Pretty Dark Nothing by Heather L Reid is a paranormal series that will have you asking for more. I love the title and the cover spoke to me, kinda creeping me out. LOL
Check out the pretties and be sure to read to the end to enter the giveaway.
The Pretty Dark Nothing series has some of the most beautiful covers foreshadowing the story of the paranormal and supernatural. There was no way I was missing out on reading Pretty Dark Nothing, with a cover like that and the writing on the tombstone.
Quinn is being terrorized in her dreams, but the terror keeps escalating and now she lives in fear during the daylight hours. She is afraid to sleep, afraid to close her eyes, afraid to be alone, afraid of the dark, dark shadows that were after her. How long could she go without sleep, popping caffeine pills and sucking on energy drinks.
Aaron had died, along with his mother and sister, but he had been brought back to life. He came back with a gift and a curse. His music saved him after the accident. His father struggled at the loss, barely making it through each day.
Quinn was drawn to the new guy, Aaron. He was so mysterious and private, that he created interest for that very reason. He felt the connection too. Was it telepathy? Was it more than that?
Jeff is her ex boyfriend, even though it takes all her effort to stay away from him. He is now dating a snotty cheerleader and I think he is getting his due.
Marcus is Aaron’s best friend and has his eyes on Reese, Quinn’s best friend. He is a fun loving, big hearted, happy go lucky kind of guy. These two stick with Aaron and Quinn through thick and thin, half the time not even understanding what is going on. They are the yin and yang of friendships.
The love triangle in Young Adult is a common theme. As long as the story is written well and the relationships seem real enough, I can live with that. Teenagers can be dramatic and confused by such powerful emotions, but they are not alone. Love is love, no matter what age and being dumped is a personal rejection. I wanted her over the jock and moving on.
The novel is told from both Quinn and Aaron’s perspective. This caused the book to be drawn out and drag in parts, but it surprised me how quickly I became invested in Quinn, then Quinn and Aaron. Two damaged and lonely people drawn together. Heather kept the suspense and anticipation alive, even though I did not feel a sense of urgency. I was still very curious about why Quinn and Aaron seem to be so important – to who?
When Heather L Reid mentions Carl Sagan and Cosmos, I thought we had another connection.
Book II is available, so no waiting is necessary and I didn’t. I jumped right in to Pretty Dark Sacrifice.
I received Pretty Dark Nothing from Heather L Reid in return for an honest and unbiased review.
It’s been twenty three days since Quinn has slept for more than minutes at a time. Demons have invaded her dreams, stalking her, and whispering of her death. The lack of sleep and crippling fear are ruining her life. Energy drinks and caffeine pills don’t make a dent. When Quinn dozes off in the school hallway, Aaron, an amnesiac with a psychic ability, accidentally enters her nightmare. The demons are determined to keep them apart, and Aaron from discovering the secret locked away in his memory. Together, they could banish the darkness back to the underworld for good. That is, unless the demons kill them first.
Heather L. Reid is both American and British and has called six different cities in three different countries, home. Her strong sense of wanderlust and craving for a new adventure mean you might find her wandering the moors of her beloved Scotland, exploring haunted castles, or hiking through a magical forest in search of fairies and sprites. When she’s not venturing into the unknown in her real life, she loves getting lost in the worlds of video games or curling up by the fire with good story. For now, this native Texan is back in the Lone Star State, settling down with her Scottish husband and writing new tales of fantasy and horror.
The fantastic book trailer for Method 15/33 only gives you a glimpse of what is to come. As she sits on the bed and raises her head, I thought of Poltergeist. I expected her to reach out and…
Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk is an amazing, top shelf, must read suspense thriller that will have you wondering, will the prey become the predator. I can hardly believe Method 15/33 is a debut novel for Shannon Kirk, it is so damn good!
Winner Of 2015 National Indie Excellence Award For Suspense!
Finalist in the 2013 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition as novella 15/33. Method 15/33 is now a full-length novel coming from Oceanview Publishing.
I heard about Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk through a friend and reached out to her. The novel sounded like one of my favorite type of reads and I could hardly wait to pick it up. The suspense had me holding my breath, rooting for her, then afraid of her.
She is a pregnant teenager, abducted and held captive. Her mother had filled her with self esteem and confidence. Is she a sociopath? She is able to turn her feelings on and off, like a light switch. As Shannon describes her attempts to mimic feelings and doing the right thing, it makes me think of Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory.
The vivid detail of the trip to her cell makes me able to picture the wild daisies and devil’s paintbrush on the side of the road. I felt the breeze as she prepared to exit the van. I could smell his stale body odor and his sewer breath.
No matter, she loves her baby and will not give up. She has hope. Her hurt and rage would help her to do what is necessary to exact her revenge. Escape wasn’t enough. They would pay and pay dearly.
My first asset is terra firma…thus begins her plotting – Escape/Revenge Plan 15.
It had been 20 days, but she was constantly thinking, planning. As she runs through scenarios, it made me think of the computer in Person of Interest, going through scenarios, changing them, ruling one out and trying another. She knew she could outwit him.
Alone, locked in a cell, praying the butterfly in the window will calm her, save her. She doesn’t know what loneliness feels like, is this it?
Butterfly (c) Sherry Fundin
She may have her issues, but I love her. My empathy is such, that I want to wrap my arms around her and offer her comfort. She tries and means well…sometimes. Isn’t that what we all do? Even dysfunctional families have their moments of humor, love and togetherness.
Shannon Kirk’s words allow me to feel HER pain, HER loneliness, HER anger and HER rage. I want to scream, yell and cry with her.
FBI Special Agent Roger Lui and partner, Lola were assigned the case. They have been together for five years and know each other better than a spouse would. He is a flawed hero, carrying heavy baggage with his failure to find Dorothy Saluce, an abducted, pregnant teen, deja vu. Lola is someone I can relate to, a tough, no nonsense, one of the guys kind of woman.
She counts seconds, minutes, steps, inches, plotting, planning…a piece of elastic, a pail handle…She didn’t know what would be valuable, so she collected it all. I wonder if she used to watch MacGyver too.
The kidnappers…a fantastic surprise. Twisted. Evil.
She makes herself sick and Shannon Kirk’s mastery of words makes this so gross and disgusting it makes me want to puke too.
33 is water. You will be surprised at its use and importance.
They escape, but OMG, Shannon, you didn’t. My heart fell. I can’t believe it. What an awesome twist. I felt complete terror for her, wanted to yell, hurry, hurry, what the hell are you waiting for? As if it isn’t bad enough, Shannon makes it even worse. How can that be? It just keeps coming and coming, the badness rolling over me like a tsunami wave. Overwhelming, the pacing gripping me as if I’m on a runaway train and hanging on for dear life.
Method 15/33 keeps getting scarier and scarier, the badness goes on and on…out of the frying pan and into the fire.
I love the characters, right to the end, especially HER. This 16 year old sociopath stole my heart.
I don’t know what to say about the emotion roiling inside me as I reach the end. I can’t help but just sit…thinking…thinking…
Shannon wove an awesome story that has left me screaming for more.
To love someone so much you are heartbroken just to look at them.
This, is to have a child.
5+++++
I received a copy of Method 15/33 from Shannon Kirk in return for an honest review.
GUEST POST
I am so excited to have Shannon Kirk here today. I love her debut novel, Method 15/33 and I could not help but fall for the main character, Lisa Yyland. I also, would like to congratulate Shannon on Method 15/33 is being devloped for a feature film. How cool is that? I, for one, can hardly wait to see it!
LET’S TALK ABOUT PSYCHOPATHS
-By Shannon Kirk
Let’s talk about psychopaths. Or, maybe you prefer sociopaths. I’m no psychiatrist, so what I’m talking about are persons whose brains are physiologically wired in such a way that they do not experience emotions as others feel joy, fear, excitement, happiness, remorse, guilt. I’m not talking about people who may be deemed “sociopaths,” not from the physical construction of their brains, but because of environment, a traumatic childhood for example.
What I understood from reading the non-fiction book, The Sociopath Next Door, is there are persons who simply do not understand the sensation of effervescent bubbles rising in your chest when a baby giggles at you, and you giggle back. They might, however, understand the action of smiling in reaction to a baby smiling, the simple physical learned act of social parroting, which is very different from feeling the urge to giggle or smile because of that elusive thing called happiness.
As a lay person, far from being a licensed psychiatrist, I had to read articles and books of the very real medical condition of psychopathy so as to form some basis for the main character in Method 15/33. She holds the traits of a clinical psychopath; for example, she disassociates, lacks empathy, feels no remorse, and plans actions in a way to benefit herself and minimize risk. She’s exceptionally practical in all she does and thinks.
We see this type of character all over popular culture. Hollywood just loves the psychopath. But psychopaths are very real, and indeed, as suggested in The Sociopath Next Door, could be living right next door. The book suggests that some folks who seek out management and politics might hold the common traits of the psychopath or the sociopath. Is this any surprise? How could a billionaire business baron axe 25,000 jobs and the next day be golfing in Tahiti, a smile on his face, and a mai tai with umbrella in his hand? I’m not saying all bosses and all politicians are psychopaths, but when I’ve raised this premise to any group, someone always raises their hand and says, “Oh damn, that’s my boss. He totally fits those traits.”
What got me thinking after reading articles and books on psychopaths was how this condition can exist simply by how someone’s brain is constructed. And if that is so, what natural variations exist in our population? We know that not all psychopaths are “evil,” not all kill women for sport, and not all stalk and kill bad guys according to some “code” (Dexter). So is there a spectrum of psychopathy? On one end you would have Heath Ledger’s Joker or Christian Bale’s American Psycho, on the other you’d have Ms. Whiney Crybaby. You know, the girl who cries at every Kleenex commercial, who yells and stomps and throw pillows and jewelry if her man so much as looks at another woman. No emotion vs. Too much emotion. So what’s in the middle of the spectrum? Normalcy? There must be a middle and ripples from there. This idea, I got stuck on this idea.
I wanted to explore the idea of a spectrum of psychopathy in a fictional way. For example, what if a psychopath was wired in such a way that she could choose to feel emotions? If a person can be wired in a such a way that they physically cannot feel emotions, then why couldn’t a person exist who can control when they feel certain emotions? Also, what if there are people who sometimes slip into a form of psychopathy, while at other times are fully emotionally functional. Have you ever been so absorbed in a work project that you cannot understand why a person is crying in your doorway about the same work project until you stop what you’re doing, calibrate your mood, take a minute to absorb, and then when you take a breath or two, you finally empathize? If that is possible for most everyone, then what if such moments of disassociation are prolonged in certain people? I have to believe this is possible. In the very least, the idea, this spectrum of possibilities with psychopathy, is a breeding ground for fiction.
In my novel Method 15/33, I chose to contort the medical condition of psychopathy and create a character that controls emotions. She often chooses not to feel any emotions, and because of this, like true psychopaths, has had to “learn” appropriate social reactions. I then wanted to meld with this condition another condition in psychology having to do with “cross modal neuroplasticity”—essentially, how a person who loses one sense, gains a “super” sense in something else, such as how a deaf person might have exceptional eyesight. What I wanted to explore, again entirely on a theoretical fictional basis, basically I just made it up, was a psychopath character, who controls emotions, and her emotions are “senses”, such that since she often lacks them, her other senses are somewhat enhanced. For example, although she is blindfolded, because she is not experiencing fear or any other emotion, her smell of the air and her feel of the temperature, the precise weight of her steps on the ground, tell her the type of terrain she’s on, how long a stretch of forest is through which she is forced, what specific trees scrapes her arms, and what the nature, climate, look, and use of the land is where she is taken, as if she were seeing it with her very eyes.
So while any psychiatrist could probably poke a thousand million holes in my writer’s theory, I do actually believe that in our world, there is a wide spectrum of psychopathy, of cross-modal neuroplasticity, and that emotions just may be some form of “sense.” Who knows if we’ll ever crack the code to our brains, and frankly, I hope we don’t. It’s just too much fun to make up stories, twisting the boundaries of psychology we think we know.
SYNOPSIS
Kidnapped, pregnant teen turns the tables. Who is the victim and who is the aggressor?
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Imagine a helpless, pregnant 16-year-old who’s just been yanked from the serenity of her home and shoved into a dirty van. Kidnapped…
Alone…Terrified.
Now forget her…
Picture instead a pregnant, 16-year-old, manipulative prodigy. She is shoved into a dirty van and, from the first moment of her kidnapping, feels a calm desire for two things: to save her unborn child and to exact merciless revenge.
She is methodical—calculating— scientific in her plotting. A clinical sociopath? Leaving nothing to chance, secure in her timing and practice, she waits—for the perfect moment to strike. Method 15/33 is what happens when the victim is just as cold as her abductors.
The agents searching for a kidnapped girl have their own frustrations and desires wrapped into this chilling drama. In the twists of intersecting stories, one is left to ponder. Who is the victim? Who is the aggressor?
Praise
“Method 15/33 is crowded with fascinating characters—even the spear carriers pop off the page—but the standout is the kidnapped pregnant teenager. Her captors want her baby. Little do they know they’ve brought an insanely brilliant, angry, vengeful, borderline sociopath under their roof. Somebody’s in big trouble… and it isn’t the teenager.” —F. Paul Wilson, New York Times best-selling author of Santa Jack
“Completely original and totally kick ass! Shannon Kirk pulls no punches in this adrenaline rush of a thriller where the victim is the one to watch, while the kidnappers learn to fear. Loved it!” —Lisa Gardner, New York Times best-selling author of Fear Nothing
“What happens when infant traffickers kidnap the wrong pregnant teen? You get Method 15/33, a cross between The Lovely Bones and Silence of the Lambs. Shannon Kirk’s debut thriller is a dark, literate page-turner, utterly compelling. I read it in one sitting.” —Leonard Rosen, Award-winning author of All Cry Chaos and The Tenth Witness
“Wow. Ridiculously good. Crazy good. Brilliantly heart-stoppingly nail-bitingly original, this is a true thriller tour de force. Shannon Kirk is an instant star.” —Hank Phillippi Ryan Agatha, Anthony winning author of Truth be Told
ABOUT SHANNON KIRK
Shannon Kirk is a practicing attorney and a law professor. She attended West Virginia Wesleyan and St. John’s Universities, is a graduate of Suffolk Law School, and was a trial lawyer in Chicago prior to moving to Massachusetts. She has been honored three times by the Faulkner Society in the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, a physicist, and their son. Method 15/33 is her first novel.
ALERT: Due to illness, I was unable to promote this properly so I am extending the giveaway for another week. Be sure and enter know for your chance at a copy of Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk.
Shannon Kirk is offering a a print autographed copy of Method 15/33 to a US or Canadian resident. To enter, leave your email and answer the question:
What would be your first response if you were kidnapped?
I am familiar with Steve Alten’s work, so I have been following his newsletter, waiting for this book to be released. Vostok is the sequel to The Loch and the prequel to Meg 5: Nightstalkers. I cannot get enough of his stories. (You can see the books and review links below)
AWESOME!! cover. It looks so real to me. I feel like the croc is swimming towards me, getting ready to open its mouth and eat me. Bring it on. (On the hardcover, it is embossed and looks 3D.)
Steve Alten writes some amazing creature stories that arise deep from the ocean’s floor. I have had Vostok sitting on the arm of my couch, where I couldn’t help but keep looking at it longingly, wanting so badly to pick it up and begin reading…but, I made myself wait. I wanted to savor the moment and bask in my anticipation. This creature story takes a wild twist that I never saw coming but I jumped aboard for the amazing ride through Steve’s creative and imaginative, out of this world, adventure.
In Antarctica, help is sparse, so when the Aussies asked for someone to check out something they discovered, Thomas Nilsson a marine biologist responded. They wanted him to identify not one, but two species of creatures. It’s over Thomas’ head, so who better to call in than, Zachary Wallace, the marine biologist who solved the mystery of The Loch Ness monster.
We will meet with some familiar characters from The Loch and Meg novels and I was happy to see them again. Welcome back, my friends. Of course, that doesn’t mean Steve might not kill you off. He is not afraid to make a character…disappear.
We will be going under the ice cap to Vostok Lake. When they drop the sub through the hole, I could imagine what that would feel like. I am very averse to small, tight places, let alone an under the water ice world that Steve describes so well I can see it. It made me think of Lost World, but instead of jungle and heat, picture ice, water and cold. His description of the mountain coming up from the water with the ice, like a sky, overhead make me scream MOVIE! The words opened before me as if I was watching the action. And, yes, there is plenty of that.
Thomas had died twice before, so imagine his terror facing it again…and again. He had dealt with drowning and giant creatures of the deep that wanted to eat him. How in the hell did he end up doing it again? LOL
Steve Alten has me engrossed, reading as if this is history unraveling before my eyes. Well, who knows what creatures dwell in the deepest oceans. New discoveries are being made all the time.
Throw in big business and the government, what chance does humankind have?
Now, comes the really, really, really nice spin – ALIENS. Who are they and what do they want? I did not expect this, but went with it and enjoyed the ride. Sometimes, an author will take a spin that ruins the book for me, but Steve pulled this off. I am curious how he will pull everything together in Meg 5: Nightstalker and eager to find out!
This quote sums up big business and government to me:
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“There exists a shadowy Government with its own Air Force, its own Navy, its own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of the national interest, free from and checks and balances, and free from the law itself.
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Senator Daniel Inouye, Iran-Contra hearings
Do the elite work their hardest to keep the herd distracted? I feel there are some messages in Steve Alten’s stories, subtle, yet ones that should already be obvious to us.
If you could go back in time and change events, would you? What would it take for you to do it? This made me think of a Person of Interest episode where the machine ran through all the different scenarios, trying to find the groups best chance of survival.
There is so much more going on than I anticipated. It flows so smoothly at times I find myself relaxing too much, being jerked back into the story letting me know I wasn’t getting off that easy. If you found a UFO would you run toward it or away from it?
Steve Alten is a superb storyteller, weaving the genres together like water down a lazy stream, pulling me in, deeper and deeper (critters, aliens, conspiracy, betrayal, big business and government corruption, fantasy science fiction and horror) creating an amazing novel that will stick with you long after reading and will leave you anticipating the next book, Meg 5: Nightstalkers
Just two pages left and I read this:
“It’s a Nessie dildo so women like you can go –“
I busted out laughing.
I received this first edition hardcover of Vostok by Steve Alten for an honest review. Thanks so much, Steve and Rebel Press. It looks beautiful on my bookshelf, with the other Steve Alten books I own.
I am so excited to have Steve on my blog today, sharing his thoughts on inspiration and writing.
INTERVIEW
How did you do research for your book?
You begin with a concept and hit the Internet.
Which was the hardest character to write?
Kwan Wilson in SHARKMAN. He’s a paraplegic. I spent time interviewing a neighbor who was also wheelchair bound.
The easiest?
Dr. Vincent Cope, Boca Raton gynecologist in my comedy novel, DOG TRAINING THE AMERICAN MALE (written under the pen name L.A. Knight). A man after my own heart.
In your book, VOSTOK you make a reference to JFK being assassinated because he was going to shutdown MAJESTIC-12. How did you come up with this idea?
By interviewing Dr. Steven M. Greer, the foremost authority on Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
What made you write a book about a subglacial lake in Antarctica?
The facts about Lake Vostok are just amazing. VOSTOK is located two-and-a-half miles below the ice cap in East Antarctica, the coldest, most desolate location on Earth. Vostok is a six thousand square mile liquid lake, over a thousand feet deep, left untouched for more than 15 million years. Marine biologist Zachary Wallace has been recruited to join two other scientists aboard a tiny 3-man submersible tethered to a laser which will journey 13,000 feet beneath the ice into this unexplored realm to discover Mesozoic life forms long believed extinct – and an Extraterrestrial object of immense power responsible for the evolution of modern man.
Where do you get inspiration for your stories?
TV, newspapers, dreams…
There are many books out there about….What makes yours different?
I wouldn’t say different, I’d say additive.
What advice would you give budding writers?
Don’t write about what you know, write about things you like to read and do the research.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Steve. I look forward to reading more of your work…and soon. 🙂
SYNOPSIS
East Antarctica: The coldest, most desolate location on Earth. Two-and-a-half miles below the ice cap is Vostok, a six thousand square mile liquid lake, over a thousand feet deep, left untouched for more than 15 million years. Now, marine biologist Zachary Wallace and two other scientists aboard a submersible tethered to a laser will journey 13,000 feet beneath the ice into this unexplored realm to discover Mesozoic life forms long believed extinct – and an object of immense power responsible for the evolution of modern man.
In this sequel to The Loch and prequel to the upcoming MEG 5: Nightstalkers, New York Times best-selling author Steve Alten offers readers a crossover novel that combines characters from two of his most popular series.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Alten is the New York Times and International bestselling author of fourteen novels, including the MEG series about Carcharodon Megalodon, the 70-foot, 100,000 pound prehistoric cousin of the Great White shark and Domain trilogy, a series about the Mayan Calendar’s 2012 doomsday prophecy. His work has been published in over 30 countries and is being used in thousands of middle and high school curriculum as part of Adopt-An-Author, a free teen reading program, which he founded with teachers back in 1999.
fundinmental would like to welcome Lauren Carr and her new mystery novel, Three Days To Forever.
I have so much to share, I hope you will take the time to enjoy it all.
Pour a cup of coffee, put up your feet, wrap up in your snuggly and let’s check it out.
Title: Three Days to Forever Author: Lauren Carr Publisher: Acorn Book Services Pages: 466 Genre: Mystery Format: Paperback/Kindle
MY REVIEW
I am familiar with Mac Faraday and his cohorts, so I was happy to be able to read to review this mystery novel. I felt Lauren Carr would not let me down and was right. I enjoyed the novel and look forward to reading more of her work.
I am loving the cover, simple, yet I sense an aura of menace.
Mac Faraday and Archie Monday are getting married. It will be the event of the season for the Spencer Inn and Deep Creek Lake, Maryland.
Just days before the wedding, Mac receives an envelope, containing a warning. As if that is not enough of a problem, he is attacked by a professional hit squad and the tale is off and running. Someone wants him dead. Or do they? Is he the real target? It seems so obvious, I am suspicious. I read on, getting deeper into the story, more involved with the characters as the danger spreads.
Plots within plots. There is so much going on, twisting and, turning, keeping me wondering how this will come together in a completed story. Who’s doing what to whom? Is it revenge for a perceived wrong? A terrorist threat from Iraq?
There are too many characters to mention, but they all contribute to the story in their own special way. We have met some of them before and will hear about some of them again and again, as we travel through the mystery series with Lauren Carr.
An invisible unit: Under the cover of anonymity, a secret unit, that does what no one else can do, what cannot be allowed to reach the light of day. They are cloaked in secrecy and deniability.
The politics are dirty, but necessary. This book will expose its biggest weaknesses, at the highest levels. Three Days To Forever by Lauren Carr reads as if it could be true. The good. The bad. The current events. Revenge, murder, terrorism, romance, love, loyalty and a determination to do what is right, regardless of the consequences.
Three Days To Forever is not a light read. The mystery and suspense kept me captivated, as I traveled from Iraq to the United States and back again. Lauren kept me guessing and on my toes. I never anticipated all the events that would ensue.
I did not sit on the edge of my seat with bated breath, or have to stay up all night until I finished it, but I did read the book, which is 434 pages in this ARC paperback, within a twenty four hour period.
I look forward to reading more Mac Faraday mysteries by Lauren Carr, or anything else she chooses to write.
4 Stars
SYNOPSIS
In this latest Mac Faraday Mystery from best-selling mystery author Lauren Carr, readers will embark on a rollercoaster adventure with old friends (including the Lovers in Crime team of Prosecutor Joshua Thornton and Homicide Detective Cameron Gates), but also meet new ones as Mac Faraday’s daughter Jessica Faraday and Joshua Thornton’s son Murphy Thornton join the team in the race to get the love birds to the altar!
With three days left to the year, Deep Creek Lake is hopping with holiday vacationers and wedding guests pouring into the Spencer Inn for Mac Faraday and Archie Monday’s huge wedding ceremony which is being touted as the social event of the year.
But droopy flowers and guests who failed to RSVP are the least of Mac’s and Archie’s problems when a professional hit squad hits Spencer Manor to send the groom, Joshua Thornton, Archie’s mother, and Gnarly running for their lives.
With time running out to the big day, Mac Faraday and Spencer’s small police force have to sort through the clues to figure out not only who has been targeted for assassination, but also who is determined to stop everything … FOREVER!
“Lauren Carr’s mystery novels are indeed one of my go-tos when I’m looking for a good whodunit.” –Reviewer: Shana Benedict, ABookVacation Book Reviews.
“Lauren Carr does a good job of moving the quirky storyline along nicely with an abundance of witty dialogue. And you have no idea who the good guys are and who the bad guys are until the end.” – Reviewer: Every Free Chance Book Reviews.
Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
EXCERPT
How many years have I lived here, and I still don’t know where Archie puts the scissors?
After closing the drawer in the nightstand on his side of the bed, Mac gave up and twisted around to grasp the designer tag hanging from under his armpit. Hoping to not tear a hole in the new blue sweater that his daughter, Jessica, had given him for Christmas, he gave it a sharp tug.
The tag gave way, but the plastic “do-hickey” that kept it attached to the sweater didn’t.
Rats!
From where he was sprawled out in the center of the bed, Gnarly cocked his head at him.
“I don’t suppose you could bite it off without putting a hole in this sweater, huh, Gnarly?”
Mac studied the label he had torn off. Dolce & Gabbana.
Never heard of them. But if Jessica bought it, it has to be expensive, and she’ll have a fit if I put a hole in it. Mac went into the master bathroom in search of nail clippers.
Gnarly’s bark, and then his jump between the bed and the door, prompted Mac to forget the do-hickey hanging under his armpit. After grabbing his gun from the drawer in the nightstand, he followed Gnarly down the stairs to the two-story foyer, out the cut-glass front door, and onto the front porch. Mac clutched his weapon behind his back. When Gnarly, sitting at his side, uttered a low growl, Mac tightened his grip and watched the sedan slowly make its way around the circular driveway before coming to a halt at the bottom of the porch steps.
When the elderly driver stepped out of the car, Mac placed her and the car.
Agnes Douglas. Archie’s mother.
No wonder Gnarly had growled. He never had liked her very much … and the feeling was mutual.
Shoving aside his fears about the safety of Archie, his family, and their friends, Mac forced a wide grin onto his face.
After shoving the gun into the back waistband of his pants and covering it up with his sweater, he hurried down the steps to take the white-haired woman into his arms. Like her only daughter, she was petite. She fell two inches short of five feet tall, and Mac had to bend over to hug her. In her heavy dark blue winter coat and thick snow boots, she resembled a blue snow man.
Shouldn’t she be with Archie and the bridesmaids getting their hair done at the salon? Oh well, Agnes goes and does what she wants when she wants. Best not to question.
“Agnes, I’m so glad to see you.” Mac clasped her arm, slipped his other arm around her waist, and guided her across the slick ice, up the steps, and inside.
At the top of the steps, Gnarly backed away. Agnes had made it quite clear to Gnarly that he was only allowed to look at, but not touch, her.
“I told her that I had one of my headaches.” At the top of the porch steps, she turned to Mac. She tilted her head back to peer up at him from over the top of her glasses. She paused to look him up and then down, and then she noticed that he was wearing only his bedroom slippers without any socks. “What are you doing outside in two feet of snow and ice without boots on?”
“I heard you coming and didn’t want you to slip on the ice.”
Agnes’ head bobbed up and down while she chastised him. “Do I look like I need your help? I haven’t broken a hip yet. Archie depends on you. What good are you going to do her dropping dead from pneumonia?”
Unable to come up with an answer, Mac shrugged.
Willing Gnarly out of her way, she opened the front door.
“I hope you have the tea ready.” Grabbing him by the elbow, she ushered him inside. Gnarly was barely able to slip inside before she slammed the door.
“Actually,” Mac said as gently as possible, “I was on my way out.”
Her head snapped up to glare at him. “What do you mean you were on your way out?”
“One of my groomsmen and I have an appointment with the tailor.” Mac looked down at the tiny elderly woman who stood before him in the middle of the living room. She clasped her handbag with both hands in front of her.
Like a referee at a boxing match, Gnarly sat between them, looking from one to the other.
“Did I do something to upset you, Agnes?”
“I think it’s best if we lay out our ground rules before you marry Archie,” she said.
Sensing a battle, Mac folded his arms across his chest. He was physically setting up a barrier. “Okay, Agnes. Shoot.”
“To be blunt,” Agnes said in a tone devoid of emotion,“I’m giving this marriage five years. Archie refuses to tell me how much you’re paying for this huge three-ring circus, but I hope you’ll think it’s worth it when you only get five years on your investment.”
“Five years? Investment?” Mac chuckled. “With all due respect—”
Agnes’ hand shot up. She shook her head. “Don’t give me that all-due-respect crap. I’ve had seven children, six boys.
Archie’s daddy keeled over with a heart attack when she was only five years old. Since that time, I’ve been ’round the block so much that I wore a rut in it and”—she shook her finger at him—“I learned ages ago that when someone says to me ‘with all due respect,’ they’re not giving me an ounce of it.”
“I don’t consider Archie to be an investment,” Mac said through gritted teeth. “And to be blunt, I don’t think you know enough about our relationship to be in a position to make any sort of prediction about the success or lack of success of our marriage.”
“Archie has spent the last dozen years of her life hiding out in this mansion, taking care of your mother,” Agnes said.
“Then, she’s spent the last few years in your bed. Now,” she glanced him up and down, “you’re a very attractive man, and I’m sure Archie wouldn’t want to marry you if you weren’t good in bed. I’m sure all of that money adds to your appeal, but there’s more to lifelong happiness than sex and money. There’s character, and marriage with a man who has no character—”
Mac stepped toward her. “What gives you the right to comment on my character?”
As if to voice his agreement, Gnarly barked.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lauren Carr is the best-selling author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. Three Days to Forever is the ninth installment in the Mac Faraday Mystery series.
In addition to her series set on Deep Creek Lake, Lauren Carr has also written the Lovers in Crime Mysteries, which features prosecutor Joshua Thornton with homicide detective Cameron Gates, who were introduced in Shades of Murder, the third book in the Mac Faraday Mysteries. They also make an appearance in The Lady Who Cried Murder.
Three Days to Forever introduces Lauren Carr’s latest series, detectives, Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday in the Thorny Rose Mysteries. Look for the first installment in this series in Spring 2015.
The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. This year, several books, over a variety of genre, written by independent authors will be released through the management of Acorn Book Services, which is currently accepting submissions. Visit Acorn Book Services website for more information.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.
She lives with her husband, son, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
3 Stars
Heather L. Reid is both American and British and has called six different cities in three different countries, home. Her strong sense of wanderlust and craving for a new adventure mean you might find her wandering the moors of her beloved Scotland, exploring haunted castles, or hiking through a magical forest in search of fairies and sprites. When she’s not venturing into the unknown in her real life, she loves getting lost in the worlds of video games or curling up by the fire with good story. For now, this native Texan is back in the Lone Star State, settling down with her Scottish husband and writing new tales of fantasy and horror.
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Steve Alten is the New York Times and International bestselling author of fourteen novels, including the MEG series about Carcharodon Megalodon, the 70-foot, 100,000 pound prehistoric cousin of the Great White shark and Domain trilogy, a series about the Mayan Calendar’s 2012 doomsday prophecy. His work has been published in over 30 countries and is being used in thousands of middle and high school curriculum as part of Adopt-An-Author, a free teen reading program, which he founded with teachers back in 1999.
Lauren Carr is the best-selling author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. Three Days to Forever is the ninth installment in the Mac Faraday Mystery series.