Review – Black Water by Ninie Hammon #BlackWater #NetGalley @niniehammon

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Black Water is my first Ninie Hammon book, but it won’t be my last. I want to thank NetGalley and Sterling & Stone for the opportunity to red Black Water.

Black Water by Ninie Hammon was free at time of posting, so, if this sounds interesting, check it out and pick up a copy for yourself HERE.

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MY REVIEW

Well, I am sure glad I grabbed a copy of Black Water by Ninie Hammon. I have not read any of her work, until now. There is a lot going on and the story is told my multiple points of view. A novel like Black Water, with the title and the cover, lures me in. I love any books that deal with water, whether on it, in it, or under it.

It all starts with Bailey Donahue moving into the Watford House. She is on the run from the Mafia and Witness Protection landed her in the small town of Shadow Rock. She has no intention of being there for long…suicide is on her mind, but she has not met T J and Dobbs…yet.

This unlikely cast of characters, T J, Dobbs, and the sheriff, Brice, come together when Bailey shoots herself. I love the mix of the paranormal and supernatural world, along with realistic characters and the situations they find themselves in. Their need to do something about a danger only they can see does not allow them to turn their back. They risk their lives to save innocent people from losing theirs.

The whole ‘coal country’ crap had me so pissed off, I wanted to do…something. I believe this type of thing continues to this day, companies walking away, leaving their toxic waste behind, leaving it for someone else to clean up. This being the twenty first century, I am amazed that it still happens. What does that say about those who are supposed to be the watchdogs, keeping us safe? I could continue to rant about this part of the book, but there is more to the story and I want you to experience it for yourself.

Through the beginning of the book, I read along, no sense of urgency, but I was curious and the characters quickly began to grow on me. The slow build up made it easy for Ninie Hammon to catch me off guard when the danger overflowed the pages, making the last third or quarter of the book unputdownable. Even though it ended in a predictable manner, sort of, I was happy at the outcome and breathed a sigh of relief when the last word was read.

Bailey finds her purpose, as do T J, Dobbs, and Brice. I love that Black Water is part of the Through The Canvas series. I can see where the series is headed and hope to be along for the ride.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

From Ninie Hammon, master of psychological suspense, comes the long-awaited thrilling new series you won’t be able to put down.

Bailey Donahue has to stay dead.

After witnessing her husband’s murder, Bailey is ripped from her life and placed in the Witness Protection Program in the sleepy town of Shadow Rock.

Believed dead by the mafia, Bailey is trapped in a torturous limbo, unable to return to her life — and her eighteen-month-old daughter — without risking the lives of those she loves most.

Losing all hope, she attempts suicide, only to wake in the hospital and discover that not only is she alive, she’s woken with a “gift” – she can paint portraits of events that haven’t happened… yet.

Her first picture: a girl drowning. She doesn’t know who or where the girl is, or how to stop her prediction from coming true.

When two locals offer their help, she feels like she must accept, even though her instincts are screaming that these good samaritans know too much about her.

Can Bailey find the girl and prevent a tragedy — without letting anyone know that she’s still alive?

Black Water is the first book of Ninie Hammon’s new series, Through the Canvas. A riveting psychological thriller series about an ordinary woman ripped from her life, and drawn into dark and thrilling tales by mysterious forces she can’t explain.

ABOUT NINIE HAMMON

I was born in Socorro, New Mexico, sometime shortly after the earth cooled off. It’s clear that from the outset my parents never intended for me to amount to anything. How could I? With a name like “Ninie?” Please.

Fame and fortune do not come to people named Ninie Bovell (My maiden name.) Gabriella Bovary? You could work with that. Even something as pedestrian as Madeline Bovell or Rebecca Bovell or (though you’d lose points here for lack of originality) Elizabeth Bovell. But Ninie? I never had a chance.

If I sound a mite hostile, bear in mind that in one decisive stroke my parents sentenced their precious newborn daughter to a lifetime of explanations that began my first day at Muleshoe Elementary School. (Yeah, Muleshoe. The hits just keep on coming.) After a painful week, I had a rap down that I still use today:

“No, it’s not Ninnie like skinny and penny. It’s Ninie—rhymes with tiny and shiny. 9e…get it? And no, it doesn’t mean anything, it isn’t short for anything, long for anything, or a substitute for anything. It just is. (Pause here for the inevitable ‘Why?’) You got me, pal, I couldn’t tell you.”

I grew up in Texas, got a BA in English and theatre from Texas Tech University and snagged a job as a newspaper reporter. Didn’t know a thing about journalism, but my editor said if I could write he could teach me the rest of it and if I couldn’t write the rest of it didn’t matter. I hung in there for a 25-year career as a journalist. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, but as soon as I figured out that making up the facts was a whole lot more fun than reporting them, I never looked back.

Now, I write suspense–every flavor except pistachio: psychological suspense, inspirational suspense, suspense thrillers, paranormal suspense, suspense mysteries.

In every book I write I try to keep this promise to Loyal Reader: I will tell you a story in a distinctive voice you’ll always recognize, about people as ordinary as you are–people who have been slammed by something they didn’t sign on for, and now they must fight for their lives. Then smack in the middle of their everyday worlds, those people encounter the unexplainable–and it’s always the game-changer.”

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The Spotlight Is On Valencia by Lorri Smith Jackson @storiesbylorri @iReadBookTours


 

Book Details:

Book Title:  Valencia and the Velvet Dress by Lorri Smith Jackson
Category:  Middle-Grade Fiction (Ages 8-12),  88 pages
Genre: Children’s Early Chapter Book
Publisher:  Mascot Books
Release date:  Nov 1, 2022
Content Rating:  G
Book Description:

Valencia is a kind ten-year-old, who always sees the good in others. When she receives a dress for a special performance at school, she can’t stop wearing it. After many taunts, rumors, and finger-pointing—especially from neighborhood boy Joseph-Kelly Hunter—Valencia’s parents come up with the perfect plan to stop the ugly rumors before Valencia gets word of them. Will they be successful?
BUY THE BOOK:
Mascot Book
Amazon ~ B&N
add to goodreads
Meet the Author:

Lorri Smith Jackson has been writing since she was a teen. Lorri graduated from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, with a degree in Communications. She currently works for the City of Manassas in Virginia, and is happily married to her husband, Bruce, and they have five daughters: Lorrin, Samantha, Corin, Elizabeth, and Renee. They also have four grandchildren: Hazel, Micah, Sydnei, and Kaleigh.

connect with the author: facebook instagram


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Giveaway – Violins Played Before Junsian by Lou Kemp @GoddessFish

Violins Played before Junstan by Lou Kemp

GENRE: Fantasy (magical realism)

BLURB

While on a mission to avenge the death of his lover, the immortal peyote-eating magician Celwyn is hired to deliver an automat, Professor Kang, to a priest. But Celwyn quickly learns that everything the priest told him was a lie. Now his ship, the Zelda, is stuck in a horrific storm and Celwyn knows he must reconsider his allegiance if he is to steer his vessel in the right direction and continue his quest.

EXCERPT

San Francisco, 1865  

Late in the evening, thick ribbons of fog moved like a living animal, breathing, then thinning to vapor before revealing the shadows between the wooden barrels that lined the docks. Beyond the Opera House’s silhouette, oily glimmers of the bay cut through the darkness, only to be obscured by the fog again.

As Celwyn neared the docks, he heard virulent cursing above the commotion from a carriage as it charged down the cobblestones toward him. When the coach drew level, the driver raised a whip above his horse. On its descent to the horse’s back, the tip suspended mid-air and snake-like, the whip shimmied out of the coachman’s hand.

The man steered the hackney to a stop. As he slithered out of the high cab, the whip followed him, wrapping around his ankles, lifting him feetfirst into the air. His cursing echoed to screams as he disappeared into the night sky. A moment later, a splash could be heard, and a satisfied smile crossed Celwyn’s lips; he couldn’t stand to see anyone mistreating an animal. The horse trotted down the street, rather jauntily, back toward the stable yard as the magician stepped around a snoring drunk and into Salty’s tattered and dingy atmosphere. Celwyn could have sworn it was the same drunk he stepped over last night.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Early work was horror and suspense, later work morphed into a combination of magical realism, mystery and adventure painted with a horrific element as needed.

I’m one of those writers who doesn’t plan ahead, no outlines, no clue, and I sometimes write myself into a corner. Atmospheric music in the background helps. Black by Pearl Jam especially.

More information is available at LouKemp.com. I’d love to hear from you and what you think of Celwyn, Bartholomew, and Professor Xiau Kang.

Milestones:

2009 The anthology story Sherlock’s Opera appeared in Seattle Noir, edited by Curt Colbert, Akashic Books. Available through Amazon or Barnes and Noble online. Booklist published a favorable review of my contribution to the anthology.

2010 My story, In Memory of the Sibylline, was accepted into the best-selling MWA anthology Crimes by Moonlight, edited by Charlaine Harris. The immortal magician Celwyn makes his first appearance in print.

2018 The story, The Violins Played before Junstan is published in the MWA anthology Odd Partners, edited by Anne Perry. The Celwyn series begins.

Book 1, The Violins Played before Junstan reissue with the publisher, the 4 Horsemen on 10-17-22. The 4 Horsemen will publish the remaining books in the series beginning with Music Shall Untune the Sky, The Raven and the Pig, The Pirate Danced and the Automat Died.  The companion book, Farm Hall continues the story of Pelaez, another immortal magician and Celwyn’s brother will also be available.

Website / Amazon / Book Depository / B&N

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!