruel and Unusual, which won Britain’s prestigious Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel. Dr. Kay Scarpetta was awarded the 1999 Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American author. Patricia Cornwell lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

SITE    |    FACEBOOK    |     TWITTER

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Special thanks to the great folks at HarperCollins for the review copy and the chance to bring this title to you.  (THANK YOU!!!)  Remember, this title releases TOMORROW, so you've got two options....preorder RIGHT NOW or be on the lookout for it tomorrow on a bookstore shelf or on retailer of your choosing.  The choice is up to you but the final outcome (you + the book = great read), has already been decided.

Until next time...happy reading!