Nick Clausen has done an amazing job with the Dead Meat series and I am totally invested in sticking with it til the end to see how he wraps it up. That being said, I have my fingers crossed that my favorite characters will still be alive when it is all said and done.
Brains. Brains. Brains. Zombies are everywhere. Nowhere is safe. And my favorite characters, Dan, a young man taking on the evils of his world, is determined to go home. What he will find there? Will it be the death of him? After all, Nick Clausen is not afraid to kill off his characters, and every time I find one I like, I worry…
Book 7 ended with a cliffhanger, and I would like to thank Nick for getting Book 8 written so quickly. I was hanging by a fingernail, because…well. I can’t really say. You will need to find out for yourself what I’m talking about.
As soon as I finished Chapter One, I could see that Nick was going to torture me the very end, and all I can say is…BRING IT ON.
More zombies. More heroics. More Death.
Many surprises and heart stopping moments, and another threat, other than zombies, hangs over their heads.
I have been amazed how Nick Clause has kept the series moving, able to keep me eagerly devouring the words, watching, wondering, how it will all end.
So much I could not anticipate and I loved it. Even though I am not sure how I feel about the ending for this book, once I started I couldn’t stop.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Dead Meat: Day by Nick Clausen.
4 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
The end is getting closer and the last hope for humanity is dying. The hours tick by with lightning speed as our last survivors grasp for one more desperate attempt at stopping the pandemic before it can turn the entire world’s population into flesh eating corpses.
ABOUT NICK CLAUSEN
Born 1988 in North Jutland,
where I still live with my wife, who also happened to be my earliest
childhood girlfriend. From 2017 I have lived as a full-time writer. Up
until then, I had different jobs beside the writing. I have been
studying as a carpenter for three years, and have also read two years of
psychology at Aalborg University. It turned out that the writing had a
much more powerful pull on me.
I decided early on that I would be an author when I grew up. In
fact, the decision came to me already when I read my first book,
Snevampyren by Dennis Jürgensen. My first “real” stories I wrote at
14-15 years of age. They were rejected by the publisher, but still got
praise. There were some years when I was busy with being a teenager and
trying to get an education before I suddenly remembered that I should
be an author.
That day I made a promise
to write 1,000 words a day until I got a book published. I sat down and
started writing. I continued to write every single day for a year and a
half. I sent the finished manuscripts to different publishers, and the
rejections piled up. Twelve of them by the end. But each time I could
feel it was a little bit better. The criticism became more positive. The
thirteenth story was called Tidevandet, and it was adopted by the
publisher and came out a year later.
I have always enjoyed writing, although in the beginning I put a lot
of pressure on myself. My approach to the process has become much more
free over the years. For example, I no longer plan my stories. That
way, I feel that I’m experiencing the story while writing it and the
characters feel like real people. I do not know where the ideas come
from, but I’ve never had trouble finding them.
I am a huge fan of Mimi Jean Pamfiloff and the Librarian’s Assistant series. Each book can be read as a stand alone, but I have read 3 out of 6 and have the bookset for books 1-3, so I plan on reading books 2 and 3 in the very near future.
I got The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant Book I by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff on a free day. It led me down a biting good path of laughs, love and vampires. I started with a smile and a chuckle. That’s a good sign and something Mimi Jean Pamfiloff does with ease. Michael Vanderhorst wasn’t looking for work, but he couldn’t resist her. Now, he’s a library assistant. Even though he saw Miriam coming, he never could have anticipated the affect she would have on his life. Hilarious, suspenseful, mouth wateringly, delightfully addictive.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
From New York Times Bestseller Mimi Jean Pamfiloff comes a Horribly Sunny Mystery, The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant.
NOBODY MESSES WITH HIS LIBRARIAN. . .
Who
killed Michael Vanderhorst’s maker? It’s a darn good question. But when
the trail brings Michael to hellishly sunny Phoenix, Arizona, his
biggest problem soon becomes a cute little librarian he can’t seem to
stay away from. He’s never met a bigger danger magnet! Even her book
cart has it out for her. And is that the drug cartel following her
around, too? “Dear God, woman! What have you gotten yourself into?”
Things go from bad to worse when local vampires won’t play nice.
Can
this four-hundred-year-old vampire keep his librarian safe and himself
out of hot water? Can he bring his maker’s killer to justice? Yesterday,
he would’ve said yes. But yesterday, he didn’t have a strange
connection with a librarian. Yesterday, people weren’t trying to kill
her.
I won a signed copy of The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant Book 5 by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff and I was sooo excited. I had already picked up the first book on a free day and loved it, so I dove right in. Fortunately it can be read as a stand alone, so I didn’t have any trouble following along.
I am immediately drawn back into Michael and Miriam’s world, watching the characters grow and change, finding their place in a world not of their own making. When it comes to a sacrifice that may free her from the life of a vampire, will Miriam take it? No choice is easy. There are always consequences.
OMG… I loved the book, but as I read the last chapter, I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. This is not in anyway a vampire romance you have read before. Five stars for love, hope, laughter and sweet sweet Stella. I will sorely miss these characters, now that the story has been told and the series is done.
Humans can live without us, but we cannot live without them. And that is why they must always be protected, for better or worse, they are the species that make this world what it is.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
From New York Times Bestseller Mimi Jean Pamfiloff comes the FINAL vampire-mystery-slash-romance-slash-adventure about a librarian and her trusty vampire assistant, The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant, Book 5. (Yes, yes. Still a standalone. Yippy! You don’t have to go back and read all four books. But don’t ya kinda wanna?)
NEVER HIRE A HANDSOME VAMPIRE!
MIRIAM MURPHY loves being a librarian. It’s all she’s ever wanted—to eat, breathe, and sleep books. But when she hired Michael, a handsome college student, she had no idea he was a four-hundred-year-old vampire and that inviting him into her life would result in her becoming one too. But not before he knocked her up and broke her heart.
Now Miriam is a single mother, all alone in a new world with a new vampire body. And someone’s trying to kill her. Who? Why? She has no real enemies.
If only Michael would help. After all, he’s the vampire king now. And this is one mystery she can’t solve on her own.
NEVER FALL FOR A LIBRARIAN!
MICHAEL VANDERHORST knows he’s changed. He can no longer love or laugh or enjoy hot peppers like he used to. But being an unfeeling, ruthless vampire is what it takes to rule the deadliest bloodsuckers on the planet. It’s the only way to keep humankind safe.
Problem is, his enemies know the librarian and his daughter are special to him. They are his to protect, even if he’s incapable of feeling love.
But when danger comes knocking at Miriam’s library door, he must choose between solving the biggest mystery of his existence and the woman he swore to protect.
“I am a Vampire Man! Vampire on the inside. Man on the outside. NOM NOM NOM
Michael and Miriam’s stories may be told, but we still have Mr Nice to deal with. Vampire Man picks up where Book 5 left off, but seeing it is Mr Nice’s story, a rebirth, if you will, it can stand by itself and he is about to get some very bad news. I feel for the messenger. You know the saying, right? Don’t kill the messenger? Well, Mr Nice could very well do that. There is a secret Mr Nice is keeping, thinking to unleash it when the time is right. We have good and bad vampires, as well as good and bad humans.
We have lots of laughs, danger and gruesome deaths, but love is the magic element that can make an evil vampire reevaluate what is important in life. Does he deserve a second chance?
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Vampire Man by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
From New York Times Bestseller Mimi Jean Pamfiloff, comes a standalone Paranormal Romcom about second chances.
CAN THIS EVIL VAMPIRE CHANGE HIS WAYS?
Just
a few short years ago, a medical miracle turned this ancient evil
vampire into a human baby. Just a small setback in Mr. Nice’s plans for
world domination, right?
Wrong. Because now a slight problem with the transformation has left him aging five times faster than a regular human.
Sure,
he’s happier and stronger than he ever was in his past human life
(These vitamins do wonders!), but if he wants to live, he’ll have to
find a vampire willing to turn him. Fast!
Of course, none of
them are crazy enough to do it. Not after the hell he put the vampire
world through, including the vampire king.
“Will no one give me a second chance? I’m only a little bit evil now!”
Then,
just when all hope is lost, he walks into a library and meets the new
head librarian. She might be the only vampire on the planet who has no
clue who he is.
Can he convince her he’s a good man, one who deserves to live forever? Because she’ll only turn the man who’s destined to be her mate.
I have loved the series…so far…and will be reading Books 2 and 3 ASAP. This was free at time of posting, as was Book I
ABOUT MIMI JEAN PAMFILOFF
MIMI JEAN PAMFILOFF is a New York Times bestselling author who’s sold over one million books around the world. Although she obtained her MBA and worked for more than fifteen years in the corporate world, she believes that it’s never too late to come out of the romance closet and follow your dreams.
Mimi lives with her Latin lover hubby, two pirates-in-training (their boys), and their three spunky dragons (really, just very tiny dogs with big attitudes) Snowy, Mini, and Mack, in the vampire-unfriendly state of Arizona.
She hopes to make you laugh when you need it most and continues to pray daily that leather pants will make a big comeback for men.
The cover for Bad Fairy Strikes Again by Elaine Kaye is so darn cute how could I possibly resist reading about Thistle Greenbud. I was amazed that an author I love so much, Abigail Owen, created the cover.
Smiles and delight abound as I embark on a mystery adventure with Thistle and her fluttery friends. I immediately fell in love with them all.
We have a mystery to be solved. Thistle’s dad is missing.
As the gang investigates, Elaine Kaye’s creative writing made it so easy for me to visualize them fluttering through the forest. Each fairy has a uniquely cute personality. I want to meet them again. I want to hang out with them. If I physically stepped into the book, could I be a fairy too?
The message fits the story and blends in seamlessly.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Bad Fairy Strikes Again by Elaine Kaye.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Thistle Greenbud
thought the nickname Bad Fairy was behind her, but she can’t escape it.
Someone is spreading a rumor about her that just isn’t true and can ruin
all of her hard work in getting into Advanced School. What fairy would
do such a thing?
As if that’s not bad enough, Thistle’s dad goes
missing. Not a single fairy in Tinselville has seen him. He’s vanished
like pixie dust. Her mom is distraught, and Thistle is worried. Where
could he be?
Thistle and the Flutters, along with Dusty and Moss,
are on both cases. Can they find out what happened to her dad and solve
the Bad Fairy rumor? Thistle hopes so!
Age Range: 8-12
A Bad Fairy Adventure Series: Bad Fairy (#1) Bad Fairy Strikes Again (#2)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elaine Kaye is the author of A Gregory Green Adventure series. She first created Gregory Green after her son, who loved her homemade pea soup, thus inspiring the story Pea Soup Disaster. Bad Fairy is her middle grade debut and the first of A Bad Fairy Adventure series.
Kaye has worked as a
library assistant and teacher’s assistant in elementary schools in the Sunshine
State. She currently lives in Florida, but she has called Michigan; Honolulu,
Hawaii; and Okinawa, Japan home. She is a grandmother of three boys.
Oh yeah. A new series , River’s End Rescues, by Jane Blythe. I eagerly anticipate meeting new ‘people’ and watching how their lives grow and change through the danger and suspense Jane Blythe creates in her romantic suspense novels.
Looking at the cover, I thought this may be a bit on the tame side, but I should never have second guessed Jane Blythe. I immediately connected to Meadow, a woman on the run…
She had just enough money to get her to River’s End.
From the moment Abe Black, the sheriff of River’s End, saw her at the diner, he became her protector. Seeing this is a romantic suspense novel, I don’t think it will stay that way. LOL
Abe had grown up in River’s End, and after the war in Afghanistan, he came home to the peace and quiet of the small town of River’s End. He became the sheriff and settled on his own plot of land. He determined it was his lot in life, to maintain a peaceful place for those to come.
I love stories that take place in small towns, a damsel in distress, and a hunkaclicious man who will save her. We quickly meet the characters that live there and they appear as if they could be our own neighbors and friends.
Abe made Meadow an offer…to stay with him until she got on her feet. It felt safe to her. It felt right, and she wondered….
She was running…from a psychopathic husband that wants what belongs to him and will stop at nothing to get IT back.
Jane Blythe has the ability to create characters and worlds that quickly draw me in, never letting me go. I loved that she found a way to write romantic suspense without the woman making some boner move that has her walking into danger. I know it’s hard to come up with new ways to create danger and suspense in the last half of the book without the woman looking like a dumbass and making a stupid move, running straight into trouble, but Jane Blythe did a bang up job of doing just that.
I highly recommend Jane Blythe’s work and can hardly wait to see what she comes up with for the next book in the River’s End Rescues series.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Some Regrets Are Forever by Jane Blythe.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
She will bring sunshine to his life … if he can keep her alive.
All Meadow Smith has ever wanted was to belong. Unfortunately her desire to find her place in the world led to a decision she regrets but can never take back. Now she’s on the run and has to decide if she can put her trust in another man or if she’s safer if she keeps moving. Problem is you can’t run from your problems forever.
Abe Black served his country and now he serves the people of River’s End as Sheriff of the quaint small town. As soon as he spots Meadow he knows she’s in trouble, he wants to help just like he wants to give in to his growing feelings for the sweet woman but he’s been burned before. Can he settle for just trying to keep her alive and then walk away?
ABOUT JANE BLYTHE
Jane
has loved reading and writing since she can remember. She writes dark
and disturbing crime/mystery/suspense with some romance thrown in
because, well, who doesn’t love romance? She has one completed series,
Detective Parker Bell, and one new series, Count to Ten.
When she’s not writing Jane loves to
read, bake, go to the beach, ski, horse ride, and watch Disney movies.
She has a black belt in Taekwondo, and a 200+ collection of teddy bears.
She has the world’s two most sweet and pretty Dalmatians, Ivory and
Pearl. Oh, and she also enjoys spending time with family and friends!
Yeah, I know, another virus novel…but Jason Parent has the ability to spin a tale that can rock my world, so I am very happy to read and share his version of research that is out of the control of those who TRY and contain it. Lives will be lost..and maybe…
As I write the review, I had to scrap my notes and write on the fly. I enjoyed the story so much, I sure don’t want to spoil anything for you, Experiencing the horror around every corner is worth finding out for yourself.
I know with Jason Parent, I’m going to have a wild ride into the depths of Hell, and I gladly buckle up, clench…well…everything, and settle in.
As each body falls to Molli, I keep hoping some will survive. Jason Parent creates characters that I quickly become involved with, and keeps me wondering if they will survive what is coming at them.
So…prepare yourself. Watch for that movement out of the corner of your eye. Is it Molli? How about that feeling that something is caressing your skin. Is it Molli?
Will anyone survive?
The ending…took my by surprise and I loved/hated it. I sat for a while, thinking about it. LOL Even though the story is told, my mind keeps going, anticipating what comes next. Is it really over? Great job, Jason.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Apocalypse Strain by Jason Parent.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A multi-national research team, led by a medical genomics expert suffering from MS, study an ancient pandoravirus at a remote Siberian research facility. Called “Molli” by the research team, the organic substance reveals some unique but troublesome characteristics, qualities that, in the wrong hands, could lead to human extinction.
The researchers soon learn that even in the right hands, Molli is a force too dangerous to escape their compound. But the virus has a mind of its own, and it wants out.
FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.
ABOUT JASON PARENT
In
his head, Jason Parent lives in many places, but in the real world, he
calls New England his home. The region offers an abundance of settings
for his writing and many wonderful places in which to write them. He
currently resides in Southeastern Massachusetts with his cuddly corgi
named Calypso.
In a prior life, Jason spent most of his
time in front of a judge . . . as a civil litigator. When he finally
tired of Latin phrases no one knew how to pronounce and explaining to
people that real lawsuits are not started, tried and finalized within
the 60-minute timeframe they see on TV (it’s harassing the witness; no
one throws vicious woodland creatures at them), he traded in his cheap
suits for flip flops and designer stubble. The flops got repossessed the
next day, and he’s back in the legal field . . . sorta. But that’s
another story.
When he’s not working, Jason likes to
kayak, catch a movie, travel any place that will let him enter, and play
just about any sport (except that ball tied to the pole thing where you
basically just whack the ball until it twists into a knot or takes
somebody’s head off – he misses the appeal). And read and write, of
course. He does that too sometimes.
Amanda Siegrist is able to combine sorrow and delight into happy ever after in a way that keeps me reading, growing to love the characters she creates, and leaving me wanting more.
Amanda Siegrist takes an insecure woman, Mia Carter, and creates a realistic character who finds her place in life, and someone to share it with. Isn’t that what we all want?
Jaxon is a police detective who works with Mia’s best friend, Gabby. After a robbery, he comes knocking on her door. Her knight in shining armor has arrived…again.
Jaxson Brandt had made his feelings clear to Mia…at The Wrong Time. After he declared his feelings for her, it put a distance between them. She denied her feelings, a least to everyone but herself. Doubt and fear held her back. Coud she take that leap of faith that love demanded?
Would there ever be The Right Time?
Amanda Siegrist makes me a sucker for her sweet romances. There is no intense danger, most of the time, just two people working through their issues to find themselves and each other. They could be your friends, your sister, your brother..
The Wrong Time by Amanda Siegrist has all you could want in a sweet romance: angst, the push/pull of romance, sorrow. tears, humor, joy and a happy ever after.
I voluntarily reviewed and ARC of The Right Time by Amanda Siegrist.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
From USA Today
bestselling author Amanda Siegrist comes a brand new series full of
humor, a sassy heroine, and a sexy, sinful hero that will sweep you off
your feet.
The plan: Organize an epic birthday party without spilling the massive secret—that has nothing to do with the party. Timeframe: Two weeks.
Plan a party? Check. Try not to think about the man she can’t have? Check. Suddenly accept said man’s proposal. Check. Wait…what
did Mia Carter do? There was no way she could marry Jaxson Brandt. It
would never last. Nothing in her life ever does. They weren’t even
dating. They couldn’t go from just friends to marriage. She’ll just have
to tell him she changed her mind. If only he’d give her a chance to do
so. But between planning a birthday party and trying to keep her bestie
from finding out they’re getting hitched, she can’t seem to find the
right time. He’s making it his mission to show her what love is
truly about—something she’d never had before. She’s just not sure it’ll
be enough to convince her.
Warning: This is not a full romcom.
While it has moments of humor, it also has a twist of angst. Okay, now
you can dive in, you’re prepared!
The entire Perfect For You series: (Each book can be read as a standalone.) The Wrong Brother (Book 1): Dane & Gabriella The Right Time (Book 2): Jaxson & Mia
ABOUT AMANDA SIEGRIST
Love!
Gimme some love and heaps of romance. I have a sappy heart that just
loves two people meeting, going through the cycles of a relationship,
and ultimately, falling in love. Give me a good book like that and I’m a
happy camper:)
I write contemporary and romantic suspense, but I am partial to suspense. I just love a good mystery.
Besides writing, I love baking, crafts, and baseball…oh, and meeting new people. *smiles*
Stephen Henning has been writing his Class Heroes novels since 2011 and I have been with him all the way. I have come to love these characters and am always eager to meet a new superhero and learn of his powers.
Stephen Henning has created some wonderful characters and scenarios in his Class Heroes series and I think that many teens and young adults, especially, would love meeting them….and I have too.
From life experiences, Deenpal Mander believes that life is governed by chance.
Deenpal hears of Sir Michael Rosebud, who is offering anyone with superpowers a $100,000 check and a home on Liberation Island, a safe haven from those who would want to exploit them. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I feel, if something is too good to be true, BEWARE. You’ll have to read the book to find out, but…
I feel so bad for Deepal. He is a young man, naive, homeless, no family left, with a superpower that puts him in danger…and, of course, he is going to run into someone that has that exact agenda and uses every wile he has to possess Deenpal, as if he is merchandise to be bought and sold.
He meets Richard Ratchett in Manchester and…I don’t feel real good about this.
I feel a sense of danger throughout the story, and, like Deenpal, am having a hard time figuring out who to trust. I worry for him and am eager to see what Stephen Henning has in store for him. Chantelle was a wonderful surprise. Sometimes we can all be too quick to judge.
I love the moments of paying it forward.
As I got closer to the end, I kept checking how many pages were left. I wondered how he was going to bring this story to a close. Would there be a cliffhanger? NO.
Each book has given me a wonderful glimpse into the fabulous characters and their superhero world, all the while drawing me in further. He does wrap each of his stories up,so I feel they could stand alone, but isn’t it always best to start a series from the beginning?
Stephen Henning ended Jesus of the North in a good place, leaving me eagerly anticipating the next story, How To Start You Own Country. Hmmmm…..
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Jesus of the North by Stephen Henning.
4 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
Deenpal Mander arrives in Manchester (UK), to attend some very special X-Factor-style auditions, which have been organised by Sir Michael Rosewood to try and find people with super powers. His special ability brings him to the attention of crooked construction boss Richard Ratchett, and puts him in danger from the world of organized crime. Can Deen find a way to escape an evil people-trafficking network? And if he does, is accepting Sir Michael’s friendship really the salvation that he thinks it is?
ABOUT STEPHEN HENNING
I
began writing the first Class Heroes book on my laptop in February
2011, but these stories have probably been continually playing in my
head since I was aged five or six, when I would act them out with toys
and with my friends. I then branched out into using pencils, colouring
pens and paper, moving on to writing pads and then my first computer.
So, as you’ve probably gathered, I have always enjoyed making up stories and the super-hero genre has been one of my favourites.
The CV-type stuff is that I went to Sheffield Hallam University to
study English. I then trained and briefly worked as a journalist in
Salford. After that, I moved into publishing – which was great. An
interesting and fun industry to be in and fascinating to see how books
are put together and sold.
After that I started doing technical writing, which led me to start
my own business with my friend and colleague Andrew Butters. My love of
writing, generally, led me back to writing fiction. Our company,
Elucidox Ltd, publishes the Class Heroes books.
If you want to know a bit more about me, what kind of super powers I
have and the kind of super villains I have to tangle with on a daily
basis, then feel free to watch Rage. This is a short film, that took a
long time to make. It’s a simple day in my life :-). Actually it’s just a
fun movie that I made with the very kind help of some of my best mates.
We had a laugh doing it, hope you like it too. And if you do, then why
not explore the super world of the Class Heroes books?
All Those Who Came Before is the sixth book in the Spookie Town Murder Mystery series by Kathryn Meyer Griffith. I don’t know how she keeps coming up with such amazing, fresh stories for the series, but she has been doing a smash up job.
Green skies…do you know what they mean? A storm is coming…
A short cut home…
An abandoned house…calling to her. Town folks thought it was haunted because of the family that was murdered there. In Spookie town, I have no doubt of it. BUT, Kathryn Meyer Griffith gives me more than I expect when I crack open one of her books and that makes me happy.
Along with getting updates on what’s been shaking in Spookie Town and the characters that live there, we have a couple of mysteries going on and lots of danger. We have soooo many people to worry about and I am very worried. I have grown to love and care for them and wish them only the best….but…well, you know, we gotta have action. I won’t say who I am most worried about, but I will recommend not putting things off when something doesn’t feel right.
I have a good idea of what the mystery is, but boy oh boy, Kathryn Meyer Griffith pulls out all the stops and gives me those twists, turns and book surprises that I look for to make a book stand out.
A past mystery will be solved, an injustice righted and a wedding celebration is in order.
There seemed to be some repetition, but the story kept flowing and my interest never waned. Good times, bad times, Kathryn Meyer Griffith left me with a smile on my face, hoping for more mysteries and laughter with these fun and quirky characters.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of What Lies Beneath by Kathryn Meyer Griffith.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
This sixth Spookie Town Murder Mystery belongs primarily to Abigail and Frank Lester, my two main characters in the six book series. It’s their turn. First off, it at long last solves the enigma of Abigail’s first husband Joel Sutton’s disappearance, and death, a decade before…the tragic event that sent Abigail to Spookie in the first place to begin a new life. The new life that would grow so big as to include a new love, a new family, quirky, but well-meaning friends, and the strange murder mysteries her new friends would drag her into over the years. As an unsolicited, and unwanted, envelope arrives from Abigail’s now dead detective she’d hired a decade before to find her missing first husband, its contents sends Frank searching for the truth. The envelope’s files are full of disturbing facts concerning the unsolved crime and it piques Frank’s interest. Soon, against Abby’s wishes, he’s on the cold trail of what actually happened to Joel Sutton–had he been a victim of just an accident, as some have always believed, or did someone murder him? In his search for the truth, Frank ends up in lethal danger when the investigation comes to a violent conclusion. This story is also about an infamous haunted house at 707 Suncrest, in the woods; about the cold blooded murders of a whole family that occurred there forty years before. Is the house on Suncrest truly haunted by the ghosts of the dead family? Is it dangerous? When Abby decides to paint a series of canvases of the spooky old house, she’ll find out. Then along with those two new mysteries to unravel, of course, all of Spookie’s quirky town characters have returned to irritate, amuse and sleuth with Abby and Frank. Will they get out of these new mysteries alive, too? Perhaps.
ABOUT KATHRYN MEYER GRIFFITH
Kathryn Meyer Griffith has been a writer
for over forty-nine years now and has had twenty-nine novels and thirteen short
stories published since 1984. She began her writing career as a paperback
horror author in 1984 with Leisure and Zebra Publishing, but has since moved on
to write paranormal horror, romantic historical time-travel, suspense, romance,
thrillers, and murder mysteries. Her horror novel The Last Vampire, and her
thriller Dinosaur Lake (now a best-selling five book series), were both Epic
eBook Awards Finalists in 2012 and 2014. Kathryn Meyer Griffith rdgriff@htc.net
NOVELS: Evil Stalks the Night, The Heart
of the Rose, Blood Forged, Vampire Blood, The Last Vampire (2012 Epic
eBook Awards Finalists in their Horror category), Witches, Witches II:
Apocalypse, Witches plus Witches II: Apocalypse, The Nameless One erotic
horror short story, The Calling, Scraps of Paper (1st Spookie Town
Murder Mystery), All Things Slip Away (2nd Spookie Town Murder Mystery),
Ghosts Beneath Us (3rd Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Witches Among Us
(4th Spookie Town Murder Mystery), What Lies Beneath the Graves (5th
Spookie Town Murder Mystery), All Those Who Came Before (6th Spookie
Town Murder Mystery); soon, a 7th, When the Fireflies
Retuned, out in December 2020, Egyptian Heart, Winter’s Journey, The Ice
Bridge, Don’t Look Back, Agnes, A Time of Demons and Angels, The Woman
in Crimson, Human No Longer, Four Spooky Short Stories Collection,
Forever and Always Romantic Novella, Night Carnival Short Story,
Dinosaur Lake (2014 Epic eBook Awards Finalists in their
Thriller/Adventure category), Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising,
Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation and Dinosaur Lake IV: Dinosaur Wars,
Dinosaur Lake V: Survivors, Memories of My Childhood, and a biographical
short story Christmas Magic 1959.
I have been reading the Selkie Moon Series by Virginia King for a while now and loving it. Planting Pearls is taking us back to the beginning of Selkie’s journey. If you would like to meet her, pick up Planting Pearls for FREE.
I have read the first four books in the Selkie Moon Series, and Virginia King is taking us back to the beginning of Selkie Moon’s journey in Planting Pearls. If you are up for a ghostly mystery, this may be a book for you.
Sneaking away while her ex is out of town, Selkie Moon hops a plane and lands in Hawaii.
Through a series of coincidences, Selkie ends up at The Pearl and finds herself a roommate in Wanda, a friend in Derek, and a ghostly mystery to solve.
As she sits feeling a bit sorry for herself, she realizes after 20 years under Andrew’s thumb, things are falling into place with her. He is a nasty piece of work and dogs her every step, doing his best to ruin her life and drive her back into his arms.
I have grown to love the characters that Virginia King has created and by going back to the beginning and learning how they all came together, whether through Fate, Karma, or luck, I have only grown to care for them more.
In Planting Pearls, I have met Sage, a sweet, sophisticated, young girl who is very mature for her age…and I love her. She is not a character that continues in the series, but she sure stands out in Planting Pearls.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Planting Pearls by Virginia King.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
When Selkie Moon escapes her controlling husband to start a new life in Hawaii, she’s under pressure to support herself with her new business, stay hidden from her ex, and trust her new friends.
She doesn’t expect to get tangled in a so-called haunting!
What happened at the old Honolulu house back in 1961, when Elvis was shooting Blue Hawaii?
Do the weird experiences of the new owners and their five-year-old daughter mean they’ve interrupted a ghost?
Or could something else be going on?
As she helps to unravel the mystery, Selkie gets caught up in something that’s way beyond her skill-set. Will her amateur ghost-hunting put her and everyone else in danger?
ABOUT VIRGINIA KING
When a voice wakes you up in the middle of the night and tells you
to write a mystery series, what’s a writer to do? That’s how I came to
create Selkie Moon, after a massage from a strange woman with gifted
hands was followed by this nocturnal message. I sat down at the
keyboard until Selkie Moon turned up — a modern woman with a mythical
name. Soon I was hooked, exploring far-flung places full of secrets
where Selkie delves into psychological clues tangled up in the local
mythology.
Before Selkie Moon invaded my life, I’d been a
teacher, an unemployed ex-teacher, the author of over 50 children’s
books, an audio-book producer, a workshop presenter and a prize-winning
publisher. These days I live in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney
with my husband, where I disappear each day into Selkie Moon’s latest
mystery. Bliss.
Israel: A drone-based terrorist attack kills dozens on a sun-splashed beach in Caesarea.
Washington: America awakens to the shattering news that Vice President Stephanie Davenport has died of an apparent heart attack.
That same morning, a chance encounter on the Washington Metro results
in international private investigator Robert Brixton thwarting an
attempted terrorist bombing. Brixton has no reason to suspect that the
three incidents have anything in common, until he’s contacted by Kendra
Rendine, the Secret Service agent who headed up the vice president’s
security detail. Rendine is convinced the vice president was murdered
and needs Brixton’s investigative expertise to find out why.
In Israel, meanwhile, legendary anti-terrorist fighter Lia Ganz
launches her own crusade against the perpetrators of that attack which
nearly claimed the lives of her and granddaughter. Ganz’s trail will
ultimately take her to Washington where she joins forces with Brixton to
uncover an impossible link between the deadly attack on Caesarea and
the attempted Metro bombing, as well as the death of the vice president.
The connection lies in the highest corridors of power in Washington
where a deadly plot with unimaginable consequences has been hatched.
With the clock ticking toward doomsday, Brixton and Ganz race against
time to save millions of American lives who will otherwise become
collateral damage to a conspiracy destined to change the United States
forever.
Praise :
“Jon Land is one of the best thriller writers in the business, and
the Capital Crimes series is in superb and skilled hands with him.
Nobody does pacing better than Land, and MURDER ON THE METRO starts with a bang and keeps on going at breakneck speed. If you haven’t read this excellent series, start with Land’s MURDER ON THE METRO.” —Lisa Scottoline, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Book Details:
Genre: Thriller Published by: Forge Books Publication Date: February 16th 2021 Number of Pages: 288 ISBN: 1250238870 (ISBN13: 9781250238870) Series: A Capital Crimes Novel, #32 Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Tour Info:
Book Formats: Print, Netgalley Hosting Options: Review, Interview, Guest Post, Showcase Giveaway: There will be a PICT Giveaway More: According to the author Murder on the Metro does not
include: Excessive Strong Language, Graphic Violence, Explicit Sexual
Scenes, Rape, or other trigger situations. It does contain what some may
consider to be: Steamy Clean (mild language, mild sexual tension and
innuendo, no sex scenes) content. PICT staff have not read this book,
however and cannot give additional information.
Read an excerpt:
CHAPTER 1
Washington, DC; the next morning
Not again . . .
That was Robert Brixton’s first thought when his gaze locked on the
woman seated across from him in the Washington Metro car. He was riding
into the city amid the clutter of morning commuters from the apartment
in Arlington, Virginia where he now lived alone, his girlfriend Flo
Combes having returned to New York.
Former girlfriend, Brixton corrected in his mind. And Flo’s return to
New York, where she’d opened her first clothing boutique, looked very
much like it was for good this time.
Which brought his attention back to the woman wearing a hijab and
bearing a strong resemblance to another Muslim woman who’d been haunting
his sleep for five years now, since she’d detonated a suicide bomb
inside a crowded DC restaurant, killing Brixton’s daughter Janet and
eleven other victims that day. He’d seen it coming, felt it anyway, as
if someone had dragged the head of a pin up his spine. He hadn’t been a
cop for years at that point, having taken his skills into the private
sector, but his instincts remained unchanged, always serving him well
and almost always being proven right.
But today he wanted to be wrong, wanted badly to be wrong. Because if
his instincts were correct, tragedy was about to repeat itself with him
bearing witness yet again, relocated from a bustling café to a crowded
Metro car.
The woman wearing the hijab turned enough to meet his gaze, Brixton
unable to jerk his eyes away in time and forcing the kind of smile
strangers cast each other. The woman didn’t return it, just turned her
focus back forward, her expression empty as if bled of emotion. In
Brixton’s experience, she resembled a criminal who found strange solace
in the notion of being caught after tiring of the chase. That was the
suspicious side of his nature. If not for a long career covering various
aspects of law enforcement, including a private investigator with
strong international ties, Brixton would likely have seen her as the
other passengers in the Metro car did: A quiet woman with big soft eyes
just hoping to blend in with the scenery and not attract any attention
to herself.
Without reading material of any kind, a cell phone in her grasp, or
ear buds dangling. Brixton gazed about; as far as he could tell, she was
the only passenger in sight, besides him, not otherwise occupied to
pass the time. So in striving not to stand out, the young woman had
achieved the opposite.
He studied her closer, determining that the woman didn’t look tired,
so much as content. And, beneath her blank features, Brixton sensed
something taut and resigned, a spring slowly uncoiling. Something,
though, had changed in her expression since the moment their eyes had
met. She was fidgeting in her seat now, seeking comfort that clearly
eluded her.
Just as another suicide bomber had five years ago
If he didn’t know better, he would’ve fully believed he was back in
that DC restaurant again, granted a second chance to save his daughter
after he’d failed so horribly the first time.
***
Five years ago
What world are you in? Janet had asked a clearly distracted Brixton, then consumed by the nagging feeling dragged up his spine.
Let’s go.
Daddy, I haven’t finished!
Janet always called him “Daddy.” Much had been lost to memory from
that day, forcibly put aside, but not that or the moments that followed.
It had been the last time she’d ever called him that and Brixton had
fought to preserve the recording that existed only in his mind
resolvedly ever since. Whenever it faded, he fought to get it back,
treating Janet’s final address of him like a voicemail machine message
from a lost loved one forever saved on his phone.
Come on.
Is something wrong?
We’re leaving.
Brixton had headed to the door, believing his daughter was right
behind him. He realized she wasn’t only when he was through it, turning
back toward the table to see Janet facing the Muslim woman wearing the
hijab who was chanting in Arabic.
Janet!
He’d started to storm back inside to get her when the explosion
shattered the placid stillness of the day, an ear-splitting blast that
hit him like a Category Five wind gust to the chest and sent him
sprawling to the sidewalk. His head ping-ponged off the concrete,
threatening his grip on consciousness. Parts of a splintered table came
flying in his direction and he threw his arms over his face to shield it
from wooden shards and other debris that caked the air, cataloguing
them as they soared over him in absurd counterpoint. Plates, glasses,
skin, limbs, eyeglasses, knives, forks, beer mugs, chair legs and arms,
calamari, boneless ribs, pizza slices, a toy gorilla that had been held
by a child a table two removed from where he’d been sitting with Janet,
and empty carafes of wine with their contents seeming to trail behind
them like vapor trails.
The surreal nature of that moment made Brixton think he might be
sleeping, all this no more than the product of an airy dream to be lost
to memory by the time woke. He remembered lying on the sidewalk, willing
himself to wake up, to rouse from this nightmare-fueled stupor. The
worst moment of his life followed the realization that he wasn’t asleep
and an imponderable wave of grief washed over him, stealing his next
breath and making him wonder if he even wanted to bother trying for
another.
Brixton had stumbled to his feet before what moments earlier had been
a bustling café filled with happy people. Now, bodies were everywhere,
some piled on top of others, blood covering everything and everyone. He
touched the side of his face and pulled bloody fingers away from the
wound. He looked back into the café in search of his daughter but saw
only a tangle of limbs and clothing where they’d been sitting.
“Oh, my God,” he whispered, his senses sharpening. “Janet!”
Washington’s Twenty-third Street had been crammed with pedestrians at
the time of the blast, joined now by people pouring out of office
buildings and other restaurants nearby, within eye or earshot of the
dual blasts. Brixton’s attempts to get closer to the carnage, holding
out hope Janet might still be alive, were thwarted at every turn by
throngs fleeing in panic in an endless wave.
“My daughter! My daughter!” he kept crying out, as if that might make the crowd yield and the chaos recede.
***
It wasn’t until Brixton reached the hospital that he learned Janet
hadn’t made it out, had been declared one of the missing. Having served
as an agent for a private security agency out-sourced to the State
Department at the time, he knew all too well that missing meant dead. He
had another daughter, Janet’s older sister, who’d given him a beautiful
grandson he loved dearly, but that was hardly enough to make up for the
loss of Janet. And the guilt over not having dragged her out with him
when she’d resisted leaving had haunted him to this very moment, when
instinct told him many on this crowded subway car might well be about to
join her.
Thanks to another woman wearing a hijab, but it wasn’t just that.
Brixton had crossed paths with an untold number of Arab women in the
five years since Janet’s death, and not one before today had ever
elicited in him the feeling he had now. She might’ve been a twin of the
bomber who’d taken his daughter from him, about whom Brixton could
recall only one thing:
Her eyes.
This woman had the very same shifting look, trying so hard to appear
casual that it seemed she was wearing a costume, sticking out to him as
much as a kid on Halloween. Brixton spun his gaze back in her direction,
prepared to measure off the distance between them and how he might
cover it before she could trigger her explosives.
But the young woman was gone.
Brixton looked down the center aisle cluttered with commuters
clutching poles or dangling hand-hold straps. He spotted the young woman
in the hijab an instant before she cocked her gaze briefly back in his
direction, a spark of clear recognition flashing when their eyes met
this time.
She knows I made her, Brixton thought, heavy with fear as he climbed to his feet.
He started after her, heart hammering in his chest, the sensation he
was feeling in that dreadful moment all too familiar. He couldn’t help
but catalogue the people he passed in the woman’s wake, many of whom
were either his late daughter’s age or younger. Smiling, gabbing away on
their phones, reading a book, or lost between their earbuds without any
knowledge of how horribly their lives might very well be about to
change. If he needed any further motivation to keep moving and stop the
potential suicide bomber though any means necessary, that was it. Doubt
vanished, Brixton trusting his instincts in a way he hadn’t that tragic
day five years ago when he was still a de facto agent for the US
government.
Janet . . .
In Brixton’s mind, this was no longer a Metro car, but the same
restaurant where a suicide bomber had taken a dozen lives and wounded
dozens more. And he found himself faced with the chance to do today what
he hadn’t done five years ago.
Stop!
Had Brixton barked that command out loud, or merely formed the
thought in his head. Other passengers were staring at him now, his surge
up the aisle disturbing the meager comfort of their morning routine.
Ahead of him, the woman wearing the hijab had picked up her pace,
Brixton spotting her dip a hand beneath a jacket that seemed much too
heavy for the unseasonably mild Washington, DC spring. His experience
with the State Department working for the shadowy SITQUAL group, along
with that as a cop, told him she was likely reaching for the pull cord
that would detonate the suicide vest concealed under bulky sweatshirt
and jacket.
If you could relive the day of your daughter’s death, what would you do?
I’d shoot the bitch before she had the chance to yank that cord,
Brixton thought, drawing his Sig Sauer P-226 nine-millimeter pistol. It
had survived his tenure with SITQUAL as his weapon of choice, well
balanced and deadly accurate.
He could feel the crowd around him recoiling, pulling back, when they
saw the pistol steadied in his hand. Several gasped. A woman cried out.
A kid dropped his cell phone into Brixton’s path and he accidentally
kicked it aside.
“Stop!”
Shouted out loud for sure this time, the dim echo bouncing off the
Metro car’s walls as it wound in thunderous fashion through the tube.
The young woman in the hijab was almost to the rear door separating this
car from the next. Brixton was close enough to hear the whoooooshhh as
she engaged the door, breaking the rule that prohibited passengers from
such car-hopping.
“Stop!”
She turned her gaze back toward him as he raised his pistol, ready to
take the shot he hadn’t taken five years ago. Passengers cried out and
shrank from his path. The door hissed closed, the young woman regarding
him vacantly through the safety glass as she stretched hand out blindly
to activate the door accessing the next car back.
And that’s when she stumbled. Brixton was well aware of the problems
encountered by this new 7000 series of Metro railcars after federal
safety officials raised repeated concerns about a potential safety risk
involving the barriers between cars that were designed to prevent blind
and visually impaired people from inadvertently walking off the platform
and falling through the gap. The issue initially was raised by
disability rights advocates, who argued the rubber barriers were spaced
too far apart, leaving enough room for a small person to slip through.
The young woman wearing the hijab was small. And she started to slip through.
Brixton watched her drop from sight an instant before an all-too
familiar flash created a star burst before him. He felt light, floating
as if there was nothing beneath his feet, because for a moment there
wasn’t. The piercing blast that buckled the Metro car door blew him
backward, the percussion lifting him up and then dropping him back down,
still in motion sliding across the floor amid a demolition derby of
commuters crashing into each other, as the train barreled along.
Separated now from its rear-most cars, what remained of the train
whipsawed through the tube with enough force to lift this car from the
rails and send it alternately slamming up against one side and then the
other.
Brixton maintained the presence of mind to realize his back and
shoulders had come to rest awkwardly against a seat, even as the squeal
of the brakes engaging grew into a deafening wail and his eyes locked on
the car door that to him looked as if someone had used a can opener to
carve a jagged fissure along the center of its buckled seam. The car
itself seemed to be swaying—left, right, and back again—but he couldn’t
be sure if that was real or the product of the concussion he may have
suffered from the blast wave or upon slamming up against the seat.
Unlike five years ago, Brixton had come to rest sitting up, staring
straight ahead at the back door of the Metro car currently held at an
awkwardly angled perch nearly sideways across the tracks. He realized
that through it all he’d somehow maintained grasp of his pistol, now
steadied at the twisted remnants of the Metro car door as if he expected
the young woman to reappear at any moment.
Janet . . .
A wave of euphoria washed over Brixton as, this time, he thought he’d
saved her, making the best of the do-over fate had somehow granted him.
The Metro car floor felt soft and cushiony, leaving him with the
dream-like sense he was drifting away toward the bright lights shining
down from the ceiling.
And then there was only darkness.
***
Excerpt from Murder on the Metro by Jon Land. Copyright 2021 by Jon Land. Reproduced with permission from Jon Land. All rights reserved.
JON LAND is the USA Today bestselling author of over fifty books,
including eleven in the critically acclaimed Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong
series, the most recent of which, Strong from the Heart, won the 2020
American Fiction Award for Best Thriller and the 2020 American Book Fest
Award for Best Mystery/Suspense Novel. Additionally, he has teamed up
with Heather Graham for a science fiction series that began with THE
RISING (winner of the 2017 International Book Award for best Sci-fi
Novel) and continues with BLOOD MOON. He has also written six books in
the Murder, She Wrote series of mysteries and has more recently taken
over Margaret Truman’s Capital Crimes series, beginning with Murder on
the Metro in February of 2021. A graduate of Brown University, he
received the 2019 Rhode Island Authors Legacy Award for his lifetime of
literary achievements. Land lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
