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Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we're back again with Rachel's Random Resources and a stop along their current promotion featuring the work of Delia Pitts. Here to satisfy your bookish cravings, we have a SPOTLIGHT, special EXCERPT, and YOUR CHANCE TO WIN...so, if you're ready, let's get this party started! Ladies and gents, please welcome our title in the spotlight...
Pauper and Prince in Harlem
A Ross Agency Mystery
by
Delia C. Pitts
About the book...
A vulnerable kid. A brutal enemy. An addled ally. Blood runs cold on Harlem's hottest summer night when Drive-by assassins shoot up a crowded playground, killing the teenaged friend of private eye SJ Rook. Only fourteen, the kid was smart, affectionate, and alive with potential. His sudden death strikes the cynical Rook through the heart. Was this boy the victim of a cruel accident? Or was he targeted by gang hit men in a ruthless display of power?
To find the killers, Rook must enlist the help of another teen, Whip, a mysterious runaway witness. Whip is a transgender boy whose life on the streets has drawn him into the realm of a violent mob kingpin. Damaged by his mother's rejection, Whip doesn't want to be found. Not by the cops or by community do-gooders. And certainly not by Rook, a resolute stranger with vengeance on his mind. Rook's search for the elusive kid becomes a dangerous trek through the meanest corners of his neighborhood.
Racing from desolate homeless camps to urban swamps, from settlement houses to high-rise palaces ruled by greed and corruption, the determined Rook pursues his quarry. An unexpected twist in the detective's relationship with his crime-fighting partner, Sabrina Ross, threatens to derail his mission. Noble tramps, vicious thugs, and a pint-sized trigger woman also complicate Rook's efforts to protect Whip. When a mob prince and a hobo hold the boy's life in the balance will Rook's grit and imagination be enough to save Whip and bring the killers to justice?
To find the killers, Rook must enlist the help of another teen, Whip, a mysterious runaway witness. Whip is a transgender boy whose life on the streets has drawn him into the realm of a violent mob kingpin. Damaged by his mother's rejection, Whip doesn't want to be found. Not by the cops or by community do-gooders. And certainly not by Rook, a resolute stranger with vengeance on his mind. Rook's search for the elusive kid becomes a dangerous trek through the meanest corners of his neighborhood.
Racing from desolate homeless camps to urban swamps, from settlement houses to high-rise palaces ruled by greed and corruption, the determined Rook pursues his quarry. An unexpected twist in the detective's relationship with his crime-fighting partner, Sabrina Ross, threatens to derail his mission. Noble tramps, vicious thugs, and a pint-sized trigger woman also complicate Rook's efforts to protect Whip. When a mob prince and a hobo hold the boy's life in the balance will Rook's grit and imagination be enough to save Whip and bring the killers to justice?
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!!! EXCERPT !!!
In this
passage, Harlem private eye SJ Rook traverses a homeless camp to meet
a hobo who may hold valuable clues to the whereabouts of the young
witness Rook is determined to find.
“Fifty
people stirred in the warehouse, mostly black men with dashes of
other races salting the crowd. I kept my eyes low to study a group
gathered halfway down the room’s great length, looking for my
quarry. I saw him before he spotted me. The boy was crouched in front
of a mattress, balancing on the balls of his feet in apparent ease,
nodding at a man’s animated conversation. The man was seated on the
bare pad, his short legs thrust straight in front of him. The boy’s
keen eyes tracked the movements of the man’s face, and both their
mouths gaped in amusement. Despite the sudden horror he’d witnessed
in the park, the kid was happy here. At home.
"I
paced toward the pair, shoulders up, stride long, movements overt. I
wanted information from them, and that required trust. Or at least a
lack of fear. Even though night temperatures blasted past eighty, the
old man was wrapped in a purple wool overcoat and wore thick gloves.
He jammed a gold knit cap over bushy gray hair as if fighting his own
personal winter. The moon slanting through the high windows captured
him in a bolt of silver that made his face and figure glow like a
sculpture in a museum. His skin was dark and smooth as a
river-polished stone. Newspapers and magazines were stacked to one
side of the mattress. At the other edge was a grocery cart filled
with flattened cardboard boxes, folded clothing, kitchen and garden
tools, and a busted boom box.
"Though
he was facing the boy, the man's milky brown eyes focused on the far
end of the hall. I walked in a wide circle around the pair,
passing through several clusters of people. I lost sight of the two
as I rounded a cast-iron column. By the time I got to within twelve
feet, the kid had vanished into the crowd.
"I
crouched at eye level before the old man, who scooted over the
mattress to give me room. As I settled, I imitated his posture,
thrusting my legs straight in front. Side by side, it was easy
to take his measure: his legs extended no further than my knees. He
was perhaps five feet tall to my six one.
"A foggy
tenor voice slid from the moth-eaten coat. “Whip tells me you the
dude been tailing him. Are you?”
"He
tilted his large head. It might have been a trick of the light, but
gears seemed to shift behind his eyes, snapping a piercing assessment
of me. The moon turned his pupils molten, like drops of mercury
slipping from a broken thermometer.
“Is
Whip the boy’s name?” That’s what Zaire had called him, but I
didn’t reveal it. The man nodded, waiting for my explanation. “He
witnessed bad things in the park this evening. You know anything
about that?” Not offering much, but since I knew so little, taking
that stance was easy.
“No
more than what he told me. A drive-by shooting took out a young kid.
Whip ran, you trailed him six blocks. That’s what I heard tell. You
got anything else?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the author...
Delia C. Pitts is the author of the Ross Agency Mysteries, a contemporary private eye series including Lost and Found in Harlem, Practice the Jealous Arts, and Black and Blue in Harlem. She is a former university administrator and U.S. diplomat, who served in West Africa and Mexico. After working as a journalist, she earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. She has published more than sixty fan fiction titles under the pen name Blacktop. Pauper and Prince in Harlem is the fourth novel in the Ross Agency Mystery series. The fifth, Murder My Past, will be released in 2021.
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~~~ GIVEAWAY ~~~
YOUR CHANCE TO WIN...
(1) of (5) paperback copies of Pauper and Prince in Harlem
(OPEN TO USA ONLY)
*Terms and Conditions –Only USA entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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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. Be sure to check out the rest of tour for more bookish fun!
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
2 comments:
Thank you for hosting me and my new book!
My pleasure!
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