I have to start by repeating myself.  I have met the most wonderful people through blogging and reviewing.  And today I have the honor to introduce you to a very special, amazing, inspirational and kind lady.  I was contacted by Jodi from WOW asking if I would like to read, review and host today’s guest.  I read the synopsis and it was a YES!!  After reviewing her book, I emailed her and shared it with her because it wasn’t going to be posted until today and I finished the book in April.  Since that time we have been in touch through emails, learned more about each other and we “clicked”.  Over these past few months we have formed a friendship whereas it feels that I have known her for years.  In one of our emails, when she found out where I reside, told me that she would be here in the fall for a conference.  We instantly made plans that include picking her up at the airport, out for dinner and have no doubt, a fun night filled with conversation.  I am so excited that I can wait to meet her face to face.   So please, get comfy, grab a coffee and help me welcome, my friend, Dawn Novotny to our group!!!

ABOUT DAWN NOVOTNY

So many words describe Dawn Novotny: clinician, teacher, author, workshop leader, wife, mother, stepmother, grandmother, recovering addict, breast cancer survivor, reader, swing dancer, and snorkeler. But what she is most proud of is her ability to “thrive”. She thrived in the face of poverty, abuse, and addiction to finally become the woman she is today. She wrote her memoir to encourage other woman to look past their difficulties to what is possible, to the woman they should be.
You can visit Dawn at her website here and her Professional Clinical Workshop here (a visit every woman should take the time for).

GUEST POST

                                    Forgiveness is Vital to a Healthy Life

When I first heard people talk about amends to those we had harmed, especially our ex-spouses, I thought they must be crazy. I believed that if my tormentors’ transgressions outweighed mine, my “sin” was somehow diminished, even canceled.

I thought if people knew how cruel my ex-husband had been toward me and our children, they would see how righteous I had been. That should exempt me from making amends to him, right? But I was learning that if I wanted healing from my past, then it was I who had to take responsibility for my own sins of omission and commission without defenses or excuses.

Grudgingly at first, I began to think about who I was and what I was like when I married my children’s father. What exactly did I—a frightened, needy, nearly delirious young girl—bring to the marriage? The answer was nothing. Absolutely nothing! I realized, while he was marrying me for his own reasons, I had married him to escape my love and rage at my first husband. I used what many would consider a sacred act—the sacrament of marriage—to arrest my descent into booze and promiscuity.

Thinking I was escaping the pain, I brought my nineteen-year-old self—an empty satchel stuffed with pain—to my second marriage. I appropriated him to escape my internal barbarians and shameful acting out behaviors.

Once I realize this, and with great trepidation, I wrote a letter of apology to himwhere I revealed my shameful secrets. I told him how my choices culminated in a brutal rape and suicide attempt just months prior to our marriage, and apologized for having nothing to contribute to our years together except fear and emptiness. I asked his forgiveness. I had to let go of any concern about how he would respond. The release that came to me after mailing that letter was like a huge stone of bitterness melting away. How he responded was irrelevant to my healing.

When he died four years ago, I was able to facilitate our children’s grief and farewells. By their own choice they had not spoken to their father in several years, but I felt that grieving his passing was paramount to their healing journey. We lit candles and wished him well on his crossing. They whispered their regrets. I felt blessed to have been given such softness in my heart toward him.

It takes enormous energy to address, think about and re-feel old transgressions. The remembering without release depletes our vital life energies robbing us of a healthy life.

Not only was I gifted with the peace that passes all understanding, my children no longer had to carry the heavy stone of family wounds heaped upon them by their parents.

The act of sincere forgiveness frees the soul in unimaginable ways. We are the benefactor of our acts of forgiveness, regardless of the recipient’s reactions.

Should you choose to follow this path toward healing a wound that holds your heart tethered to pain, please seek the advice of clergy or a trusted friend. There may be transgressors and transgressions that remain volatile and in need of counsel to proceed.

ABOUT THE BOOK

For 50 years, whether consciously or unconsciously, women have all been caught in the cultural clash between the almost immortal sexual mystique symbolized by Marilyn Monroe (in 1999 she was still voted “sexiest woman of the century” byPeople Magazine) and the retooling of the female soul by the women’s liberation movement.  Each of us has been left to ask ourselves, “Who am I?”  “Where do I fit?”  “What does it mean to be a woman?” And most important of all: “What does it mean to me to be a woman?”

THANKS TO THE KINDNESS OF AUTHOR,
DAWN NOVOTNY, I HAVE TWO (2) COPIES
OF THIS EXCEPTIONAL MEMOIR TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my honest review.
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

The statistics of marriages and divorce in today’s world are staggering.  The days of  The Cleavers ( a family sitcom in 1957-1963) are gone.  So when Rebecca from The Cadence Groupcontacted me about today’s guests, I thought it would be an interesting visit.  Please help me welcome Dr. Tony Feretti and Dr. Peter Weiss to our group.

                       DR. TONY FERRETTI       and           DR. PETER WEISS

Dr. Peter Weiss is physician and healthcare executive with a passion for helping others to health and wellness. A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Weiss currently serves as an executive for the Adventist Health System in Orlando, Florida.

His coauthor, Dr. Tony Ferretti is a licensed psychologist who has helped clients recognize the addictive nature of power, control, and “success” for over twenty years.  A Ph.D. graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, he’s appeared on Dr. Phil and hosted his own popular radio show, “Talk to Tony.”

GUEST POST

Change Your Life Not Your Wife

 Peter J. Weiss, MD

Tiger Woods, Elliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford, John Edwards, Jack Welch, Arnold Schwarzenegger…  The list goes on and on.  Who will be next?  It’s only a matter of time until the newspapers headline another major public figure who destroys his marriage, family and perhaps his career through self-destructive behaviors.  The world wonders, “What happened?  How could he throw it all away?  What was he thinking?”

Some of us know what he was thinking.  He thought that that the purpose of life is accomplishment or conquest.  Perhaps his greatest drive was achieving more at work, making more money, or having more stuff.  Hey, I’ve been there, and I see it all around me in medicine and business.  Thinking that way can get you far in life, but it’s not a healthy way to live.  Often it destroys marriages and families.

Occasionally a marital crisis may cause one of these high flyers to wake up to life’s bigger questions.  “What’s life all about anyway?  Why am I living like this?  Why do I feel so much pressure?  How do I want to live?  How can I enjoy life more?”  But some never wake up.  They just dig in and work harder.  Achieve more.  Earn more.  Buy more.  Perhaps even get the “trophy wife.”  And then the cycle repeats.  Third or fourth marriages are not uncommon for these folks.

Unfortunately many of the same personality traits that propel us to material success can spell trouble for our relationships. Emotional immaturity, intense ambition, perfectionism, and “control freak” behaviors are common among high-achieving physicians, attorneys, businesspeople, politicians and entrepreneurs, in all communities and of both genders.  We all know these individuals, and we are often witnesses to their crumbling relationships.  I’m sure you can bring some names to mind.

The good news is that people can change.  It takes work but it can be done.  Relationships can be repaired.  Marriages do heal.  When couples are willing to work through their issues dramatic improvement and healing are possible.  That’s why I coauthored Change Your Life, Not Your Wife with Dr. Tony Ferretti.  People need help.

So if you’re the typical Type A personality climbing the ladder of success, my advice is don’t wait for your crisis.  Don’t be next.  Admit your issues and change for the better.  Conceding that you have a problem is the hardest part, but truth is, others around you already know what you’re like.  Many, especially your spouse, would probably be happy to help.

Give some attention to your spiritual and emotional health.  Seek answers to life’s bigger questions.  Make time for your family and friends.  Take it easy on yourself.  Learn about managing your emotions, especially anger, stress and frustration.  Enjoy life more.  This doesn’t mean that you need to be less effective at work, just less consumed by it.  You may even be more effective at your vocation as a more balanced person.

Change your life, not your wife.  You’ll be glad you did!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Are you winning at work but failing at home?

Save your marriage before it’s too late!

Divorce is everywhere. Especially among high-achieving and success-driven professionals-sometimes even those in long-term marriages. Unfortunately, this divorce pattern often repeats itself resulting in more broken relationships. In Change Your Wife Not Your Life, Drs. Ferretti and Weiss demystify this seeming discord – highly successful individuals failing at home and making life-damaging choices. They offer hope through insight and easy-to-understand exercises to improve these most important relationships.

Drs. Ferretti and Weiss explain how the same character traits that propel us to succeed in our careers can bring our family life crashing down. Using true-to-life examples that we all can recognize, they clearly outline the perils posed by being achievement or power oriented in your intimate relationships.

Eschewing the blame game, the authors stress that usually both partners have had a role in arriving at a marital crossroads. It’s not just one person’s fault. Their good news is that relationships can get better. Marriages do heal. When couples are willing to work through their issues, dramatic improvement and healing are possible.

In this book you will:

· Discover the common personality traits behind the succeed at work/fail at home syndrome,

· Understand how your current behavior in relationships has been shaped by your childhood experiences,

· Assess the priorities in your life and the importance of shifting your focus from possessions to people,

· Find simple assessments, and exercises to help you evaluate your marriage,

· Learn through a step-by-step process how to heal, nurture, and grow your marriage with proven and effective tools,

· See how counseling works to help couples heal relationships, or to heal separately when relationships do fail.

THANKS TO REBECCA FROM THE CADENCE GROUP, I
HAVE ONE (1) COPY OF THIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO THE GIVEAWAY
PAGE.   U.S. and CANADA RESIDENTS ONLY.

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

Heeeeee’s back!!   If you follow my blog, then you know how I feel about Vincent Zandri’s books.  I have read every one that he has written to date and is my number 1 author for mystery and suspense novels.  Today he is stopping by to talk about his latest novel.   So please help me give a warm welcome to author and friend, Vincent Zandri !!

Vincent Zandri

Vincent Zandri is the No. 1 International Bestselling Amazon Kindle author of THE INNOCENT, GODCHILD, THE REMAINS, MOONLIGHT FALLS, CONCRETE PEARL, SCREAM CATCHER and the forthcoming MOONLIGHT RISES. He is also the author of the bestselling digital shorts, PATHOLOGICAL and MOONLIGHT MAFIA. Harlan Coben has described his novels as “…gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting,” while the New York Post called THE INNOCENT, “Sensational…Masterful…Brilliant!” In March, April and May of 2011, he sold more than 100,000 Kindle E-Books editions of his novels, and is rapidly closing in on the 200K mark all totaled. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, Zandri’s work is translated into many languages including the Dutch, Russian and Japanese. An adventurer, foreign correspondent, and freelance photo-journalist for RT, Globalspec, IBTimes and more, he divides his time between New York and Florence, Italy.

You can visit Vin at his website, Facebook, Twitter and blog.
Click on above titles to read my reviews.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Based upon Vincent Zandri’s most anthologized Pushcart Prize-nominated short story of the same title, Permanence, is the “Hitchcockian” story of Mary Kismet, a travel agent and grieving mother of a toddler who suffered an apparent accidental drowning. Now, all alone in the world, she attempts to ease the pain of her suffering by immersing herself, body and soul, into a love affair with her psychiatrist, a man haunted by his own demons. A tragic novel of obsession, dark compulsions, and madness, Permanence transports the ill-fated lovers from New York to Venice, Italy, and back again.
Check out the feature at The Big Thrill
Read my review here.

Book details:
Genre:Adult Suspense, Mystery, Thriller
Publisher: Bear Media
Publication Date: May 4 2012
Purchase: Amazon

THANKS TO AUTHOR, VINCENT ZANDRI, I HAVE
TWO (2) OF HIS PREVIOUS NOVELS TO GIVEAWAY.
TWO WINNERS, ONE FOR EACH BOOK.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

*sigh*  So many great books and so little time.  That’s how I felt when Anna, from Blue Dot Literary (Astor & Blue), contacted me to read and review Dead End Deal.  Mystery and medical, my kind of book!

It’s been 2+ years since my blog went public and to this date, I still am amazed and feel honored when an author, publisher and/or publicist contacts me to read, review and have the author visit my blog.  Because of this, I have been introduced to so many phenomenal writers and have read some fantastic books.  Today is no exception.  Not only do I have the pleasure to welcome and present to you a “new to me” author but this will be the first time, and hopefully not the last, to work with Anna from Blue Dot Literary, who contacted me about today’s guest.  So, please help me welcome, Anna and author, Dr. Allen Wyler!

ALLEN WYLER

Allen Wyler is a renowned neurosurgeon who earned an international reputation for pioneering surgical techniques to record brain activity.  He has served on the faculties of both theUniversityofWashingtonand theUniversityofTennessee, and in 1992 was recruited by the prestigiousSwedishMedicalCenterto develop a neuroscience institute.

In 2002, he left active practice to become Medical Director for a startup med-tech company (that went public in 2006) and he now chairs the Institutional Review Board of a major medical center in thePacific Northwest.

Leveraging a love for thrillers since the early 70’s, Wyler devoted himself to fiction writing in earnest, eventually serving as Vice President of the International Thriller Writers organization for several years. After publishing his first two medical thrillers Deadly Errors (2005) and Dead Head (2007), he officially retired from medicine to devote himself to writing full time.

He and his wife, Lily, divide their time betweenSeattleand theSan Juan Islands.
Connect with Allen Wyler at his website here.

GUEST POST

WHAT WAS THE RESEARCH BEHIND DEAD END DEAL?

This is a blitz-pace thriller about a Seattle neurosurgeon who, while in Korea, is framed for a murder. Now hunted by police he must evade a professional hit man while trying to find a way back to the United States. I figure it’s Three Days of The Condor meets Michael Crichton.

I got the idea for the story when I was a guest lecturer at a medical school in Seoul, South Korea. I was staying at the Walker Hill Sheraton hotel across the Han river from the hospital. So all the scenes (hotel, downtown Seoul, and the Korean hospital) were from notes and snapshots I took while there. (I always travel with a small point and shoot camera in my pocket). The brief description of the surgical procedure comes from my own experience.

My neurosurgeon protagonist, Jon Ritter, escapes via a route I personally took when figuring out how he might return to the United States without a passport. Again, the scenes were written with the help of snapshots. So, the short answer to the question is that all the research for the story came from personal experience. By the way, I find digital photography a great help when writing. I view a relevant snapshot on the screen as I write. This helps me accurately describe what I’m seeing.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF WRITING A MEDICAL THRILLER?

People who read medical thrillers are usually interested in medical details, just as readers of legal thrillers find law interesting. What is difficult is adding sufficient medical detail to satisfy a reader without making descriptions or facts boring. This is one reason I try to move my stories along at a fast clip. Thrillers are intended to thrill, not lecture. Fast pace, good plot, interesting characters are the elements that should be in a medical thriller.

ABOUT THE BOOK

World-renowned neurosurgeon Jon Ritter is on the verge of a medical breakthrough that will change the world.  His groundbreaking surgical treatment, using transplanted non-human stem cells, is set to eradicate the scourge of Alzheimer’s disease and give hope to millions.  But when the procedure is slated for testing, it all comes to an abrupt and terrifying halt.  Ritter’s colleague is gunned down and Ritter himself is threatened by a radical anti-abortion group that not only claims responsibility, but promises more of the same.

Faced with a dangerous reality but determined to succeed, Ritter and his allies conduct clandestine clinical trials inSeoul,Korea.  But there, Ritter and his allies are thrown into a horrifying nightmare scenario:  The trial patients are murdered and Ritter is the number one suspect. Now, aided by his beautiful lab assistant, Yeonhee, Ritter flees the country, as he becomes the target of an international manhunt involving Interpol, the FBI, zealous fanatics and a coldly efficient assassin named Fiest.

Dead End Deal is a fast paced, heart-pounding, and sophisticated thriller. Penned by master neurosurgeon, Allen Wyler—who draws significantly from experience, actual events and hot-button issues when writing—Dead End Deal is unmatched as a technical procedural. Its medical and scientific details can impress even the most seasoned medical practitioners. And yet, the technical expertise is seamlessly woven into a riveting plot with enough action and surprises to engross even the most well-read thriller enthusiast.  A smart, unique, page-turner, Dead End Deal delivers.

Praise for Dead End Deal:
“A wild Journey…cutting edge science, greed, corruption and political intrigue, you won’t be able to put it down.”’
–D.P. Lyle, award-winning author of, Hot Lights, Cold Steel.

 
Dead End Deal is a medical thriller of the highest order, reviving the genre with a splendid mixture of innovation and cutting edge timeliness.  Neurosurgeon Allen Wyler knows of what he speaks, and writes, and the result is a thriller that equals and updates the best of Robin Cook and Michael Crichton.  His latest is terrifyingly on mark, riveting in all ways and a masterpiece of science and suspense.”

–Jon Land, bestselling author of Strong at the Break

“The suspense builds and builds in this riveting page-turner.  It’s a skillful merging of the medical thriller and political thriller…Tom Clancy meets Tess Gerritsen!”

–Kevin O’Brien, NYTimes Bestselling Author of The Last Victim and KillingSpree

Purchase and/or have access to Dead End Deal, click here.

THANKS TO ANNA FROM BLUE DOT LITERARY, I HAVE
TWO (2) EBOOK EDITIONS TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com,
Barnes & Noble and/or any other retail/wholesale
outlets either online and/or elsewhere.
I am providing this link solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
I do not receive any monetary compensation from any parties

Today we have a special visitor stopping by as he is touring with Partners In Crime Tours to tell us about his novel.  So, without further ado, please help me welcome Mr. Allan Leverone.

ABOUT ALLAN LEVERONE

Allan Leverone is the author of the Amazon bestselling thriller, THE LONELY MILE (StoneHouse Ink), and the thrillers, FINAL VECTOR (Medallion Press) and PASKAGANKEE (StoneGate Ink), as well as the horror novellas DARKNESS FALLS and HEARTLESS(Delirium Books.

Allan is a three-time Derringer Award finalist as well as a 2011 Pushcart Prize nominee. His short fiction has been featured in Needle: A Magazine of Noir, A Twist of Noir, Shroud Magazine, Morpheus Tales, Mysterical-e and many others.

He lives in New Hampshire with his wife Sue, three children, one beautiful granddaughter and a cat who has used up eight lives.
You can connect with Allan at his website, FB and Twitter.

ABOUT THE BOOK

An isolated village, remote and vulnerable.

A series of brutal murders.

And a vengeful spirit born of tragedy, reawakened after a centuries-old massacre.

Three distinctly different people must come together, racing against time and their own personal demons in a desperate attempt to stop an unstoppable killer and save their town.

Welcome to Paskagankee, Maine. You may not survive the visit.

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

Author and friend, Melissa Foster, contacted me regarding today’s guest.  She has introduced us to several new and amazing writers.  And today, I have the honor to present and have you meet a very talented and gifted author that she has recommended.  I am presently reading her novel and it is gripping.  Helga will be on tour with her book starting in July with Partners In Crime Tours, when I will be posting my review.  You are getting a sneak peek today with a chance to win her page turning novel.  Please help me give a warm welcome to Ms. Helga Zeiner!

ABOUT HELGA ZEINER and GUEST POST

Allow me to introduce myself to you: I am a bi-lingual Canadian author of German origin. So far I have published five novels in my native German language and only recently my very first English one, Section 132.

At the age of 18, after I had completed my Arts degree inBavaria, I leftGermany. In the following 14 years I have lived and worked inAustraliaandHong Kong. My time in those countries gave me the inspirations for my first five novels.

Since 2004, I live with my husband on a country estate in the wilderness ofBritish Columbia, devoting myself to my life-long passion of writing entertaining, suspenseful novels.

A few years ago, I have more or less accidentally stumbled upon an article in the local newspaper. What I read there was so amazing that, at first, I refused to believe it.

I heard about a polygamous sect tucked away in a remote corner ofCanada, close to the American border and not far from where I live. My research into the topic uncovered a cesspool of unbelievable proportions. Within those sects, it is not unusual to married very young girls to middle-aged or even older men who use them as sex-object. Sister-wives have to suffer the most degrading life-style. Young boys are use as slave-labor for the economic benefit of the sect leaders. And, hard to imagine, even worse.

The deeper I dug into my research, the more horrified I was! How can this happen in our civilized world inAmericaandCanada?

I simply had to transform this material into a novel.

Of course, while the tale I spun out of this material is based on facts, it is still fictional. I have taken many liberties with the plot, have invented protagonists, changed settings, locations, situations and many other details. After all, I write to entertain. I want to take my readers on a journey of the unknown. If, by doing so, I might raise public awareness on some existing facts, so much the better.

I hope you give Section 132 your attention. It is available as ebook on Amazon and Smashwords.
You can visit Helga at her website, Facebook and Twitter @HelgaZeiner.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Lillian is only 13 when her parents marry her to a middle-aged Bishop of a fundamentalist sect who practices polygamy. She is forced to live with her new husband’s many wives and children on his compound tucked away in the Canadian wilderness.

The hardships of poverty and isolation have crushed the will of just about everybody in his flock. They suffer in silent submissiveness, trying to please their despotic leader. He justifies the humiliating treatment of his dependents by citing ‘Section 132 of the Doctrine & Covenants’ of his fundamentalist religion.

Until, one day, Lillian had enough. But it is dangerous to try and escape the Bishop’s iron rule. He practices blood-atonement, which is quietly sanctioned by the ‘Gatekeepers’, an American secret society within the Fundamentalist Mormon Church.

Lillian must find out-side help if she ever wants to leave the Bishop’s compound – but how can she do this if she is locked up without any means of communication?

Lillian doesn’t know how life outside a compound functions. She only knows that she can not live like this much longer. Many questions plaque her troubled mind.

Why do her sister-wives put up with this hardship, knowing only a bleak future lies ahead of them? Where do the child-brides come from, the Bishop keeps adding to his family? Where do some of his daughters disappear to, once they come of age? Lillian’s defiance grows with every injustice she witnesses – until she can’t hide her rebellion any longer.

Her desperate struggle to escape draws the reader into a very dark, very dangerous place.  But not all is hopeless. When land developer Richard Bergman buys the neighboring property, Lillian’s luck seems to be changing …

THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY OF AUTHOR, HELGA
ZEINER, I HAVE TWO (2) EBOOKS TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com,
Barnes & Noble and/or any other retail/wholesale
outlets either online and/or elsewhere.
I am providing this link solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
I do not receive any monetary compensation from any parties

Ayelet from Simon & Schuster contacted me regarding my guests today.  She has given me the opportunity and distinct honor to host and introduce you to two authors who are also heroes in my opinion.  They are extraordinary men, who have given of themselves, to protect our freedom and safety.  So, I ask to help me welcome, Stephen Templin and Howard E. Wasdin to the CMash blog.

                 
  Stephen Templin                     Howard E. Wadsin
(Photograph © Silvy Tompkins)    (Photograph © Howard E. Wasdin)

Stephen Templin completed Hell Week, qualified as a pistol and rifle expert, and blew up things during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training. He is now an associate professor at Meio University in Japan.
You can connect with author at his website.

Howard E. Wadsin graduated with BUD/S Class 143. After the Battle of Mogadishu, where he was awarded the Silver Star, Wasdin medically retired from the Navy in November 1995, after twelve years of service. He lives in Georgia.
You can connect with author at his website.

ABOUT THE BOOK

They are the Outcasts. Because people don’t want to know what they do.

In the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, the President wants to finish the job once and for all and orders the assassinations of the seven men vying for bin Laden’s place. The president doesn’t want any of them left to dominate . . . and that means he has only one choice. But doing what’s needed without political repercussions will take a small team flying under the radar. A team capable of finessing the U.N.’s distinctions on national sovereignty and acts of war.  A team like the Outcasts.

Alex Brandenburg: SEAL Chief Petty Officer and Outcasts Team Leader. Disobeyed direct orders by refusing to let a deadly terrorist live to kill another day. Francisco “Pancho” Rodriguez and John Landry: SEAL Petty Officers First Class. Took the pursuit of justice into their own hands with explosive results. Catherine “Cat” Fares:.  Navy Petty Officer. Holds an unbeatable record for pissing off the top brass with her strongly stated opinions on the combat readiness of women.

The team’s mission: Take out the seven terror merchants vying to take Bin Laden’s place. The team’s status: Expendable.

As the Outcasts track down first one target, then another, and are hot on the tail of the third, they start to realize that they are closing in on a larger plot at hand and will have to do what SEALs do best to ensure the security of the United States: Break the rules, and get the job done.

Read the first chapter here.

Gallery Books on-sale May 29^th, 20l2.  

Pre order book at Amazon and/or B&N.

THANKS TO SIMON & SCHUSTER, I HAVE
ONE (1) COPY OF THIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

DISCLAIMER
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com,
Barnes & Noble and/or any other retail/wholesale
outlets either online and/or elsewhere.
I am providing this link solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
I do not receive any monetary compensation from any parties

If the name of our guest today sounds familiar to you, it is because she was here in March when she stopped by to talk about her book, The Ninth Step, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  We had some email correspondence and to my surprise, she  generously gifted me a copy of one of her other books.   Another great read so I asked if she would come back, visit with us all and talk about the book that she sent me, and to my delight, she accepted.  So please, help me welcome back, Barbara Taylor Sissel.

ABOUT BARBARA TAYLOR SISSEL

Barbara Taylor Sissel is a freelance writer, book reviewer, and editor. In addition to The Ninth Step, she is the author of two other novels, The Volunteer and The Last Innocent Hour. A one-time editor for a small regional press, Barbara has written extensively for the public relations field. Her short stories and articles have appeared in a number of venues.

An avid gardener, Barbara is currently working with numerous clients on a variety of projects and writing a new novel. She has two sons and lives in Texas outside Houston.

For more information on past and forthcoming books, visit her website. She also blogs here.

GUEST POST

The Roots of the Story

One day I read in the newspaper about a man called a volunteer. In the article, the term “volunteer” wasn’t used in its usual sense. It applied to a prisoner on death row, a man who had been incarcerated there for a number of years, and who had subsequently decided to call off his appeals. Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, was a volunteer. So was serial killer Gary Gilmore.

The inmate whose story I followed through the news media had to go through channels. It wasn’t a simple matter of asking to die and having the request granted. There was a whole long legal process. In addition to petitioning the court through his attorneys, he had to submit to examination by psychiatrists and pronounced sound enough in mind to make such a decision. There were hearings, more than one if I remember right. He endured a lot of backlash from his fellow inmates. They thought he was copping out, that his act of volunteerism was tantamount to saying he supported the death penalty. Anti-death penalty groups were also against him. They contended, and still do, that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment and should be outlawed no matter who is asking for it. Others labeled it—and again, they still do—state-assisted suicide. According to them, the inmate was getting one over on the system, using it, in other words, to do what he could not find a way to do. All of this was interesting to me to think about, in particular I wondered what it was like to know the exact date of your death. Did the inmate have a calendar and did he mark the day with a red X? But even more than that, what weighed on my mind as I followed the inmate’s story through a number of days was the impact all of this was having on his family.

I wondered, too, about the families of his victims, the two people whom the inmate had murdered after taking them hostage in the course of a convenience store robbery. I wondered about the parents, children and siblings of these three people. I wondered about their friends, all the people who had known them way back when. In the “before” time, when they were just kids and still innocent.

I wondered most about the mothers. I’m a mother. I have two sons, both grown, but I still recall vividly how it felt holding them in my arms. I remember their small faces upturned to mine and their rapt attention when I read to them or sang to them. I remember walks in the woods with them and eating out in restaurants and going bye-bye in the car. I remember the warmth of their hands in mine when we crossed a busy street. So many small acts of love go into a childhood; as mothers we invest so much tender care, so much loving time in our children. Had the death row inmate’s mother invested in her son in this way? Chances are she had not. At least that’s what the statistics say, that criminals don’t ordinarily come from stable, loving homes. And if in the case of this inmate that was true, if this mom hadn’t loved her son, what happened? Why didn’t she?

So while The Volunteer is a story about death row, it is more a story about families under duress, families in the time of calamity. It is a story of mothers and their children when the children are young and when they are middle aged and their parents are old and all the sins come home to roost. It is the story of a woman, a mother and psychologist, who through a shattering series of events uncovers a terrible secret in her past, one that ultimately leaves her holding the power to save a man’s life even as it threatens everything she has come to believe about herself.

After I read the newspaper article, I wanted to know about the mothers; The Volunteer is the story about them that unfolded through hours of what proved to be fascinating and compelling research and writing. I hope you’ll be intrigued now and want to read it and if you do, that you’ll enjoy it.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the fall of 1999, psychologist Sophia Beckman is compelled by the court to give testimony on behalf of a death row inmate that results in his sentence being overturned. Haunted by secrets from her past, she avoids the media spotlight as much as possible, but soon, other prisoners’ families come seeking her assistance. One family in particular, the wife, children, and brother of Jarrett Capshaw, is especially insistent. Forty-one days ago Jarrett’s request to die was granted by the State of Texas, and he became a dead man walking, a man they call a volunteer.

Jarrett’s crimes were unusual, involving the theft of precious Mayan antiquities. Murder was never part of the plan, but murder is what happened. He pulled the trigger, and as little as he feels prepared for it, as much as he struggles with matters of the soul, he’s ready to die. It is the only way his family and the families of his victims will be free to move on. While Jarrett labors to find the words to say good-bye to those he has loved, Sophia finds herself drawn into a relationship with his wife and oldest son. It is Jarrett’s family she can’t resist and there will be a price to pay. But not even Sophia could have foreseen the outcome when the brutal truth is exposed, the unalloyed facts that, incredibly, will deliver Jarrett’s fate straight into her hands.

The Volunteer is a story about families, how they are made, and how in one single, horrifying instant, they can be broken. It is a story about mothers and the lies they tell to protect their children, to keep them from being hurt. But what happens when the truth comes out anyway and nothing and no one is spared? Sometimes the truth has the power to break your heart, and in Sophia’s case it will also endanger her freedom and threaten everything she has ever believed about her life.
Read my review here.

THANKS TO AUTHOR, BARBARA TAYLOR SISSEL, I HAVE TWO (2)
EBOOK EDITIONS OF THIS FANTASTIC BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.