. The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.
~~~
A messy bookshelf is the norm around the Fundin household. I just cannot help but pick up another book and another and another…
Authors from Michigan are always of interest to me, seeing I am originally from Michigan, but I would grab a Daniel Silva novel anyway.
Lena had never seen Jeffrey look as bad as he did now. He had changed clothes from before, but his suit was rumpled and he was not wearing a tie. The closer he got, the worse he looked.
(Page 56 in hardcover,1st edition, published in 2003)
Book Beginnings
Sara Linton stared at the entrance to the Dairy Queen, watching her very pregnant sister walk out with a cup of chocolate-covered ice cream in each hand. As Tessa crossed the parking lot the wind picked up, and her purple dress rose above her knees. She struggled to keep the jumper down without spilling the ice cream, and Sara could hear her cursing as she got closer to the car.
GOODREADS BLURB: The third pulse-pounding novel in the Grant County series from New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter.
Sara Linton, medical examiner in the small town of Heartsdale, Georgia, is called out to an apparent suicide on the local college campus. The mutilated body provides little in the way of clues — and the college authorities are eager to avoid a scandal — but for Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, things don’t add up.
Two more suspicious suicides follow, and a young woman is brutally attacked. For Sara, the violence strikes far too close to home. And as Jeffrey pursues the sadistic killer, he discovers that ex-police detective Lena Adams, now a security guard on campus, may be in possession of crucial information. But, bruised and angered by her expulsion from the force, Lena seems to be barely capable of protecting herself, let alone saving the next victim…
Lauren Carr is the bestselling author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, the Lovers in Crime Mysteries, and the brand new series, The Thorny Rose Mysteries. We caught up with the charming mystery writer as she preps to kick off her upcoming virtual book tour for A Fine Year for Murder, the 2th in the Mac Faraday series.
Author Interview with Lauren Carr
Lauren, thank you so much for chatting with us. Right off the bat, I’m curious. Is it hard to break away from your successful Mac Faraday series to work on another one?
Yes and no. Actually, I don’t consider this breaking away so much as taking a break from Mac and the gang at Deep Creek Lake. I’m not leaving Mac Faraday and the gang in Deep Creek Lake or the Lovers in Crime in their small town in West Virginia at all. I’m simply taking my readers on a detour to visit a new and different group of detectives.
As a writer, an occasional detour helps me to step away and marinate on my next Mac Faraday or Lovers in Crime Mystery—think about where I want the characters to go. Now that I am returning to the next Mac Faraday Mystery, I am actually approaching it with a fresher perspective, which adds a special treat for my readers as well.
A Fine Year for Murder, the second Thorny Rose Mystery, was released January 30. The Thorny Rose Mystery series is a different direction for you, isn’t it?
Yes, it is—which makes it exciting for me as the writer and for my readers, as well. As an author, I am always striving to stretch my wings and try new things. I always listen to readers, not just talk about my books, but other authors’ books. It is not uncommon to hear a reader complain about an author’s books starting to all read the same, or for the reader to become bored with an author’s books. Well, that can also happen to the author who is writing the books. Some readers may not like the new direction I go with the Thorny Rose Mysteries. They can take comfort with Mac Faraday and the Lovers in Crime. The rest, they can dive into the mystery and suspense of Murphy and Jessica, the next generation of mystery detectives.
In the first Thorny Rose Mystery, Kill and Run, it was plain to see that the young newlywed couple, Jessica and Murphy, have a far different lifestyle than Mac and Joshua. Can you share some of the differences we will see? Living in Washington DC, will their stories lean toward political suspense?
Jessica and Murphy are much younger, more daring, and without a doubt more impulsive than their fathers. Also, since they are millennials, they lean toward today’s high tech lifestyle—thus, the character of Nigel, their virtual butler.
The setting alone (Washington DC) makes for a different type of criminal element. Since Murphy is a military officer assigned to the Pentagon, then we get to add a political element. As a phantom, he’s often sent on secret assignments. Then, we have Jessica Faraday, a savvy and rich young woman who knows her way around high society, which will prove to be helpful to Murphy.
Behind the scenes, readers get to see the normal adjustments that every newlywed couple must deal with—like where does the peanut butter go (fridge or cupboard) and how many children do they want to have and when.
Yet, personally, I do not want the Thorny Rose Mysteries to be a wholly political suspense mystery series. Wanting to make that clear, I set our detectives in the wine country of southern Virginia for A Fine Year for Murder.
Speaking of setting, how do you decide on the setting for a book? For instance, in choosing Washington DC or Virginia’s wine country, do you already have your story idea in mind before you settle on the location or is it character driven?
Character driven! My books are completely character driven. The decision for Washington DC for the Thorny Rose series came naturally. Murphy Thornton was a recent graduate from the Naval Academy and Jessica wanted to be with him. That meant she had to move to Washington as well. As an author, this worked well for me because I used to work in Washington as an editor for the federal government. My husband had been a navy officer assigned to the Pentagon, so I didn’t need to do that much research.
Yet, for A Fine Year for Murder, the murder case was based on a real cold case that happened in a small town. I had selected this mystery to be Jessica’s case, since Murphy took center stage in Kill and Run. Jessica had grown up in the suburbs of Washington DC, which is not a small town. So, I created the storyline in which she had become involved in the case as a child while visiting distant relatives. That resulted in my taking Jessica and Murphy on a road trip to southern Virginia.
What led to the decision to bring together the two grown children of Mac (Mac Faraday) and Joshua Thornton (Lovers in Crime)? I love the idea, by the way.
Oh, like love, it just sort of happened. I thought long and hard about bringing the two of them together before I made the final decision. Then, it was almost a year after that before I decided found the right book launch them.
Murphy’s character came about in my first mystery book, A Small Case of Murder, a Joshua Thornton Mystery. At that time, he was seventeen years old. I knew then that he would be going to the Naval Academy. When I created the character of Jessica Faraday (readers meet her via phone conversation in Old Loves Die Hard) she was already in college in Williamsburg. When I brought back Joshua for the Lovers in Crime, I realized Murphy and Jessica were about the same age. As their fathers became friends, it became natural for them to grow close. Like my readers, I was very surprised by how quickly they grew together.
Your Mac Faraday series as well as the Lovers in Crime series have both garnered a loyal following. I’m one of them. We will still be seeing their series continue as well, won’t we?
Oh yes! Each series will continue to grow on their own with interconnecting mysteries occasionally. In Kill and Run, the Lovers in Crime actively participate in the mystery. In A Fine Year for Murder, Mac Faraday and the Deep Creek Lake gang make an appearance. Then, this summer, readers are in for a treat as all of my series characters come together for two mysteries in Twofer Murder! This special mystery will be a lot of fun—I promise! As long as readers are clamoring for mysteries, I’ll be writing them.
I, for one, love the direction you are going with this series. Characters grow and change and to keep up with the times makes them feel even more real to me.
Thanks so much for visiting, Lauren, and I look forward to reading more of your work!
After months of marital bliss, Jessica Faraday and Murphy Thornton are still discovering and adjusting to their life together. Settled in their new home, everything appears to be perfect … except in the middle of the night when, in darkest shadows of her subconscious, a deep secret from Jessica’s past creeps to the surface to make her strike out at Murphy.
When investigative journalist Dallas Walker tells the couple about her latest case, known as the Pine Bridge Massacre, they realize Jessica may have witnessed the murder of a family living near a winery owned by distant relatives she was visiting and suppressed the memory.
Determined to uncover the truth and find justice for the murder victims, Jessica and Murphy return to the scene of the crime with Dallas Walker, a spunky bull-headed Texan. Can this family reunion bring closure for a community touched by tragedy or will this prickly get-together bring an end to the Thorny Rose couple?
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, romance, and humor.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real Gnarly) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
. The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.
~~~
A messy bookshelf is the norm around the Fundin household. I just cannot help but pick up another book and another and another…
I have a few of John Sanford’s novels, of which Mind Prey is one. I bought this quite some time ago from the Mobile Public Library. I have also checked out many other books by him and have enjoyed each and every one.
I need to get back to the library and catch up on his latest.
Then he was on her, slamming her back against the stone wall, ripping at her jacket, at her blouse. She screamed at him, “No, don’t, John…”
(Page 56 in hardcover,1st edition, published in 1995)
Book Beginnings
The storm blew up late in the afternoon, tight, gray clouds hustling over the lake like dirty, balled-up sweat socks spilling from a basket. A chilly wind knocked leaves from the elms, oaks, and maples at the water’s edge. The white phlox and black-eyed susans bowed their heads before it.
GOODREADS BLURB: From the bestselling author of Night Prey and Winter Prey…an all-new Lucas Davenport thriller.
Run for it…It was raining when psychiatrist Andi Manette left the parent-teacher conference with her two young daughters, and she was distracted. She barely noticed the red van parked beside her, barely noticed the van door slide open as they dashed up to the car. The last thing she did notice was the hand reaching out for her and the voice from out of the past — and then the three of them were gone.
Hours later, deputy chief Lucas Davenport stood in the parking lot, a blood-stained shoe in his hand, the ground stained pink around him, and knew that this would be one of the worst cases he’d ever been on. With an urgency born of dread, he presses the attack, while in an isolated farmhouse, Andi Manette does the same, summoning all her skills to battle an obsessed captor. She knows the man who has taken her and her daughters, knows there is a chink in his armor, if only she can find it. But for both her and Davenport, time is already running out.
John Sandford’s novels have always been extraordinary for their harrowing twists, unforgettable characters, and crackling prose. But Mind Prey tops them all. It is the work of a true master.
. The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.
“Well, you little shit.” She grinned widely. “I love the way you operate, you rogue son-of-a-bitch. Have I told you that?”
(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 1998)
Book Beginnings
The train left the station headed for nowhere, its destination also its point of embarkation, its purpose not to transport its passengers, but to feed them.
GOODREADS BLURB: In Seattle, they’re calling him “The Pied Piper” because he comes in the night and takes children away. To police lieutenant Lou Boldt and psychologist Daphne Matthews, it’s clear this isn’t about a single lunatic or random kidnappings: these crimes are well orchestrated, well executed, and, most chilling of all, occurring in cities all over the country.
I LOVE Lauren Carr’s romantic mysteries and I am delighted to be able to share Killer in the Band with you today.
There is also an awesome giveaway, so be sure to enter!
INTERVIEW WITH LAUREN CARR
I love learning about authors, their inspiration, their likes and dislikes and those funny little things that give me insight into their personality. I am so happy to have Lauren Carr here, sharing some thoughts about her books and herself. Welcome, Lauren.
Lauren Carr is the bestselling author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, the Lovers in Crime Mysteries, and the Thorny Rose Mysteries. We caught up with the charming mystery writer during her most recent virtual book tour for Killer in the Band, the 3rd in the Lovers in Crime series.
Lauren, thank you so much for chatting with us. Right off the bat, I’m curious. Is it hard to break away from your successful Mac Faraday series to work on a different one?
Yes and no. I love Mac Faraday and the gang in Spencer, Maryland! But that’s not to say that I don’t love Joshua Thornton and Cameron Gates. The Lovers in Crime mysteries are set in Chester, West Virginia, the real small town where I grew up. Joshua Thornton was my first protagonist featured in my very first books, A Small Case of Murder and A Reunion to Die For. Returning to Joshua Thornton, Cameron Gates, and their family is very much like going home again.
Killer in the Band focuses a lot on J.J. Thornton, Jr., Joshua’s eldest son. Are you planning to take a new direction with the Lovers in Crime?
No, not at all. Joshua Thornton and Cameron Gates are the Lovers in Crime and they always will be. But, like real people, they don’t live in a vacuum. Joshua Thornton does have a family from his previous marriage who are going to insert themselves into Joshua’s marriage and the Lovers in Crime’s cases.
In Killer in the Band, J.J. returns home after graduating from law school and rekindles a romance with his first love, Suellen Russell, a woman twice his age. When it turns out she has information on one of Cameron’s cases, J.J. can’t not get involved.
When you sit down to write a book, a paragraph, or whatever you‘re working on at the moment, do you just sit down in front of the computer, or do you need an outline of some sort? Is there any other prep you need in order to organize your thoughts either before you write or in the process of writing?
I will think about a book, or a part of a book, for a long time before I sit down to write it. I thought about Killer in the Band for a couple of years before I sat down to write even one word.
For new books, I will have everything sorted out in my head, most especially the killer, how he or she did it, and how my protagonist captures them before I sit down to write it. These are the most important elements for me to have. If I don’t have those things sorted out, then I could end up halfway through a book and find that I have no ending, which would be a huge waste of my time.
I will write notes, but only to sort the mystery out in my mind. More than half of the time, I don’t even refer to them once I sit down to write. The process of writing out the notes helps to sort it out.
Who is your greatest inspiration to write? What person makes you believe in yourself, and how?
My mother and my husband. My mother was the first to encourage me to put my imagination on paper. It was easy since I have always been a big reader.
Also, my husband Jack, no matter how many rejections I would receive, always insisted that I keep on going—keep on writing. Even when I had writers block, he was there for me.
Do you have any aspirations to be similar or comparable to another author? Why?
Agatha Christie and Earl Stanley Gardner. They were my first favorite mystery authors, so they will always have a special place in my author’s heart. My complex mysteries have been compared to Agatha Christie and when that happens, it makes my whole day better.
What has been the biggest high since becoming a published author?
Seeing all of my books break through on Amazon to make the top one-hundred in sales in both cozy mysteries and police procedurals. When readers and reviewers began posting fabulous reviews, and even sending e-mails, I knew then that all those years of hard work and learning were worth it.
Has becoming an author changed you, or the way you think about certain things? If so, how?
I am definitely more confident about my writing. Also, I have become more open to other authors’ writing.
I turned down two offers from commercial publishers to independently publish It’s Murder, My Son, and I have never looked back. Before I decided to be an indie author, I was rejected by many literary agents and publishers for a variety of reasons. In a nutshell, they did not think that I could be a commercial success. One literary agent, a big one, told me how talented I was in a two-page letter, ending with a rejection because he did not know how to market me.
I did not fit into a box that they had created. But I have found an audience, and I am a success. Many indie authors, who commercial publishers and literary agents would refuse to talk to, have found audiences without the blessing of commercial publishers or literary agents.
This has made me believe that if you write what you love, even if it is not my cup of tea, or the cup of tea of a New York bigwig, then if you publish and market it correctly, there is an audience out there for you. It’s just a matter of bringing your work to them.
What is your greatest fear about being an author?
Writers block.
From the first word to the moment it became available for purchase, how long did it take you to write and publish Killer in the Band?
That is a very tricky question. I’ve been thinking about the plot for Killer in the Band for a couple of years. I’d say a year ago I sat down to start writing it, right after the release if Kill and Run, which features Joshua Thornton Jr’s twin, Murphy. I was more than halfway through writing the first draft when in March I was completely inspired by the presidential election to write Candidate for Murder. Since that book had such a timely theme, I had to set Killer in the Band aside. I returned to it in June.
I guess to answer your question, I don’t know.
And now, for something completely different…some slightly off-the-wall and possibly irrelevant questions. Feel free to answer as many or as few as you like!
What’s your favorite candy? Ice cream?
Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar King sized for candy. Rocky Road ice cream slathered in Magic Shell for ice cream.
Would the 8-year-old version of yourself kick your ass or praise you for what you’ve done with your life?
Praise me for what I have done, while sighing with relief because during my twenties & thirties, it was touch and go there.
Do you have any talents you haven’t shared with us?
I’m a gourmet cook and love it.
Imagine you’re the sole survivor of a plane crash at sea, and you awake stranded on a deserted and uncharted island in the Bermuda Triangle. Nobody knows you’re there, and you have nothing but the clothes on your back. You’re all alone, and there’s terrifying sounds coming from deep within the jungle. Late that night as you’re starving, a large suitcase washes up on the shore. You open it up. What’s in the suitcase?
A pink handgun with “Pink Lady” engraved on the muzzle, big box of dark chocolate to eat, a cell phone with all of the bars, and working laptop to write about my adventure while waiting for a ship full of handsome sailors to come save me.
What are you working on now?
Each series will continue to grow on their own with interconnecting mysteries occasionally. In January, there will be a new Thorny Rose Mystery, A Fine Year for Murder.
In A Fine Year for Murder, Jessica Faraday and her husband, Murphy Thornton, dive into the cold case murder at a family owned winery.
After ten months of marital bliss, Jessica Faraday and Murphy Thornton are still discovering and adjusting to their life together. Settled in their new home, everything appears to be perfect … except in the middle of the night when, in darkest shadows of her subconscious, a deep secret from Jessica’s past creeps to the surface to make her strike out at Murphy.
When investigative journalist Dallas Walker tells the couple about her latest case, known as the Pine Bridge Massacre, they realize Jessica may have witnessed the murder of a family living near a winery owned by distant relatives she was visiting and suppressed the memory.
Determined to uncover the truth and find justice for the murder victims, Jessica and Murphy return to the scene of the crime with Dallas Walker, a spunky bull-headed Texan. Can this family reunion bring closure for a community touched by tragedy or will this prickly get-together bring an end to the Thorny Rose couple?
As long as readers are clamoring for mysteries, I’ll be writing them.
MY REVIEW
OMG. She did it again. Lauren Carr has created another romantic suspense mystery that had me reading, ignoring my hubby and my mother, unable to put it down until the last page was read.
Killer in the Band is A Lovers in Crime Mystery that is chock full of wonderful characters, both human and animal. Her ability to bring them all to life is amazing. I laughed and cried, because she made me do it.
I cannot pick a favorite character. They are all amazing in their own way. It took me a little while to figure out the culprit(s). Even the bad guys have their reasons for doing for what they do and I could empathize with them…for a moment or two. BUT nothing justifies taking a life.
There is more than one mystery that will have to be solved and more than one villain. I felt so bad for both of them and that is when I know I have read a fantastic story.
Lauren does have a way of springing surprises on me that have my jaw hanging open, thinking, I sure didn’t see that one coming.
The animals…I just don’t know what to say. Some people do seem to have a special ability making it seem as if they talk to them. I do not want to spoil anything, but…have you ever looked in your critters eyes and wondered what they are really thinking?
The characters have trust issues that take time to work through, making it read like real life. I want to tell them…to be a go between and explain things, but that is not my place. I am just a spectator in this complicated story.
My emotion were high and low, happy and sad, and I was left with a good feeling when all was said and done.
I WANT MORE!!!!!!!
I received a copy of Killer in the Band from Lauren Carr.
Joshua’s eldest son, Joshua “J.J.” Thornton Jr., has graduated at the top of his class from law school and returns home to spend the summer studying for the bar exam. However, to Joshua’s and Cameron’s shock and dismay, J.J. moves into the main house at Russell Ridge Farm, the largest dairy farm in the Ohio Valley, to rekindle a romance with Suellen Russell, a onetime leader of a rock group who’s twice his age. Quickly, they learn that she has been keeping a deep dark secret.
The move brings long-buried tensions between the father and son to the surface. But when a brutal killer strikes, the Lovers in Crime must set all differences aside to solve the crime before J.J. ends up in the cross hairs of a murderer.
Praise for Lauren Carr’s Mysteries:
“Lauren Carr could give Agatha Christie a run for her money!” – Charlene Mabie-Gamble, Literary R&R
“As always, Lauren Carr brings an action-packed story that is almost impossible to put down. Her mystery plots have so many twists and turns that I didn’t know if I was coming or going. And the action just didn’t stop from the very beginning till the very end.” – Melina Mason, Melina’s Book Reviews
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, romance, and humor.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real Gnarly) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of booksandabeat.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read. Open to a random page. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
~~~~~~
OMG. She did it again. Lauren Carr has created another romantic suspense mystery that had me reading, ignoring my hubby and my mother, unable to put it down until the last page was read of Killer in the Band.
I will be reviewing Killer in the Band, along with an interview and awesome giveaway that includes a Kindle, on 12.1.16. You won’t want to miss it!
“Sounds like he gave the band members a motive for murder,” Cameron said. “How did the other members of the group take that news?”
“Not well.”
(page 94 in paperback)
I have read many books by Lauren Carr and this is another fantastic read.
GOODREADS BLURB:Summer has arrived! The Thorntons expect it to be a summer of change and change it does, but not in the way Joshua had expected.
Joshua’s eldest son, Joshua Thornton Jr. (J.J.) has graduated at the top of his class from law school and is returning home to spend the summer studying for the bar exam. However, to Joshua’s and Cameron’s shock and dismay, J.J. decides to move into the main house at Russell Ridge Farm, the largest dairy farm in the Ohio Valley, in order to rekindle a romance with Suellen Russell, the lovely widow twice his age.
The May/December romance, bonded by a love for music, between the symphony conductor and young musical prodigy had bloomed many years earlier.
The move brings long buried tensions between the father and son to the surface–not the least of which being J.J.’s inexplicable dislike for his stepmother Cameron. But when a brutal killer strikes, the Lovers in Crime must set all differences with Joshua’s son aside to solve the crime before J.J. ends up in the cross-hairs of a murderer.
. The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.
~~~
Night Whispers by Judith McNaught is a suspense thriller mystery based in Florida.
“Because I got better that very night. And do you know why I made such a miraculous recovery?”
“No, why?”
“I made that miraculous recovery because I refused to do anything that would ever, ever force us to accept one cent from that creep.”
(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 2005)
Book Beginnings
He’d been following her for three days, watching. Waiting.
GOODREADS BLURB: A policewoman in a small Florida community, Sloan Reynolds knows that her modest upbringing was a long way from the social whirl of Palm Beach, the world inhabited by her father and her sister, Paris. Total strangers to Sloan, they have never tried to contact her — until a sudden invitation arrives, to meet them and indulge in the Palm Beach social season.
A woman who values her investigative work, Sloan is unmoved by the long-overdue parental gesture. But when FBI agent Paul Richardson informs her that her father and his associates are suspected of fraud, conspiracy, and murder, Sloan agrees to enter into her father’s life — while hiding her true profession.
Sloan’s on top of her game until she meets Noah Maitland, a multinational corporate player and one of the FBI’s prime suspects — and finds herself powerfully attracted to him, against her deepest instincts. When a shocking murder shatters the seductive facade of the wealth and glamour surrounding her, Sloan must maneuver through a maze of deceit and passion, to find someone to trust — and to decipher the truth behind those terrifying whispers in the dark
. The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.
~~~
Everyone Dies by Michael McGarrity is a mystery, thriller, suspense novel.
Larranga stood up. “Then make damn sure all the facts are available to present to the grand jury. The only defense you’ve got is to provide conclusive proof above and beyond the officers’ statements that they were forced to stop the action when they came under fire. You’d better hope and pray the evidence is there. I want the reports on my desk by morning.”
(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 2005)
Book Beginnings
Jack Potter, perhaps the most successful and best known attorney in Santa Fe, had recently attended a gay rights costume ball dressed as Lady Justice. The following morning a photograph of a smiling Potter, wearing a shimmering frock, a curly wig, and holding the scales justice and a sword, appeared on the front page of the local paper.
My question to you: Do you have a favorite genre or are you open to that next hidden gem no matter what the subject?
GOODREADS BLURB: The Anthony Award-nominated author with “a cunning mind for crime fiction” (The New York Times Book Review) ratchets up the stakes in a novel of electrifying action and unstoppable suspense, where a vengeful killer with an unspeakable agenda won’t stop until . . . everyone dies.
Santa Fe Police Chief Kevin Kerney and his wife, Lieutenant Colonel Sara Brannon, are on leave and eagerly awaiting the birth of their son when a prominent gay attorney is gunned down outside his office by an unknown assailant. Called to the crime scene and faced with scanty evidence and no apparent motive, Kerney directs his chief of detectives to delve into the victim’s personal and professional life, a decision that ultimately leads to a SWAT team screw-up and the death of two innocent people.
But the killer has just begun. Kerney’s horse, a mustang he’d gentled and trained, is viciously and senselessly destroyed; a dead rat is left on his doorstep; and a second victim with ties to the criminal justice system is found in bed with her throat cut along with a warning: EVERYONE DIES.
As a time of joy turns into a nightmare, Kerney and Sara search desperately for a seemingly unstoppable chameleonlike killer who promises to murder them and their unborn son.
I was very excited when I won a signed paperback of A Piece of You by D M Annechino. I love books about psycho serial killers and HE is a doozy. Suspense thrillers are my favorite genre and even the cover tells me this story may hold a piece of my heart. I love jigsaw puzzles and look forward to finding that missing piece.
A Piece of You by D M Annechino has all the elements I love, from the bloody cover with the missing piece, to the serial killer running AMOK within the pages. I mean…with a line like this:
He opened his duffle bag and removed a hacksaw, a utility knife and a thick towel. He whisered into her ear as if she was still alive. “I’m so sorry Theresa…All I want is A Piece of You.”
in the opening pages, I am HOOKED.
Sometimes when the justice system lets them down, a vigilante thinks it is up to them to right the wrong. HE is making a horrific statement and feels he has nothing to lose. I feel so bad for HIM, but no matter how I twist it, this cannot end well for him and rightly so.
A Piece of You also tells Sami’s story. Have you ever wondered how big someone’s heart can be? When it comes to Sami, the answer is HUGE! . I could not do what she does and I love her for it.
Sami is a tough and righteous homicide detective that will not be swayed from doing the right thing. For some reason, serial killers have become her specialty.
A Piece of You is the third book in the Sami Rizzo Thriller series, but reading out of order didn’t affect my enjoyment. The blanks are filled in and it only makes me want to go back and read what I missed.
I know the story and writing is fantastic, when it makes me fall in love with the villain, feeling his anguish, but knowing no matter what he does, his actions are futile and the price he will pay is high and I cannot stop reading, wondering how it will end.
I want more of Sami Rizzo’s and D M Annechino’s stories and I want them now.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Homicide Detective Sami Rizzo is at it again! She never dreamed “America’s Finest City,” would be tormented by yet another serial killer, but for the third time in the last five years a depraved maniac is stalking the streets of San Diego. Based on her qualifications and prior successes dealing with multiple murders, who else would Captain Davison assign to head the investigation? Different from Sami’s past experiences, this fanatic is like no other. His methods of killing defy everything profilers think they know about serial killers. As an intense investigation begins and bits and pieces of evidence emerge, no one can understand his motivation. He’s merciful, yet brutal. And just to make things even more confusing, all of his victims are blood-related. Is he settling a vendetta? Did he randomly pick a name out of the phone book and begin a rampage? Or is there a deeper story? Based on very little evidence and a lot of gut instincts, Detective Rizzo pieces together a complex puzzle and narrows the field of possible suspects. She learns that the killings may connect in some way to powerful people within the judicial system and doesn’t know who to trust. Ultimately, she comes face to face with the killer for a battle of brain and brawn. Can she outwit the shrewd killer, or will she be his next victim?
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of booksandabeat.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read. Open to a random page. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
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A Piece of You by D M Annechino
I was very excited when I won a signed paperback of A Piece of You by D M Annechino. Suspense thrillers are my favorite genre and even the cover tells me this story may hold a piece of my heart. I love jigsaw puzzles and look forward to finding that missing piece. Review to come soon.
He opened his duffle bag and removed a hacksaw, a utility knife, and a thick towel.
“I’m so sorry, Theresa.”
“You really didn’t deserve this, but I had no choice.”
“All I want is A Piece of You.”
(page 7 of paperback)
GOODREADS BLURB
Homicide Detective Sami Rizzo is at it again! She never dreamed “America’s Finest City,” would be tormented by yet another serial killer, but for the third time in the last five years a depraved maniac is stalking the streets of San Diego. Based on her qualifications and prior successes dealing with multiple murders, who else would Captain Davison assign to head the investigation? Different from Sami’s past experiences, this fanatic is like no other. His methods of killing defy everything profilers think they know about serial killers. As an intense investigation begins and bits and pieces of evidence emerge, no one can understand his motivation. He’s merciful, yet brutal. And just to make things even more confusing, all of his victims are blood-related. Is he settling a vendetta? Did he randomly pick a name out of the phone book and begin a rampage? Or is there a deeper story? Based on very little evidence and a lot of gut instincts, Detective Rizzo pieces together a complex puzzle and narrows the field of possible suspects. She learns that the killings may connect in some way to powerful people within the judicial system and doesn’t know who to trust. Ultimately, she comes face to face with the killer for a battle of brain and brawn. Can she outwit the shrewd killer, or will she be his next victim?
I also have a fabulous new review and giveaway that began…right now. Check it out HERE.
The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Authors from Michigan are always of interest to me, seeing I am originally from Michigan, but I would grab a Daniel Silva novel anyway.
Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
5 Stars
Night Whispers
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