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?
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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
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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!
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